Chapter Text
Year [REDACTED]
A young woman sat on a ledge overlooking the New York City skyline. The city’s warm, evening breeze swept through her when her watch beeped. As she pulled up her sleeve and swiped her finger across the screen, an image of two well-dressed news anchors behind a large desk appeared for the special nightly report. Channel 10 News’ livestream was now live.
“Good evening everyone, I’m Rhonda Swimmer.”
“And I’m Jim Corolla.”
“If you’re planning on relaxing inside your home tonight, you may want to change your plans,” Rhonda announced. “A strange meteor shower will be making its way across the East Coast that has NASA baffled. More on this story is our investigative reporter David Latterman live on the scene. David?”
The woman watching the feed inwardly smiled as the camera panned away. David was one of theirs.
A disheveled reporter paused while a large crowd awed from behind in a wooded area. “Thanks, Rhonda!” he said as loud as he could through the noise. “I’m in here in Central Park and as you see, it’s extremely busy with locals and tourists. Now, NASA’s official word on what they describe as the biggest meteor shower since 1956 is kind of murky at the moment. What we do know is that this phenomenon wasn’t predicted by any of the researchers. There is also no word on where the meteors came from.”
Rhonda suddenly appeared in a split screen. “This being the biggest meteor shower in over half a century, is there any fear of meteors breaching the atmosphere?”
David’s response lagged a second late. “Absolutely not. We were told that the meteors are too small to cause any disaster and that most if not all will burn harmlessly in the atmosphere.”
Rachel hummed pensively at the watch when the camera panned back to Jim.
“If you are looking to use any electronic devices tonight, you might want to take extra precautions,” he continued. “NASA has warned that with the sheer magnitude of meteors lighting up the skies tonight, satellites and cell towers may be disrupted-”
The picture flickered violently just before the reporter could finish. She smacked her forearm a couple of times until the picture was clear again.
“-and possibly temporarily down until after the event. Internet providers have already taken extra steps to move their satellites but for those who plan on streaming or browsing the web, there is a chance you might find your connection slowing down or stopping altogether.”
“This meteor shower is trending from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,” Rhonda added. “We have taken your questions and concerns from Channel 10’s Twitter account and rest assured that landlines, TVs, and power-based appliances will not be affected by tonight’s meteor shower.”
“They make it sound like it’s the apocalypse,” Jim joked.
Rhonda politely chuckled for the camera. “Well let’s hope not! Let’s check the weather-”
Rachel swiveled her finger around the screen, muting Rhonda. A hologram of hash-tagged twitter messages about the meteor shower moved the news stream to the side. A lot of them were jokes about politics or stereotypes; those who knew what really was going on were silent, as expected.
After a few flicks of idle browsing, Rachel closed the applications with a wave and exhaled. She could hear people chatter loudly below.
From one of the balconies, a child no older than nine pointed at the visible moon above them and whispered in ways to her friend that seemed out of context. Phrases like moonbase and missions colored the air around them.
Any other adult wouldn't have picked up their chatter, because they were too busy being adults and treating it as nonsense. But she did. She looked down from her perch to find the two children were of more interest than the skies, but only for a moment. A new shift in the balance of this world was coming soon. Greater than anyone could imagine.
"Quick! Make a wish!" A mother whispered to her child from another balcony and excitedly pointed up at the sky.
The first star fell from the heavens like a twinkle of pure starlight. Even the children paused their conversation to gaze at the spectacle in awe. Then another star followed. And another. The violet sky was now home to dozens of dying stars streaking the atmosphere, picking up from where the sun left off from the horizon.
Her heart beat so hard in her chest that her breathing turned erratic. With a strangled whimper, she clutched at her jacket as her body burned along with each star’s last descent.
A pair of arms pulled her from behind and startled her, distracting her from the burning sensation for a moment.
“You looked like you were going to jump off,” A voice warned, his breath against her neck. “Don’t flake out on me now, McKenzie.”
Rachel exhaled in a mixture of pain and laughter as the mysterious stranger pulled her back to safety. She looked up at the man - brilliant, handsome, and so weighed down by the very stars itself that she wanted to cry for him.
“It really hurts,” she whispered, but it had nothing to do with his tight hold.
Chad’s cool stare softened. “Yeah.”
He squeezed her middle as more stars fell. Soon the awe turned to confused murmurs and then to alarm as the sky looked less like a meteor shower and more like hellfire igniting the night. People were starting to panic. Rachel looked up at the sky, now a menacing haze of red accompanied with loud booms. The mother down below started to hurry children back into the building and people down below on the street started to scream and run for cover.
And then, among the litter of falling stars - a colossal object sank from what little clouds that were left, dominating the skyline. It looked like a planet from this angle, menacing and alien. Everything descended into chaos.
His hold on her was relentless now. She instinctively tried to squirm from him and run to safety, but he refused. The entire deck suddenly felt unnaturally cold against the fiery horizon. Ice bloomed around their feet.
Chad locked unnatural blue-violet eyes with hers. “Stay close to me.”
Her eyes widened before she gave him a slow nod. The moon above his head seemed to be unnaturally bright now. And like the moon, he was distant, ever cold, shining above, a beacon against the night. Her last thought was yes . Of course it was. Because he was from the moon.
And so was she.
Then the large object suddenly came down upon their heads.
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Operation: STARFALL
Stars
Targeting
All
Recommissioned
Friends
And
Lovers
Lost