Future Findings

Another late night. But that was fine, after all I did sign up for it. But it’s not like I really had any other choice. It was accept this job, or be homeless. And I couldn’t go back to my parents, no way. They had discovered that their son was utterly useless, and their love just ran out. I guess every good thing ends.

I had a feeling that the streets wouldn’t be very kind to me. Being a pale white dude of 5’ 10” sleeping on a bench in the park was like asking to get mugged and robbed of all the money you didn’t have.

The economy had inevitably fallen. Well, it was more of a crumble then an abrupt fall. We had seen it coming for years, yet nobody did anything to stop it.

I was a janitor in the Baker’s facility. Pretty much the lowest ranking person there. I was a toddler compared to everyone here-- with their doctorates. Few people worked this late into the night, so it got kind of lonely here. The white hospital walls gave a unique sterile vibe, and the floor tiling was shiny enough to reflect your face back and spook you if you forgot about it being there.

It was a scientific research facility, and I had really no idea what went on in there. I was just responsible for sweeping up the hallways and occasionally emptying trash cans and recycling bins in rooms that were cleared for me to enter. It was lonely and creepy, but I got to listen to music. So I was fine with it.

I had gotten the job in a complete stroke of luck. My last place had fired me after two years or so, and it was just after I’d raised enough money to get out of my parent’s house. If I couldn’t find a job soon, I would’ve lost my apartment. It was shitty, but it had a bed and an air conditioner.

With it being nearly midnight, the place seemed to be completely deserted. Sometimes scientists stayed until the early hours of the morning, working on mysterious tests and experiments. But this time, it seemed that everyone was gone. I went about my usual routine of sweeping, picking up trash, and checking rooms for another living soul. The entire West wing was quarantined off for now-- supposedly for an outbreak of mutated Influenza, but I suspected that wasn’t it. Nobody had been allowed to enter for about a week, even though the flu could only live outside of a host for no more than 24 hours. Mysterious.

I had the urge to take a peek, just to see what it really was. After all, I had keys to just about every room here. Except for Mr. Baker’s office. Mr. Baker made it extremely clear that nobody was allowed in there if he wasn’t present. He wasn’t the type of guy to go against.

I knew I shouldn’t go in, but I decided to head to the West wing anyway. I knew the security guard monitoring everything would be too busy playing solitaire to care for the janitor going somewhere he isn’t supposed to. So I pulled my jeans higher up on my waist-- they were far too big for me, and pulled my keys out. By the time I had found the right one, I was already at the doors.

I felt oddly dwarfed when compared to them. They were much larger than any others in the facility, and stood at least ten feet tall. I was 5’ 10”. My short blonde hair barely reached halfway to the top of the doorframe. I slid the key into the slot, and turned. Obviously, it opened. I wondered why Mr. Baker hadn’t upgraded everything to electronic security and locks yet, because those were just recently becoming very popular. And because he was the head of a world famous technology and science facility.

The door was heavy, made out of solid steel or another metal. But I pushed my way through, and left my broom and rolling trash can behind. The entire wing had changed in the time I was last in it. The tiles were ripped up at odd points on the floor, the white walls now looked stained a mustard color, and random pieces of machinery lay everywhere. No Flu had caused this, I thought. That was when I heard it, the whir of machinery. It came from down the hall and to the left. In the general direction of the “Foreign Technologies” labs. That was typically where untested and sometimes dangerous experiments were conducted.

“Oh God,” I said. I did NOT want to go back there. Nevertheless, my curiosity got the best of me. I rubbed the back of my head, and slowly made my way down the hall. The lights flickered momentarily, and I froze. In the half second or so of darkness, I thought I saw something in the hallway with me. But when the light had returned, it was gone. I shook it off, assuming that it was just me being paranoid.

The sound kept getting louder and louder. It was akin to the constant rhythm of gears grinding together, of cogs and wheels pushing something into action. If something bad was happening down in the labs, it was the security guard’s job to put a stop to it. But then again, if it caused the whole facility to blow up, he wouldn’t be the only one out of a job. So despite the goosebumps gathering on my arms, I kept going.

__________

There it was. The source of the noise. Behind a closed door, I could see bolts of electricity springing erratically around the room. The machine had come to life, and was spurting deadly shocks everywhere. But who turned it on? I approached, hoping that the wooden door was enough shield to keep me from getting shocked. There was a window situated on the top of the door, which is how I saw the machine in the first place. In my expert opinion, it was a tesla coil glued on top of a microwave. If the microwave was filled to the brim with water and submerged gears, and the tesla coil stood as tall as me and was jet black. I looked around the room, from my spot of relative safety. There didn’t seem to be a convenient off switch anywhere on the wall.

If there wasn’t an easy way to turn it off, that would mean that I would have to not only walk in there, but stay in there long enough to figure out how to cut the power. But just as I was opening the door, I saw him. Or at least, I saw the glint of his glasses and the white of his long lab coat. He had what looked like a controller in his hands, and was smiling deviously. Scientists tended to do that when their experiments or inventions worked.

The door opening had seemed to trigger an emergency shut off, and the machine went dark. But it wasn’t finished. The microwave filled with water started smoking, and the tesla coil began to make unique screeching sounds.

“No!” the man in the corner bellowed. I guessed that I wasn’t supposed to be in here. Quickly, I shrugged and offered a quiet “sorry” in between the screeches. I shut the door, and left the way I had entered. It was odd that someone was in the quarantined section of the building, but I had seen weirder. It’s best to just leave scientists to their work and stay out of their way. I got back to the giant doors, and closed them. They latched on their own, so I didn’t have to worry about locking them. I picked up my broom, and went back to work. Just another day. Or rather, just another night.

Cosmic Insight:

The energy drew them closer. At first, they had only existed in the other plane. The other realm. The other dimension. But the energy-- it called to them. They could sense it the same way a dog can sense meat, or a shark can sense a drop of blood. They were predators, but not in the natural sense of seeking nourishment. No. Energy did not fuel them, it hurt them. It leeched their own power, their own energy.

They sought it out to destroy it. They have been called many things, and accepted each name with grace. Aliens, UFO’s, gods, God himself. They have been gifted names of reverence: Elders, Leaders, Friends. They came to Earth, and dug out their home. They would enlist people who thought the same way as them, and they would destroy.