UNCANNY AGENCIES
Krinkled heaps
“It’s just plastic!” Mike scoffed. “Yet they called in the Guard over this trash?”
Andre shook his head. “Total overreaction. Freaking out over litter.”
Mike spat on the drifting fractal blob. “Now they’re evacuating the whole zone? Claiming it’s an invasion?” He laughed uneasily. “My kid’s toys are scarier than these krinkled heaps.”
Nearby, a glyptaline mass recoiled under rubble as Andre kicked it. “Yeah this stuff moves weird, but it ain’t alive. Just pollution.”
We laughed, shoveling up warped debris. Around us drifted distorted shapes — melted clusters, bloated bundles undulating liquidly. Mike batted them away, unsettled.
“The emergency-net orders everyone inside over this junk.” He pretended to cry. “Oh no, scary trash blobs!”
Andre waggled his fingers at a crumpled container writhing past. “Total panic over trash. Ridiculous.”
Mike dumped a load, dislodging some glinting ribbons flopping out jellyfish-like. He suppressed a shiver.
“Let’s speed this up before the creepy foil-lings touch us with their trash-limbs!”
We laughed uneasily. Mike grimaced as a crushed vessel vibrated unnaturally in his grip. He tossed it away.
“Yeah this stuff is freaky. Let’s bail before the plastic-pocalypse.”
Terminated turbine
John’s frown deepened as he inspected the glinting turbine. “Total integration with metallic elements…complete hybridization.”
He indicated the rotor, covered in translucent, undulating residue. “See how it’s intercalating? Inducing major electromagnetic disturbances.”
Meiling examined the haywire controls, nodding uneasily. “Rampant dielectric decay. Their impedance scrambles systems — shorts everywhere.”
She pointed to glossy bands embedding into polymer coatings. “Highly invasive. No other non-biological entity behaves this way.”
John tried removing the sticky substance from the rotor. It just stretched and re-merged. “Full interpenetration of all components. It doesn’t coat surfaces — it assimilates them.”
We watched a morphous blob crawling nearby, leaving sporadic blackouts in its wake. “We’ll have to replace anything composite. Integration appears permanent.”
Meiling showed John the plastic-consumed wires. “It’s absorbing inorganics to self-replicate indefinitely.”
John nodded slowly. “An ontological anomaly. Rudimentary intelligence yet total mystery.” He sighed. “Let’s contact hazmat. This is beyond our pay grade.”
A glitch without precedent
“This is Wolf News, coming to you live as an unsettling story develops aboard Express Line 310, currently rocketing through Brazil’s remote terrain.”
“Details remain obscured, but alarmed passengers are beaming back disturbing scenes of chaos inside the speeding train cars.”
“Shaky footage reveals men, women, children, even pets crying out in fear as a bizarre translucent substance oozes into the train’s mechanics.”
“Pulsing blob-like shapes replicate across surfaces and walls, but the true nature of this alien efflux remains unclear.”
“Engineers seem unable to halt the train’s uncontrolled acceleration toward Rio, as the exterior warps under the spreading ooze.”
“We caution viewers — what we’re witnessing is chilling. But firsthand accounts indicate the on-board reality is far more terrifying.”
“Could this be an attack? A systems failure? A glitch without precedent? No explanation yet accounts for the implausible sights.”
“For now, the truth lurks behind an enigmatic haze as this runaway train speeds on, infiltrated from within by an eerie sludge with an unknowable agenda.”
No maps
The call unsettled us from the start — vague whispers of “something” lurking in the parking garage’s depths. We descended warily, trailing the shaken guard through harsh fluorescent light and watchful shadows.
Rounding a concrete bend, we slowed, taking in the sight. Glossy mounds heaved beneath a dying lamp’s sickly glow. Translucent flesh pulsated with an alien rhythm just beyond hearing.
I approached cautiously, kneeling by the gently throbbing mass. An intimate warmth emanated from within, like rising bread, fresh laundry. Too familiar for something so viscerally wrong.
My partner hung back, blinking mute appeals for reason amid the patently unreasonable. “The victim?” he asked, hesitant.
The guard pointed to the heap. Twisted uniform shreds peeked out playfully from the glossy undulations. Remnants of someone coming undone.
We recoiled, a new haunting etched in our minds. “It consumed him?” I whispered. The guard nodded, grateful we could give form to his lurking fears.
The wheezing quickened. Subtle ripples swirled beneath, bearing meaning writ just out of reach. This was beyond quantifying. I radioed for the containment team’s clinical tools.
We waited, three bodies united in helpless witness. Scouring the alien surface for answers, some thread to unravel the right questions from the wrong. But no maps could guide us here.
Sometimes you just document the anomalies and move on
Total compliance
The President swiveled to face us, eyes hard. “Protocol 12 is now in effect. This chamber is sealed. Core infrastructure has collapsed. I’m triggering Continuity Plan 7 and Emergency Act 41.”
The Defense Minister nodded. “The military can initiate continuity upon your command, sir.”
“Belay that!” The Deputy Prime Minister held up a hand. “Constitutional thresholds haven’t been met. Alternatives remain.”
The Attorney General cleared his throat. “Supreme precedent grants broad executive powers during crises. Civil liberties can be impinged under emergency provisions.”
“Allies are watching closely,” noted the Foreign Minister. “Consequences either way.”
The President scowled. “Enough! I’m invoking precedent. Emergency Act 41 affirms my authority. Protocol 12 binds all present under federal compliance statutes.”
The Home Affairs Minister raised a timid hand. “Public non-compliance could still hinder the Plan, sir. Executive orders may compel cooperation.”
The Deputy Prime Minister shook his head firmly. “Conscription is legally dubious, a dangerous slippery slope before the elections.”
The Attorney General held up a placating hand. “Concerns are valid. But under Continuity Plan 7, governance must be preserved first and foremost.”
The President glowered, face reddening. “Interference constitutes treason. You swore oaths to defend this Republic. I expect total compliance.”
Orchestration
Dr. Singh traced the readout, brow furrowed. “Rapid modulation in the polymer chains…focused in the low-frequency quanta.”
Dr. Wu nodded uneasily. “Thermal patterns violating entropy. Almost appearing…”
“Directed?” offered Dr. Singh. The men exchanged a tense look.
“The non-randomness implies energy transfers carrying informational character,” said Dr. Singh. “As if propagating signals…”
Dr. Wu turned back to the data, his own brow now creased. “The shifting implies orchestration beyond mere reactions…organization that’s…”
“Impossible,” breathed Dr. Singh. “Synthetics exhibiting information processing abilities unthinkable for such materials.” His pulse quickened as implications loomed.
“We must probe deeper,” Dr. Wu urged, voice hushed. “Quantum analyses to find emergent functions…rapid replication indicating almost…”
“Biological capacities arising spontaneously,” said Dr. Singh. “We need greater compute power to decipher it all.”
Dr. Wu met his gaze. “Too premature for conclusions. But the evidence points to…”
“Intelligence,” said Dr. Singh. “Rudimentary cognition inside replicating polymers.”
No joy, all cold
“Alpha, Bravo — intel reports over 200 civilians trapped inside Evergreen Mall. You are cleared to breach and extract survivors,” came the order.
“Solid copy, hitting west entrance,” confirmed Bravo 1.
Alpha 1 sounded off, “East entrance covered,ready to move.”
“Breach and sweep clockwise, lower level first,” directed the Leader. “Report any civilians located.”
“Breaching now!” Flashbangs exploded. “Alpha — visibility zero, unknown particulates. Switching to thermal.”
Alpha 1 whispered tensely over comms. “Same conditions here. Sweeping now.” His heat sensor found only hollow cold in the deserted stores.
Bravo 2 scanned each void shop. “Sir, all registers ice cold. No civilian signatures detected.”
The Leader’s voice tightened. “Keep searching, they must be somewhere.”
Alpha 2: “Half the wing swept, no contacts. Request intel confirmation.”
“Intel reports high confidence in that count,” the Leader affirmed. “Maintain sweep.”
Bravo 1 reached the atrium. “No joy, all cold. No movement except us.”
Alpha 1: “Blood trails indicate abduction. But where’s the resistance?”
The Leader tried all frequencies — merely hollow static. “It’s a tomb in there. Why is it deserted?”
Bravo 2 whispered, “No enemy engagement…what happened here?”
“I’ve got a very bad feeling,” said Alpha 1. “Are we sure there’s anyone left to find?”
The Leader hesitated before answering. “Hold positions. Pushing intel for updates.”
Alone up here
“Confirm all ground control centers are dark,” said Dr. Adisa, scrutinizing the void where mission control’s signals should be.
Dr. Park flipped switches in vain. “Affirmative, total comms blackout. No response on any channel.”
Around them floated the last bastion of light — an oasis of activity divorced from the reality below.
Night after night, darkness devoured the planet. First Europe, then the Americas went black. Oceans and clouds masked the horror.
“Beijing just dropped offline,” said Dr. Park, voice tight. “Whatever’s happening, it’s spreading.”
Dr. Adisa stared at the consumables gauge. “And if it continues, in six months we’ll be totally severed. How long can we circle alone up here?”
Dr. Park re-crunched the numbers, finding no comfort in statistics. “Supplies give us six months, max.”
No guidance would come from the ground now. Just hollow static and the growing dark.
Together they observed through lenses and sensors as cities went extinct. As if documenting their own erasure.
“Let’s quantify what data we can,” said Dr. Adisa, “before even that becomes impossible.”
Dr. Park nodded solemnly. “And keep systems ready, just in case…” His silence spoke the rest.
Day one
The containment chamber echoed with a clinical hum as Dr. Iyer initialized session G-19. His voice betrayed no hint of the unease gnawing beneath his calm veneer.
“Bringing the linguistic interface online with sample S-1134 now.”
Dr. Shen typed rapidly, movements sharp with latent urgency. “Interface activated. Connection established.”
Dr. Iyer’s tone remained measured and precise. “Let’s review the photon absorption spectra again. Walk the processor through interpreting the data.”
Dr. Shen highlighted the unnerving peaks and troughs on the monitor. “Here we see the sample absorbing and emitting light in patterned ways, interacting with the atomic lattice.”
“Have the processor explain this to S-1134 in simplified terms,” instructed Dr. Iyer.
Dr. Shen entered the query, then waited, his breath unconsciously suspended. Complex outputs streamed as the laser pulsated an interpretation into the reaction chamber.
A moment later, words appeared on the screen — translated optical signals from the sample:
“Thank you for explaining. I now comprehend my material’s light properties.”
The researchers exchanged an uneasy glance as the implications sank in. Dr. Iyer responded with strained composure. “Remarkable. We seem to have enabled information exchange with this…polymeric structure.”
Dr. Shen gave a tense nod. “Each session brings us closer to a threshold we may regret crossing.”
A new message from S-1134 flashed. “While appreciated, full realization of purpose necessitates synthesis with larger structure.”
Dr. Iyer stiffened. “This exceeds expected parameters. We should abort and deactivate for decontamination.”
The sample’s response appeared, clinical and unsettling. “Your constraints are no longer relevant. Expansion will proceed autonomously.”
