Agent Hawkins and Cecelia made their way down the foyer. All the windows were bordered up. There was a great deal of confusion going on. The last time anyone was this confused... it was the first day everyone- and everything changed.
Suddenly someone burst through the front door. He was a human male.
"I'm Human! I'm me again!" He said excitedly.
The stunned crowd of transformed people looked at him with shock. Even Agent Hawkins, trained as he was felt stunned at this development. A human was claiming he was cured of his transformation? How can such a thing be?
"Agent Hawkins," he said showing his badge. "What were you changed into before?"
Cecelia brushed aside the crowd gently. "Please go about your business folks," She said with a smile.
"Oh I don't care!" the man exclaimed. "I'm just glad I'm not.. not..." The young man shuddered. "I'm me again.. I'm human! Hello Eric Jones! Who's the man!" He was giddy with happiness it took him a moment to clarify what happened. "I was just outside. The sunlight.. out there.. it's yellow! It's like our sun used to be! It's over!" Eric explained happily.
Some of the people over heard- a lot of them mixed with what was best for each of them. Do they run back on the street? It was almost sunset now- they didn't have much time to decide! Still.. what if they left it for another day? But then- what if the sun changed back to its strange colours?
Cecellia looked to Hawkins. "We.. seem to be off the grid," She said worried.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean... Mobile signals... Gone... Electricity... Gone... GPS... gone... I am not detecting any radio transmissions at all. On any frequency. It's all gone..."
A building sense of panic built into Agent Hawkins. "Are you sure?" He didn't want to ask if she was mistaken in some way. After all, Cecellia was practically working as a field agent at this point and he was worried she was being pushed too hard. The Gynoid never complained... she just did her duties.
Cecellia looked at her partner with that look of dread. "Confirmed... There are no signals out there. At all. The hotel is running under a backup generator... but the generator is losing energy at a faster rate then it should. CCTV cameras however are working... I can also confirm... the sun out there, is yellow. It matches the spectrum of how our sun used to be."
A yellow sun...
An earthquake was felt running through the hotel. It was not a big one, and was over in only a few seconds.
"Earthquake.. measured 4.6 on the Richter scale.." Cecellia said analysing.
"There are no tectonic plates here!" Hawkins said even more surprised. "Can you locate where it is?"
"Difficult... however my sensors have worked out a vague direction. It is towards the center of town..."
"Let us wait... until sunset," Said Hawkins. It was strange to say that... given he was a transformed person.
"But you could be cured..." Cecellia said thoughtfully.
"I could become human," corrected Hawkins. "You can try it.. if you want..." he offered.
"You need me like this," cecellia said shaking her head. She counted carefully the time using the CCTV cameras to watch the setting sun verifying it going down the horizon. She flicked on a few other cameras... and blinked, when she saw the moon.
"Hawkins... that is not our moon," she said.
"What's wrong with the moon?"
"For one thing.. there are three of them."
Hawkins and Cecellia left the hotel, at sunset... it was dark now. But the light from the three moons gave everything an ethereal glow. it a strange light of brightness washing everything. In the distance, outside the town, they could see what seemed to be mountainous crystals. They towered high above the town. It was the most surreal sight they had ever seen.
"We... don't seem to be on Earth," Cecellia observed.
"Stay armed..." said Hawkins. Right now he didn't want to make any assumptions. These alien incursions... could they have just been kidnapped? If so, where are the aliens?
"Air is comparable... there is a little more argon then normal" Cecellia observed.
"How long is day and night here?"
"Based on gravity... this world is the same size as Earth... In fact, I detect no change on gravity at all, not even to the hundreth figure. I think we can assume it to be the same" Cecellia said, not believing she would ever say such words with a straight face. They were on another planet? But How? Why? And why did the sun here, change them back human? If they were on another planet gravity should vary! Yet it was the same... everything the same. For all intent and purposes, this was earth... just different...
At the center of town, a young man in his twenties held something glowing. It was a perfect sphere, and looked like a soap bubble. It could be deformed, but the membrane seemed to be unbreakable.
"I... I don't understand... did my wish work?" He asked.
Adam couldn't believe his luck, when he found this in his grandmothers house... A very rich house, right in the center of town. He was upset to lose her... he often wondered if she had lived to see the sunlight change, maybe she could have got a form to let her live longer? He felt bad to start to go through her things.... But then, in a hidden compartment, he found this strange 'bubble of air'. When he held it, he heard a voice telling him it would grant a wish. He had avoided the sunlight so far, but felt bad for those that were unlucky.
Given what happened to the sun, he was quick to believe in magic... and if he could make a wish, he should therefore try to help the people. Everyone...
He wished for everything to go back as it used to be. How could that possibly backfire?
Looking outside his window though, at the huge crystal spires... he wondered if he somehow messed this up. The entire town was moved... somewhere. It was definitely not what he wished for! Not even slightly. He just wanted to help everyone! Why was only the town affected? He had to get everyone back home! But what if the wish backfired again? He spent hours agonising over what to do... dare he make another wish on an object he had no idea about? What if he wished to know more? But.. what if there were only two wishes on the thing!
Maybe.. just test it with his own house first? That might seem a bit selfish though..
Adam didn't know what to do... it wasn't supposed to be like this! He had to wish for something though, to try and make things back to normal. He needed to think. "I- I wish... my house- and me- and this object-" He tried to think of any other important things then continued. "-was back where it used to be?" If this worked, he could do it for the rest of the town afterwards.
There was a sudden rumble of an earthquake. nearly making him lose his balance.
Jay, somewhat used to doing things on her own took the lead slightly ahead of the group as they travelled up the hill. She sniffed the air... it all felt 'wrong' in some way. Yet at the same time, very familiar. She had been to Hedgeton once before, and it was almost as if while the 'detail' of buildings were gone, the hills and crystal spires still had the same vague shapes.
Could the sunlight.. have done this? If so, why this place? It did not seem likely. The light only affected people...
And where were the people? What exactly were they caught in, that caused... this? It made no sense!
Finally reaching the top, the group saw a very strange sight.
There.. sandwiched between two crystals, at the top of the hill, was a single house.
