“What do you mean me?” Joseph asked.

“I mean they asked for you, Joseph Jerowitz. By name,” the man answered. He was stone faced and cold. His uniform sharp and crisp. There was an impressive number of medals along his chest. At least Joseph thought so. He didn’t really know what constituted as impressive as far as medals were concerned; but he assumed this would be.

“But why?” he followed

“Truthfully, I was hoping you could shed some light there.”

“I have no idea why!” Joseph exclaimed. He didn’t either. For all intents and purposes, Joseph was a regular kid. At the age of 17, he hadn’t accomplished much. He was middle of the pack in grades, and below that in popularity at school. He had truly done nothing remarkable with his life.

Why would they want me? he thought.

“Well, either way, you need to come with me.” The general responded.

“But wait, what do they want?”

“How should I know, we’re not really in a position to ask why,” and they weren’t. the invasion had been absolute. They were hopelessly outclassed and outgunned. After that first day, there were few casualties because most soldiers had simply surrendered after the initial confrontation.

Joseph reflected on that memory. They descended from the sky over every major city in the world. They made no demands, they just suddenly started obliterating the world’s seats of power. Supposedly there was still a resistance out there; but Joseph had neither the inclination to find it nor the resources.

“What do I say?” he asked.

“Whatever the hell they want to hear,” was the response.

Joseph stood with the general who had visited his home and followed him out the door. Waiting outside in the street was a military helicopter. Manned by several others who stared at him with stoic contemplation. They were just as confused as he was. Maybe even more so.

The flight passed with minimal conversation or event. Only enough to properly communicate the necessary operations of the flight by the crew. Roughly one hour later, they had arrived.

The ship was massive, even larger than he had thought was possible. It towered over the next largest building easily ten times the height, and longer than Joseph cared to consider.

Holy shit

They landed without incident and he was instructed to disembark alone. As Joseph stood there, below the massive ship, the panic started to set in.

What the fuck is happening

As if reacting to his thought, the ships hue changed from an eerie green to a soft blue. A ramp descended from seemingly no where and a doorway appeared at the top of it from similar origins. He hesitated at the bottom of the ramp. He knew he had to go in, but he was afraid; and rightfully so, this was an alien race that laid waste to the world’s power structure in a matter of days.

What have I gotten myself into? he wondered.

Again, as if reacting to the thought, the ramp began to illuminate with the same soft blue color. Lights flowing in sequence to suggest that he walk up the ramp. Joseph swallowed and began walking up the ramp.

It took him just over thirty minutes to ascend the ramp in its entirety. He took his time walking, more than once feeling his legs beginning to give out on him. Then suddenly, he was there. He was upon the event horizon that was the ship’s interior.

A whirring sound alarmed him from behind and he looked back to see the ramp rapidly retracting behind him. To stop himself from being caught on it, he quickly stepped inside the doorway before the ramp reached its end.

Standing inside the interior the door quickly shut behind him and he was left in darkness. Listening closely, Joseph heard strange sounds the like of which he had never heard before. He would have struggled to put them into words; but if he had been forced to, the word would have been squishes.

Suddenly bright lights illuminated the spot he was standing on beneath him and he jumped in surprise. A voice boomed from all around, while appearing to originate inside of his own head.

“YOU ARE JOSEPH JEROWITZ?” it demanded.

What the hell? he thought.

“JOSEPH JEROWITZ IS YOUR NAME, YES?” the voice demanded in response to the thought.

“Yes,” he answered, more meekly than he would have liked to.

“YOU ARE ALSO THE REDDIT USER KNOWN AS SPARKY400HZ?” it asked.

How in the hell? he thought again.

“OUR RESOURCES ARE VASTER THAN YOUR PATHETIC INTERNET!” the voice boomed in fury.

“…Yeah, that’s my username,” Joseph said.

The light went out without warning. Joseph was filled with dread at the sudden darkness. As suddenly as the light below him had went out, other lights illuminated around the room. The most curious thing he had ever seen greeted him.

As he examined each small circle of light, it illuminated a different cat. At least, that’s what they appeared to be. Different colors, and breeds all sat stoically atop their light. The middle ‘cat’ was an orange cat that stared deep into his eyes and began to slowly walk towards him. As it walked the light followed its path.

The voice spoke again in his head. Joseph noticed that as it spoke none of the cats mouths moved; but he got the distinct feeling that this cat was where it had originated from.

“YOUR PATRONAGE HAS SUMMONED US HERE. WHILE MANY USER APPRECIATED OUR SPECIES, YOU STAND OUT AMONG THEM WITH YOUR EXCESSIVE POSTING OF OUR PICTURES AND VIDEOS. AS WELL YOUR LOVE OF ALL THINGS CAT,” the cat projected into his head. It continued, “MASTER, YOUR ARMY IS ASSEMBLED, AND WE AWAIT YOUR ORDERS.”

Jacob’s world felt like it fell from beneath him. What on earth would he do with an army of alien cats that appreciated his life, or lack-thereof.

I have no ambitions. I have no drive. I have no passions. I am simply, bored.

As I sit in my room, waiting for anything to happen. I find the prospect of leaving dull. The prospect of staying just as bad. Nothing more to do. I boot up my computer. I load one game, then another, and another. Nothing can quench this thirst for something, anything. I start to drift away in my thoughts. Random, unorganized, disjointed thoughts. I began to babble aloud as the boredom overtakes me.

“green, forty-two, horse, indigo, Julius Caesar, infinity,” I go on, not thinking about the words as the pour forth, “key, obsidian, blatant, morose,” I’m waiting for something to spark my interest as I hear it. A voice booms around me, but I don’t hear it with my ears.

I hear it in my head. It shakes my entire body.

“DEVELOPER CONSOLE ACTIVATED. INPUT COMMAND”

I jump and fall from my swivel chair. I scout the room, looking for the origin of this mysterious voice.

“Hello?” I call out

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

I’m startled again.

“Is someone there?”

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

I sit in silence for several seconds.

I’ve gone mad, it must be. I’ve bored myself into delusion I think to myself

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

Can… can you hear me I think

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

Like a spark, it dawns on me. I’ve heard these words before. No, I’ve read them before. In my computer games, there is a developer console for some. People use it to cheat. There are a series of buttons and a list of commands that activate the console. I recall game and think to myself

God-mode activate

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED, INPUT COMMAND”

Well this is going to get old

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

Wait, you must use the right language. The right punctuation. It doesn’t work if you just type it in

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

I think to myself forward-slash, God-mode, player, one

“GOD MODE ACTIVATED”

I don’t feel anything. There is only silence. I know what God-mode is. It means I’m invincible, at least, that’s what it means in my games. I could test it out. Jump out of the window. That would be a good way to test it.

What are you nuts? You must have gone crazy

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

WILL YOU SHUT UP!

“COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED. INPUT COMMAND”

Forward-slash, silence prompts, one

“PROMPTS SILENCED”

That’s better

Now I can think again. I pull a small pocket knife from my desk. Up until now, I’ve only used it for cutting boxes and such. I press it hard against the pad of my left index finger and pull quickly. The blade glides harmlessly along my finger. I try it again, and again, and again. I start trying to saw into the finger. Nothing will break my skin. I poke the tip of the blade into my right thigh. I push down harder and harder but I cannot pierce the skin.

I clutch the knife in my fist and raise it high above my head. I bring it down with as much force as I can muster. The blade bends on impact with my thigh.

This is incredible!

I am filled with wonder when another thought occurs to me. There’s a prompt that usually displays options for the developer interface.

Forward-slash, help

“COMMAND HELP RECOGNIZED”

My brain is assaulted with information. I feel like my head is going to tear in two. Like a glass being filled with too much water, the knowledge pours out from me. It’s over in an instant. I try to recall anything and find that I can perfectly recall thousands of commands.

Now, this is interesting.

“You should have told me,” she says, “You should have told me you were bad for me”

“I couldn’t”

“You could,” she looks away from me, “You know you could have”

“It would have been all you saw in me”

I want to tell her. I desperately want her to know.

“You didn’t give me a choice,” she’s crying now. Not loudly, not with true sorrow, not with pain. She’s crying for anger. I do not blame her.

How could I tell her, there are no words I can find? No way to make her understand. She’s only just seen the surface. She still doesn’t know of the iceberg that lies beneath.

She’s staring at me now, waiting. I have no choice. I must try or I will lose her.

“This taint on my soul, I cannot remove it,” I start, “I’ve tried, by God Selene, I’ve tried,” my hands are trembling. I’ve never spoken these words aloud before today.

“How did it happen?” she asks me. As if it were a simple question.

“One-hundred and fifty years ago, a woman came to me. She offered me this life. I was a fool,” Something strange happens. I feel a wetness on my cheek. This is the first tear I’ve shed in a century. It feels queer against my pale cold skin. I consider it for a moment before realizing Selene’s gaze has not left my own.

I continue, “She told me I would be young, I would be healthy, I would be powerful. She said I will never have to want for anything. She told me she could make me this way”

“And you accepted?”

“Wouldn’t you!” I snap back, I don’t mean to, but I do. Emotions are different than they were before. I rarely feel them anymore. When I do, they are like a tidal wave crashing into my body. Anger comes on in a rage, lust in a magnetic force, sorrow in a deep pit in my soul.

Love, I thought I had lost love. I thought love would be replaced by these baser emotions. Over one-hundred years ago now, I resigned myself to never feel love again. Until I saw Selene dance.

She moved with grace like I had never seen. Her dress flew across the floor with elegant passion. Her feet swung wide and quick, while her hands moved with cheer and love. But her hair, that is what I remember the most. It gracefully followed her every movement. It was like an eerily graceful partner in her revelry. That was when the love took me.

I realize she’s still waiting for me to speak.

“I will never die, Selene, I will stay this way forever. I would move heaven and hell to grow old and die with you, but I never will. I should have told you, but I never could. I waited one-hundred and fifty years to find you. And I would wait it again. I will always love you”

The glow of red is vibrant heat. It makes our hearts quicken and our mind race. The glow fills us with lust and anger. Red encapsulates our body and sets our minds ablaze.

The radiant yellow brings us cheer and joy. We revel in its light. Our greatest ideas and happiest memory have the soft vibrant hue of yellow staining them.

The strong shadow of blue envelopes us in security. It protects us and shields us from the darkness. We look upon it with understanding and respect. It guides our voyages and peeks our intrigue with its bottomless pool of possibility.

The strength of green roars through our souls. We see it with awe and wonder as we marvel at nature’s power and beauty. It reminds us of the infinite bounty of the earth and of her perils. It brings us health and promises us the peace of nature.

The royal tinge of purple sparks our creativity. It sings to us as a muse among the rainbow. Purple offers us the guidance of wisdom and the mischief of foolish dreams. We find ourselves reflected in purple. Our infinite possibilities stretched before us.

The warm wonder of orange brings us the promise of fun, laughter, and excitement. It fills our hearts with cheer. We find our friendships captured in shades of orange.

White brings us the blank slate. The purity of the world on an unmarked surface.

Black fills our nights and brings with it our mischief. We find strength in our anonymity. We find solace in our stealth.

Gray brings us to order. Weighted scales measured perfectly against time and space. In order, we find comfort. In order, we find purpose.

Her dress gleams with golden and orange hues

She moves with grace, beauty, and fury

The room brightens at her smile as she twirls across it

Too far to touch

Yet close enough to feel

She twirls her dress to the center of the room

Cascading light across the floor

Another dancer drifts towards her

Her dress steals the glimmer of light

Silver and gray refract the glint

Her white hair flows in grace with her dance

She moves with elegance and mystery

Two sisters move in unison, yet altogether different

She crosses in front of her sister and for a brief moment

The floor is hers

Her shadow falls over me and I am in wonder

She is close enough to touch if I reach out, yet somehow unreachable

Her shadow rolls across my face

And then, as suddenly as she appeared

She moves away from the floor

Her sister continues to twirl her dance of love and warmth and fury

And I am left intrigued

I am mesmerized

I am in awe