INVASION: Wildest Game

Ch, 1: New Earth

Alexa's POV

As my eyes flutter open, I find myself floating in space, surrounded by stars and planets.

My eyes widen as I marvel at the dazzling spectacles of the cosmos. I always dreamed of seeing this sight, but I never imagined it would be like this. It's so beautiful and it feels like welcoming me.

I turn around and see the Earth, a blue-green oblate spheroid shining in the sunlight. It looks so peaceful and serene from that distance, but suddenly, a deafening noise from behind sent shivers down my spine. It urges me to turn around and only to witness something that made my blood run cold.

A huge asteroid, bigger than a mountain is hurtling towards me, also heading straight for the Earth. I can see its fiery trail as it cuts through space. It was moving so fast and I know I have no chance of escaping.

I felt a wave of panic and fear wash over me.

I can't help but shut my eyes as the asteroid looms menacingly with a deafening noise. It seems like the asteroid is taunting me and the sound is shattering my eardrums.

Not soon enough, I have reached my limit, so I hastily take off the VR gear.

Yes, you heard it right!

It was just a virtual reality program that mimics the environment and landscape of outer space. It's a very convincing experience. With the gear on and no gravity in the room, I feel like a real astronaut, venturing into the unknown.

"Too soon. The terror is just getting started." A staff member from the VR Room spots me. He's hovering around to assist the others.

"No, thanks. I'm done. That was terrifying," I replied.

"Want a booth recommendation?" he offered.

"No, thanks!" I declined politely and made my way to the booth door.

You might be wondering what's going on, but I'm currently at a prestigious Tech Museum for a college field trip.

Honestly, I wasn't keen on coming, but it's a school requirement, so I didn't have much of a choice.

There's a plethora of booths and scientific devices and machineries around, but I'm not particularly into technology like some of the other students who are obsessed with it.

But before I delve further, let me introduce myself.

I'm Alexa Stanfield, a 20-year-old college student. I'm a bit of a loner and unfortunately, the target of bullying in the crowd. Now, I'll admit I keep to myself, but I'm far from being a nerd or anything like that. I wear makeup, style my hair, and, most importantly, I don't sport any quirky glasses. I dress and act like any other regular student, but it seems I exist in a world where deviating from the norm is considered inferior.

"Hey, Alexa!" one of my classmates spotted me. "You might wanna come with us to the literary booth and take some notes for our presentation next week," he ask.

I simply nodded and followed his lead.

Entering the literary booth, I was greeted by numerous statue bases with holographic displays shifting depending on the content of the work.

"Please check each station and gather all the necessary information on our topic." He instructed before leaving.

I roam around and read the text displayed on the station. I decided to go to the history section.

Tapping the play button on the hologram screen, the statue transformed into a holographic display, presenting a video on New Earth's history.

An AI-generated female voice narrated, "Twenty years ago, Earth was on a collision course with a massive asteroid. However, though unaware of their existence, Galactic Federation saved the world by blasting the asteroid from a safe distance."

It was an event from 20 years ago, you might wonder. Well, my mom was in labor with me when it happened. And if you're curious, the virtual reality program I just experienced earlier was related to that event, showing what could have occurred if Earth hadn't been saved at that critical moment.

The AI female voice generated continued, "The Galactic Federation extended an invitation to the human government authorities, representing all of humanity, to join their cause. The human race pledged loyalty and collaboration with them."

"Earth now stands as a Type 2 civilization called 'New Earth' in the year 2050, where the advancement of technology and machinery are highly developed. The most progressed knowledge in engineering, science, and programming became possible, all thanks to the Galactic Federation of Worlds."

Having heard most of this information before and feeling a bit bored, I decided to leave and put off worrying about the project activities for later.

As I mentioned earlier, despite facing bullying, I remain true to myself. I refuse to conform to their preferences, trends, or the types of social circles I'm uncomfortable with.

Even with that, I do have friends, a small circle of two during my school journey.

My first and closest friend is Cassandra Lopez, who's the same age as me. She's beautiful and athletic. We met back in pre-school when she stood up for me on a day I was first time being bullied. Since then, we've been inseparable.

The other one is Davi Gonzales, a year ahead of me and Cassandra's cousin. He's a school model, the heartthrob, and incredibly intelligent. Excelling in every class, he's liked by everyone. Despite receiving all the compliments and attention, he chose to be friends with me. This attention from Davi became a source of animosity from many students, yet I'm grateful to have him by my side.

I know, I talk a lot, but you probably wonder why exactly the others disliked me, aside from the fact that I seemed to steal Davi's attention from them.

Well, they hated me because I'm not interested in today's Era. I always had failing grades in tech subjects and I struggled to operate machinery, which branded me as an outsider in their eyes.

But they were ignorant of the truth. I didn't fail because I lacked understanding; I simply didn't care. It wasn't my passion.

I failed the major subjects because they were not relevant to my interests. They're not even aligned with my literary course.

I deliberately rejected its expectations, but I gained knowledge and followed my own passion.

I'm not into advanced tech devices, futuristic inventions such as robot assistants, or levitating vehicles, whatsoever. Though, there are instances where I can't avoid them.

I still prefer a standard smartphone and riding a bike. I choose books and paper over a holographic devices and gadgets, and I treat robots with respect, considering them as colleagues.

These things are not a problem, but they make a big fuss out of them just to dislike me.

As of now, Davi and Cas are both in their respective classes so I have no choice but to get stuck with my dull classmates for the whole time.

Still, I made an effort to appreciate everything around here.

Actually, I still don't find technology boring completely because honestly, it's impressive and remarkable on how Earth advanced and evolved so much like this. But I guess, too much of anything can be bad.

Oh.

This is enough. I'm getting to be dramatic.

Feeling weary from wandering inside, I decided to step outside of the museum.

I searched for the levitating bus we used to arrive here, planning to rest, reading some books I brought with me in my bag.

As I scanned the parking lot, something caught my eye in the sky, plummeting with alarming speed. At first, I assumed it was a drone, but my heart raced with fear when I realized it was something else entirely.

It looks like it descended from beyond the Earth's atmosphere, leaving a blazing streak across the sky.

Fear washes over me. I couldn't budge while the crashing capsulated spaceship was about to slam into the ground.

I trembled as I heard the dreadful boom of the ship hitting the ground, 500 meters away from where I stood.

The shockwave and the fiery red and black plume rose up making it more frightening. Nearby vehicles and buildings were smashed and toppled. The improvised trees bend to their limit until they snapped and fell, getting flew along the blast wave.

I'm seeing it all happen in front of me and I can describe how horrifying it is in detail.

I got frozen until the blast wave hit me, forcing my eyes shut. My body resisted the force, keeping me on my feet, but my hair whipped back as if it wanted to rip off my scalp.

Amidst the chaos, the only sounds I could hear were the shattering of glass and the blaring of car alarms.

Fortunately, the blast subsided in just a few seconds.

I cautiously opened my eyes only to witness a grim scene.

Everything is wrong.

The world is bathed in a sickly orange glow.

The parking lot—once just a dull, forgotten space in the skeletal remains of this city, is now a graveyard of twisted cars and ruptured asphalt.

The taste of metal coats my tongue, thick with the scent of burning fuel and scorched earth. The ground beneath me is cracked, charred—a deep impact crater where the ship carved its final scar into the earth.

I cough, smelling the acrid stench of burning wires.

As I stood motionless, scanning the wreckage, my eyes locked onto a middle-aged woman in the distance. She was dragging herself toward me, her body smeared with blood, every movement labored and agonizing. The shockwave must have sent the parked cars into chaos, colliding and trapping her in the wreckage. Now, she was barely holding on, clawing her way forward.

Even though I want to help her, my mind is taking time to convince my body to function.

My body is frozen in shock and hesitation.

After a few seconds of convincing, I finally snap out of it and run towards her. But before I can reach her, another blast startled me, and instinctively, I raised my both hands to my head and start reciting numbers, a reflex to lessen the fear.

I urged to turn to the source of the blast and I see a metal shard hurtling through the air, heading straight to the woman.

It made me gasp in horror and stop in my tracks.

Conflicting thoughts raced through my mind: 'Help her, she'll die if you won't' versus 'Help her if you want to die with her.'

Without pausing to think, I acted on pure instinct. Ignoring the logical warnings in my head, I sprinted towards her.

My mind focuses to drag her away from the incoming metal shard, but things happened in a blur. The metal shard pierces her back with a sickening sound, and few blood splatters into my face before I reach her.

Shock paralyzed me as I stared at her, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.

Through the haze of fear and despair, I saw her weak smile. She tried to speak, but the words were lost in the chaos around us. I watched her lips move, the only motion in the stillness of the moment.

"Not... your... fault..." Her voice barely reached my ears before her eyes closed, and her body went limp, but I got her message.

Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the blood on my cheeks.

I collapsed to the ground, feeling the cold pavement beneath my hands and knees. My mind was empty, but my heart was burdened with regret, disappointment, guilt, and overwhelming fear.

The noise of broken glasses and car alarms fades and turn into a high-pitched ringing in my ears, accompanied by the anguished cries of a girl from behind me. Her voice seemed to draw nearer, as if she was purposefully running towards me.

"Mom!" The girl screams, full of grief and sorrow. She cries and wails for the woman I failed to save.

Through tear-filled eyes, I could barely make out her silhouette, embracing the woman lying lifeless on the ground.

"If you hadn't hesitated, my mom would still be alive!" She accuses me with anger and resentment, but I don't know if she means me or referring to someone else.

The girl continued to cry, her sobs echoing in the chaos around us.

My eyelids grew heavy, blinking slowly and repeatedly.

Before I know it, the girl is suddenly standing before me.

I felt a sudden kick that knocked me to the ground.

I have no idea who did it, but I can't resist the force inserted that pushed me down.

I heard a metal sound as it was lifted from the ground.

"You deserve to die too," the girl's voice rang out, filled with pain and rage.

My mind is shutting down. I feel too tired to stay awake and comprehend what's happening. I feel like I just want to fall asleep.

"No!" I recognized Davi's voice instantly. His shout pierced through the haze. I will never fail to recognize his voice.

"Let go of me!" Seems like the girl struggles to free herself from someone's grip. She must have had some evil plan to harm me, and Davi foiled it.

I hear a clatter like something just dropped.

That's the last thing I heard before everything went black.