The sky was alight with the fire of the setting sun and cast a soft orange glow on the expansive metropolis of Rio de Oro.

Translated to ‘The River of Gold,’ it was traced back to when friars from the Spanish Augustinian Recollect came to the northern part of the Mindanao Island and found an expansive river and a gold deposit in the hinterlands, sometime during the 1500s to the 1600s.

In the modern era, it was a highly urbanized city in Northern Mindanao, Philippines. A regional capital and an industrial and economic center of the province of Misamis Oriental. A vital gateway between the northern Luzon and Visayan Islands and the island of Mindanao.

It has then been called ‘The City of Golden Friendship,’ as advertised to the many visiting tourists. One well deserved, due to the warm, welcoming smiles and the utmost hospitality of the locals.

Even with the recent tragedies of Christmas 2035—an event where a grueling terrorist attack befell multiple cities across Mindanao Island, incurring thousands of casualties—it has since bounced back into a massive metamorphosis after three years of meticulous planning and reforms.

It underwent an upgrade to its infrastructure, security, and economy. Old layouts made way for the new and reduced what was once a chaotic design into a more coherent and beautiful one, much to the relief of nearly a million beleaguered inhabitants.

This reconstruction effort kept most people up directly and indirectly up most of the time. Such was the case for a recently graduated engineering student, Xander Barbosa-Stahl.

After Xander graduated a month ago, a long-time weight has finally lifted from his shoulders. With the sense of joyous freedom from the rigors and trials of a mechanical engineering student in a somewhat prestigious university—especially with a full scholarship on the line—he suddenly felt a trickling of many emotions to the various experiences in university life.

Then immediately came the impending dread of taking the licensure exam that would make or break his future trajectory. A test that will determine if he becomes a licensed engineer or not.

Still, he already made his parents proud just by graduating, but he always made it his goal to repay them for their loving support despite the lower-middle class income. As a licensed engineer, he could get them a new house, a vacation to some fancy country, and whatnot.

So yeah, no pressure.

“Four months of review, refreshers, and coaching. Oh boy…” Xander winced as he turned his compact gray-blue SUV around the corner and into a busy sidestreet of the Cogon Public Market in Downtown Rio de Oro.

He still had a few weeks before he and his classmates isolated themselves and buried themselves in four years' worth of theory, design, and practical applications. And he’d be damned if he didn’t take the chance to milk this timeframe of all the possible fun.

Nevertheless, the thought of it was still a tad stressful at times. It certainly ruined what’s usually an enjoyable day, mountain camping in the landlocked plateau of Bukidnon or river rafting in the famous Rio whitewater river.

Just breath and relax, Xand, and once you’re done, you can torture yourself until August. He mentally reassured himself for the tenth time this week. Still, Xander physically shivered at the month’s reminder when he’ll take the exam.

Deep in thought, he attempted to fight back exhaustion while setting his car on assistive autopilot—a fantastic piece of tech that has since been ubiquitous in most vehicles, even in a third world country—but the promise of a good night’s sleep called. Going out with friends and loved ones this day took it out of him, and Xander just wanted to get home and on his PC.

His grip slackened for a split second before tightening into a vice grip when the lure of slumber ambushed him.

Damn, I should have gotten ordered another coffee before leaving that restaurant. Xander grimaced, rubbing his eyes under his dark square-framed glasses with one hand.

Ah, screw it, I’m not taking risks. The graduate internally acquiesced to his depleted energy before gesturing over to the sole passenger in his vehicle.

“Hey, mind taking the wheel? I need to take a nap before I—OH HELL!” Xander cursed at the top of his lungs, and both he and the onboard AI immediately swerved right.

The tires screeched in agony as he dodged the thing that just popped in front of his car, missing by just a couple of centimeters.

Everything slowed down to a crawl as he narrowly wove between a passing motorela and a pickup truck.

Xander felt his mind blank out as muscle memory and instinct guided him to avoid a near-collision. He looked to the rear-view mirror for a moment, and when he saw no cars close enough behind him—Xander slammed his foot on the breaks.

The gray-blue SUV hit the side of the road and collided with an empty streetside market stall before it finally stopped. A few heartbeats later, the quiet that permeated his senses faded, and he could finally hear his rapid breathing and the frantic shouts of people outside.

With the car at a stop, he shifted the gear to park and engaged the hand brake. Simultaneously, the onboard AI engaged the hazard lights automatically.

“What in the hell!” Xander hoarsely shouted out and hit the steering wheel with his palms.

That was too close, way too close. The shot of adrenaline kicked the need for sleep right out of him.

He immediately looked around outside the car windows and assessed his surroundings briefly. The road was in chaos, with multiple collisions from what he could see. Fortunately, they were on a somewhat congested street in a public market area. Nobody went too fast, so hopefully, people just got off with light injuries, and pedestrians dodged quickly enough.

Xander looked over to his side and checked his passenger. Then, seeing her quite shaken up and wide-eyed from what just happened, he reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, you ok, Anna?” he asked with a worried expression.

“Uh, huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Anna answered between heavy breaths.

He double-checked her all over just in case.

“I said I’m fine! Damn, dude!” She exasperated, throwing her hands in the air, and waited for Xander to finish.

“Sorry, just making sure,” he rolled his eyes with a brittle smirk. But, thankfully, Anna was fine, just as she said.

Xander slumped into his driver’s seat as she took a handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat on her forehead.

After the two both calmed down a bit, Anna reoriented herself to get a better look at whatever it was behind them that caused this mess.

What she saw made her rub her eyes and blink a couple of times. Then, her mouth slowly went slack-jawed as a shocked expression crept up her face.

“Anna?” Xander raised an eyebrow and then looked at what she was looking at.

What? What in the hell? He thought in confusion as his mind froze and adopted a similar expression as Anna.

He and Anna weren’t the only ones. Everyone else turned to look at what caused all this mayhem from simply appearing in the middle of the road. They became shocked as they were.

At this moment, people everywhere—not just the city nor the archipelago nation of the Philippines—but the whole world witnessed the same thing.

As it seemed, the universe saw fit to introduce humanity to floating spheres as big as a person was tall, made of what looked to be organic matter. They popped into existence through some unknown method, wherever a large enough crowd of people assembled. Nothing in one moment, then they were there the next—displacing the air as it forcibly pushed the molecules out of that space.

A single massive eye was at the center of this ball of purplish flesh. It had multiple antennas ending in thick points of varying lengths protruded on top of it, vibrating uncannily. A single colossal stalk extended atop the sphere, then unfurled, forming a thin membrane on top. The giant, orange lily-pad-like membrane finally angled to face the setting sun, like some strange levitating sunflower. Three pairs of tentacles hang beneath them, one of which was longer than the others and produced a blue glow that drew attention. It emitted a sort of signal that sent some kind of calming effect.

It helped since the things looked like what people thought of when they heard the term “Biblically accurate angels.”

God, they were just horrifying to look at.

And they felt powerful. It was not powerful like a carnivorous predator eyeing you for its next meal, but more like the energy output of a warehouse of supercomputers.

They waited, floating on the spot.

New York, Baghdad, Munich, Manila. A small town in the middle of nowhere. In parks. Inside malls. On the damn road. That one, in particular, was just mean. Wherever a dense enough group of people assembled, they popped up.

It was followed by an excruciatingly long couple of minutes of them doing nothing.

Time seemed to stretch as everyone remained frozen like deer in front of headlights. Xander looked at the one bastard through the car window—the light from the setting summer-sun basking it with a distinct warm glow. But, then, their one eye moved—undeniable proof that they were living things instead of some elaborate art piece—observing the native population in a primarily neutral manner with a hint of pity at the sad little apes that didn’t know better.

How he managed to catch that expression on a levitating eyeball, he can’t explain.

And then he heard it.

The floating masses filled the air with the melody of a thousand horns. They closed their eyes, their tentacles slowly swaying in a trance-like dance.

The sound passed over not just his ears but every fiber of his being. It was eerie yet harmonious—it evoked a sort of trepidation to what he felt was a precursor to ominous tidings.

After a brief pause—music still fresh on his soul—the things spoke! But, of course, it didn’t have a damn mouth to talk with! But there it was, transmitting their thoughts to us via some kind of mind voodoo. Were they waiting for an update on Google Translate or something?

Was it going to tell us to “Be not afraid”!?

“Human of Celestial Body IE/O-CA/03221-03, otherwise known as Planet Earth. Hear us.”

Oh, Jesus Christ! I hear you! Xander internally shouted in surprise.

They sounded like a hundred disembodied voices in varying accents and pitch! Soothing and grating on his ears at the same time.

Technically, he meant brains since they shoved their message directly into his skull. However, the voice his mind latched onto the most was one that vaguely sounded like his dad trying to speak English with a thick High German accent.

“Your species is now being notified of an impending extraterrestrial incursion.”

Oh... Fuck.

“By the love of Fhâlma, Mother of All Life, humanity has been deemed eligible for protection by The Order of Untarnished Light and the Coalition of Sapient Species.”

…That’s good? Right?

“In the past 3 hours, 27 minutes, and 52 seconds, organic nano-machines have been injected into the atmosphere to implant an Omninexus node directly inside your brain.”

I’m sorry, what!? Hold on, nano-machines, son? Implanted!? What the fu-

“Be not afraid.”

…Urgh, called it.

“Implantation of an Omninexus node is not harmful in any way. Your species has already been scanned to the sub-atomic level, and no cause for concern has been detected. Fhâlman technology has been refined over eons. It is safe.”

They gently raised their glowing blue tentacles and projected a calming aura.

That’s… ok, fine. I’ll give the floating ball a chance. Probably, not the smartest thing to do, but my gut isn’t giving off any warnings. Maybe it’s the blue tentacle things. No, whatever. If it’s safe, it’s safe. Not like we can remove it anymore if it’s inside our heads. Xander thought reluctantly.

“Within the next four hours, The Omninexus will be brought online. The Omninexus will notify you of its completion and project a visual screen within your line of sight or into your mind. Once you have confirmed the nexus screen, proceed to the nearest Harbinger, the entity you see before you, for User assessment.

Now we get a name to these things. Harbingers.

“Once you have registered, it will guide you through the interface and general advice on manipulating the Omninexus. Then, you can ask further questions at the Harbinger you are interacting with.”

Oh, I have a few questions, all right. And probably everyone else and their mother. Xander chuckled as he looked over at his auburn-haired companion. From the unfocused look on her face, she heard the same thing he was.

“This announcement will now repeat over the next hour.”

…

“Humans of Celestial Body-”

It repeated the message a few more times, though thankfully at a lower mental volume.

Xander sat there on the driver’s seat of his old SUV, just looking at the single Harbinger in the middle of the road.

His heartbeat still beat like rapid drums from the near-collision with a giant meatball he avoided when it just phased into bloody existence. Sweat poured down his forehead, and Xander felt a cold chill down his spine.

A myriad of colorful emotions, indignation, anger, fear, and terror, flood through him.

Telepathic aliens? Extraterrestrial threats? Nano-machines in the air? Omninexus? Users? What the hell is going on!?

He shut those thoughts off before they spiraled down into a mess of rationalizations and explanations to what was happening. It was simply too much for him to handle right now.

Xander took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. He noticed his hands holding onto the steering wheel in a vice grip, his knuckles going white. He saw his whole body was shaking ever so slightly.

A hand reached out to his own from the passenger seat.

A smile crept across Xander’s face, and the nervous tension eased somewhat.

“Hey, you ok, Xand?”

The mention of that nickname from the soft-spoken voice of his life-long partner eased him further.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good, Anna. I’m good," he replied.

Xander looked to his right and gave her a reassuring smile. She was just as shocked as he was, but she had a brave face—her short neck-length hair fell off her ear while she smiled back at me.

“Right, should we, you know… take a look at that….” She pointed at the floating telepathic meat-sphere, ”thing?”

“Harbinger," he corrected with his eyes still closed under his glasses.

She snorted. “Yeah. That sure doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

The two of us left the vehicle, observing many people having the same idea.

The crowd cautiously approached the alien ball. Harbingers. Whatever. They were wondering whether any of what it said was true. Was it their benefactor sent to protect us from these so-called threats from space? Or were they lying monsters who just implanted slave chips into their heads?

Stop. Xander admonished himself.

He noticed one chap who was braver than most, moving closer than us.

“Bantay, col. (Careful, uncle.)” Xander spoke loud enough for the barrel-chested guy standing in front of the thing.

“Oh, lagi! (Of course!)” He tersely shouted back.

He leaned back, afraid to put his face near it, but stretched out his arm and waved at it.

“Ah, h-hello? Welcome to the Philippines?” He awkwardly greeted. The alien ball shifted its body and looked at the sapient seeking its attention.

Hello?—Ah!” He jerked his hand back and slowly reached for his head. His eyes looked at the Harbinger while slowly backing away.

As he moved back, so did everyone else.

An older lady in a simple sundress asked the man in the hurry, “ah, so? What happened? Did it say anything?”

“It… It said something about this Omninexus not being online yet, so I should return for registration at a later time. Thank you.”

“Mao ra!? (That’s it!?),” a young man in a university uniform asked incredulously.

“Oh, mao ra! (Yeah, that was it!),” he angrily shouted back at the kid.

Xander chose that moment to get out of there with Anna while everyone started speaking with one another. He could hear people anxiously discussing the message they heard in their heads, especially afraid of apparently having something placed in their brains.

Xander grabbed her hand and returned to his car, desperate to head to their apartment.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before it decides to explode or something.”

“Yeah, let's do that,” she spoke low in response as if afraid she’d set it off or something.

Some people started heading back to their vehicles upon hearing his words. The rest went back into the large grey buildings surrounding the marketplace and carefully watched the alien sphere through the windows while talking.

Xander drove briskly, careful to avoid near-death experiences with meatballs popping in front of his car.

He and Anna stayed silent. The atmosphere was taut, not just with invisible nano-machines. Their thoughts were going a hundred kilometers an hour, ranging from the frightening to the inane. Is it the end of the world? What’s going to happen now? How much will their lives change? Did they have enough beer for an apocalypse?

“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Xander began slowly, “no use thinking about the future without more information. Let’s get home, look at the news and read what people are saying online,” he told Anna calmly for them both.

She always projected a strong face in dire situations, ready to leap into action instead of thinking about the repercussions. But right now, she had an anxious look to her, she was taking deep shuddering breaths, and her eyes were looking for threats.

Something she, unfortunately, picked up from a traumatic event she and many others experienced three years ago. Fear of shadows and the sounds of explosions.

“Y-yeah, sorry,” she rubbed her face with her right hand, “it’s just… Aliens, man.”

“I know. Aliens,” the graduate responded similarly, drained from it all, "God damn..."

“We should contact our parents and friends, see if they’re ok,” she picked out her phone from her handbag, “damn, mama and papa have been trying to reach me. Hold on.”

Yeah, I should do the same when I get back. Mom has always been a worrywart. Bless her heart. Xander made sure to contact the people he cared for when he wasn’t driving.

“Finally! Hello?” Anna spoke frantically to her smartphone, “dad? Are you- Oh, mom, hi!… Yeah, I’m fine. I’m with Aleks. We’re heading back to our apartment and locking down. Yeah… Good, that’s… Ok… How are Ben, Gab, Piña and Puto? Oh, thank God… Yes, we have enough food and water at home… Mom, no, the stores will either be closed or are jammed full of people. We have enough survival stuff at home. You can thank Xand for that.”

Anna looked at Xander with an appreciating smile. “Ok… Ok… Yeah… Ok, bye ma. I love you, Dad, Ben, and the little roaches so much, ok? Oh? Hey, Xand, they say thank you and stay safe.”

“Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Baltazar, we’ll be fine!” The engineering graduate spoke loudly on the phone Anna was facing me.

“Ok, bye, you guys, you take care too. Love you,” she hung up the phone and released a breath she’s been holding.

“They’re fine, your dad is a powerhouse, and your mother is a force of nature. Nothing to worry about,” Xand reassured her.

“For now…” she replied in a small voice.

“Hey, if push comes to shove, we’ll all congregate at my parents' place,” Xander slowed down the car to hold her hand, “we stay together. That’s what matters. And with Baltazar's and Stahl’s united? Fucking aliens are going to get what’s coming to them.”

A brief pause—the corners of her mouth twitched upwards—and then a chuckle escaped her, followed by a genuine smile. Mission accomplished. She relaxed somewhat and returned to breathing slow and steady.

“That sounds good. It definitely sounds good,” she closes her eyes and eases the tension on her shoulders, “I’d rather not be alone when this ‘Omninexus’ comes online.”

“Nexus… Yeah. Hey, you think we’ll get levels, classes, and abilities?” Xander questioned curiously, “like, would it be similar to fiction and games? Or is it entirely different? What with it being made by aliens and whatnot.

“What are you—huh… Oh yeah, you’re right,” the two both leaned back into their seats, pondering what this would mean for them, their families and friends, and the rest of humanity.

“It’s not a game, though,” she grimaced.

“It’s not,” a sigh escaped Xander’s lips.

It shouldn’t be, and he feared getting another harsh reminder.

“We should prepare for the worst. The floating meatball said we’re being invaded. And I’m not too confident in our chances against some advanced alien civilization or interstellar monsters. So we pack our stuff—all the emergency supplies—from the apartment and leave for my parent’s house. We fortify the hell out of it. My dad has lots of guns stored all around that place. Gifts from Lolo Marcus,” Xander spoke with a stern look of determination.

He started listing things they needed in earnest and said anything else that came to mind. Though the young man sometimes cursed his random bits of introspection and deep thoughts, it also came with the ability to plan things out in detail. It came in handy to eliminate the rising dread in his heart, and it worked against his overly creative mind from conjuring whatever impending nightmare was to come. Right now, they needed to focus on their immediate needs.

“Does he still have that old machine gun?” Anna asked, breaking him from his trance.

“Huh? Do you mean the MG42? Hell, if I know. Thing’s ancient! It probably just needs some grease, though. We’ll point it at the front door,” Xander replied casually.

“Pfft, I feel sorry for any bastard forcing their way in. But, God, I miss holding that thing,” she sighed, reminiscing her memories.

“I remember you wearing a red bandana like some kind of Filipino Rambo, with the ammo over your forearm and everything. That was quite awesome,” Xander glanced at her with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes with a snort. “Heh, thanks. ‘Course that was until I dropped it because it was so heavy,” Anna had to look away to hide the blush on her face.

“Nevertheless, we’ll have just as much firepower as the city police force,” It was pretty good to be the grandson of a military man and son of a gun enthusiast, Xander realized with a wide cheeky grin.

“Bless your dad and lolo. We need more gun nuts in the apocalypse,” Anna nodded in approval with a look of respect. Xander was breaking out into a similar expression.

“Well, we need responsible gun nuts, especially in an apocalypse,” he clarified with raised eyebrows.

“Amen,”

The two chuckled as they drove out of the busy downtown.