“Sir! Everything is set up and ready for the announcement.”

A man with a headset spoke out. There were dozens of like-dressed people working behind computer screens lined up in rows. It was a scene reminiscent of Hollywood movies depicting NASA’s mission control.

A single man stood on a platform overlooking nearly fifty workers tapping away on their keyboards.

“Good, I want to see the announcement on the main screen here. It must finish no matter what happens.”

The man finished the order and looked up at the ten-meter-wide screen which had an old-fashioned, grey countdown ticking down from ten. Once the counter hit zero the feed flickered and a man sitting upon a chair was all that was visible. A single spotlight blocked out anything else.

“Hello world. My name is Signis and I am the organisation’s leader. In the light of recent discoveries, I have decided to make our presence known to everyone. The following message is being streamed across the globe in every major news channels, radio stations and media outlets. So without further ado, here are some images to spark an interest.”

Various images replaced the man, they started with various angle shots of Mars,

“This is the planet Mars, our neighbour planet and our current goal for colonization. Until recently it was accepted by all major organisations and governments as inhabitable. However, those are the images used to fool everyone.”

The man’s voice carried on as the images were replaced by new ones, depicting Mars with various colours; blue, green and white.

“This, is the truth. About a month ago we have discovered countless such images in databases across organisations controlled by governments and private corporations.”

The images began to zoom in. Clouds became clearly visible, trees, vegetations, lakes, oceans, etc. Countless images zoomed in and got replaced.

“Yet that is not all, what was of particular interest to us was this.”

All of the images disappeared and replaced by images of foreign structures, cities, things that nature could not create. Perfect angles, squares and other geometric shapes made up of stone, wood and other materials.

“As you can see, these structures are clearly not made by nature. This meant that there is only one explanation. We, are not alone in this universe. There are other intelligent beings out there and the closest ones are right here in our own backyard.”

“The government has suppressed this information but we feel that it must be exposed for everyone to know!”

The speaker’s voice increased a bit.

The man watching the stream from inside the room spoke up,

“Status report!”

“Sir! We estimate nearly four billion people are watching or listening to this stream of this moment, the number is skyrocketing by the second. Many are attempting to switch to news channels or other sources of information to backup our claims but are unable to do so as we took control of them all.”

The man shook his head in approval and stroked his chin.

“What of our security?”

“Well, there hasn’t been any major attacks, in fact, after the first minute there were a few minor attempts but after that they all ceased.”

The man reporting to Ignatius looked worried.

“Very well, continue with your work.”

‘Not a single attack huh? Just who else is working behind the scenes?’

“But that is not all,”

The images disappeared and the video returned to the man,

“The reason the governments are withholding such information is because they are losing control, being overrun. I’m sure most of you have heard of the increase of terrorist attacks and criminal activity?”

The man took an elaborate pause.

“Well it is because they cannot cope, cannot adopt fast enough with their trifling diplomacy, withholding information from one another. By doing so they are putting their citizens at risk. A risk which stems from the super humans. That is what we are referring to them as of now. They have increased agility, strength, reflexes and defences.”

The video began to show numerous videos of people performing impossible acts, being shot and not bleeding, bending metal bars with two fingers, jumping several meters into the air.

“What can the police do when bullets are ineffective? Nothing. They are forced to call in special teams just to handle purse snatchers.”

Another pause was taken as the video returned to the man.

“Well we are not them, and we have the solution. We have created several prototype machines that nullify such powers in an area around them. When these super humans are exposed to them their powers stop working and they become regular people like us.”

The man stood up and started to slowly approach the camera.

“It is time to put an end to trivial matters such as pointless bickering between countries and become united, a single nation that will finally explore the depths of space as one. Should the governments agree to help and cooperate with us then we can promise to have people landing and living on Mars within twelve months. The nullifying machines will become placed in the streets and we shall bring peace to the entire world.”

The man walked towards the camera and crouched down, only his face was visible,

“To show everyone that we mean business, check all the major news, we have struck countless deals with governments to have their suppressions removed for the next twenty-four hours. Oh and the major terrorist groups have been crushed by us to show that we mean business.”

The man turned around and walked to the center of the spotlight, next to his chair. With his back to the camera he said,

“We will give all the governments the same twenty-four hours to agree to work with us. If you, the ten BILLION people, enjoy the safety and information we provide, then you can fill out a simple form provided by us. If you wish to have our continued support then fill it out and should seventy-five percent or more of a country's population sign up, then we will attempt to convince the governments that refused, to cooperate.”

The man turned and sat back down on the chair.

“That is all, we hope that you will have a wonderful day.”

The screen switched to one displaying, “Look up ‘The Organisation Form’ or go to organisationform.com to fill out the form.” The message lasted another ten seconds before disappearing. The screen turned dark.

The same man who reported earlier stood up,

“Sir, our estimates show that nearly three-quarters of the world’s population saw our livestream and the remainder will shortly follow. Very few people have signed up for the form but that is expected as most will wait for someone to validate or refute our claims-”

Ignatius outstretched his arm to stop the man,

“Have there been any new attempts to breach our defences?”

“No sir.”

Ignatius motioned for the man to continue his work.

‘Dammit, what is going on here? The only reason we had broadcasted from our headquarters, where our defences are the best, was to ensure we don’t get hacked in mid-stream and our credibility ruined. With no attacks, something is wrong.’

“Sir! Incoming transmission!”

‘And there it is.’

“Put it on screen.”

The previously black screen lit up once more. A single white, smiling mask contrasted with the pitch black background.

“Quite the show you put on, organisation. Not to mention the security you got here is no joke. We threw a couple of air horns down the rabbit hole to see how deep it goes but haven’t heard anything back. Remarkable to say the least. Not to mention your background is a big bag of mystery.”

The deep, robotic voice paused, and Ignatius took the opportunity to speak.

“Anonymous, to hear praise from your group of our security is rather surprising, but why don’t you tell us what you’re here for?”

“Well, did you not find it strange that no one tried to stop the stream, to mess with a power on the global scale?”

The white mask on the screen remained motionless.

“Are you saying that was your work? That you were protecting us from everyone else?”

“Precisely. In trade, we wish to establish a far more personal partnership with you. A storm is brewing, and your organisation is at its helm. We merely wish to be on the side of the victor. So, what do you say? You can keep working as normal and we will watch your cyber back. The governments most likely cleaned all of their systems after your performance and with two of our forces breaking in once more will be a joke.”

Ignatius gripped the railing in front of him.

“And should we refuse?”

An eerie smile formed on the previously still white mask.

“Sir, Anonymous is attempting to break through our firewalls. The first few are gone. We have four remaining-”

The man speaking was interrupted by someone shouting across the room,

“ ten, hundred, over fifty thousand over a million attacks - 95% limit we cannot sustain!”

The man winced and continued his report,

“At the rate they're going it will take them a day to completely break into the system and have complete access to our database.”

Ignatius made a motion cutting his neck with his hand. The communication was paused.

“I want the sources of the attacks tracked and eliminated, make this our number one priority.”

The headset-wearing man replied,

“That will be difficult, we are forced to use most of our power to keep Anonymous from outright breaking through. Thus, any other actions will be drastically be slowed or halted.”

Ignatius clenched his teeth.

“Very well, my order still stands, resume communications.”

The mask returned to the previous emotionless state.

“I see you have returned, so what do you say?”

“For you to keep up such an attack, we both know is not easy. Your locations will be hit within hours and taken over by us.”

“So you wish for a battle of attrition? Do you believe that is a wise gamble considering your current, rather delicate, situation?”

‘Fuck, they got us there. Such a gamble wouldn’t normally matter but he’s right, I can’t take the chance.’

“Very well, what are the terms?”

The mask smiled,

“Simple, you give us access to one of your super computers as well as information, and we will provide additional security and crack down on just about anyone you ask.”

“Fine, we will provide a location and time where one of our operatives will meet up with you and discuss the finer points. Anything else?”

Ignatius motioned for someone to carry out his order. The hierarchy in the organisation is immaculate, and everyone knows who to pass responsibility to should they be unable to carry them out.

“Nothing else, all of us wish for your success and hope for a peaceful cooperation between our parties.”

The screen went dark once more and murmurs rose among the employees. The organisation had just struck two major deals that will make it dominate over the entire world, or fall and never to be seen again.

********

“Welcome back everybody to BCB news. Today we have a special-“

I stopped mid-sentence as Joe motioned for me stop from behind the camera.

“Hey Charlette, you have got to see this. Our feed was completely stopped by someone blabbing some nonsense. It’s not just us, it seems that just about every news station and channels were interrupted and were broadcasting the same thing!”

Joe called me over and brought me inside the office where tens of reporters were watching the large screen in front of them. Images of Mars started popping up.

“This, this can’t be real, right? That can’t be Mars. NASA even released images showing it to be barren…”

Someone started muttering to themselves. But otherwise the room was dead silent as everyone’s attention was glued to the screen.

“No way, did the government seriously hide this from us? I know we were limited but to think it was that bad…”

I started talking to myself,

‘This is just beyond crazy’.

My doubts were eliminated once the man started discussing the increase of terrorists. A story of mine related to it that I wanted to publish, it would elevate my status by leaps and bounds, was shot down by the manager.

Countless more gasps came about as the final statements came, ‘the information suppression has been lifted? Is such a thing even possible?’

“Everyone listen up! Everything that man has said, especially that twenty-four limit is true and I have just been notified that we are in the all clear.”

‘Manager?!’

The short and chubby manager came from his office to speak to us.

“I want all of you to dig up the damn juiciest stories you have related to everything the man said and make sure the public is drowned in the information. I don’t care what you have been reporting about until this point, this is now the point of focus!”

He stopped and looked around.

“If all of you want to be able to freely report without countless restrictions, then go out there and bolster their reputation until they put World War heroes to shame. If you understand then get back to work!”

I didn’t even wait for the command and beelined straight for my studio. Joe was hot on my heels.

“Charlette, the social networks are literally blowing up. Some of the smaller ones couldn’t handle it and have already crashed. The strain placed on all the major ones is starting to boggle them down making them almost unusable. We gotta act fast!”

Joe gave me a short pep talk as he set up the camera and it focused on me.

“Welcome back everyone. I’m sure you all wish to know more of this mysterious organisation and if what they say is true. We are receiving numerous reports by the minute but if nothing else, then the twenty-four-hour information release is true. As such, you must all be made aware of just what these super humans are…”