4/30/2058
9:35 pm
Changelings.
That’s what those things were called. Changelings. And they could do a lot more than just shoot beams of energy. They could shape shift into anything. Certain changelings could only use one emotion to drain you by turning into someone you have a strong emotion toward. Others could invade your dreams like Freddy Kruger. And others could even break into your mind and control you.
I hate changelings.
I had finally gotten enough energy and technology to completely seal it off in what is called a deadlock seal. Nothing can break it except the controller who sealed it.
I was finally finishing up when I got a call on my work phone. I hit the speaker button and answered, “Hello?”
“Jason,” said someone on the other end. “We need your help. There’s been a rift opening close to the city.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to use that name with me anymore?” I asked, pulling on my gear. “Jason Watts never existed. You guys made sure of that.”
“Just get to the location we sent you,” he said. “And be careful. We’re getting readings from this we’ve never seen before.”
I looked at my computer screen to get the location so I could get there and froze. “That’s not possible,” I muttered.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because that area is deadlocked from anything,” I answered swiftly.
I grabbed my knife and gun and tore open a hole to the abandoned house.
When I stepped through, I could already tell something was off. I could feel a power that shouldn’t be in this world. I could hear the wind rushing around an open rift. I could also see a light coming from the room in front of me.
I pulled my gun and put my back to the wall. Something was happening that had to be stopped, as soon as I knew how it started.
I turned and kicked in the door. The rift was opening wider as the seconds passed and I could make out something on the other side. I didn’t have much time to stop this.
I focused on the rift and pushed with as much power as I could. The edges started to move in and I pushed a little harder. I couldn’t let anything into this world. I had to seal this before anything could threaten it.
That’s when it pushed back with enough force that I was thrown back against a wall. Not as hard as the last time, but still enough to cause stars to flood my vision. I pulled myself up and looked on in horror at what was happening in front of me.
The barrier was a translucent green, showing insectoid creatures on the other end. I could see them coming through the rift and becoming something that should never have existed in the first place.
Human changelings.
Have I mentioned that I hate changelings?
I grabbed my gun from where it had fallen when I was thrown back and opened fire. My shots echoed in the mostly empty room and bounced off the built-in armor. My headshots didn’t even faze them.
Then they raised their hands in unison and fired what blended together to form a single beam of energy that would have killed any human.
Luckily, I’m not human anymore.
I moved faster than I ever had and was only caught by the edge of the beam. Even that was enough to go through my coat and hit my gut. I was regenerating the wound and looked up to see a familiar face battered and beaten. A green glow came from his eyes.
I shoved the pain aside and pulled myself up. I focused as much power as I could into what I was doing, hoping it was actually possible. If not, I was going to die.
I released a wave of pure, raw, savage power at the army of changelings in the room. They all went flying back, some hitting their heads hard enough on pipes that the pipes broke. Others went out the window and fell two stories.
I just kept throwing waves of power at them.
But after a few more blasts, I was wearing down. I couldn’t keep it up forever. I might be able to seal the rift in time, but what would stop them from opening another somewhere else? How could they resist a world ripe for the taking?
Instead of sending another blast, I focused on the blue pony. I reached out and touched his mind as lightly as I could. I could feel the hold another changeling had over him and hit it with as much power as I could muster.
We both fell, screaming. I could barely see the rift in front of me. But I had to do just one more thing.
I reached out and pulled him into this world, throwing myself into that one, using my momentum to push my powers beyond what I was normally capable of. As I fell, I reached into the power-rich environment of the pony world and shoved the gate closed.
Then I fell into the blackness.