"Mmm, so the same military force of the United States—meaning the Marines—are trying to contact a military base?" said Ethan.
"Yeah, well, that's what it looks like," said Zoe while she continued showing the panel on her suitcase radar console.
"Mmmm, I think it sounds pretty far-fetched. Besides, we're talking about the United States. I mean, why would the United States be requesting reinforcements?" said Mason, thinking.
"I don't know. Maybe because of the war?" said Sam while he carefully examined Zoe's suitcase even though he didn't understand much.
"I say that at any moment they could discover us investigating their operations, and because of that, they could take us for spies and kill us," said Mason, half terrified by the idea.
"I doubt it. What country would look for spies in a town far away from civilization? Besides, with the conflict against Canada going on, I doubt it. Both sides are evenly matched, so they wouldn't have time for this," said Ben while he drank from a can of soda.
"It makes sense, although Mason's hypothesis isn't entirely off the mark," said Sam while he thought, staring at the ceiling.
"Do you think they did it on purpose?" said Mason while scratching his head.
"What? I don't think so," said Ben as he finished his can of soda.
We all spent hours thinking and coming up with wild hypotheses after the discovery of Zoe's suitcase.
Thanks to Ben and Zoe—both prodigies with machines despite being new—they managed to see the radio signals and where the messages that were mistakenly reaching the radios and other electronic devices were coming from.
They also ruled out the signals heading toward a station that didn't appear on the radar of either the United States or Canada. It was strange.
"A secret base, probably," we all said while examining the radar. But still, how could they get it without avoiding Zoe's radar console? It wasn't just anyone's technology: Zoe's grandfather had been a Marine, and on top of that, a commander. This was technology that Zoe had stolen from her grandfather, who no longer even knew about it because of his dementia.
"What time is it, guys?" said Mason.
"Mmm, I don't know," said Sam.
"It's 8:45," said Zoe, looking at her watch in passing.
"Shit, it's already time, guys. My dad will be here any minute," said Mason while he packed up the things he had brought: power strips, an antenna, and junk food.
"Alright, bye Mason," said Ethan. Ben said the same while both of them spent a little more time on some plans on the table.
"Well, tell me what happened or what conclusion you reached tomorrow," said Mason as he lifted his backpack, put it on, and grabbed a soda.
"Uh… I won't be able to go to school tomorrow," said Sam, scratching his head.
"Why?" asked Mason while he and Ethan looked at each other, confused.
"Ahhh, I don't know… maybe because someone couldn't wait until the afternoon to tell me something important right now," said Sam, giving Ben a blank :| stare.
"Huh? What do you want me to do? I forgot you're still in school," said Ben defensively.
"Well, anyway… I have a week off, but it's to spend more time with your stepdad," said Sam with a sigh.
"I'm hungry," said Ethan.
"Me too," said Ben. Both of them took a pizza out of the fridge in the room and put it in the microwave.
Beep beep
The sound of a car outside the cabin rang out, and Mason left, saying goodbye. From the doorway, his father could already be seen waiting in the car. Finally, he left with his dad.
"Well, he's gone," said Zoe as she closed the suitcase, put on her hoodie, and grabbed her skateboard. "Alright guys, I'm leaving too," she said as she walked out the door.
"Mmm, shall we go, Sam?" said Ethan as he grabbed his bicycle.
"Yeah, better. It's already late," said Sam, turning off his skateboard.
"Alright, goodbye guys. Wait… don't you want pizza?" The three of us looked at each other, and after a while, we were already sitting on the couch around the center table where the pizza was, eating.
"It's really good," said Ethan with his mouth full.
After a while, the three of us finished the pizza. Each ate two slices while the last one was divided into three pieces.
On the way home, Sam rode his skateboard and Ethan rode his bicycle as they traveled along the road, crossing the forest toward Beavers.
"Do you believe any of those conspiracy ideas of Mason's?" asked Sam while skating beside Ethan.
"Not entirely, but part of it, yeah," said Ethan as he pedaled his bike.
Both continued talking and crossing the forest on their way to Beavers, chatting about homework and other things…
...
"How's the progress going, Edgar?" said the 34-year-old woman dressed in a soldier's uniform.
"It's going well, General. The reactor's current state has stabilized. But… I think it wasn't necessary to send soldiers to investigate…" said the scientist while scratching his head and typing on some keyboards along with other scientists around him.
"I understand…" said the general as she approached the giant glass window and watched the reactor glowing.
Radio static…
"General, General, we found something…"
Immediately after, the general grabbed the radio and answered right away.
"Tell me, what did you find?" said the general, interested in the information.
In a place where the sky was half dark yellow and half dark blue mixed with lighter tones, with the occasional thunder falling…
In some ruins… of an abandoned forest…
"From what we can see, we found some strange runes in what looks like abandoned ruins. There are six of them. One is a symbol that looks like a brain, then something like meat…?, another a worm, another with claws, then a bone, and finally an eye?"
"Interesting… Keep investigating, cadet," said the woman through the radio to the soldier.
The soldier, with his squad behind him, explored the area while thunder struck in various parts of the forest.
The soldier continued exploring, touching the runes, and noticed something in the middle: a figure in the center of everything. It was a strange symbol—a drop of blood, from what it seemed…
"General, in the center there's a symbol of a drop of blood, as far as I can see…" said the cadet while the general listened through the radio.
"Understood. Anything else, or is that all? Remember we need the weapon," said the general as she held the radio on one side of the reactor room.
Suddenly, the soldier accidentally pressed a hidden button on the wall. Because of that, the ground—where there were faint streams of water—began to fill with a yellow liquid… while the wall with the runes lit up with yellow lines, and the symbols were surrounded by them.
"Shit, shit," said the soldier as the other soldiers also saw what was happening.
"What's going on, cadet?!" said the general from the radio, waiting for a response.
Meanwhile, in the ruins, behind the wall of symbols, a spiral of yellow light rose from a pillar…
"Shit, shit," said the soldier as he saw the situation, grabbed the radio, and started speaking: "General, a strange yellow light spiral has risen in the ruins. I only touched something by mistake," said the frightened soldier.
"Idiot! I told you to explore the area but not to touch anything. Retreat now, soldier!" ordered the general.
The soldier immediately shouted and gave a signal:
"Retreat!"
Right after, the squad along with the soldier turned around and began evacuating the area, running through the forest.
For some reason, the forest started to glow: some trees, marked by strange lines, shone with a yellow light, as did certain parts of the ground.
The soldiers kept running through the forest until they finally reached a road where a military vehicle was waiting. They all quickly got in and sped down the road while the yellow light spiral was still visible in the sky.
They finally arrived at a ruined area—houses and buildings in rubble, the road slightly damaged—as they approached an improvised military camp.
Back at the camp, soldiers and commanders were already packing things and retreating, getting into vehicles and passing through a portal similar to the reactor…
On the other side, in the laboratory, the general watched with an irritated and frustrated expression as her soldiers arrived with the cargo and military vehicles entered.
On the other side… in the military camp, while soldiers and commanders were still packing and boarding their vehicles…
One soldier stood frozen in the middle of all the chaos, looking around.
"Soldier, are you okay?" said a commander while shaking the soldier to get a reaction.
A black mist had spread across the area around the soldiers' feet…
Suddenly, in the middle of the chaos, the soldier grabbed his weapon and shot the commander in the head, producing a dull sound amid the evacuation. The other soldiers and commanders looked on in confusion.
Out of nowhere, another soldier opened fire on more soldiers, and a commander did the same… Everyone started shooting at each other.
"Die, monsters!" shouted one soldier as he fired at the others, killing them and blowing off some heads, while the rest took cover from the crazy soldiers and commanders.
"They've gone mad!" shouted the soldier through the radio amid the barrage of bullets as the general listened.
"What's happening, soldier?! Explain the situation!" said the general, losing her composure.
"They're killing each other!" said the horrified soldier while bullets flew everywhere in the background.
The general looked at the reactor on the other side and saw how a threatening black mist was about to seep through the portal…
"Close it," she said to the scientists who were looking on, confused.
"What did she say?" asked one confused scientist.
"CLOSE IT!" shouted the general as she looked at the scientists. Without waiting, she walked over to a large lever and, using both arms with all her strength, pulled it. This caused the portal to close and, in the process, explode.
Only the silence of the destroyed portal remained… and the confused scientists staring at it…
But on one side, a small amount of the black mist disappeared into a ventilation duct…