Ziro and Jamal stared at the glowing TV screen in the dark room.
The text on the screen, bold, bloody, and eerie, read:
"WELCOME, SURVIVORS."
"Welcome to Planet Blue Star."
Ziro looked confused. "What's that mean? A new TV show…?"
Jamal shook his head. "Ziro, I don't think so. Network's been dead all night. This… this just appeared."
They glanced at each other nervously. The TV flickered off.
"Survivors? What does that mean? Should we check outside? If we stay still like this, nothing's gonna work anyway…" Ziro said.
"Y-Yeah… maybe everyone's facing the same thing," Jamal said hesitantly. "Let's just check it out—but if something goes wrong we'll run back in. I'm not risking my good old virgin body like this…"
The front door creaked as they stepped outside. Streets were dead silent. No lights. No movement. Fog hung in the air. Streetlights were off. Crows perched silently, watching.
The world outside… felt like a graveyard.
Jamal gripped Ziro's sleeve. "Let's go back inside… This doesn't feel right. It's really cold outside. It's like this town has fallen into an ice age. There must be ghosts lurking around, Ziro. Let's just go inside and have a cup of tea… everything will be solved, la. La, la… my tea, warm tea…Hey! Can you please let my hand go, Ziro? I really need to pee! I promise I'll come back after peeing…"
"No, please Jamal. Stop with the excuses. We need to find my parents. Let's try the neighborhood—Khaled's house."
Jamal sighed. "Ok… fine…"
The door to the neighbor's house creaked slowly as they pushed it open. The living room was empty. Just as Jamal had said, it wasn't normal. Every corner seemed to hide a lurking soul.
"Mr. and Mrs. Khaled? Anyone home? Knock! Knock! Can anyone hear me? It's an emergency!" Ziro called.
"I have a bad feeling about this… let's go back and have some tea… won't you agree, Ziro? I think they went out, maybe we should come back later… hahaha," Jamal said nervously.
Suddenly, a sound of something falling came from the kitchen.
CLANG!
"You heard that?! Let's check it out!" Ziro yelled.
"Ohh God… please save me! I'm your devoted servant…" Jamal whimpered.
They entered the kitchen. It was completely empty.
Suddenly, a sound: Shhhhing!
A blade appeared at Ziro's neck from behind.
"Who are you two?" a voice demanded.
A man in a black cloak held a katana. His face was shadowed.
"I repeat: who are you two?"
"We're not thieves! We just came to check—!" Jamal stammered, trembling.
The voice replied, "So… you're survivors too. But why are you behaving like thieves, robbers, or cultists, saying 'God' and coming here after the fall?"
"Well… I was scared, and we are neighbors, so we wanted to check if anyone is here…" Jamal said.
"I see… but you guys won't find them anymore, survivors of Earth," the voice said.
Ziro turned his head slowly, wide-eyed. "What is going on? What survivors?! Where's my family? What the hell is this whole situation?!"
The man in black lowered his blade. His eyes glowed faintly blue. They couldn't see his face clearly because of some black mist surrounding him.
"This isn't a fantasy, kid. You're in harsh reality now," the voice said.
The man showed them a hologram—an abstract star collapsing into a black hole, souls and planets getting sucked in.
"Some stars get swallowed by black stars … some call them black holes… where time twists, and souls get trapped,the planet system falls and many living being perishes or rather evolves " he explained to them.
A flashback image appeared in his head, showing his own planet being destroyed.
"I'm not from your Earth. Mine was swallowed ten years ago. I've been surviving ever since," he said.
Jamal collapsed onto a chair, shocked. "Then we're gonna die here… no food, no light… no future…"
"You're worried about food now?! Seriously?" Ziro snapped.
Ziro pointed at the man. "Then what are you? Why can't we see your face? And if there's no sun, how will all the creatures and humans survive?"
"How are you still alive if there's no sun?!" he demanded.
The voice replied, "We evolve. Our bodies absorb black Aether. Only survival instinct is needed for survival."
They didn't know anything anymore. It was too sudden—a disaster had fallen upon them. Tears built up in Ziro's eyes.
"Please… help us. I can't find my family. I don't know what to do. Please… do me this favor…" he sobbed.
"Well… you can't find them because… they didn't survive the transition," the voice said. "I can't comfort you, but you should know this isn't the environment of peaceful Earth you once knew. Whatever you do from here on out will decide your destiny."
Both Ziro and Jamal sat on the floor, in shock.
"No… my grandma… she's waiting for me in the village…" Jamal whispered.
"If their souls couldn't absorb the Aether, they perished," the voice said. "It's hard, but this is reality. I can't lie. Sometimes a lie can be a beautiful imagination, and truth can be a harsh reality. I prefer reality, not imaginary dreams."
Silence filled the room. Despair hit harder than anything before. They felt like the world has ended and they were abandoned by the world .
The man in the black cloak walked toward the door, his cloak flowing.
"I've wasted too much time. I need to report back… I'm returning to base. If you two want to survive, you can come with me—or die here without anyone knowing of your existence."
"Wait! We'll come! Please take us!" Ziro shouted, running after him.
The man turned, a slight smile forming. "My pleasure… Survivors."
"Hmm… I forgot something…" he said.
"What…?" Ziro asked.
"Well, nothing major. But what is the name of you two again… ," the man said awkwardly.
"Ohh yeah. Myself Ziro, and he is my friend Jamal. And what should we call you, mister?"
"My name is Shintaro," he said. A name tag appeared: Shintaro [The Black Mist].
"You can call me Shintaro."
[TO BE CONTINUED]