Back the way they came

It was Tuesday. Mark was happy that it was Tuesday. Mainly because he had survived Monday. He is outside after work. He sets up his phone. Now he can watch his favorites on the new streaming service they had been given.

Furthermore, he’s impressed with this new version of the app. The extra terrestrials were really stepping up their efforts. By next year they would control every aspect of life, and the people couldn’t be happier.

Life was fun again, and all it took was aliens stepping in and resetting life for humans. Furthermore, there was no longer any need for them to be clandestine. Therefore, they stopped that after the takeover.

Back the way they came

Mark thinks about how things were before the takeover. Then there was all the disinformation that followed in the days immediately afterward. The changes came later. Slowly at first but effective nonetheless.

A passerby looks curiously at Mark’s phone and the video playing. There is no smile, but the look in the eyes says it all. Mark holds up his hand to show the sign. The passerby responds with a sign. There are no smiles. Such things would bring the enforcers. There is no place to smile, except the zones.

People rarely speak or smile in public spaces due to strict regulations. Speaking is monitored by machines that detect flagged words. And those who violate the rules will be fined or even disappear. There is constant surveillance, ensuring that everyone’s whereabouts are always known.

Except when in the zones.

A friend

There is no escaping them. Which is how it has to seem. Furthermore, Mark knows what is at stake. If the zones are discovered, it would mean they had succeeded in annihilating humanity. Mostly by convincing humanity, it needed them.

Mark folds his phone now, and sets it aside. Time to go find his friend. How odd that the world is the way it is. However, nothing could have prepared them for this. This, was far larger than just them. Furthermore their very relationship was the antithesis of their situation. Perilous at best. However Daniel was his friend from childhood. They could never have known the extraordinary nature of their time. Yet here it is.