The Beginning
1606 Words
Chapter 007: The Beginning
No one aboard the bus realized that what they were experiencing was not a local disaster.
Far beyond the white fog that had swallowed them, the world was still carrying on as usual.
Planes were still taking off. Ships were still sailing.
Traffic lights were still glowing.
People were still heading to work.
No one knew that within the next few minutes, the lives of billions of people would change forever.
And those living on both sides of the equator... would become the very first to experience it.
The Mysterious Fog Descends
Supadio Airport, 8:00 a.m.
Morning light still filled the terminal at Supadio Airport. Massive glass walls reflected the bright Kalimantan sun, its rays pouring through the windows and shimmering across the marble floors and rows of waiting seats, making the entire terminal feel bright and peaceful.
Out on the apron, baggage vehicles moved back and forth collecting luggage. A newly landed aircraft taxied toward its gate. Apron crews hurried through their routines, pilots checked their instruments, and passengers walked through the terminal accompanied by the aroma of coffee and the constant rumble of suitcase wheels.
The long check-in lines crept forward. Some passengers stared at flight information screens, others typed rapidly on their phones or chatted casually with family members. A mother held onto her two children to keep them from running toward a souvenir shop.
Outside, the roar of jet engines echoed from aircraft taxiing or taking off.
NGGGGRRHHHH... BRRRTT...
The sounds of baggage trucks and luggage carriers blended into the rhythm of the busy morning. Apron crews blew whistles and shouted instructions, though their voices were swallowed by the surrounding bustle.
Busy.
Crowded.
Orderly.
Just another ordinary morning at the airport.
Then—
The northern horizon cracked apart like shattered glass.
From the blue sky, a thin curtain of grayish-white fog descended in a perfectly straight line toward the earth.
It was incredibly thin.
Yet it drew every eye.
"...Hey, what's that?"
One passenger pointed through the huge glass window.
"Clouds... right?"
Another answered hesitantly, unable to take his eyes off the strange curtain stretching from the sky all the way down to the apron.
The apron crews stopped arranging luggage.
One of them stared with his mouth hanging open.
"Sir... that fog... it's coming down onto the runway!"
Inside the control tower, every radar display suddenly went black.
Communication panels died simultaneously.
Electronic alarms sounded briefly—
Then fell silent.
The controllers panicked.
"All systems are down?! What's happening?!"
On the apron, baggage vehicles slowed to a stop.
Dashboard lights died.
Electric service vehicles stalled without warning.
A supervisor shouted, though his voice barely carried across the distance.
"We need to evacuate the aircraft! All staff, move to safe positions!"
A plane that had just landed rolled to a stop on the runway.
Its engines had shut down.
The pilot tapped his headset and stared at the lifeless instruments.
In the sky, several approaching aircraft suddenly lost their automated flight systems.
Communication vanished instantly.
Silence.
A terrifying silence.
A mother wrapped both arms around her daughter as they stood beside the glass wall.
"Look...
"The fog...
"It's touching the ground."
"Why... does it look like a wall of smoke?"
the little girl whispered, her eyes wide.
From a distance, the thin veil looked like an enormous curtain hanging from the heavens.
Its reflection in the terminal glass, combined with the dimming light over the apron, made it appear even larger and more ominous.
Some crew members exchanged uncertain glances, torn between awe and fear.
Passengers throughout the terminal stopped what they were doing, their eyes fixed on the immense curtain stretching from sky to earth.
Some whispered.
Some froze.
Others watched with open fascination.
Almost instinctively, several people pulled out their phones, intending to record the strange phenomenon unfolding before them.
"Look at that... it reaches all the way to the ground..."
one man whispered, his eyes wide.
"What is it... smoke?"
a woman murmured while raising her phone to record.
"It's like a wall... but... how is that even possible?"
another young man muttered as he fumbled through his pocket for his device.
Many people who already had their phones in hand frowned the moment they looked at their screens.
Black.
Completely black.
No matter how many times they pressed the power button—
Nothing.
"...Hey... why won't it turn on?!"
a woman shouted, pressing the button again and again.
"They're all dead..."
the man beside her murmured, staring at his lifeless screen.
Another young man pressed the side button.
Still nothing.
The display remained dark.
A wave of unease spread through everyone who could clearly see the towering wall of mysterious white fog.
People exchanged nervous glances.
Confusion.
Uncertainty.
And for some—
A growing sense of fear.
The colossal curtain remained perfectly still.
It neither advanced nor retreated.
Yet its sheer scale was intimidating enough.
Meanwhile, the devices they had always relied on to stay connected and in control had suddenly become completely useless.
The EMP Shockwave
In an instant, both the terminal and the apron were swallowed by an unsettling silence.
PLAK!
Every flight information display shut off simultaneously.
Indicator lights vanished.
Black screens stared back at the passengers.
BRRRTTT!
Check-in computers.
Baggage scanners.
Elevators.
Escalators.
Everything stopped at once.
Rolling suitcases coasted to a halt.
Stacks of luggage froze halfway along the conveyor lines.
The announcement speakers—which moments earlier had been broadcasting cheerful boarding calls and pilot announcements—released only a long hiss.
Ssssshhhh...
Then...
Nothing.
During the first second, the silence felt suffocating.
Passengers looked at one another.
Whispers slowly began to spread.
"Why... did it suddenly become so quiet?"
one trembling man asked.
"The engines...
"I can't hear them anymore..."
a woman murmured, clutching her chest as her eyes widened.
Elsewhere in the terminal, another frightening scene unfolded.
An elevator came to an abrupt stop.
The cabin lights went out.
Every button became unresponsive.
Passengers were trapped between floors.
Darkness.
Silence.
Even the air felt different.
Like any modern person would, almost everyone instinctively reached for their phone—to use the flashlight or call for help.
But every screen remained black.
No buttons worked.
Dead.
Just like everything else.
Some passengers pressed their hands against the walls.
Others reached for each other's hands.
Their breathing became rapid.
Panicked whispers filled the darkness.
"Why... won't mine turn on either?"
one man muttered, his eyes barely visible in the pitch-black cabin.
Children began to grow restless.
Parents lowered themselves beside them, whispering soft words of reassurance.
Outside, every electronic system throughout the terminal and apron had failed.
Elevators remained frozen in darkness.
Psychological tension continued to build.
People repeatedly pressed elevator buttons.
Escalator controls.
Nothing responded.
Dark screens.
Dead buttons.
The first few moments were filled with an oppressive silence.
No engines.
No mechanical sounds.
No electronic beeps.
Only whispers...
And the echo of hurried breathing.
Panic had not fully erupted yet.
But tension had already begun creeping into every corner of the airport.
Throughout the entire airport complex—
The silence was real.
And terrifying.
No aircraft engines.
No electrical hum.
No electronic sounds.
Only breathing.
Footsteps echoing across the marble floor.
And the scraping of suitcase wheels.
One apron crew member suddenly screamed.
"All systems are down! Manual evacuation! Now! Move!"
The atmosphere transformed from an orderly, busy morning into one filled with confusion and growing fear.
Meanwhile, the mysterious curtain of fog continued hanging silently on the horizon—
Motionless.
Threatening.
Waiting.
The Runway
Ground crews moved quickly, pushing baggage carts and directing towing vehicles while a fuel truck rolled slowly toward an aircraft preparing for departure.
A Boeing 737 had just landed.
Its wheels kissed the runway with a faint screech.
Everything felt routine.
Busy.
Noisy.
Controlled.
Then, in the very next second—
Silence.
PLAK!
Every flight information monitor went dark.
BRRRTTT!
Baggage scanners.
Check-in computers.
Elevators.
Escalators.
Everything shut down simultaneously.
The public-address speakers emitted only a faint hiss.
"Ssshhh..."
Then silence.
Ground personnel stared at one another, their eyes wide.
They slapped control panels, checked cables, and tried restarting equipment.
"Why... won't it power back on?"
one technician muttered while twisting open an electrical panel.
Out on the apron, the Boeing 737 that had just landed continued rolling several more meters.
Its wheels squealed before the aircraft finally stopped.
Inside the cockpit, the pilot tapped the instrument panel, advanced the throttles, and cycled through the flight displays.
Nothing responded.
At the opposite end of the runway, another aircraft had already begun its takeoff roll.
Its engines suddenly died.
The pilot slammed on the brakes and deployed the spoilers, but momentum still carried the aircraft several more meters down the runway before it finally came to a stop.
Inside the cabin, flight attendants breathed rapidly.
Passengers knocked anxiously against the windows.
Small children began crying.
Adults whispered in panic.
Apron vehicles—tow tractors, baggage carts, and fuel trucks—all stopped at the exact same moment.
A few rocked gently on the uneven pavement before gravity held them in place.
Ground personnel ran toward the disabled vehicles, pounding on control panels, trying desperately to restart them.
Others waved frantically toward the aircraft, attempting to communicate by hand signals alone.
The entire runway fell into an oppressive silence.
Only footsteps.
Heavy breathing.
And the occasional minor collision between stalled service vehicles.
The silence felt overwhelmingly real.
It pressed against the minds of everyone standing on the runway.
At that moment, they all realized the same terrifying truth.
The systems and technology they had depended on every single day...
were now completely useless.
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