World Hacked

Chapter 1: City Lights

The day was April 21st year 3025. The city, like always, was beautifully lit with speckles and glints of lights placed anywhere and everywhere you could possibly look to. For thousands of years they had never failed and always illuminated it brilliantly.

That night there was a festival. You could see and hear the fireworks in all their shape-shifting majesty as they bombarded the clouds above, and rained down in color over all the glorious attractions adorning the city of lights.

One of the most notable attractions was above the clouds hovering in mid air: it was a huge sphere artificially built there not too long ago, and commonly used as the main event during those occasions.

Within the sphere, a crowd of people were gathered, most of which were watching the fireworks known to be more attractive than the ones below.

They were very attractive and captivating indeed, enough so as to make visitors pay heavily for a single night's stay.

Within it were also many booths and events placed for both citizens and outside spectators alike. Although they weren't free they were worth your time......at least that's what he believed, not that he'd ever been there.

This, of course, was a busy day for most police officers and the likes of them, Many crimes would be carried out, which wasn't at all unusual.

Now and then you could spot a ship or two guarding the harbor on their night patrol.

Marching bands would also move about, bringing with them a chorus of sounds and adding life to the joyous city. With them they carried instruments big and small as they walked in a perfect line, equally spaced side by side.

Magnificent; it was one of a kind and not a soul could deny it........yet there he was, sitting alone locked in his bedroom with lights off and eyes glued to a huge screen. In his hands, Jey held a remote and a can of soda, his fingers moved rapidly across the keys as he struggled to break through an infinite wave of levels.

He didn't seem to care, not for the fireworks or the marching band or the mess that was his room, but only the game he played, where he was just about to beat the final boss.

His eyes glowed within the thick layers of darkness that stretched throughout. He could almost smell victory as he pressed harder and harder into his remote.

And then......it happened.
Without warning or caution everything went dark......

A deep silence befell what was a festive city and great confusion arose.

This......it had never happened before, at least not in a very long time. But there it was, what seemed impossible made possible and people feared for what was yet to come.

The moon was full and the stars clearer then ever before. Now that the city lights had been rendered useless, the sky shone brightly up above.

Unfortunately the lights weren't the only ones to fall that night. Everything was lost; cars, phones, tablets, and even televisions had ceased to function and apparently, so had Jey.

There, within complete darkness, he stood silently and plain. His eyes were still staring blankly towards the screen, just this time, the glow they held of reflected light was gone.

With his remote resting on the carpet floor he still hoped the game would return to him. He missed that feeling of victory, the excitement, the ecstasy. It all turned into abrupt confusion.

He wanted to scream, cry and shout until his lungs could no longer bare it, but no matter how hard he tried nothing broke through.

Instead, there was only a sullen silence slowly enveloping the city block by block and feeding on the pale blackness that clouded the night. But it didn't last long......

From outside his window an alarm rang sharply. It spread for over five minutes before it disappeared. And again, the city drowned into utter silent.

By that time, Jey had already moved toward his window where he could openly see the crowded streets below. One by one the people began to panic, burning into the mob a spark of chaos that flew hastily into an explosion and so everything was plunged into madness.

Some were desperately trying to get inside their cars while others just pressed unto their cells or pads. But within the scattered crowd, there was a lost kid that seemed to stare only at the clouds intently.

The boy was slim with dark hair. In his hand he carried a bag. And strangely, it seemed as though he had been there all along.

There was something familiar about him, Jey just couldn't put his hands around it. Regardless, he knew he'd seen that kid before, somewhere. Somehow.......

Above the crowd and across the surrounding sky scrapers were projectors and large screens. These were usually filled with ads and commercials sponsoring products to attract customers.

Of course, they were mostly off and projectors at rest. That is, before the message was given.

It was an introduction yet a farewell. With it came both good and bad news, well, mostly bad. But most importantly, it meant whether you'd live to see the rising daylight or die beneath the starry moonlight.

After twitching erratically and several flying sparks, the projectors turned on and revealed a huge green image brightly lit. The projection stood in mid-air right above the people who now shifted their focus directly to it.

It was of a middle-aged, Asian looking man. He held a smile with a relaxing expression in his face. He wore glasses and a business suit.

Although you could only see up to his shoulders, the fact that he stood straight with a dignified posture couldn't possibly escape the eye.
But this man was as superficial as they come.

He wasn't nice nor dignified. He wasn't humble and surely not someone to look up to. He wasn't very intelligent either, just manipulative to the core and merciless.

This cruelty of his would bare its first light soon. By that time though, it would probably be too late for most.

He cleared his throat and paused briefly. "Hello!" he began, pronouncing his speech with ease. "I know most of you are probably worried for the inconveniences currently taking place. Please, pay close attention to this broadcast until the very end."

By that time, police officers had begun to gather and inspect the site, ordering all civilians to evacuate the premises. Still, this broadcast echoed across every nook and cranny city wide.

"To begin with, I'd like to humbly introduce myself. My name is Hank, and I am part of a very big organization founded hundreds of years ago. Each one of its members has been assigned a specific task I will reveal shortly. I am here to inform you all that the power outage is in no way an error, but of our own doing."

At this, the crowd began to grow restless and hostile.

"But that is not even close to the main event we have worked so hard to deliver tonight." He paused. Then, after a deep breath, he continued: "In exactly one hour, we will release biotomic missiles, which we hope will cause nationewide catastrophic degradation until there's nothing left. I pray that this may serve as a warning to all those who are able to survive not to dig any deeper following these events, for both your sake and mine. Best of luck to you all and goodbye."