Chương 1: The end of the world, as we know it

If only we knew then, what we know now. Such is the immutable law of hindsight. Alas, we are stuck with the middle child, Foresight. Nurture it. Prudent planning has delayed many endings. —The Artificer's Guide to the Apocalypse I impatiently glanced back up at the clock for what felt like the twentieth time in the last half-hour. 4: 21 pm. Close enough. What are they going to do, fire me?

A grin tugged at the corner of my lips as I hit 'Send' on one final message, a farewell to the only remaining friend I had at the data center. We were the final holdouts from the original development team. Turns out, being an early adopter with your own in-house artificial intelligence and a shareholder was quite lucrative. We stuck around longer than the others, but my sanity could only last so long watching a computer do my work for me.

I'd miss the place, but it was time for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. I stood, giving my dark slacks the all-too-familiar pat-down. Phone, check. Keys, check. Wallet… check! The sun was already creeping toward the horizon, shining right in my eyes through the blinds behind my computer. I wanted to make use of what light remained to wrap up the belt Gene commissioned before Darby came over for Friday Night Magic.

Early retirement and something far more enjoyable than wasting a few more minutes at work were mere steps away. I wasted not a moment longer. Nothing on this planet could stop me.

Just off-planet, something happened. Silent screams of protest, observable only by the frantic warping of starlight, heralded disaster. A crack formed in space. One moment, it wasn't there; the next, it was as if it had always existed. A haze, pale and ghostly, gathered at the brim before seeping forth from the darkness. The stars ceased twinkling, breath bated as they watched events unfold. The crack spread. > SYSTEM ALERT > SECTOR 138-B: UNAUTHORIZED ANOMALY DETECTED. > SCANNING…

> STABILITY THRESHOLD BREACHED > ENTITY CLASS: CALAMITY > THREAT LEVEL: ERROR. > APOTHEOS DETECTED > INITIATING EMERGENCY INTEGRATION PROTOCOL > 00: 02: 59…

"Another?" I offered Darby the last of the six-pack before folding the cardboard case down.

"Mmm. Thanks." He waved at the spot next to him and didn't bother looking up from his hand. He was just delaying the inevitable. He had four life left, and no way out, my goblin deck had proliferated itself to an obscene state.

"Okay, man. While you figure that out, I'm gonna run Gene's belt over to him, and take out the trash while I'm at it." I wrinkled my nose.

"It's starting to stink."

"See if he wants to join us, I haven't seen him in forever."

"Will do." I wouldn't. Ever since Darby had the bright idea to try to get Gene in on Magic, which was a disaster, Gene made himself scarce every time Darby came over. I let the screen door swing shut behind me, it bounced against the bag of garbage slung over my shoulder. A sudden tug and a rip stopped me in my tracks, nearly making me drop the completed leather belt. I groaned, already very aware of the mess behind me. The bag hooked on the door.

Junk mail, coffee grounds, and last night's pepperoni pizza box scattered across the entryway. Before I could kneel to pick them up, dark red text pulsed at the edge of my vision. I stumbled back in shock, dropped what remained of the trash, and fell on my ass. > SYSTEM ALERT > EMERGENCY INTEGRATION PROTOCOL INITIATED. > FOR OPTIMUM SURVIVAL, MOVE TO AN OPEN AREA. > APOTHEOS COMES. > 00: 02: 59… I read over the message several times, flicking back and forth, failing to process what was happening.

My mind sputtered for several more seconds as I tried to make sense of it all. A crash next door, accompanied by a muffled curse, brought me back to reality. Gene! I rushed toward my neighbor's house, the mess forgotten. I leapt up the steps and whipped the door open. Inside, a thin, white-haired man struggled to get to his feet, his frail arms shaking with the effort. My broad frame knocked over a stack of old Country Living magazines as I weaved my way around an oversized Victorian armchair.

Slipping an arm under Gene's, I pulled him to his feet. The old man sagged against me, breath ragged.

"Logan! What's happening?" His raspy voice sounded weak, barely audible against the noise from the street. Stolen novel; please report. Before I could reply, the floor lamp flickered, then went dark. The room was cast in shadows, the only light came through the lace-covered windows, which were already dim with the setting sun. An accompanying silence fell over the room, broken only by the roar of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. The street was quiet.

My eyes darted to the timer, the ominous red countdown stood out against the darkness. Gene said something, his voice unnaturally loud now against the silence, but I didn't register what he'd said. > 00: 02: 23… The angry numbers flashed at me, consuming my thoughts.

"We don't have much time, Gene. I think we need to get outside." Not waiting for a response, nor trusting Gene's footing in the dark with the mess I made coming in, I hefted him up and charged for the door, ignoring my friend's protests. The screen door flew open with a kick, cracking against the wall, and we strode out into the yard.

"Dammit, boy, would you listen!? I need you to grab Nibbles!" Shit. I stifled a groan of annoyance, and immediately felt a pang of guilt. Nibbles lived up to the name, much to the chagrin of my ankles. Even so, there was enough time, and I couldn't leave the little guy to whatever fate lay in store for those unfortunate enough to remain indoors when the timer ran out. I shoved the belt at Gene and raced back up the steps, calling out for the small dog.

My heart still hammered in my ears, nearly causing me to miss the faint whine coming from the doggy bed in the corner of the living room. I gathered the dog before scrambling back outside, slipping on magazines in the process. It was all I could do to avoid squishing the poor pup. I was greeted by screams coming from the end of the street.

"... ALIENS! THEY'RE GOING TO HARVEST OUR FUCKING ORGANS! I WARNED ALL OF YOU!" I handed Nibbles back over to Gene, glad to see that Darby had joined us, beer still in hand. Looking back to the street, I immediately recognized Linda's form in the dying light. The neighborhood hoarder ran past us, a certifiable Paul Revere, bellowing about the end times.

"THEY CAN'T CONTROL US IF WE DON'T LET THEM! DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! GET BACK INSIDE!" Her voice trailed off as she skirted the corner at the end of the block, headed back to the trash heap that covered her front yard. The Thompsons emerged across from us, they were among the few neighbors that I had any regular contact with. They were nice, Nancy had even made me soup when I had the flu really bad last year.

The entire street was alive by this point, buzzing with shouts of confusion and fear as everyone exited their homes. I looked back at Gene. The old man held Nibbles tight, gaping at the sky. Following his gaze, I saw what had caught his attention. A rapidly growing section of the sky was devoid of stars.

"Ain't seen nothing like it," Gene drawled, scratching with his free hand at his greyed stubble.

"Yeah… no, that's not supposed to happen," I slowly whispered back. I pulled my phone out to take a picture, but it was as dead as the city around us. I put it back with a frown.

"None of this should be happening." The void grew, a stark contrast against the now-vibrant starscape. It was oddly serene, seeing the stars for the first time without any light pollution. I checked the time again. > 00: 01: 34… It hit me then, like a brick. My knees felt weak, about to give out. I dropped to a crouch and started to shake. It was a deep, involuntary, primal reaction. A hand gripped my shoulder, and I looked up. Gene didn't meet my gaze. Instead, he stood calm and contemplative.

He was a strong and firm comfort, despite his frailty.

"Thank you..." I whispered shakily before returning my attention to the void in the stars. Gene only grunted in response. The stars were fewer now. The void changed, and I found myself really wishing it hadn't. The heavens began to glow, a deep, sinister purple within the void. A crack, finally visible to the naked eye, was growing by the second. From deep inside, a darker shape pushed out from the center. The void stretched out like a silk sheet before the shape penetrated the darkness.

Purple light spilled from the tear, birthing a long, cylindrical object.

"Brother, that's a ship! A fucking SPACESHIP!" Darby hooted.

"Looks like Linda wasn't wrong about the aliens after all!" One by one, four more joined the first.

"They're bringing the whole damn fleet! Where's a crop duster when you need one!" A moment passed, and in horror, it dawned on me. Oh fuck no, that… that's not a ship—that's a fucking hand! What the HELL?! The gargantuan hand emerged, slowly reaching toward the Earth. It swallowed the sky, and details quickly became visible. The hand looked ancient, its wrinkles caused dancing shadows from the purple light to striate along it in an eerie display.

A second hand appeared, grasping at the edge of the crack in space, which I could only assume to be a portal or wormhole of some sort. The sky vibrated as the fabric of reality screamed in futile resistance, torn apart by the terrifying strength behind those hands. The hand pulled at the edge of the portal, rapidly widening the gash in space. I jumped as a solitary gunshot sounded from just a few houses down.

Either the gun-toting flag waving crowd was refusing to go down without a fight, or more unsettlingly, some poor unfortunate soul was taking their fate into their own hands. It prompted another in the distance. Either way, I was content to see the end for myself, terrifying as it might be. Gene remained stoic, Darby now far less so. I nervously glanced at the timer one last time. >> 00: 00: 12… Klaxons began to sound, a directionless siren directly in my ears, no, in my mind.

It seemed to signify the final ten seconds of the timer. > 00: 00: 10 TO SYSTEM INTEGRATION It was too close. The Earth trembled under my feet, then bucked like an angry mare, throwing me to the ground. Great cracking noises accompanied the collapse of several houses, throwing dust into the air. > 00: 00: 07 We weren't going to make it, whatever the countdown was for, it wasn't going to happen before that… that thing got to us. > 00: 00: 05 The hand clawed for the Earth, preceding a venous, twisted arm.

> 00: 00: 02 Clouds evaporated and the fingers lit up in a fiery display as they crashed through the atmosphere. An intense white light bloomed above, consuming everything. I closed my eyes. > INITIALIZING INTEGRATION As if in response to the system message, Apotheos' maw opened in a silent howl. The Earth spasmed, one final death throe before it split in twain. The sky lit orange as the life-force of the planet vacated its bowels into the atmosphere. Then time ceased its forward march and the Earth fell still.

The grasping hand froze in place, surrounded by great plumes of magma. Reality warped. The planet stretched, a fish-eye effect thousands of miles wide brought existence to a point. The hand receded, or maybe it was us. The quickly shrinking portal produced the beginnings of a face, eyes impossibly dark and filled with hatred. The creature faded to a pinpoint before darkness consumed all. A final thought echoed in my mind as the world ended. I guess retirement will have to wait after all…