Free Web NovelChapter 2: Game of the Universe
A woman next to Arthur plopped down on her butt, while a man who looked like an office worker suddenly dropped his handbag, and dossiers of paper scattered across the pavement.
Almost simultaneously, Leonard took a step back, his eyes wide in sheer disbelief.
Everyone watched as another massive ship glided in behind the first. Then a third one, all of them moving with the same eerie ease before scattering in different directions.
Arthur felt his heart hammering against his chest, his thoughts almost freezing for a moment.
"What the hell...?" he mumbled to himself.
Then, something began to open on the underside of the first ship in the sky. It looked like a small slit splitting open, and then, like a swarm of insects, dark shapes began pouring out from it, before plummeting towards the streets below.
And as if sensing the incoming danger, people began to panic.
Everyone around Arthur started to run, shoving past each other and screaming.
The first of the dark shapes hit the pavement with a crunch, landing only a dozen meters away from him and Leonard, and causing the street to cave in.
Arthur just stared at it and froze, while his brain tried to make sense of what he was staring at.
It was tall, impossibly tall, and clad head to toe in some kind of dull black plating that looked thicker than steel.
Four narrow purple limbs that resembled arms flexed out of its torso, as the creature’s featureless helmet glanced around, taking in the panicked crowd.
For one frozen instant, nobody moved.
Then a gunshot cracked the air.
One of the commuters, a policeman, had pulled out a small revolver from his holster and fired. His hand was visibly shaking so badly he could hardly aim. But he fired again, and then again.
Surprisingly, every single bullet found its mark without fail. The giant four-armed creature.
But that was it.
The bullets bounced uselessly off the creature’s chest plate, like they had just hit some kind of steel alloy. There wasn’t even a dent in that jet-black armor.
Arthur swallowed hard, unable to tear his gaze away as the massive creature lifted an arm.
A hooked blade materialized in one of its hands out of thin air, its appearance just as black as the armor the creature wore.
Then, it blinked in front of the policeman and brought it down!
Arthur’s gaze was still fixed on the horrifying scene that was about to unfold when Leonard grabbed his shoulder and roared loudly. "Art! We have to go!"
In the next moment, another giant figure crashed down nearby, and then another, cracking the asphalt into a spiderweb of fissures.
Screams rose all around them, blending with the wailing sirens and the mechanical groan of more ships appearing in the sky.
Arthur’s breath was now ragged. Leonard was pulling him away from the bus stop, down a narrow alley between a hardware store and the pharmacy, but not before they’d witnessed the sight of the horrified policeman meeting the black blade with his neck.
Then, the two of them ran. They ran without thinking.
They burst out onto the back street, nearly colliding with a man herding two crying children, all of them with the same wild-eyed look of terror on their faces. freёwebnovel.com
In the next intersection, Arthur turned to look at his friend. Leonard’s chest heaved, and for a second, the blond-haired boy looked truly desperate. Arthur glanced at the familiar bakery across the street and nodded. He’d already gotten back to his senses.
"Go! I’m going back to my grandpa, too!"
Leonard’s hand gripped Arthur’s shoulder. After a moment of silence, the blond youth could only blurt out the words "Be careful," before he bolted straight toward the bakery.
Arthur stood there for a second, watching his friend dodge a toppled trash bin and heading for the entrance, before he turned around and sprinted for his own home.
...
Arthur had to admit that had it not been for Leonard’s lightning-fast reaction, he might still be at the bus stop. They were the first ones to make it out of there, right before the chaos could fully unfold.
A moment later, he put aside any distracting thoughts and just ran forward.
Everywhere he looked, people were scrambling out of buildings: some running, some fumbling with phones or radios that only emitted static, and some just screaming. And in the sky above them, another ship slowly appeared.
"Home. Just get home," he thought to himself.
He cut through a small alley, his heart slamming against his chest as he stumbled into the back lot behind Old Luke’s restaurant. The familiar brick walls and the sagging back door looked almost absurdly normal.
Arthur unlocked the door and burst inside as he yelled out,
"Grandpa!"
There was no answer.
He tore through the kitchen and looked through the first floor before rushing up the stairs.
"Grandpa!"
Old Luke stood by the bedroom window, one hand braced against the frame. His face was white as a sheet of paper as he looked at the sky.
Arthur crossed the room in two long steps and grabbed his grandfather’s arm. "Grandpa, are you okay?"
Luke finally turned to him. His mouth opened, but no words seemed to come out.
He swallowed and tried again.
"What...what is that?" Luke asked.
Arthur didn’t know how to answer. He just shook his head and plopped down on the bed, trying to catch his breath.
...
For the next couple of hours, chaos filled the streets of Halewick.
People screamed, buildings rumbled, and even explosions echoed from afar, painting a scene straight out of a nightmare.
It truly felt like the end of the world had arrived.
Arthur looked at his grandfather and was about to say something when the TV on the dresser suddenly flickered to life.
It was loud enough to make them both turn around.
Arthur could see the emergency broadcast logo on the screen. Then a man appeared, a government official, from the looks of it. His shirt was wrinkled while his face glistened with sweat.
"--repeat, this is not a drill," the man said.
"All citizens must remain indoors. The hostile forces have-"
The camera wobbled as if someone suddenly jostled it. The man paused, looking offscreen. But when he turned back, his eyes were flat with a look that could only be described as resignation.
"Please... please do not go out. Do not fight. Just stay inside and wait. The government will surely control the situation..."
The feed cut to static. For a long moment, the only sound in the room was Luke’s breathing.
Arthur took a deep breath.
He could still hear the distant sirens and the wail of a person coming from somewhere down the street.
Then the static on the TV fizzled and popped before the screen blinked again.
A different broadcast appeared on the screen, a news studio, though the camera was shaking so badly that the background was basically unrecognizable.
A younger woman in a blue jacket was standing in front of the desk, clutching a stack of papers to her chest. Her voice was still trembling when she spoke,
"E-everyone. We have received reports that similar aircraft have appeared in cities across the globe. London, New York, Shanghai," She swallowed for a moment, her eyes darting to her left as if she were reading from some kind of prompt.
"Any military engagement has proven ineffective. Civilian casualties are... are escalating."
Luke sank onto the edge of the bed, bracing a hand on his knee.
Arthur could see his grandfather’s face going pale and hurriedly clutched his hand to support him.
"We... we ask that everyone remain calm," the reporter went on, her voice cracking on the last word.
"A- a delegation of representatives is already in contact with these... forces."
She hesitated briefly. Her eyes flickered, like she wanted to say more but was afraid to. Then the broadcast was cut away again.
The setting changed in an instant.
This time, it showed a vast, dimly lit room. Arthur couldn’t tell if it was real or not. It looked like a scene straight out of a fantasy book.
Five towering silhouettes stood on a dais, four of them looking similar to the black armored creatures he’d seen at the bus stop. But the one in the middle was noticeably smaller and draped in some kind of red mantle.
An unfamiliar voice filled the speakers, impossibly deep, yet somehow perfectly clear, as if it were speaking inside Arthur’s own head.
"People of Earth. You have been defeated." The feminine voice said calmly.
"You have demonstrated no capacity for resistance. The outcome is already determined. There is no merit in further slaughter. To preserve your species from extinction, your leaders have already surrendered. Thus, a pact shall be established."
Arthur’s mouth went dry at those words.
The camera angle shifted a bit, as if a camera operator was trying to keep the figure in the center of the frame.
But the voice didn’t seem to care as it continued evenly,
"In accordance with the dominion of the Gwong war tribe, your race will therefore be admitted into the intergalactic contest called: ’Zenith, the game of the Universe.’"
Arthur felt a chill going up his spine. The figure lifted one of its elongated arms, as though in benediction or condemnation and continued,
"Each of you will be provided with a neural interface to help you with the integration. Your performance will determine your right to continue existing in compliance with our tribe’s laws. Should you consistently pay your tributes, you shall be spared."
The voice paused for a second, just long enough for Arthur’s mind to register what it had just said.
"Failure..." it continued simply, "will result in your individual quietus."
The broadcast cut abruptly back to the studio. The young reporter’s eyes were wide open, her lips moving soundlessly for a moment before she found her voice again.
"T-this... uhm- this announcement was transmitted to all major governments simultaneously," she stammered. "Officials are still verifying its authenticity-"
Another cut. This time, a stern-faced man behind a marble desk appeared on screen. The caption at the bottom read ’Minister of Foreign Affairs’.
His tie was crooked and his shirt was noticeably wrinkled, but his soulless eyes were much more concerning than his disheveled look.
The man spoke without any preamble.
"My fellow citizens. I will not waste any time. I trust you all saw the broadcast just now. I...can confirm that the heads of state have conceded to this arrangement. It’s... It’s real."
Arthur couldn’t tell if he was dreaming right now. This situation in front of him was just too absurd. Was such a thing even possible?
The Minister’s hands were clenched white against his desk as he continued,
"It’s not just our country. This is the situation of our entire planet. We-we were given no other option. Our weapons are useless against. Resistance was met with...mass executions. Please. I beg you. Please listen to me."
Arthur could hear his grandfather let out a faint, strangled breath as the minister continued,
"The devices... those things they call neural interfaces are being distributed right now. Every person above the age of six will be required to wear one according to these creatures. Participation is mandatory. We all have to enter this ’Game’."
Arthur’s eyes widened. As absurd as this whole situation was, he could tell it was probably real. Even his own heart was beating loudly right now, as if to prove that he wasn’t dreaming.
"Trust me, I do not understand this situation either.
...But this- this is the only path that was left to us," the Minister said before he lowered his head.
"I ask... for your cooperation. For your courage. For... for your forgiveness."
The camera zoomed in just a little too close. But the Minister didn’t dare to look at it directly. He just sat there for a few moments until the screen finally went black.
Arthur turned to his grandfather.
But the old man was still staring at the blank screen.
Luke stayed silent for a few moments, before he finally opened his mouth and asked in disbelief,
"A game? Some kind of game? What kind of nonsen-"
Luke’s words were cut short by a violent cough that filled the room.
"Grandpa!" Arthur shouted as he shot to his feet. He quickly reached for the drawer on Luke’s nightstand and grabbed the pack of pills the neighborhood pharmacist had suggested for him to take, along with a glass of water.
And a moment later, as if to put the final nail in the coffin, Arthur could feel his phone buzzing in his pocket.
A deafening alarm blasted from the small speaker, a tone he’d never heard before, even during local emergency drills. Bright red letters flashed across the screen, overriding everything else:
"Citizens of Halewick-
Report to the town hall to receive your interface devices.
Compliance is compulsory.
Distribution will begin immediately."
