They Walk Among Us

"Hello, President Eibert, this is Dr. Reilly from the Physics department. I'm looking at something very unsettling right now, and I need a team to investigate this situation immediately. Yes. Yes it is. No, Dr. Fredrick is not needed in this investigation, but we could use Dr. Chen. No, that's alright, I just need the team that I usually assemble in the face of a crisis in outer space. Oh, except Dr. Klovich. Tell them to come meet me in the observatory in the university. Thanks, President Eibert."

"Hey, Alan, I need you to come over to the university right now. I now you don't have any credentials, but we need your, um, unique expertise at the moment. Yes. No, we're calling you because we've never seen anything like this before."

"Morning, Dad. Yes, I know it's 5.30 a.m. in the morning, but I need your help. No, you don't understand, we need to know about anything, and I mean anything that could help us find out the nature of this problem. We don't know what is happening, and of course, we don't know what's going to happen next. OK. Thanks, Dad. OK, See ya."

This is truly the most troubling thing Steven has ever faced, and he has absolutely NO idea how to react to such an occasion. As a scientist, he had never indulged in things like religion, or even movies. However, with something at this scale at hand,  he would really need every single thing that might help to classify this event.

With utmost haste, Steven drove all the way to the university, ignoring all red lights and stop signs on the way. His scientific curiosity got the better of him, and he drove very carelessly, hitting a mailbox or two and maybe denting a school bus in the side (Yikes!). However, in 10 minutes flat, he arrived at the university. Getting out of the car and running to the entrance (forgetting to lock his car), he sprinted all the way to the observatory, as the lifts weren't operational at this time of day. When he reached there, he felt a migraine coming on, and his legs were sore all over. When he entered the observatory, he saw his whole team, plus Alan and his Dad, already there.

The Observatory, Steven thought. Probably my favourite place in the world.

The Observatory was a dome-like structure with a circular base at the top of the university. The interior of the room was basically a giant telescope in the middle, and about a dozen huge monitors against the wall of the observatory.

Steven sighed. How he always wished that he would live here instead of his run-down apartment. In here he would be comfortable, happy, and, well, he would enjoy not having cockroaches infesting the bed.

But he needed that house. He specifically chose that apartment in that very area because of its geographic position that is able to detect any anomalies in the atmosphere and beyond. And now, it has served its purpose. However, living in that apartment was completely unbearable, and if it wasn't for Jaeda, then he would've...

Jaeda.

No time for that! thought Steven. He slapped himself lightly on both cheeks.

"OK, guys, let's get down to business," he said.

"At 5.20 this morning, I stood at the balcony and looked at the sky. When I took a glance at the Sun, I noticed that something was wrong. At first, I couldn't put my finger on it, so I ignored it. However, after about 30 seconds, I noticed that the color of the Sun was purple.  At that same time, I discovered that the 'off' feeling I felt earlier was that the Sun was rising from the WEST, not the EAST. And if that wasn't enough, the Sun started shrinking. These are very strange and potentially dangerous symptoms, and I need the help of all of you," he glanced at Alan, who was sweating, and his Dad, "to find out the nature of this possible catastrophe and to figure out how to counter it."

Every single member of the team took uneasy glances at each other, then went to work. Alan and Mr. Reilly just stood there, looking confused. After what seemed like hours just standing there, Alan spoke up.

"Hey, Steve? Um, I don't really see the reason why I need to be here..." he said.

"Oh, you and Dad just stay there. We're gonna need your help, but we need more information first," said Steven.

Steven felt a rush he hadn't felt in so long. A few years ago, he and his team were making scientific breakthroughs almost every week, and it just kept on coming. For one mystery solved, there was always another one taking its place in line. But that all changed when Jaeda...

No, there was no time to think about that, he thought. How can I think about that right now? We are in the face of massive change, so get it together, man!

He looked at his team. This very team was the same one who helped him prove String Theory, and he just couldn't use another team to take care of this problem... Or any other problem for the matter. Dr. Richards, Dr. Chen, Dr. Foster, and himself- the star team of the university, even until now. No other team in the history of the world has ever made as much discoveries as this one, and its unlikely that there will ever be.

"Steve, there's something wrong. The Sun is emitting much more energy than usual," said Dr. Foster.

"That's fine, Bill. Just keep an eye on it in case the energy goes off the charts. Right now, that's the least of our problems."

But it was a problem. What in the world was purple and can emit energy? Heat, light, sound, no nothing that's purple can emit energy.

"Chen, look for something, ANYTHING that could've emitted that much energy, other than the sun."

"Already did that, all of the energy around there traces back to the Sun. There are no large energy sources out there."

Hmm...

This was definitely strange. He needed an explanation. ANY explanation.

"Dad! Alan! Come over here!" said Steven.

"OK, right now, we are sure that all the heat and light in the area is coming from the Sun, and that the Sun is releasing more and more energy every second. Dad, you're the expert on religion. Tell me something."

"I don't know, son. This here is, well... Well, no one could think of this! This is just so... wild. But Alan's an expert on that, why don't you ask him?"

"Well, according to various sources such as Marvel Comics' The Sentry Vol. 1 #9, the Sun we are looking at might explode into a supernova," said Alan.

"It's possible, but very unlikely. But what about the color?" Steven asked.

"Well, according to a manga known as Fairy Tail, the one that is causing the color change might be our our own atmosphere, or the Sun's atmosphere (if it has any)."

"Interesting. President Eibert lent me one of NASA's satellites, and that satellite also saw the Sun as purple. However, we might be dealing with-"

"Steve! Come here, quick!" said a nearby voice.

Steven quickly rushed to his team.

"What is it?"

"You might wanna see this, man."

Well, &!#@ thought Steven.

"Get me President Eibert, the UN, and Homeland Security in a video conference as fast as possible," said Steven.

Alan quickly got them online, and Steven shoved him aside to speak to them, despite the various complaints on the time from the conference members. It was only then did Steven realize just how powerful his university was. In this time and age, education is the number one priority, anyway.

"Respected men and women, my name is Dr. Steven Reilly, and I'm here to report what could be a major calamity that might change our very lives.."

As expected, everyone except President Seibert rose their voices and started complaining even more.

"According to earlier speculations, at 5.20 a.m. this morning, the Sun rose up. However, the Sun was colored purple, and it was constantly shrinking. However, the energy it emitted increased. Also, just recently, we found that the energy patterns and the solar flares around that Sun was very different than to the one we were used to."

"So?"

"What does this mean?"

"What going to happen?"

"Thus, I have only this one conclusion regarding the above matter."

The room was silent. Everybody held their breaths. Steven started to shudder, thinking about what would become of this world now. Just when he found meaning to his life, it all might just be taken away. But they, as a whole race, must stick together at this time of need. They would need all the support they can get from each other.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Sun that rose today at 5.20 a.m., the Sun that was purple and kept shrinking, The Sun with an ever growing amount of emitted energy..."

He took a deep breath.

"That Sun is not our Sun."