15 years ago...
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The night sky was refreshing and cool over North London. The stars shone through the night sky as the cool, crisp fall air blew through the city.
But that peaceful starry sky would pave the way for a new beginning, a start for the world...
And it begins with this discovery...
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Struggling scientist Dodie Smith sat at her telescope, staring at the stars.
"Wonderful..." she muttered. "Oh, if only moments like these would last forever..."
However, a bark was heard behind her. Dodie turned away from her telescope to notice her Dalmatians, Doug, and Delilah, sitting with wagging tails. Dodie playfully rolled her eyes.
"Oh, alright. C'mon, you two, up here..." She got out of her chair and moved it so the dogs could climb up and reach the telescope.
Delilah was the first to use the scope. After a few minutes, she caught sight of the Big Dipper. She sighed fondly and gave Doug a turn, who caught a glimpse of the constellation himself.
Dodie smiled as the two lovers bonded. It had been four months since they had met, but it might as well have been years.
However, she noticed Doug growing confused at something through the lens. He turned the scope over to Delilah, and she gasped. Something was wrong. Delilah barked over to Dodie, solidifying the danger.
"What? What is it?" The dogs got off the chair as Dodie sat back down to look. A bright orange glow shone through the stars and appeared to be closing in. There was only one thing that could entail...
"A meteor...!" Dodie gasped. "Oh, my god, a meteor!" The young woman nearly stumbled through her seat. This was huge! There was no telling what this kind of discovery would entail!
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At Camden Park, an orange glow faintly lit through the entire park. A football-sized meteor sailed through, threatening to wreck the park...
Suddenly, it stopped mid-air before correcting its balance and gently planting itself on the ground, digging itself into the ground as if a gardener planting a seed into the earth into the ground. With it now safe, it gently glowed a bright green.
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The next morning...
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Dodie was near her front door, attaching leashes to Doug and Delilah.
"While I'm taking you both for a walk to stretch your legs, I'm also counting on you two to help me search for whatever fell to the ground, okay?" she explained.
They both nodded. "Alright, then..." She grabbed her travel bag and opened the door. The dogs were the first to walk out, with Dodie following.
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A few minutes later, they were at the front entrance to the city park. Everything seemed normal, surprisingly.
"Alright, this should be where it landed. Little dodgy that it didn't leave an impact crater..."
As she led her friends into the park, the dogs began sniffing the air. Faint traces of ozone reeked through the park, no doubt caused by the meteorite. But Doug seemed to recognize a trail with greater concentration and barked toward a tree near the spot.
"You find something, boy?" Dodie questioned. She and Delilah followed Doug as he led them behind the trees. On the ground lay a filled-in spot of dirt.
"Well..." Dodie let go of the leashes and dug through the ground with her hands. Eventually, she dug down to reach the contents and struggled to pull out what was under there.
"Nggggh... Come on... Grrr..." Dodie grunted and wheezed to pull the thing out until...
*POP!*
The meteorite budged from its spot and fell onto Dodie as she tumbled to the grass. Doug and Delilah immediately came to her aid.
"Ah, don't worry, lovelies. I'm okay." Dodie reassured. She then focused on the meteorite in her lap. With her right hand, she caressed it, feeling its unusually smooth texture.
"Interesting. It's almost like I'm touching glass..." the young scientist thought. "Better take it with us to study..."
She inserted the football-shaped meteorite into her travel bag and zipped it shut. "But first..."
She looked to her dogs, "Now that that's settled, what say we stick around a bit and get some bangers 'fore we head home?"
Both Doug and Delilah both broke into excited poses as Dodie smiled. However, that moment wasn't about to last...
"Oi! Hey, kid!"
A cop had noticed the three and began approaching them. Dodie quickly got up and nervously faced the officer.
"Uh- I-Is there a problem, officer?" Dodie asked.
"Yeah. What's in the bag?" the cop asked. "We got reports of a prowler hittin' the streets over the last few weeks, takin' shots of people while they're starkers."
"W-Well, I'm not who you're lookin' for!" Dodie answered. "I swear!"
"Contrary to popular belief, we cops ain't the stupid type who crave donuts every minute." The cop sarcastically replied. He menacingly stuck out his arm. "So lemme take a look at what's in there, and you can go home. But if you continue to resist..."
Dodie sighed and was about to open her bag when...
Doug and Delilah started barking at him. The cop backed away. "Hey! What's wrong with those mutts?!"
"Oh, I'm sorry! They don't usually get this rowdy unless..." Dodie stopped herself. "Hold on. Are you really a cop?"
"Of course I am! Now lemme see..."
"Fine, then tell me on what grounds you intend to search me," Dodie asked.
"Lady, I told you, there's been a prowler mucking about..."
"At the city park?" Dodie asked. "Ain't that a bit strange? Why would a cop be searching for a pervert in a city park? Especially one wedged into commercial buildings?"
"W-Well..."
"Good day, sir." Dodie and the dogs walked off. The cop growled, but before he could go after them...
*SQUISH!*
"Agh!" The cop hissed. He raised his boot and noticed the dog pile that had been tracked on his shoe. "Grrr...! Stupid dogs!"
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Later, after a quick stop at Camden Market for some food...
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In the Kitchen, Dodie put two sausages each in Doug and Delilah's bowls.
"There you go. The least I can do for the fake cop. You two are brighter than most, y'know that?"
Doug and Delilah humbly nodded as they got to their sausages. Dodie left them be and exited the kitchen.
"It's to get to business on this meteorite." she thought.
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Do you know a surprising thing about a basement? It's the perfect place for makeshift laboratories. And with some advanced enough equipment from work (paid legally, if anyone decides to complain), it completes the vibe.
Dodie decided the first place to start was the outer casing. It was smooth, almost glass-like. Perhaps it could be broken apart with something small. She took out a chiseling knife and hammer and placed them on top of the meteorite.
"Okay, just a light tap..."
With one tap, it began to crack through, causing a tiny fracture.
"Huh. That was easy." Dodie noted. But when she pulled the knife out, she noticed a strange glowing green liquid covering the tool's tip.
" Oh, my..." she gasped.
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On the other side of town...
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A Gray BMW 3-Series pulled up to the front door of an abandoned building near the pier. The false cop exited the car and stomped toward the warehouse.
He knocked on the door twice. After a few seconds, it opened up and revealed a thin, white-haired, middle-aged man wearing a lab coat.
"Ah, Greenwater. What brings you by so early?"
"Doctor, we have a problem. I... lost the meteorite. We should probably..."
"We?" The doctor asked as if he'd just been insulted. "If I remember clearly, I gave you specific instructions on what to do if you found that meteorite..."
"Oh, here we go..." Greenwater grumbled.
"...I gave you the proper disguise you needed to wear to make the fools that circle that park less suspicious of you..."
"You did, but..."
"...and you are the one who failed. So, may I ask why the two of us have a problem?"
"Do you think the boss will single out either of us, Dr. Crystal?" Greenwater snidely questioned.
Crystal's annoyed look turned into one of realization. "Come in. Tell me what happened."
"Yeah, but do you mind if I leave my shoes here?"
"Why?"
"I didn't have time to get them cleaned after..."
"Stop! Please. Just come in."
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Meanwhile...
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Dodie had placed the slime from the meteorite onto a microscope tablet, slid it on the microscope, set the magnification level to a molecular level, and noticed its abnormal cellular structure.
"Fascinating... This stuff's chemical structure contains cells and chemical bonds like something out of a comic book! With these kinds of bonds, there's no telling the possibilities this substance can be used as! I need to perform more tests..."
Dodie then took her sample from the tablet and set it on a watch glass. Then she entered the data from the microscope into her lab computer. It quickly got to work, analyzing and classifying the slime's composition.
Within sixteen minutes, it had completed the test. But the results were less than savory.
"What? Uknown composition, unknown properties, abnormal minerals, and unknown form of radiation?" Dodie read out. "What is this stuff? Ugh... There has to be something in this that's been registered..."
As she furiously typed away, trying to find a property in the slime, the tiny sample on the watch glass warbled, and the light grew in intensity.
Then it began moving right out of its glass and sluggishly inched itself towards Dodie, who was too distracted to notice what was happening.
Until it planted itself all over her left hand.
"Huh? What in the hell?"
She looked at her hand and tried to get it off, but it seemed glued to her hand... and was growing in size!
"What the...?!"
Dodie jumped out of her seat as the slime crept up her hand and continued climbing up her arm.
"Oh, my god! NO! NO! AHHHHHHHHH!"
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Upstairs, Doug and Delilah were chewing on some toys when they heard Dodie's screaming. They quickly looked at each other before heading to the basement door. They tried to push it open, but it was locked.
With no choice, Doug backed up to get some distance while Delilah turned around and raised her hind legs...
...they forced the door open with all their might, then stumbled downstairs to watch their human completely engulfed in slime, except for her face.
"Help me! Help-"
But the slime wasn't finished and slowly engulfed the final part of her body.
Frantic, Doug and Delilah tried to rip off the slime, but it was beginning to harden and getting harder by the second. But they weren't giving up and continued to bite and scratch at it.
However, the tiny crack in the meteorite began to seep more slime, and it managed to get two drops of it from itself, which crawled over to the frantic dogs.
Too desperate to free their friend, they didn't notice the slime touch them and crawl up their bodies until it was too late.
They barked in desperation and tried to pull it off, but the slime stuck to them as well, and in a matter of seconds, they were covered and fell to the ground...
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To be continued...