Under Construction

Recent rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. ;P here's some freshy-freshy for ya. Once again, this is my 'I-don't-really-care,' just for the hell of it, random idea fic that I'm running with. I'm still surprised by the warm reception it initially got. Also, whenever I'm feeling stuck on other fics I'm working on, I'll be working on this to clear my head. So don't be surprised if this story comes a little sooner than other work. Anyways, here ya go, guys. Enjoy!

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o/` Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin' ... o/`

Flogging Molly – The Times They Are a-Changing

Chapter 2

Under Pressure

I woke up the next day to the same ringing alarm I have for the last two years, pounding it with a half-asleep fist until the noise stopped. I lay there for a moment, wiping the sleep from my eyes and gathering myself, allowing the pins and needles sensation to gradually leave my limbs. I didn’t sleep well that night. Too many weird dreams of creatures flying through the sky, landing on my rooftop, flashing lights. If I didn’t know better, I’d say all of last night was a dream. Only the angry conversation I had with Cashmere yesterday reminded me it was all too real.

I got out of bed and got myself ready for another day in paradise, going through my morning routine with a quickness seldom used. Hell, I even had time to clean Merlin’s litter box. As pressing as the ultimatum Cash gave me was, I put that on the back burner for the moment. For now, I decided to dedicate the rest of my morning before work to web browsing and channel surfing for answers to just what the fuck happened last night!

I flipped the TV on and didn’t have to look very hard. The news station I put on last night that had to useful information had a shining, animated headline rolling across the screen.:

“Super Collider Test Malfunctions!”

Ooooohhhhhh, Shit! What in the name of ALL SCREAMING FUCK did I see last night?! I pulled the laptop across the coffee table and flipped it open, calling up an opposing news network’s site with the same results; live streaming coverage from Tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow, London, Johannesburg, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Los Angeles, all with the same reports; sudden storms springing up from nothing, blackouts, colored lights rolling across the sky, strange creatures being seen all over the world, a world-wide five minute blackout, the works! And all coinciding with the unified super collider test. The saving grace was that each of the machines had a safety protocol in their programming that shut them down in the event of loss of communication with any one other machine. The entire thing lasted only five minutes, thank God, but caused a world-wide uproar.

On another channel, there was a report of a mass-suicide, the group believing the vision of the creatures was a sign of the apocalypse. Another report said there was some rogue military base in Siberia that went on lock down and was refusing to let anyone within five miles of the place until the soldiers inside knew it wasn’t a full-scale invasion by some evil, alien race. Still, another channel shown thousands of protesters in front of Buckingham Palace, demanding the Queen give some sort of explanation as to the events of the night before. Damn, this would have interested me if I didn’t have much more pressing matters in mind.

I looked up at the clock and noticed I had only ten minuted to get to work. Son of a bitch! It takes me at least twenty, by the time I get a coffee or a newspaper and find a parking place! I turned everything off and hopped in the elevator, bolting to my truck and taking off for work... only to be stuck in the most traffic I’ve ever seen this early in the morning. There was a SHIT TON of people out, today! Pushing in and out of stores, fighting on the sidewalks, racing up and down the streets. It was a real life 'Arkham City.' I barely made it to work with my life, let alone on time. I got there twenty minutes late, and immediately found my boss, stressing in his office.

“Corbin! You make it here alright? When did ya get here?” Wally, our foreman, was usually out of sorts. He always had councilmen or the mayor on his back for some reason or another, not to mention the hundreds of citizens that somehow had his personal cell number and pestered him relentlessly about every bent street sign or crack in the sidewalks. But today, with everything going on, he seemed strangely... in control, I guess would be a good name for it?

“Um... Yeah, I made it OK. Sorry I’m late, though. Traffic was-”

“Insane? I know. Don’t worry; I’m putting everyone that just makes it in alright today in the books as ‘on time.’ Just grab a truck and a partner and take a ‘walkie’ with ya. Tune it to the police band. Take whatever you think you might need for whatever situation might come up. We’re helping the cops today.” I instantly gave him my best WTF face on that.

“Wait, ‘helping the cops?’Are you kiddin’ me? Are we even qualified for that?”

“Nope, but we're doing it anyway. We’re doing clean-ups and assists all day, until the people calm down from that weird phenomenon last night. C’mon, now! Asses and elbows, Corbin! MOVE IT!” He spun me around and pushed me back out of his office, onto the garage and right into Mikey.

“Jeremy! How ya doin,’ my man?!” He was wearing his Cheshire cat, shit-eating grin. I already knew what it was all about. That ‘I told ya so’ informed me I'd be sitting next to the Tasmanian Devil on crack all day. “Didn’t I tell ya?! I called it! I totally called it!”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I said, trying to deflate his ego a little before it crushed the entire garage. “Let’s just get out of here. Old Man Wallace looks like he’s ready to snap in half and die.” Mikey and I looked back through he glass window of the office, Wally resting his head on his desk, shaking it back and forth with his hands cupped on the back of his neck.

“Oh, damn. Good idea...”

We quickly grabbed an assortment of tools that we thought would help us as we quote, unquote assisted the cops; sledge hammer, two crowbars, two shovels, two brooms, a few bags of Oil-B-Dry powder, duct tape, zip-ties, a few old recycling cans we had laying around and a walkie-talkie, already police-band ready. Hopping in our usual 3-ton dump truck, we headed out for whatever chaos waited us.

***

And I thought Boston was a more upper-class, logic-minded, down to earth city... Yeah fuckin’ right! We were running with the cops all day! Sweeping up broken glass from smashed windows, drying up blood on sidewalks. We helped break up at least seven fights and had to break two people out of crashed cars, the one from a head on collision we watched happen right in front of us! Even though most of the morning was madness, Mikey and I still were able to catch a lot of what was still happening around the world on the local talk radio station. Ours was only one of the hundreds of towns and cities where people were panicking. However, like most towns and cities around the world, the vast majority of the craziness died down by midday. You'd be surprised how two people in a lock-up on the ground calm themselves when there's a guy standing over them with a 12 lb. sledge hammer. After lunch, we practically had nothing to do, riding around just waiting to receive a word from the police. Thankfully, that call never came. By quitting time, we were more than happy to punch out and get the hell outta there.

After the slow and careful commute home, I made my way back into my building, again being greeted by Cashmere. He was more than happy to remind me of my massive debt I owed him. He chocks it up to a friendly reminder. I chock it up to him being a dick.

I changed back into my normal clothes and proceeded right to the fridge, reaching for the bottle of bourbon. Wait... shit. Poured it out. Scratch that.

Merlin met me on the couch as I hopped over the back and landed, facing the TV. Turning on the same news station I’ve been favoring lately, I was met by the talking walnut image of the current U.S. Secretary of Defense. He seemed to be finishing up some speech as dozens of flashes of cameras fired off at once. By the time I got the volume up on the TV, he had gathered up his papers from the podium and walked away. I didn’t hear one word he spoke, though, the man making way for the president. I didn't vote for the guy. Hell, I never voted at all! Just on the fact that I didn't like the guy, I would have turned it off. Except, the scrolling headline at the bottom of the screen; “THE WORLD MAKES FIRST CONTACT!” Oh, lord...

Well, we wanted an answer as to what happened, and me and the whole world got it. The collider test just so happened to coincide with a test of a portal system that an actual ALIEN RACE was running at the same time. Yes, I said alien. But not like the term usually implies. They weren't from 'outer' space, but more like 'other' space. A world existing beside, inside, around, right on top of our own. The parallel running energies and dimensional vibrations matched up, creating a doorway system, yadda yadda yadda. Whatever. This president sounded like an idiot when he LIKED what he was talking about. Now, trying to explain this? He sounded like a high school jock who accidentally wondered onto the stage at a Star Trek convention.

To make a long story short, both our cultures discovered neighbors we never knew we had before. The auroras, the blackout, the freak storm the other night? All caused by the colliders opening of dozens of holes in reality connecting out two worlds. Right now, the 120 or so portals were stabilized, safe and fully operational, thanks to a joint effort between our scientists and 'Equestria,' whatever the hell that is. That's all for now, stay tuned, good night, and good luck.

The analysts and debunkers now took centers stage, the image of the president fading as he walked off screen and the small windows in the corners of the screen maximized to the news desks around the world. I sat there as they went over point by point by point, running over dozens of scenarios as to this and that. It was decided that the reason the U.S. Government admitted to the encounter(and several other major governments around the world, as well) was that the event was just too massive to write off as a hallucination, weather balloons or swamp gas. Also, the reason we're apparently talking to them instead of oh, I don't know... cluster bombing them out of existence, could be either one or both of two reasons;

1: They're non-hostile. The aliens have clearer heads than us, and approached us peacefully, extending a hand... um... claw... tentacle, maybe(?) of friendship. Perhaps they had technology to give us to help with our energy needs? Concrete cure-all drug to end all disease? Secrets of space travel? Who knows. Or...

2: More likely, they're a shit-ton more powerful than us. They probably got all I mentioned and much, much more. Any move to attack them would result in our planet being turned inside out and shoved up our collective asses.

My own opinion? It's a little from column A and a little from column B. They're super-powerful and made a point to show it, if not violently. We're playing it cool until we know we can blast them to hell and back. I reached for the remote and flipped to my two other fall-back news stations, finding them already deep in conversation over the astounding news.

I sat back on the couch, allowing the news to sink in. Wow.. guess Mikey and all those other conspiracy nuts were right all along. Actual aliens. And...Yeah, that's it. I'm over it. What? You're shocked? Hey, usually big, important stuff like this only happens in big, important places. The fact that I saw it in the night sky was pretty cool, but then again, the entire world saw it. I guess we're lucky the planet wasn't pulled apart, but other than that, I had bigger things to worry about than aliens. Real, importing, pressing matters that actually affected my daily life. Like, for example, the fact that I'm about to lose my home.

I watched the pundits go back and forth for a few hours, not leaning anything really new. Maybe a photo of these supposed little green men would have been helpful, perhaps? Whatever. I turned the TV off and picked up the laptop. As much as I hated to admit it... I still needed a LOT of money to break even with my rent. I looked around my apartment, carefully considering the two empty bedrooms I built off of my own. I was just using them for storage, after all. I looked around at the wide, open spaces of my apartment. Would I really miss not having this place all to myself? Reluctantly, I opened up the writing program and started typing:

HELP!!!

ROOMMATE WANTED!!!!!

Studio apartment for rent!

Plenty of space in this 80' by 100' space, converted to a HUGE 2 bedroom, top floor apartment. Must share rent, utilities, have source of income.

Students welcome!

Desperate for someone to move in soon!

Will take ANY FORM OF SENTIENT LIFE WITH A PULSE AT THIS POINT!!!

Please, contact Cashmere at

(740) 555-1130

(Non smoker preferred)

With a gulp, I hit print, several copies quickly filing out of the wireless printer across the room. I moseyed over and looked them over, a chill running down my back for some reason. Well, nothing left to do now but post them up and wait.

***

Now I can't say I was expecting a call the first day. No, that would be unrealistic. No call the first few days? Alright, I'll buy that. But by the end of the second week and still nothing? What da fuq? As I rooted through my old collections of junk and conversation pieces I had strewn around my apartment, I waited. More than patiently, I might ad. Sometimes, I would even go around town to the many places I posted up the fliers to make sure they were still up. In the laundromat, in the library, at some local skate spots, grocery stores, even at some college hangouts! STILL NOTHING!!! It hurt me to do so, but it looked like I'd have to start selling stuff to make my rent.

As I sat worrying for these few weeks, I have to admit; I got pretty depressed. My days became a steady routine of work, eat, shit, shower, sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat. However, I did find time to drink myself into a stupor on a bi-daily basis. That's always helpful. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the world had it's own issues to deal with. Issues that I only heard of in passing through my daily work excursions with Mikey, who, by the way, seemed to fall more and more into the tin-foil hat crowd as days went by. The 'aliens' now started meeting with human scientists, politicians, military officials. You know, all the big shots out there. Also, lots of human scientists have been traveling to their world, giving them information on our society, culture and history. Now, even with my limited knowledge of world history, even I know that's probably not a good idea! Hell, if they didn't want to kill us yet, they'd certainly want to, now!

Every other day for weeks, humans and the 'Equestrians' have been visiting each others worlds, conversing, learning new things about each other. And as much as I would like to get involved and learn more, I can't help but find my mind wondering back to the cause of all my misery: Erica. If only she hadn't left. If she wasn't such a crazy bitch. Maybe I tried too hard. Maybe I should have been more... ya know what? I don't even know anymore. All I know is the thought of losing my home that I tried so hard to build has consumed my every waking thought. Then again, I might be one of the few people left on the planet that hasn't let watching these Equestrian aliens take over their daily routines. And just like Erica, everything becomes about them... what they want, what they like, how humans can help them and so on and so on. Maybe the reason nobody is calling about my ad is because everyone's too busy drooling over this other world business to take a chance and help me out. Whatever. That's just the story of my life; always left hanging while everybody, and in this case, every 'thing,' get's what they want.

***

On the final day of my deadline with Cashmere, I felt like I was floating. I vaguely remember getting up, getting dressed, going to work. It was the end of his six week extension period, and I still wasn't any closer to having the huge amount of cash than I was when he first told me. Any attempt to get some overtime hours was sucked up by the guys who had more seniority than me. Pricing some of my odd nick-knacks online was a dead end, too. And by the time I sold them on some of the auction sites, it would be too late. I even looked into getting a paper route and shoveling all the money right into Cash's pocket, but all the routes large enough to be of any help were too big for me to finish by the time I had to go to work for the city.

Every avenue was a dead end. And by the time I made it home this afternoon, my lease would be officially violated and I'd be out on the street. I couldn't even blame Cash for it. He had his bills and responsibilities to take care of, and I couldn't uphold my end of the deal.

Asking Mikey to move in was a waste of my time, too. He was still living with his folks and wouldn't give up that safety net for any love or money. For now, he and I sat in the truck, killing the last few hours of the day parked in a maintenance tunnel, one of our usual hiding spots about the city. He was still going on, rambling about the 'aliens' and some program between their government and ours for education or something. I just let him rant on and get it out of his system.

Just before I nodded off, my cell rang, the caller I.D. showing me it was Cashmere. Mikey stopped for a minute as I pulled the phone from my pocket, half expecting it to be the boss  Reluctantly, I answered, ready for any snarky reminder of my outstanding debt.

“Jeremy! Iz go** you answe*! Terrif** **ws! You ad for ro****** got someone to call me. They're her* **ght now, ready to mov* in!” The huge concrete tunnel we parked in was just as lousy for reception as it was on a G4 connection. I couldn't understand a lot of what he said, but I was able to make out something about my roommate ad?!

“Cashmere? Say that again! What about my roommate ad?” I held my breath for a moment, hoping whatever he was saying would somehow magically come through clear.

“You won't belie** ****, Jerem*, but **e's a **ny! Iz amazing, rig**?! You get to me** *** ***ight!” Son of a bitch! The signal was still too garbled for me to make it out. Mikey just sat there, looking on as I cursed at my phone, unable to do anything to fix it.

“Just tell me when I come home, Cash! I see ya soon!” As soon as I said that, the phone cut out, beeping to signify the disconnect. I shoved the phone back in my pocket, annoyed as I checked the time on the dashboard. Almost time to punch out. Good. Cashmere sounded WAY too excited about hearing a response to that ad. I couldn't wait to get home and walk into whatever fresh hell waited for me.

***

I think I raced home faster than I ever did through rush hour traffic. I'd be surprised if I wasn't responsible for half a dozen cars being driven off the road with how many yellows AND reds I ran under. Parking in my usual spot, I hopped out and started jogging across the parking lot, but something caught my eye. Two moving vans, a trio of burly guys standing behind the one, laughing about something over their smoke break. Oh, what the hell, Cashmere? ALREADY? Thanks a lot for having a clear conversation about this with me!

I entered the ground floor and went straight to the old man's office, finding it empty. I checked the number he called from on my phone again, finding it to be his office line. Alright, I know he's here, at least. I went over to my private elevator and got inside, hitting the button for my floor as I prepared myself for the worst.

The box hit my floor with the usual !CHUNG!, announcing my arrival to Merlin. Curiously, the little fuzzball didn't come like he usually did. I opened the metal gate and got off, taking my phone out again. Screw it, I'm calling Cash's cell. I got a weird feeling about this, and I don't like it.

I hit send and held the phone to my ear, the sudden muffled chiming of Cashmere's phone sounding from the far end of my massive apartment. I took a few steps to the side, peeking around the edge of my kitchen area to catch him looking over a few old books I had on a large bookshelf I had.

“Cash?” I said, just loud enough for the old man to hear me. “What are you doing here? Did I hear you right earlier? Did you get a call-back on those roommate fliers I put around?” He looked over at me and smiled, replacing the book on the shelf and coming over to me, arms wide.

“Jeremy! Iz true! You, my friend, have a new roommate. Iz that not wonderful, boychik?” He threw his arms around me and gave me a tight, friendly squeeze. I barely shared his enthusiasm. Breaking out of his hold, I kicked off my boots and walked over to the fridge, taking out a can of soda.

“Well, I'm glad you ran that by me, old pal!” I said, the annoyance apparent in my voice. “I see the moving vans outside already. Tell me; were they for me, or are they for my new 'bestest-best buddy, forever-est?'” He gave me a loud, jovial laugh, wagging a finger at me.

“Oh no, my friend. I knew there would be some miracle that pulled you through. And low and behold, iz miracle!” I looked around the apartment, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Alright, then. Where is the guy?” He snickered a little, approaching me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Oh, Jeremy. Iz no 'guy.'”

“Wait, my new roommate is a chick?!” I pulled away from him, giving him dirty look. “Well, excuses ME all to hell, Cash! Thanks a lot for asking how I felt about that! You know the trouble I had with Erica, here!” I sat down on the couch, throwing my head back, running my hands down my face. “Now, I gotta put up with another girl's nonsense?” I sighed, scanning around the apartment once again. “Well, where is she?” Across the apartment, I heard the toilet flush, followed by a bubbly giggle from behind the closed door. I stood up off the couch and moved to investigate, being quickly flanked by Cashmere, still wearing a goofy grin.

“Oh, my dear boychik... I forgot to mention this iz not your usual-type girl.” I gave him a curious look over my shoulder, turning back just in time to see the bathroom door sway open. Out walked a dark orange, four legged creature with a bright blue mane and brilliant green eyes. The thing clopped out of the bathroom, grinning as it looked up and down, inspecting the apartment and seemingly liking what it saw. Then, it's eyes fell to me. The thing's smile widened as it approached, my feet frozen in place as this small animal casually strolled up to me and raised a foreleg in a gesture of greeting. And just when I didn't think this moment could get any weirder, the little monster spoke.

“Hi! You must be Jeremy. My name's Autumn Rain. I'm your new roommate!”

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I'm about 2/3 the way done with my latest Star Crossed chapter, so you'll be getting that soon, as well. Until then, everypony feel free to post comments, like or favorite. But mostly comment! you guys are hilarious sometimes!

T.T.F.N. - Ta-Ta for now!