RE: Infovore
03-15-2018, 06:25 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-16-2018, 05:07 AM by BreadProduct.)
John takes a step, staring at the larva cradling the moon. He looks back, the closet has vanished. In his hands slimy with soap, a greasy spatula still has grilled cheese crumbs on it. The ground sinks with his footsteps, leaving deep imprints in the purple earth. The air stale with no plant-life or wind. The horizon curves at a sharp incline, with obsidian black mountains poking through.
He falls to his knees, his mouth moves, but no words. John‘s last few minutes destroyed his worldview. His beliefs, his high school physics education, and his boring repetitive life. It was dull, it was stressful, yet you never had to hide in a closet from monsters.
From the corner of his eye, Mark‘s hand offers him a granola bar. “You should eat.”
“What the actual fuck, Mark.” He takes the granola bar.
“I will start with the short version, aliens, from space or another dimension—I don‘t know—came to earth sometime in the 1700s. That was around the electric revolution, and these things they don’t eat like we do. They eat the things that make it, well it. Molecular bonds, heat, electrical impulses…
“These things, if they eat you, they will shit pure absolute zero hydrogen, super messed up. Over time there won’t be a planet Earth anymore, just a hunk of hydrogen and those fuckers.”
“Where am I?”
“Not Earth—follow me, there is a camp. I have no idea what this place is. The thing you saw in the closet, I learned it from an old crazy guy that lives here. But, it’s totally possible to just show up. Most of those mysterious disappearances on the news can be found here. Including me.”
“Why was that thing my TV?”
“Ah, it ate your TV, and used camouflage bullshit to mimic it, to feed on broadcast waves and electricity, to incubate. Those things were babies by the way.”
“No!”
“It's true.”
“… Fuck!”
“Thank you for saving me, but why now?”
Mark rubs the back of his neck, “Well, I wanted to save you sooner but… shit happens. You're my bro, for like ten years. I’ll always have your back, sooner or later.”
“What is that on the moon?”
“A bug, I guess? You'll get used to it. Look, you can see the camp.”
Surrounded by a wire fence, five army tents, pitched in a semi-circle. The ground tilled with normal looking brown dirt. Mark and John approach the gate, behind it, a woman in a police uniform. Her short black hair covered by a green baseball hat, on her waist, a pistol rests in her holster. “Is he the new Scavenger?”
John looks to Mark for answers. “Scavenger?”
“It was the only way they’d agree to bring you.”
“You didn't tell him?”
“It was a messy extraction, two babies.”
The woman clicks her tongue, removes the padlock and chain, ushering the two inside. “Alright, you're a Scavenger. Your job is to get what we need. You do your job and we will like you. Don't do your job, and you'll get kicked out to fend for yourself, got it?”
He falls to his knees, his mouth moves, but no words. John‘s last few minutes destroyed his worldview. His beliefs, his high school physics education, and his boring repetitive life. It was dull, it was stressful, yet you never had to hide in a closet from monsters.
From the corner of his eye, Mark‘s hand offers him a granola bar. “You should eat.”
“What the actual fuck, Mark.” He takes the granola bar.
“I will start with the short version, aliens, from space or another dimension—I don‘t know—came to earth sometime in the 1700s. That was around the electric revolution, and these things they don’t eat like we do. They eat the things that make it, well it. Molecular bonds, heat, electrical impulses…
“These things, if they eat you, they will shit pure absolute zero hydrogen, super messed up. Over time there won’t be a planet Earth anymore, just a hunk of hydrogen and those fuckers.”
“Where am I?”
“Not Earth—follow me, there is a camp. I have no idea what this place is. The thing you saw in the closet, I learned it from an old crazy guy that lives here. But, it’s totally possible to just show up. Most of those mysterious disappearances on the news can be found here. Including me.”
“Why was that thing my TV?”
“Ah, it ate your TV, and used camouflage bullshit to mimic it, to feed on broadcast waves and electricity, to incubate. Those things were babies by the way.”
“No!”
“It's true.”
“… Fuck!”
“Thank you for saving me, but why now?”
Mark rubs the back of his neck, “Well, I wanted to save you sooner but… shit happens. You're my bro, for like ten years. I’ll always have your back, sooner or later.”
“What is that on the moon?”
“A bug, I guess? You'll get used to it. Look, you can see the camp.”
Surrounded by a wire fence, five army tents, pitched in a semi-circle. The ground tilled with normal looking brown dirt. Mark and John approach the gate, behind it, a woman in a police uniform. Her short black hair covered by a green baseball hat, on her waist, a pistol rests in her holster. “Is he the new Scavenger?”
John looks to Mark for answers. “Scavenger?”
“It was the only way they’d agree to bring you.”
“You didn't tell him?”
“It was a messy extraction, two babies.”
The woman clicks her tongue, removes the padlock and chain, ushering the two inside. “Alright, you're a Scavenger. Your job is to get what we need. You do your job and we will like you. Don't do your job, and you'll get kicked out to fend for yourself, got it?”