The world was in chaos.
During the days following the owl's accidental discovery of the UFO, the governments did not know what to do. Who would have thought that the possibility of aliens could be true? It was widely agreed that Earth was most likely the only planet with sentient lifeforms. There were so many possible outcomes to the situation at hand that even the officials at the highest positions had to take a step back and carefully think through every decision.
This changed everything, and they knew it. The ISA had done everything in its power to try and establish communications with the spaceship, but to no avail. No matter what frequency they used, what language they spoke, all that came back was dreadful, static buzzing.
This unnerved many. There were so many possibilites, so many outcomes, so many dangers and risks. Some believed that the aliens didn't understand them while other speculated that it was an invasion and they should launch rockets at it and be done with it, a "no risks taken" approach to the dilemma.
As the governments were debating what actions should be taken regarding the discovery, the ISA was preparing for their arrival. Why arrival? Because after hours of calculation, frustration and coffee, their most trusted scientists approximated that the spaceship would fall out of orbit and crash somewhere in Yamoto, an island nation east of the mainland.
Of course, once that became known to the governments around the world, Yamoto's was tasked with the hardest, deadliest mission in history; Operation Gajin. Operation Gajin was a hastily put togheter plan to deal with the encroaching overwordly threat. Actually, they could be from Mars for all they knew, less likely was Venus.
The governments were so afraid of what the spacecraft could have in store that they were a nail's length away from blasting the thing into deep space. You can't blame them though, just think about it. What if the aliens weren't the friendly type? What if there were no aliens at all, and it was something from the future? A weapon? A chemical weapon? A virus that would spread across the globe the moment the UFO entered the atmosphere? Exactly, you could make up any explanation to the anomaly and you'd still be able to make sense of it.
However, that wasn't the point where the world fell into disarray. The governments intended on keeping their little discovery a secret from the public for as long as possible, forever if that were an option. That plan was thrown out of the window when photographs of high and low resolution began popping up on the internet, photographs of the spaceship. By then, they knew that they were screwed.
There was nothing they could've done to stop animals from also finding the object in the night sky. Any animal that used even the simplest telescope could spot the ship in space, and the more days that passed, the closer it came to Earth which in turn only made it easier to sight. From then on it became the most discussed topic in the world; every news station broadcasted nothing but podcasts discussing the government's announcement of possible alien life while reacting to others' reactions to reactions of- you get the point. There were no animals that weren't affected by the news in one way or another.
Where there's light, darkness follows. The government wasn't the only ones at play; the criminal underworld, the black market, terrorist groups, insurgents, cults and eveyrthing inbetween that posed a threat to law and order had their own goals regarding the discovery. It all depended on what the spaceship held within, everybody could only wait with gritted teeth for the spaceship to fall, but in the meantime…
"Sir! What are your plans regarding the UFO?!" A reporter shouted over a crowd of other journalists huddled close to a stage another animal was giving a speech on.
"Are they hostile?!" Another shouted, a little louder than the last one.
"Should the citizens be worried of a possible alien invasion?!" Another almost screamed due to how loud the assembly had become.
Besides the reporters were other personnel present as well; bodyguards, scientists, politicians, ambassadors and so on. The journalists kept bombarting the animal on stage with questions one after the other, doing their job a little too well.
"QUIET!"
Then, they all stopped. Not another word was muttered in the room. The Chairman knew that he had to choose his words carefully, the entire world was watching his speech through the televisions in their homes, or listening with radios. In truth, even the agency didn't have a full grip over the situation at hand.
The spaceship's origins were unknown and its design was simple, but that made it even more daunting. It left much room for the mind to go wild with speculations, and the fact that they hadn't responded to their signals only made things worse. The only indication that someone, and not something, was on that ship was the flag embedded into the craft's side.
Not that they'd ever tell that to the public, it would only cause more chaos and disorder. It wasn't the first time they had lied to the people, nor would it be the last. And this time was no different, if you ignored the whole aliens thing.
The Chairman cleared his throat, his thoughts reorganized and ready to answer any questions those pesky reporters threw at him.
"Now, state your questions, one by one."
"As I just said, what are you planning to do about the UFO?" The first one asked, microphone in hand reaching out to the Chairman.
"We have a location of where the Arrow will land in the following days and are doing all we can to ensure the public's safety. Further information about the spaceship is classified."
"Sir, do you know what the aliens' intentions are? Many are scared of what they could be and what they could do to us."
"Yes. We've established a connection with them, they do not intend to cause harm."
"Sir, is it just or do smell?" A different reporter, somewhere in the crowd of animals said.
"Excuse me?" The Chairman replied, irritated with the stranger's attempt at joking at a serious time like this.
"I don't know about you, but I smell bullshit. Let me ask you this, what are you really hiding? Hmm? Do you even know what they are? And don't say-"
"It's classified information."
"-It's classified information- FUCK YOU! YOU'RE FUCKING LYING AND I KNOW IT!"
"Please escort him out of here," the Chairman said, fed up with the animal's tantrum, wondering how they let this nutjob get in. The "reporter" was right, even if he didn't truly know it, so he had to be taken out of the picture before he could say anything else.
"THERE COULD BE ANYTHING ON THAT THING! ROBOTS, MARTIANS, ZOMBIES, HUMANS! SO WHY- hey, back off!" A couple of security guards began uprehanding the disrupter, but were met with resistance.
"See?! I'm right! They can't silence us-" resistance that was met with a quick jab to his side, forcing the animal to collapse onto the security's arms, unable to say anything else due to being out of breath.
Once he was carried away and out of the room the camera crew were broadcasting the Chairman live, he continued as if nothing had happened. He answered any other inquiries he was faced with, cleverly constructing each answer so it would sound reassuring, satisfying and important. Acting is a form of art, not everyone can lie at a moment's notice and get away with it. It takes talent, practice and skill to hide any signs that one is hiding the truth. As long as you're willing to sacrifice your soul and some more, you can achieve anything, almost anything.
Despite the conspirator's short appearance on television, the impact he left was felt in many households. Thanks to the internet being accessible to practically anyone with a computer many groups and communities have formed online over the years. Some were a decade old, some were fresh out of the gutter, but one thing untied them all; toxicity.
That's a topic for another time. The internet allowed conspirators, theorists, hackers and other groups on the less legal side to create their own websites on which they could do anything they pleased. It's more complicated than that, but that's the main idea.
One such site was pawChan, it hosted boards and forums of a massive variety of topics, anything you can think of. In addition, what made it different from other sites alike was the inability to register, meaning everybody remained completely anonymous. And who wouldn't? It sounds fantastic, but to every good deal there's a catch. Because of the enforced anonymity on the site, it has many dangers; scams, expert hackers that could track a user's ip address, actual serial killers and more.
But you'd never know who was who. Unless you had a very particular set of skills or you were looking for trouble, you'd never be able to tell who the person behind the screen was. They could be a teenager mucking around on the internet, they could be a psychotic murderer or peodphile. That's the appeal more or less, the beauty of such a risk entices animals to visit and use it. If you ignore the whole "who's behind the mask" thing, it's not half bad as a posting site. Then again, everyone enjoys different things in different ways, everyone has their own taste and their own hobbies.
One of the many forums it hosted was about a strange topic, a subject so unusual it was separated into its own sub-genre; humans.
Humans weren't real. They were creatures of fantasy and old fairy tales, described as weird flat-faced furless animals that stood on two legs since the beginning of time, smart and cunning yet tricky and unpredictable. The topic remained vague and forgotten in folklore and aged books until the invention of the internet. See how it all clicks? With an ocean of knowledge at your fingertips you could find anything on the web. So as pawChan's popularity grew, so did the topic of Humans. In the present there are millions of animals worldwide that claim to be part of that community. Some like the art involving humans, some like roleplaying, some just like humans in general, and some really like humans. Everyone has their own reasons to be part of a community on the internet.
However, that's not important since they don't exist. They were the imagination of animals, nothing but scary bedtime stories told to naugthy children in order to make them behave.
Suddenly, the Chairman's phone rang, interrupting a question unrelated to the UFO. He took the phone out of his suit-pocket, accepting the call.
"Yes?"
"Sirthescientistsmiscalculatedthetrajectoryofthearrowand-"
"Slow down! I can't understand a thing you're saying."
The caller gulped, taking deep breaths to calm themselves down before telling the chairman what they tried to tell him, "Can anyone else hear this call?"
"No," the chairman knew something was wrong. Everyone knew not to contact him since he was on live television. However, if something was urgent enough to warrant this kind of reaction, it had to be serious.
"We miscalculated the trajectory of the UFO, it's not going to land in a week. It's happening today, six hours time," the chairman almost dropped his phone from the shock. How could they have "miscalculate" this? Whoever's responsible will never hear the end from him. But that could wait, his priorities had just taken a drastic turn. They were caught with their pants down, so it was time to speed things up.
"I apologize, but an important matter just came up. This meeting is over," the Chairman was met with protest from the reporters that hadn't gotten the chance to voice their concerns, but that was about it. After the conspirator's expulsion from the gathering, no one dared interfere with the Chairman's business.
He then went off stage, the broadcast was abruptly cut off and returned to the usual programming. You can guess how the animals watching the Chairman felt about that. The world was like a powder keg with all the conflicts brewing on and under the surface between herbivores and carnivores, aliens being thrown into the mix only worsened everything. How bad was it?
Pretty bad.
Inside a secret facility owned by the ISA were many things. The facility was huge, it was hidden somewhere in the northern region of Yamoto deep in the cold mountains. That way the chance that someone came snooping around was slim. Even then, the perimeter around the mountain the facility was inside was closed off with an electric fence with enough current to kill a person.
The facility fucntioned as a military depot as well. It was split into many sections; laboratories for experimentation, armories stocked with guns and ammunition, hangers housing tanks, jeeps, trucks, helicopters and jets, bunks, cafeterias, shooting ranges, an astronomy room, bunkers, even lounging areas for relaxation. It used to be a fallout shelter before the government renovated the place, so they decided to convert it into a multi-purpose base. There were a hundreds of employees operating the facility, all selected by hand since it had invaluable data that if fell into the wrong hands could start a world war.
The workers were herbivores and carnivores alike. The agency didn't hire based on species like some companies did, they hired based on skill, loyalty and a number of other factors. They may lie a lot, but they don't usually discriminate.
When they learned of the tiny mistake one of the mathematicians tasked with predicting the time at which the craft should've arrived had done, they were in partial panic. Despite that, everything was still under control. After the science team made some re-calculations, they declared that the ship should enter the atmosphere in six hours, as the Chairman was told, if it didn't burn up in entry that is.
However, they didn't count on the possibility that it would be destroyed, the top priority was the worst outcome. That's why they were working around the clock to make sure everything went as smooth as butter.
The command center overseeing the facility was livelier than ever; animals were running to and from, everyone had their hands full with something to do. Six hours might seem like a long time, but when you have so many problems to handle at once your attention is drawn to multiple places, and not everyone is a chameleon.
A beaver wearing a white coat ran into the command center, holding a clipboard in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, "Sir! The Arrow is going to crash near Aumori!" If you hadn't figured it out by now, the UFO was nicknamed "Arrow" because of its shape, go figure.
"Excellent work. Evacuate the city immediately, report anything else you find."
"Of course!" The beaver ran back to wherever he came from. This interaction repeated itself with other personnel working in different branches of the agency, be it by phone or face to face.
The one overseeing the operation was none other than General Kabosashi, a veteran of war. The general was a lion with a scar running down the left side of his face, he wore a handful of medals as a sign of his expertise in the field, each had a dark story filled with betrayal, pain, suffering and sacrifice.
The general was also one of the animals that had advised to blow up the ship and be done with the matter. Despite his offer being rejected, he didn't let it affect the task at hand; prepare for the worst. He still couldn't believe that this was even happening. Imagine waking up in the morning and the first thing you hear from the president is that aliens are real, exactly. You'd either think the man was out of his mind, hallucinating, joking or all of the above. But it was the president, the president. They shared a long history together, so the lion knew that this was not a drill. Deep down he didn't want this to be real, but he knew all too well that this was happening, and this was going to change the world.
A wired telephone rang out in the command center, the lion immediately answered the call, "Kabosashi speaking."
"Sir! Protestors are rallying in the capital, they want answers and they want them now."
"Shit. Use whatever force necessary to disperse them."
"Yes sir!" He hated being called sir all the time, it made him feel older than his actual age.
Hanging up the call, he placed the phone back onto its holder, dashing to a microphone connected to all the speakers in the facility. The situation was escalating, so it was time to "de-escalate" it.
"From this moment forward, Protocol Eight is in full effect. Anyone spotted outside the facility will be shot on sight," you might be asking yourself; how come shit hit the fan so fast? Why did shit hit the fan anyway? And what is Protocol Eight?
To simply put it, the discovery of the Arrow didn't cause disorder in the country. It was a spark, and a spark is all that's needed to start a fire. In spite of that, this wasn't the first time they had to activate the protocol, it also happened twenty years ago when a terror attack took place in Ashakiwa, twenty lives were lost in total. Compared to that incident, they were handling this one quite well, excluding the mysterious threat approaching their plant. Everything was going to be just fine, they knew where it would land, they were suppressing any folk that tried to stir things up and the public was being spoon-fed everything they needed to hear.
The general heaved a sigh of exhaustion, he'd been working for two days straight which only shortened his fuse. Next on the list was contacting the president regarding the problem in Arumori, so he did.
"Kabosashi, any good news?" The president said, talking to someone else on the other side of the call.
"Yes. The Arrow will impact Arumoi, we need to evacuate all residents immediately. Secure the entire city, even the outskirts."
"I DON'T CARE HOW MANY THERE, USE ALL OF THEM IF YOU HAVE TO! Sorry, something just came up. I need to hang up now, I'll take care of it," he abruptly hung up without further explanation which was no surprise to the general, the president was receiving the biggest headache in his life as everything unfolded by the minute.
Well, six hours was six hours, and time was of the essence. There was still so much to do and just enough resources to accomplish everything in time. If worse came to worst, they could always use a nuke or two. The best they could hope for was that it would somehow help them. How? Who knows, anything could happen. The Arrow could contain technology dreamt of in science fiction, it could cause the destruction of the world, it could be hiding secrets of the past or the future.
Perhaps they should've blasted the ship, because some things should remain forgotten.
Author's Note:
Here's the second chapter. Writing this wasn't easy with all the edits and spelling checks I had to do, but the next one will be longer.
W4ND3R1N6 R34D3R: Inetersting...
I hope so. It took me a month to write this chapter because I was working on other stories as well, so don't be surprised if the next one takes some time.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this.
Stay safe and hydrated.
-FacelessUser