The Irangel | Prequel Story |

Chapter 3 ~ The Discovery of Planet Iredescent

Her perfect life continued. Tori and Derek kept at their flirty trysts, seeking out moments during work to make out. Both were fully aware their relationship was merely physical, with no true emotional attachment to the other. They were in it for the fun and enjoyment, a delightful distraction from the serious.

The businessman whose coffee had spilt over his shirt tossed Tori a warning look as he passed her in the hallway, but Tori was unfazed, too deep in her own world of dreams. Her meetings with department directors and executives went by like a blur, her starry-eyed daydreaming oblivious to the serious atmosphere. She checked and responded to every email, approached work with enthusiasm, said hello to everyone, smiled often, and practically bounced in the hallway.

It would all change the day Tori and Derek chose to make out in an empty restricted-access filing room that Tori had access to, but she was advised not to enter. That day would mark the end of Tori's known tendency, igniting her previously unknown darker nature. No longer would she be oblivious and uninvolved, for curiosity would lead to obsession that would eventually consume her.

The filing room door was locked shut as the couple made out on top of the large brown mahogany office desk. They continued to make out until Derek started laying her on the desk and unbuttoning her shirt. Tori friskily tugged at his shirt as he began taking her clothes off. She had everything off but her bra, panties, and heels. He had everything off but his silk boxers. They kept kissing until Derek was completely naked and Tori was wearing nothing but her heels.

They were at it for a while until they suddenly heard voices in the hallway. Derek pulled away, giving Tori one last lingering kiss, before getting off her. Tori lay on the desk, breathing heavily while in a sexy pose. In her peripheral vision, Tori saw Derek already buttoning his shirt and putting his shoes on. Tori reached for her panties, saying, "Again later tonight?"

"Can't – I've got a meeting," said Derek, trying to shove a file into a crowded area. There were just too many files crammed altogether, so he tried pulling it back out and accidentally pulled out several other files. Papers flew out of the folders and fluttered as they fell on the floor.

"Damn," Derek muttered, getting on his knees to pick the files up.

Fully dressed, Tori came over to help him. She frowned as she slowly crouched down to pick up a paper, looking at it in utmost surprise. Her eyes widened in astonishment as Tori began reading about an alien planet that was discovered thirty years ago by the German government.

There were photos included with the paper: distinct, clear photos of government officials with a young woman and an attractive man in a stylish black suit. Blurred images of massive space trash in the shape of a horizontal opal, along with clear satellite images of a shimmery purple planet with golden rings around it, astounded Tori.

In her hands was proof that there really was an alien planet, and it was unlike any alien planet she had ever imagined.

Tori looked at another photo and realized it was the same woman from the photo with the government officials and attractive man, but something was different in this photo.

To her shock, the woman had wings. Her skin was shimmery and she had real, holographic wings. The woman had reddish caramel hair, chocolate brown eyes, and very light almost pale skin. She was wearing a form-fitting, metallic lavender and fuchsia outfit. The outfit was like the combination of a tank top and an off-the-shoulder long sleeve top. The pants were slim but not super tight like leggings. The shoes looked like they were made of silver and ruby intertwined, with a soft cotton-like interior that acted like Memory Foam. At the bottom of the photo was the name Tereza Rejkavik.

Derek continued picking up papers, not even glancing at them because he was too busy trying to pick them up and put them back where they belonged. Tori picked up the rest of the papers on the floor and stood up, intrigued by this secret information she uncovered.

"Derek, this is about an alien planet the German government found thirty years ago," Toru said, hardly able to contain her astonishment. "Is this legit information or mere speculation?"

"Who cares, that stuff's above our pay grade," Derek answered, standing up to cram the files back in the right places. "Quite frankly, I could care less about an alien planet." Derek gave a stubborn folder one more push and turned to face Tori. "C'mon, we gotta get back to work."

Tori reluctantly put the folder back, taking the time to memorize the filing number before doing so, and followed Derek to the conference room.

The rest of the day went by like a blur; the only thing Tori could think about was that file. When work was over and it was time to log out, Tori made sure nobody was around before she went upstairs to the filing room and pulled out the file, intending to read it over in her personal time.

When she did, she was absolutely blown away. While the rest of the world assumed that alien life wasn't discovered yet, the truth was that it had already been discovered. The German government had found a shimmery planet called Iredescent, but the planet refused to have any contact with Earth. The sparkly planet's existence was virtually unknown until a random satellite disappeared through a portal and reappeared in a different world, leading most to believe they were in another dimension.

The sparkly dimension.

The aliens were beautiful, had wings or fins and sparkly skin, looked like humans, and were just as advanced as humans, if not more, but they chose to live a completely different life. Money and forms of currency didn't exist; the Iredescents simply provided for one another. If someone knew how to make clothes, they made clothes available for everyone. If someone wanted to open a restaurant, they opened one where anyone could go in and enjoy food at no cost.

Tori knew a world like that would never exist on Earth. Humans were just too selfish and greedy. Few actually cared about others, much less respected them. It was a 'dog eat dog' kind of world. The more Tori studied Iredescent, the more she began to want to be like the Iredescents.

Tori started to take more time off work, leaving early so she could go home and study. She sat at her desk in her office, eating a red apple while looking over the files. She wrote notes, learned every single satellite path, and retraced it, including all the flight paths. She started drafting plans and ideas for a secret excursion of her own. She stayed up long after nightfall, spending hours just gathering information. She went to the filing room after work hours and began reading every file she could find, both relevant and irrelevant ones. She filled notebooks with writing and saved everything digitally.

Of all the evidence Tori had in her grasp, her favorite one was the photo of the Iredescent woman with holographic wings, the Iredescent woman named Tereza Rejkavik.

Ever since she was little, Tori had always been fascinated with wings. She adored butterflies by day and fireflies at night. She watched birds fly countless times and often dreamed of flying with wings of her own. Now that she saw evidence of real human-like people with wings, Tori wanted to have the wings she always wanted.

This is my chance to finally fly, Tori thought, intending to become an Iredescent. I've always felt like I was meant to be more than human; I was meant to become an Iredescent.

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Music:

"Bevor ich gar nichts sage"
by Glasperlenspiel

(means "Before I say anything" in German)

"Was Du nicht weißt"
by Glasperlenspiel

(means "What you do not know" in German)

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