Chapter 3

Meteor Shower

West of Bristow

6:38 PM, Friday

10 January 2020

A new message appeared in my vison.

WORLD MESSAGE

The Release has been triggered. You have ten minutes to exit any human made buildings before the buildings collapse. All actions are in accordance with the “Memphis Accord of 2020”. Any concerns or objections should be submitted to the Galactic Council prior to The Release. This is the last and final warning.

I nearly swerved off the road by trying to read the message and drive at the same time. People think that texting and driving is hard, imagine apocalyptic world messages appearing in one’s vison and trying to drive. Looking out of my front windshield, I continued to watch the slowly falling meteors on their decent. Are all the slowly descending lights the Release? After seeing the message, I checked the countdown timer, it said 9:55 remaining. I was wondering what was going to happen when the meteors hit the earth. What are they? What would they do? Quickly, I tried to call my parents. The text had said this was a World Message, right? Didn’t that mean that everyone had seen the message? The phone rang once before I heard my dad’s voice come on. Before he could say two words, I was shouting at him. “Dad, Dad, are you okay, is Mom with you?” Not even waiting for an answer I continued. “Dad, Mom, I know we don’t have a lot of time. I hope you saw the World Message. The Release has been triggered. I am not sure what that means, but it could be dangerous. Please try and find somewhere safe. I would try and get out of any buildings and away from any building that might fall on you. Please stay in San Antonio. I will find come find you as soon as I can. I love you.” I heard my mom crying in the background.

My dad always the calm one responded, “Yes son, we will. Get here as soon as you can. We will be here waiting for you.”

I glance at the countdown timer 8:27. I look at my GPS, sixty-seven miles left to get home. What did it mean that all the human made structures would collapse? All that I could picture in my head was the video footage from 911 when the twin towers came down and over 3000 Americans lost their lives. Imagine all buildings collapsing all around the world. I hope that people abandon them quickly. 10 minutes was not a lot of time. What are the Memphis Accords? 2020 had just started and I didn’t remember anything on the news about any Memphis Accords. Isn’t Memphis in Tennessee? And how would one submit an objection to the Galactic Council? While there was the difficulty of contacting them, whoever they were, without knowing what the Memphis Accords said how would one know if their objection had any merit? With the limited time remaining before the release, I didn’t know how I or anyone could answer these questions or submit the objection. And other than the buildings collapsing, what was the Release?

I had a quest, to claim the Oklahoma territory. I feel like the sooner this quest is completed, the better things will be for those living here. If I understood the quest correctly, it would be somewhere in the capital of OKC. If I could find my friends, I am sure they would help me. Hopefully, Jake can get them organized and keep them safe and together until I get there. We could work together to solve this quest and figure out what to do next. There are so many questions and so few answers. I needed to focus on what was going on around me and deal with the situation as best as I could.

Right now, I was driving down the old historic Route 66. It was moderately wooded with the occasional farmhouse the last few miles. There seemed to be a decent number of cars on the road. I think everyone was trying to take the detour that I took due to the traffic. I saw the porch light of a house coming up. As I drove by, I could see a man, woman and three kids running out of the house with arm loads of stuff and quickly turning around and running back inside.

4:57 until The Release. Just less than five minutes. The few cars ahead of me had pulled off into a parking lot near a convenience gas station. I wondered why they were stopping. I could see about a dozen people standing in the parking lot. A few were running out of the store with supplies. A few others stood in the parking lot with shotguns and rifles. I didn’t see any pistols as I drove past, but this being Oklahoma, I would be surprised if no one had any. Perhaps the second-best thing about Oklahoma was if a gun was needed, there was always one nearby. Was everyone gathering because they the think that it was safer in numbers? Were they relying on their weapons to keep them safe after the Release? I wondered if the weapons would fire. The world message referred to buildings. I wasn’t sure how this would impact weapons and technology. We are so far-off normal script here who knew what was going to happen. The road ahead was clear, but the slowly descending Meteor shower was still lighting up the sky. None of the Meteors had landed yet that I could see however, they seemed to be getting much closer. People have always said that I was a little hardheaded I guess that is true. With only about 3 minutes left, I did the only thing that I was still in control of, I floored it.

Since the convenience store, I hadn’t seen any cars ahead of me. Every minute that had gone on, had brought a reduction in the number of cars I was seeing. I felt like everyone I was seeing was going in the opposite direction. Are all the cars going in my direction were leaving the road? Occasionally, I could see some house lights in the distant.

I was flying down the road going about 110 MPH. Only slowing down for the major turns when the road signs said to slow down, but I was still going at least twenty-five to thirty MPH faster than the recommended speed. With 1-minute left until The Release, my hardheadedness started to give way as I realized the futility of the continual speeding down the road. I slowed down a little as I realized that I needed to use my head and think. There had to be more information somehow or somewhere. The only thing I could think of was the icon in the corner of my screen. While it as no longer flashing, it was still there.

Analysis Complete: Character Sheet now available for review.

This is just like a video game. How do I open my character sheet? When I thought of the words, it appeared in my vision. While not completely blocking my vision, I could vaguely see through the character sheet.

Personal Interface Support System (PISS)

CHARCTER SHEET

QUEST

INVENTORY

MAGIC

SKILLS

TMS

HELP

Name

Rick O. Shea

Strength

12

Screen Name

LordShea

Agility

11

Level

2

Coordination

12

Experience to next level

2000

Constitution

11

Total Experience

1000

Intelligence

15

Faction

Undecided

Wisdom

14

Race

Human

Willpower

16

Profession

Undecided

Charisma

13

Class

Strategist

Luck

15

Personality

Survivor

Attribute Points Available

5

Titles

The Harbinger

Skill Points Available

1

HP

46

Mana Recharge (PS)

0.3

Mana Well

62

Magic Capability

100%

Of course, what an idiot, this was just like my video games, except instead of clicking a button; I just had to think about it. Fortunately, the road was straight, and I could see through the screen, otherwise, I would have gotten in a wreck. Still, I slowed down further to keep from crashing my car.

Crap, there was so much detail on the sheet. Even including my middle initial. My dad had thought it was funny, but I never included it. I recognized the screen name that I used to play my video games. I never like the Rick O. Shea pun, but I always liked my last name. One reason is that there an extremely famous half-elf with this name. Secondly, I liked the name of the New York Mets baseball stadium even though I hate all the sports teams from the big apple.

It was then, that my eye caught the headers across the top looked like additional tabs of the Personal Interface Support System. Really? PISS? Who comes up with these names?

The one that really jumped out at me was the HELP tab. I really needed some help. I was shocked to realize that by thinking it, I had selected it. This mental interface was going to take some getting used to. Instead of opening a new tab, the character sheet went away and instead walking or was it floating on my dash was a foot-tall hologram of, of what how do I describe it, a fairy? A cute, long blonde-haired fairy wearing a sparkly dress with flittering wings was flying or floating just above my dashboard on my car. I felt like I was seeing something in 3D, but without 3D Glasses on.

Now that I had someone to talk to and didn’t have to focus on reading a screen in my vision, I punched the accelerator trying to get to OKC as fast as I could.

Hello LordShea. I am Pansofia. How may I be of assistance? Startled, I asked her, “What is going on”?

She paused for a second and then looked confused. “Going on,” she asked?

“Yes,” I said, “what is ‘The Release’ and how did I trigger it?”

“Oh,” she said, “First, simply put, the Release is a return of magic and magical races and creatures to Earth.” To your second question, you fulfilled it by completing the Requirements under Article 8 of the Memphis Accord of 2020”.

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In the atmosphere above earth

After Vabaruk completely faded out, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, he felt his body again begin to materialize in a completely different location. As sensation returned to his body, he glanced quickly about himself. Above him, he see’s outer space, below, at his feet, flames burning, leaping up, but without any heat. He reached out with his hands and feet to touch the clear chamber that he was in. Looking past the flames, he sees a planet below him. Large bodies of water to the right and left of the continent below him. Based upon his trajectory, he seems to be heading towards the lower center of the northern continent. From the lights below him he could see what appeared to be large cities. Towards the left, the light striking the planet from the sun was only hitting part of the planet. He wondered if this meant it sunset or sunrise where he would be landing.

As he looked down, he could see hundreds of pinpoint red dots. Not lights, but something appearing in his internal vision. Focusing on one of those he realized that it was the humans on Terra Firma. He concentrated further, straining to learn more about his target. Regardless of his effort, he couldn’t identify their name or their stats. However, for a reason he couldn’t explain, he was almost certain that each dot represented a Contender. There was one dot that seemed to be a slightly different shade of red and glowed with a lot more intensity. His eyes focused on that one dot. Perhaps, Gilnos had heard his prayer and was leading him to his prey. As he focused on it, felt a slight shift he in the direction of his sphere. Surprised he realized that he had some control over his capsule as it hurls towards the human infested planet.

With a shout of joy, and the hope that Gilnos had heard his prayer, he continued to focus on the same dot. Gradually shift to the left, pause and then shift again to the left. At first, he thought the that the aiming calculation might be off. However, upon considering other possible causes, he wonders if the shifting was because the target was moving. He was getting closer now. The bodies of water to the left and right were no longer visible. Glancing over his shoulder, he could still see the water behind him. Continuing to focus on his dot he realized that it was traveling between cities at a high rate of speed. The course corrections for his sphere were becoming more pronounced as it tried to keep up. Vabaruk was so excited he could hardly contain his emotions. After all these years, he was about to launch his campaign. If he was correct, then this human Contender would have earned the title Harbinger. If he could start off by eliminating the Harbinger, he would receive a significant experience boost. This boost should propel him into the lead to claim territory after territory to mark Terra Firma as a planet for his family and the De’Rashka. He could not wait to bask in the glory of victory cheering throngs of his clan. In a moment of inspiration, Vabaruk decides to try and get ahead of the Contender. He was going to land on this planet and make a splash in the blood of The Original Contender. Focusing again on the bright red dot below him, he saw the dot was still traveling at a high rate of speed. Instead of focusing on the Contender, he picks a point well ahead of him.

With a sudden jerk the capsule he is in drastically shift knocking Vabaruk off his feet. From his knees, he is struggles to stand up. It feels like the speed of the capsule is increasing as it rapidly hurls towards Terra Firma. Focusing again on the bright red dot, the capsule starts to try to go back to the previous tracking. Vabaruk quickly realizes that course correction and halts it. The capsule sensing his guidance, stops the adjustment and continues to track ahead of the contender. Vabaruk is wondering if he is far enough ahead of the Contender. He is so low now that there are no longer any lights from nearby cities. Only random lights from what appears to be random dwellings. Glancing around he can see some occasional trees and small ponds. Suddenly, he is no longer descending, but down on one knee. With a shock, he realizes there was no impact explosion or shockwave. He struggles to stand up, one knee pushing off his fist planted on the ground and with the other hand pulling up on the axe handle planted in the ground. As he pushes up, he realizes that the smooth surface of the capsule is gone, and he is now resting on a hard surface. Glancing up, he sees all the lights go out save for a bright moon.

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Terra Firma

Route 66 East of Stroud, OK

LordShea

I saw the timer hit 00:00. Suddenly, it felt like fifty things were happening at the same moment. My mind starts processing changes as they occur, but everything seemed to happen at the same time. Fortunately, it’s almost like time is slowed down and I can see things so clearly, even though, I cannot accelerate my response. Suddenly less than 50 feet in front of my car one of the meteors landed on pavement in front of my car. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a violent explosion, only the bright light flashed and what looked like a large bull appeared on the road.

As quickly as it appeared and as I am standing on my breaks, my car and lights shut off. I tried to avoid hitting something, was that a cow in the middle of the road, but it couldn’t be cow, it had started to stand up and was holding an axe. It looked like a minotaur from one of my RPG videogames. I tried to avoid hitting it, but the steering wheel and brakes are not responding. Everything is so dark; I can’t see anything. Between the bright flash from the asteroid and my car lights going out, I feel like I am blind in the darkness. As the car strikes the minotaur, and I can feel the force of hitting a giant bull. In my mind, I have a still frame image of the minotaur that is crouched down, but standing on his back legs, holding a huge double-bladed axe. I know that this can’t be right. There are no minotaur’s on earth.

This is too much like my video games. The car thuds with the impact, for some reason the air bag does not deploy. I am amazed to realize that with the engine shutting off and no sound coming from the motor, I can hear the claws from the monster as it scratches down the front of the hood. I must not have run over it. I can imagine the minotaur being stuck to the front of the car. I shudder as I feel a change from the tires as they leave the asphalt, and the car starts to angle down before it comes to an immediate stop as the car hits something solid. The airbag still doesn’t deploy. I lose consciousness as my head slams into the steering wheel.