Tribulations by Earth

-Space. The Near Future-

The silent darkness seems eternally peaceful. Nothing could really disturb things up here, two hundred and fifty miles above the planet known as Earth. The blue orb, the home of many, is nothing short but spectacular. Yet it was not all as it seems. For nearly a hundred years this peaceful, interstellar boundary has been disturbed by the arrival of scientific devices, devices used to connect the world below to the stars above. Slicing through the darkness was such a device, an artificial satellite that was launch nearly a decade ago. One of the many in the array of machinery hovering over the planet, the satellite was made as an advanced instrument to study the Earth with state of the art equipment and instruments. Officially it was made to observe weather events and their aftermaths such as hurricanes and tornadoes. Unofficially, it was mainly used for spy work and keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity that might threaten the security of the western world. The machine served both purposes effectively as it graced across space at speeds reaching nearly sixteen thousand miles per hour. It was just leaving the eastern side of North America, crossing the blue abyss that was the Atlantic Ocean.

Then everything changed. As the satellite crosses the midpoint of the arch, something was happening in the middle of the ocean below. Sparks and bolts of lightning were crossing all over the water’s surface. Waves of energy were being emitted from the center of this activity. It was causing the ocean to tremble and churn. Suddenly lights were being emitted from the center of this disturbance. The energy continued to ripple through the atmosphere and the sea. The lightning bolts were hundreds of miles across as they skim across the air. The energy causes the surface water in the area to quickly evaporate.
Steam rose over sky quickly becoming fog in the cold air. This all happen in less than a minute but the satellite saw the whole thing. Every instrument was going haywire. Thermal, x-ray, radio, the transmitter, and the camera were reaching max capacity as the new influx of data was overwhelming it. The satellite noted the issue and send an error report on its programming. Its ability to record things was being compromised. Luckily it had reached the coast of Africa before the new entity could destroy it completely. But the error alert still persisted. A distress beacon was being transmitted and within a few milliseconds, it would be received.

-Earth, the Third Planet from Sol-

Earth, an isolated blue marble in the abyss of space, is not what it seems. Unlike the many planets that span across the galaxy, this one had one unique feature: it was inhabited by many forms of life. And with the key aspect of life being mortal, these forms of life have fight each other to death in order to survive. For a cold and uncaring universe only provided this planet with a finite amount of energy and not enough space on this planet for it be shared. So life on this planet has to compete to keep itself sustainable. Throughout time life has faced many trials and errors to stay on top. Some lifeforms faded into obscurity, others had to adapt to the changing world. Some of them disappeared in a blink of an eye, others manage to cling to this planet with incredible endurance. But if there is one form of life that has stood above the rest, sprouting from the shadows with their incredible skills and tenacity, it would be the lifeforms known as humans.

And suffice it to say, they were the first to take notice of the anomaly.

It was just an ordinary day for Chris who was watching the monitor of his terminal and the hologram of Earth above him.

He drank some of his lukewarm coffee when a red light began to flash.

Chris looked puzzled. He sat down his mug and quickly click on the icon. The red light usually means an error but those were very rare. Most of the satellites were a part of the Network and were in prime condition. The light indicates that one satellite has experienced a malfunction. He pulled up the list of technical difficulties as he brought the satellite up to his screen. The error number indicates that something overloaded the satellite feed and instruments. He pulled the satellite ID and turn to his co-worker.

“Hey, Tony,” Chris said as he leans back. “Do you know what is for?”

“It is a weather survey satellite,” Tony said as he looked at Chris’s computer. “It should be pasting
China now. Why?”

“Because it saying it has this error,” Chris said as he began to click on some more buttons. “I’m trying to get the video feed. Nothing should overload these instruments short of a nuclear weapon.”

“Well, let’s watch it together.”

The two men watched as the video played. They saw a bright light filled the camera. Sparks of different colors spewing all around them. A rainbow radius filled the outer rim of this unknown mass. The thing was growing. It was causing the camera to start to flicker. The video abruptly ended. Then it resumed over Cape Verde. The two men looked at each other, a mild shock silencing them. Finally, Chris spoke
.
“We have to report this.” He said flatly.

“Are you sure?” Tony questioned. “It could be a false alarm or an illusion of some kind.”

“No,” Chris replied sternly. “I bet you more instruments from all over the globe are taking readings from this thing. Upper management needs to see photos of this thing right now.”

“All right then,” Tony said meekly.

Chris was already pressing his phone

“Get me, Director Frost.”

-SETI Institute. Mountain View, California-

A Hispanic man was bobbing his head to the music blasting out his headphones. He was enjoying the song, although singing a bit off key. His eyes were closed, not paying attention to the data flashing across the computer screen. This was going on for a few minutes until a colleague emerged from the other room.

“Ray?” he said as he emerged from the doorway. “Ray, do you know what is happening?”

“Bright light, feeling pretty psyched.” Ray sang, not noticing a thing.

His colleague snapped the headphones off Ray.

“What?” Ray exclaimed, startled by the sudden movement. “What did I miss?”

His colleague pointed to the screen. Ray turned to the computer, reading the data.

“No, that’s impossible.” He muttered. “It can’t be….”

Ray quickly typed down a few key commands. The screen pulled a picture of Earth, a red, flashing light appearing in the middle of the ocean. Then a stream of noise was coming from somewhere else. Ray quickly trace a single that came from two directions with the new source being in between. Ray quickly calculated the distance, his face frowning.

“What the hell is going on?” his colleague said, his face paling.

“It seems,” Ray hesitated, his tongue between his teeth. “That we are receiving an unknown single from the Atlantic Ocean. I traced the radio single from the source but it seems to be reflecting off of
two sources in order to triangulate a position on Earth.”

“So, are we being contacted by aliens?”

“Perhaps,” Ray said as he took off his glasses. “It appears that whatever is emerging from the ocean has been recently activated. So if it is aliens, then they are arriving at this exact point and they’re using the Sun and the Moon to triangulate that position.”

-Southern California Earthquake Center. Los Angeles, California-

“Sir, we are getting some major activity on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.”

“Iceland is reporting 6.0 earthquake ten miles south-southwest of Reykjavík.”

“Our sensors are picking up something near the Eastern Seaboard.”

Dr. Anthony Grant looked up from his desk as the various men and women from the center came to alert him of some important news. He didn’t even have time to enjoy his coffee. He let out a frustrated sigh. Being a head of geology with a degree in seismology in the Earthquake Center wasn’t all crack up to be. Nevertheless, he got up from his chair and headed to the activity center. As he walked, his workers explain the news. For about fifteen minutes semantic activity has increased in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Earthquakes were going off in every direction. They were small but it seems that something huge was generating them. The only logical explanation was that something was emerging from the ocean. Yet what could it be?

Grant looked at the main screen. The map of Earth layout in front of him. Various red spots were cropping all over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Calls were now being pour in from other seismic centers across the globe. No doubt that the other countries were aware of what is happening.

“So, does anyone have a clue to what is going on?” Grant said as he took in the massive picture.

“Well,” one of the head seismologists said. “The earthquakes seems to be spreading further out in the last minute. Ruptures are appearing hundreds of miles away from the ocean center.”

“Okay, so the ocean floor is being broken apart,” Grant said, tapping the walls with his fingers. “We
need to alert the East Coast for possible tsunami warnings. Now, where is the center of this thing? Do
we have coordinates of the source of this thing?”

“I have it right now.” said another seismologist. She turned to face Grant. “It is roughly 34°04'45.6"N
42°07'30.5"W

“Okay, now that is done, alert the federal branch of this information,” Grant commanded. “We might
be facing unprecedented event.”

“Umm, sir?”

“What?” Grant said rounding on the speaker.

“It seems the Feds already know about the situation.” The speaker said.

“But that is impossible,” Grant said. “We just found out…two minutes ago.”

-The White House. Washington D.C.-

General Keith Bardolf was walking down the narrow hallway, following the nervous intern who was following the Chief of Staff. The three men were heading for the State Dining Room where the President was currently attending a late luncheon with a special committee. Bardolf felt himself running out of breath as he tries to keep up with the younger two men. He was getting on in years but the day he will admit that he was too slow for this job is the day hell will freeze over. They entered the room, the buzzing of conversations was still in the atmosphere when they arrive. However, a developing hush formed across the room as people realize the Chief of Staff was whispering something into the President’s ear. Bardolf stood by the door, his gray eyes sweeping across the room.

After a few seconds, the President got up and left the room, the three men following close behind.

President Nathaniel Fitton was a complex, cunning man. When he was first elected, Bardolf wasn’t a
fan of him and thought of him as a weak, cowardly person. How could a man like him, who had no experience in the military, know what was best for country’s future? How would he be able to figure out how to command the largest military in the world? Bardolf was cynical with most politicians. He had served the army for nearly fifty years. None of them really knew what it was like or appreciate the hard work of the military machine. But Fitton was different. He was clever as a fox. He could see the potential of strength but also the value of negations. He was one to speak first but keep his options open. One who would not lay his cards on the table until the very last moment. Bardolf appreciated that more than ever. He admired the President for being this damn crafty despite Bardolf being old enough to be his father. Still, Bardolf was wary of how such a man like President Fitton would react to such a startling revelation.

The four men were walking to the Oval Office. The nervous intern was showing a dozen pictures to President Fitton whose face was getting more and more concern. The President put on his glasses. He read the reports over and over again as he walks. He strokes his silver goatee. Bardolf realized that something was ticking in this man’s head. The news wasn’t something he expected but he was finding a prospective piece of information in this revelation.

“Sir, we believe this is all legitimate.” The Chief of Staff finally said. “No one could be able to fake it for this long. The single has been verified by SETI and the timing of the earthquakes matches with the satellite photos. We are set for a flyby and are waiting for your orders. We have another satellite set to pass by in approximately ninety seconds.”

“So, this is happening?” President Fitton said, looking up from the reports. “We're actually getting contacted by
some aliens?”

“That is what SETI is saying.” The Chief of Staff said impassively but Bardolf could tell that he wasn’t buying this scenario. “They have been trying to playback the single but this seems to be taking longer than expected. Technology is supposedly going haywire near this entity.”

“So this white sphere is appearing in the ocean and any technological readings we try to get are becoming faulty?” President Fitton stopped, his mind processing this new information. “How can we be sure this isn’t a weapon? Perhaps the aliens are firing a planet death laser as we speak?”

Bardolf felt a cold shiver run past his spine. It was one thing to be able to fight the enemy but another to just simply be useless against such an attack.

“The intelligent committees are gathering information as quickly as they can. It has not yet confirmed but they do believe that this sphere is losing its base energy and just past its peak capacity. We will find
out in about half an hour if we can get a reading on this object or not.”

“So in other words…”

“This unknown entity has just reached the maximum output.” The Chief of Staff replied. “If that is to be believed then this may not be a weapon. The energy this thing has been giving is startling but it seems to be dying down. We are going to have to respond soon though. Media satellites will intercept that area in seven minutes and other countries are getting their Intel. We will have a responds
committee in the next five minutes.”

“Okay,” President Fitton turned to Bardolf. “General Bardolf, get with the chairmen and the vice chairmen at the Pentagon. I will send Secretary Stryker over as quickly as I can. Standby to await further instructions. I want Vice Chairman Davis to have response team ready when I contact the Pentagon. We can’t have fighter jets though. So we might have to improvise. Do you think we have the non-combative plane ready?”

“I think we have something on standby, sir.” General Bardolf told the President smoothly. “I will relay
this information to the Joint Chief of Staffs as soon as possible.”

“Good sir,” President Fitton said, turning towards the Oval Office. “I will not have this country be
caught unguarded.”

“Sir?” General Bardolf said as President Fitton was halfway down the hall.

“What is it, General?” Fitton replied.

“Do you think these ‘aliens’ could become hostile?” General Fitton asked, his heart pounding.

“God, I hope not.” President Fitton said darkly. “I sincerely hope not.”

-The Undisclosed Federal Building-

The office was chaos. For the past thirty minutes, everyone was running around the room, adjusting the computers and answering phone calls. Director Dorothy Frost was commanding the room from her spot near the entrance. She demanded that everyone be on top of their jobs for the next four hours for one of the higher ups or even the President himself would stop by to find out more about this discovery. Although Chris disagreed that the President would travel all the way out here when they can easily send the information to his office, he did know that responding quickly was their top priority. There can’t be mess ups or snags happening now. They must be quick, the entire country could depend on their response time. Chris was trying not to look down at the icon that said DEF Four on the bottom of his screen. It made him feel queasy about his family.

In times like these, he thought of how he would unwind at home. He would play video games and talk about them to his friends. He would play guitar, adjusting the frets and practicing his chord progression. He was able to separate his work life from home. It wasn’t that he hated his job, he knew what he was doing at least and there could be worse jobs he could have taken. But the stress levels lately were getting unbearable. People like Dorothy Frost were demanding a little too much from him while they themselves were sitting comfortably in the back. Although granted she was now taking the mantle when a thing was actually getting serious.

“Director Frost, we are passing the entry point.” Someone said up front. “Getting visual feed in about
five seconds.”

“Patch it to the main hub.” Dorothy Frost commanded. “I want this to be recorded and analyzed. Set
up a link to the White House. We don’t want them to miss a single second.”

Josh looked up from his monitor as the main screen flickered on. The video was becoming fuzzy, static kept interfering with the picture and the noise. They were watching the impassive image of the blue ocean. Everyone
hold their breath. Then the satellite was passing over the area. An unusual amount of clouds were filling the area. A burning light was still covering the area, like a bubble full of magnesium. But some spots were getting clearer. The light was dying down. As the satellite left the area, they could all see dark shadows over the ocean surface. There was no doubt about it what it was. Joshua was still hoping for another explanation. Yet he knew that this was it. History was being made today.

“No way!” someone yelled.

“There is no doubt about it,” a voice said softly next to Chris. Tony was standing behind him. He holds his coffee mug tightly.
“That is land.”

-SETI Institute-

Ray was running frantically around his office. The whole place has gone crazy. It was all right to think that they could contact alien life. That is what most of them dream of. But for it to happen right on their front door was nothing short of terrifying. It was always assumed that they would find life light years away. It would give them time to react, to prepare. Now everything was chaos and everyone was blindsided by this new. To make matters worse, Ray had only a limited amount time to get ready. It was ticking him off how things were getting out of hand. Why did he join this community? But Ray
then remember all the fun he had when finding his calling in astronomy. Hell, Ray remembered making most of his friends during the scientific seminars at the local community college. Famous scientists from all over the globe would talk about they were breaching the scientific frontier. Most of Ray’s friends would be bored by the second hour but Ray was paying attention adamantly. It made sense to him and was fascinating.

Unfortunately, it is biting him in the ass as he ran from one computer to the next. He adjusts the instruments accordingly and was calculating what could be a solution to the next step. It was going to happen in the next five minutes. He can’t afford to lose time. This was now or never. As he was adjusting the radio and making sure every sound frequency was being recorded, Bob came waltzing in.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, fascinated.

“Trying…to…diffuse…the voice…in the…single.” Ray hissed, adjusting a knob and plugging wires in.

“What?” Bob asked. He was one who didn’t really understand the context of most of the institute around him. Ray was losing patience but he figures Bob deserved some answers.

“The radio single is being transmitted from the bubble,” Ray told him as he brought up the screen. It is being transmitted to the sun and the moon and it is being reflected back to the source. It is being garbled but it losing energy every second. If I can catch the single at the right moment….”

“But what would that do?” Bob asked. “If they are attacking…”

“No, they are not attacking,” Ray explained sternly. “You don’t send a weak explosion to alert your enemies of your presence with something like this. It is too far weak to be noticed by anyone but us. This isn’t an aiming single or a weapon being used. This is a desperate move. They are not attacking us, they are teleporting to our planet.”

“That’s…physically impossible,” Bob exclaimed. “I thought it would take an enormous amount of energy to teleport mass. Like a thousand times the amount we are seeing.”

“Normally yes,” Ray said as he tapped a few keys on his computer. He was almost ready. “This is still in the range of atomic weaponry but it is dying down. The energy to teleport would have killed us the moment it happens. Instead, it is not letting out enormous energy but taking it all in. This is not an explosion but an implosion. I’m getting reports of the tsunami waves not being as high as it could be. The entity dropping in the middle of the ocean would have caused enormous damage by the earthquakes alone. No, this thing is taking all the energy it can and it is almost done.”

“So, it is almost over?”

“In about four minutes and fifteen seconds,” Ray said, looking at his watch.

“So, we are safe?” Bob asked, but Ray was still working on his computer. “Then what are doing?” Bob
asked, his head tilting. “You said that the single itself was intangible and it would take decades to unlock. Surely we can’t do anything now until this thing is over.”

“No, there is an option,” Ray said as he turns his instrument all the way up. “The single is being used as landing lights for these aliens. They are not teleporting in the middle of space. They chose this locating specifically. But the bubble is vibrating at enormous speeds causing it to alter the radio single. It is carrying different sounds but they are too soft to be heard properly over this radio single.” Ray flipped a switch and a loud, low, vibrating noise filled the room. “I can’t separate the voices from the single coming from the bubble and they are lost permanently coming from the moon and the sun. The only
option is to wait when the teleporting is complete and the radio single dies down completely while
this bubble is still transmitting.”

“Wait, voices?”

“Yes, hundreds of thousands,” Ray said grimly. “Maybe millions. The entire area is vibrating with the bubble. The voices are being echoed inside the bubble as it moves into the area. The only way I’m
going to get a clear shot of theses aliens speaking is when the bubble is fully here and still have the energy to transmit. That is about three seconds. There is a brief area in the center that I can lock on and turn the sounds into an electric single that I can record without any inference.”

“So basically you can get three seconds of these aliens talking?” Bob said, looking impressed. “That is brilliant! We could find out how they speak and learn how they communicate. Will we able to find out where they are from? What their name is?”

“Well, we are about the find out,” Ray said as he flipped one last switch.

- Washington D.C: Situation Room Bravo, Pentagon-

Bardolf was looking up from the stacks of papers in front of him. He along with the rest of the Joint Chiefs were sitting at a long, cold table that span across the room. They all looked up to the large screen that shows multiple images of the situation along with President Fitton who was getting the same video feed. Underneath was a small countdown instrument that just past the three-minute mark. Next to it was the bold words of DEFCON FOUR. Bardolf knew some of the Joint Chiefs wanted to raise it higher but President Fitton point blank refused. He didn’t want to bring panic. In fact, he was keeping a cool head during this entire situation. The same couldn’t be said for Robert Stryker, the Secretary of Defense.

“Mr. President, I sincerely believe you should be move to a secure location.” the pudgy figure of
Secretary Stryker said to the screen. “If the situation gets severe, then it would be prudent for you to be protected and kept safe until this dies down. We can’t afford to have you expose if we are encountering hostile forces.”

“And I refuse to coward away on that account alone.” President Fitton said strictly, his thin, dark gray eyebrows narrowed as he spoke. “The Vice-President and Secretary of State are already in their secure bunkers and you are at the Pentagon. If America is going to face extra-terrestrial life for the first time then I would prefer to do it from my office rather down below. We can’t have fear get the best of us. We are better men than that.”

“Sir-” Secretary Stryker began but President Fitton cut him off.

“Enough, we have two issues we need to address immediately.”

Silence filled the room.

“Now,” President Fitton said, closing his eyes for a moment. “What is the situation with the public? How much do they know?"

A voice from another location began to speak on the line.

“They are getting some reports of the activity in the Atlantic.” The informer told them all. “But
commercial satellites are malfunctioning within a four hundred mile radius of the new landmass. We
don’t know if that would keep up once the single disappears but so far no one in the public has visual imagery. This is, however, getting the attention of the media. They will send teams to investigate probably in the next three hours. So far, it is being reported as a meteor strike but that would not hold up soon. Already people are linking the earthquakes with the event.”

“Okay,” President Fitton said, thinking quickly. “We must make sure that this situation is under control.
Luckily this is happening in the ocean. We can’t have witnesses saying anything without it being official. We put a temporary lockdown on the media’s investigation. Quarantine the area. We can’t
have any information spread, especially visuals. The Coast Guard and the Air Force will act as a
blockade. We can’t have anyone leaving to investigate. All international flights on the east coast will be grounded. This is the top priority.”

“Yes, sir.” Two joint chiefs replied.

“Now, this is only temporarily.” President Fitton said. “We can’t keep the public out forever. They will find out or at least our allies will find out before long. What kind of window are we looking at?”

“It is hard to say, Mr. President.” The informer replied. “We can keep the area clear for about thirty hours. By Tuesday however people will notice. The internet will find something to link to soon. The official media will have a report on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon at the latest.”

“So deadline we are looking at is about three days.” President Fitton felt his face tighten. “No doubt this will be trending on the internet as we speak.”

President Fitton then called another person up front.

“Parker, what is the situation of the other leaders? He spoke on the phone.

“Well, we have no word from Russia, China, France, or Japan.” The man said. “Prime Minister Graddick
is reporting. His team is getting the same information as we are. They seem concerned about it being
hostile.”

“We'll send a message to London.” President Fitton told the speaker. “I will schedule an emergency
United Nations meeting at 1800 hour tomorrow, we should enough information by then.”

“Sir, we have to report that the countdown timer has reached thirty seconds.” One of the men reported.

President Fitton adjusted his tie.

“It appears,” he began to say. “That the unknown entity will cease transmitting in the next thirty seconds. According to my reports, this new landmass will be fully developed and nothing else will happen. All we can do now is hope and pray.”
Bardolf wasn’t convinced, however. Nothing good could come from a countdown timer. He watched the clock tick down the final seconds. He wonders if this was his final moments, stuck in this room with a dozen of his colleagues. He never really knew them. Sure they talked about the old days and their years in the military. But they never had time to enjoy each other’s company. Now they were facing what could be the last few seconds of Earth.

Ten seconds.

Did he really want to remain silent?

Nine seconds.

He felt sweat dripping down his neck.

Eight seconds.

He never thought he would live to see this.

Seven seconds.

He saw half of the men in the room were closing their eyes.

Six seconds.

Whether it was for a prayer or meditation, Bardolf didn’t know.

Five seconds.

Should he pray to God?

Four seconds.

He didn’t what to say. All the regrets he has in his life…

Three seconds.

President Fitton was tapping his fingers on the desk. Bardolf wanted to say how much of a pleasure it was working for him.

Two seconds.

He turned to officer next to him.

One second.

He opens his mouth to ask him a number of personal questions. Something friends would share. But
fear took a hold of him. He realized that these men weren’t really his friends despite that he knew them for well over thirty years. Now he was going to die in this room with them…

Zero.

The timer flashed on the bottom of the screen. Bardolf closed his eyes for a few seconds. He waited for the bright light to wipe them off of this planet. He waited for the fiery explosion that is to come. He
waited for something to shake the entire world. Instead, nothing happened. Bardolf opens his eyes, his breathing returning to normal. Relief seems to be plastered all over the faces of the men in the room.

One of them asked. “Is it over?”

“Perhaps.” President Fitton said. He alone didn’t seem relieved.

Then someone paged the channel.

“Mr. President, we are getting thermal imagery…”

-White House-

President Fitton straightens his body a little. Everyone in the room was all looking at him intensely. He
didn’t think this day was going to turn out like this. But that is the price of being a leader. He had to take charge of the situation at a moment’s notice. No one can know what it is like except those who were in his shoes. His predecessor warned him repeatedly of these moments. One slip up and it will damage everything. You have to remain on top of your game. When the countdown was reaching the final seconds, he wasn’t thinking of family, friends, or his past regrets. He was thinking of how he could prepare better, how he could have handled this situation better. But he had less than twenty minutes to this point. Who will accuse him of being incompetent? The answer was simple. Everyone.

Now it was fair game. From here on out, he has countless minutes, hours, and days to figure out what shall be his next move. He knew everyone was watching him. They were all following his lead. The
the burden was nearly unbearable. Beyond this day was going to be history. He knew he was stepping into unknown territory. Anything he did now would be reflected on his leadership. Any criticism would be just.
There was no backing out now. So Fitton tried to cherish the few, innocence moments he had. He
cannot blame time, the people who work underneath him, the enemies from halfway across the globe, or the faults of his predecessors. From now on, it will be on his shoulders. God help him.

“Show me the images.” President Fitton addressed the surveillance crew.

A second later, a dark image of the unknown land appeared on screen. President Fitton didn’t know what was more jarring: the mere fact that this land distorts the normal pictures of Earth they are used to? Or the fact that was roughly half the size of this country? Either way, there was no way he could keep this under wraps by Thursday. Already, people will see the images of this new land. Now the screen was fading to black as several red dots appeared all over the land. A wave of new information was crashing all around the reports. The three satellites were being overfilled with information. They
relay the data back to the intelligence agency who were deciphering it quickly.

“…that has to be a city.” One of the men spoke.

“We are indicating that there are at least over nine hundred thousand of these life forms inhabited
this land.”

“We can make out mountains, rivers, forest….”

“Is that a railroad system?!?!?”

“I’m counting seven cities at least.”

“So,” President Fitton said slowly. “Is this officially what we are facing?”

“Mr. President,” The Chief of Staff said calmly as he took off his glasses. “The surveillance committee and the research facility have come to the same conclusion. What we have in front of us, is officially extra-terrestrial life. We don’t know how it is possible but we are seeing life forms from another world.
It appears to be intelligent life forms we are dealing with.”

“Is there any way we could communicate?” President Fitton asked. “Are we facing friendlies or
hostiles?”

“We are honestly trying to get more information.” The Chief of Staff replied. “From our photos, we don't see any high technological weapons or devices. It doesn’t mean that these life forms could conceal their weapons. From what we could tell, they looked just as confused as we are. There is no invading army ready or any recon party on standby. This took them by surprise too.”

“Sir!” one of the interns came running in. “Someone at SETI has decoded an audio clip from the radio single. It is being replayed right now.”

-SETI Institute-

Ray was stunned. He didn’t think he believes what he heard. But it was clear as crystal. He stood there,
debating on what to do next. He has to report it. He turned to the door. Then he notices a red flashing light. He looked down at his equipment. Suddenly, cold realization dawned on him. He went pale as he quickly realized what he had done.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” Ray was shouting.

He disregarded the precautions he painstakingly put up for the past few minutes with a simple error.
He knew he had to keep all the information under wraps for right now. He didn’t want the government to come down on him. This was a secret task. He didn’t want to be caught doing something this bold. But it was too late. He accidentally transmitted the message on a broader scale. Now nearly everyone in the world will know what these aliens said as they arrived on Earth.

Ray let out a long sigh. He felt conflicted. He didn’t want to betray these aliens’ trust. But how was he supposed to hide this from the rest of humanity? He could almost hear the cries of these aliens when their land was being teleported. Clearly, they were scared. Now they were meeting creatures that were at least equally terrified of them. This did not bode well for him. Ray felt that he had damned both species. He grabbed his music player. He felt a twinge of irony of the song that he was listening to. He played the song as he walked out the room.

“Well, here 's to the new future,” Ray said. Then he sang softly. “And I feel fine…”

The radio single was played across the country. Soon it became a burning topic for the public. Not everyone knew what was going on. Rumors were spreading. People were reporting that it is the end of the world as others were believing that this was some sort of prank. But the reality was settling in. Soon everyone guessed correctly that Earth had just been visited by aliens. How right they were. For the moment that land had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, something else was happening. Something that was approximately two thousand miles away from the event,
deep in the Cascadia forest of North America. Another surge of energy was happening. Bolts of energy of all different colors were flying all over the sky. They were converging on one particular spot.

Then a flash of light illuminated the forest. Two figures appeared a few feet in the air. They remain suspended in the air for a few seconds before gravity took hold and they fell down to the ground. They landed with a large oof. One of them was coughing. She stood groggily on her four legs before she collapsed onto her ground. She was a small, purple unicorn. Her companion was a lizard, a baby dragon of some sort who was a few shades lighter than her. It seems important to note, that against all probability, a purple unicorn and her dragon assistant had appeared into existence a few feet above the surface of their new, alien planet. But it was not just her appearance that was important. For this small unicorn was important to the utmost degree. It is because of her that this event has happened in the first place.

There is a reason for a magician to use a big distraction to keep the audience’s attention: it is so they don’t notice the small changes with the other hand. This unicorn, unbeknownst to herself, has started a series of events by uttering two simple words. There was a change coming spawning from those two words. For the first time, humanity has encountered a new lifeform and they were unprepared for it. They only know one thing from these aliens. The two words that were in that three seconds clip that was transmitted by the SETI. Two words that will forever change to future.

“For Equestria.”

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
-ARTHUR C. CLARKE.