Chapter 38: Apocalypse

Cadonif pounded on the door of the quickly accelerating pod in panic. He did not want to fall to Earth and explode. Even if he survived, he’d have to live there with ravenous mutated animals, and even worse—humans!

Apprehending after a few moments that if the door actually opened, he’d be sucked into the Earth’s upper atmosphere and die from lack of air and pressure, and his body would eventually become a small mark of alien blood amidst that of humans on the surface of the planet, Cadonif decided trying the door wasn’t his best option at the moment.

He then looked around the small room he was in, which was shaking and rolling in the turbulence of the atmosphere. He saw a lot of buttons and switches on the walls to interact with the minicomputer on-board. He knew what he had to do.

He immediately started frantically pressing random buttons and flipping switches. The commands that Tocarris had given him previously had apparently started the launch toward Earth. Perhaps there was a way to stop it.

“Manual override confirmed. Automatic controls disabled. Planned destination route canceled. Landing mechanisms disabled.”

“No! No! No! That does not sound good at all! Go back! At least ensure me a safe landing!”

The ride got more turbulent as the steering turned off. Cadonif was in a free-fall. Looking out the window, he could see flames surrounding the small ship as its speed burned through atmospheric oxygen.

This ship better not blow up! My luck is horrible! I don’t want to mess things up any further. What else can I do?!?

He looked around for anything else that could save himself. His eyes landed on the giant, cylindrical tank at the center of the room containing a colorful light-blue liquid that looked something like mouthwash or an artificial-colored sugary beverage for children.

This is what’s going to spread across the world. Even if I somehow land this ship safely, the ‘canon’ Tocarris was talking about will apparently go off and shoot this stuff into the atmosphere. But if I destroy it, then it can’t go off.

He grabbed a nearby heavy, blunt object and turned to face the tank.

If I destroy it, then the liquid will spill out. It was designed to mutate non-human creatures. Would I count?

He took a deep breath in and raised his weapon. He then swung it, missing the tank and landing the blow on the wall. He continued whacking at the wall of electronics, igniting showers of sparks.

“No way I’m going risk my life like that. I’ll smack this computer until it works,” Cadonif said as he destroyed the machinery.

Outside, Cadonif could see he was getting close to land.

Is this the end for me?!? At least I tried…

“Landing systems engaged. Averting imminent crash,” the computer gave hope.

“It actually worked!?!” Cadonif celebrated as the thrusters kicked in, suddenly decelerating the vehicle.

Within moments, the pod touched the ground—or rather it smacked into the ground roughly. It was so sudden that Cadonif was thrown across the room, where he hit his head against some poorly-designed sharp corner and passed out.

He came to a few minutes later under the flickering light.

“I have got to stop passing out like that.”

He first noticed that the tank walls were cracked and the liquid was leaking onto the floor of the pod. He was touching some and didn’t mutate.

Thank goodness.

He was immune and the canon didn’t launch. He healed his wounds for a few minutes and then looked out the window.

It was nighttime outside, so he couldn’t see much. The moon and glow of the crater from the crash illuminated the surrounding areas somewhat. Around the fifteen-meter-large crater were tall structures fixated to the ground with hundreds of veins grossly protruding outward capped by decorative, flat, green cards. He’d read about them on the base ship; they were called ‘trees’. They provided an eerie feeling like he was surrounded.

A small black bird flew to the crater and landed there. Cadonif watched in horror as it mutated into a giant larger than the pod he was in. It then released a blood-curdling croak and was off, running towards a light source in the distance that Cadonif presumed was a human town. He stared at it, his mouth agape. He was really on Earth—another planet full of evil beings.

But why did that animal transform?

He looked at the leaking tank and realized some of the liquid must have spilled outside through the canon’s opening.

Well, at least I survived and only the humans in the nearby towns will get eaten.

Humanity should be able to defeat them eventually with all the advanced weaponry they had. Cadonif was relieved and satisfied.

After Cadonif was sure there were no mutated animals outside, he pressed the button next to the door to open it.

The computer system came back to life. “Canon prepared. Launching virus fluid.”

Eh?

“Hold on, what?!?”

Cadonif heard some machinery above whirring. The door opened. The remaining fluid in the tank was flushed out and pumped into the canon. The engine intensified and the lights went out. There was a deafening explosion sound.

Cadonif went stepped outside, uninterested in finally being back on land. He looked up at the sky in horror. A thick ring of glimmering blue liquid expanded from above where he was. It spread out across the sky and tiny droplets of the liquid showered down. Cadonif watched the ring of light and the curtain of mist it showered disappear behind the trees in the distance. He was once again cast in darkness.

After some time in silence: Was the door button connected to the canon?

If that was Tocarris’ twisted plan from the start—to make Cadonif press the button to open the door and exterminate humanity with his own hands, she did a good job. If he’d known, he would have had to make the difficult choice between dying of starvation or an animal attacking the pod, or exterminating humanity, which he’d be trying to prevent.

Cadonif’s heart felt heavy and he tried to calm his breathing. He’d spent weeks trying to prove a point to himself, and not only had he failed, but he also caused the situation he’d been trying so hard to prevent.

He shook his head. He couldn’t grieve now. He was in a hostile new environment. He had to focus on survival first.

He looked in the direction of the light pollution in the sky. It was red now and smoke was rising. He knew what to expect there, but at the same time, he knew its advantages. The town, although infested with monsters by now, had human tools. He wouldn’t be able to survive in the woods for long on his own. He’d have to go there. And although the thought was terrifying, he might have to team up with some humans to survive. Working together during tough times was a norm outside of Earth culture. The natives here might not understand it at first, and Cadonif expected they’d probably be violent enough to fight each other, but he’d have to negotiate. He’d have to use his persuasion and reach out to any semblance of reason in them, assuming they had it.

Cadonif was about to depart on his perilous voyage when he realized that he couldn’t appear to humans the way he was. He then remembered something and pulled out a small object he’d stolen while on the base ship: a morphing ring. He’d thought it could have been useful to disguise as a guard if he were in a tough situation but the ring only had the genetic code for some humans and he didn’t know how to scan others.

Cadonif put on the ring and squeezed it, turning the holographic interface on. A figure of a human displayed. It was a woman wearing a brown lab coat and glasses, with straight brown hair. Around his wrist revolved the name for the specimen.

Doctour Jilly-anne Lazy…? Cadonif tried to pronounce the transliteration. A female? Oh, well. Let’s go with it.

He selected the option and a list of choices popped up, one offering ‘Exterior + knowledge’. He selected that one, knowing he’d need some knowledge of human culture and Earth as well as of the local languages.

The transformation process started, and over the course of a painful minute, Cadonif transformed into a human. The torrent of new knowledge was too much to take in at once, so he blocked it temporarily.

Ow, that was more painful than regeneration and persuasion combined! Well, at least it worked. It feels weird being a girl.

Unfortunately, his clothes didn’t change, but it would have been strange if they did.

The new Cadonif then turned and ran toward the town. Nearing it, he could hear screaming and destruction. It was scary to imagine the scene he’d have to be in.

He got tired and stopped running, panting bent over.

This body sucks! I got tired so easily! I don’t think this woman exercised much. And why do I keep thinking of doing science experiments?!

He pulled out the ring once more and swiped to the side, looking at the next option. This was a young man around his age with wavy brown hair and a short moustache.

Us youth should have energy no matter the species, right?

He transformed once more, his knowledge being replaced.

After the transformation, he felt better but realized he was a bit skinny, which was not suitable for his survival situation. Nevertheless, he stuck to the body: it was too painful transforming.

Cadonif ran through the woods and eventually came upon the human town. It was in chaos. It was not a good time to visit for the first time. Buildings were on fire and crumbling, smoke plumes filled the sky, there were noises of explosions and screams from farther away, the current area being devoid of inhabitants already. It was worse than he thought it would be. He’d have to be careful.

That was when he saw it: looming behind a building was a giant black wolf. It was terrifying. It had frightening, hateful eyes and a panting, hungry mouth. Cadonif was startled. He felt vulnerable and hid behind a tree. The wolf sniffed the air. Cadonif tensed and sweated. The wolf growled and sprinted. Cadonif closed his eyes. He heard scuffling sounds from a distance. He gathered the courage to look. The wolf’s head peaked through a doorway to a nearby house. It tried to get in. The doorway creaked under the strain, a few wooden boards snapping. There was clearly a human hiding inside.

Cadonif used the opportunity to slip by stealthily, hoping the smoke masked his scent or that the monsters weren’t interested in aliens. He continued through around the outskirts of town in this manner. It was mostly barren, giving the appearance that it had recently been raided by barbarians.

Cadonif snuck into a house and changed clothes to blend in better. The lack of power worried him, but when he noticed vehicles called cars driving in a certain direction, he decided it was safe to follow them. They seemed to be leaving the town.

Cadonif approached a stationary one whose engine was running. There was a person moving around inside. He cleared his throat. This is it, Cad. You have to talk to a human for the first time. Ask them if they can take you with them. They can’t be cruel enough to refuse, can they?

Preventing scary thoughts of how the humans would react from popping up in his mind, he went up to the window.

“Ahem… Er, e-excuse me?” He dared peek through.

A six-foot-tall mouse was bent over and munching at the lower half of the driver’s body. It turned to look at him. He froze. It leaped at him. He took a quick step back. The mouse’s head couldn’t fit through the car’s window. It squealed and struggled to get closer to him. He was safe a mere inches away. The mouse was too stupid to use the open door on the other side of the car.

Cadonif seized the opportunity to flee. He threw up a distance away.

He later came across a passing-by car and hitched a ride. He and the man drove on a road with many other cars. The man was mute so they didn’t talk much, to Cadonif’s relief. He noticed his tensed muscles, worried-yet-focused eyes, and cold sweat. He drove manually without AI and occasionally looked at the rear-view mirror. He kept a revolver on his lap.

Fifteen minutes later, the car slowed down as they approached a traffic jam with about ten cars. The car next to theirs honked.

“Move it! I’m not waiting for those things to catch up to us!”

People got out of their cars and ran towards them screaming. The two drivers watched them in confusion. Cadonif had a bad feeling.

From behind the cars appeared a black Salamander the size of a car.

“What the—!?!”

Both drivers immediately hit the pedal and the two cars started accelerating backward. The Lizard crawled toward them at incredible speed.

“Hey! Let’s work together!” Cadonif yelled at the other driver through the window.

The man looked at him for a moment and then drove his car to slam into theirs. Cadonif’s car skid, rotated, and came to a halt. The other escaped. The Salamander came to the car and tore off part of the roof with its jaw. Cadonif threw himself over what remained of the door and tried to run away. The Salamander snapped at him and bit onto his hand. Cadonif cried in pain. It jerked its head suddenly. Cadonif went flying, landing on the road a few meters away with his hand left in its mouth. He cursed in his language.

The mute man pulled out his gun and emptied his rounds at the Salamander. The Salamander, dripping a black liquid where it was wounded, seemed unfazed. He stared in shock. It attacked and chomped down on the man’s upper body.

Cadonif was horrified. He shook his head and used the opportunity to drag his injured body into the woods, putting pressure around his wrist. A bigger worry than the loss of blood was that the scent could attract more animals. Unlike the humans earlier, he knew that the whole world was like this.

The woods eventually led to a corn farm. After climbing over an unwelcoming fence, he traveled in until he felt he was safe. He sat down and slouched, tired. He then began the process of regenerating his hand. This was not a simple task. It took several fatiguing hours. He ate unripe corn, which he hoped other Earth food tasted better than, to replenish some energy. Although mass cultivation had its environmental problems, it was still efficient. After convalescing, he laid down on the ground among the corn stalks.

His whole life had pivoted once again. He was stuck on this planet full of dangerous humans and even more dangerous monstrous animals. He had to find some form of safety at least for now. Could he go somewhere that wasn’t completely destroyed?

He looked at his new hand, clenched and opened it a few times, and made sure it looked human. His mutation ring had been on the previous one. He could no longer transform back to his original form.

Lost in his grief and ponderings, he heard rustling and then a human voice in the distance, which caught his attention. Another person? Out here?

“Hello?” Cadonif called out.

“Huh? Hello? Is someone there?” the voice shouted back.

The two made their way through the tall stalks, following the direction of each other’s voice. Eventually, they collided. In front of Cadonif was a human boy, about sixteen years of age.

“Another person. Great! Nice to meet you. I’m Drake.”