When Genes Activate: Part 1

"When Genes Activate: Part 1" is the first episode and series premiere of Genevieve Codez: Xenokeeper.

## Synopsis

"*Pessimistic goth Genevieve Codez strikes out yet again one night when it comes to the law, but her overnight stay in a station cell opens a Pandora's Box of mystery she urges to discover.*"

## Plot

The episode opens with the external view of the planet of Earth within the depths of outer-space, as it begins to rapidly zoom out, briefly revealing several celestial bodies, including the Moon, the Sun, and various planets, as the zooming view eventually breaches the Milky Way galaxy, and showing what seems to be an entire empty abyss of nothing but pure blackness...

...before completely and utterly, with absolute silence, a massive, swirling wormhole, colored black and varying dark shades of purple, violently rips through the vacuum of space itself, the diameter of the wormhole around that of the planet of Earth, as slowly, a massive extraterrestrial craft begins to emerge from the wormhole, a gigantic, dark-purple spacecraft, flickering with several bright-purple lights that begin to retract back into its metallic hull.

An inhuman female voice narrates over the scene.

“*Retracting artificial wormhole transmitters... spatial transportation... successful… galactic conquest of the empire… may proceed...*”

The scene dramatically changes, now showing a bird’s-eye view of Marble Shores, an externally-beautiful city within the eastern-southern coast of the United States, that upon slowly starting to zoom inwards and reveals Marble Shores up close, reveals how rather decrepit and rundown it actually was, scarce yet noticeable piles of trash littering the streets, various abandoned buildings visible throughout the city, and an overall gloomy theme with a midnight sky that appears almost gray opposed to black. However, despite these groggily details, human activity still bustles within Marble Shores, and it was otherwise still lively, despite how late it currently was, its skyscrapers glowing with digital billboards and screens.

The scene pans to reveal a dark-skinned, uniformed police officer on patrol, keeping watch over the streets of Marble Shores, as what seems to be a series of laughing teenagers on skateboards throw a melted milkshake onto his cruiser’s window, to which he merely sneers and groans in response and turns on his windshield wipers to try and wipe it away. A female figure from the backseat chuckles at the police officer’s misfortune, but he quickly shuts her up by leaning his seat back and briefly squashing her, bluntly remarking:

“*Cram it, Genevieve.*”

The scene pans again, this time to the back of the police cruiser, showing a macabre woman in her late 20’s, by the apparent name of Genevieve, dressed in layers of stereotypical gothic clothing, thin and lanky yet overall very shapely, with clothing colored only that of black, dark-gray, and byzantium-purple, very long black hair with a combination of dark-midnight-blue and silver-gray highlights near the ends, dark-bright-green eyes, black-and-blue make-up of mascara, eyeliner, blush, lipstick, and so on, two silver piercings, one on the left side of her lower-lip and another in her left earlobe, a dark, blue-highlighted choker around her neck, a silver necklace around her chest and over her short-sleeved black top, fingerless black gloves, a midnight-blue wristband on her right wrist, and more notably, something most definitely not apart of her gothic outfit: the silver pair of police handcuffs around her wrists.

Genevieve: *(rubbing head in pain)* “Ow, shit, damn it… come on, Warren! It’s not my fault you don’t do anything about those stupid crazy kids! It’s every time, every day, the same spot, the same time, just different drinks! I mean, I’ve kept count! Yesterday was a convenience store slushie, mango-flavored, if I remember corre-”

The officer aggressively retorts back, silencing her with the simple action of telling her to cram it again with a flustered tone, as Officer Warren lifts his seat back up into place and causes the gothic Genevieve to finally, albeit begrudgingly, go silent, crossing her arms, scowling, and glaring back at him through the rearview mirror with seething frustration.

Officer Warren: “That’s better. More of that, and you might get on my good side, Genie.”

Genevieve: *(annoyed)* “Eh, don’t call me, Genie, copper... I’m not from a bottle, Aladdin… or shit, wait, was it a vase? Ah, god damn, I need to see that movie again…”

Narrowly dodging the same group of teenagers circling back around and attempting to lob another drink at him, the police officer exclaims, “*Aw, HELL!*” and turns on his squad car's siren, causing the teenagers to flee in terror at the sound, to which he chuckles in response and switches off his siren upon realizing they’re now long gone. Uncrossing her arms, Genevieve attempts to join in his laugh, but a sour glare and annoyed grunt from the officer toward her through the rear-view mirror forces her to shut back up.

The scene now showing the interior of downtown Marble Shores’ old-fashioned, slightly-dingy police station, specifically within a large open room contained to a metallic holding cell, where a greatly-annoyed Genevieve, her handcuffs removed, sits inside atop a metal bed, again with crossed arms, as the same dark-skinned police officer, Officer Warren, locks the cell’s door with a key and tucks it into his pocket, as Genevieve whines in protest as he does so.

Genevieve: *(flustered)* “Come on, Warren! You’re really going to make me sleep in this dingy little cell until tomorrow NIGHT?!”

Officer Warren: “This’ll finally teach you a lesson that you should abide by my warnings... I told you to stop squatting in abandoned houses, especially ones scheduled for upcoming demolition, and look who didn’t *LISTEN*, Genevieve! If they tore down that house with you hiding inside, you’d be lucky to not be seriously injured!”

As Genevieve continues to protest, despite Officer Warren retorting to her in a snappy, exasperated tone, she groans in frustration and holds her gloved hands up against her cells’ inner-bars, as Officer Warren begins to turn and walk away from her cell.

Genevieve: “I got nowhere to go! No family, and my old friends are starting to kick me out!”

Officer Warren: “Then you should get better friends, or change your attitude so your current ones stop kicking you out. It’s either those two choices, Genevieve, or you can keep doing what you’re doing and you have a frequent place to sleep, and that’ll be right here in the Marble Shores Police Department.”

Genevieve: *(throwing hands up, stepping away from bars)* “God, this is such FUCKING BULLSHIT!”

Officer Warren flicks off the room’s lights and continues to ignore her until her yell of defiance, angrily remarking, “It’s the law! Now, shut up, and just go to sleep!” before passing through the door and slamming it behind him, leaving the entire room almost completely pitch-black besides moonlight bleeding through an open window nearby. Groaning in exhaustion, left in total defeat, Genevieve sits down and collapses back onto her creaking metal bed behind her, tucking one of her gloved hands to the side of her head, and looking up at the ceiling of her cell with a sideways glance, as she begins to speak to herself in a gloomy tone.

Genevieve: “Well, well, well… ***Genevieve Codez***… you struck out again… caught squatting, now forced to squat within this little cell, beneath its low-bearing ceiling…” *(thinking to self)* “...’stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage’... what the fuck does that phrase even mean? Man, fuck the law...”

Left alone with her own thoughts, despite her wishes to stay awake in continued protests of her imprisonment, Genevieve grows more and more tired from within the dark environment, starting to steadily fall asleep atop the cell’s poor excuse for a “comfortable” bed. Wishing to pace around and think over her tough living situation, Genevieve, however, lacks both the energy and willpower to do so and decides to just continue lying down, mumbling an incomprehensible childhood lullaby to herself in hope of helping her fall asleep.

Still mumbling her tone minutes later, Genevieve begins to drift off to sleep, her eyelids growing heavier and beginning to unwillingly fall downwards over the surface of her glazed eyes. As she seems to be on the absolute verge of falling asleep, her eyes suddenly dart back open again, her pupils contracting and gaze focusing, as she is suddenly alerted to a sudden change of lighting outside the single window within the room outside the holding cell, its faint, silvery moonlight instead becoming a brief, yet highly-disorientating flash of blinding yellow light.

Bursting with sudden curiosity on the peculiar flash of light, Genevieve throws herself to her feet, stumbling in the process, and narrowly stops herself from smashing her body straight against the metal bars of the side of the holding cell, trying to tilt her head, and line of sight, as much as possible to see out the nearby window. Although she couldn’t see around half of the window from her perspective, she manages to catch what seems to be a trail of yellow light within the sky outside the station.

Genevieve: “A shooting STAR?!”

Eyes gleaming with both shock and fascination, Genevieve mumbles under her breath, bewildered and intrigued at the sight of such an unfamiliar sight, before unhappily snickering to herself, eventually sighing.

Genevieve: “What do you wish with this? I wish… I wish for a new change… and a drink, maybe...”

Eventually eventually crawling back to her creaking metal bed, Genevieve's returning sense of drowsiness swiftly becomes rampant again, despite the stimulant of the blinding light moments prior having briefly awoken her up moments before falling asleep…

...Genevieve finally dozes off, unaware of the bizarre chattering and clinking of several metallic objects throughout the room, as if what seems to be a miniature earthquake rocks through the entire police station. In her moments before falling asleep, blissfully unaware of the shaking, she pictures the strange yellow trial-shaped glow of light within her mind, finding something so… peculiar, yet comforting of its presence...

“Hey.”

A single word was all it took to suddenly awake Genevieve from her deep sleep, despite knowing herself that she was quite the deep-sleeper. Analyzing her surroundings with very blurry eyes and lightly-ringing ears, and eventually starting to feel the metallic structure of the cell bed underneath her body, creaking with the slightest movements, Genevieve recognizes where she was last night…

...and before she could do anything else, possibly groan in frustration yet again, she hears the repetition of the same word that woke her up.

“Hey.”

Listening intently, the ringing finally leaving her ears, Genevieve hears a short series of metallic clanks of something banging, or more lightly tapping in actuality, against the cell’s metal bars, although her world is still in the process of coming back into focus.

“Genevieve.”

“Genevieve.”

“Genie, come on, wake up. Hurry up, I got places to be.”

Swishing over in the cell’s bed’s sheets, Genevieve’s blurry vision begins to steadily adjust more and more until she manages to make out the silhouette of Officer Warren standing from outside the holding cell, and continuing to knock on the metal bars with the back of one hand’s knuckles, to wake up her and get her attention. Craning her head upwards, squinting profusely and nearly being blinded by her hair falling in the way of her eyes, she begins to slowly see his familiar black shades over his eyes, to which she finally realizes who he is, and immediately attempts to shield her face to hide her messy make-up.

Officer Warren: “Genevieve, wake up. This month. Preferably, this week.”

Finally lifting her upper-body up with the push of her arm against the mattress, Genevieve smooths down her very messy hair with one hand the best she can, and answers back, “*...what?*” with a confused look, her eyes still not having fully adjusted. She quickly thinks back to her previous night, and soon, the yellow glow outside her prison window creeps back into her mind, ripping her free of her dazed state and seemingly the catalyst of her fully waking back up. She looks back in the window’s direction, glimpsing the glow of an afternoon sky, and turns toward Officer Warren, in the process of unlocking the holding cell door to let her go.

Officer Warren: “Someone’s here to pick you up. You’re off the hook.”

Genevieve: “...I thought... you said... that I didn’t get out until tomorrow night?”

Officer Warren: *(unlocking cell as he speaks)* “Yeah, well, that was IF you weren’t going to be picked up by anyone, which I doubted... but that’s unimportant, because like I said, you’re off the hook. That fella ‘Elias’ is outside the station in his car, here to come pick you up. Y’know, that nice kid.” *(fully opens cell door)* "Come on, it’s almost 1:45 PM. Didn’t think you would sleep this late.”

Still slightly dazed from waking up so abruptly and unnaturally, Genevieve stands up from the bed and stumbles out her cell door, continuing to slick back her messy hair, and briefly glances at Officer Warren with a bitter glare she struggles to hide. Officer Warren stares back, unphased by her annoyance and using a finger to adjust and push his shades upwards.

Officer Warren: “Did you sleep well?”

Genevieve: *(irritated)* “Why do you care, Warren?”

Officer Warren: *(rolling eyes)* “Just… trying to be nice, Genie.”

Scoffing with a pensive tone, she continues to try and readjust her messy hair the best she can, readjusting a few of her dark clothes and ridding her face of her messy make-up through smearing it off with an old restaurant napkin she finds in her shorts’ pocket. Officer Warren stares at her briskly-leaving backside with a look of mild concern.

Officer Warren: “The belongings you had last night, they’re at the station’s front desk, in a plastic bag marked with your name.”

Genevieve: “T-Thanks…”

With that, holding back an urge to look back at the window near her holding cell, remembering that glow of bright-yellow from last night, she quickly opens the door leading out of the room and begins to hastily exit the police station.

Within the middle of a busy Marble Shores street, stuck in a bit of traffic jam, Genevieve sits within the passenger seat of a small, yet noticeably-refurbished car, looking downwards at nothing but her crossed arms. She briefly glances to the left at the car’s driver, the supposed “Elias” mentioned before by Officer Warren, that of a tall, lanky man the same young general age of Genevieve, with short, dirty-blond hair, bright-brown eyes, and thickly-rimmed glasses, a borderline representation of Genevive’s gothic aesthetic.

Remaining silent, focusing on the road with mild concentration, Elias’ bored, drifting gaze briefly catches Genevieve’s eyes from the corner of his peripheral vision, immediately startling her from his slight glance toward herself and prompting her to quickly look away with a disappointed look of shame, adjusting her wristband and awkwardly shuffling around in her seat, uncrossing her arms to do so.

Elias: “Hey... you okay, Genie?”

Genevieve: *(audibly upset)* “N-Not really…”

Elias begins to speak in a low, comforting tone, sensing the flustered tone and seething shame of Genevieve’s voice, and begins to make small talk in hopes of making her feel better, only for her to retort from either wallowing in shame or blowing smoke from her nose in frustration.

Elias: “I’m… sorry you got in trouble with Officer Warren again.”

Genevieve: “Come on, don’t kiss up to me. I didn’t do anything right. Squatting isn't legal, Elias.”

Elias: “...but… why were you squatting anyways? I thought you wanted to live with us, me and Myron, right?”

Genevieve: “What… you’re kidding? Myron is a screwball, AND not to mention, a huge prick and a half. I’m not fucking living with someone like that. I like you as a friend, dude, but I seriously need to get my own living space, and I can’t if I can barely hold a streak of oddball jobs to try and save up money.”

Elias: “How come? You’re a good worker.”

Genevieve: “It’s not my skills that’s the problem… it’s the fact that ever since that total jackass who tried to run for mayor, that Maximilian King, unintentionally gave all the other candidates running for mayor the ideas to start cracking down on unlicensed job offerings! NOW, their suggestions means I can’t make a CENT in this city now, thanks to that snot-nosed millionaire!”

Elias: “Well... you’ll find the right job for you eventually, Genie. I’m sure of it.”

Genevieve: “...b-but *THAT’S* the fucking thing! I can’t do ‘eventually’... I need one right now! You think you can tell the landlord ‘I’ll pay you rent eventually’?!”

Elias: “U-Uh, I’m sure things will turn around for you... stuff will start going in the favor... you need to just… get through all the bad stuff...”

Seemingly aware that Elias’ optimism was losing a bit of steam in trying to make her feel better from her own pessimism, Genevieve decides to just stop talking, leaning her head against the passenger-side window and looking out at the bustling streets of Marble Shores. Blinking slowly, she eventually lets out a very deep sigh and responds to his statements with, “*...I hope so.*”

As the duo sit in awkward silence for several minutes, Genevieve closes her eyes and intently thinks, although nothing in particular, periodically opening her eyes to continue staring out into the active, bustling streets of Marble Shores, soon beginning to stare up at the bright afternoon sky and squinting in concentration. Genevieve begins to think about the events that she witnessed last night...

...the yellow flash... the streak of light...

...the shooting star, or at least what she presumes it to be...

*...a sign of hope, perhaps?*

Genevieve: “...hey… Elias... did you… see something… last night?” *(glances toward him)* “...like… something, in the sky, last night?”

Elias: *(confused)* “Ummmm...  what kind of ‘something in the sky’ do you mean?”

Genevieve: “I don’t know? Something along the lines of a... ‘shooting star’... I guess? I… didn’t get a good look at it, but I saw what could be a trail of one...”

Elias: “Well, not necessarily... I’m a frequent stargazer, but I was in bed early last night…” *(brief pause, twirling lock of hair with finger)* “...wait… did you... see something in the sky last night, from within the holding cell?”

Genevieve leans herself away from leaning against the car window and quickly Elias, wide-eyed and rapidly nodding in confirmation, visibly surprising him with such a strong response from her, before she clarifies further to usurp his confusion.

Genevieve: “Elias, listen... I saw a *HUGE* shooting star... like, it lit up almost the entire holding cell I was in with yellow light, and… well... again, I didn’t see much of it, because of how my cell was positioned from the window away from it, but…" *(thinking for a moment)* "...it looked south of the police station... do you… I don’t know, think it could have probably been… a meteor?”

Elias: “Genie, I’m a stargazer… but not just some philosophic college student, and well, I am one... well, used to be... but not in the sense that I don’t watch the stars once in a while… I *LIVE* stargazing, got the hobby from my father..."

Genevieve: "Yeah, well, I know that."

Elias: *(continuing)* "...and if there was a meteor sighting, I would have *NEVER* missed it… on the same topic, aren’t shooting stars meteors themselves, just smaller ones?”

Genevieve: “Elias, dude, that *THING* was massive, and I’m not even exaggerating! It almost lit up the entire holding cell! It was not small by any means! Like, if it was small-” *(gestures to self)* “-then, so are my-”

Elias: *(quickly cutting her off)* “Alright, alright, I get it, Genie! Shooting stars are pretty damn bright on their own, regardless and no matter their size… are you sure it was honestly that intense, Genie? Maybe, it was just like a... comet...”

Genevieve: “Damn it, Elias, I know what a comet looks like, and it wasn’t a fucking comet! Listen, whatever it was, there’s more to this… and you know what, if there truly is, then I want to investigate it further! For all we could know, it truly IS a valuable meteorite, and if we claim and sell it, it’d make us rich! Richer than Maximilian!” *(whispering)* “*...fucking ass…*”

Elias: *(frowning)* “Come on, Genie... you’re thinking WAY too over your head.”

Genevieve: “I’m NOT! Listen, think about this for a second! If we had that money, we won’t have to live like shit anymore! Even if the wealth is only temporary, we can be kings within this city!”

Elias: “A hunk of space rock is most definitely worth a lot, but are you absolutely sure that’s what crashed into the Earth?! Meteor crashes are rare! People would be all over it!”

Genevieve: “Yes, and I’ll be fucking damned if I’m just going to sit around and try to brush off something that could make us rich! Elias, come the fuck on, are you really not going to take my word?!”

Elias: “I just think this is all a little… brash… but… you know what… Genevieve, listen to me...”

Elias slowly turns to face Genevieve, glaring with his expression and tone both dead serious.

Elias: “...you… should…” *(serious tone vanishes)* “...totally get into stargazing too.”

Elias’ tone and expression suddenly softens from his sudden state of relaxation, as Genevieve smirks in response, leaning her head against the window again, although propping it upwards with her right hand, as sunlight shines down on her wrist.

Genevieve: *(chuckling)* “Honestly, I really should... like seriously, as much as Marble Shores is pretty wore-down in terms of being a city, its night skies are beautiful...”

Elias: *(turning back toward road)* “...but like, we’re absolutely clear on it not being a meteor, right? Just a comet... I doubt it’s even remotely important...”

Within the semi-urban outskirts of southern Marble Shores, its sky slowly becoming the bright-orange glow of dawn, Elias’ car begins to drive toward a large open field of foliage and uncontrolled, natural vegetation. The car suddenly screeches to a halt among the densely-grass-filled fields, Genevieve shooting out of the driver-seat and pulling out a flashlight she struggles to turn on, closing the door behind her, as a panicked Elias follows soon after.

Elias: *(exasperated)* “Genie, you’re kidding me! You can’t be ACTUALLY taking your beliefs earlier today to THAT much of a degree, right?!” *(brief pause)* "Are you even listening to me?!”

Genevieve: “Listen, Elias… I told you this already!” *(brief pause, turns on flashlight)* “I don’t know why, but… I-I can’t shake those ideas at all! I’ve tried to for the past couple hours, and all I’ve been thinking about, non-stop, on a continuous loop, is that streak of light I saw in the sky last night! If it was something important, then I HAVE to see where it possibly landed! I don’t even care if I’m not the first to discover it at this point! I have to know for god’s sake!”

Elias: “You’re serious?! It’s NOT a *METEORITE*, Genie! We’re not even allowed to be out here in these fields! You’re going to get trouble in again!”

However, Elias is ignored by the searching Genevieve, beginning to head off into the grassy fields and scan the foliage with her illuminating flashlight, causing him to groan in frustration and begrudgingly yell out to her.

Elias: “FINE, I’ll be in the car when you’re ready to leave, GENIE!”

With a grumpy expression, Elias very slowly retracts back into the car’s passenger seat, leaving Genevieve be. However, as she begins to slowly head deeper and deeper into the fields, Elias nervously watching, he grows increasingly worrisome and begins to fidget more and more uncomfortably in his seat, before eventually bursting straight out of the car and running after her after her.

Elias: *(chasing after her)* “*GENEVIEVE, WAIT UP! ALRIGHT, I CHANGE MY MIND, GENIE! I CHANGE MY MIND! WAIT UP!*”

As Elias finally catches up to the slowly-searching Genevieve, he, at first, seems incredibly unwilling to join her search, only monitoring her from a distance and just wanting to keep an eye on her, but annoyed by her analyzing concentration and arrogance to his looming skepticism, Elias eventually grows weary from her newfound dedication, all from the infamous goth before him that's notorious for her lack of motivation and friendly social skills. Eventually, Elias casually tucks his hands into his pockets and chooses to resort to his best tactic with Genevieve: making small talk.

Elias: (brief pause, sigh) “...so… alright… I’ll humor you… if this IS a meteorite that YOU find… what are you even going to do... with all that money?”

Genevieve: “Wise of you to assume I gave that a ton of thought, and honestly… I just want to live life to the fullest… I know that what I’ll get will eventually run dry... and I’ll be back to square one… but... I want to use it to get back afoot… get myself my own place, treat both myself and the few people actually close and friendly to me, and just… take things easy for once…”

Elias: “...huh… well... am… am… am I someone... you would treat?”

Genevieve: *(chuckling in response)* “Elias, dude, of course, I would definitely share with you… out of all the scumbags who couldn’t give the slightest damn about having me a roommate... *YOU* were the only person out of all of them who actually cares for me, and I appreciate that… you’re like the brother I never had, or well, did have but he’s a dweeb, and if I were to get that opportunity of a lavish lifestyle, I wanna share it with the person who did their best to give me one prior... you, Elias!”

Elias: “*...awwww…* hey, thanks, Genie... I-I really appreciate that...”

Touching by her niceness, Elias turns away and thinks over her words, walking alongside Genevieve, as he eventually begins to smirk and silently chuckle to himself.

Elias: *(chuckling)* "...would you share it with the *great* '*Myron Beckett*'?”

Genevieve: *(sarcastically pondering)* “Hmph… would I share it with the screwball? Well… maybe, if he begs a bit, ya'know, like a dog asking for a treat…” *(chuckling too)* “...then, we’ll just see then, I suppose!”

Genevieve giggling afterwards, the duo eventually break out in fits of laughter at her response, with Elias finally appearing to be finally willing to join in on Genevieve’s search. They slowly continue their way deeper and deeper into the grassy fields, clearing a gradually-growing distance from Elias’ car.

Back within the center of Marble Shores, a bored-stricken, annoyed Officer Warren, sipping from a store-bought cup of coffee and getting ready for his exhaustively-bleak night shift of watching over Marble Shores at night, gradually drives down and through the seemingly-vacant streets and looks throughout them in search, before suddenly hearing a voice over his police cruiser’s radio. Grunting, Officer Warren places down the coffee cup he was sipping from down into his cup-holder, and lifts up the microphone.

Officer Warren: *(speaking into speaker)* “Officer Warren here. Hearing you loud and clear, Roy.”

Officer Roy: *(over speaker)* “We’ve got a, uhhhhh… looks like a couple kids wandering out in the off-limits southern fields of the city. Two of them, one male, one female, it seems.”

Officer Warren: “Now, which fields, Roy? There’s not exactly one of them over there... hmph, wait, are they the ones leading near that abandoned metro station?”

Officer Roy: “Yup.”

Officer Warren: “Well, I’ll be… just what are those kids trying to do: go down there into the station, or are they just exploring the fields?”

Officer Roy: “Well, I’m unsure about that, but one of them’s apparently got a flashlight they’re aiming about... they look like they’re… looking for something specific, I guess?”

In response, Officer Warren suddenly hesitates, thinking intently on what they could be before briefly and suddenly gawking to himself in realization, before laughing out loud to himself and taking a moment to compose himself, soon responding back to the confused Officer Roy.

Officer Warren: *(still laughing)* “Ah, I know what the hell those kids are trying to do… they’re probably apart of that online group of these city whack-jobs who think that the light in the sky from last night was some CRAZY alien meteor!”

Officer Roy: *(confused)* “Wait, what… a meteor? In the sky? Last night? Huh?!”

Officer Warren: “Y’know, some big ass flash of light in the sky… I saw on my way out of the station last night, after I put that goth, Genevieve, the one I told you about last weekend, there for the night…” (brief pause) “...it was probably just a comet, yet all these wackos online think it’s some alien spacecraft, or a meteorite that’s gonna make them rich! Now, I didn’t actually expect any of them to check for themselves… but *TWO* of them actually are out there?!”

Officer Roy: “Yeah, there’s two of them out there… so, do you want me to go down and break ‘em up, Warren? A little slap on the wrist, or to the station with them? Your choice.”

Officer Warren: “Nah... now, I know I already put that Genevieve gal in the cell last night and let her out this afternoon… but I can’t afford to not be rid of those nut-jobs myself... let me get rid of ‘em… beats having nothing to do, since all these streets are empty... and trust me, Roy, if they’re *ACTUALLY* indeed up to no good, I’ll bust their asses… absolute promise...”

Officer Roy: “Fair enough. Have fun, Noah. Report back if anything’s risky.”

With that, Officer Warren lowers his microphone, still chuckling to himself more, and begins to quickly drive off in the direction of the grassy-field-filled outskirts of the Southern side of the city of Marble Shores, completely unaware of who’s actually out there.

Genevieve: “There it is…”

Genevieve’s widened eyes both stare downwards, filled with glistening fascination, at the darkness-filled, frightening abyss that were the descending stone stairways leading deep into the dilapidated, abandoned entrance of Marble Shores’ anciently-abandoned subway system, having been put out of commission and public usage from decades ago.

Genevieve: “...damn, I’m surprised that the entrance to this place is ALL the way out here, for god’s sake! There’s not a building out here for a couple miles, and even then, it’s just that one convenience store!”

Elias: *(nervously scratching back of head)* “Well… they did use this metro station back in the 80’s… too bad at the same time, we had a corrupt mayor embezzling the station’s funds, and it went under… I heard one of the mayor candidates, Toby Stone, was interested in bringing this place back, and honestly… I really agree with him! The streets are crowded, sidewalks are packed, there’s constant gridlock, and frankly, this city really needs a more-”

As Elias continues to speak, practically breaking out in a monologue in regards to the subway station’s history and his shared beliefs of bringing it back, Genevieve pays no attention to him and excitedly begins to descend down the stone stairs of the station’s entrance, making sure not to trip over curled vines and various mossy plants growing over the rocky steps, as Elias finally notices her descent, slowly cutting himself off.

Elias: “...wait… Genie, what on Earth are you doing?!”

Genevieve: *(turning back to face him)* “Hmm… isn’t… isn’t it kinda obvious? I’m going down into the subway station... I have a flashlight, and a weakened cockroach-centered insectophobia…" *(whispering to self)* “*...from years of relatively-unnecessary therapy my family put me through…*”

Elias: *(confused)* "Wha-?"

Genevieve: *(raises voice to speak to Elias)* “...look, I’ll be fine, dude! I highly doubt that anything will happen… because-" *(stumbling over words)* "-actually, no, not *I’LL* be fine... *YOU'LL* be fine too... we’ll be both fine!”

Elias: “Wha- I- How- *YOU SERIOUSLY THINK A METEORITE WOULD HAVE ENDED UP DOWN THERE?! IN AN ABANDONED METRO STATION?! I MEAN, COME ON!*”

Genevieve: “Well… yeah? I’ve heard cases of meteorites crashing into, like people’s HOUSES, Elias! What if it’s like an ALIEN meteorite, or something?! What if it, like, I don’t know, phased through the ground, and ended up down there? What if the ‘meteor’ I saw, wasn’t a meteor, but like a beacon of light trying to signal someone to come to its location and acquire it? Alien stuff is some weird stuff, man!”

A flustered, shocked Elias only stares back at her with a look of baffled hesitation, unable to properly process her logic in going down to the station to find the meteorite, to which Genevieve scoffs, seeing his face, and turns back around, holding out her arms.

Genevieve: “Look, Elias, I’m just having fun! Alien meteorite or not, I’ve always wanted to come down into this creepy place… so are you going to come along or what? If you like, you’re completely welcome to go back to the car.”

Elias: “*GE-GENEVIEVE CODEZ, NO! IT’S DISGUSTING DOWN THERE! YOU WILL NOT BRING BACK MOLD INTO MY CAR! I’M REALLY SERIOUS! YOU MADE A MESS OF IT THE LAST TIME I HAD TO BRING TO A CAR WASH!*”

With Elias’ germophobic response of hesitation and frustration, Genevieve lowers her arms, yet eventually throws a hand up in a defensive, shrugging gesture, and merely turns back around, starting to proceed further into the depths of the metro station, with her other hand on the staircase’s railway as leverage to make sure she doesn’t trip and fall.

Genevieve: “Fine, have fun not exploring with me, dweeb. I’ll be back in like, half an hour.”

Elias: “You’re KIDDING?! *WHAT IF SOMETHING DANGEROUS IS DOWN THERE?!*”

Groaning in frustration from Elias’ continued protesting and demands to keep her from going down, Genevieve attempts to turn away, yet immediately swings around to face him again.

Genevieve: “Elias, THINK about this for a second! Do you honestly think some scary, knife-wielding serial killer, or some murderous gang of homeless men, are seriously hiding in the *MIDDLE* of NOWHERE?! It’s dark and cold down there! The most we’ll probably find is some abandoned hang-out spot of a bunch of stoners! You wanna chicken out? I’m not going to pressure you!" *(points toward worried Elias)* "That’s old Genevieve... because what could potentially be MY new future, could have just crashed into the depths of that station! It’s your choice if you want to help me!”

Elias: *(exhausted)* “...will… will seriously nothing change your mind?”

Genevieve frowns slightly, groaning with closed lips, and remains silent, slowly crossing her arms in an obviously defensive manner. After moments of exasperated hesitation, Elias grunts, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and finally agrees, removing his glasses in an obvious wish to not dirty them, pocketing them, and smearing his palm across his face to wipe off sweat.

Elias: “Alright, fine! Let’s go find an intangible alien meteorite, I guess! If you can’t pick it up because of that, I won’t pity you though!”

Elias descending toward the stairs after Genevieve, she prominently smirks with a victorious look, uncrossing her arms and turning back around to face the dark abyss below. Elias’ swift steps and eagerness to get this all over with suddenly cause his foot to get caught on a vine, tripping and sending him tumbling down the stairs and luckily, straight into the clutches of Genevieve to unintentionally catch him, who vocalizes her shock and attempts to quickly turn her body away to prevent the two from being literally thrown down the stairs, her back colliding with one of the mossy walls and hands grabbing onto the handrail behind her.

Genevieve: “Oh, SHIT! Are you okay, dude? Elias, you need to-”

Elias: “Sorry, sorry, sorry, I-...” *(noticing her sudden silence)* "...what?”

Genevieve: “...uhhhhhh, can you get off me, dude?”

As Elias awkwardly retracts in slight confusion on what she means and looks down at his arms, which had become sprawled out during his fall in attempts to grab onto something for leverage, Elias quickly tears his arms away in sudden realization he had accidentally gotten a little too close for Genevieve’s comfort, yelping out in shock and starting to hysterically panic, his face turning blood-red with embarrassment.

Elias: *(extremely embarrassed)* “Shit, shit, shit, oh my god, oh my god, oh my *FUCKING GOD, GENIE! I DIDN’T-! I’M SO-! I-!*”

In response, Genevieve nonchalantly shushes him, not at all phased by the accidental grabs, as she readjusts her slightly-wrinkled top and casually waves a hand to calm him down, before starting to head down into the abyss again.

Genevieve: “Relax, you tripped, it’s fine. Just watch your step. This place is crawling with vines.”

Elias: *(scratching head in embarrassment)* “Y-Yeah... r-right…” *(nervously trying to look away)*

His face still beet-red and twisting his mouth into a forced grin, Genevieve wishes to quickly dissolve the awkward situation, and thus gestures him to continue further down the stairs, as Elias, taking a few silent series of inhales and exhales, calms down from his embarrassment and follows after her, the two of them finally now entering the bacteria-filled abyss that once was a greatly-utilized subway station.

Unbeknownst to the group, back where Elias’ unoccupied car silently lays several yards away from the descending duo, a familiar pair of flashing red-and-blue lights begin flashing in the distance. Stopping his cruiser and emerging out of his driver seat with a look of confusion plastered on his face, Officer Warren scans the car’s exterior and pans his line of sight over the license plate, although the latter seems to be unnecessary, as Officer Warren could already recognize who this distinct car belongs to.

Officer Warren: “...didn’t know Ackers Jr. was an urban explorer… let alone a lawbreaker? What the fuck?”

Noticing a trail of footprints, originating from both Genevieve and Elias, Officer Warren scans them with his own flashlight, clicking it on and slowly panning its light up to steadily watch them lead further and deeper into the fields, vanishing into the towering plant growth.

Officer Warren: “...welppppp... stilllll can’t let that kid go into condemned, dangerous locationssss… two people out here? Who the hell is he with?” *(whispering to self)* “More importantly, how could more than one person believe those nutcase theories… I mean, I saw it for myself outside the police station, after I had put herrrrr-”

Thinking for a moment, it takes Officer Warren laughably fast to begin connecting the dots together in his head, and soon remembering that the confirmed gender of whoever Elias is with is confirmed to be female, and that there was a window within the station’s room that contains the holding cell, an obvious ability to view the light trail in the sky, Officer Warren chuckles to himself in a shocked state of slight denial, before his face steadily begins to contort into anger.

Officer Warren: “...no… that can’t be-... oh my god, no… it is! God damn it, Ms. Codez! You’re not going to break the law again, all for reaching a deeper low of squatting in abandoned places, and…” *(becoming increasingly frustrated, swinging fists in anger)* “...DRAG A FINE CITIZEN LIKE ACKERS JR. DOWN WITH YOU! *YOU’RE GOING TO GET MORE THAN A NIGHT THIS TIME!*”

Getting back into his car and angrily slamming the door with seething ferociousness, Officer Warren slams the bottom of his shoe against the pedal and swiftly speeds off, driving further into the direction the group had headed from their trail of footsteps.

Back inside the decrepit interior of the abandoned subway station, Elias runs around in a repulsed panic, wailing and yelling out in disgusted frustration, while like a playful, giggling child, Genevieve jokingly chases Elias with a rusty piece of broken metal, that of what appears to be the broken-off rod of a turnstile.

Elias: *(disgusted)* “Genie, come on! Stop THAT! That’s *DISGUSTING!* I came down here for you, but I draw the line at touching mold, let alone rust! Put that *DOWN!*”

Genevieve: *(laughing)* “Don’t be such a mysophobe, Elias! It’s literally just a tiny bit of rust! Have some fun! It’s what we partially came here to do, dude!”

Elias: *(sarcastic tone)* “Nooo… I recall coming here for the sole reason of finding a supposed meteorite…” *(stumbling back from Genevieve’s attempts to prod him with broken turnstile rod)* “...and would you please put that down already?!”

Genevieve sarcastically agrees to his exasperated demand, dropping the rusty hunk of metal and rolling her hands, before eventually holding out her lit flashlight to proceed deeper into the gloomy setting of the abandoned subway system, as Elias, slightly creeped out and shuddering slightly, follows her.

Elias: “...are you sure this place is safe?”

Genevieve: *(confused)* “Hm, oh, what? Oh no, I never clarified it WAS-”

Immediately noticing Elias’ shocked, wide-eyed reaction to her response of a seemingly-never-present lack of reassurement, Genevieve loudly laughs to herself, nearly losing her composure to the point of dropping her flashlight, and quickly clarifies the truth.

Genevieve: “I’m joking, Elias! I’m joking! I mean, of course, it’s fine... what’s the worst that could happen? We’d get cornered by some scary monster down here? Not a chance… *(speaks sarcastically to again frighten Elias)* “...or at least, I highly doubt that…” *(laughs at his again panicked response)* “...chill out, dude, I’m playing... come on, I think, the metro station’s main platform is just up ahead...”

Elias: *(crossing arms)* “..and you’re *ABSOLUTELY* sure there’s some alien meteorite down there, right, Genie?”

Genevieve: “Come on, Elias, have a little exploration spirit! You told me all the time you used to have that as a kid! Let’s have fun even if we’re probably going to come out empty-handed... I told you this at the entrance!”

Elias simply lowers his head down in response, swiftly shrugs, lifts back up his head, grunts in agreement to Genevieve’s wishes, holds up his hands, and quickly tucks them both into his pockets, rolling his eyes in the process.

Elias: *(whining slightly)* “Alrighttttt... fineeeee... I guess so, Genieeeee… because believe me when I say, the sooner we can leave, sooner I can get away from the rust...”

Continuing to head deeper into the abandoned metro station with the aid of Genevieve’s flashlight, and continuing their conversations of unimportant small talk, Genevieve and Elias both pass by a decomposing, half-opened metal door leading into the metro station’s manual control panels. Genevieve notices it, her eyes widening with fascination, using her flashlight to get a passing view of it, the light revealing the foul sight of mold-caked, rusted metal where the controls once were.

Elias wincing in disgust, the pair continue to head deeper and deeper, eventually passing by and “reading” a rotted, incoherent sign outside their potential destination, that of the metro station’s main boarding area, several nearby metal benches and walls still mostly intact, although similarly coated in a intermixed combination of dark moss, rotting mold, and cracked, browned rust. The metro train still lays in its boarding area, decommissioned and severely aged to being almost entirely lost to time.

Elias silently looks inside through one of the metro train’s rotted windows, wincing at the sight of what appears to be colonies of fungus and moss growing from within. With dumbstruck taps of Genevieve’s hand on his shoulder to get his attention, Elias turns to shock to see what she was wanting him to see… and there, within the center of the main metro station platform…

*...lays a peculiarly-formed crater of what appears a partially-collapsed portion of the ceiling.*

Shining rays of dawnlight glisten through the gaping holes in the station’s ceiling, illuminating the platform’s severely-damaged, cracked ground, Genevieve and Elias both slowly approaching the crater to stare in both fascinated bewilderment and curiosity. On closer inspection, staring with her steadily-widening, illuminated, and awestruck eyes, Genevieve stares within the center of where the fallen portion of the ceiling has fallen…

...a much larger crater than she had anticipated, several feet deep and several more feet in radius, lies within the center, surrounded by the splintered cracks of the shattered marble ground and chunks of broken metal. Elias follows, his eyes growing wider and wider with each step, as he soon realizes that there’s virtually no way the falling ceiling could have created such a massive hole…

...the influence of decay was not there…

*...the crater had been created recently.*

Elias: “I-I don’t… I don’t believe it… no, no, no, w-wait… *there’s not actually a-*”

Elias’ mumbles gasps of denial and shock take forever to create a string of comprehensible words that weren’t his starstruck stammering, and even then, were hardly able to voice how monumentally awestruck he was at the sight of a recently-created crater from within the abandoned metro station’s main station.

Elias: “...y-you… you were… *YOU WERE RIGHT?!*”

Genevieve, finally truly realizing now what she’s truly looking at, leaps forward more and glances deeper into the massive crater, starting to shine her flashlight into the partially-dawnlight-illuminated crater. She gasps loudly at the sight of something laying in the center.

*...a foreign object was inside…*

*...an object from the cosmos…*

*...a raw meteorite...*

Elias continues to blankly stare into the crater’s present contents, paralyzed by complete and utter confusion of how purely illogical these circumstances not only were, but how Genevieve was somehow, through a stroke of metalogical luck, was able to follow them precisely and borderline scarily accurately. His eyes massive with shock, his jaw gaping open, and the back of his hand to his forehead, Elias stammers out a high-pitched shriek of baffled stutters, all while, just a couple feet away, Genevieve squeals with semi-unfiltered joy, biting down on her lower-lip to keep herself from letting out full-blown screams, and keeping her feet pinned to the ground to keep herself from jumping up and down in pure excitement.

Finally breaking out of his bewildered trance after what seems like a solid minute of paralysis, Elias blinks several times to relax his eyelids, and slowly lowers his raised arm, using it to manually close his jaw, blinking a few times to make sure what he was witnessing was real, all while watching Genevieve’s hardly-contained dance of victory out of his peripheral vision, prancing about with ecstatic motions. Elias slowly scratches the back of his head, continuing to stare blankly, and awkwardly states in a confused, yet intrigued tone.

Elias: *(stammering)* “W-Welp… this was… entirely unexpected… maybe, you *SHOULD* get into stargazing, I mean… it was *RIGHT* here… *RIGHT* in the middle of the main platform… hell, it even took part of the *FREAKIN’ CEILING DOWN* when it crashed into here?! I… I can’t believe it, but… y-yeah, I guess you... were... r-right… *Genie?*”

Opposed to giving him a simple vocal response, Genevieve suddenly startles Elias with her springing around and giving a sudden bear-hug to his abdomen, before lifting him up in the air and swinging him around, all while she uncharacteristically squeals out in excitement. Finally releasing Elias, and nearly sending him flying backwards with the force of her hug, Genevieve wraps one arm around his shoulders, and holds a palm out to the open air, gradually panning it across in a gesture.

Genevieve: *(ecstatic)* “*KINGS! KINGS! KINGS! YOU AND ME! WE’RE GOING TO LIVE LIKE ROYALS NOW!! WE’VE HIT THE ABSOLUTE JACKPOT!! ALL MY KARMA HAS FINALLY WASTED AWAY, AND LADY LUCK HERSELF HAS FINALLY GRACED ME WITH A ONE-IN-A-BILLION OPPORTUNITY!! WE FOUND A REAL METEORITE!!!*”

Elias: *(nervously chuckling, scratching back of head)* “W-Well, I suppose... t-this new opportunity m-means you’re losing the macabre look, r-right?”

Genevieve: “Ummm… let’s cross that bridge whenever something may or may be the new black, when the cash starts rolling in, ‘kay?”

Elias nervously chuckles in response, nodding his agreement, as Genevieve finally lowers her arm and lets go of him, before hastily starting to re-approach the edge of the crater, staring down at its flashlight-illuminating contents with awe-filled eyes, and soon starting to lean over the edge, as Elias looks around at his surroundings in fascinated confusion.

Elias: “W-Why do you think… n-no-one came out here to claim… *THIS?*”

Genevieve: “Because they probably thought this shit was bogus! All of them, everyone online on those forums! Not me, though! Either that reason, or they probably had no idea it could have even ended up down *HERE*, underground below the surface of the fields, of all places! It’s an absolute miracle, by *LADY LUCK* herself, and now, she’s going to let me claim my *PRECIOUS!*”

Her eyes twinkling and sparkling at the sight of the dark, lump-shaped meteorite inside, Genevieve gradually begins to slowly slide down one of the crater’s inner-walls, suddenly entering the crater and startling Elias with her complete lack of any sort of hesitation in acquiring the silhouette, as he yells out in a frightened tone upon seeing her descend.

Elias: *(greatly concerned)* “Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Hey, hey, too close, Genie! That’s like, *LITERALLY* an object that just breached the atmosphere and smashed into the Earth’s crust not even 24 hours! Don’t you think it’d still be a little hot to the touch?! You could get some nasty burns from that!”

In non-vocal response, Genevieve simply scoops up a handful of broken chunks of the subway station’s platform’s rocky ground nearby with one hand, and tosses them in the direction of the foreign object, awaiting some sort of volatile response from its supposed extreme heat, but is met with nothing, as the rocky chunks of broken marble harmlessly slide off from around it and fall among the exposed patches of dirt.

Genevieve: *(excited)* “Look at that! No sizzle, no burn, no snap, crackle, or pop! It’s all good! I guess it cooled down overnight, Elias!”

Elias: “Alright… so… this may be the first time I’ve ever SEEN a meteorite in person… well, not one that’s in a museum display case, that is… but that *THING* could seriously have been thousands of degrees hot, dosed in unimaginable amounts of cosmic radiation and toxic gases… are you saying it just took under 24 hours for it to just become… room-temperature, I guess?!”

Immensely confused and concerned, Elias begins to slowly approach the ledge of the crater, pondering and staring down at the meteorite itself from where he was standing. Extending out an arm to keep Genevieve from immediately grabbing it, frustrating her, Elias analyzes it with the inner-webbing of his left hand’s index finger and thumb placed to his chin in a pondering gesture, staring at how… bizarrely dark this “*meteorite*” appeared.

Elias: “Are you… sure that thing’s even a meteorite? It looks… pretty damn strange if you ask me… not like any museum meteorite I’ve ever seen… could be burnt from entering the Earth’s atmosphere, but I mean, if it’s not even a meteorite, I don’t know *WHAT* this thing could be...”

Genevieve: “What are you saying, that it’s something else, like a chunk of satellite? Elias, a kind of chunk of Earth metal like THAT would have burned up in the atmosphere upon atmospheric re-entrance! Not this puppy though!” *(gestures toward meteorite)* “That’s pure fucking alien rock, my dude, filled with metals that are not only valuable on their own, but literally from *OUTER SPACE*, and that’s going to make you and me rich! We can get out of this dump, get on our feet, and it’s going to be smooth sailing for the rest of our lives!”

Elias: “Slum?” *(crossing arms, pouting slightly)* “*...but I like Marble Shores…*”

Genevieve: “Oh, for the fucking love of- come on, Elias! This city’s a dump, admit it for once! I know you’re really nostalgic for it, seeing that your grandparents grew up here in this place, but... I only came here to escape from my parents after dropping out of college and becoming…” *(gestures to self)* “...well, you know the rest… you’re looking at it after all...”

Elias: “Fair enough…” *(thinking, before suddenly putting hands up)* "...man... just... you know what, on second thought, forget anything about this being normal... we just found a presumably *ALIEN METEORITE* in the middle of an abandoned metro station, the *NIGHT* you supposedly saw its trail in the night-sky, *WHILE* in a police station holding cell... I mean, this afternoon truly has been much wackier than I anticipated, and we’re not even on Part 2 yet… so, go for it, Genie...”

Genevieve: “Alright, then, that sounds more- wait, what? You’re… you’re that sure?”

Elias: “I mean… I’m still hardly processing this myself… the fact that... we- well, more… YOU found a chunk of space rock and minerals.” *(brief pause)* “That's crazy, and for all we know, it’s probably not even a meteorite! It’s probably some alien artifact in the form of a ring you can put on your finger and use it to turn your sheer willpower into constructs of pure hard-light energy… or allow you to transform into a magical, godlike version of yourself with cool lightning powers, just by saying some… zany trigger word!” (brief pause) “...like, uhhhh… ‘*SHO-ZOOM*’!”

Tempted to immediately turn and acquire her prize, a bewildered, squinting Genevieve stops to slowly turn and stare back at the talking Elias as he speaks, only shrugging in confusion when he‘s done upon seeing her baffled look, unsure himself of what the “meteorite” could truly be, and slowly steps away from the ledge.

Genevieve: *(glaring slightly)* “...you read too many comic books, dude.”

Elias: “Genie… you’re INSIDE a meteorite crater… like, *LITERALLY* right in it, not standing near the edge of it like me! I didn’t anticipate you to be in one this afternoon… but… guess, here we are!”

With that, Genevieve rolls her eyes and slowly turns back around to the interior of the crater, to face the meteorite, staring down at the silhouette of it with glee, although her glee steadily turns into confusion upon coming closer to grab it, finally truly getting a much, much better look at its dark form…

*...Elias’ skeptical assumptions... were actually true...*

*...it’s NOT a hunk of space rock… not even rock at all…*

*...it’s some sort of dark-gray, black-accented mechanical container…*

*...it’s metal... pure, solid, gray metal...*

Genevieve: *(eyes widening)* “...huh?”

Her eyes glistening in anticipation, Genevieve's very close movements cause the metallic container to spring to life, releasing a burst of hot steam from its interior that forces Genevieve to retract back to avoid being struck, and causes Elias, standing impatiently in the background with crossed arms, to stagger, also frightened by the sudden sound and movement.

The burst of sudden scolding steam narrowly grazing Genevieve's retracting hand, the steam slowly begins to disperse and eventually reveals the upper-half of the container slowly starting to creak open, its shape almost like an unwinding spiral... as it vertically opens upwards…

*...and emits a dark-purple light from inside...*

Genevieve: *(shocked)* “...wh-wh-*WHAT?!*”

The purple glow retracting backwards, Genevieve’s eyes vibrantly shine, and somehow manage to grow wider if they could, at the sight of a peculiar little device from within the opened container, resembling a slim, bracelet-shaped wristwatch of sorts, primarily resembling black and silver-gray, while the top of its body possesses an intriguing, circular interface, bordered with a black, circle-shaped dial featuring several dark-purple dots, and four mechanical, glowing-silver-gray tubes in the shape of an X, with a very distinct symbol in the shape of a sharply-angular hourglass, glowing a dark shade of purple, the source of its powerful glow from within the container, and near its circular interface, to the left of Genevive’s own perspective, has a large, bright-purple button on its side.

Genevieve: *(even more shocked)* “...this… this is not a… oh my god, ELIAS, *YOU WERE RIGHT!*”

Elias: “Excuse me, but how am I wrong?! You’re *LITERALLY INSIDE THE CRATER THAT-!*”

Genevieve: “No, not that, you DWEEB! Not that! It isn’t a *METEORITE!*"

Elias: *(brief pause)* "...come again?"

Genevieve: *(glaring down at container)* "...it looks like… some sort of… it almost looks like a WATCH! I don’t know how, or why, or… but that’s literally what IT IS! *I’M STARING AT IT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES! IT’S BLACK, GRAY, PURPLE-!*”

Elias: *(stuttering in complete bewilderment)* “...a… what?! A WATCH? LIKE ONE THAT TELLS TIME?!” *(flabbergasted, putting hand to forehead)* “*FROM OUTER FREAKIN' SPACE?! HOW COULD I- HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY GET ANYMORE STRANGER?!*”

Genevieve: *(shrugging)* “...personal opinion… but I think it’s because you keep jinxing it…”

Elias: “You’d *THINK?!*" *(hand still to forehead)* "God, when we get back from here, and get our cash, the first thing I’m buying is a lifetime supply of headache medicine, because if this happens again, I’ll be goddamn prepared that time!”

Genevieve: “...I wasn’t saying you jinxing it was bad… I mean, this is a pretty cool-looking alien wristwatch… you think it tells like… alien time! Ooh, wait, wait, wait, you should jinx it again! Maybe if you do, they’ll even be like a space tablet inside this container it’s in alongside with it!”

Elias unable to keep himself from chuckling at Genevieve’s humor, she leans forward the device, reaching out toward its dark-purple glow of light as if hypnotized by it, both her eyelids and lips quivering in anticipation. With an instance, the purple glow of the hourglass symbol begins to flicker, and within an instance…

...it suddenly *LEAPS* from its own mechanical container…

...Genevieve stumbles back in shock, and is unable to stop it from literally wrapping around her left wrist and tightly gripping on…

Genevieve: “What the- *GAHHH! AGGGHHHH! BAD JINX! BAD JINX! SHIT, IT’S ALIVE, IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ON MY ARM! KILL IT! KILL IT! ELIAS, UNJINX IT! UNJINX IT!*”

As everyone devolves into pandemonium, Genevieve thrashing around in the crater and grabbing hold of a chunk of a rock to bash it against the side of the bizarre apparatus, she eventually collapses on her back in a desperate attempt to yank it off her arm, literally throwing herself out of the crater and facing the shocked Elias, who personally grabs onto it himself with both hands in similarly-furious attempts to rip it off her arm. His attempts are just as futile and hers, and the duo stumble backwards, falling onto their backs.

Elias: “*MAN, I KNEW THIS THING WAS A BAD IDEA, GENIE! I LITERALLY SAID IN THE CAR IT COULD BE! NOW, YOU HAVE AN WRISTWATCH-SHAPED ALIEN PARASITE STUCK TO YOUR WRIST! IF STUFF STARTS BURSTING OUT YOUR CHEST, I’M NOT PITYING YOU!*”

Genevieve: “*IT’S NOT AN ALIEN PARASITE, ELIAS! IT’S-*” *(suddenly calms upon realization its unresponsive state, tapping it with her index finger)* “...uhhhh... hmmm… oh, well, I guess it just wanted to… jump on my wrist? No budging or nothing… was it even alive?”

Prodding the device in confusion to its suddenly-inanimate state, Genevieve accidentally presses the button on it, now located on the inner-side of her left wrist now, causing the device to suddenly spring to life, briefly glowing with a surge of purple light. Its circular interface suddenly pops upwards, revealing it to be the top of a protruding core of sorts, the core’s exposed sides jet-black with patterns of asymmetrical, glowing-purple circuitry spanning across it, greatly starling the duo from its sudden activation.

As Genevieve exclaims, “*Whoa-!*” in shock from its activation, she leans forth and watches the device’s gleaming hourglass-shaped pattern devolve inwards and rapidly morph to form a hexagonal-shaped pattern of dark-purple energy, brightly glowing with the strange, pitch-black silhouetted icon of a gangly, semi-mechanical humanoid shape displayed in the center.

Genevieve: “Whoa… what the *HELL?!*”

Elias: “I’m guessing from your reaction that it *DOESN’T* tell time…?”

Genevieve: “If it’s currently half-past-freaky-silhouette, then… no… it doesn’t...”

Tinkering with the device’s lightly-beeping interface, Genevieve soon begins to discover her ability to twist the “dial” of the circular interface either clockwork or counter-clockwise, each displaying various silhouettes that resemble bizarre humanoid shapes of various sizes.

She soon discovers a variety of silhouettes, a new one displayed with each twist, including what resembles a large, muscular humanoid of rocky skin with its head appearing to be seemingly apart of its upper-torso, a small humanoid with fairy-like characteristics including a dainty form and four small wings, and finally, a tall, abstract humanoid silhouette with long, tendril-like antennae emerging out of its head, and a similarly-long tail, noticeably possessing mechanical, plug-shaped extensions from the ends of said tendrils and tail, along with the tips of its fingers.

Genevieve: “What the fuck, what kinda alien time is this? I mean… it’s pretty cool, won’t lie… and it’s black and silver too… those are totally my colors, like this thing was *MADE* for me… but heh, that’d be ridiculously precise-”

Suddenly, a series of storming footsteps suddenly alert the duo, as they quickly rise back up to their feet, stumbling about, and turn to face the frustrated face of Officer Warren staring out from the darkness, emerging and lighting his flashlight to illuminate them. His beliefs that Genevieve was behind this proved true upon seeing her presence before himself, Officer Warren fumes in frustration.

Officer Warren: *(yelling out)* “*GOD DAMN IT, I DIDN’T WANT TO BELIEVE IT... BUT IT DIDN’T MATTER ANYWAY BECAUSE IT WAS TRUE! GENEVIEVE CODEZ… WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE?!*”

Genevieve: “Ah, shut the fuck up, copper! I found this thing, fair and fucking square, and now it’s mine! Cram your shit and hit the road!”

Officer Warren: “WELL, I- Wait... what the hell are you-” *(turns to Elias)* “-what is she talking about now?!’

Elias: “We found an alien electronic.” (shrug) “You know, just the usual.”

Officer Warren: “Hah! What are you kidding?" *(brief pause, soon realizing Elias was seirous)* "...alright, well then... let’s wrap this up… Elias, get your ass out of here, and Genevieve, you can come with me. You’re under arrest for trespassing in forbidden abandoned areas.”

Genevieve: *(frustrated)* “Screw you, I found an alien artifact here!”

Officer Warren: “Oh, yeah? Screw YOU too! You still broke the law even if you *ACTUALLY* did find one! Now, you’re going to come along quietly with me, or god, so help me, I will-!”

Walking forward and aggressively grabbing onto Genevieve’s left wrist with one hand, his palm wraps around and clutches the beeping core of the bizarre alien device. His eyes widening in realization of whatever the hell he just accidentally grabbed, the device begins to violently erupt with purple light…

*...as Genevieve stares at her body gradually being wrapped in the flash of blinding light…*

Rapidly coating her outer-body, rubbery-black flesh akin to electrically-insulating rubber begins to swiftly crawl up Genevieve’s extremities, her fingers enlarging and suddenly merging together to form only four fingers on each hand, suddenly sprouting extensions on the ends that resemble large, golden electrical plugs. Stepping forward with two-toed feet, her body becomes slimmer and taller, retaining her feminine shape and even pronouncing it, as she gradually sprouts golden bolt-like protrusions, one by one, on each of her shoulders and hips, and two on each of forearms and calves.

Her facial features vanishing from within the flash of light, only manifesting in the form of a large, single, bright-purple eye, along with a mouth of stark-white teeth, and soon, an extended pair of antennae-like tendrils emerging from the back of her head, sprouting both similarly-golden, albeit sharply-pronged plugs on the ends, and a similarly-long tail from her backside, ending in a third pointed plug. Her clothes having devolved into a dark-purple, sleeveless jumpsuit of a fabric-like substance with silver-gray highlights, the circular-shaped interface of the alien device, still possessing the hourglass symbol, manifests on the center of her chest above her jumpsuit, as if it was some sort of emblem.

???: *(electronic voice)* “Hey, keep your dirty hands off of-! Wait… *why do I sound like-*”

Within an instance, Elias and Officer Warren both begin suddenly screaming in a frenzied panic, only able to point forth in horror. Confused and dazed, the transformed Genevieve stumbles back and stares down at a large broken glass shard laying on the ground, seeing her one-eyed face’s reflection staring back up at her. Growing shocked and suddenly looking down at the large plugs replacing her fingertips, the transformed Genevieve begins to yell out in hyperventilating panic, soon realizing the presence of her newfound tail.

???: “*MY VOICE! MY FACE! MY HANDS! MY… TAIL?! IS THIS A TAIL?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! AM I… **WHY DO I LOOK LIKE THIS NOW?!***”

Elias: “You… *TRANSFORMED! THE THING TRANSFORMED YOU! IT’S NOT A WRISTWATCH… IT IS AN ACTUAL ALIEN DEVICE! **IT TURNED YOU INTO A FREAKIN’ ALIEN!***”

As the transformed Genevieve continues to panic, her single, dark-purple eyeball on her face widening in terror, the episode abruptly fades to black, ending with a single message in dark-purple, silver-gray-outlined text atop the middle of a black background.

***TO BE CONTINUED...***

## Noteworthy Events

#### Major Events

* Major protagonists Genevieve Codez and Elias Ackers debut, alongside neutral Officer Warren.
* Following the trail of the device crash-landing into the Earth, Genevieve, with the reluctant company of Elias, eventually discovers and unintentionally equips an unnamed alien device.
	+ When confronted by Officer Warren, he accidentally interacts with the device and reveals its bizarre metamorphic power of transforming Genevieve into a strange alien creature.
* Several defining characteristics of the characters, including Genevieve's externally-macabre, yet internally-eccentric beliefs for a better future, Elias' worrisome nature and germophobia, and Officer Warren's no-nonsense attitude, are depicted for the first time.
* A strange spacecraft that has spawned an artificial wormhole to cross through the galaxy appears at the beginning of the episode, the scene narrated by a feminine, albeit inhuman voice who speaks about plans of "galactic conquest".

#### Minor Events

* Various characters, including Myron Beckett, Officer Roy, Maximilian King, and Toby Stone, are mentioned for the first time, with Roy's voice being heard.
* Genevieve reveals that she is only in Marble Shores, because she wished to escape her controlling parents after dropping out of college. Although only alluded, they also apparently discovered and heavily disapproved of Genevieve's gothic nature.

## Characters

#### Protagonists

* Genevieve Codez *(first appearance)*
* Elias Ackers *(first appearance)*
* Elias' Father *(mentioned)*
* Toby Stone *(mentioned)*

#### Neutral

* Officer Warren *(first appearance)*
* Officer Roy *(voice-only)*
* Myron Beckett *(mentioned)*
* Maximilian King *(mentioned)*
* Genevieve's Parents *(mentioned)*

## Aliens Used

* Feedback *(first appearance; accidental transformation)*

## Trivia

* This episode went through a few rewrites, some partial and one major, throughout its development, originally having much less development between Genevieve and Elias, and the latter character being hardly present even after the previous fact.
	+ Opposed to discovering the alien device's trail from within a police station holding cell overnight, Genevieve was originally meant to have seen the trail on the way back from a grocery store halfway through the episode, although the idea was heavily altered during the episode's major rewrite when the idea that Genevieve was a lawbreaker was added.
		- Prior to this scene, the apartment complex Genevieve, Elias, and the mentioned Myron, all live in was originally meant to be depicted, although the major rewrite removed the scene. Although the creator, WTB had potential plans to show off a glimmer of it after Elias returns Genevieve home from picking up from the station, he didn't felt the scene was unnecessary and decided to just save the first appearance of the apartment for the next chapter.
	+ Officer Warren was much more confrontational to Genevieve, and would have directly attempted to chase after her when she enters the Marble Shores fields, partially being the reason why she enters the abandoned metro station, although the idea was scrapped because it made me come off as an clingy asshole and a full-fledged antagonist to Genevieve.
	+ Officer Warren was originally meant to be the one telling Genevieve to stay away and not tinker with the alien device, potentially to stray away from the idea Warren is actively out to get Genevieve, and only wanting to both protect her and keep her from breaking the law, but during the major rewrite, virtually most of the final product's inclusion of Elias was added.
	+ An after-credits scene of another reappearance of the spacecraft from the beginning of the episode was considered, but it was left out because it felt unnecessary.
* Genevieve references *Aladdin* when becoming annoyed by Officer Warren's usage of her "Genie" nickname that's very commonly used later by Elias.
* Genevieve references the names of the mascots for *Rice Krispies* when testing if the meteorite was still too hot enough to interact with.
* Elias references the powers of DC superheroes, *Green Lantern* and *Shazam*, when pondering what extraterrestrial properties the alien meteorite may have, with Genevieve directly referencing it further upon stating he reads too many comic books.