Tick Tock

Spark. Crackle. Flash. Xavier studied the peculiar, metal object in front of him. Every time he made contact with it, it repeated the same pattern. Spark. Crackle. Flash. He edged closer and had a glimpse of something. Something to be? He kneeled down to be level with this object to acquire a better view as his only light source was the moonlight. This peculiar, metal 'thing' was dragged here by Xavier's husky- Renegade. Suddenly, a vibrant light was projected out of the item making Xavier jumps backwards and temporarily blinding him. Regaining his eye sight, Xavier stared at the hologram, clueless. Slowly, images of destruction, human carcass and unknown weapons flashed before him, accompanied with sirens, screams and sobs of grief, agony and anger. An anguished cry escaped Xavier's mouth. He collapsed.

Xavier was an average guy. He faded in with the crowd but did not completely disappear into it. He was not too wealthy or too poor; he was average. Predictably, he was average in every other category as well except for his intellectual. Xavier was extremely gifted when it came to intelligence. It was one of the things he was proud of. Well, to be honest, the only thing. To him, science had a logical reasoning behind everything but when he woke up he couldn't believe as to what happened...

Blink once, blink twice, and blink three times. Xavier's vision was blurry but still there, to some extent. Gradually but surely, his vision sharpened and adjusted to his surroundings, his obscure, wretched surroundings. A vile aroma filled the air and wafted up Xavier's nose and mouth leaving his eyes stinging and mouth spluttering and coughing blood. Grovelling pigment coated his fingers as soon as he pressed them into the ground and a warm liquid dropped onto his head drip-by-drip. He felt as if several eyes were looking at him. Wait. Not looking at him, but looking through him. Tearing his soul apart, piece-by-piece. Xavier felt on edge, he felt like if he took one more step, he was going to plummet down into the most feared parts of him. The parts he wanted to keep supressed forever. The parts of him that would compel him to shred his human skin and turn into a despicable monster. Trying to get up, Xavier tried to make sense of what happened and why it happened. What was the cause behind it? The scientific formula? Or was it a miracle? Xavier thought that, that previous statement was a complete nuisance. He never believed in God and won't do so in the future.

Stumbling towards an unknown destination, Xavier felt many lumps underneath his feet. Finally, he reached the exit, and rapidly ran out of the grotesque area; he knew that if he glimpsed back he would be permanently paralysed to the spot. It was sunset now but when he was in the attic it was midnight. How was that possible? He had none of his devices on him either. This was abnormal. Travelling further, Xavier discovered a damaged house that currently looked like a shack. It seemed as if it had been recently abandoned. Inside it, there were many unrecognisable items but there was however a calendar. On the calendar, it had the dates of the year 2090... The year the Tsar bomb was predicted to be built by. Was this the destruction it caused? Russia had always wanted to wage a war against America but Xavier never knew this much destruction would be caused. He also never knew that the tension between them rose to the point of war being declared and the Tsar bomb being used, for this destruction could only be caused by it.

The hairs on Xavier's neck prickled up, as if to sense someone's presence. He heard hushed whispers and shuffling. Objects being moved here and there and well, everywhere. These clamours were coming from the neighbouring 'shack'. Rapidly but inaudibly, he approached it. Inside, he saw officers in the Russian army uniform huddled together over another hologram. They were discussing a fifth attack on America with a nuclear bomb.

Xavier hastily shuffled back. He had to prevent the construction of the Tsar bomb even if it meant destroying it and getting brutally murdered. He had to, if not for himself but for the well-being of his family and the innocent people out there. He just had to! Immediately after, he collapsed.