Chapter Text
An old clock rang the bell in an empty house. A human being breathed out his last breath in a dark room, full of pungent stench of blood. Walls couldn’t stop reliving the painful cries…
Three armed men walked away from the house under bright gaze of full moon. Three saucerships hung around the fourth, that hovered near the entrance.
Men stepped under it. A cone of light flashed down. Collected them and sucked in.
Ship departed from the parking spot to join the group—
A small object fell from sky. Hit the ship. Bulldozed it down and slammed against the ground.
The collision shook the land and blasted out a cloud of dust. Ship’s hull broke and shot out debris in all directions.
This sudden occurrence left other ships flabbergasted.
A human figure raised up from the broken skeleton of a saucership. And paid a short glance to the escort.
The ships plummeted down like dead flies. And crashed in the forest, sending tremors through the sky.
A human figure, engulfed in shadows, stomped on a bleeding soldier in ship’s cockpit.
— Where do you think you are going, you vermin?
— We’re… the government... officials… You… committed a criminal act—
— Shut. Up. I’m well aware who, you people, are. Don't play games with me.
She pried out a small object from his hand.
— This doesn't belong to you.
— It's... confiscated...
She shoved a hand to his face, making him flinch.
— Let me open your eyes.
She snapped her fingers.
The ruined ship exploded to a cloud of dust. The hull, the interior, windows, engines, even equipment of passengers shattered to atoms.
***
Hinges screeched as a human figure opened the front doors to the wooden house. The moonlight chased away murky shadows, but couldn’t enter any deeper.
The made a step inside and ethereal light lit up in the house.
The place was a mess. The furniture laid upturned. Broken cups and plates piled in the middle of the floor. A pool of milk glistened under the table. Loose cereal scattered over the room.
Max Caulfield carefully navigated through the house to a room with a door slightly ajar. She pushed it, revealing the messed up study room. Books and notes laid around scattered and torn. Bookshelves emptied and drawers ripped out… And in the middle of this mess stood a chair. A human being rested on it. An empty husk of his, to be precise. Bloodied and with broken fingers.
Max sighed.
— I’m sorry, Roy, for being late.
Her words fell on deaf ears. The dead did not care about a pity of the living.
She caressed a small object in her hands, wishing to give it back to him. But it was too late.
— Aria, — she said.
Her smartphone lit up.
— Summon the investigation team to this place.
— Yes, Max, — replied the AI assistant.
— And notify them, that the Object is in my hands.
— As you wish.
She turned her back on an empty husk of the human being. And left the house.
***
— So, what is it? — Aria asked.
A pale moonlight shined on an empty hill in the forest. Atop of it Max inspected the Object – a dark cube. It weighted like a pencil, even though, it was made of metal. Its’ monolithic structure had intricate patterns on the surface. And it was small enough to fit in her hand. And between her fingers.
— I have no idea, — said Max. — But for somebody to commit a murder just to get it… It must be important.
— It could be a piece of bigger mechanism.
— No, I don’t think so. Roy was an engineer and he preferred quality over quantity. So, this is a finished item.
— Did he not tell you what it is?
— No. He only said, that he worked on something ground-breaking. But I never saw what it was.
— Do you need theories?
— No need. I think, it’s quantum machine.
Max focused on it and imagined its’ core moving like a clock mechanism.
Cube’s surface started boiling. Every single atom increased a frequency of its’ vibrations. The cube ripped out from Max’s grip. Toppled on its’ corner and started spinning with mind-boggling speed. The pressure started flooding towards the cube. The light and gravity lunged towards it.
Max could barely hold herself back from getting pulled in. She pushed back, but could make only a few steps.
The pressure dragged her in. She pushed against the ground, but the pressure held her tightly.
The hill ripped apart and sand hurled towards the cube. Trees shattered to atoms and flooded in suit.
Max’s body lifted off the ground.
But it didn’t move. For she did not allow it to. Instead, she started drifting down inch-by-inch.
Until she perceived the traces in the cube. Deposited by Roy.
She understood his intention.
And gave up the resistance.
The cube sucked her in.