Noah Smith considered himself to be quite the lucky guy. Earlier on in life, he'd discovered that he was one of the few people in society that could be classified as 'gifted'. He had no real passion for academics but found himself oddly adept at understanding concepts his peers would find complex and struggle with.

His classmates often came to him for advice, which mostly ended up leaving him at a loss; It wasn't as if he was averse to helping them, but he simply didn't need to resort to cramming tactics or ask his seniors for help; whether it be the laws of thermodynamics or the variations of calculus, it was all clear as day to him despite never having a great inclination towards pursuing academics.

"Noah, Mom's calling you downstairs. She said she needs to talk to you about something," said his little sister Kylie, rudely barging into his room without asking.

"Be there in a minute. I'm almost done with this game" replied Noah, while his eyes focused on his monitor the entire time. He just needed one more win to unlock the rare character he had been gunning for this entire while.

"Seriously, I don't understand what's so good about this game, considering you've been playing it for the past 4 hours. It's practically all you do these days, don't you think you should get out of the room and talk to us more before you have to leave for college?" said Kylie in a huff of anger, tired of watching her brother always being obsessed with gaming after he got his college acceptance letter, feeling ignored and hurt.

Kylie's words brought Noah back to reality, he really had no idea that much time had passed. Guess he'd underestimated how addictive these fighting games could be. With a sigh, shut down his monitor and switched his console off. There was loads of stuff he had on the menu after all and games could come later.

Walking down carpeted stairs, he went and sat down on the dining table. There was still some time until dinner, but in the Smith family, serious discussions were conducted over food, a tradition he found very much to his preference.

"So, Mom what did you want to talk to me about?" said Noah, as he slowly savored the Mushroom Chicken soup made by Kylie. Her little sister was big on cooking, and while she was an amazing chef, her experimental creations weren't something he was a big fan of for.... reasons.

"Look here Noah, can't you be a bit more serious about college? I mean, I am proud of you for getting into such a prestigious college, but you do realize that your peers won't be any less talented than you? Since you have the capability, why not put in the hard work and see where it takes you? " said his mother, Julia, in a tone that seemed to both reprimand yet praise at the same time.

"Mom.... not this again. " Noah replied in a slightly irritated tone and paused for a moment. "I mean, I get what you're saying.... and I-I guess you're right. Fine, l promise I'll spend more time studying and try my best"," he replied with a sigh, conceding defeat to his mother. He knew arguing further would only get him in hot water, and his plans of buying the gaming laptop he had his eyes on would end up falling flat.

"Good, I thought you'd never grow up. Well leaving that aside, I heard you're going out on a date with Ava today?" his mother asked, in a teasing tone.

"Mom! Why do you have to bring that up in front of Kylie?" Noah replied hastily in embarrassment. While he projected an outgoing and confident persona in front of the world at large, he really was a big softie at his core. Despite knowing that his mom was only pulling his leg, he couldn't help but fall right into the trap.

"All Noah does these days is play that stupid game. I bet he'll end up stuttering in front of Ava because that's how long it's been since he's bothered to speak to anyone," said Kylie from the side, adding more fuel to the fire and expressing her anger at being ignored for the past few days.

"Hey! Ouch, that one hurt. You don't have to say it like that, Kylie!" replied Noah, in mock anger.

"All right, all right enough fighting kids. Turn on the news Kylie, it says here that scientists have made some breakthrough in the discovery of extraterrestrial life," said Julie, as she scrolled through the newsfeed on her smartphone.

"Like the 'discovery' they made about finding life on Mars? Except by life they mean micro-organisms smaller than most bacteria." Noah scoffed at the news.

Kylie giggled at her brother's comment and animatedly replied "Don't mind Noah, Mom. He's still mad about earlier. " as she switched on the television.

"In breaking news, ancient, mottled looking tower-like structures have appeared all across the United States. Similar sightings have been reported around the world, including parts of Russia, China, Germany, India....."

"Attempts to approach the towers have been met with failure. A force field powered by unknown means resists any form of modern weaponry or attempts to enter in a 10-kilometer radius of the tower. This is believed to be Earth's first contact with some sort of alien civilization...."

"The President of the United States has urged citizens to maintain calm, stating that these mysterious structures pose no immediate threat to the daily lives of the populace, though further investigation is required...."