I woke up one day and they were just there.
Suspended in the sky were thousands and thousands of unmoving, silent black-colored cubes. Each one was in different sizes; some as big as houses, and some as small as fallen meteorites. Only difference is, they were just floating in the air—not moving or rotating at all. If there were clouds that day, you’d see them partially behind the clouds and/or some at a distance, but always stationed in the same spots even when clouds are moving/disappearing. Rain doesn’t seem to affect them either.
News and articles came pouring in for the next few weeks:
“What are these cubes?”
“ARE THEY FRIENDLY?”
“Cubicle Spaceships: The New Modern UAP”
“Possible New Russian Bioweapons”
“All Airlines Temporarily Cancelled Due to Phenomenon”
I work at an office as a marketing coordinator and sit by the windows. They are huge windows so when I’m on break, I will just stare out at the cubes and hope to see some movement in the sky. Once in a while, I’ll talk to my coworkers and theorize what could the cubes possibly be, maybe there really are aliens living inside each one. Maybe they’ve finally come down to Earth and they’re just sitting idly by up there watching and waiting to see when they can terrorize us. Or maybe we really are in a simulation and our world is finally glitching! Haha, who knows…
But as day by day goes by, most of us have just accepted that the cubes are now part of the sky. I think it’s been about 4 months since the day I woke up and saw them up there. You can only imagine the amount of social media videos posted on Instagram and TikTok, lots of people trying to pose and make selfie videos/memes of themselves trying to “grab” or “eat” one of the cubes (like the way people post photos of themselves “leaning” on the Tower of Pisa).
Of course also in the social media world, you’ll find a TON of UFO/UAP enthusiasts coming out with videos of their own theorizing what the cubes could be, and what the government might be doing about it. Most of them are complaining about the usual “what-are-they-hiding-from-us”, and others are saying how excited they are about possibly meeting an alien for the first time (and that’s assuming there’s actually something living inside of each one).
Some folks have tried to illegally fly themselves up there with a pilot friend that they know, only to be immediately caught and arrested afterwards. The government officials have made it strictly clear that none of us were to attempt to try to reach even one of these cubes, as they are still investigating this phenomenon and cannot guarantee our safety. But I’m sure what they really meant was “don’t get in the way of our investigation”, which would also be understandable. Not to mention that despite the cube sizes (visually-speaking), they are actually a lot further up high to the point you would start to lose oxygen if you ascend at higher altitudes, and even then you’re still too far to reach the “nearest” cube.
I’m not going to lie but to this day even after 4.5 months, these cubes still creep me out a bit. It’s like an illusion; they look quite close to you but in reality, they’re probably thousands of miles up high. But what do I know, I’m not a scientist, just a coordinator at an office job trying to make ends meet. At night before I go to bed, it’s hard to see them because they blend right in with the dark sky, but during the day, they’re just these pure black cubes suspended in the air, never moving. Light seems to always escape them too because you never see any reflection on the cubes from sunlight.
--
Things were going as normal until one day at work, some of us reported that they could no longer see the cubes.
“What do you mean ‘it’s not there’?” I asked my coworker, Anne.
“I seriously don’t see them anymore. I just see the blue sky and some clouds right now, the cubes are not there.” She said.
Another coworker overheard our conversation and joined in.
“I still see them right now, they’re there in the same usual spots. You really don’t see them?” Steve asked Anne as he gestured his hand towards the window.
“Yeah I’m not kidding. Here, let me take a picture.” Anne pulls out her phone and snaps a photo. Then she turned her phone towards us. “This is what I see, there’s nothing there.”
I looked at her phone and said, “But it’s… still there. Steve, you see it too right?”
“Yeah… what the heck?” Steve said, looking puzzled.
What is going on?
The three of us decided to walk around our office and pulled in some more coworkers to ask. And as I thought, about two-thirds of us can still see the cubes, but the rest can’t anymore. ‘What is happening’, I thought. This continued to bother me the rest of the day.
Later that night after I got home and showered, I sat in front of my computer and decided to dig up more info. As expected, most of the world is reporting that they have friends, families, and coworkers saying some can still see the cubes—and some cannot. One day these folks woke up and just said “all the cubes disappeared”, but of course that was not the case for everyone. I can still see them.
--
About a week later, news came out saying that the government wants to take action and fly one of their space capsules to one of the nearest cubes (obviously for the ones that can still see them). They said we could watch the launch live on YouTube so it’s more “transparent” with what they’re doing behind the scenes, as they’ve received a lot of complaints and borderline rioting from the world from people fearing for their safety, and why some folks can no longer see the cubes. They’ll be doing the launch on April 22nd at 3:30 PM, most of us will be at work but my workplace was willing to watch it together in the breakroom for a bit.
It is now 3:26 PM, and most of my coworkers have gathered in the breakroom together. We flipped on the YouTube app, and as expected on the homepage, it was all over the “News” section. We just randomly selected one of the channels to watch the launch.
“5… 4… 3… 2… 1…” And the capsule launches on the dot. Pretty much nothing happens for a while as we watch it continue to ascend into the air. The diagram on the right of the live feed shows a capsule icon of where the capsule is currently at, and it’s about half way towards the nearest cube.
“So were they hoping to launch that capsule and actually land onto one of the cubes? Like literally?” Steve asks.
“No idea…” I said. “Hope it’s not a suicide mission, this is too unnerving.”
“Like is it even a physical tangible cube?” Anne jumps in. “I can’t see them anymore, so that almost makes me think they’re actually transparent? What if the capsule goes right through it and nothing happens?”
“Or what if… it takes them to another universe and sucks them right in? Or the power suddenly drops and the capsule starts falling?” Steve asks, fidgeting his coffee cup in his hand. “Are there people manning that capsule right now inside?”
“I don’t know… I just hope we learn something from this launch. I’m worried about my friends and family members back at home.” I said. It’s true, my parents, my brother, and my best friend Mary can no longer see the cubes either. My second brother luckily can still see the cubes like I do, so we’re usually the ones updating our family members on the latest updates.
“Yeah, I’m worried about my family too. My wife can’t see them anymore but I can, so sometimes we get into really dumb fights since I’m still paranoid about what these things are. But since she can’t see them anymore, she thinks we’ll be fine and that I’ll probably eventually stop seeing them too one day.” Steve says, gripping his cup a little harder. I could tell he’s definitely had some frustrating days on his end.
“Look! It’s almost there!” Anne says, pointing at the diagram. Everyone turns their attention back on the large screen. I looked at the live feed on the left instead.
As I thought, you can definitely see an enormous, unnerving black mass getting closer. You can’t even see the surroundings anymore. It’s almost like walking straight into a room you’ve never been to at night with no lights anywhere, but the room is so spatially large that all you feel is darkness, gloom, and silence.
…
Suddenly, the live feed starts flickering.
Then it glitches. Flashes. Turns pixellated. And then…
Nothing.
Large letters then appear in its place:
“LOST CONNECTION… Attempting to reconnect…”
The diagram on the right was also frozen. Or was it? Although the capsule icon was still there, it’s not moving. Are they actually inside the cube? Or is the entire screen just freezing up? My coworkers and I just looked at each other, not saying anything.
After a few more minutes of uncertainty, the live feed eventually stopped broadcasting, and the video was replaced with “This video is unavailable”.
“What… happened..?” Steve asks, feeling anxious.
“I… don’t know. Oh my god…” I said, not knowing what to say either.
The screen then flashes back on one more time with the same message, but something was different on the diagram’s side.
The capsule icon was still there, still frozen in place.
However, the cube was not.
It… passed the capsule?
“Um guys, is it just me or did that black square move?” I asked my coworkers.
“What the…” Anne said, trying to make sense of what’s going on. “What does that mean..?”
Steve didn’t say anything, just stared at the screen. My other coworkers started talking amongst themselves, trying to figure out what just happened.
The video then shuts off and never comes back on. We eventually went back to our desks and finished working the rest of the day. I felt very uneasy.
--
When I woke up the next morning and looked out of my window, the cubes in the sky looked… odd.
Why do a few of them look bigger than usual? Maybe I didn’t sleep too well last night since I kept thinking about that YouTube stream. I decided to brush it off, washed up, and went to work.
“So how do the cubes look today?” Anne asked.
“Hmm…” I pondered. “What do you think, Steve?”
Steve didn’t answer, as he placed his finger on his chin, thinking.
Then he said, “I think… they’re moving…”
“Wait… what?” Anne responded.
I knew it. My eyes weren’t playing tricks on me this morning. The cubes really did move.
“This might sound crazy but when I woke up today, I literally turned to my wife and told her that I think the cubes aren’t just moving, but they’re actually getting closer. To us.” Steve said, as he looked at Anne and then me.
“No way… I thought I was just imagining that.” I said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about that video yesterday. We haven’t had any updates since then.”
“Are you serious..?” Anne said, as she started showing a concerned look on her face. “God I really hate how I can’t see them anymore.”
“Yeah… It really seems that way. They just don’t look right at all this morning.” Steve said sternly.
I agreed. Something was wrong, it just doesn’t feel right.
We went back to our desks eventually and continued working as usual, but I’m sure all of us couldn’t really focus.
--
And Steve was right.
After 2 weeks since the launch, the cubes in the sky were indeed getting closer. And they just looked… so big. I can’t even fathom how big their actual sizes are. Even the smaller ones looked huge.
We still hadn’t heard any updates back from the government, maybe they’re scrambling trying to figure out what to announce to the public. Or maybe they’re like ‘screw it’ and went into hiding instead. Social media and news articles have obviously also blown up, everyone is panicking and stocking up on food and supplies. No one knows what to really do, and the ones that can’t even see the cubes are also fighting with the ones that still can.
Our workplace also decided it’s best we should close the office for the time being and just stay home with our loved ones. I’m sure compiling spreadsheets is the last thing on their minds right now. I decided to drive over to my parents’ house and stay there until we hear any new updates back. My brothers went there too.
--
“Are they still there? Are they still getting closer?” My best friend Mary asked, who was talking on the phone with me. I was chilling in my second brother’s room while he was gaming with his friends online.
“Yeah… and they definitely looked bigger today than yesterday.” I told her. I glanced over at my brother who also nodded in agreement while listening and gaming.
“I’m so freaked out, I hate how I can’t see them. When I could no longer see them, I thought it was all over and that everyone around me was just messing with me.” Mary said. “Clearly, that’s not the case. This is so scary…”
“Yeah… If they’re getting closer, that means… they might actually hit Earth soon, or they’ve already entered our atmosphere even.” I said, while watching my brother gaming on the side. He eventually exited the game and turned his chair around to listen in on my conversation more.
“Well, just stay safe with your family too. You guys have a basement right? If shit gets bad…” Mary said.
“Yeah, we also stocked up on a ton of food. We’re most likely gonna start sleeping in the basement in a few days, if the cubes seriously don’t stop coming down.” I said, as my brother nodded.
“Alright, keep me updated! And I’ll do the same.” Mary said, then we hung up.
Our other brother then entered the room.
“Mom said dinner’s ready.” He said.
“Alrighty, let’s go.” My second brother said, as we followed our older brother out.
My family and I decided to keep things light-hearted and not think about the falling cubes, so we decided to walk down memory lane as we ate my favorite pasta from my mom’s secret recipe. Lots of laughter in the air, and for a moment, I really did forget about what was happening outside. It was just what we all needed.
--
“So… They’re not there.” My second brother suddenly said.
It’s been 2 days since after that dinner, and both my brothers and I were chilling in the living room. Our parents were in the back tending to their vegetable garden.
“Wait, hold up, what.” I said, confused. “You can’t see the cubes anymore? There’s nothing in the sky right now to you?”
“I just woke up this morning, and they were gone. Everything looks like they’re back to normal, at least to me.” He said.
“But I can still see them, and they’ve yet again looked closer today than yesterday. What the hell…” I said. My other brother started asking him more questions, as I turned to look at my parents from outside.
Then at a distance, I noticed something strange on our neighbor’s house. Their roof.
The chimney. Why does the chimney look like that?
It looked like the top part of the chimney was sliced at an angle, like it was a clean cut, almost too sharp at the tallest point. Did it always look like that?
“Hey guys, did that chimney always look like that?” I asked my brothers as I pointed at the house. They both turned and looked.
“Uh… no, I don’t think so.” My second brother said. “I clearly remember throwing a baseball in that chimney trying to be Kobe a few years ago. May he rest in peace by the way…”
“First of all, why would you do that to our neighbor’s house?!” I said, looking surprised yet slightly annoyed. “And second, so the top part of that chimney isn’t supposed to be cut off like that? It was a full chimney?”
“Yeah it was, because the ball hit the edges at the top and didn’t actually go in. I lost the baseball somewhere else in the end.” He said. My other brother shook his head, unimpressed.
“What the…” I mouthed to myself.
The three of us sat in silence for a minute, and then we decided to go outside to tell our parents.
As my second brother and I were explaining what we just saw (and his stupid baseball story), my oldest brother suddenly said, “Hey guys um… You might want to check out the other houses down the street.”
My whole family and I walked towards the empty road and looked around. Some of our neighbors came out of their houses too.
We noticed that most of the two-story houses also had their chimneys cut off, all at different lengths and angles.
We looked at ours, and it had a small chip at the corner too, but our house was shorter.
Then my dad asks me, “Hey sweetheart, you said you can still see the cubes in the sky right? How are they looking right now?” Then I looked up.
It took awhile for me to even notice it, since I haven’t been outside of our house the past few days.
‘There are… fewer cubes?’ I thought to myself. But then looking further up, there seemed to be more cubes behind the closer ones, but were those there before?
“I-I’m not sure… I felt like the cubes that were really close before are no longer there.” I said. “But it also seems like there are newer cubes further up? I’m not sure, I can’t entirely remember their exact positioning anymore.” I felt bad, since my whole family now relies on my eyes to see the cubes but there’s really not much more input I can say.
My parents just nodded at each other and decided it’s time we should all start staying indoors in the basement. Something is definitely happening, and it’s not looking good. We probably don’t have much time anymore.
--
It seems cellphone towers no longer work because none of our calls get through anymore. I can’t even check up on my best friend Mary nor my coworkers. We also no longer have a working internet, so nothing connects to the outside world anymore. We haven’t left our basement at all since that day, and have no idea what is happening outside. We’re just relying on our food supply from our storage and just… waiting. But waiting for what?
Our family decided to huddle together and then my dad, the man of the house, gave a small speech.
“Your mother and I… We’ve decided it’s best we try to walk down memory lane again.” He said. “I think… we can all accept what’s going to happen soon, and neither of us want you kids to keep thinking about it when it comes. I know you’re all grown adults, but we are still a family, and we’re here for you. With you.”
My brothers and I looked at each other and nodded in agreement. It’s inevitable, but the least we can do is go through this together and stay together in the end.
And so as the night comes, we enjoy our rationed dinner and talked about why my second brother chose that particular house to throw his stupid baseball in. Turned out he hated our neighbor because their dog ate his pizza when he wasn’t looking one time. Why would someone even leave their pizza outside unattended? I called him an idiot and we all laughed.
--
I opened my eyes the next morning and noticed that the cubes were all gone. The sky was completely empty, but it was sunny and bright. It actually looked like a normal day after not seeing it for half a year.
“Everyone, wake up! The cubes are gone!” I yelled out loud as I stared at the clear sky longer.
No one answered.
I looked back down, and saw that my family was not there.
“Mom? Dad? Paul, Mike?” I asked in the empty room. Even the blankets hadn’t been moved, it’s laid flat enough as if someone never got up from their cot. Oh no…
I checked my phone for the time and then saw I had one bar, miraculously. I immediately started typing up my entire journey before losing any more signal, and then I remembered where I was.
I’m in the basement.
‘How was I able to see the sky..?’ I thought, and then looked up again.
The entire ceiling was missing.