TwilightGenesis

I lay here, thinking of her. Listening to our favourite song. Soon I close my eyes, and drift off to find her there. She's different again, like every night. New hair, new eyes, new clothes. A thousand faces but always the same smile. She takes my hand and leads me through streets and forests. We laugh in London, tour through Tokyo, party in Paris, and surf in Sydney. She fills my heart and I wish we never had to part. But then I feel myself stirring, and she kisses me good-bye. I awake again, in my single bed, within my one person apartment. Her voice echoes in the back of my head, telling me one day I'll find someone real. But until then, she'll always be, the girl of my dreams.

A wistful smile spread across his lips as he stared out at the setting sun, the evening breeze gently tousling his hair. Below, the city's hustle and bustle gave way to the sleepy transition between day and night, as stores closed and bars opened. Street lights had already begun to cast their teal glow over the dispersing crowds that had gathered in front of the hotel. The ice in his drink clinked lightly as he held it up, watching as the glass reflected the low neon lights of the rooftop bar behind him. “So, this is where you've been hiding?” a voice as angry as it was relieved scolded him. “We've been looking for you for like an hour. Goldie was starting to get upset.” With a heavy sigh he slid off the stool he was sitting on and turned to face the speaker. Her oak brown eyes were stern as they locked with his. Long ruby red hair swaying gently in the breeze. A shorter girl, barely at shoulder height, peeked out from behind her. Beneath the bouncing golden curls that fell across

June awoke to the sound of groaning. Rays of moonlight filtered in through the trees above. She groaned herself as she raised a hand to her throbbing head. It felt cold and sticky. She tried to sit up, but something quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back down. “No, no, you must not move. You have been injured and need to recover,” came a strange and unfamiliar voice. June’s eyes flicked around, searching for the owner. Despite the light she could see above her, the space around her was cast in darkness. Still she managed to spy a shifting shadow beside her. It had the vague outline of a person, but something was off about it. They seemed to be rummaging about in a box of sorts, searching for something. June opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by another groan and a thankfully familiar voice. “June? June, are you here?” a man spoke out, from somewhere in the darkness, “June, say something. It’s pitch bloody black in here!” “Zahir?” June uttered meekly

Several figures moved about, like shadows in the dark, all different shapes and sizes. He could the vibration of the rattling growl and the purposeful footsteps. Was this another dream? Or had he awakened to a strange situation. He focused his thoughts and reached out, pressing his hand against the cold, dark, glass before him. He could not sense anyone familiar, but he recognized the mechanical clicks and whirrs of the servitor that were often left unheard by normal folk. Did that mean the facility was still operational? “No,” he breathed as the shadows suddenly exploded with life. The smallest of them rushed about, away from him as the two larger shadows collided and tumbled against his chamber. He felt it shudder around him as the bulk of the entities, one he was sure was the servitor, tossed each other about, slamming into the consoles and computers. The buzz of electricity filled the air from the damaged electronics and snapped cables. It annoyed him, but he could not block it

The paws softly walking across the floor behind them sounded as clear as a heavy booted footstep to the android. It slowly turned to face the source of the sound, curious but alert. It had to ensure that its ward was protected at all costs. Before it was a large, strange, mutant creature. It was a mishmash of parts, a wolfs head, six legs, boar tusks, and the body of a big cat. The android could not detect any electronic signals surrounding it, confirming that it was indeed a wild beast and neither a robot or controlled by outside forces. “Miss, miss, please vacate the area as it is currently unsafe,” it spoke to the woman as it examined the monster, which was cautiously examining the area around it. Within the androids vision a simple heads up display popped into existence. An array of visual data flicked in and out depicting different statistics and analysis results, highlighting points within the android’s field of view. After a few moments of studying the beast a message

June froze in place as she watched the beast carefully step down onto solid ground. Six powerful legs held up a muscular body as if it barely had weight at all. A narrow, flat ended nose twitched as it sniffed at the air, following the scent that had drawn it to the area. Jagged, boar like tusks extended out of the maw of its wolf like head, while two long, slender tails flicked about behind it like flags in the wind. They had a name for this creature, that had stalked and murdered members of their tribe for as long as anyone could remember. “Goliath.” June’s voice was barely a whisper as she took a slow step back. The beast seemingly more interested in this strange new place for the moment. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Zahir inching his way towards the panel they hoped opened another door. She hoped he could figure out how it worked before Goliath lost interest in its surroundings. “Miss, miss, if you would please place your hand on the console. Your assistance

Throughout the building, lights shut off with an audible thunk from the heavy switches hidden in the back rooms and ceilings of the shops. Within moments the mall had been plunged into near total darkness. A few small path lights highlighted the patrol routes for the security staff, carving large orange loops across the floors and up the stairs. The escalators had already ground to a stop, small no entry guards popping into place across the tops and bottoms of each one. Security grills lined storefronts up and down the length of the walkways. A lone torchlight cut through the shadows as a figure made its way from the front security desk to a side access door, near the main entrance. Gummo sighed heavily as he used his latent psychokinesis to levitate his torch in place while he fiddled about with his fistful of keys, searching for the right one to unlock the service door. A few seconds later a sharp click echoed through the empty expanse of the hall as Gummo unlocked the door, standing

“Damn it Loyf, I told you last week. You can’t just come in here expecting to get hidden or bailed out each time you get caught nicking stuff!” Koffy growled, doing her best to not raise her voice. “Yeah buddy, you really need to take responsibility for your actions. You’re already two steps from being banned from the mall entirely. My boss has already told all of security to keep an eye on you if you show up as it is,” Gummo added with a weary sigh. Loyf just grumbled inaudibly to himself and looked down at the table he was seated at. The muffled sounds of a busy kitchen and cheerful patrons floated in through the closed lunch-room door. An old fridge hummed calmly in the corner, and various obnoxious motivational posters adorned most of the walls. Beside the door was a cork board, with various sheets and safety signs pinned to it. It was a pretty typical break room, the only things setting it apart being the official colour scheme of the restaurant, Starvin’ O’Reilly’s, that

It was late, that Saturday night, when Gummo kicked open the security door at the back of the mall to take his regular smoke break. Though, despite calling it a smoke break the man had never once touched a cigarette in his life. Still it was a good excuse to use whenever he got bored and wanted to duck out for some air, and get away from his annoying as heck shift partners. “Yo, you’re late,” a voice chirped from the base of the stairs. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I had to ditch that new guy, Phil. Damn runt follows me around like a lost puppy. I swear, if he pisses himself, I’m going to put down some newspaper beside his watch desk,” Gummo replied with an exhausted sigh as he leaned over the rail beside him and looked down to see his friend, Koffy, sitting on the patchwork mess she called a beanbag. She smiled up at him, before lightly kicking a box by her feet. Gummo immediately perked up as he realized it was a carton of his favourite beer. “Oh, girl, you know what I like.