Morning everyone, before people ask this doesn't not mean I have returned to writing. I just wanted to work on something on and off, so I cannot guarantee any regular updates. To any who have read any of my previous works can skip this. To any new readers welcome. Please be aware that I don't have a lot of free time and I write a story until my passion for it burns out. So be aware that I don't usually finish stories. So just enjoy the ride while it lasts.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
-Revelation 22:13
There was silence filling the moonlit night, the only noise echoing around the empty dockyard was the sound of his own laboured panting as the lone figure sprinted from one wall to another, his form zigzagging between the shadows. The shadowy figure finally came to a rest at the dockyard security gate, the light of the security cubicle revealing the sweaty teenage boy, clad in simple tattered jeans and his usually blue hoodie torn in multiple places and revealing the numerous wounds weeping blood from his body. The boy just collapsed to the ground, his body curling up as the bodies of the two dead security guards stared up at him with blank and lifeless eyes. Looking away from the corpses his gaze instead found itself looking out over the harbour, seeing the Sydney Opera House illuminating the night with its kaleidoscope of colours reflecting off the still bay waters.
The seemingly peaceful night was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps growing closer and instantly the boy had jumped back to his feet before sprinting once more in the opposite direction, however he couldn't keep the pace for very long as his wounds took their terrible toll on his body, causing the boy to eventually come to rest behind a black truck, the truck's trailer filled with supply crates and other freight items for distribution in the morning. Realising he had at least a couple of minutes before he had to move on, the boy quickly took off his torn hoodie and using the sharp edge of one of the nearby supply crates he tore the remaining fabric into makeshift bandages before covering them in what appeared to be a bottle that reeked of alcohol. Wrapping his wounds as best he could the boy gave a low hiss of pain as the alcohol touched the wound site before bringing out what looked to be a smart phone of some variation from his pocket, the screen cracked but the words on it still legible.
'WARNING MIRROR SEA DETECTED! WARNING DOCKYARD EMPTY! SEND OUT GUILD DISTRESS SIGNAL? Y/N'
The boy slammed his finger on the 'yes' button before he froze, the sound of heavy footsteps returning once more as he chanced a glance underneath the truck. There he saw it, just barely visible in the darkness, the heavily armoured black boot patrolling around the parking lot, the ominous blue glow of the weapons casting an eerie shadow around the area. Realising that he had stayed here for too long the boy picked up the now empty alcohol bottle before throwing it over the truck and back towards the security gate, the sound of glass shattering echoing through the silent night. Faster than the boy could blink the blue glow was gone, racing towards the sound, and giving him an opening as he pushed himself up from the ground and sprinted towards an empty shipping container, before closing the door and leaving him drowned in darkness. Breathing a sigh of relief at his near miss the boy brought out his phone and suddenly his sigh turned into a growl of frustration.
'NO GUILDMATES IN VACINITY. SEND OUT GENERAL DISTRESS SIGNAL? Y/N. WARNING THIS WILL BE SENT TO ALL DEVICES IN VACINITY INCLUDING CIVILIAN. CONTINUE? Y/N'
Cursing softly under his breath the boy looked at the warning message flashing across his shattered phone screen, his mind silently weighing its options. With a final sigh and a shake of his head the boy put the phone back in his pocket, knowing exactly what the right choice was and cursing himself for making it. Just as he made the choice, he heard the door slowly open as blue light flooded the shipping container and the boy said nothing as the Siren threw a familiar metallic grey crown shaped necklace at his feet. Picking up the necklace the boy brought it close to his chest and glared at the Siren with narrowed eyes, his heart beating its final defying crescendo in response to the certain death now faced before it.
"You might still survive if you call for help," commented the voice of the Siren, its distorted voice grating on his ears.
The boys only response was to throw his phone to the ground and stamping on it before spitting at the Siren's face, the liquid getting no response from the Siren as it ran down its face. The Siren merely shrugged its shoulders before leveling its weapons at him, the blue glow around it intensifying as the three barrels gathered energy within them. The boy didn't try to run or beg, instead he met the blue glow with a determined expression on his face, he was a lieutenant of the Royal Navy and he wouldn't give this thing the satisfaction of a reaction.
"See you soon Repulse," muttered the boy, before he was encompassed in a bright blue beam.
The Siren looked at the carnage its weapon had caused as the light died down, the boy's top half was gone, disintegrated by the attacked along with the back end of the heavy metal shipping container. Sparing the remains of the boy not a second thought the Siren walked out and the all-encompassing silence of the dockyard pressed down on the night once more.
"How tiresome," it muttered, its distorted voice getting a hint of anger entering it as it snapped its fingers.
Instantly the Mirror Sea vanished without a trace as vehicle horns could be heard in the distance and even a small tugboat could be seen on the water once more, crossing under the harbour bridge. As if nothing had taken place the world continued on its normal trajectory.
"This is your job is it not Tester? Tiresome or not, I expect no complaints from you," informed a second distorted voice.
Tester spun around and saw the tentacled form of her superior watching her with what appeared to be a small smile on her face. Tester watched as Alpha's kraken like tentacles slowly wrapped themselves around her superior's rigging, the not-so-subtle message understood loud and clear.
"Of course Observer Alpha, I just don't understand you sending me to test them when we know these Humans always fail," replied Tester, bowing to her superior.
The was a soft almost giddy giggle from Alpha at this reply, "you never know Tester, humans can often surprise you. Look at this subject. He failed the combat test but refused to co-operate for the recruitment. While the result would have been the same for him either way, it is still an anomaly in the data."
"If you say so Alpha," muttered Tester, not really seeing the point of the secondary objective anyway.
The two Sirens simply vanished into the night as emergency services could be heard rapidly approaching the dockyards, leaving destroyed structures, equipment, corpses, and a small grey necklace to be found by investigators.
Matthew yawned as he both felt and saw the annoying sunlight piercing his eyes despite how hard he closed them, forcing him to groan as he slowly rose from his comfy bed. Glaring at the clock next to his bed, he turned to the window and opened the blinds, shielding his eyes as light from the morning sun blinded him.
"Good morning sunshine, the Earth says hello," he muttered with a slight chuckle despite himself.
Gathering his clothes for the day he began his morning rituals of showering and dressing before glancing at his reflection in the mirror. His short blonde hair contrasting with his brown eyes, thanks to his previous competitive sports he still retained some of his muscle mass but even he could tell that if he wanted to keep it he'd need to get more fit, not that swimming even gave that much visible muscle compared to body building anyway. Shaking these thoughts from his mind he set about making his breakfast giving his parents a quick good morning as he did so. Once his food was ready Matthew sat down with his family, the TV on as background noise while they ate.
"Got any plans for the weekend? You were going to meet your friends after school, weren't you?" asked his mum, getting a nod in response.
"That was the plan, but something came up last minute and we had to cancel. Probably just going to the mall to pick up somethings from the mall. Need a new phone after all," he replied, sighing as he remembered how his phone got broken last week.
His mother just frowned as she collected everyone's plates, "that seems to be happening more often than not…did they say why?"
"I asked them but…" the boy shrugged with a sigh, getting a nod of understanding from his mom and a grunt from his dad.
"Just don't go overboard with the phone, you're not made of money," warned his dad, turning from the TV and proving that he was actually listening.
"I know, don't worry I won't dip into my car fund," muttered Mathew, having been through this conversation multiple times.
His father nodded and glared at him, "and remember to avoid the Docks. There's been another one last night."
"Jesus, another gas leak? Any causalities?" asked the boy, disbelief clear in his voice.
His father got quiet as he simply pointed to the TV, following his finger Mathew saw the current story on the news and just shook his head. There had always been an unspoken rule, avoid the docks after dark, too many mysterious or unlucky events had occurred there in recent years that people began naturally avoiding it. Still in recent months the number of incidents had grown to an incredibly high number, some thought it was related to the old, haunted quarantine station, some thought it was a punishment by God and some just considered it plan old bad luck. Whatever the reason the docks had become pretty much a ghost town once it gets dark, even businesses rarely leave their doors open once the sun goes down.
"One of them was around your age, the poor parents they must be heartbroken," muttered his mom.
His dad nodded before switching the TV off and turning back to them, "enough with that. Have you put any though into what kind of price range your looking at for the car? I could put some calls around to my work colleagues to see if anyone knows a good place to get cars."
Mathew gave a small smile at the sudden topic change and played along, "not entirely sure still weighing my options, but if you think it'll help then feel free, I won't say no."
"What about 10000 dollars?" asked his dad with a smirk.
"Tell him he's dreaming," replied Mathew with the same smirk on his face before getting up from the table. "Gotta go, I'll be home around five if everything goes well at the mall."
His parents both wished him well as they waved him away and the boy smiled as he shook his head and waited for the tram. He didn't know why but for some reason, he felt like today was going to be a good day.
Mathew shook his head as the final school bell rang signalling the end of the school day, the class getting up from their desks as they headed to their lockers. Glancing over at the desks usually occupied by his friends. Mathew frowned wondering just what had happened to his friends lately, all four of them had been flaky to the extreme. Constantly missing school, cancelling hangouts, excluding him from group discussions and thinking he wouldn't notice. It had gotten to the point where the school principal had called him to the office to ask if he thought they were taking or dealing drugs, needless to say he defended his friends at the time but…he was rapidly running out of excuses for them when the teachers ask where they are.
"Seriously guys this isn't funny anymore," he muttered, his voice tired and drained as he got up from his desk.
Shaking the depressing thoughts from his head Mathew grabbed his gear from the locker and headed for the nearby mall, but not before buying himself some hot chips to eat on his way. He smiled as he ate the salted goodness in his hands and making sure to throw a couple to the birds around him as he sat down on a seat overlooking the harbour. Despite himself, Mathew felt a small smile creep up on his face as he enjoyed the sea breeze, in times like this one had to take enjoyment in the small things after all.
"Chip for your thoughts?" asked a female voice.
Snapping out of his daze Mathew saw a white-haired girl in a black dress looking at him with a smile as she extended a hand. Rolling his eyes Mathew offered the food over to the girl who took a seat, causing Mathew to frown for the briefest second as he could have sworn, her eyes briefly turned yellow. Thinking it just a trick of the light the boy shrugged and continued eating while trying to work out what the girl's deal was.
"Chips are good but I prefer octopus myself," she commented, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"I'm sorry my free food I offered wasn't to your taste," snarked Mathew, getting a giggle from the girl.
"So," began the girl, turning to look at him. "Why the long face?"
"You meddle in every stranger's affairs?" he shot back, raising an eyebrow.
The white-haired girl shook her head, "only the ones that show promise."
Mathew just sighed, annoyed that the girl clearly wasn't getting the hint that he wasn't interested and resigning himself to indulge her. "Some issues with my friends that's all, combine that with saving up for a car as well as my phone breaking last week and everything just seemed to hit all at once," he replied, his voice terse.
"Ah," nodded the girl. "Well I can't help with the first two, but I can help with the last problem."
Mathew took a moment to look at her in suspicion, "how?"
The girl gave a grin that wouldn't have looked out of place on a shark as she replied, "my family is doing an experiment involving telecommunications. If you participate, then I could get you a free experimental high-tech phone."
Instantly Mathew shot up, interest and suspicion rising in equally amounts in his mind, "and exactly what is the aim of this experiment."
The girl brought a finger up to her face as if debating how to answer the question before shrugging, "using technology and psychology to surpass human's traditional limitations. To make humanity Evolve into something greater."
"That so," scoffed the boy, his voice thick with mirth. "Next you'll tell me it involves snake oil too."
The girl pouted, "I'm being serious. This is about the betterment of humankind."
Rolling his eyes Mathew threw another chip at the birds that were surrounding them, watching as the animals raced each other to get at the food. "Then why have I not heard about this experiment before?" he questioned, lazily throwing more food to their audience.
"There is a voluntarily enforced…Non Disclosure Agreement…I suppose is the best way to describe it," she answered, the first hint of a frown appearing on her face since they started talking.
"Voluntary? How does that work?" he asked, confused at the terminology and getting another shrug in response.
The pair were silent before the white-haired girl reached into her pocket and pulled out what appeared to box and held it out to him. Opening the box up Mathew saw what appeared to be some form of Smartphone held within it, taking it out of the box he noticed it was thicker than what he was used to but not too big to fit in his pocket. Pressing one of the buttons on the side he saw the screen light up before his jaw dropped as he saw the symbols get projected above the phone like a hologram.
"Impressive isn't it?" remarked the amused girl. "Not only do you get free calls as well but you will always have reception too."
"So this is the carrot, where's the stick?" he remarked, trying to keep his amazement out of his voice.
The effort was for naught as he saw the sharklike grin grow on her face once more, "there is an app that you must use after receiving the phone. Upon opening that app you will begin the experiment."
"I just need to open it, and that's it," he questioned, narrowing his eyes.
The girl nodded, "indeed, what you do after you have opened it is up to you. That is part of the experiment."
"Why do you have these on your person? Are you just walking around trying to honeypot people?" he replied, only half joking.
To his surprise the girl merely nodded, "precisely. People are more willing to engage in the experiment when I offer it to them rather then the rest of my family."
"Why is that?" he asked, momentarily taken aback by the honesty.
"They're not good at acting around other people, very one track minded," she giggled, as if laughing at a private joke.
The girl got up from the seat and stretch her back out and causing the animals around them to flee abruptly as she started walking away. Mathew got up from his seat as well as he grabbed her shoulder, a frown growing on his face.
"I haven't agreed to anything yet," he informed her, spinning her around and offering the phone back to her.
The girl smiled before pushing it back to him, "sleep on it. If you haven't used the phone by tomorrow then I'll come grab it. No strings attached. How does that sound?"
Mathew looked at the device in his hand before nodding in agreement, suddenly his eyes widened, and he started laughing, "You know we've been talking all this time and yet we still haven't introduced each other."
The white-haired girl blinked and smiled while giving an exaggerated curtsy, "I am known as Alpha."
"Alpha? Yeah sure you are, and I'm Omega," he joked in response.
The girl gave him a long unblinking stare and once again the yellow eyes seemed to return, "I hope you are Mathew."
The boy froze under the gaze and couldn't find his body able to do anything but watch as the girl walked away, disappearing into the sea of people. Suddenly the phone in his hand felt like it weighed a ton as he struggled to bring it up to his face, seeing the one single app on the home screen seeming to stare back at him.
Well hope everyone enjoyed this short chapter. I'm aiming for about 3-5000 words per chapter update, so no long 10K ones like I used to do.