anomaly 1

8/9/2019 Anomaly 1

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Anom

aly

8/9/2019 Anomaly 1


by Alex Haitz

8/9/2019 Anomaly 1


Time is like the wind; it lifts the light and leaves the heavy.

-Doménico Cieri Estrada

Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.

-Dion Boucicault

Clocks slay time.... time is dead as longas it is being clicked off by little wheels;

only when the clock stops does time

come to life.

-William Faulkner

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Prologue(Day 0, Evening)

Hugh left the tent in a rage. How could they have

mistrusted him like that? They had to take 3 days todecide if he was fit for the task? This simple little

task?! He started pacing near the entrance of the

tent. Left, right, left, right. John threw open the tent

flap and walked out. “Hugh….are you seriously

angry? Normally, we wouldn’t let anyone of your

position perform a task like this. This should be anhonor.” “Yea, I know,” Hugh said, “it just seems like

you had to think about it for too long. Like you

thought I wasn’t up for the job or something. That I

wasn’t……qualified….for something like this. What

made you finally decide, huh? Don’t have anyone

else to do it? Is it because everyone that could have

done it is off working on the…” John quickly covered

Hugh’s mouth. “Shh!” John said. “Don’t say it!” He

took his hand off of Hugh’s mouth. “Sorry,” Hugh

said, “I keep forgetting.”

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John and Hugh were standing outside of the HQ Tent

of their encampment. The encampment consisted of

about 20 tents tucked away in a valley in the desert

on the outskirts of town.

They were hidden in the perfect spot. They could

climb up the hill concealing them from the city and

monitor the open desert plane to see if anyone was

approaching the camp. They were in such asecluded area of the desert that the chances of any

random person stumbling on their camp were below

miniscule. Although the camp was hidden deep in

the desert, they were still close enough to the city

that they could reach it in under an hour. It was the

perfect hideout.

Also, their camp was completely clean. They had no

papers or data relating to their mission. In fact, the

only equipment they had was camping-related.

Because of this, they could abandon it at any time

and not have to pack anything. So if any wandererhappened to walk into their camp, it would look to

that person like a bunch of camping buddies out in

the desert.

Not only was their camp clean, but their

conversations were as well. They never spoke a

word that could connect to their mission. Even

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though they were out in the desert, surrounded by

20 miles of open wasteland, they weren’t going to

take any chances. The plan had to be absolutely

perfect. There was no room for mistakes.

“Well, you need to stop forgetting!” John said. “I’msorry,” Hugh said, “it won’t happen again.” “That

had better be true this time,” John said as he walked

back towards the tent. “Come on. You still need to

be briefed.” Hugh looked at John for a moment then

looked up at the sky. The desert stars were

emblazoned across the sky in a magnificent display,twinkling down on the camp from above. Hugh

sighed before looking back down at John. He walked

back to the tent and they both re-entered.

The Administration was still sitting calmly in their

chairs. Hugh gave a skeptical look at John beforeturning back to The Administration and sitting back

down in his chair.

“Did you clear your head?” asked the man in the 4th

chair.

“Yes,” Hugh responded.

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“Are you thinking straight now? Can we give you

your briefing?”

“Yes.”

“Alright,” the man said. “I’m just going to start over

from the beginning.” Hugh relaxed in his chair and

propped his legs up on the chair in front of him. “We

need you to guard ‘The Item’ until it can be utilizedin our plan. It’s currently at a house back in town.

Since a lot of the other members have been “busy”

and out of town, it’s been unguarded for 3 days. This

is top priority right now. It’s a weakness in our plan

that we have to deal with as soon as possible. You’ll

be living in the house and keeping constant watchover ‘The Item’. It may seem boring and

unimportant, but I assure you, it’s not. This is

completely vital to our plan. It needs to be guarded.

Are you up for this task?”

Hugh was staring at the roof of the tent as the manfinished up his little speech. He contemplated what

this job would entail. It seemed fairly safe. After all,

it was assumed that no one knew about their

operation but the people involved in it. How bad

could just staying in a house for a few days be?

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Hugh looked back up at The Administration and

smiled. “Of course I’ll do it. I’d be glad too.” The man

smiled back and said, “That’s what I was hoping to

hear.” He stood up and shook Hugh’s hand. “You will

be driven to the house in the morning,” he said.

“Once there, ‘The Item’ will be in one of the rooms

upstairs. Just keep it safe until another member

arrives to collect it. Do you understand?” “Yes, sir.”Hugh responded. “Great,” the man said, “now get

back to your tent and get some sleep.”

Hugh nodded and turned around. Along with John, he

walked towards the exit. As they neared the tent

flaps, the man in the 2nd chair yelled at them. “Ohwait! Hugh!” Hugh and John turned back to face

them. “Yes?” asked Hugh.

“There’s one more thing,” said the man, “it may be

important.”

“Oh yes? And what’s that?” asked Hugh.

“It has been reported that ‘The Item’ has some…

peculiar side effects. Members have reported a lot of

anomalies that occur around it. You may want to be

careful around it. I just thought you should know.”

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Hugh nodded. “Thank you for informing me. I’ll keep

an eye out.”

Hugh and John exited the tent. The warm, crisp

desert night air surrounded them again as they

walked away from the HQ Tent. “I’m going to go play

poker with some of the guys,” John said, “want to

come?” “Nah,” Hugh said, “I’m going to go get somesleep. I feel tired.” “Alright,” John said, “I’ll see you

tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok,” Hugh said as he neared his tent. “See you

tomorrow.”

He watched as John entered a tent at the other endof the camp. The stars were still twinkling in the sky

as Hugh entered his tent.

Once inside, he stripped down and got into bed. As

he lay on his cot, he got to thinking about tomorrow.

About having to guard the item.

However, he let these thoughts fade away as he

listened to the guys at the other end of the camp

talk and laugh. And finally, drifting off into slumber,

he thought about the stars outside in the desert sky.

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Little did he know, however, that tomorrow he would

be seeing the stars from a new perspective. Up close

and personal.

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Chapter 1: An

Offer(Day 0, Morning)

Desmond walked through the rotating glass doors of

the Tyrexx building with a slight amount of anxiety.

Although in need of money, he wasn’t sure if he was

up for whatever his contact would assign him. He

decided to just brush off his worries and take

whatever he needed to do. He walked across the

fairly large and semi-busy foyer to the desk.

“May I help you, sir?” asked the woman sitting at the

desk.“Yes you may,” Desmond looked at her nametag. “…

Felicity. That’s a name you don’t hear everyday.”

She smiled and said, “Well, thank you!” Desmond

smiled then slightly shook his head, becoming

serious again. “Anyway,” he said, “I need to see…”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the note.“…uhh, Mr. Glass.” Felicity started typing at her

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computer. “Do you happen to know his first name,

sir?” “Oh yea,” Desmond said, looking at his note

again, “it’s uhh, Raymond. I actually have an

appointment with him for 11:30.” She typed some

more. “Oh, Desmond?” she asked. “Yep,” he replied,

“That’s me.” “Ok…he’s on the 11th floor, room

1142,” she said. Desmond smiled. “Thank you,” he

said.

Turning away from the front desk, Desmond

proceeded to walk to the elevators. Even though he

wasn’t really nervous anymore, he still seemed to

have some second thoughts about this.

Approaching the doors, he pressed the up arrow and

waited. The doors slid open and the open elevator

was waiting there for him. For a moment, he just

stood there, mind empty, staring at the elevator

floor. This moment soon passed however and he

entered the elevator. Pressing the button marked“11”, the doors slid closed, causing the elevator to

shake and begin to rise. The numbers began fly

past. 4…5…6…7…8…

He could back out now, if he wanted. There had to

be better alternatives to get some quick cash right?

He could wait a little longer for a better alternative.

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But, before he knew it, the number “11” dinged on

the display, causing the doors to slide open,

revealing a neatly dressed man.

“Desmond?” he said.

“Yes?” Desmond replied.

“You are Desmond?” the man asked.

“Yes, I am,” he replied.

“Great,” the man said, “come with me.”

Well, too late to back out now.

The man led Desmond down a long hall of doors that

seemed to stretch to eternity. He felt like he was

being lead down “the long tunnel with the light atthe end”.

“So, Desmond,” the man said, bringing Desmond out

of his thoughts, “how are you today?”

“Uhh,” Desmond said, “good…how are you?”

“Doing great,” the man replied, “but I’ll be doingeven better if you accept what we have for you to

do.”

“What if I don’t accept?” asked Desmond.

“Then we have other perfectly capable people who

can do it for us instead,” the man said. “But, it would

be foolish for you to not accept this. This is, in a

manner of words, an offer you won’t want to refuse.”

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The man stopped at a door about halfway down the

hallway. The door read “Raymond Glass – 1142”.

“So,” Desmond said, “what is it that Mr. Glass does

exactly?”

“Well,” the man said, “he’s an engineer. Just like all

the other people working here on this floor.However, this is just ‘something he does on the

side’. Sort of like a cover up. Here,” he grabbed and

turned the door handle, “you’ll see.

As the man opened the door and walked in,Desmond could see an illustrious office before him. A

well dressed man was looking out the glass window,

which apparently was the whole back wall of his

office, onto the foyer below. Potted plants and

expensive paintings adorned the room. There even

appeared be a small bar against the left wall. Mr.Glass appeared to be fairly successful at his job.

“Sir,” the man said, “Desmond is here.”

“Thank you,” said Mr. Glass, turning away from the

window. “You may go now.” The man turned and left

the office, leaving just Desmond and Mr. Glass alone

together.

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Mr. Glass sat down in his chair behind his desk.

“Have a seat,” he said. Desmond sat down in one of

the two chairs in front of the desk. The fancy,

wingback leather chair was one of the most

comfortable chairs he had ever sat in. This helped

him relax slightly and take his mind off of his

troubling thoughts.

“Well,” Desmond said, “you’re supposed to have a

job for me to do?”

“Yes,” Mr. Glass said, “that’s right.” He must have

noticed Desmond’s tense demeanor because he

proceeded to say “You seem worried. Is somethingbothering you?”

“Sort of,” Desmond replied, “It’s just that I’m not

sure whether or not I’m up for whatever you have for

me. Because, I mean, a job that pays $10,000 has to

have some risks right?”Mr. Glass smiled. “I see what you mean. Well, it may

have some risks. But, if you are stealthy enough, or

for that matter, lucky enough, you’ll be just fine.”

“Oh, really?” Desmond said, “Now you have me

intrigued. Please continue.”

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Mr. Glass stood up from his chair and began to walk

to the bar. “Before I begin, I’d like to have a drink.

You want anything?”

“No,” Desmond said, “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” said Mr. Glass, “I have just about

everything here. Any drink you could possibly

imagine. Come on, it’ll take a load off. Calm you

down.“Well…” Desmond said, “I suppose I’ll have

something.”

“Great,” Mr. Glass said, “what’ll you have?”

“Surprise me,” Desmond replied.

“Aha!” said Mr. Glass, “Adventurous. I like it. Keep

up a mindset like that and this job will be a breeze.”“Well that’s good to hear,” Desmond said, “Oh and

by the way, don’t make it too strong. Not much of a

drinker.”

“Adventurous…yet cautious,” said Mr. Glass, smiling,

“even better.”Mr. Glass returned to the desk with two drinks in

hand.

“Tell me what you think,” he said, handing a drink to

Desmond.

Desmond reached for the drink, brought it to his

mouth, and took a sip. “Very exquisite, sir. Perfect

blend and balance.” said Desmond. “Thank you,”

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He walked back to his desk and opened a drawer.

After reaching inside, he pulled out a handgun.

Desmond fidgeted slightly in his chair.

Ray noticed this, smiled, and said, “Don’t worry. It’s

not loaded.”

He reached into the drawer again and pulled out a

box of ammunition. He set it next to the gun and sat

back down in his chair, grabbing his drink andbringing it to his mouth for another sip.

“This is your protection,” he said, “Have you ever

used a gun before?”

“No,” Desmond said, “I haven’t. But it can’t be that

hard, right?”

“Not at all,” Ray said, “just push this button here.”He pressed a button on the side of the gun and the

clip fell out of the bottom. “Load the clip.” He placed

a single bullet in the clip. “Replace the clip.” He

shoved the clip back into gun. “…and then simply

pull the trigger.”

“Ok,” said Desmond, “that’s pretty easy.”Ray removed the clip and the bullet from the gun.

“Now, this gun isn’t registered,” he said, “So don’t

get caught with it or you’ll be in trouble.”

He reassembled the gun and gave it to Desmond

along with the ammunition.

“So,” Desmond said, “what does this ‘item’ look

like?”

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“Truth be told,” said Ray, “we have no idea. All we

know is that it’s in one of the bedrooms upstairs.”

“How could you know where it is but not what it

looks like?” said Desmond.

“I honestly don’t know,” said Ray. “I get my

information and orders from a higher power than

myself.”

“So you’re not in charge?” Desmond said.“I am in charge of selecting someone for this job,”

said Ray. “But I am not in charge of this whole

ordeal.”

“Ordeal?” said Desmond. “How big is this thing?”

“Big enough to be important to this whole country,”

said Ray. “Possibly even the entire planet.”Desmond leaned back in his chair, dumbstruck. “You

can’t be serious, can you? Just getting an item from

a house is important to the whole planet?”

“I am completely serious,” said Ray.

“Why aren’t the police doing anything about this

then? Or the even the government for that matter?”said Desmond.

“Because we can’t afford to mess this up. Only us

people on the inside are the ones who know about

this. Even then, there are only 5 people among us

who know about this item, including us 2 in this very

room.”

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“I see,” said Desmond, “So, what’s so special about

this item that it could threaten the whole planet?”

“Honestly,” Ray said, “We don’t know. All we know is

that there is an underground community of sorts

that want to use it for whatever their goals are. We

think they are some sort of anarchists or something

similar. Anyway, whoever they are, they want to use

the item to accomplish what they believe is best forthe planet. But trust me, whatever they are going to

do will most certainly NOT be best for the planet.

Chances are it will utterly destroy it.”

“So, basically,” said Desmond, “I just have to go to

this house, get the item and bring it back to you?And I’ll have saved the world?”

“Basically, yes,” Ray said. “But you have to

understand, if they know that we know what they’re

up to, they’ll abort, and we’ll never be able to get

the item. So, I’m going to call you tomorrow and tell

you when you should go to the house.”He opened another drawer in his desk and pulled out

a piece of paper and a pen. “Here’s the address to

the house,” he said, writing it on the paper and

handing it to Desmond. Desmond began to reach for

it but then Ray pulled it back. “By showing you this

address, this would mean that you are accepting this

mission. Do you want to accept it?” “Of course,”

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Desmond said, “For $10,000, this’ll be a breeze.”

“Great,” Ray said, handing him the piece of paper,

“But remember, don’t go anywhere near there until I

call you tomorrow. We can’t mess this up.”

“Gotcha,” said Desmond, standing up.

Ray also stood up and walked Desmond to the door.

“So remember, I’ll call you and tell you when to go,

ok? And also, if anyone is there, don’t kill them, justinjure them. We aren’t murderers.”

“Right,” said Desmond, opening up the door. The

man who had brought Desmond to the office was

waiting outside.

“You can take Desmond back to the elevators, John,”Ray said.

John began to walk down the hall way with

Desmond.

A couple minutes later, John returned to Ray’s office.

Ray was looking out of the window again.“He’s gone, sir,” said John.

“Ok,” said Ray, turning around, “So, what’s new?”

“Well, the organization has let me right in,” said

John, “It appears that they believe I am one of them.

No suspicions or anything like that.”

“Great,” said Ray, “anything else?”

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“Not really,” said John, “But I’ve got to go now. They

are expecting me back at camp.”

“Alright,” said Ray as John opened the door and

walked out, “Good luck.”

Chapter 2:

Arrival(Day 1, Morning)

Hugh was awoken by the sound of a Jeep engine

outside of his tent.“Time to go,” a voice said.

Hugh opened his eyes to see John holding open the

tent flap and peering in. “Ok,” Hugh said, “Just let

me get dressed first.”

John let down the tent flap as Hugh got out of bedand began to get dressed. Outside, John checked his

watch.

9:02

“We have 58 minutes before we should be there,”

John called into the tent, “no huge hurry.” Within 2

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minutes, Hugh emerged from his tent. “Alright,” he

said, “let’s go.”

Hugh and John got into the Jeep which was being

driven by another person. “Ok,” John said to the

driver, “let’s get out of here.” The man stepped on

the accelerator and the Jeep roared out of the camp.

The dust flew into the air and obscured their view of the camp, which was soon out of sight.

“Ok,” said John as the Jeep raced across the desert,

“once you get there, you will only have to stay for

maybe 2 or 3 days. Some members from

Washington are coming soon to get it.”“I see,” said Hugh, “So, what exactly is this item

going to be used for in Washington?”

“I honestly don’t know,” John replied, “Like you, I’m

also kept in the dark about a lot of these things.

Truth be told, I don’t even know what this ‘item’ is.

The only thing The Administration said was that itwould be used ‘to help the mission along’.”

Nothing much else was said until they could see

most of the city on the horizon.

“So, why keep the ‘item’ in a house?” Hugh asked as

the Jeep turned onto a dirt road leading into town.

“Again,” said John, “I just don’t know. Maybe it’s to

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keep everything normal. No suspicious activity. I

don’t know.” The Jeep sped down the dirt road and

neared a paved street.

After a few more minutes, the Jeep was driving

through town. They were sitting at a stoplight when

Hugh randomly started talking. “Ah, I can’t wait till

the uprising,” he said. John glanced at him. “Youcan’t wait? Till the uprising?” John said. “Well,” said

Hugh, “The aftermath of the uprising anyway. You

know, the new way of doing things.” Hugh had his

legs up on the dashboard and his hands behind his

head as he was talking.

“Oh, yes,” said John, “of course.” The light turned green and the Jeep continued on. As

the city sped by, John stared at the buildings flying

past him. He thought of what would happen to these

buildings if the ‘item’ was used in Washington. They

would become rubble. Dust. A fragmented existence

of humanity. John had to blink and shake his head toeliminate the vision of radioactive grey sky,

crumbled street and ruined buildings and bring him

back to the sun shined boulevard.

“You ok?” asked Hugh. “Yea,” said John, “I’m fine,

just a little light-headed.”

“We’re here,” said the driver.

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The Jeep had parked outside of a house at the end of

a cul-de-sac. “So,” said Hugh, getting out of the Jeep

along with John, “This is it?” “Yep,” John said, “The

‘item’ is just inside.” “Alright,” Hugh replied, “Well, I

guess I can take it from here.” He walked up to John

and shook his hand. “I guess I’ll see you in a few

days,” said John. “Ok,” Hugh replied, walking

towards the house, “See you later. As Hughapproached the door, John got back into the Jeep. “I

hope he finds the key…” thought John. The vehicle

accelerated and sped back off down the street as

Hugh entered the house.

He had no idea, however, that Desmond had justentered the house, 1 minute prior.

-- 1 Hour Earlier –

Desmond woke as his alarm started to beep. Hitting

the Off button, he sat up and started to rub his eyes.

Today was the day. He had to go to a house, getsomething, and come back. All for $10,000. Simple

stuff.

Getting up from his bed, he got dressed and headed

from the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he re-

entered the bedroom and grabbed his coat. His

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phone began to ring. Thinking it was Ray, he pulled

his phone out of his pocket. It was Rose.

Desmond blinked, then answered.

“Hey, babe.”

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Pretty good. Just woke up. How about for you?”

“Doing good, now that I’m talking to you.”Desmond smiled as he put on his jacket.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” he said. “Hey, listen, you

doing anything tonight?”

“No. Why?”

“Cause I want to bring you dinner.”

“Oh, really?”“Yes. So don’t make any plans tonight, ok?”

“Oh, alright. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“Sounds like a plan then. See you tonight, sweetie.”

“Ok, bye babe.”

Desmond hung up the phone and closed his eyes.“Bring you dinner?” he thought. “Really? That’s the

best I can do?” He grunted and threw his phone onto

the bed. “You’d think that being engaged for 2 years

would yield some results,” Desmond said to the

empty room. “But, no. And it’s my fault.” He sat

down on the bed. “I just can’t seem to……gah!” He

threw himself back on the bed. “I can’t seem to do

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anything. I can’t seem to make any progress,” he

said, staring at the ceiling.

“What’s wrong with me?”

Continuing to stare at the ceiling, his thoughts

began to wander off to past memories. What

happened to the good days when things felt naturaland not strained? Was it his budget crisis? Did losing

his job years ago slowly tear them apart? Was it…

The phone rang again.

Taking his gaze off of the ceiling, he sat up andgrabbed his phone. It was Ray. He answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Desmond.”

“Hi. Is it time for me to go?”

“Yes, as soon as possible. I think they are sendingthe guard to the house today. I’m not sure how soon

he will be there however so the sooner the better,

ok?”

“Alright, I’m on my way.”

“Ok, great. And remember, if he’s there, no fatal

wounds. We don’t want to kill anyone.”

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“Of course. Oh, and by the way, what should I do

once I have the item? Should I take it home or bring

it to you right away?”

“I think bringing it here to my office will be best. In

case anyone follows you, we don’t want them to

know where you live. This building, however, has

many people working here. They won’t know who

you’re bringing it to. It’ll be safer here.”“Ok, good. And one more thing, do you know where

in the house the item is?”

“Oh, right. It’s in a bedroom upstairs on a bedside

dresser. That’s all we know. Do you think that’s

sufficient information?”

“Yea, that’s fine. I’ll be able to find it. Well, I hadbetter get going. See you soon.”

“Alright. Good luck, Desmond.”

Desmond hung up, put the phone back in his pocket,

put his jacket on and left his apartment. Walking

down the stairs to his car, he pulled the keys out of his pocket, got in and placed the keys in the ignition.

Turning the keys, the engine started and the needles

rose to their accurate readings on their respective

instruments. “Oh, great!” Desmond exclaimed.

The fuel gauge needle was just barely over Empty.

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Shifting gears, Desmond headed down the street.

Trying to remember were the nearest gas station

was, he took about 2 extra minutes before he found

one relatively close to the location of the house.

While the gas was chugging into the vehicle,

Desmond leaned against his car and stared at the

money display rising. Dollar after dollar. Surprisingly,he wasn’t very nervous. A little shaky, but not too

bad considering that he had an unregistered gun

under the passenger seat of his car. A gun that just

might be used to injure someone very soon. Trying

not to think about thoughts like these, he tried

averting his thoughts to the reward. It was enoughmoney to get him on the correct road. The road he

wanted to be on. The road he should be on, that he

should have been on a long time ago. It may also

help resurrect his relationship with his fiancée. A

confused relationship that had sunk underwater and

was drowning. But maybe…just maybe…

The gas clicked off.

Replacing the nozzle, Desmond flipped close the gas

tank door and got back in his car. Turning the engine

back on, Desmond left the gas station and headed

for the house.

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Once in the correct subdivision, Desmond made sure

park a street away from the house, just in case.

Walking down the street and around the corner, he

saw the house at the end of a cul-de-sac. There

didn’t appear to be any cars near the house.

Deciding to not waste any time, he ran down the

street as fast as he could.

Finally, once he was at the door of the house, he

decided to check the windows to see if anyone was

moving around inside the house. After a bit of

investigating, the ground level appeared to be

empty. Trying the door, he found it to be locked.

“Great,” he thought, “What now?” Looking underpotted plants and the Welcome mat yielded no

results. “Maybe the back door...” he thought.

Walking around to the back of the house, Desmond

jumped a fence and approached the back door. He

tried turning the knob. Locked again. Searching

under the potted plants again yielded no results.Although, lifting up the mat revealed a key.

“Really?” thought Desmond, “That seemed too

easy.”

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Opening the door, Desmond entered the house, gun

in hand, right as the Jeep rounded the corner down

the street.

Chapter 3:

Anomaly(Day 1, Morning)

Desmond closed the back door behind him. Gun

ready, he began to explore the ground level to see if anyone was around. He was nearly finished, walking

through the kitchen, when he saw a Jeep pull up

near the house. Peering through the front window of

the house, he saw two men get out of the Jeep and

start to talk. “Was one of these guys the person who

was supposed to guard the house?” he thought. Notwanting to take any chances, he decided to go

upstairs and just finish the job. As he ran up the

stairs, Hugh opened the front door.

~

Hugh walked into the house and headed for the

kitchen.

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Opening a cupboard, he grabbed a glass and filled it

with water. After draining the glass, he decided to

head upstairs and check out the item. Walking

through the kitchen and entryway, he walked up the

stairs to the second level.

~

Desmond reached the second level just as he heard

the door close downstairs. Rounding the corner, gunready just in case, he saw the door that led to the

bedroom with the ‘item’ in it. Only, it didn’t lead to

the bedroom. It didn’t lead to anywhere on earth.

Setting his gun down on a shelf near the stairs, he

walked towards the bedroom in awe. “What the…?”

he thought. Approaching the open doorway, hepeered out into the vast openness.

The doorway didn’t lead to the bedroom that it

should have. Instead, it lead out into a vast expanse

over what seemed to be a planet somewhere in

outer space. Stars were flying through the sky, andthe door seemed to be floating above a large crater

in the planet. The planet’s atmosphere must have

been rich with oxygen because Desmond was still

able to breath. Had the door been outside of the

atmosphere, in the vacuum of space, who knew how

catastrophic that would be to the house. To the city.

To Earth.

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Desmond leaned slightly out of the doorway and

looked down. A slight breeze rustled past as he

surveyed the dark wasteland below. Then he heard

footsteps coming up the stairs. Realizing that he had

left his gun on a shelf, he had no choice but to

retreat into the bedroom next to the one leading into

space. He slightly closed the door behind him,leaving a small gap to peer through as a man came

up the stairs.

~

Hugh stepped off of the last step and entered the

hallway. Noticing the doorway leading into space, he

approached it.“This must be the sort of anomaly The

Administration was talking about,” thought Hugh.

Leaning out of the doorway, he examined the

strange and foreign planet. The air had a strange

smell and feel to it. Leaning back out and closing thedoor, he turned and entered the bedroom on the

other side of the hallway. Walking up to the

windows, he looked out to see if anyone was around.

Not a single person was out on the streets near the

house. Hugh pulled on the cords and closed the

blinds to ensure privacy.

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Walking to the middle of the bedroom, Hugh pulled

out his phone and dialed John’s number. After 10

seconds or so, John answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, John. I’m in safely and everything seems to be

alright.”

“Great, is the ‘item’ there?”“Well, funny thing, the door that leads to the

bedroom with the ‘item’ in it…doesn’t lead to the

bedroom.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“It leads out into outer space, John. It’s like a portal

of some kind. The Administration had told me thatthe ‘item’ had some side effects, anomalies and

such. I didn’t think it would be this monumental

though.”

“So, you’re saying that the doorway just leads out

into space?! That can’t be possible.”

“It’s definitely possible. A whole planet, flyingthrough space, is just outside my door. However, my

real concern is the ‘item’. I don’t know how the other

members from Washington are going to retrieve it

when the room it should be in isn’t even connected

to the house…or something like that.”

“Well, I’ll ring up The Administration and get back to

you. Maybe they know something about this.”

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With this, John hung up the phone.

~

Desmond was intrigued. “Members from Washington

are coming to get the item?” he thought, leaning

away from the semi-closed door, “I need to hurry up

and get this thing. But how? How do I get into that

room??” He decided to continue listening to hear if

anything of importance was said.~

After John hung up, Hugh sat down on the bed and

waited.

Within 5 minutes, his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I checked with The Administration. Apparently,there is a switch near the water heater in the garage

that affects the ‘item’, disabling it functions.”

“A switch near the water heater? How does that do

anything to affect things happened up here on the

second level?”

“I have no idea. Ask the guys who set up the ‘item’in the house.”

“Whatever, I don’t really care. So, where is this

switch?”

“It’s connected to a pipe that leads into the water

heater. The switch says C-33. Just turn it counter-

clockwise and it should put whatever the ‘item’ is

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doing at bay. It’s supposedly unstable however.

Turning it off could be……glitchy.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.”

All of a sudden, Hugh felt a small sensation of pain

run through his head. Butterflies fluttered in his

stomach and his head felt dizzy. But, just as soon as

it had come, the moment passed.

“Hello? Are you still there?”

Hugh put the phone back up to his ear. “Yea, I’m

here.”

“What’s been happening? You didn’t answer for the

longest time. And just now it said my phone wasconnected again. What happened?”

“What are you talking about? I was silent for maybe

10 seconds.”

“What? You didn’t say anything for a while so I just

hung up. That was 10 hours ago.”

“……What!?”“It’s 8:23. I hung up on you 10 hours ago. What

happened?”

“Hold on a second…”

Hugh walked over to the blinds and pulled them

open. Sure enough, darkness and moonlight encased

the outside.

“What the…?” Hugh said.

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“Hugh, you still there? What happened?”

“I have no idea. My head got sort of woozy for a

second but then it passed. That’s all.”

“Strange. It must have been caused by the ‘item’.”

Hugh turned and looked at his door. “Are you sure

this thing is safe? Will it be effective to the mission?”

“I guess so. If The Administration says it’s vital, it’s

vital.”“Hmm, well, I guess I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Alright, good night.”

Hugh hung up the phone. Walking back to the

window, he stared out at the night. How did 10 hours

go by in the blink of an eye?Was this ‘item’ really all that safe to be using for the

mission. If The Administration was going to actually

use it for what they said they would, how stable

would the operation be?

Deciding to just not think about the matter, Hughopened the door and walked back out into the

hallway. Sighing and running his fingers through his

hair, Hugh looked back towards the staircase. His

heart stopped. Walking over to the staircase, he

approached the shelf with Desmond’s gun on it.

Hugh took the gun and examined it. “Is someone

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here?” he thought. Taking the gun with him, he went

downstairs to begin searching the house.

~

Once the light-headedness passed, Desmond placed

his hand on the door frame to stable himself. “What

was that?” he thought.

Then, beginning to hear the man next door

frantically start to talk about “10 hours” and otherthings, Desmond decided that it was no longer safe

to be here. He couldn’t even get to the item anyway.

Quietly opening the door, Desmond walked down the

hall to the stairs, forgetting his gun on the shelf.

Walking down the stairs to the front door, Desmond

exited the house right as Hugh opened his bedroomdoor upstairs.

Desmond was awe-stricken. He walked out into the

street, gazing out into the night in amazement.

“What!?” he thought, “What’s going on? It was

morning 10 minutes ago!........Was this caused bythe ‘item’, maybe?” Taking his phone out of his

pocket, he checked the time. 8:25. “What on earth?”

he thought, “Did I time travel?!”

Deciding his life was more important than standing

around gaping at the night, he ran down the street

and into the darkness.

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Once he reached his car, he got in and put his key in

the ignition.

He was about to start the car when he saw a man

come running around the corner, looking around

frantically, Desmond’s gun in hand. He quickly

ducked down in an attempt to hide.

~Hugh opened the front door and ran down the street.

“How could someone already know about the

‘item’?” he thought.

Reaching the end of the street, he looked around

frantically.An empty street, a couple empty cars parked near

the sidewalk, the street mailbox, trash

cans….Nothing of interest.

Stomping the ground in frustration, he started to

walk back to the house. Reaching for his phone, hedialed John’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, John.”

“Yea, what’s up?”

“Someone was in the house.”

“…Really. What did you do?”

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“I didn’t realize until he had already left. I found his

gun on the stairs.”

“Hmm…well, there is nothing much we can do about

that now. Just lock all the doors and pay close

attention. Be very cautious.”

“Gotcha. Well, I guess I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Alright, bye.”

“Bye.”Hanging up the phone, Hugh walked up to the front

door of the house and looked back into the night.

The cold darkness stared right back at him. He

turned and entered the house, locking the door

behind him.

Chapter 4:

You’re on yourown, kid.(Day 2, Morning)

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Desmond woke with a start. His eyes were blurry

but soon came into focus. He was at home, in his

bed. His car keys were lying next to his clock which

displayed the numbers 9:42. Sitting up, his eyes

became blurry again as a huge stroke of pain

erupted in his head. Clutching his forehead, he made

his way to the bathroom, opened the medicine

cabinet and grabbed the bottle of pain relievers.Filling up a glass with water from the sink, he

brought it to eye level and peered in. His reflection

looked distorted through the mirror and the water.

Blinking his eyes, he re-aligned his train of though,

threw the pills into his mouth and took a swig of the

water, swallowing the magical little pain reducers.Setting his glass back down in the sink counter, he

walked back into his bedroom and began to get

dressed, waiting for the pills to kick in. As he was

finishing up, pulling his shirt over his head, his

phone rang. Walking back over to his bedside table

he picked up the phone and answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Desmond? It’s Ray. How did it go?”

“Ehh….not so well.”

“Explain.”

“Well, the ‘item’, whatever it is, seemed to be

having a strange effect on the house….”

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“What do you mean? Did you get it?”

“No. The room it was in……..This is hard to explain,

so I’ll just say it plainly. The doorway that leads into

the room that contained the ‘item’ leads out into

space.”

“…………I beg your pardon?”

“You told me it might affect the whole planet and

you’re begging my pardon? You should be the one toknow what is going on here.”

“Yes, of course. I just didn’t think it could pull off

something of this magnitude. A portal into the outer

reaches of space. This is big time stuff.”

“Yea, I kind of guessed that. Why would it be so well

contained though? It wasn’t expanding anywhereoutside of the doorway. It seemed

too……..controlled.”

“I assume that they have been able to harness it’s

power and control it in some form. By the way you

explain it, it seemed to be pretty cut and dry. Maybe

they are using the item’s portal as a safe. A form of protection.”

“Makes sense. I heard them talk on the phone about

a switch that would keep the item’s powers at bay.”

“Heard them?”

“Yea. There was a guy there who arrived just after

me. He went up into the room across from the item’s

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room and talked to a guy on the phone the whole

time I was there.”

“Hmm, interesting. Well….this produces a dilemma.

The only thing I can think to do is to send you back

there.”

“….What? Are you serious? That would be stupid!”

“It’s the only thing we can do. We have to get that

‘item’. You need to go back and see if you can turnoff the switch, or whatever it is. We won’t make

progress by just sitting around.”

“I suppose you’re right. But I want a raise in the

reward money. $11,000.”

“Fine, seems reasonable. Money isn’t an issue with

an issue of this magnitude.”“Alright. When should I return?”

“As soon as possible. The guard should still be at the

house but that’s still the extent of their security

measures.”

“Ok. And one more thing……..I left the gun at the

house.”“…..*sigh*…..Well, you’re going to have to hope it’s

still there because I don’t have another gun to give

you. You’re on your own, kid.”

“Fantastic……..Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you.”

“Yes. In this life, or the next. Good luck, Desmond.”

The line clicked, and then was silent.

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Desmond turned off his phone and set it down on his

bedside table. Sitting down on his bed, he looked out

of his apartment window. The city was outlined in

the far distant horizon while a small park lay in the

central forefront of his vision. Kids sat on picnic

blankets and on swings while their mothers pushed

and fed them. A peaceful existence, outside. A

deadly backdrop of scheming, inside.

Desmond turned his head and looked at the

bathroom doorway. He saw the glass of water, still

sitting there peacefully on the counter. “The world

rests on my shoulders,” he thought. “I hold it’s fate

in my hands.”

He looked at his hands.

“And what small hands they are.”

He felt like Moses. Left with a huge burden that he

felt wasn’t his responsibility. Something he didn’twant to bear. But in the end, Moses parted the Red

Sea, and lead his people out of Egypt.

“Maybe now it’s my turn to part the sea….and lead

these people to safety….”

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With this thought in mind, he felt confident. Strong.

As if the ‘item’ was just beyond his grasp and all he

needed to do was take one step forward and grab it.

Getting up, he grabbed his keys and headed out of

the front door to his car. Getting in, he turned his

keys in the ignition and drove away from his

apartment. The park. The peaceful serenity. Anddrove in the other direction. Towards the unknown,

and sinister.

The city was flying by. Houses and skyscrapersblurring through Desmond’s vision. They stood tall

and firm, painting the city as a strong thriving

metropolis. But for how long would they stand and

keep the city alive? Only time would tell. Only time.

Desmond felt like the protector as the city flew by.As if the whole world was his. He would decide which

path these buildings and people would take. He

would part the city’s sea.

He had arrived. Getting out of his car, he walked

down the street, looked around the corner and saw

the house. Standing, foreboding. He walked down

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the street and approached the front door. Turning

around, he looked out at the neighborhood. Sunny,

relaxed. Turning back, he faced the door, opened it,

and entered.

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Chapter 5:(Day 2, Afternoon)

The house felt warm and stale as Desmond entered.

Constricting, almost. Walking forward, quietly andcautiously, Desmond started to explore and scout

out the ground level. It seemed to be deserted. No

one in sight.

Keeping silent, he made his way up the stairs. Step

by step. Rounding the corner, he noticed, at the top

of the staircase, his gun was missing from the shelf.

Not a big surprise. He continued to climb the steps

until he reached the landing to the 2nd floor.

Crossing his fingers, he rounded the corner and

peered at the doorway.

Space.

“Gah!” he thought, “Now what?”

Continuing to be as silent as possible, he explored

the rest of the upstairs. No one to be seen. “How

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strange,” he thought, “Where on earth could that

guy be? He has got to be here, for sure. But where?”

None the less, he still remained quiet, as he

continued searching.

Making his way into the room that Hugh was talking

in last night, Desmond started searching the

cabinets and drawers. “That guy mentionedsomething about a switch,” Desmond thought,

“Maybe there’s information about it somewhere in

here….”

~

Hugh turned on the sink faucet and began to wash

his face. Hopefully this quick bathroom visit wouldn’tanger The Administration. They had been getting

quick strict with him over the course of the day.

“Heaven forbid,” thought Hugh, “That this small

break from my sentry duty will yield disastrous

results in the mission.”

He scoffed.

Grabbing a hand towel, he began to dry his hands

and face when he heard, ever so quietly, a small

creak from upstairs.

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He stopped what he was doing and listened

carefully.

There it was again…A small creak in the floorboards

upstairs.

Could it be?........Could it be him?

Hugh set the towel down and quietly opened the

door. Peeking around the corner, he glanced up thestairs. Cautiously exiting the powder room, he

quietly made his way upstairs. He was half way up

when he heard some definite rustling and movement

upstairs. He quickly went back down to the

bathroom and locked the

anomaly 1

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