Synergenes

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.” Professor Thompson told the classroom of students, “As you all know, since the vacuum of space has no type of air, and sound is just vibrations traveling through the air, communications, much less anything as dramatic as screams, are impossible without the technology we have today. We need infrared lasers, which surpass the outdated radio waves we used to use back in the twenty-first century. Even with this technology, we have had very little communication with aliens and no real means of exchanging any type of information. Hopefully, the new research being done at Synergene Labs will assist us in soon meeting other lifeforms from outer space around us. And, hopefully, there is no screaming in the process.”

He continued his lecture on undiscovered alien life forms to the sea of bodies as one particular student was daydreaming their time away. They were closest to the window with all of their focus on the trees, imagining how cool it would be to leap through the branches from tree to tree just like the squirrels could.

“Class dismissed!” said the professor. Shaking back to life, Arvid stood to gather his belongings slinging his backpack over his shoulder barely missing the person next to him.

“Hey! Watch it Viddy! Almost took my head off,” she said.

“I’m sorry Adhira, I didn’t mean to,” he said, waving his arms back and forth.

“Well, next time I’ll just counterpunch you,” she said grinning.

“Always so quick to violence.”

“So?”

They shared a laugh while exiting the classroom holding hands. Arvid was a tall man with neat, short, black hair. Today, he was wearing a red t-shirt from the brand of his favorite hot sauce, Chicka-Boom Hot Sauce, with its trademarked exploding chicken. His red shoes were a slightly different color red than his shirt which made him walk a bit rushed so others wouldn’t notice. His long arms were always put in an awkward position to hold Adhira’s hand. Her complexion was a soft amber brown that was in complete contrast to how very pale Arvid was and her black hair was pulled back into a French braid. She was wearing a green sundress with red rubies dotting the design. Arvid’s thin figure contrasted her athletic and muscular build and it made her feel good every time she passed her reflection in his arms.

“So are you coming over to study for the planetary exploration exam? My dad will kill me if I don’t get a good grade,” Adhira asked.

“Do the stars sparkle in the sky?”

“Not most nights here.”

“You love shooting down my romance don’t you?” he said with a frown.

“Only ‘cause you’re so sappy and I do like to see those puppy dog eyes.” Adhira teased as she leaned in to kiss him, he took the bait and she quickly pulled away.

“You’re just too easy sometimes,” she said.

“You know one of these days this is gonna hurt my feelings.”

“Uh huh, is that today?”

Purposely pausing for way too long as they reached his locker, “Possibly.” he said.

“Fine, I guess I’ll just study alone,” she said as she began to turn away.

“Uh, do you really think you’d be able to get a good grade without my help?” he whispered loudly.

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking over her shoulder with a sharp look, “And you think I need a man to help me?”

“The smartest man you know, of course,” he grinned and took a step closer.

“I think I need to meet new people.”

“Ouch, that one hurt.”

“Okay, fine. You can help me study, I do appreciate you, all this science stuff is hard,” she said.

“Cool. Do you wanna get some food before we study?”

“Sounds like a plan. LET’S GET PIZZA!” she shouted as she did a happy dance.

“Pizza it is!” said Arvid as they shared an embrace and a quick kiss before they departed to their separate classes.

As the evening approached, they met at their favorite hang-out spot “Mad Joe’s Pizza and Bar”. The place was packed, as usual, filled with college students. The owner, Joe, was very involved in the community and helped out the students with free pizza during exams. His pizzas were quite weird with combinations that didn’t sound like they would be good, such as The S'mores pizza made of gingerbread, marshmallow, and chocolate sauce, yet he always pulled it off. Adhira’s favorite pizza was the Pirate’s Plank Walk which was baked in a fire of wood chips and fish bones and topped with house-made sauce, cheese, apple slices, and bits of octopus scattered into the crust.

“Ya! I still don’t know how you eat that?” their friend Chul-Moo said with a look of disgust on his face.

“Who told you to watch me?” Adhira said while she shoved most of the pizza slice into her mouth.

“Can you not stuff the whole slice in your mouth? What if you choke?” Arvid complained while sliding a glass of water over towards her.

She stared hard at him and pushed the water away, accidentally knocking it over. Chul-Moo’s pants were splattered and he jumped into the air trying to wipe them dry. He was barely as tall as Adhira. His black hair was combed to one side while the other was completely shaved with his trademarked mountain design carved into it. He was stocky and filled to the brim with muscles though he never could get that six-pack he always wanted. He ran off to the bathroom, returning quickly with a wad of paper towels.

“No worries Adhira. I got your back,” he told her as he cleaned up the spill. Arvid already was bringing back another beverage for her and a small dessert for Chul-Moo. They discussed their studies and what exams were coming up. Then made plans on how best to study. Adhira threw out so many ideas that it was hard for the others to get into a flow of making a solid plan. Arvid wrote things down to help keep track, as he knew, later, making a proper strategy to share with the group would be essential and well appreciated.

As the night pressed on they decided it was time to leave their fun pizza haven and get to the nitty gritty process of studying. Adhira groaned as they waited for their Uber to pick them up knowing that she would have to put actual effort into memorizing the material.

“I don’t understand why you groan so much about it. You get pretty good grades already,” Chul-Moo said as he slid into the backseat of the Uber.

“It’s just so annoying! Memorizing and memorizing over and over and over. Why can’t I just absorb the info already?” she said, squishing Chul-Moo into the door frame.

“Don’t worry about it Addy, I have a new study plan which I think will benefit you,” Arvid said as he pulled her off of their friend.

“The man with the plan!” Chul-Moo shouted.

They reached the dorm rooms on campus and crammed into the common area creating such a commotion that it brought Adhira’s roommate into the mix from her bedroom. She was taller than both Adhira and Chul-Moo but not as tall as Arvid. Her aquamarine-colored hair was in a bun and she was wearing pink polka dotted pajamas and pink bunny slippers. Though she had obviously just woken up, her complexion still seemed to glisten.

“Guys, ahhhiiieee,” she yawned, putting her glasses on, “sorry, I’m trying to get some sleep before my early class.”

“I’m so sorry Ria. I was trying to explain to Adhira the new study method for her,” Arvid explained while waving toward her.

“Come on, tell me!” Adhira said.

“Hang on.”

“Well, that’s okay. I'd like to hear about it as well, Arvid, if that's okay.” Ria said as she sat down beside Chul-Moo.

“Uh, sure. Anywho, Adhira you tend to jump around with your thoughts from one to another. Since we understand this about you, we need to capitalize on this behavior. So, I am creating a study board just for you that will help you link together information that pertains to our common topic such as dealing with planetary exploration which in turn would make you think about different types of spaceships correct?”

“Dude, have you seen the new Kusari J7P? That thing is so cool!” she blurted out.

“Exactly my point and thus this would make you think about fighting space aliens and what else would we need to combat against? The atmosphere and other toxins, so which planet would be most viable for life forms to have an easier time to exist on?”

“Hmmm, I would have to say a planet that would produce a less toxic environment based on the carbon outputs?”

“Boom! You’re a genius.” Arvid said as he fist pumped the air, “So in retrospect, we just need to allow you to have the freedom to think about your bouncing ideas as long as we can link them together to help you remember or produce proper thoughts to stay on task.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you so much,” she grinned while biting her lip slowly towards him. Arvid blushed brighter than Ria’s pajamas and he swallowed hard.

“I love it when you get nervous,” she teased.

“Heol! Ria and I are right here too. Do that somewhere else!” Chul-Moo said as he slid his large body to lay behind Ria who slowly started to slide up onto his shoulder squishing his face into the couch with her hand.

“That is such a good concept Arvid, I really think it will do wonders for Adhira but as much as I love hanging out with you all, I really should get some sleep. Buenas noches,” she said as she stood on top of Chul-Moo and walked off of him down the couch, and disappeared into her bedroom.

“Jinjja! Just because I’m strong doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings, Ria!” he shouted to her.

She opened her door with a sad look on her face. “I’m sorry MooMoo, I forget that you don’t like showing off how strong you are, let me get you something real quick to show that I am truly sorry,” she closed the door for a moment and returned quickly with a gift bag in her hand. While staring at Chul-Moo she reached into the bag and pulled out her hand exposing only her middle finger. “Mira, hope this makes you feel better.”

The others burst into laughter as they exchanged the common expression around the room. Eventually, the night grew extremely late and they decided it was time to finally sleep. As Arvid and Adhira lay down together Chul-Moo was doing his before bedtime stretches and push-ups. He enjoyed doing this at Ria’s and Adhira’s dorm since it forced him to be extremely quiet so all of his stretches and workouts took a very long time straining his muscles. On his final set of push-ups, a glow pushed through the window that quickly filled the room with a purple light that turned his body see-through the moment the light touched him. He arose so suddenly off the ground that he became light-headed and fell over the couch crashing into the coffee table. Everyone burst into the room to find him lying there.

“Chul-Moo!” Arvid said, rushing to his side to check his pulse, “He’s alive!”

“Uh, what's with this purple glow?” Adhira asked.

“Oh dios mio! We’re transparent!” Ria cried out.

“No one panic and stay calm, it's just a weird phenomenon,” said Arvid.

As Chul-Moo regained consciousness, the purple light was sucked out of the room through the window and they could see the shining light moving fast into the forest. Breaking through the canopy of the tree line an explosion emerged flashing the strange purple glow.

“And now we’re not transparent,” said Ria.

“Guys, I think we should check it out,” said Arvid.

“I agree.”

“Uh no way, dude! It’s an explosion and something weird,” said Adhira.

“I think being there to help would be a good idea,” Chul-Moo spoke softly.

“Yeah? And who was found passed out, man? What makes you think it isn’t dangerous?”

“Either or, someone is in trouble and we should be there to help. I could use you guys' assistance,” Arvid said as he reached the door and took a final look back at the group. They all nodded in agreement at their own pace leaving Adhira the last one to accept the task at hand.

“If it's an alien I wanna shake its hand first!” she said as she joined the group at the door.

“You and your aliens!” Chul-Moo said as he shook his head.

“What? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“No, aliens can’t be a good thing.”

“You’re so lame sometimes MooMoo.”

“Hey, only my closest friends get to call me that.”

“That’s why I said it.”

“Hey, cut it out you two, we need to go,” Arvid said as he closed the door behind them staying behind the group and making sure all were accounted for.

They traversed the forest together for what seemed like hours, wondering if they were going in the correct direction. Adhira complained while Ria tried to console her. Arvid never said a word while Chul-Moo kept the back of the group safe, watching in all directions. In the distance their concerns were finally answered with the purple light glowing, confirming the destination of the crash site. The weird purple light shone through the trees and once again where the light touched it exposed their bones and blood vessels.

“So cool and yet very weird, I don’t have any type of knowledge about a type of light that can see into our vascular system so clearly and the bones. Okay, from here on out let's tread lightly and carefully,” he told the group with his back turned to the purple glow.

“Aye aye, captain,” the group said in unison.

“Ha ha, very funny guys,” Arvid said, rolling his eyes.

They approached the wreckage of a structure they have never seen before. Could it even be called metal with how the light of the moon reflected off of it? Bewildered looks bounced between them as they examined the bizarre occurrence. Together they held hands getting closer and closer to it. Lights were flashing sporadically and unevenly. The flames were a mix of normal red fire with purple. A liquid substance could be seen splattered across the very front of the structure. It was slowly pouring onto the ground with small bubbles breaking the surface.

“Uh, I’m sure this is an alien spacecraft,” Ria told the group.

“Alien? I was just joking when I said that earlier,” Adhira said as she shifted her body behind Arvid’s.

“Let’s just be careful as we approach it, I’m thinking that liquid must be alien blood? Perhaps someone is hurt?” Arvid suggested.

“I’ll look for a door,” Chul-Moo said as he got closer to where the liquid was producing.

Once he was near the wreckage a burst of air flew from the aircraft and he immediately jumped away from it standing in front of the group with his arms spread out. The air turned into an opaque gray color that etched an outline in the shape of a hexagon. Piece by piece the walls melted down into the floor of the ship. Lights flickered upon their faces as each one stared into the empty vessel.

“Okay, that was very anti-climatic,” Arvid said as he edged forward.

“Wait! What if it's dangerous?” Ria called out.

“Well, there is only one way to find out.”

They stood there waiting for something to happen as their friend entered the strange aircraft. His silhouette etched into their eyes in anticipation of the worst. Bursting forward, Adhira charged in after him.

“Mwo hae!” Chul-Moo yelled as he reached out to catch her; he too followed suit. Ria was left with her mouth wide open.

“They just left me? How rude,” she said as she stormed in after them.

Inside the walls vibrated slowly as if the ship itself was alive. No screens could be seen or buttons of any kind. Oddly the interior seemed to be in good shape despite the walls being splattered with the same liquid ooze from outside. The color of the walls never seemed to stay solid but a flow of purples and green washed over it. The floor itself had a slight glow of hexagonal lights that were partially operational. They stayed close together with Adhira moving ahead to explore, throwing caution to the wind.

“Addy! Be careful, please! You shouldn’t separate from the group!” Arvid called out.

“Thik hain!” she said.

“I really hope that isn’t blood Porfavor,” said Ria pointing to the walls.

“You know, I’m praying for the same thing.”

“Baap re baap! Come look at this!” cried Adhira. The group followed down the corridor to where they saw her and a body lying on the floor. The alien was blue with scale-like skin. Small spikes rose from the top of their head like some type of lizard. A beak could be the only way to describe their mouth and a green triangular tongue was hanging towards the floor. Their suit was very formal with gold stripes outlining the navy blue uniform, “They’re dead!”

“Did you touch that? Chul-Moo shouted.

“Uh, yeah, I checked its pulse.”

“Are you okay?” Arvid asked as he approached her examining her body thoroughly with his eyes.

“I’m fine, but they sure aren’t, and check it!” She pointed into the room adjacent to the body. They poured into the new area which had a giant window-like screen that was matte black and solid. More bodies that looked similar to the first dead alien were scattered in the room.

“This must be the bridge or main control room,” said Arvid.

“Doesn’t look like star trek at all,” Adhira commented.

“Heol, you and your old shows.”

“Hush!”

“Focus up!” Arvid yelled.

“Did anyone survive?” Ria asked.

“I’ll check,” Chul-Moo told the group. He rushed towards the closest alien checking the pulse using standard human methods. It didn’t move, “I don’t think that any of them made it.”

“Nothing any of us could have done,” Arvid said as he put his hand on his shoulder. Grasping each other’s hands hard they turned to face the women who now were holding onto each other.

“What's the plan?” Adhira asked.

“With something as big as this happening I am almost sure that this will fall in the lines of governmental issues and in that case we are now somewhere that could pose a threat to us and or get us in massive trouble. The best course of action is to remember as much as we can since our phones can be traced and get out of here before we overstay our welcome,” Arvid told the group.

They all exchanged worried looks as they followed Arvid's advice and turned to leave the bridge when a strange beeping began and non-legible words appeared on the screen.

“That can’t be good!” Chul-Moo suggested.

“Time to get the hell out of here!” shouted Adhira.

“No arguments here!” Ria agreed.

They all began to rush off the ship as fast as they could. Ria tripped over the body in the first corridor and Arvid came to her aid. The beeping was increasing in tempo as they reached the entrance. Scrambling through the door they turned to face one another to make sure everyone made it out, in that moment the ship exploded, vaporizing everything within its blast radius.

Arvid was the first to wake, he stared hard at his surroundings and put his hands up against his head touching his chin. The others were laying near him in a white room, all attached to hospital monitors. They were covered in white bed sheets with only their heads being exposed. One by one they began to open their eyes and shared the same concern as Arvid. They were boxed in by white curtains obstructing their view. The sound of a door opening synchronized their attention as a doctor walked through the curtains with a chart in their hand accompanied by a short nurse. Both were completely covered in protective materials with masks and head covers. Nothing on their body was exposed.

“Glad to see you all are awake. My name is Dr. Murphy. You were involved in an explosion approximately 25 miles from here. We have a few questions we would like answered. Do you understand what I am saying?” he asked.

They all nodded together, “What questions?” asked Arvid.

“First off, do you know who you are?”

“I’m Arvid Eklund.”

“Good, and you?”

“I’m Adhira Teneja.”

“And?”

“Yi Chul-Moo.”

“And finally you, miss?”

“Ria Castillo Santana.”

“Excellent. Do you know what year it is?”

“2156,” they said together.

“Ha, weird!” said Adhira.

“Good, now can you tell me why there was an explosion and why you all happened to be in the middle of the woods?” said the doctor as he wrote something on the clipboard.

“Sir, we are college students and we were trying to get a better view of the stars for our upcoming exams in our planetary exploration class or PLE-110. We needed to be in the woods to get away from the light pollution that the city gives off to better study where the newest case studies of planets were located,” answered Arvid.

“Yeah I need all the help I can get, that class is so boring and it’s hard for me to keep focus,” Adhira admitted.

“Is that so?”

“Neh, we always like to hear the ideas Arvid comes up with to help out Adhira. He has a way with words,” Chul-Moo said.

“He really does, doesn't he? Last night was fun, well before somehow getting blown up. Did you say how it happened doctor?” asked Ria.

“I did not, that’s why I am here trying to figure that out. Luckily you all seem to be doing just fine with minor bruising and scrapes miraculously. Judging from the damage left by the explosion all of you, dare I say, should not be here right now, especially talking and moving.” said the doctor.

“That’s a nice way to say we should be dead,” said Adhira, rubbing her arms.

“We have informed your parents of the incident and due to your miracle healing predicament we are unable to hold you here any longer though due to the strange nature of all of this there will be a police investigation”.

They exchanged looks towards one another.

“So be prepared for that. The nurse here will make a final inspection and then you are all free to go once you fill out the proper release forms,” they said giving the chart to the nurse who was now examining Ria.

“Thank you, doctor,” said Arvid.

“Detective Huntley will contact you all soon. Rest up and have a good day,” they said as they exited the curtains. The hours droned on filling out paperwork after their very thorough check-up with the nurse who was rougher than they expected. Standing outside the hospital entrance they stared at Arvid intently.

“I know guys, this doesn’t look good at all and now the police are involved. We need to figure out a plan and how do we cover all of this up?”

That is a very good idea, Arvid, I also agree that we need to come up with a plan.

Arvid jerked his head to the left looking for where the voice was coming from, “Did you guys just hear that?”

“Hear what? What’s the matter, are you okay?” Adhira asked, taking a step towards him.

Don’t be alarmed I’m not here to hurt you, my friend. In fact, just the opposite, especially since you saved us from certain death.

“Who is talking to me!?”

“Calm down man, we’ll help you!” Chul-Moo told him.

“I don’t know what's going on but something is talking to me in my head!”

That is a bit rude, I have a name you know. T’cha’dul Aardvinqualk. The others should be waking up soon in your friends.

“In my friends? What do you mean, in?”

Well, our species can’t live without a host, and since all of ours died thanks to the betrayal of some of our kind we were lucky enough that you all showed up. Now we conjoined with you and are now living inside you.

Arvid was breathing irregularly with sweat pouring down his face and turning paler. Chul-Moo wrapped his arms around him just as Arvid passed out.