As we watched, she started to make copious notes. The man began throwing entrails at her. Within minutes she was covered in blood, but she kept on typing as though nothing was happening. I watched in morbid fascination as he started to shout at her and noticed that, for a brief second, he disappeared. His shouting increased, and suddenly her hair shot up in flames, the blaze growing to engulf her head before she fell to the ground. She screamed and writhed on the ground, her skin igniting from within and as her scream trailed off her body stopped shuddering and a smell of burnt flesh drifted towards us on the sea breeze.

  Neith was talking furiously in Welsh and repeatedly making the sign of the cross. I grabbed her hand and gave her a quick hug as much to console her as myself. We had all been in combat situations but few of us had witnessed anything quite so brutal or spontaneous. Two of the engineers threw up, their vomit splashing on their boots.

  The people in the kiosk were screaming even louder now as the man returned his attention to them and continued to pelt them with body parts.

  Luisa and her custodians all fired at the man, but the laser fire just seemed to fizzle away as it touched him.

  The engineers strode forward together, walking towards their fallen comrade.

  ‘Get back, you fools,’ shouted Luisa as she ran towards them.

  The engineer who had first spoken to us paused as the three of them turned and sneered at Luisa. They were pale and shaking but their chins were high.

  ‘This is our battlefield and our fallen comrade. We will retrieve her when we have completed our experiments, and you will not stop us.’

  ‘Sodding idiots.’ Luisa marched back to us and instructed the custodians to be ready to engage physically if the man tried to set anyone on fire again. She stabbed at her brace.

  ‘Giovanetti, did you know we have engineers all across the city running experiments? They claim they are finding ways to beat some of the anomalies. We’ve just witnessed one being burnt alive.’

  We watched as the three of them approached their companion and walked past her, not even looking in her direction. Like her, they continued taking notes and readings as they approached the man. Once again, he started shouting at them. His annoyance as they ignored him was clear, and I winced, ready to see them all burn. I wasn’t the only one. We all braced, and I could see Neith watching the scene with her head slightly tilted away.

  Suddenly, I remembered who it was. Or, at least, who it could be.

  ‘It’s Prometheus,’ I shouted across to them. ‘Leave him alone and it will be fine.’

  As I called out, I saw him smile. He stopped shouting as he threw some liver our way. A splat of flesh slapped me on the side of the neck.

  ‘Well done, Strathclyde,’ said Luisa, making me wince. An hour before I’d been desperate to redeem myself after the Medusa incident. Now it just felt hollow. ‘Draw his attention from the engineers. Everyone call out his name. Let’s divert his attention. And get those tourists out of there.’

  One of the custodians sprinted over to the kiosk, and ran with the tourists, guiding them along the seafront away from this shitshow where ancient Titans were setting people on fire. Prometheus was now happily pelting us with blood scraps and, while not terrifying, it was pretty unpleasant. The engineers jogged back to us, looking furious.

  ‘You bloody fool.’

  I have to admit I was a trifle put out. I had just saved them from incineration. Did the engineers have a death wish?

  ‘We nearly got rid of it.’

  ‘What?’ I said incredulously. ‘You were about to be burnt alive.’

  ‘No, we weren’t. We were about to delete the anomaly. Did none of you observe how it wavered when Pi-564 had been analysing it? Are you lemurs really that dumb?’

  I knew he meant I was the lemur, but the rest of the squad stiffened their backs. This was a new insult to me. One evolutionary step down from a monkey? One to think about later. For now, I needed to focus.

  ‘I did see him disappear,’ I said thoughtfully.

  ‘Then why did you give it a name and acknowledge it? You instantly strengthened it. You have observed it and given it mass,’ hissed the enraged engineer.

  ‘You were observing him too.’

  ‘No. We were studying a phenomenon.’

  The rain of body parts was getting heavier.

  ‘See, it’s loving the attention.’ The engineer had now decided I was beneath contempt and started speaking to Luisa. ‘Captain. We want to try again. Can you all promise to stand back? And it would be best if you all looked away. Put your fingers in your ears as well.’

  ‘How will we know when to turn round?’

  ‘I’ll tap you on the shoulder.’

  ‘And if you don’t?’

  ‘Well, then you’ll probably be able to smell us.’

  Luisa spoke to Giovanetti via the wrist brace, then called the cohort to attention.

  ‘We have our orders. Do as the engineers request.’

  With one final glare in my direction, the three walked back towards the man and we turned our backs on them.

  ‘Captain, this is wrong,’ muttered one of the custodians.

  ‘Agreed. But Giovanetti says we are trying out some new thinking. Just like having the curators with us, now, apparently, we are going to listen to the engineers on a battlefield.’

  The derision in her voice was blatant, but she turned and instructed us all to engage our suits and lock into a partial sensory deprivation. All senses off, except for touch. And smell.

  I stood in silence and tried to focus on the time I bought my first single by Blur. I’d played it repeatedly and tried to style my hair like Alex James. All had gone well or so I thought until—

  Someone tapped me on my shoulder, and I disengaged my suit.

  Looking round, the three engineers stood smiling at us. There was no evidence of blood on them or on us. The man was gone, but sadly the body of the pink, now blackened, woman remained on the floor.

  ‘That took a little longer than we had hoped but the hypothesis held.’

  ‘If the blood has gone, why is your colleague still dead?’ asked Neith.

  ‘We don’t know. But we can see the kiosk still has broken windows, although the body parts have gone.’

  ‘Could it be,’ suggested Neith, ‘that anything emanating from the anomaly disappeared at the same time, but for anything here that interacted with it, the results still stand? Something dented the cabin and, while the something has gone, the dent remains.’

  The engineers nodded their heads.

  ‘Agreed, that’s a hypothesis that has merit.’

  ‘Have you any advice or conclusions?’ asked Luisa, eager to be able to put any field knowledge into action.

  The engineers looked at her, appalled.

  ‘We are still gathering data!’

  Luisa ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. ‘This isn’t a science experiment. This is happening in real time. Tell me how you got rid of the threat.’

  ‘We just didn’t believe in it.’

  ‘But he was standing in front of you,’ protested Luisa.

  ‘Engineers know better than to believe what they can see,’ replied the lead engineer tartly. ‘Curators know this as well.’

  Neith nodded. ‘They’re not wrong, butt. Your senses can be terribly unreliable.’

  I liked it when Neith said “butt”, it reminded me of my nanny. I smiled at the sudden head spin. Here I stood on a foreign Earth being lectured to by scientists about my reckless behaviour, whilst Neith’s splice reminded me of a safer, simpler lifetime.

  Day Three - Julius

  ‘How long will this go on for?’ asked Luisa.

  ‘Loki and Anansi said they wanted us all to believe. So, I guess until enough of the population has been terrified,’ replied Neith.

  ‘Surely, the best thing would be one massive event in that case?’ queried Luisa. ‘Not all these small incursions.’

  At that moment, everyone’s wrist braces vibrated and flashed red. Giovannetti’s voice called across the devices.

  ‘All civilians away from the harbour. Everyone else, get down there now!’

  We began to run towards the docks as Neith patched through to Ramin.

  ‘He says an octopus is attacking the lighthouse.’

  Luisa looked over her shoulder. ‘An octopus?’

  ‘A big one, apparently.’

  A shadow passed over our heads as we watched the Lighthouse of Alexandria cross the skyline, it was in the grip of a gigantic tentacle. As it waved in the sky, the tentacle unfurled and flung the eighty-foot building inland towards the fields of wheat beyond the city.

  Hordes of people were screaming and running past us as we pushed our way onto the harbourside. Boats lay crushed on their moorings or swept up on the roadside. Broken timber lay everywhere, sails flapped sluggishly as they lay on the ground. In the centre of the harbour, a mass of tentacles and eyes pulled itself out of the water.

  ‘Retreat,’ bellowed Luisa.

  ‘Nubi’s balls, Julius. What is that?’ screamed Neith.

  ‘I think it’s an elder god. I’m trying to see if it has wings.’ I shouted back at her.

  ‘How do we defeat an elder god?’

  ‘No idea. I haven’t studied them much.’

  ‘What does it want?’

  ‘Live sacrifices, I think? I don’t know. But I don’t think they’re benign.’ I paused and examined the creature. ‘Phew, we got lucky, it’s just the kraken.’

  Neith looked at me in horror. In fairness it was hard to imagine that anything might be worse than what was hauling itself out of the water. Above the screams from the harbour, a deep wail began. At first, I thought it was from the creature, then I realised it was a siren.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘It’s the long wave warning. Although, we tend to use it for sandstorms.’

  Giovannetti’s voice rang out from the loudspeakers above the wail and through our wrist braces.

  ‘Everyone take shelter. EVERYONE. Close your eyes, block your ears. If you have access to sedation, sedate for eight hours. Repeat. Stay in shelter for eight hours. Sedate if possible. The siren will stop when the danger has passed. Everyone get to shelter and sleep. Ignore any anomaly. Do not engage. Shelter and sleep. All citizens. Curators, engineers, custodians. Shelter and sleep.’

  Her voice stopped broadcasting as the siren continued. And then her message began again on a loop.

  The entire population was in retreat, stumbling over each other and fallen masonry in their flight away from the harbour. Gods and beasts were chasing them along the street, adding to the chaos, their laughter rising above the screams.

  We ran back to the accommodation blocks. Neith grabbed some tourists and told them to follow her. I did the same, as did the custodians. These tourists had nowhere to go. As we ran, I saw people clambering over broken windows, finding places to hide under tables and counters.

  Neith split off down the boulevard towards her flat with her tourists, saluting me as she left. Her face was determined, and I knew she would get them all to safety.

  I turned to my group to reassure them that we were nearly at my place when the older of the two men took one look at my eyes and yelped.

  I looked over my shoulder in alarm and then realised it was me he was yelling at.

  ‘Sir, I’m Curator Strathclyde. You are safe with me.’

  A woman stepped up to her husband’s side, clutching his arm.

  ‘Get away from him, Joe. He’s that filthy angel. He’s probably in league with these monsters.’

  The man squared his shoulder. ‘It’s alright, beloved. Stay back, he might be dangerous.’

  I looked at them in bewilderment. ‘I am not dangerous. I’m trying to help you.’

  ‘Don’t listen to him, Joe. He’s a monster. You’re disgusting, you are,’ she shouted at me. The siren continued to wail over our heads. I was getting angry now. These stupid people with their ridiculous fear of me were beyond the pale. That they couldn’t distinguish between me and a mythological nightmare was the final straw.

  ‘Look, madam-’

  ‘Madam?! What’s that then? Joe, he’s saying weird words. He wants to kill us!’ she appealed to her companions who were all panicking now and looking at me in terror.

  ‘Honoured citizens, I-’ Which is when Joe punched me clean in the face.

  I sat on the floor where I had fallen and watched as the small group ran away. I checked my nose, then lay back on the marble pavement, looking up at the blue skies. A group of Valkyries flew past in pursuit of some harpies.

  I swore in anger, then winced. My nose hurt. This world was mad, and I wanted to go home.

  A wet nose nudged my hand, and I looked up into the coal red eyes of Black Shuck.

  ‘Good doggy.’

  I was too angry and too sad to be scared. A demonic dog was licking my face. Why not? I noticed a melon by my hand. A fruit and veg stand was shattered, its goods scattered across the street. Pulling myself up slowly, I picked up the melon and waved it at the mighty hellhound. He wagged his tail.

  Which is how we headed home, me throwing the fruit as a ball for the dark shadowy dog. The sirens wailed, and the kraken clambered over the harbour buildings until we made it back to my apartment. Shuck lay down at the foot of my bed, and I had to nudge him a few times as he sprawled across the sheets until we were both comfortable. Taking a sedative, I fell asleep.

  Day Four - Julius

  I woke in silence with a strange sense of loss. Shuck’s comforting presence against my leg had finally gone. Despite the sedative, I had slept badly. The siren kept permeating my mind, and I dreamt of bombs falling, and women looking for lost children amongst the broken masonry. Each time, I would be standing across the road unable to reach them. The rubble I was standing on would begin to shift and slide and, as I looked down, the stones morphed into bones, and I began to sink into them. I would wake up screaming and clutching the covers and then Shuck would be there nudging me with his wet nose and giving a little concerned whine until I calmed down enough for sleep to claim me again.

  Now, in the morning sunlight, the siren, the nightmares, and the dog had gone. I felt alone.

  Yesterday had been a life changing day, and I knew it was going to take me a long time to think it through. I reached over for my brace. The instant I activated it, a series of alerts and alarms told me my presence was required at a full emergency meeting at noon. Was I about to be reprimanded for shouting out Prometheus’s name?

  A shower was needed, followed by a decent breakfast. I wanted to track Neith down and check she’d made it home alright. My nose was still sore, and I noticed the man’s ring had cut me under the eye. Cleaning up, I was tempted to blow off the meeting. I was sick and tired of these people and couldn’t trust myself not to lose my temper. I didn’t feel ready to explain myself, given that for the second time in a year, my world had turned upside down.

  My door chimed, which was an unusual courtesy. Fellow custodians normally banged on the door. Maybe this morning no one wanted any more loud noises or sudden surprises? Opening the door, I saw Neith looking shattered but smiling weakly, and I suddenly realised how much she meant to me.

  ‘You are a sight for sore eyes,’ I said, pulling her in for a big hug. We stood and just held each other for a few seconds before each gave an embarrassed laugh. Yesterday had been hell, but there was no need to go overboard.

  ‘Whereas you seem to be a sore eyed sight,’ joked Neith.

  I groaned. It was a rubbish pun, but at least worthy of acknowledgement.

  ‘Which monster gave you that?’

  ‘Just a regular Alpha citizen, who took one look at my eyes and decided I was either a monster or he knew who I was, but considered me a monster, anyway. Whatever. He lamped me and then he and his family ran off in another direction.’

  ‘What an idiot,’ said Neith. ‘Although, in the circumstances, I suppose it was understandable.’

  ‘I was trying to get him and his family to shelter.’ Personally, I didn’t see anything understandable about it at all.

  ‘Keep your hair on. The world had gone mad. Their judgement was clouded.’

  Her Welsh accent was strong today, which was always a sure sign of stress. I saw her wince. Her mood would not be improved by this splice side-effect manifesting now. I went to close the door behind us and, maybe because I had just been thinking of Shuck, I patted my leg and called him to me.

  Nothing happened, but Neith looked at me curiously.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  I was embarrassed. It had been instinctive, and now I was left looking like an idiot as I explained what had happened after I had been punched.

  ‘So, let me get this right. After we had all been explicitly told to take shelter and sedate ourselves, you brought home a demon dog and let it sleep on your bed?’

  Neith’s voice was rising. My room opened onto an open corridor overlooking the food plaza. A few alarmed faces whipped their heads around and looked up. The population was very jumpy. I tried to calm her down.

  ‘I don’t think this Shuck was the portent-of-doom version. I think he’s the saves-weary-souls variety. I guess we’ll find out in a year.’

  ‘A year?’ Neith’s voice was incredulous but quiet as we left the accommodation block and headed towards the food quadrant.

  ‘Yes. If I die, we’ll know it was the portent-of-doom version.’

  ‘If you die within the next year, it will be because I’ve sodding killed you,’ hissed Neith. ‘What were you thinking?’

  ‘I was thinking that my face hurt, that I don’t belong here, and that apparently in your stupid world the gods are real, and no one thought to tell me.’

  Neith stepped back and honestly, I thought she was about to punch me as well.

  ‘Now you listen to me. The gods are not real, and they don’t exist.’ She took a deep breath. ‘We are going to have breakfast, make up, and go to work. Is that clear?’

  I glared at her for a nanosecond and decided not to be an arse. We headed down to the plaza although there wasn’t much in the way of breakfast. No one was cooking this morning, so we just grabbed some pre-packed pots and rations.

 

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