CELLERGEDDON

by Rocinante

To preserve. To persevere. To Survive. The fifth and final installment in the Celler Series.

4. Nox Noctis Eternus

The blackout conditions persisted over the wide region until about mid-morning on Friday, when patches of power began to spring up throughout the Northeast and spread down the Atlantic Coast, restoring light and cooling relief to millions. While the return of electricity left many welcome and grateful, it also left power companies and government officials scratching their heads over the restoration nearly as much as the sudden outage did, as the returns were occurring not as a result of their efforts, but as spontaneously as the outages had. Upon resumption of power, crews immediately set about conducting extensive tests of their equipment looking for a cause behind the massive disruptions of services.

As the lights and air conditioning came back on, most of the populace reacted as they would after any power outage; they would breathe a silent thanks or maybe a few words expressing relief, and then return to their normal routines. Local governments continued their tasks of making sure as many people as possible were cool and safe. Though the workload was lessened as power returned, the job of keeping order and calm still remained. Hardware and chain outlet stores were inundated with orders for generators to keep some power in homes in defense of potential future outages as the relentless summer heat continued.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

4. Nox Noctis Eternus (The Dark Eternal Night)

Pennsylvania State University
Campus Dormitory Building 6-A
2nd Floor
Saturday, June 21st, 2025
3:21AM.
Kimi reached to pluck her dice from the board, glancing over to a wind-up clock on top of the bookcase as she dropped them into her cup. "What did she say? About half an hour?"

Rufus, who was sitting at one end of the board on the bed, nodded his head. "Mm-hmm," he said. "Half-hour."

Monique slowly stirred her cup, looking over the board. "You know how it is. Wait in line…present the forms authorizing you to pick up another student's records…get all the forms checked and signed…see some people who are leaving early…talk with friends. It's not like picking up a sandwich from the caf." She then looked up from the board, a suspicious smile crossing her face. "Say…you're not using this to try to distract from your impending loss, are you?"

Kimi's expression screwed into an exasperated smirk. "Yeah right," she said. "You're all about know better. You're just on a bit of luck."

Monique shook her cup a bit and spilled her dice out onto the board. "Well something has you a little tweakish." She picked up two of her pieces and moved them over a couple of spots, then scooped up her dice. "Grades?"

Kimi studied the layout of her pieces for a moment. "Just LE App II," she sighed, brushing a long lock of hair from her face. "Weapons…"

Monique looked up from the board, a puzzled look on her face. "Weapons? I thought you've been working with weapons in your Karate for years! What was that thing you and Zach were doing the other day…dancing around, waving those sticks…"

A smile snuck onto Kimi's expression at mention of the word "sticks". "Those are Escrima," she said. "Yeah, that training helps out with the batons we use in class. It's not that…it's—" now her face dropped a bit "—the firearms…"

Monique's perplexity continued. "But…I thought you used a gun when you went to rescue your mom back when Drakken and Shego hacked a Cross…"

Kimi shook her head at her friend's misconception. "That was just a dart pistol. All about totally different." She then moved her legs off the side of the hide-a-bed they were sitting on, standing and walking to the foot of the bed, curling two of her fingers to motion Monique from the bed. "Here, I'll show you." As the light-skinned black woman moved to stand before Kimi, she reached to square her. "Hold your arm out straight with your hand up," she said, "and close your eyes."

Monique bared her teeth in a wince, her eyes narrowing and her head turning slightly. "Y-you're going to hit me, aren't you?"

"Just your hand," said Kimi. "Just keep your eyes closed."

Monique furrowed her brow for a second – then brought her arm up and slowly closed her eyes, bracing.

Kimi turned Monique's hand slightly until it was square – then took a half-step back and extended her right arm until the heel of her hand met Monique's with a light thud.

Monique didn't open her eyes right away, but one eyebrow raised in reaction to the slight impact.

"That's all the kick the dart pistol had," Kimi said. She suddenly squared again, swiveling her torso and uncoiling her arm in the same motion to deliver a harder strike against Monique's hand, the impact shoving her shoulder back.

Monique's eyes shot open, her hand recoiling from the blow. "Hey!" she blurted suddenly, grabbing her hand, her thumb rubbing the bottom of her palm where she had been struck.

"That's the recoil from a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol," said Kimi with a bit of a satisfied expression at her friend's reaction. "I can punch your shoulder, if you want to feel a shotgun's kick…"

"Nooo, that's okaay," Monique said, still rubbing her hand with a bit of a pained expression. "I think I get it now." She then shook out her hand for a second. "But…don't you take shots like that all the time when you're doing the Karate thing…?"

"Yep," replied Kimi. "Sometimes a lot harder than that…but that's different, too. With kicks and punches, you have even a little sec to prepare…you know something is coming, and you can brace for it. But with a firearm, it's all about more focused at that second on your aim, your backdrop, things other than bracing for the kick when the gun fires…and if you focus more on bracing, that can mess up your aim." Kimi then let out a bit of a sigh. "I guess I just have to get more used to it..."

Kimi was then quiet for a few seconds, her expression drifting into one of reminiscence. "…Just like I had to get used to the dart gun…before Major Mark took me to the firing range all those years ago, I had never touched any kind of gun at all…" She uttered a small giggle. "I almost forgot to keep my eyes open the first time I fired it." She turned to settle onto the hide-a-bed again. "After all this no power stuff is over, it's all about more time on the range…and we'll have e- and v-mail back. I can talk with Major Mark about pointers."

Monique had moved to sit on the other side of the bed, but the opening of the door stopped her. Frannie stepped through the doorway carrying a rather thick manila envelope. She turned to close the door, then turned back to the other two women, holding up the envelope in a presentation pose. "Ta-da," she sang, waggling the envelope a bit.

"Hey, Fra," greeted Kimi. "Too much longer and we were going to be all about search party…crowded at the registrar's office?"

Frannie flipped her long trail of blonde hair back over her shoulder. "That almost describes it," she said, "but 'mobbed' would be closer…maybe 'crazy' would be even closer."

"Lots of people anxious to get home?" Monique asked.

Frannie let out a small "Heh" in response. "Some people were carrying their bags in line. They planned on leaving the second they got their records. The parking lot outside the admin building is all about total zoo."

"How about the rest of us who don't have our own transpo?" asked Kimi. "Did they say anything?"

"I asked one of the admins…they said that things are kind of a mess with this big power outage. Buses are being used to get people to places in the cities to keep cool. They're talking about Wednesday before they can get any buses here."

"I wish we had more advance notice when our records were coming out," said Kimi. "I could have gotten a snail out to the 'rents to come get us." She then glanced a bit wistfully to the small table next to the bed, where her phone sat. "We could be out of here by tomorrow night if my cell was working."

Frannie settled onto the bed on the side opposite Kimi. "Oh well," she sighed. "This gives us more time to pack." She then reached into the envelope, pulling out a sheet of paper. "At least we won't have to pack everything…"

Monique looked at the paper. "Oooh, is that the retention form for the room?"

Frannie shook it slightly to straighten it, then passed it to Monique as she returned to sit on the bed next to her. "Yep," she grinned. "They even said we can keep our keys."

Monique looked over the paper for a second, then refolded it. "Sweet!" she said, rising from the bed to go to the bookcase, pulling a small file box from the bottom shelf and lifting the lid, slipping the form into a folder near the front of the box.

Frannie now pulled three smaller envelopes from the large one, waving them back and forth. "Here we go, guys." She separated them, dropping one into her lap and passing another to Monique. Still holding the remaining envelope, she looked first to Kimi, then to glance over the current layout of the backgammon board. A teasing grin snuck onto her face as she looked back to Kimi out of the corner of her eye. "…If you make a comeback on this game—" she said, tipping the envelope first at the board – then holding it upright, waving it in a teasing manner "—I may let you see your grades."

Monique looked at Frannie for a second – then couldn't help letting a snicker slip out, knowing she had this game well in hand.

Kimi was now also looking at Frannie, an expression similar to hers on her face, but painted with a wide swath of displeasure. "If you let me see my grades," she said in a tone mocking Frannie's ultimatum, "I may let you wake up tomorrow with all that blondage."

Frannie immediately gasped and shook in recoil of Kimi's retort for a split second, as if she had been pinched. Her free hand shot behind her neck, gathering her waist-long spill of brilliant blonde locks and bringing it forward over her shoulder to flop into her lap. She continued to hold it as her arms crossed her chest, as if embracing the hair in a protective hug. "It's all about hands off the Main Mane!" she protested.

Kimi let slip the barest peek of a smile, knowing that, unlike the backgammon match, she held the key to victory in this small game with her friend. She leaned forward a bit, resting her elbows on her knees, her fingers interlocking just below her chin. "Your decision," she said. "Either wake up without my envelope…or wake up looking like the 'Dolly' Llama."

Monique tried to hide her snickers as she made the motion on her hand of writing onto a pad, then tearing off a sheet and motioning it to Frannie. "Bad news, FM," she smirked, shaking her hand slightly as if rustling the imaginary paper. "Blackmailing someone who is concerned about her grades? Doesn't come without a price."

This action coupled with a raised eyebrow of expectancy from Kimi drew a sigh from Frannie. She hesitated for a few seconds – then flipped the envelope into Kimi's lap. She then slid into a doting pose, bringing a thick length of hair to her cheek, nuzzling it. "…Don't threaten the Main Mane," she pouted in a low voice.

Kimi reached for her envelope, slipping a fingernail under the flap. "Speaking of bad news…"

The other two also began to open their envelopes. Monique was the first to unfold the papers inside. She scanned down the list of semester grades, a smile growing as she went through it. "Yeah…yeah…yeah…yeah…awww, yeaahh," she drew out. "All good marks. I think I'll come back next year." This produced giggles from the other two women.

Frannie was next, opening her papers. "Only one mark I'm worried about," she said, looking over the listings. "Prof Gardener said my Graphics Design thesis would be the biggest part of my grade." Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Ooo…oooh…ooOOH," she chanted with building excitement; she clutched the papers in one hand, her other clasping around it, bringing her fists to her chest. She unfurled the paper, turning it to show. "Shiny diamond, shiny diamond, shiny sparkly diamond," she burst in a wide smile, sweeping the paper slowly back and forth.

Monique leaned to look. "Ooo, score!" she grinned. "You go, FM."

Rufus echoed this, blurting out a tiny "Boo-ya!"

Frannie now shifted the paper for Kimi to view. "Shiny A-Plus," she beamed.

Kimi peered at the paper for a second. "All about no surprise," she grinned. "I knew you were diamond on G.D. ever since that thing back in high school for the Bulls game."

Kimi and Frannie burst into giggles, leaving Monique with a quizzical expression until Frannie explained. "State football championship in our senior year," she grinned. "Major media campaign. My highlight was selling t-shirts with a pic of our opponents' logo on the side of a milk carton."

Monique broke into a sudden titter as she envisioned the image. "Hehe, sweet! Did you win?"

"State champions, baby," replied Frannie, trading a high-five.

Kimi now opened her envelope, sliding the papers from it and unfolding them. The other two looked at her, waiting for a few seconds until Kimi uttered a small sigh. She flipped the papers to show them. "B-Minus," she breathed. "Definitely all about work on the range this summer."

Frannie looked over the listing. "The rest of the marks are diamond, though."

Kimi turned the paper around. "Well…yeah," she said, placing a finger on the paper next to the grade for Law Enforcement Application II and holding it there as she turned it again to show, "but the diamond has a flaw…"

Monique looked up from the paper to Frannie. "And no woman wants a flawed diamond," she added.

Kimi leaned to the table, picking up a pen and paper. She scribbled something on the pad, then handed it to Monique, who read the pad for a second. "That's Zach's cell number," Kimi smirked. "Call him in about two years and tell him what you just said."

It took a second of looking at each other before Monique burst out in a long exhale dotted with laughter, joined by Frannie.

Kimi refolded her papers and slipped them back into the envelope. She looked back to the backgammon board. "Let's mop up your mopping up of me," she said, picking up her cup, "and we can get started on packing."

Monique smiled and nodded as she reached for her dice cup. Frannie rose from the bed, moving to the closet and opening the door. "I'll have a head start," she said as she pulled a suitcase from the floor of the closet. "Neat that we get to keep the room. No lugging around heavy winter coats in this heat."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Near Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
1121 Fairchild Avenue
Saturday, June 21st
4:18 AM.
"Like this," Mark said. "Just a series of small swirls overlapping each other…and the next row overlaps slightly with the last one." He lifted the small round foam applicator from the surface of the car, bringing it to the mouth of a plastic bottle, keeping it against the opening as he tipped the bottle upside-down then upright again, leaving about a quarter-sized dab of thick buff-colored liquid in the center of the applicator. He then turned, handing the bottle to Melfina, then back to the vehicle, touching the applicator to the ebony surface in a series of light pats, dotting a line along the roof. He returned to the front of the panel, beginning a chain of three-inch circles as he had described, spreading the liquid into a thin film coating the black paint.

Melfina studied Mark's motion for a moment, watching the patterns appear behind his applicator; then moved to mimic his actions, holding the applicator against the neck of the bottle as she tipped it nearly upside down and back again, leaving a thick spot of the wax in the center of the foam. She passed the bottle back to Mark, then turned to the car and placed the applicator against the dark paint, cautiously at first, patting a series of spots in a dotted stripe near the edge of the hood.

Mark finished his row at the back of the roof and moved forward to check Melfina's work, which had progressed about halfway down the long black hood. The pattern of swirls she was producing put a smile on his face. "That's great, 'Fina," he said.

Melfina smiled back at her husband as she moved to the back of the hood and held out her hand for the bottle. "It is easier to distribute the wax evenly than I thought it would be," she said, pressing the applicator to the bottle and inverting it. "The liquid is very…smooth." She gave the bottle back to Mark, then started on a second row, the swirls of cream-colored liquid overlapping nearly an inch onto the first. "I remember to only do a portion of each panel at a time…but how long should the wax remain before it must be removed?"

"After you finish a section," said Mark, "it takes about ten minutes for the wax to dry. Then you can buff it out with a towel. But while you're waiting for that, it's good to start on another section…that keeps the process going, and the entire car will be finished in no time."

"You said the auto show will be in two weeks, over the 4th of July holiday…after the waxing is finished, how much more preparation remains?"

Mark continued on a new row of wax. "Not too much," he said. "Just some minor stuff. Polishing the wheels and dressing the tires…some minor polishing in the interior…things like that."

Melfina's face now fell a little. "While I am sure that you are looking forward to the show and that it will be a festive time for all who attend, I fear I may not be able to be by your side during the entire event, as the current temperatures reached during the daylight hours would be difficult to endure…"

A smile again crept onto Mark's expression. "Not to worry," he said. "They're having the show at night, like everything else is now."

Melfina appeared a bit puzzled at this. "But…I thought that part of the aesthetically pleasing aspect of an auto show was to see the vehicles gleaming in the sunlight…"

"It is, actually," said Mark, "but they have that covered, too. They're holding it in one of the big hangars down near the flight line…more than enough room and light…and they'll have big cooling units running in there, to keep everyone comfortable."

A smile began to grow on Melfina's face as she returned to her task. "Impressive…the lengths to which enthusiasts will go to showcase their machines…"

Now Mark grinned in response. "It helps to have the backing of the resources of the United States Air Force," he said.

6:06 AM.
Melfina slowly kneeled onto a towel placed on the concrete floor of the garage near a rear corner of the car, placing the heel of her hand against the edge of the rear spoiler to steady herself as she descended. In her other hand she held a small towel and a toothbrush. She draped the towel over her knee and positioned the toothbrush, applying it to the small space formed between the lower edge of decklid and the large molded surface of the taillight, brushing back and forth in the space. She stopped for a second and looked up to Mark as he joined her at the rear of the car, holding his own toothbrush and towel. "Nearly done," he said. "You're on the last of it."

Melfina smiled and turned back to the car. "This is an excellent method of cleaning the residue of wax from gaps between body panels," she said. She then looked down to her leg and whisked the toothbrush against a small spot of the wax that had dried on her jeans. "It is even effective against wax left on clothing." She worked a little more on the spot. "It will not remove the stain completely, however."

Mark looked at the spot on Melfina's jeans. "It's jealous," he grinned. Melfina looked up to meet her husband's eyes as he continued, "as beautiful as the wax makes the car look, it could never match your natural shine."

Melfina's cheeks now shone with a bit of a blush as she rose from the floor, slipping her arms around Mark. "One has never to be concerned about a shortage of flatteries in your presence," she cooed, "and how comforting it is that the Firecat has become another grounds for such praise."

Mark withdrew his wife a bit until his gaze met hers. "The Firecat has little, if anything to do with it," he said, bringing two fingers to softly caress her cheek. "You were a part of my life long before this car was…and you will be a part long after it has turned to rust."

While Melfina didn't see his last comment as a revelation, she always welcomed Mark's vocalization of his affection for her. Her eyes began to sparkle slightly as her mouth spread into a warm smile and she moved close into his embrace. "I shall finish the panel," she said, "and then I shall prepare us a meal." She still had the wide smile as she turned to kneel again to the car, picking up her brush and whisking it a bit against the towel to clear it of the wax flakes.

Mark turned for the other side of the car, placing his towel and toothbrush onto the small table that had been moved against the wall. "I'll take that as a hint to counter the A/C a little," he said, reaching to press the switch for the garage door opener.

The light of the new day began to stream into the garage as the door traveled upward. "Ugh," uttered Mark, moving toward the front of the garage. "Another scorcher on the way. It already feels close to 100 out here."

A man in a light blue uniform and darker shorts carrying a large leather pack on a shoulder strap approached over the front yard. "Howdy, Major," he said, offering a pack of mail chips. "I was going to put this in the box, but I see you're out and about."

"Hi Dave," offered Mark, stepping a few feet out onto the driveway to meet the man. "We were just getting the car ready for next month's show," he said, motioning an arm back to the garage.

Dave took another step to get a better look. With a fresh coat of wax over its ebony surface, the Firebird seemed to be sucking the light out of the garage, even bathed in the crisp light of early morning. He let out a low whistle at sight of the vehicle. "Man, that's a beauty," he said. "My uncle in Arkansas would show me pictures of one like that he used to have years back. He lost his license once for street racing." He then let out a chuckle. "He always loved that car, even though he said it could 'get him into more trouble than ten Toyotas'."

Mark laughed, glancing back at the car. "Yeah," he quipped, "and it probably used more gas than ten Toyotas, too." Both men then burst into laughter.

Melfina now joined the two men, slowly wiping her hands on a clean dampened towel. "Hello, Dave," she grinned. "I trust our mail carrier is having some success in dealing with the heat…"

Dave smiled at the smallish brunette's greeting. "Hi there, Melfina," he said, handing her the stack of chips, then bringing a finger to tap against a small silver-and-blue band about an inch wide just above the collar of his shirt which wrapped a bit more than halfway around his neck and ended in an oval bulb at either end. "It's not as bad as you might think," he said. "They gave all the carriers these cooling units to wear. They actually do pretty well."

Melfina handed the stack of mail chips to Mark and went back to wiping her hands. Mark leafed through the chips. "One thing the power outages aren't stopping," he sighed, "…the bills."

"Boy, ain't that the truth," echoed Dave. He made a slight nod toward the garage. "So how far along are you?" he asked. "It looks great as it is now."

"Just some minor polishing," replied Mark, with a tinge of pride to his voice. "I finally got the engine all buttoned up last week…it wasn't as hard to find some of the parts as I thought it would be."

Dave continued to take in the gleaming image of the Firebird. "Say…Major," he said in a low voice, "if you don't, I'll understand, but…it's been such a long time since I've caught a whiff of…well…" he made a slight motion at the car with his hand. "…can you…just for a minute…?"

Mark's smile from before slowly spread a bit more along with his pride. He turned to Melfina. "Hon? You want to? My hands are still a bit messy from the wax…"

Now Melfina's face lit into a warm smile. "Certainly," she beamed, turning to the car and walking along the left side, opening the door and sliding into the seat. There was a faint click as she turned the key – and a thick growl suddenly gripped the air of the garage as the V-8 rumbled to life, slowly settling into a slightly nervous idle.

Dave took in a long deep breath, inhaling what he regarded as automotive ambrosia. "Yeaah," he breathed, "that's the stuff…" He turned to Mark, uncurling a finger toward the vehicle. "Is that the big one?"

Mark replied in an almost bragging tone. "Yep," he said, "LS-1 V-8…350 cubic inches…aluminum block and heads…tuned-port fuel injection…all running through a six-speed tranny and limited-slip rear end."

"That's the same engine setup that was in the Corvette that year," said Dave, with Mark nodding. Dave now motioned to the open door at the back of the garage. "Might want to shut it off," he said. "Don't want to set off the hydrocarbon alarms in the house."

Mark looked back to the car. "Yeah…" He then put a hand beside his mouth. "Shut it off, 'Fina." In response, the car suddenly fell silent. "The hydrocarbon alarms are set a little higher on base, because of all the air traffic," he said, "but yeah, off base, the alarm would already be going crazy."

Dave now turned to Mark, offering his hand for a hearty shake. "Thanks for the treat, Major," he smiled. "It's good to go back once in a while…when cars actually made noise, and power was measured in horses instead of kilowatts."

"Glad you liked it," replied Mark, returning the handshake. "It seems so long ago, even though it's only been about ten years since we all went to fuel cells. The only reason I have gas for this is because they still use it in some military vehicles."

Dave nodded, then adjusted the pack on his shoulder. "Well, better get on with it," he said. "It's not going to get anything but hotter. Say, the auto show is over the weekend of the Fourth?"

"That's right," said Mark. "They're having it in a big hangar because of the heat."

"You'll see me there," Dave said as Melfina joined them. "Bye for now, Major…bye, Melfina. See you Monday."

The two waved as Dave started about halfway down the driveway, then turned toward the next house while reaching into his pack for another stack of mail chips. "Good Day, Dave," Melfina grinned as she placed the keys to the car into Mark's hand, turning to him. "'David' is a name meaning 'friend'."

Mark held up his other hand, filled with mail chips. "…Even when he brings us bills?" he quipped.

Melfina fell into a titter, brushing her hand through her thick black locks. "Yes, even then."

"'David' might mean 'friend'," said Mark, bringing his hand up to point toward the mounting morning sunlight, "but that means, 'let's get inside for the day and have some food'." He turned toward the garage, placing his hand with the mail chips around the waist of his wife as they started toward the door.

"Mark?" asked Melfina, pointing a thumb back to the outside, "Speaking of…'that'…has there been any word from anyone on base with information as to a cause for these abnormal weather conditions, or indication of how much longer they will continue?"

"Well," Mark started as he reached to tap the switch on the wall to lower the garage door, "they can't tell me everything, because of clearance, of course…but they did say that they were having a lot of trouble with their satellites because of fluctuations in the magnetic field around the Earth. They want to look at weather patterns to see if there is anything triggering all this…they're even having trouble communicating with the space stations, both in orbit and on the moon. Maybe they're seeing something from up there, but they haven't been able to get word back to Earth."

Melfina stopped at the doorway, looking to Mark. "Is there…" she started, "could there be a possibility that these events are caused by something…man-made?"

Mark thought for a second. "That might fit, if it were something more regional or localized…but this is going on all over the world. No, 'Fina...this is bigger than anything Man could come up with."

Melfina slowly laid her head against her husband's upper arm. "That is a bit comforting," she said. "The thought that it might be the plot of one of Mankind to visit this much disaster upon the planet—" her gaze now fell away and her head turned slightly downward and to the side, and her voice slid into a softer, more timid tone "—would in itself be to think of a horror of…unconscionable magnitude…"

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Wednesday, June 25th, 2025

Meridian Insurance
2:49 AM.
Kim walked through the doorway of the break room carrying two glasses of ice water and continued onto the Processing floor. She looked out over the expanse of cubes as she walked near the wall along the outside of the rows. Desk after desk held a fairly large stack of papers – unprocessed claims.

The department had been in an almost frantic state since the most recent power outage the previous week as people continued to work steadily to catch up production. There had been emergency shifts formulated over the weekend after the return of power on Friday, and most people gladly answered the call to duty after a massive campaign to contact workers with word of the shifts, knowing that their time offered now would lessen the workload at the beginning of the next week as a new wave of claims began to pour in. That flow was also increased over the past couple of weeks with people visiting doctor's offices and emergency rooms with complaints and ailments brought on by the increased heat. As another adjustment to help people deal with the distressing conditions, it was announced that workers would no longer have to bring a change of clothing to work in the office, being allowed to wear running suits, sleeveless shirts and other light fabrics as part of a greatly relaxed dress code.

Over these weekend hours, Rita had approached Kim with an idea of diverting a portion of the Processing floor to work exclusively on sorting and compiling reports from previous dates. Kim readily accepted the concept, appointing a tenth of the 250 workers to focus specifically on this task and moving Rita into the role of an interim Zone Supervisor to oversee the coordination of this team, being that she had the regular duty of formulating the daily reports, and would be a perfect fit to train these people in their new tasks.

Kim continued along the wall, turning in a couple of rows before the front of the room and in a couple of desks, setting down one of the glasses and then sitting into the chair of the cube next to it. The slender brunette at that desk turned with a smile, picking up the glass. "Thank you, Miss Kim," Rita said, pointing to a small dish on top of the short file cabinet between the desks. "They brought some more fruit by while you were gone."

Kim set down her glass and reached to pluck a grape from the dish. "Mmm," she purred, "nothing more refreshing than chilled fresh fruit." She popped the grape into her mouth, patting her fingertips against a napkin, then turning to her computer, tapping her mouse to bring the screen to life.

"Thanks for letting us set this team up, Miss Kim," said Rita. "Things are really flying with this many people doing nothing but back reports."

Kim turned to Rita. "No," she said with a smile. "Thank you for coming to me with the idea of the team, and then stepping up to lead it." Her smile then became slightly sly, as if she were offering a hint. "It's the mark of a good supervisor to think on their feet while under heat."

Rita's eyebrows raised slightly with her smile as she reached for a small chunk of melon. "Thanks," she said, a slight sheepishness to her voice. "I've never trained anyone in anything...or been in charge of anything like this. But it's fun. It's working out pretty good." The sheepishness now translated to her expression. "It...feels a little strange, though...us working together like this. It's almost as if, in a way...you're kind of working for me..."

Kim made a "pshaw" motion with her hand. "That shouldn't feel strange," she said. "It's actually nice. This is exactly what I was doing when I first started at Meridian...and I've always enjoyed the atmosphere here. I don't feel like I'm 'above' anybody by being head of the department. I feel like...like I'm just another Meridian employee...not special." Her grin now became a bit warmer. "You're pretty easy to work for, too." She then motioned to the stack of papers on top of the file cabinet, in a tray marked "Reports". "Where are we at now?"

Rita couldn't help letting her pride sneak onto her face. "I faxed Monday's reports to Los Angeles about two hours ago," she said.

"Super!" perked Kim. "I bet everyone else was pleased to know that their efforts are paying off. What did they do when you told them?"

Rita looked slightly downward. "I...I didn't tell them. I didn't know that I should..."

Kim had a slight surprised expression at this. "Oh," she said. "Well...that's something that should be shared." Her expression lightened once again into a smile. "Another mark of a good supervisor is keeping in close contact with her people—" she moved to nudge Rita's shoulder "—kind of like we are now."

Rita broke into a rather embarrassed smile at this. "So...just...tell them?" she asked cautiously.

"You bet," piped Kim.

Rita's smile continued as she slowly rose from her chair, coaxed further by a nod from Kim. She turned to the rows containing the people of her team. "Attention, Report Resolution Team," she said in a slightly raised voice. "Monday's reports have been faxed to Los Angeles." Another nod of confidence from Kim. "We are now only one day behind in the reports." She punctuated this by raising her hand slightly in a loose fist.

The people assigned to the team responded with applause and some hoots and "Yeah!" surrounded by applause from other workers nearby.

"Thanks, everyone," said Rita. "Let's keep at it. We might even be caught up by tomorrow." Another round of applause as the workers returned to their processing.

Rita slowly returned to her seat, sitting to meet Kim's wide smile. She let out a breath as Kim placed a hand to her shoulder. "Close contact with my people," she said through a slightly sheepish grin.

"And you'll find that it becomes a two-way street," said Kim. "If you communicate openly with your team, they'll return the favor...and that can help you keep closer to what's happening in the team, and what effects that has on production...both bad and good." Rita nodded slowly in response. "If these power outages keep happening," Kim added, "you'll get more practice at this." This produced a slight puzzled expression from Rita until Kim continued, "These people will reassemble as part of the Report Resolution Team after outages...and you'll automatically become their supervisor when we have to go into Catch-Up Mode."

Rita couldn't help but let go an exhale through an amazed smile. She brought a hand to her chest, feeling the quickened beating of her heart. "Ah—" she uttered, her face breaking into a wider smile. "Before this week, I—I never led anybody before...wait, I have to take that back, if you want to count me babysitting my three sisters—" she suddenly turned to Kim, throwing her arms around her "—I'll try not to let you down, Miss Kim..."

Kim returned the hug, patting Rita's back lightly. "No worries," she said. "Trust me, it gets easier. Just keep your focus on communication...that's the main thing." She then slid into a slight smirk. "Just apply some of what you used in babysitting."

Rita uttered a small giggle at this. "...But no spanking, I bet..."

Kim broke into a sudden snicker. "Right," she tittered. "No spanking." The two women now laughed softly.

Kim turned back to her screen for a moment. "Miss Kim?" asked Rita. "...Are you feeling okay?"

Kim turned her head to Rita, a slight puzzled expression on her face. "Sure," she said. "Why would you ask that?"

"I'm sorry...I just wondered," said Rita, her eyes flitting back and forth between her lap and Kim, "when we hugged, it seemed like you were very...warm...like you're running a temperature..."

Kim's face immediately switched to a relieved smile. "Oh!" she perked. "No, I'm fine...it's just that Cellers by nature are...a little warmer."

Now Rita uttered an "Oh" – but hers was accompanied by two blushing cheeks. "I'm sorry...I didn't know. I've never...hugged a Celler before. The only time I've ever felt someone that warm was when they were running a fever."

"It's okay," assured Kim. "It can take a little getting used to, the first time—"

A hand on Kim's shoulder and a voice from behind stopped her. "Are you saying my wife is hot?" quipped William.

Kim turned, looking up to her husband and Marcy just a step behind, holding up a hand in a wave. "Hi there," she smiled.

"Hi Mr. William, Miss Marcy," offered Rita. "I...didn't know about Cellers being...warmer than we are."

A silly dreamy expression floated onto William's face. "It's like hugging a summer breeze," he said, clasping his hands together at his chest.

The four burst into laughter at this. "You nutbar!" Kim giggled.

"Speaking of summer breezes," said Marcy, "Rita, would you step out onto the balcony with us for a few moments?"

Rita's eyes shifted quickly between Marcy and Kim. "Uhh – sure," she uttered.

Kim had a bit of a knowing smile as the two rose to join William and Marcy, the four then proceeding into the hallway and out through double doors onto the large brick balcony on the west side of the building, overlooking almost an acre of grass.

Kim continued across the balcony to the railing, looking out over the large manicured lawn. She placed a hand on the iron railing to lean a bit, but only left her hand against it for a few seconds. "Wow," she said, retracting her hand, turning it palm-up to look at it, then returning it to the black wrought surface, "this is still warm from today."

"Yeah," nodded Marcy. "When I go to the car to leave for work every day, I could almost swear I see steam coming out when I open the door."

"Let's...not spend the rest of the shift out here," said William.

"Right," Marcy said, turning to Rita. "Rita...we wanted to talk with you about your position here at Meridian..."

Rita's brow furrowed immediately at this. "I'm...am I...in trouble...?" she asked rather nervously.

"No!" Kim broke in. "Not at all, honey. I wouldn't offer an interim sup position to someone who was in hot water."

Rita's expression seemed to ease a bit as Marcy continued. "Anything but hot water," she said. "Your work here has been exemplary. That's part of the reason for the interim supervisor position you and Kim talked about earlier. We had a little something to do with setting that up, and based it on Kim's recommendations."

Kim now placed a hand on Rita's shoulder. "This is actually something we were working on putting together before all the craziness started with the heat and the power outages and the switched hours—"

"—And Miss Tina," Rita added softly.

This seemed to let a bit of the air out of Kim's bright mood. "...Yeah," she breathed, her eyes falling slightly. "And Miss Tina..."

William stepped in, reading Kim's expression. He turned to Rita. "What...we were thinking," he started, "was to have you continue working in the interim position during times when things get a bit behind. Then after the power stabilizes...maybe closer to fall...we'd like to get you into a training program...then after about a month, we'd move you to a first-level zone supervisor position out on the Processing floor."

Rita had no immediate reaction to this but to take in a long slow rush of breath. Her breathing became a bit quicker. "This...is this just for when the power's out...?"

"Nope," beamed Kim. "You'll be a full-fledged, full-time Level One ZS."

"And everything that comes with that position," added Marcy. "Your increase in pay would begin from your first day of training."

Rita's next breath stuttered as she huffed out a chuckle. "I...wow. I—I don't know what to say..."

Kim moved to place her arm around Rita's shoulders, her face a wide grin. "Well...'Yes' might be a good start," she said through a slight giggle.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

La Jolla
June 24th
11:51 PM
"Sorry about the walk," said Nathan as they continued down a row of the parking lot, "but this was the closest place I could find to park."

"So it really is because you were late getting in tonight," Jennifer smirked, smoothing a hand over her waist. "I didn't think it was like you to make a thinly-veiled comment about me wanting to shed a couple of pounds..."

"What?" Nathan blurted. "No! Not that...it's just that the grocery store didn't open until 9:30 tonight."

"The one near your apartment? You know, there's a grocery store fairly close to here. Could have saved you a little time..."

"Yeah, I know," Nathan said, "but they don't have the single-serving pan pizzas that I like."

"Pizz—frozen pizzas??" stuttered Jennifer. "So that's why there's a refrigerator in our office now."

"Well...not only that...but other frozen stuff...I couldn't dare let it sit in the car until lunchtime...thanks for offering to help bring it in, by the way."

"That's okay,' replied Jennifer with a bit of a smirk. "It'll be worth being out in the heat, once the Bio Lab finds out where the refrigerator for their samples went."

"Oh, that's not the Bio Lab's fridge," Nathan said. "That's a unit that was sitting empty in the basement...maybe a spare or something. I plugged it in one night and let it run, to make sure it isn't leaking, then last night I brought it up in the elevator and wheeled it in."

Jennifer breathed out a snicker. "Somehow I just knew that you would make staying at work into a lucrative venture."

"Not exactly lucrative," said Nathan with a hint of a smile. "I haven't figured out how to get free food and pop from the machines yet." This produced a louder giggle from Jennifer.

The two now approached Nathan's car, a Honda Civic HFC-C. As Nathan brought his keys from his pocket and applied one to the hatch at the rear of the 5-door vehicle, Jennifer brushed a fingertip over a light mist of perspiration that had formed at her temple. "This is the fourth week straight for this heat," she said as Nathan raised the hatch, "and I don't know how much more my family can take. Bobby hasn't played golf in over two weeks...and the kids hardly play anything anymore. They can't play outside in the dark and they don't dare go out to play in the light." She reached into the back of the car for two paper bags. "Sunday night, we tried to sit outside for a while...it was too muggy to even just sit. We were actually only out there for about ten minutes."

Nathan reached for two other bags, and a third containing a couple of magazines. "And to think my mother wanted me to take that soccer scholarship at UCLA ten years ago," he said as he brought a hand to lower the hatch, pushing it closed.

Jennifer joined him as they began the walk back to the lab building. "I asked Ted about getting some climate data," said Nathan. "I want to see if there's a weather trigger to this that's being overlooked."

"Not a bad idea," Jennifer said, "but, as you told me the night you brought in your fish...we can't really have much change or effect on what we observe. Even if you found something...you might feel...a bit helpless, having found it and not being able to do anything about it."

Nathan's walk slowed to a stop, causing Jennifer to stop, turning back to face him. "I'd feel a lot worse," he said, "if there was something to find...and I hadn't even tried."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Penn State University
June 25th
2:52 AM.
A slight breeze rustled the trees overhead as the four continued along the lighted walk leading through the campus grounds to the front of the administration building – Frannie leading the way, wearing a light t-shirt and shorts, her hair arranged into a large, loose bun at the back of her head; Monique in much the same type of outfit, her hair pulled back; Kimi waving her bangs from her face with an occasional shake of her head, dressed in shorts and a dark t-shirt with a small silhouette of a swan over the left chest; and a broad-shouldered, well-built young man about six inches taller than Kimi with well-tanned skin taut over his toned muscles. His head was adorned with a long spill of jet-black hair, usually flowing in a chorus of waves and loose curls over his shoulders and back, but tonight was gathered into a rather chaotic ponytail. He was dressed in mid-length jean shorts and a t-shirt which conformed to his physique as if it had been molded to him. The shirt bore a pun on the front, "Alcohol? I'll have Nun, Chuk". Each of them carried a suitcase and a small backpack except for Kimi and the man, who each had an extra bag about four feet long resembling a slender duffel bag, with a carry strap down the side.

The quartet made their way along the side of the two-story administration structure and onto the massive expanse of its front lawn, heading to join a crowd of about 500 people who were gathered there, awaiting transportation from the campus. As they approached the crowd, they stopped at a table set up next to the sidewalk about 25 feet back from the curb of a long drive lined with bright overhead lights. A box mounted on a pole above the table held signs on each side, reading "Information". A woman wearing a visor on her head and carrying a clipboard met them as they neared the table. "Hi," she said. "Where are you headed?"

Nearly in unison, the four answered, "Eastgate."

The woman gave a slight nod and flicked a switch on her visor to turn on a small light on the side of the brim. She brought up her clipboard, looking for a few seconds. "Okay," she said, "the buses should be here any minute. You're going to want Bus Number Eight." She then brought up a hand, motioning across the crowd. "It'll be down toward that end." Frannie turned her head, shading her eyes as she looked toward the far end of the drive.

Kimi smiled at the woman. "Thanks," she said, hefting her hand holding her long bag. She then turned, starting in the direction the woman had indicated. "Let's go wait for a bus, guys." The other three also began walking in that direction.

As they moved across the crowd, they noticed people congregating in groups, also waiting for their transportation. Some were spread onto blankets, relaxing on the relative coolness of the grass; others were in a mix of sitting and lying on the grass, talking and sharing their thoughts about the increased heat, and adjustments they would have to make to their summer plans – or breaking them – because of it.

"Can't wait," the young man in the group grinned as the three pulled abreast of Kimi. "Soon we'll be on an air-conditioned bus cruising through the night...it'll be Nap City for a couple hours until we get home. Then I'll be all charged to unpack."

Kimi's head swiveled suddenly to him. "You...kid? Tell me you kid...so all about kid. You're going to be on a bus with 50 other people happy about getting through finals and getting out of school after a month of Hell-temperatures and living like bats. Laughing...singing...all about not an atmosphere for nappage."

Monique had moved to Kimi's right. She also looked to the man, a rather doubtful expression on her face. "What," she said, "A rolling escape party, and Zach is talking about napping??"

"On the second half of the trip, maybe," added Frannie. "That's when people usually settle down and start watching the miles roll by...sitting quietly..." She reached behind Zach to give Kimi a small push on the shoulder "...cuddling with favs..."

A smile grew across Kimi's face in agreement as she moved to nudge her shoulder against Zach's. "It's all about that's the play," she grinned. "Party now...cuddle later."

"Ki!!"

A voice rang out from across the crowd. The four turned as a girl raced through the crowd from near the drive, waving as she crossed the grass, her short blonde hair fluttering behind her ears as she ran.

Kimi placed her bags on the ground and turned as the girl ran up, her arms outstretched to take her into a hug. "Hey Chris!" she said as they embraced.

"I'm so glad I saw you before you left," said Chris rather excitedly. "I wanted to tell you how killer it was being in Inter-Environmental Studies with you this year. I really learned a lot about Cellers and their world."

"It was pretty diamond," Kimi beamed, "but you have to remember, it's 'environment'. We all live in the same world...just different environments."

Chris uttered a short grunt of frustration as she brought her hand to the side of her forehead. "Environment...right. I didn't say I had it all down yet. In fact, I wouldn't have gotten as good a grade as I did this semester without you and Monique helping me."

Kimi's face shifted to a wide beam. "Always glad to help out."

Now Chris' face slid into a wider grin. "As a matter of fact, it's because of you guys and that class that I quit drinking at parties on the weekends."

Kimi's eyes lit up as she reached to trade a high-five with the young blonde. "Extra diamond!" she exclaimed.

"I'd better be getting back with my group," said Chris. "There's only one bus back to St. Louis, and I don't want to miss it. It's going to take two days—err, nights, but it will be good to be home." She again brought Kimi into a hug. "Thanks for everything," she said, then turned to Monique, embracing her as well. "Both of you. Have as good a summer as you can...hope this heat dies down so we can enjoy it." She then started back toward the group she had come from, exchanging waves. "Bye guys, and thanks again!"

Monique turned to Kimi as she was gathering her luggage. "Neat girl," she said. "I remember how eager you said she was at the start of class this year...and how cool she was when she and I met for the first time."

"Yeah," echoed Kimi as she hefted her cases from the ground. "She had never actually met a Celler before meeting you...but she watched the thing at the Mall years ago on TV. She said it helped to condition her a little bit, and really got her eager to meet one."

Monique nodded in response. "I remember that day...you brought disks of it for the class to watch. I wish I had been there in Eastgate to see it when it happened."

Kimi's face slid into a slightly dreamy smile at recollection of the event. "Even after all these years, it's all about neat to share, and watch peoples' faces as they watch."

The group's attention was taken from the subject as a cheer rose from the far end of the crowd. Headlights swung across the front of the building as the first of a parade of large motor coaches began to pull onto the drive.

"Now that's what I want to share," piped Zach as he began to move toward the crowd. The three women also started in that direction.

Frannie turned to look back toward the campus as they continued walking. "So long, Penn State," she said. "See you in the fall...hope the fall lives up to its name, and brings cooler weather."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Wednesday, June 25th, 2025

Midnight, La Jolla, California
"I always ask for paper. I never trusted plastic bags...especially with things like pop, or eggs or—"

3 AM, Eastgate, Pennsylvania
"It might come a little easier, after watching Miss Kim all these—"

3 AM, University Park, Pennsylvania
"Yeah, this is Number Eight. Ki and the others have seats near the back. I'm just loading up the bags and then I'm—"

3 AM, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
"...I could not think of such a heavy lunch. I had Ramen with mixed—"

//

Each of these conversations was slashed into silence by a sudden burst of bright light racing from the horizon and tearing across the sky in a jagged wave, obliterating the dark cloak of night and illuminating the entire view above in a hazed brilliance similar to the grayish-white of a thinly overcast day. The light was solid in its coverage, yet moved in swirling waves across the sky, whirling and roiling without texture or pattern – a living liquid blank canvas of light.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Penn State
Zach looked up from the side of the bus as he was loading a suitcase into the luggage compartment, flooded by the light from overhead. "...Whoa..." he breathed as he raised a hand to shield his eyes.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

La Jolla
Jennifer and Nathan stopped in their tracks as they started up the walk to the lab building, startled as the sudden light washed over them. "What the..." Nathan stuttered, one of his bags slipping from his hand to the ground.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Eastgate
Rita jumped with a bit of a start then dipped slightly, throwing her arms over her head as the night around them disappeared. The others brought up their hands to shield their eyes from the sudden brightness.

"Oh, what is this now!?" said Marcy.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Willow Grove
Melfina dropped the towel she was holding, slowly backing away from the window over the sink as the light broke into the kitchen. "Mark...?" she said into the phone, still moving backward, her voice a mix of the soft drone of trepidatious wonder and an icy shard of fear. "Mark?"

:::I see it, 'Fina::: returned Mark, his tone indicating he, too was witnessing the sudden atmospheric change.

Melfina's eyes were wide with a growing alarm as her hand holding the phone began to shake. "Mark? Mark, what is happening?? This light..."

:::I'm not sure. I'll make a call over to the Weather Center...see if they can tell me anything:::

Melfina continued staring out the window as she now neared the kitchen table, bumping it slightly. "Mark, this light...it almost looks—"

:::Just sit tight...I'll be home in just a bit. Stay inside and stay back from the windows, just to be safe:::

Melfina turned away from the window and toward the table. Her eyes grew wider and she gasped suddenly as she caught sight of the table and the wall it sat against. She brought her free arm up, turning it slowly as she continued staring at the wall. "Mark?" she stammered. "Mark, I—I have no—"

:::Just stay inside...go into the garage if you want to, there are no windows there. I'm gnnng to mzzk m cffplf uf clzz nnd ll—rvv hhvfff—:::

"Mark? Mark!?" Melfina's voice grew with desperation as the fuzz from the earpiece melted Mark's words into a haze of constant static. She turned back to the window, clutching the phone to her chest as she started for the door to the garage, her expression now accented with a tear as the lights in the kitchen began to flicker.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Penn State
3:02 AM.
Heads craned at windows along with students still outside the buses as the sky overhead came alive with light, producing gasps and other expressions of surprise. Zach continued his gaze at the happening, slowly rising to his feet.

A knocking from one of the windows caused Zach to turn around to face the bus, meeting Kimi's face. She swept her hand inward quickly several times, indicating he board the coach. Zach nodded and quickly crouched to load two of their bags still on the ground into the luggage compartment, then rose and turned toward the door at the front of the bus.

Inside, the bus was awash in a buzz of conversation over the sudden change in the sky. "He could have left the bags," Kimi huffed through a breath of exasperation. "I wanted him in here now, out of whatever that is."

"Chill, Ki," said Monique. "He's getting on now."

"What's that light?" another student spoke up. "Did we just flip to the day side??"

"That's not daylight," said a student behind her, looking through the window at the strange occurrence. "Daylight would be brighter, unless it's cloudy. I don't see any clouds."

"I don't even see any sun," said the student next to the young girl who spoke first.

"Well, duh," the one behind her said. "Which way are the shadows going?"

The girl who spoke first turned slightly from the window. "What...shadows..." she said slowly. This caused several of the other students to lean toward the windows again, peering out over the campus and those still not aboard a bus. Some inside the bus waved their arms slowly in front of them over the seats and their clothes in response, noticing much the same eerie effect.

"That's easy then," the one from behind said. "The sun must be directly overhead."

"No," she girl replied. "There's no shadows...anywhere." Several more students moved to the windows upon hearing this.

"What...is going on..." Frannie said quietly, her eyes riveted to the scene outside. "Light...without shadow? It's like...it's coming from all angles."

"It's a good thing we have any kind of light at all," Kimi said, motioning to the light poles lining the drive, which were now flickering and intermittently going off for several seconds. "Power's going out again."

Zach had boarded the bus and was now moving down the aisle, dipping now and again to peer through windows as he passed them. "Everything's loaded," he said as he approached the others, turning to tap Kimi on the leg as he slid into the seat next to her, motioning outside. "Why so frantic?"

Kimi turned from the window. "Because I don't know what that is," she shot back in a quick tone. "With all the crazy things going on the last month with the heat and the power and everything, and all of a sudden it's all about light up like daytime in the middle of the night and I don't know if it's radiation or frying you out there or what—"

"I don't think it's radiation," Zach replied, reaching a hand to gather Kimi's. "Radiation is like, hot...and I didn't feel any hotter out there...and besides," he said, his mouth slipping into a slight grin, "the light's in here, too...so you'd be 'frying' if I was." His expression further widened. "It's nice that you care that much, though."

Now Kimi's face softened into a smile as well, her hand turning to take Zach's. "Well...you're all about know that part already," she said.

"There go the lights," came a voice from near the front of the bus.

Kimi and Zach and the rest returned to the windows. The lights on the overhead poles were dark, as was the indoor lighting that had illuminated several of the windows of the administration building.

"Let the school be dark," another student said. "They've got all summer to work on it...but we're going HOME!!"

The student's last shouted word, emphasized with a fist raised into the air, sent the entire bus into loud cheers – save for a couple of students at the very front seat of the bus, who were watching as the driver went through a sequence of flipping a switch on the dash and holding down a large button above it for a few seconds. As the cheering slowly died down, more and more peoples' attention turned to the driver's actions, originally in anticipation of the bus's first motion toward their home – but now shifting toward curious study as they watched him, his time-roughened and mechanic-grizzled hand repeating the procedure; flip the switch, hold down the button. Flip the switch, hold down the button.

As the bus continued to melt into a strange silence, one student leaned forward. "What's up?" he asked the driver.

"Don't know," replied the driver in a somewhat perplexed and resigned tone as he tried the sequence again. "It just quit." He then rose from his seat, moving to the doors. "Be right back," he said.

Students watched as the driver walked toward the rear of the bus. "Now what," said Frannie, "now the bus is out, too??"

"It's probably okay," Monique said as they heard the driver open a panel at the rear of the vehicle. "He's checking something back there. Probably just something minor he has to reset."

Students looking out the windows watched a man from another bus walking past theirs to join their driver at the back of their bus. A moment later they both walked along the bus, the other man standing at the bottom of the stairs while the driver stepped into the vehicle. He returned to his seat, turning a bit to his left to take a walkie-talkie mounted on a clip under the side window. The mass of students on the bus remained rather quiet as he flipped a switch on the device while bringing it near his mouth. "Five-Thirteen, Central," he said, then lifted his finger from the transmit button, listening as the radio returned a soft but nervous static, broken and splashed with short bursts of buzzing. "Five-Thirteen, Central," the driver said again, releasing the button. The walkie-talkie again emitted nothing but static and spotty buzzing.

The driver then turned to the man standing at the stairs, shaking his head slightly. The man responded with a nod, then stepped off the stair and started toward the administration building.

The driver replaced the walkie-talkie on its clip and swiveled in his seat, laying one arm over the back of the seat and swinging his legs to the right, turning his head to face the passengers. "Sorry kids," he said, "but we're going to have to exit the bus. It's not going anywhere tonight."

This was met with a chorus of groans and "Aww, man" from the students. A young man near the front asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know," replied the driver, his expression one that expressed some of the same frustration growing on a few of the student's faces. "The batteries are fully charged, but I'm not getting any power from the fuel cells."

"So we're getting on one of the other buses?"

The driver looked out the windshield, then back to the students. He hesitated for a few seconds, as if deciding if what he found out from the other man should be what he told them. "No," he dodged, "...I don't think any of the others will have the room...they're going to other places, anyway."

"How are we going to get home?" another asked, this echoed by a few in several places throughout the bus. "It didn't sound like your radio is even working."

"You're right, it's out too," said the driver. He then motioned a hand in the direction of the man who had just left. "Maury is going into the building to call our dispatch," he said. "We'll have some other buses here within a couple of hours." His face then, for the first time in several minutes, moved into a grin. "Then you'll really be on your way home." This launched another hearty cheer from the passengers, who were beginning to rise from their seats and make their way to the door. "Don't forget to get your bags from the cargo compartment," he added. "That'll save time when the fresh buses get here."

The students continued to file up the aisle, a few of them starting a low chant as they shuffled to the door – "Our bus...our bus...our bus is broken down..."

Monique stepped off the bus onto the sidewalk of the drive, followed by Frannie, Kimi and Zach. They immediately noticed that things were a bit quieter than moments before, almost as if the strange light that came from overhead had brought on that silence.

Zach brought an arm around Kimi as they exited the bus. "See?" he grinned, bringing his other hand upward to motion into the sky. "No frying."

Kimi responded with a slightly sarcastic grin of her own. "And no shadows."

Frannie stretched out an arm, looking to the concrete under her. "It's almost like being in an office," she said, turning her hand over slowly, "under fluorescent lights...but even in there, there's a bit of shadow..."

They turned to their right, moving toward the middle of the bus as one of the other students was unlatching the door to the luggage compartment, low on the side of the coach. Zach moved to help, taking bags from the student and either setting them on the sidewalk or handing them to people as they came forward to identify and claim them.

Frannie looked to the bus behind theirs. There were students also emerging from that bus, filing out onto the sidewalk. "Is that bus not running either?" she asked. "What are the chances of two—"

She was stopped by Kimi's hand on her shoulder. She turned to Kimi – then looked further up the drive, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Each of the seven buses ahead of theirs were engaged in the same procedure as theirs, people coming off the coaches, some from each bus unloading their respective luggage compartments. Frannie brought her open jaw upward. "They...they're all not working..."

Monique snapped her fingers. "I thought the driver said 'buses'," she said. "I heard him right."

The man who had gone into the administration building now approached the growing crowd, a few students taking notice of his quickened pace. He approached the bus he had stepped from, moving inside to talk with the driver in a moment of hushed conversation. Now they both came down the steps from the bus.

One of the students asked, "Is the new bus on the way?"

"Not yet," he replied, as the other man began walking toward the people who had been aboard the bus behind theirs. He then turned to more of the crowd. "Listen," he said, "...the phones in the building are out, too." An expression of frustration returned to his face, this time mixed with a wrinkled brow of uncertainty. "Does...anyone have a working cell phone on them so we can try to contact our dispatch?"

This caused a second of surprise and even a small bit of uncertainty to wash over the people standing near the bus – then hands moved in reaction, reaching into pockets or purses to retrieve their devices. Many people around the driver opened their phones, bringing them to their ears – then almost as if orchestrated, those people started turning to the driver and each other, uttering "I don't have a dial tone" or "No service."

"Okay," said the driver, moving in the direction of the crowd outside the bus ahead of theirs. "I'll check some others. Be right back."

Frannie now turned to Monique, standing close. "No buses," she started barely above a whisper, her eyes cast downward, "no power...no phones...and this freaky sky thing with no shadow." She lifted her eyes again. "What is going on...?"

"I don't know," Monique replied, raising her eyes to the silvery atmosphere, "but I know I'm not likin' it..."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Eastgate
One of the double doors to the balcony was opened quickly by a zone supervisor with a desperate look on her face, her arm outstretched, holding the door. She was stopped for a split second as her eyes caught the change of the sky – then returned to the four near the railing. "It's happening again," she said rather breathlessly. "It's bad this time."

Kim and Marcy exchanged a quick look. "Let's get inside," said Kim, starting for the door, followed closely by the three others. As she neared the door, she turned to the woman who had come out. "Are people saving their work and shutting down their stations?"

The woman gave a shudder as if she were shivering, followed by a quick shake of her head. "N-no," she said. "We can't..."

This caused Kim to give a quick look back to Marcy and William, whose expressions echoed her sudden added shard of concern at the woman's statement. It also quickened their pace a little as they moved down the hall to the entrance to the Processing floor. The sounds reached them before they reached the open doors.

Over the vast expanse of the floor, computer screen displays had melted into the fuzzy, hazed snow of static. Terminals were not responding to any keyboard or mouse input from their operators, who were already beginning to show the frustration over the cold-shoulders from their machines.

Kim flashed her head back to the zone supervisor who had called to them as she approached a row of cubicles. "Has anyone called Data Ops to tell them we have no connection to the servers and no way to save work locally?"

A woman seated at one of the cubicles picked up the handset of her phone, holding it in Kim's direction. "Good luck with that," she said. Her point was immediately evident as she held the phone out, the hiss of static on the line coming from the earpiece even heard from a few feet away.

A woman seated next to her held up her small blue cell phone which was emitting much the same hiss. "No cells, either," she said.

Kim quickly turned back to the zone supervisor. "Make sure the other zone sups have their flashlights," she said in a low voice. "We're probably headed for another—"

She swallowed the rest of her sentence as the large room was suddenly engulfed in total darkness. The hiss that was heard just a second before was buried as sound replaced light, an outbreak of shrieks and short screams puncturing the blackness.

Kim's hand flashed to her waist and grabbed her flashlight. Around the room, many people were doing the same, thin beams of light beginning to bathe the room in a weak glow. Kim swung her light around, minding not to shine it directly in anyone's face. She caught William's chest as he was bringing up his own flashlight, which he immediately turned on to Marcy, who had produced her light as well.

"I have a flashlight, but it's in my purse," said Rita.

"Let's find that," said Kim, moving her light to the end of the row of cubicles and walking slowly in that direction, with Rita close behind. They walked along the row, both her and Rita's hand sliding along the top of each cubicle as they passed for stability. C'mon, emergency lights, thought Kim. More beams began to burst forth as people turned on their own flashlights. The scene became a sort of optic chaos with now dozens of dancing beams of light, the numbers growing by the second. This is where the memo about bringing your own flashlight is going to pay off, Kim thought as they turned the corner at the end of the row.

"Everybody listen up," Marcy called out. "Let's start to make our way to the doors and out into the hallway, same as before. Those of you with your own lights, help your zone supervisors to light the way. Keep your lights pointed down low, we don't need to blind anyone."

Kim now returned down the row toward the group, Rita behind her, her flashlight moving in short swaths across the floor ahead of her. William brought up his beam to show that Rita had a coworker in tow who was without her own light. "Still no emergency lighting," Kim remarked.

"The generator is designed to kick in automatically when the power goes out," said Marcy. "maybe they're having to start it manually this time."

"That would fit in with everything else that's been going haywire lately," added William, "why not the generator too?"

"We should be getting ahead of the group," Marcy said, "especially for the trip down the stairs."

"We can bring up the rear," Kim offered.

William turned for he and Kim to exchange a quick kiss. "Meet up with you outside," he said.

Marcy turned again to the assemblage of workers. "Okay, let's head toward the doors...go slow, take your time...those with flashlights, light the way for others. We'll meet you at the doors to the stairway."

Kim now turned to Rita and the coworker she had brought along. "Is there anything you need to get from your desk?"

Rita swung her light to a small purse in her other hand. "I have everything," she said. She then moved the light to her coworker, who brought up her own purse.

"I need to stop by my office for my stuff," Kim said, "and we're good." The three then started cautiously along the wall, stopping at the doorway to Kim's office. She ducked inside for a moment, the beam of her light dancing about her desk; she then emerged to join with Rita and the other woman. "Away we go," Kim chirped with a slight attempt at a lighter tone to her voice. The three then moved in the direction of the doors to the hallway, still at a rather slow pace in the unfamiliar low light of the flashlights. Emergency lighting would be good anytime now, Kim thought as they joined with the rear of the crowd of workers moving toward and through the doorway. This many people moving down flights of stairs would be much better with the little marker lights next to each step.

They were greeted by an eerie scene as they left the Processing floor and entered the large hall. To Kim it looked like a strange party with no music – any soundtrack that might contain a steady pounding beat replaced this night by the steady buzz of people recounting their actions and thoughts the moment the Processing floor was plunged into its current frightening darkness.

Hundreds of wands of light danced mostly among the floor as the mass of people continued toward the stairs, but some beams were leaping onto the walls and ceiling, some flittering on the metal emergency lighting fixtures, still unlit as the crowd grew with people from upper floors and other departments. It was almost to Kim as if they were wishing to feed some of that energy through the beams to coax the large floodlamps to life. Too bad they're not like streetlights, Kim thought as she watched the play of beams. Those come on automatically when it starts to get dark.

...when they have power, that is.

Go Go Gadget Generator.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

La Jolla
12:03 AM.
"Was it the eggs?"

"Nope...pizzas. They're sturdy. I think you have the eggs, actually."

Jennifer raised one of her bags a bit and turned it slightly, trying to ascertain the shape of the gentle bulges against the side of the paper as Nathan regathered his load. "Let's get inside," he said, moving his eyes to scan part of the sky. "Maybe we can get some preliminary readings on this...maybe someone has something for us on mail or the phone."

They once again started up the walk toward the front door to their facility. Jennifer placed one bag on the walk gently, then straightened, taking a card on a cord around her neck and swiping it through a reader next to the door. Her brow lowered as she got no response from the magnetic lock system. She swiped her card again, then a third time. "Nothing," she sighed.

She glanced to Nathan, who had already placed one of his bags on the walk and was pulling his key ring from his pocket, singling out one with a round barrel and inserting it into a small receptacle next to the reader slot. "If the card reader's out, that probably means we're without power for the moment," he said as he gave the key a turn to the right. A click answered from inside the frame of the door as the mechanical lock retracted.

Jennifer pulled on the handle to open it. "The generators should have kicked in by now," she said, slightly puzzled.

"Even if they did," said Nathan, bending to retrieve his bag, "the building is designed to be 'fail secure'. In a power interruption, all the perimeter maglocks are shut off. The mechanical bolts go into lockdown mode until they're reset. The only way in is with a key." Jennifer held the door open as Nathan entered the now-powerless glassed entryway, lit only by the sky from outside. He gave a bit of a smirk. "It helps to get to know about the place in which you live," he said, "no matter how temporary."

Jennifer shifted one of her bags to under her arm, then reached to a pocket in her mid-length skirt, pulling out a small flashlight and training the beam along the hallway. "I'm glad your new home has UPS backup for the computers," she said.

"Well, I probably won't have net access," said Nathan, "but I can get some instruments outside and take some elementary readings on what's going on up there."

"Might just be something local...lighting up the cloud base?" Jennifer said in a half-asking tone.

Nathan stopped, turning to Jennifer and tipping one of his bags back in the direction of the door. "I saw the leading edge of that when it came over," he said. "It's much higher than clouds...which leads me to believe it's bigger than something local." He then turned back to the hallway. "Let's get this stuff loaded," he said. "The fridge will keep things for a while without power...not sure what to do with the fish, though...I might have to try and keep the water clean manually...maybe adapt one of the UPS units to the filter equipment, once we get the computers shut down..."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Penn State
3:18 AM.
Zach had gathered their luggage into a sort of row, each case leaning against the next, the long duffel bags leaning on either side. Kimi sank slowly, sitting on the top edge of her suitcase. "Might as well settle in a little," she said, placing an arm over Frannie's shoulders as she sat onto the case next to hers. "Looks like it could be all about a bit of a wait for the next buses."

Monique raised a hand to point up the line of buses. "Here comes our driver," she said. "Maybe he found a phone that works." Frannie turned in response, but instead of looking to where she was pointing, she looked to the ground under Monique's outstretched arm and shaking her head slightly at the lack of shadow there.

The others turned to watch the driver approaching through the crowd of students along the walk. About 30 feet from their bus, he was intercepted by a member of the staff from the administration building who stopped him, and they conversed for a moment. The staff member then turned in the direction of the front of the bus line while the driver started again toward his bus. "Hi again, kids," he greeted, his face still harboring the tint of frustration at lack of control over the immediate situation.

"Any luck on finding a working phone?" asked one of the students.

The driver let out a small sigh and reached to slide a hand over the back of his neck. "Not yet."

Frannie lifted her head to the driver. "There's...no working phones...anywhere around here?"

"That's the bad news," the driver said. "We're—we might be here for a while...until we can reach dispatch for more buses, or get a repair crew here to fix these." He then turned to more of his former passengers as they closed in a bit to listen. "The good news," the driver continued, "is that campus administration is setting up some room inside their building for people to stay, and to store their belongings, in case this drags out for more than a day."

Conversation started among the students as a series of loud groans of disappointment came from a group of students a few buses up the line, after having been relayed the same message about their immediate future.

Frannie suddenly rose from her seat on the suitcases. "What about people who have dorm rooms reserved for next semester?" she asked. "couldn't we stay there instead?"

"Probably best to talk with the staff," the driver said. "I'm hoping that the wait won't be near that long. One of our guys will be going into town to see if they can find a working phone."

At this, Monique and Kimi's heads snapped to each other. "Let's see if Gwen is still here!" blurted Monique.

Kimi leapt from her suitcase seat. "All about on it!" she let out in an excited shriek and tore for the door to the administration building, with Monique following, albeit at a somewhat slower trot.

Zach let out an exhale of a laugh. "Kids..." he muttered.

Frannie gave a quick giggle as she turned to settle onto her suitcase again. "I hope we can go back to the room," she said, "but anything is better than being out here when the sun comes up."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Eastgate
As the last of the crowd filed down the staircase to the First Floor and into the main lobby, Kim was met with a rather welcome sight which brought a slight wave of relief; the large glass atriums at either end of the lobby allowed the entire floor to be awash in the light from the strange phenomenon outside. People were extinguishing their flashlights as they moved out into the lobby, also expressing their relative relief at the increased light, even if unnatural.

As they started toward the South Atrium, Kim caught sight of William standing near the inner doors of the vestibule. Another good thing about a tall husband, Kim chuckled inwardly. Hard to lose in a crowd. Nearer to the entrance, Kim also saw Marcy, who was a few feet away, looking through the windows at the brightened sky outside. "Hi guys," Kim said with a wave.

"Hi there," grinned William. "Good to see you made it down the stairs without incident." A puzzled look crossed Kim's face.

"There were a couple of people near the front of the crowd who stumbled in the staircase," Marcy said, looking back from the window. "One got skinned up pretty bad." Kim took in an inhale through her teeth as her mouth screwed into a wince. "Someone is tending to them at the Information Desk," said Marcy. "It's good that there's light to be able to do that."

Rita pointed to the floor behind Marcy. "Did you see this, Miss Kim?" she asked in a soft, rather curious tone. "Miss Marcy doesn't have a shadow anymore." Kim's eyes widened and her brow furrowed slightly as she looked to the floor, noting the lack of shading even though light was bathing all of them from outside.

"Marcy pointed that out when we first came down here," said William, looking up from the floor to his wife.

"I thought it looked almost like the light that comes from a Cross," added Marcy, "like when Ki came through, back at the mall? Except, it's nowhere near that bright—" she looked down over her blue running suit "—and my clothes aren't turning white..."

Kim's eyes shifted to the floor behind her husband, then to Rita. She then held out her arm, looking to the floor where at least some indication of her shape should appear, given that the light was only coming from outside. "Y-yeah," she admitted reluctantly, still with a shred of denial to her tone, "that's...weird..."

Rita now turned to look through the glass of the atrium. "No—" she stammered, "—nobody has any shadow...nothing does." She suddenly turned back to Kim, motioning a finger outside. "Something's happening out there,"

The others turned to the windows looking out over the South entrance, where the workforce had assembled after leaving the building. Throughout the crowd, activity had picked up, with people talking at a rather frantic pace, some thrusting arms into the air, pointing to the same place in the sky.

Marcy quickly turned for the doors "C'mon," she said.

The others followed Marcy through the doors into the heat of the now-bright night. As they stepped out onto the concrete of the entrance, they looked for a second over the crowd, still talking at a heightened pace – then they looked upward to where the crowd was pointing, about a mile to the east—

An airplane.

An X-49 Stratoliner, king of sky and space, able to transport people anywhere on the face of the Earth or into the outer reaches of the atmosphere and even to the Space Station in smooth comfort at speeds up to 16,000 miles per hour—

The proud hypersonic shark airfoil was now falling helplessly out of the sky like a large metal leaf, slave to the forces of the air that tipped the powerless aircraft one way then another as it fluttered in a silent, seemingly slow descent.

Voices continued to spring from the crowd. "He's not pulling up" "Is that out near the airport?" "it's not running...I don't hear any engines" "God help those people..."

"It's...it's coming almost straight down," Rita said slowly, her eyes transfixed on the falling ship.

Marcy reached for Rita's hand, feeling her grip warmly. "Dios está con ellos," she breathed as they watched the craft continue its plummet.

Some voices raised in pitch and pace as the plane neared the ground; others fell silent – yet most eyes remained fixed on the surreal sight.

Rita turned away and thrust herself into Marcy's arms, burying her face against her shoulder. "Nnn-noo-oo..." she drew out, her voice melting into a whimper.

The plane disappeared behind the jutting Eastgate skyline – then a low, deep sickening thud rumbled through the air followed by a large black fireball blooming into the sky from beyond the buildings. Even though it was almost expected from the motion of the airship's fall to earth, the explosion brought a huge gasp from the crowd, mixed with shrieks of horror at the noise and flame.

Rita began to weep deeply in Marcy's arms, heaving against her embrace. "Tha-at plane was fa-ALL-ing like a-STO-nnne," she cried against Marcy's shoulder. "Those people—didn't—have a—ch-ANNce..."

Kim's heart also went out to the victims of the crash as her mind recalled her time aboard one of the supersonic craft years ago. She turned to William, taking his arms into hers. "Over 200 lives..." she said, looking slightly downward, her head in a series of slight shakes as if part of her were denying what she had just witnessed, "just...snuffed out like...like candles—" her mouth soured as her voice trailed off, and her eyes closed as she slowly leaned onto her husband's chest.

Rita now pulled her head back from Marcy, their eyes meeting, Rita's face streaked from her tears running her light shade of mascara. "Miss Marcy?" she sniffled. "Be—be mad if you want...but between another power outage, and the weird things the sky is doing...and after what I just saw...I think I'm going to have to be done being here today..."

Marcy took a glance past Rita for a second at the rising column of thick black smoke from the crash – then looked into Rita's eyes, she herself feeling a bit of the mix of confusion, shock and fear she was sure she was reading in the expression of the slender brunette. "Mad?" she questioned. "After this...I couldn't be mad." A slight conciliatory smile now crossed her face. She moved a thumb to brush a tear from the corner of Rita's eye. "In fact...I'm going to count what you just said as your first executive decision – and it's a good one." She then turned to Kim, saying nothing, but bringing her arm up and turning it to tip her watch forward.

3:31 AM.

Kim didn't even have to read the face of the watch to know what thought Marcy was conveying. Her eyes slightly glassy, she nodded in a quick, slight motion and uttered a single word of response: "Absolutely."

Marcy returned a nod of her own, then turned quickly to look over the crowd of workers, cupping her hands to her mouth. "Everybody listen up! Listen up! It's late in the shift...let's all go home for the day." The workers reacted with a range of welcome agreements from nods to some applause, even some vocalized "thank you"s. Marcy clasped her hands together in front of her. "Okay, same as we've been doing. Call before your shift tomorrow to find out if we have power...but for now, let's head away from here. Being at home has got to be safer than sitting close to the airport in the middle of downt—"

"Look!!!"

The voice that cut Marcy short came from near the front of the crowd, and the sharp cry from the young man was emphasized by his arm thrust into the air, his finger pointing skyward – but this time, more near directly overhead. His action was nearly instantly accompanied by an outbreak of screams as people looked upward—

Another plane plunging from the sky.

The screams rose as the rest of the crowd realized the new horror from above. They now scattered, some running toward the parking lot, some even toward the building; but most fled across the grounds to the east or west of the entrance.

Rita once again dove into Marcy's embrace, her cry of fear growing into a scream. "Pull up, pull up, PULL UUUP!!!"

As they neared the end of the block that Meridian stood on, some of the workers turned back, looking at the plane as it continued its descent. "Wait, wait!" some yelled. "It's not going to hit us!" "It's going across the street!"

Kim clutched tightly onto William's upper arms, staring in disbelief as the large arrowhead shape passed overhead without a sound other than a deep whoosh from its sleek shape slicing through the air. The plane began to yaw to the left as it passed less than 500 feet over the multi-lane street in front of the insurance building. The leading edge of the left wing burst into flame as it slammed into a financial building across the street at about the 28th floor, carving a deep swath like a huge scythe through the side of the steel structure. The craft immediately careened from the impact, tumbling topside into the face of a shorter building to the south, both it and the plane disappearing into a blossoming storm of smoke and flame, the explosion tearing through the air. Another burst of horrified screams sprang from the crowd now scattered across the Meridian grounds.

Rita's eyes were wide with terror as she pulled back from Marcy. "I wanna go home, I wanna GO HOME!" she screamed.

"Go!" returned Marcy, her own face filled with shock and fear. She turned quickly to the crowd, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Everybody get out! Go now! Go HOME!!"

Rita's breaths came short and hard as she took a quick, desperate glance at Marcy, then Kim – and tore away from the entrance, racing down the stairs and over the large concrete area toward the parking lot, digging into her loose sweatpants for her keys as she ran. She was quickly joined by other workers pouring onto the lot, dashing for their vehicles.

Marcy watched the movement for a few seconds – then turned to Kim and William, still arm in arm, who looked back from the exodus on the grounds and the path of fiery destruction across the street. "I think you two should head out, too," she said. "The security staff can secure the building and assist the people who need a ride home. I'm going to try to make a call to Lupe` and see how things are over near the restaurant." She looked at Kim a bit closer. "You...really need to go. You're not looking so hot..."

Kim closed her eyes slightly, bringing up a hand in short swipes in front of her. "Nah," she said. "Just with everything that's happened this morning, it's just...taking a bit to process it all..."

Marcy tried to mask her skepticism as she continued to study the color of Kim's face. "Still...I'd feel better if you went on home. This area is going to get busy with all the fire trucks and rescue equipment...and the less people here when that starts, the better." And why aren't there any sirens from the first crash, she finished in thought.

Kim brought a hand up to slide over the side of her neck. "Are...are you sure you don't need me here?"

"Heck, they don't even need me here, really," said Marcy. "The security staff has been through enough of these outages that they have a routine down pat. They can have this building locked down within about 15 minutes. I'm only going inside to try that call, and then I'm out of here, too. Security can contact me later if the police need to know anything from us." She then moved to give Kim and William each a quick hug. "Go home and be safe. That's what I have planned. I'll swing by the restaurant, and I'll call you when I'm home."

The three then exchanged a quick "goodnight," and Marcy turned to walk back into the building. As she did, Kim turned back to William. His expression slid into one of inquisitiveness mixed with a slight concern as he noticed a bit of the color had left her face. "I didn't want to say anything right away," he said, "but she's right. You look a little....peaked. Do you feel okay?"

Kim's own expression now filtered a bit more toward the truth, her brow furrowing slightly. "I...didn't want to tell Marcy...you know how she worries about things, and right now, she's got enough to worry about...but...I don't know, it's kind of strange, but the last few minutes, I do feel a little...run down. I still think it's from dealing with all this at once..."

"Good enough reason to follow her advice," replied William, reaching into his pocket for his keys. "So let's do that. You'll be better if you lay down for a—"

3:40 AM.
"Miss Kim?"
The two were interrupted by Rita, who was approaching the stairs at a quick walk. "I'm glad I caught you before you left."

Kim had a puzzled look, remembering how frantic and insistent on leaving the young brunette seemed just moments ago. "Why Rita? What's up?"

"It's my car," said Rita. "It won't start. The lights work, the windows...everything else, even the radio...even though there's no stations on. But the engine won't even click."

Before Kim and William could do more than exchange a quick look at each other, they noticed another worker coming up the stairs toward the building wearing a slightly sour expression.

Rita's head turned to the man. "...Mike?" she quizzed.

"Hey, Reet," Mike said, his tone suggesting he had put the frustration he was feeling on hold long enough to use the abbreviated moniker of his coworker's name. "I need to see if the Guard Desk has a working phone. My car's out, and so's my cell. I need to call a taxi or something."

Rita's eyes perked in surprise for a second at her coworker's revelation; then her brow returned to its despairing cusp as he reached for the door handle. "...yeah, mine won't go, either," she sighed resignedly.

William motioned a hand toward the parking lot. "Looks like you two might not be alone," he said.

As Kim turned her head toward the lot, her face shifted into a disbelieving stare—

A large and growing number of people were now walking out of the lot and back toward the building, many showing signs of frustration, defeat, annoyance and even some anger.

Kim's gaze slowly slid over the faces of the people as they began to top the stairs. "Is...is no one's vehicle running?" she asked cautiously. The response to her question was a varied range of "No" "Sure isn't" "Nope" and "Nah".

Kim now turned back to her husband. "Can I see the keys for a second?"

William's face slipped into a half-smile. "Hon...if all these other cars aren't starting for whatever reason...I seriously doubt ours will be the exception..."

Kim shifted slightly, canting her hips, her hands lifting to rest on them. "I know that, silly," she smirked, "I just need to get some discs out of the car."

There was a tinge of acquiescence in William's expression as he brought his hand from his pocket and motioned his key ring to Kim.

Kim's mouth moved into a silent smile of thanks as she took the keys. People parted slightly as she started down the stairs. After over 20 years of marriage, she thought as she neared the curb, there are still times in which Himself tends to doubt my motive behind some little things...like he might even know that I could have another purpose behind my actions. It's nothing major to worry about, baby. There are just some mini discs in the tray on the console, and if the car is going to be sitting, I'd rather not have them baking in the heat of the day.

Some 15 feet from their charcoal Nexus, Kim pressed a button on the key fob to unlock the car. The expected click of the doors unlocking failed to greet her. Guess I'm doing this the hard way, she thought as she twisted her fingers to isolate the key for the door lock. She slid the key into the cylinder and gave it a quick twist to the right, watching the small plastic finger pop up from the top of the door panel.

As she opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, Kim made note of a small wave of relief. Feels nice to be off my feet, she thought. Maybe nicer than it should. I guess what I told Marcy when she saw my face could be more true than I thought. All this action might have me feeling a bit tired. She turned and reached into the tray below the climate controls, pulling out four small silvery discs and gathering them into a stack.

Kim stopped a moment in thought, hefting the discs slightly in her hand once – twice – then turned her head to the crowd at the Meridian entrance, making out her husband at the top of the stairs. Her face broke into a slight smirk as she hefted her left hand, this one holding the keys. Yeah...nothing major to worry about, she thought as she shifted her hand to allow the ring to hang by the metallic key card, but this time, you knew your Kimmie's ulterior curiosity.

Kim turned her hand up to study the thin inch by two-and-a-half inch sliver of aluminum for a few seconds, looking at the pattern of the series of stripes on its face, laser-etched and painted in a dark magnetic ink from the factory. She turned the card vertical, bringing it to a slot on the dash near the steering column, marked "IGN" in rather blockish lettering.

Kim then pressed the leading edge of the card against the rubber-lined slot and slowly inserted it until it touched against the stop inside the slot, immediately noting that the motion was answered neither by the light double-chime telling the driver that the vehicle's circuits were primed nor the soft LED instrument display above the steering column coming to life; the radio at the center of the dash also did not present its bluish array of numbers and bars to indicate volume and frequency. Just to complete her confirmation, she moved a finger about an inch above the card slot to a button crowned with the word "START" and pressed it.

Not a sound came from the car. No faint click from the fuel cell circuit indicating it was now feeding hydrogen to the engine.

The lack of the vehicle's response brought a slight furrowing of Kim's brow as she slowly retreated her finger from the button. Okay...so our car's dead, too. Duh, Kim...like something that has affected every other car in this lot wouldn't affect ours as well? She curled her fingers around the key ring, quickly pulling the card from the slot.

She then turned and pushed the lock finger back into the door panel, then exited the vehicle, pushing the door closed and turning back toward the entrance. Tired from action, she wondered. Since when does that ever happen?

As she traversed the lot and neared the crowd, she heard Marcy's voice from near the entrance. "Again, those of you who can find a way to have your vehicles picked up or repaired, please do so, but check with Security before you do. If you choose to leave your vehicle here, it will be watched over by the security staff. Now...those of you wishing to make arrangements, please meet with staff at the Information Desk in the main lobby. The rest of you...we'll be getting in touch in the next day or two, either by email or by phone, telling you what our plans are and when the facility will be open. Thank you all for your understanding and cooperation...and be safe. See you soon."

Kim had a slightly puzzled expression as she made her way to the top of the stairs. "What...what's going on?" she asked.

"Those who live within distance," replied William, "are walking home. They'll see if they can come get their cars later."

"There are maybe 250 people who don't live close enough," added Marcy, "or who don't think they're in good enough shape to walk that far. We're going to set up sleeping arrangements in the lounges and some of the offices on the first floor. There's more than enough food in the cafeteria and the machines in the break rooms to keep everyone fed and comfortable for a while, if we have to."

Kim now turned to William, sliding the key ring into his hand. "Got the discs," she said.

"Good deal," said William. "Did you try the car?"

Kim looked at her husband for a moment. "Why would I do that?" she asked in a slightly silly, patronizing tone. "I just went to get discs out of the car...I mean, c'mon...if no one else's car is working...why would ours be?"

"True," William mused behind a slight smirk, "...but you tried it anyway....right?"

It took Kim a few seconds of staring at her husband before his accusation caught her out. Her eyes immediately darted slightly downward and to the side, and her head turned toward her hand at the side of her neck, as if expressing a wish to hide under her arm. "—Yeah..." she breathed out through a sheepish grin.

William turned immediately to Marcy with a wider smirk, wiggling his eyebrows slightly.

Now Marcy grinned. "O-kay," she sighed. "That's one lunch, on me—" she then swept her gaze over the almost surreal destruction across the street, her brow furrowing "—once things get back to normal, that is..."

Kim turned back to William, swatting the back of her hand against his upper arm. "And on that day, you'll be buying me lunch...for trying to profit off your hunches about my true intentions."

Marcy adopted the best grin she could, clasping her hands together and turning to Kim. "You two should get going," she said. "It's best to have most of the people out of the area before fire and rescue start showing up." And I still don't know why that hasn't happened yet. Something this major should have the entire area lousy with police and fire teams by now...and why aren't we at least hearing any sirens from the other crash?? "I'll be right behind you, just as soon as I know people are being taken care of."

William moved to place an arm over Kim's shoulders. "Ready for a bit of a walk?"

"Yeah...I guess," Kim sighed, diverting her eyes a little. "Then maybe a nap before dinner..."

Marcy leaned to get another look at Kim's face. "I knew it," she said. "You're really not feeling that well...are you..."

Kim was a bit taken aback by Marcy's repeated accusation. Is it showing that much? "Nah, Marc," she protested, "it's...it's everything that's happening—" she swept a hand across the street at the inferno "—with all this tragedy today...and working the flip hours, and all the disruptions with the power outages...it's just...catching up to me a bit." She finished with a smile. "I just need a little recharge and I'll be fine."

Marcy looked at her for a few seconds; then gave in with a gentle nod. "I'll buy that," she said with a smile, yet still with a slight remain of concern. "You know yourself better than anyone would. Go home and rest. I'll leave a message if you're sleeping when I call." The two exchanged a soft hug, then Marcy turned to join the group of people entering the building.

3:48 AM.
"Miss Kim?"

Kim and William now turned to Rita. "My house is...kind of on the way to yours from here, "she said. "Would it be alright if...if I walked with you?"

Kim's face perked into a bright grin. "Sure!" she piped. "We were just about to leave. C'mon."

With this, the three turned to start down the stairs and toward the sidewalk leading to the west. As they neared the street, each of them turned to look to the south to the still-burning multi-story building the falling plane had slammed into. They noticed a few people near the area, some appearing to be wearing fire suits, others looking like surviving victims of the recent disaster, staggering away from the flaming wreckage. "There should be more fire people," said Rita.

"Maybe even some trucks, or equipment," added Kim. "I don't even hear any sirens coming."

As they continued along the city's namesake thoroughfare, they further noted a lack of expected rescue vehicles racing toward the crash scenes – in fact, there was a total lack of any moving traffic whatsoever. There were a few cars parked along the streets, but they weren't parked in a conventional fashion or in designated spaces. It looked more as if they had ceased to operate while in motion – some cars having been steered to the curbside, others left in the lanes they were traveling as they rolled to a stop, their owners having little choice but to abandon them in place, still and silent on the roadway.

4:41 AM.
"So...even though there are claims on peoples' computers when the power goes out...they aren't lost?"

"Nope," Kim grinned.

This brought a slight puzzlement to the slender brunette, prompting William to further explain. "When the claims come in from the districts, they're sent as raw encrypted data packs. They're stored by date, and when they're being worked on, the data packs are decrypted and copied onto large temporary drives and sent to the processing terminals on a first-come, first serve basis, unless a particular claim number is called for. That's why bringing up a specific claim can take longer than just taking the next claim the software grabs."

"I guess that's the part that's bugging me," said Rita. "If the data is never really moved to the terminals, but just copied, why is it so important to save those claims to the terminals when the power goes out?"

"It's the coding system of the software," answered Kim. "The second a claim comes up on your screen, the software marks the claim as 'touched'. It keeps that status until the rest of the fields are populated by the processor at that terminal, and then it's moved to another server. If the claim should be moved before all the fields are filled, it's given the status of 'incomplete' and moved to a back server, where it's held until it's called up during times of catch-up, like we've been doing."

"And the less back claims we have, the better," William finished, "as you probably have guessed by now."

Rita's expression now lightened a bit with gaining a some insight of the knowledge behind her work.

Further down the street, Kim and William began to sport slight smiles as the trio neared a row of single-story brick dwellings, stopping with Rita in front of one. "Well, here I am," she said, extending her arm toward the smallish apartment. "2223 Eastgate Drive...not as big as a full house, but it's home."

"Ohh, I don't know," grinned William. "There's a lot of space in the kitchen to hold quite a bit of stuff..."

"And that little half-wall nook between the kitchen and the living room is a cozy place for writing, or even a few games of backgammon," added Kim.

The slight inquisitive confusion crept back onto Rita's face. "You...you guys have seen the inside of one of these places...?"

"Quite a bit," smiled Kim, slipping an arm around William's waist. She then turned to motion her other hand just past him down the street. "Three spots down," she said, "2215...that's where William was living when we first met...he was a little bit younger than you are now...and we lived there together for nearly a year, until just a few months before Kimi was born."

"In fact," said William, "the reason we moved is that we thought an apartment might be a bit small for a family...otherwise, these places are just right for one, or two."

"We still go to the grocer on the corner for most of our food," Kim added, now bringing up her free hand to William's forearm. "They always have very fresh produce, and some of the best fish I've ever tasted."

Rita slowly grew a smile as Kim and William gave a short view into their early relationship and offered a small bit of common ground the three shared. She now motioned a thumb over her shoulder toward her apartment. "Well, I should probably get in and see how much of my stuff isn't working," she quipped.

"We've got a generator at the house," said William, "but with all these outages, we've picked up a few things that run on batteries...lights, radio...we save wear and tear on the generator that way, and use it only—"

William was stopped mid-sentence by a insistent, less-than-gentle squeeze on his forearm. "W-we should let Rita get inside out of the heat, Honey," Kim said through a smile her husband immediately recognized as artificial, "and so should we..."

William took the extra fraction of a second before answering, reading the plea now evident to him in Kim's eyes and touch. "Yeah," he replied, moving his eyes and a slight grin to Rita.

"At least the walk isn't in total darkness," offered Rita, offering a hand toward the sky, her eyes following for a moment, then sliding down to the sidewalk, "...not even a shadow."

"I'll see if I can reach you by phone in a day or two," said Kim, "if Marcy doesn't do it first...and find out when we can get back to work."

This brought a wide smile to Rita's face. "After what you and Miss Marcy told me tonight, I'm looking even more forward to getting back to work."

Kim still had the same smile on her face as she brought up her hand in a short wave, immediately returning it to William's forearm. "Congrats," she said. "Talk to you soon."

As the tall brunette turned to unlock her front door, Kim and William returned to the walk home at a somewhat slower pace than before. After just a few steps down the street, it became very apparent to William that he was now not so much walking with his wife as helping her along.

After what William thought had taken much more time than it should have, they reached the corner grocer, where they stopped at her request to sit on a bus bench in front of the store. "There's a doctor living in the house behind Tina's," he said. "After we get home, I'm walking over there to see if I can get him to come take a look at you."

"Oh-no-you're-not!" Kim sniped back. "I just need to get in the house, out of—" she made a short swipe toward the sky "—whatever this is...then lie down for a while. That's all. I'll be fine."

Now William turned his eyes upward to the still-brightened atmosphere. "You think it's...this light that's affecting you like this...?"

Kim slowly moved her eyes from her husband to the curb in front of them. "I...I think it might be other things, too," she started, "but...I wasn't feeling like this before that flash came over while we were out on the balcony with Marcy and Rita." She now raised her head, bringing her hand again toward the sky. "...This, and the plane crashes, and the blackouts...all the disaster, here and all over the world...this unstoppable heat wave...and Tina's death a couple of weeks ago because of it..." Kim's voice now softened as her head slowly returned toward the curb. "...it's all just...so overwhelming..." she finished with her head sinking onto her hand, her fingertips lightly sliding along her forehead.

William moved to take Kim's free hand into his own, his other arm sliding over her shoulders. "And everything else that's been happening has been during a very sensitive and vulnerable time for you...trust me, I know...I remember going through it when I lost my parents to that snowstorm. I know how hard it can be to lose someone close to you." He gave Kim a gentle squeeze of confidence. "Maybe...maybe you should have taken more than a week off from work. In the face of everything else that's going on right now, maybe you're...taking too much on...too soon..."

Kim responded to this with a warm squeeze of her own against William's hand and a slight movement to lean against his chest. "They need me at work," she said. "It's not like me just to...sit around...you know that...and Tina knew that. She would understand, and would probably even have wanted it this way." She turned her head to William with a slight attempt at a smile. "Maybe I'm just starting to get old," she finished softly.

William knew the last of Kim's statement was a play against the drama now raining down around them. "Even if that were true," he replied with a slight smirk, "a rest will have you feeling younger again."

Kim's smile became warmer. "...Walk an old woman home...?"

William's response was to rise from the bench, offering his hand as he stood. Kim reached for that hand and slowly stood to join him, the exertion in her grip and pull as she rose telling William that, if the strange incident aloft were indeed the culprit, it was steadily working to make movement more and more of a chore for Kim.

As they rounded the corner, William made a motion toward the grocery store. "You know, as long as we're here, we could pick up some vitamins...maybe some mild farina..."

"No," Kim replied, "we still have some oatmeal at—hey hey!" her expression immediately snapped to one of realization of her husband's note of levity, swiping her hand against his chest which was moving from his chuckle. "No fair picking on the old woman," she added with a smirk.

They resumed their walk toward their home, north through Brookings Market Square. Though the collection of shoppes, taverns and other meeting places had shifted with the rest of the city to the nocturnal opposite-hours schedule as a result of the heat wave, those places were now collectively closed and the cobblestone streets of the Square were largely deserted, either in reaction to the sudden atmospheric occurrence or the more recent horror from the skies a few blocks to the west.

There was little more than short spurts of small talk as they wound their way through the Square and into the neighborhoods north of there, beginning up the long gentle slope toward the neighborhood surrounding Mason Park. The sporadic conversation was mainly an attempt to focus away from the surreal events of this day, even though the topic touched on them a time or two. While William's inner thoughts were centered around how the overhead spread of uncommon light could sap his wife's strength and to what extent or any lasting or permanent effects it might have, Kim's thoughts attempted to gravitate in any other direction.

What a marvelous man I'm married to, she thought, adjusting her arm around his waist for more secure support as they started up the four-block incline to their street. He's concerned without nagging...he's caring without being smothering...strong without being over-assertive. I've said it before, and no matter how many more times I say it, it'll still be true...Himself couldn't be more perfect if I had made him from my own dreams.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

5:27 AM.
5118 Mason Parkview Drive
A click of the deadbolt, a twist of the knob below, and the front door sprang open a couple of inches, pushed by Kim's fingertips. The door was then opened the rest of the way by the tip of William's foot, his arms presently full of wife.

Kim brought her hand back to rest on her midsection as William stepped through the doorway. "This is nice," she purred meekly. "It's not every day that a woman is carried over the threshold by her husband..."

William turned, placing his foot to the door to nudge it, then moving his back against the door to close it. "It's also not every day that a husband has to carry his wife over the threshold because she's too weak to make it the last few steps into their house," he said.

"I'm sorry," Kim apologized softly as they moved further into the living room, "but that light, and everything else is just...taking it out of me the last couple hours. But I'm inside now...and after a nap, I promise...I'll be good as new." Kim now adjusted slightly to look toward the front wall of the room. "Might need to close the drapes in some of the rooms," she added. "There's...still a lot of light coming in..."

William gently lowered Kim onto the couch. "Let me lock the door," he said, motioning a hand to the two windows on the front wall, "and I'll start with these. Then I'll carry you to bed."

As William walked to lock the front door, Kim turned to reach to the top of the couch for a small pillow cushion, sliding it onto one of the arms. "It's okay," she said as William moved to unhook the catches on either side of one of the windows, letting the drapes unfurl together to obscure the light through the shades. "I don't need bed," said Kim, reclining onto the couch and adjusting the cushion now under her head. "This is fine..."

William turned after closing the second set of drapes and returned to the couch, sinking to one knee in front of it and bringing a hand lightly onto Kim's forehead, checking for any temperature. "Do you want any kind of cover?" he asked.

Kim shook her head slowly and brought her hand slightly up from her midsection. "No," she said in a bit of a fatigued, breathy moan. "Without power, there'll be no A/C...it's going to warm up in here after while..."

"...and you're sure you don't want me to try to get the doctor here? It's not far at all, I could be back within about—"

"Williammm..." Kim drew out, "please...just a nap. Just a couple hours rest, and you'll see...I'll be back on top again...and I'll fix something for dinner that'll be worth the wait..."

As she talked, Kim's voice trailed to just above a whisper, and her eyes slowly narrowed to sleepy slits, closing as she finished. William moved his hand to hers, lightly patting it twice and resting it there for a moment. She's just exhausted, he thought. Only about two hours in that light...didn't seem to be affecting anyone else. I wonder if Marcy was onto something when she said it's like the light from a Cross. I didn't think that light usually affected Cellers to this extent. If it is light from the Resonance Conduit, it still wouldn't explain why Kim would be weakened from it...and it doesn't do a thing to explain why it's out in the open, and covering the entire sky. "Okay, Hon," he said softly. "Rest for now...we'll eat later, okay? ...Kim?"

Already fast asleep. She must be just drained.

William slipped his hand gently from hers and rose to stand. I hope the rest does help, he thought. We don't need a fancy dinner. Sandwiches would be alright. I'll make them, if Kim's not up to it.

Then I'm going to go get that doctor over here.

William took another look back to his wife as he started down the hall and into his office. He reached to the wall switch to turn on the light. Nothing but a click. Guess the generator isn't on auto-start, he thought. We should leave it on ready with all the outages lately. He moved slowly to his desk in the semi-darkened room, sliding into his chair and reaching to turn on a battery-powered desk lamp he had been using during previous power blackouts.

William then turned to the left of the desk, turning on a small radio. Wonder if things are this bad in other places, he thought as he began to slide the dial to a local news-talk station. It didn't take long for him to discover that, no matter where he placed the indicator on the tuning scale, the response was the same gentle, empty hiss of static from the small speaker. I'm not even getting the fuzz from the fringe of a station. No phones...no cars...no radio...and no power...that light must be interfering with radio waves and other communication.

William switched the radio off and reached back to his right to a stack of papers. Going through the maze of last month's production reports should eat up a couple hours, he thought as he placed the stack in front of him on the desk and peeled back the top page.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

Kim awoke to a dark house. She was slightly disoriented as she moved her legs to the floor and slid to a sitting position, turning to look at the window, which was now a black contrast to the light that flooded it before. How long did I sleep?? she wondered, bringing a hand to her forehead and sweeping her hair from her face. I told William I'd just nap a couple of hours...now it's night!? At least that light is gone. If it's evening, it's not like me to sleep that long. I guess I was even more tired than I thought, if I slept through the whole day. I hope he's not—nah, he won't be mad. He'll be more concerned than anything. I don' t remember waking up during all this time...but if I did, I hope he was in the room...and I hope he knows that I really am okay...I just needed a whole lot more sleep than I thought.

Kim rose to her feet and slowly padded down the hall. "...William?" she called softly toward the bedroom. Not a peep. "William?" she said again as she neared the partly-open bedroom door. I know Himself wouldn't starve, she thought, but I hope he used that cooking prowess of his to at least try to fix something good. He never eats well when he's got his worry on...especially when he's worrying about some of the crazy things that always seem to involve the Celler in his life.

Kim cautiously entered the bedroom, only opening the door a little farther to slip in. "...Honey?" she whispered to the sleeping shape under the sheet. Calm sleep, she thought. Probably tried at least a couple times to wake me...then just gave up and let me sleep. Can't blame him...I told him only a couple of hours at most...I had no idea that light was taking that much of my energy. How long did I sleep?

She made her way to the nightstand in the near darkness, making out the faint shape of the battery-powered alarm clock. She brought it from the nightstand and pressed a button at the top to light up the face—

11:22.

Kim slowly lowered the clock, releasing the button. 18 hours?? Yikes. Talk about mini-coma. I don't remember if I did, but I hope I woke up long enough to tell him I'm alright—

Her thought was broken by a sound from outside, brushing against the house.

...Is that...wind...?

Kim quietly placed the clock back onto the nightstand and left the bedroom, going into the living room and to the front door. Pulling the door open confirmed Kim's thought – it indeed was the wind, the trees of the neighborhood now alive with motion, weaving and rustling.

The sky above was a vast change from the last time Kim saw it, the bright display from before changed now to a deep azure more like that of a summer's late dusk. Still light in the middle of the night, thought Kim. Has to be left over from earlier. There's never this much light at 11 O'Clock at night.

As Kim looked out over the windy scene, she caught sight of a couple of her neighbors standing out in their driveway. Not much light anymore, she thought as she pushed the outside door open, keeping hold of the latch as the sudden blast of wind threatened to whip it from her grasp. It can't be as bad as before. If I start to get weak, I'll just get back inside. She ventured out onto the stoop, reaching to gather her hair as it began to thrash about from a strong gust. She pushed the outside door closed and continued out onto the driveway toward the young couple. "John...Carrie...!" she called above the wind.

The two turned from looking into the sky. "Hi Kim!" replied the young blonde, one arm wrapped around that of her husband. "Where's William?"

"He's sleeping," said Kim.

"I'm glad you two are home and safe," Carrie said. "I heard that one of the planes that crashed was really close to where you work."

"Right across the street from it," Kim said, shaking her head as she remembered the carnage. "It was just horrible."

Carrie now turned a glance to her husband. "John's garage is close to the airport," she said. "He was closing up after the power went off when the first plane came down...it was only a few blocks from there. He had to walk all the way from there because none of the cars were working."

"Yeah," said Kim, "ours is still at work, too. It's not that far of a walk from there, though." She then took a short glance toward the part of the sky where the young couple was looking when she came from the house. "What were you watching when I came out?"

"Same thing we've been watching off and on the last few hours," said John, looking again over the tops of the trees at the end of the street to the eastern sky. "...waiting for the sunrise."

"S—sun-rise?" Kim stammered, also looking toward that direction. "Isn't this leftovers from that...light thingy earlier?"

John now looked back from the sky to Kim. "You mean that freaky light show yesterday? That actually finally died down last evening."

Kim suddenly felt as if her internal train of logic were slipping from its tracks. Yesterday???

"See, this is why I'm glad you have a calendar watch," Carrie said to her husband, taking his left hand into her own and bringing it up toward Kim, tilting his timepiece toward her. "Gene at work isn't the only one who's having problems with the crazy reverse work hours." She reached with a finger from her other hand to press a button on the rim of the watch, illuminating the face. The time was in line with Kim's recent thoughts upon waking; 11:27.

What was stabbing a rapier of shock through them was the date the watch displayed—

"Thu 26"

It's Thursday morning?? Kim's mind screamed. I'VE BEEN SLEEPING FOR OVER THIRTY HOURS!!??

"We actually didn't notice until about 7 this morning," said Carrie, "and it wasn't getting any lighter outs—Kim? Kim?"

"I'm—I'm sorry," Kim called over her shoulder as she ran back to the house. "I'll be back."

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

11:28 AM.
Kim burst into the bedroom, racing to the bed. "William!" she said through frantic breaths, pressing her hands against his shoulders. "William, please get up!"

William awoke with a start at the sudden sound and motion, his eyes instantly focusing on his wife. "...Kim! I tried waking you a couple of times yesterday. You said you were okay, and just wanted to sleep..."

"I am okay," she reiterated quickly, "but—but now—you have to come outside. It's almost Noon, and the—the sun hasn't come up. I—" she was halted for a second by her mind fighting in denial of her next words "—I think the...earth has stopped turning...or something." She tugged slightly at his shirt. "Please...come out and look. John and Carrie are out there, too."

William rose to a sitting position, swinging his legs from the bed and rising to stand. They moved together, sliding an arm around each other as they entered the living room and went through the foyer to the still-open front door. "Whoa..." William uttered as the wind once again attempted to wrench the outside door from Kim's hand. They emerged into the gusts to meet with their neighbors, still standing in the space between their driveways, still staring at the empty promise of the slightly lightened sky to the east.

//xx//xx//xx//xx//

11:30 AM.
-flit-flit-flit-

Inside the house.

-flit-flit-flit-

Inside the bedroom.

-flit-flit-flit-

Inside the nightstand next to Kim's side of the bed.

-flit-flit-flit-

The small blue communications device again uttered three tiny blips, a weak electronic cry for attention in the now-empty bedroom.

-flit-flit-flit-

-flit-flit-flit-

The device sounded twice more – then retreated back into silence.

to be continued...