Tevun-Krus #53 - Return to First Contact

P.S.A. - A Short Story by @krazydiamond

There was nothing spectacular about the day they appeared. No sensational series of events leading to the moment. One moment, Times Square crowded with the usual weekday traffic. People scrambled about, noses to phone screens, or walking, unfocused, thinking of chicken parmesan dinners and watching that episode of Game of Thrones off the DVR. From one blink to the next they appeared. No fanfare, no flashing lights or whirring noises. Their engine was enviably quiet. Later, a few swore they saw the air shimmer, like heat rising off the midsummer pavement, before the ship appeared.

Those Area 52 rumors and UFO sightings were full of shit. Not even a sniff of those oblong fakes, but this ship was all flat surfaces and sharp slick angles. Later, some nervous mathematician who constantly wiped his hands on his slacks during the televised interview called it a dodecahedron or a giant D20.

At the sudden appearance of the ship, the pedestrians halted in their steps. There was a surprising lack of fleeing, whether from residual shock or the usual blase New York attitude. They stood, frowning at the dodecadoodad until one slick sided surface slid open and they emerged, taloned feet first. The slid, hunched over in tailored three piece suits, nictitating membranes blinking in late afternoon sun. Curious, a little baffled, the citizens held up their cell phones, snapping pictures of the lizard men in suits, convinced it was a stunt as one wheeled down a podium from inside the ship. The reverberation of static feedback made them flinch. A clawed finger tapped the microphone before the lizard man leaned in, his voice cool and smooth, like a scaly used car salesman with a lisp.

"Thisss thing on?" It tilted its head, looking at the gathered crowd. "Attention, attention, pleassse. Thisss issss a public sssservice announcement."

Now the crowd was truly baffled. They shared confused glances as the lizard man prattled on.

"After due conssssideration of the current timeline, we've come to apologize. We never thought you lot would go through with it. Or how much the whole bloody operation hasss spun out of whack."

One scaly fist thumped the podium making the crowd jump. "We're pulling a mulligan. Ressssetting the whole sssssimulation to 2016." He held up two fingers, pointing at his eyes, then the crowd. "We're watching. Try not to eff it up this time."

The lizard man backs away from the podium, continuing to squint at the crowd as they load the podium back into the dodecadoodad.

The ship vanishes. For a moment, the crowd doesn't move, sharing a collective 'what the hell' glance between them. The air begins to buzz.

As one, they sneeze.

The evening chill was setting in strong for such a nice day in 2016.