The Horrorscope - Episode 53: Eclipse No More

Say something! Mary says towards Kei as he shakes him. He barely opens one eye and looks at her. Don’t die! Hang tight, we’re getting help, says Mary. Everyone is in place? asks Wasa. Yes, they shout.

Arm…

Charge…

Fire! Wasa orders. The police men in hazmat and astronaut suits pull the levers on the EMPs creating a wave that quickly turns into a tsunami o similar actions all over the world in the span of a few seconds. The call interrupts abruptly. What happened? asked Ram. The EMPs worked. The reset should be ongoing right now. And hopefully they can move the satellites into place to launch them as fast as possible, explains Wasa. But what if we still won’t have control? asks Pincer. I doubt we won’t. In cases like these the system won’t boot back into its original state, but rather directly into safe mode, since most operating systems these days can detect whether it was an outside event or not that made it crash. Even our system here is the same, says Wasa. Weren’t they spying on us through our security cameras? asks Ken. They were what? asks Mary. Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it. We shot them down, says Wasa. But what if they’re spying on us through our system and knows what we’re doing? asks Mary. I wouldn’t worry about that either. There’s not much they can do. And even so, I doubt they have time to keep an eye on us right now considering the scale of what they’re doing, says Wasa. Wasa’s phone rings. We’re back and we’re getting ready the satellites, explains one of the captains. Good, we’re in your hands, says Wasa before hanging up.

Ironic… A blackout trying to stop an eclipse… It all came full circle, says Kei as he puts his hand over his eyes. Glad to see you’re still alive, says Ken. Barely… Everything… Hurts, Kei says as he rubs his forehead. We need to find a way to find out what they did. How the stone played a part in this. What they were sending through the satellites. Who these individuals were. And how they did all this. That besides trying to catch them all, says Wasa. And all this after we’re trying to stop this and help everyone we can, says Phenos. Indeed, says Wasa. But what if we can’t? asks Pincer. Then we can’t, says Wasa as he sighs. Then what if they’ll try again? asks Pincer. They… Won’t… I think, says Kei. Why? asks Ram. Because their plan is flawed and what we did works, then they’ll have to think of something else, says Kei with a whisper. The computer next to Wasa starts ringing. Yes? answer Wasa. We’re ready to launch the satellites, says a Captain. Do it! Launch! Now! Wasa commands. Yes sir! They all respond as they launch the satellites. Well, everyone. Let’s hope these satellites are some useful projectiles that will save us before they manage to kill us all, says Wasa. We’ve also strapped whatever explosives we had on them. Hopefully they’ll explode on impact or once the 5 minutes are up, explains the same Captain that called Wasa. Let’s hoe for the best, says Wasa.

Is there any feed of the stone? asks Wasa. Yes, says Mary. Where? asks Wasa. Here, I found it earlier. Seems to be still up, says Mary as she hands Wasa her phone. Ken collapses to the ground. Ken, Mary screams. Are you okay, man? Ram asks as he turns him on his back. Ken shakes his head as he holds his eyes tightly closed. What is happening? Kei asks. Ken collapsed, says Mary. Fuck… Just don’t die before I do, buddy, says Kei as Mary gently taps him on the head. Sorry, says Kei. Look! Look! There’s a whole in the eclipse, says Wasa all excited as he jumps out of his chair. We did it! exclaims Phenos! You hear that? We’ve won, says Kei as he tries to reach Ken’s claw. You hear that, Ken? We’ve won, says Mary as she holds his head…

A FEW DAYS LATER…

I am very sorry, a doctor tells Kei. No, it’s fine. It’s not like this is your fault, Kei says laughing awkwardly. Everything okay? Telum asks Kei. It’s what I thought it would be, Kei says as he bursts into tears. I am sorry to hear that, says Telum. No, no, it’s fine. I was always curious about death, at least now I’ll be able to experience it. If there’s anything beyond, I’ll tell you, says Kei trying to laugh in between tears. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet Ken there too, says Telum. Maybe, says Kei. Through Telum’s radio Mary’s voice is heard. Calling all units. Calling all units. We need you all on site at the villa of the terrorists that took people we loved and the lives we’ve had, says Mary. Take care of the days you still have. We’ll be here for you. I gotta go, says Telum. Who knew we were too late for so many. So many of us died, so many more will die. But hopefully those that will come after, these new immortals, will treasure life a bit more than we did, says Kei as he looks at his hairless arms.

See you between stars…

Thank you for reading The Horrorscope. This was an awesome experience to write. These characters, I love them all so much and one day I hope to return to this world in what I think will be it’s best form, a comic book. Thank you all who read this story. Thank you all those who supported me through out this year. It meant a lot. And I hope that the story for next year, Anthology of a Young Wizard, Jack will blow you away with amazement. And I promise to bring even better stories to the Pilot Program 2022. So, hope you have an awesome new year.

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The Horrorscope - Episode 52: Eclipse Part 7: End of it.

Kei! Kei! screams Ken. What is happening? asks Phenos. Sorry, sorry. I just felt weak suddenly. I don’t know what is happening, says Kei. It’s the eclipse, says Mary. Look, the satellites seem to cover in darkness more and more the stone, she continued. So, it really is an eclipse, says Wasa. Kei tries to stand up but his knees feel weak. I can’t. Just leave me down here. I can’t even look up, I feel bad, real bad, says Kei. No, please, Kei, says Ken. Well, if you don’t want me to fucking die, how about… You… Do… The, says Kei as he hangs his head down and gesticulates with his left hand weirdly as he collapses to the floor. Kei! Kei! Ken shouts. Kei gives him a thumbs up as he turns around on his back. Go get the first aid kit, call an ambulance, do something, Wasa tells Ken. Ken rushes out the door with the phone in his hand. Pincer, Ram, Phenos, go find call everyone. Mary, take care of him. I have to setup the weapon, says Wasa. Ken rushes back out of breath he looks at the room. What? asks Mary. Everyone is down, their sick. There’s no help coming, says Ken. What? asks Wasa. Everyone is down, says Ken as he falls on his knees. You okay? asks Mary. No, I feel weird, says Ken. Not you too, says Mary. No, no, I am fine, says Ken with hardly breathing trying to get back up. Don’t force yourself, says Mary. I’m not going to die before I bring to justice those that killed a billion and killed my partner, says Ken frustrated as he stands up with his claw piercing through the wall behind him.

Wasa’s phone starts ringing. It’s Niles, says Wasa as he answers with a sigh and puts it on speaker. What do you want? asks Wasa. Do you what is happening outside? The sky is purple, it rains. People are fallen down on the streets. Planes have fallen all from the skies. Thousands of accidents and no one to help them. We’re stuck in basements looking at what is happening outside. And it seems to be affecting everyone this time, not just a billion. It seems that everything the light touches, it kills,, says Niles. It doesn’t. Or at least I’m not dead yet, says Ken. I see you are optimist even on death’s door, says Niles. Is that why you called? asks Wasa annoyed. I just wanted to thank you for what you did. It was noble. You could’ve not cared for my safety or anyone’s, and I couldn’t’ve blamed you. So, I just want to thank you on behalf of myself, my family, and all of the UN, says Niles. You are too much of a worrywart, says Wasa. What do you mean? asks Niles. We’re going to put an end to this, now, says Wasa. How? asks Niles all giddy. We’re gonna blow it all up, says Wasa. Blow what up? asks Niles. That eclipse that is killing us all, says Wasa. How? asks Niles. Do you know what an EMP is? asks Wasa. No, says Niles. For the sake of keeping it brief, we’re going to do a hard reset to everything, says Wasa. But will it work? asks Niles. I don’t know, but we don’t have any other ideas, says Wasa. Well, it was a pleasure. Good luck and hope to hear from you, says Niles before hanging up.

How can I help? What can I do? asks Ken. Stay by your friend’s side. If this doesn’t work, we have failed everyone and everything. And they’ll really win this time. Whatever sacrifices were made, whatever death came ten years ago, it will all a disappointment, a tragedy. A story no one will hear about. We will be forgotten and whatever we build, said, did, lost forever to time, says Wasa. Did Niles rub off on you so quickly? Can you not be so melodramatic? asks Mary. Well, the death of a species should be something to be melodramatic about, says Ken. Okay, everyone is in place, says Phenos. Are they ready to deploy more satellites? asks Wasa. As ready as they can be, the satellites are from a safe distance and they’ve prepared the spare parts to repair whatever damage the EMP will do, says Phenos. Good. Thank you all, says Wasa. Shall we call the conference? asks Phenos. Yes, we don’t have time to waste, says Wasa. You’re good to go, says Phenos. Hello everyone. It is nice to see you all still fine. Niles was right to keep away from the light, says Wasa as a bunch of people in hazmat and astronaut suits appear on the screen in front of him. Are we ready? asks Wasa as they all say yes. Then let’s blow up this eclipse and bring an end to this! Wasa screams.

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