Crumbling: Chapter One (Tentative title: Outside Context Problems) by

Joaquin Romero
Adam tapped his foot against the ground nervously and glanced
around for what felt like the hundredth time. The restaurant was mostly
empty. At most there were eight other people seated in the room that could
have easily contained at least fifty more people comfortably. Adam was
fairly sure the other people looked as nervous as he felt though he had a
brief second of childish pride when he considered he probably had more
reason to feel nervous than most. With a thought a privacy screen popped up
and the room became a hazy blur of colors as Adam returned his attention to
his table. His fingers drummed on the old-fashioned wood table as his comm
translated his thoughts into the fifth message he was about to send to
Mirabelle. Its been five minutes, why are you not here yet?
Adam sent the message just a blur occupied the seat across from him.
Adam changed the settings on the privacy screen and the blur focused into
Mirabelle. She was looking at the message hed just sent with concern.
Adam, what is it? asked Mirabelle, leaning forward in her seat.
J-just listen to me for a minute, Miri. Something really freaky
happened to me this morning and I need you to remain calm and quiet.
Adam again cast a glance around but found the privacy screen made such an
action moot.
Was it the demons? Did you see one? O-or was it an angel like theyre
saying on the Oceania servers? Mirabelles eyes widened in a mixture of
worry and excitement as she hurriedly fired question after question at her
friend.
No, no. Nothing to do with thosethose things, he said hesitating on
the last word. It was something I did this morning when I was eating
breakfast. Adam leaned in closer and whispered, I was getting some juice
out of the fridge when I noticed it was a little warm. I think the power went
out in the middle of the night and restarted before I woke up. Anyway I
poured myself a glass and wished it was colder. The next thing I know is
when I take a sip the juice is completely frozen solid.
Mirabelles face quickly shifted from perplexed to concern during
Adams last sentence. Adam, I know I can count the number of people
whove had a good nights sleep on one hand but when the last time you
slept?

Im not finished Mirabelle. Look at the table before you escort me to

the psych clinic. Adam reached across the table and pressed his index
finger against it. He drew it down the wood leaving a clearly visible trail of
faintly misting ice.
What the actual fuck? Mirabelle looked at the strip of ice with sheer
slack-jawed amazement. I but thats. She grabbed her comm, took it of
her neck, and glanced around the room. She saw the privacy screen
disappear along with the rest of the digital media content made visible by
the comm but the ice remained where it was. Tentatively she poked the ice
and was greeted the normal sensation of cold wetness. How did you do that
Adam?
I dont know how. All I know is that whenever I want something to be
colder, I can do this, he gestures to the ice, with my hands. My apartment
would be still covered with icicles if I didnt discover I can heat things too.
With that Adam slid his index finger over the ice, slower this time, and the
ice disappeared with a faint hissing sound. Mirabelle slid her own fingers
over the spot and found the tables surface hot to the touch.
Freaky. Mirabelle simply said leaning back in her seat. She returned
her comm to its former position around her neck.
The reason I called you Miri was because, well, I had to tell someone
something about this. What Im doing is physically impossible and I mean
according to the laws of thermodynamics this shit is impossible. According
to physics if you heat something up, youre giving it energy and
consequently the source of the heat loses energy and cools down like eating
ice cream on a summer day. Adams hands were flailing around to
emphasis his speech and his eyes were wide open in a slightly manic
expression. But look at my hands. He presented the aforementioned limbs
to Mirabelle.
His hands looked no diferent to her than they had yesterday or the
day before that and so on. Adam continued in a harsh whisper, See?
Nothing! Physics says my hands should be frostbitten and covered in burns
but theyre fine! I am breaking the laws of fucking physics here! Adam
finally collapsed onto the table with a heavy sigh. And I have no clue what
to do about it.
First its demons bursting up out of the ground to bring about the
apocalypse then the next thing you know your friends are breaking the laws

of physics. And here I thought our tour of Berlin was going to be boring.
The two simply looked at each other in silence for a moment before the
laughter came. The two cracked smiles and began to laugh for what felt like
the first time in years. Mirabelle was sure the other customers were staring
at them but she didnt care. For once she found she wasnt worrying about
demons popping out of the ground and simply enjoyed the moment.
Eventually their stress-relieving laughter died down and another
moment of silence was shared but this time the atmosphere between the
two was comfortable.
Have you told any of the others? Mirabelle asked.
No, so far its just you. Now well have to figure out a way to tell Jacob
without him going all conspiracy theorist on it. Is he still holed up in your
hotel room? Adam dropped the privacy screen and pulled up the
restaurants menu on his comm. The tabletop was once again covered in
holographic images displaying the various meals available with the option to
watch your meal being prepared for a small additional fee.
Yes, weve still hasnt heard anything from Ivo and hes been
searching the internet for any sign of him but hes found nothing so far. Im
starting to get worried about him. Before Adam could respond the sound of
a shout drew their attention to their fellow patrons. On the other side of the
room a man was arguing with another man and then the argument turned
violent. The tallest of the pair grabbed the other man, who had dyed his hair
a bright red, and threw him to the ground. Then the tall man began kicking
his opponent savagely in the stomach.
Mirabelle and Adam leapt to their feet and ran to intervene. Adam
arrived just in time for the red-haired man to grab the leg of the tall man and
suddenly the mans leg burst into flame. The tall man fell over backwards
screaming and clutching his leg. Everyone recoiled in shock except for the
red-haired man. He wiped the blood currently streaming from his nose and
gingerly stood up. The tall man was still beating at the flames on his left leg
when the red-haired man grabbed him by the throat.
Now you can join that bitch in hell, said the red-haired man before
the tall mans head erupted into flame. The flesh blackened and peeled of
the mans bones almost instantly, exposing his skull. The tall man screamed
only for a second before his skull separated from his shoulders and collapsed
into a pile of ashes on the tiled floor of the restaurant.

The room was dead silent as the red-haired man shook his unharmed
hand free of several still burning scraps of the dead mans neck. Then a man
screamed and panic took hold of the patrons. There was a mad scramble for
the doors made by everyone but Adam. His feet moved almost with a mind
of their own to carry him towards the red-haired man. Adam lowered his
shoulders and hit the red-haired man squarely in the center of his chest.
Adam wrapped his arms around the man and sent both of them flying
through the window into the street.
The red-haired man screamed in anger and clamped his hands around
Adams head and growled, Burn. Adam felt the air around him heat up but
he didnt feel any pain from the heat. It felt like he was standing in front of
an oven, the heat was clearly presented but he didnt feel threatened by it.
Instead a single thought breached the adrenaline surging through his veins:
cold. On command, he felt the mans shirt beneath his hands become
coated in ice and a hissing sound began to fill the air.
Why arent you dead!? shouted the man as he elbowed Adam in the
back. Adam cringed as the blow struck a nerve and his hold on the man
relaxed. The man rolled away from Adam and over the shards of the window,
earning several more cuts to his hands and clothes. Adam also got to his
feet wincing when a particularly jagged piece of glass embedded itself into
his hand. The two men faced each other for a moment before the red-haired
man turned away and began to run down the street, unaware of the sheet of
ice covering the back of his jacket.
Adam gave chase, any logical reasoning buried underneath fear and
adrenaline. The chase didnt last long however as the red-haired man
stumbled and fell to the sidewalk. The red-haired man coughed a glob of
blood onto the concrete and pressed a hand to his chest. Adam dove on top
of the man, slamming the mans head on the ground and causing him to go
limp. Adam didnt notice this fact until after he had turned the man over and
punched him a few times.
Adam stood over the mans unconscious form, breathing heavily. Police, he
thought. Get the police and let them lock him up Where hell wake up and
melt the doors to his cell. God da-. He cut the mental curse short and ran a
hand through his hair, earning several more cuts from glass shards in his hair
and the piece still in his hand. Turning around with his gaze on the glass
piece, Adam found himself slipping on a piece of ice. Looking up he saw a

trail of icy footprints behind him and a pair of policewomen aiming their guns
right at him. Slowly Adam raised his hands and took another look around.
Smoke was billowing out of the broken restaurant window casting a
shadow over the frozen and melted piles of glass shards on the sidewalk.
Glancing down at himself, Adam noticed his shirt hadnt been as immune to
the heat as he was and was now partially melted but he didnt feel any pain
from the heat. Add his appearance to the blood he had just streaked through
his hair, Adam suddenly felt very nervous about his situation. He slowly took
a step forward and opened his mouth to explain when one of the
policewomen fired.
Adam felt the bullet enter and exit his chest as if in slow motion, first a
moment of excruciating pain then just numbness and then a feeling of cold
spreading from his chest. He fell to his knees and his vision blurred as his
head tilted backwards to look the mockingly blue sky. He was dead before
his head hit the ground.
Ellen didnt say anything when Leona ran over to the ice mans corpse
and scanned him to ensure he was dead. She just stood there with her gun
pointed at the ground. Her partner had just shot a man in cold blood and
shed done nothing to stop it. Dont jump to conclusions. For all I know the
man was a homicidal maniac who decided to play with his newfound ability.
Ellen! called out Leona. Ellen shook her head and joined her partner
standing over the dead man. Scan the other perp while I check the security
footage for any more of these freaks. Ellen nodded and took out her triage
tool. She scanned the red-haired man and the results came back: subject
Wilhelm Groman, deceased due to severe lacerations caused by a foreign
object resulting in hemorrhaging in the lungs. Must have had the air in his
lungs frozen, is what she thought.
Hes dead too. Triage says something got in his lungs and cut him up
from inside, is what she actually said to Leona. Leona grunted in
acknowledgement but didnt look away from the footage currently displayed
against the wall of the restaurant. Ellen got into cover on the opposite side
of the broken window and tossed a cam drone inside. The metal ball, about
the size of an orange, bounced once before flying to the ceiling and attached
itself. Come on you ancient piece of shit. Show me an empty room for once.

Instead Ellen was greeted with the sight of a smoldering and headless
body. At least its only one body this time. She signaled her findings to
Leona who nodded and closed the footage feed.
Its all clear Ellen. Those two were the only freaks here, Leona said
as she left her cover. The video shows that flame head over there killed the
guy inside after starting a fight then, she checks her comm, Adam tackled
flame head which leads to now. Its a good thing these freaks die just as
easily as people do. Leona punctuated her statement with a nudge of
Adams body.
Yesterday it was freaky people, Leona and now its just freak. What
the fuck is wrong with you? You just shot a man in cold blood and youre
acting like it doesnt matter! Leona tried to walk past but Ellen grabbed her
partners shoulder. Please dont do anything else youll regret, Ellen added
mentally.
Fine, Ellen. Well talk about this in the cruiser. Everyone in this city is
already scared shitless because of those demons. We dont need them
worrying about people who are supposed to be protecting them, said Leona
who brushed of Ellens hand and entered their patrol car. Ellen frowned but
decided Leona had point in this matter at least. She brought up her comm
interface and activated the crime scene program which caused digital police
barricade lines to pop up around the restaurant.
Leona was waiting in the drivers seat when Ellen opened the door and
got inside. Ellen noticed the windows had been blacked-out in privacy mode.
Leona just watched Ellen for an uncomfortable long moment before
speaking.
Ellen, I call them freaks because that is exactly what they are. You
see, Ive figured it out. Leona leaned in conspiratorially. When the demons
disappeared last week, they didnt leave. No, now theyre the freaks walking
around doing all this supernatural shit. How else can you explain the shit
weve seen them do?
Ellen, whod also leaned in to better hear, leaned back in her chair and
sighed, unknowingly echoing Adam and Mirabelles earlier conversation. She
cast one last disapproving glance at Leona before getting out of the car.
Everythings starting to break down. She opened up her comm to file a
report about the incident when a sudden wave of apathy washed over her.

You know what, fuck it. Just fuck everything and everyone. I joined the
police to uphold laws and arrest the people breaking them.
Im not an idiot, I did my research. Ellen marched over to the crime
scene and leaned against the wall. She glared out at the surrounding
buildings, at the mostly deserted streets, and at the few people who were
starting to emerge from their hiding spots. I knew becoming a policewoman
would mean Id have to see some seriously disturbing shit and probably have
a somewhat messed up home life. I could have probably handled it. Im
fairly certain the last month of my life qualifies as being worse than anything
I could ever imagine and Im still functioning.
Ellen watched as Leona got out of the car doing something on her
comm. Now Im going to have to report my partner for deliberatly murdering
a man who clearly acted in self-defense. The higher-ups will see it as murder
right? I mean, sure there isnt much of a precedent for shooting someone
because they had supernatural abilities. Then an unpleasant thought struck
her. What if they dont see it as murder? What if they believe her insane
theory about the demons infiltrating the city?
What should I do? What can I do? So far as most people are
concerned Im just another police officer trying to maintain order and coming
up with her own crazy explanation about how things are getting so fucked
up. Once again, I come back to the realization that if I want to have even a
chance of being believed Ill have to show them my ability and thats hardly
a guarantee. All I need is for one person to yell demon and then the
shooting starts. When that fails and kills several officers in the crossfire the
panic will settle in and Ill be forced to fend off mobs of scared and angry
people looking for a scapegoat.
Seth and I would probably win that fight but how many people would
we have to kill or get killed by accident? And what about Joan? I cant fend
off constant attempts on my life and feed my baby at the same time. And
back again to the fact I cant change everyones mind about what is going
on. So focus on what I can fix and go from there. Ellen nodded to herself
and resumed her task of filling out a report of the incident.
So, heres what I can deal with. First Ill to have to report Leona. Shes
unstable right now and at the very least theyll take away her weapon until a
psych eval is done. I just have to have a little faith that things will get better.
She sent the report to the station and waited for clearance to move on from
the crime scene. It took half an hour for the CSI drone to arrive and

document the scene and take samples. That was twice the normal waiting
time and by the time they were ordered to return to the station Ellen had
resumed worrying about the fate of the city.
The drive back to the station was accompanied by complete silence, as
neither Leona nor Ellen deigned to grace the other with conversation. The
pair arrived and got out in front of the stations main entrance; letting the
cars autopilot program drive itself into the motor pool. The pair entered,
passed the mostly empty rooms, and found themselves in front of the
armory. Another drone hovered through the small gap in the reinforced
metal door as the order to surrender their weapons, and in Leonas case,
badges, flashed on their comms.
The drone returned into the armory and a new message flashed across
Ellens comm. Officer Ellen Anselm, your shift for the remainder of the day is
suspended pending investigation into Officer Leona Wohlers actions on June
25th, 2230. You will return to duty tomorrow morning according to your
regularly scheduled time. Ellen didnt have to turn her head to know Leona
was frowning severely and the stomping footsteps that marched away and
down to the Internal Afairs wing of the building all but confirmed the frown.
Ellen turned around and slightly unnerved by the emptiness of the
police station got ready to leave. It felt strangely normal to her to change
out of her uniform and store all her equipment away like she had so many
times before. Walking outside quickly dispelled that feeling of normality as
she was once again greeted with mostly empty streets in the middle of the
afternoon. She called for a taxi. One could always find taxis around police
stations, shed noticed.
The taxi was an automated one, so Ellen merely gave the name of her
apartment complex and of they went. Ellen stared out the window at the
buildings passing her by. The Brandenburg Gate, topped with four horses
pulling a chariot containing Eirene, the Greek Goddess of Peace in particular
caught her attention. Im not seeing much of your work lately. Maybe try
using those wings of yours instead of having horse, Ellen thought at the
statue.
Then before she knew it, she was back at her apartment complex,
which was comprised of a network of five towers connected by crisscrossing
walkways in a way that lead to the buildings nickname, The Web. She paid
the taxi and entered the Web. She passed the white-tiled lobby with nary a
glance to either side, just wanting to be home already. The elevator came

too slowly for her liking and she was forced to wait while several groups of
people huddled in chairs and quietly talked amongst one another. Just how
much longer is everyone going to spend their days locked in their homes?
After what felt like an annoying eternity, the elevator opened and Ellen
pressed the button for the fifth floor. On her journey upwards she was
delayed when the elevator opened onto the third floor but the hallway was
empty when the doors opened. I hate it when this happens. Whatever
happened to patience being a virtue? At last Ellen arrived on the fifth floor
and made her way down to her room. She reached it before long, room 514,
placed her hand on the scanner. It scanned her fingerprints and took a skin
sample before unlocking to her.
The familiar smell of an infant reached her nostrils and despite hating
the smell most of the time, smiled at the familiarity of it. She found Seth
feeding Joan some mushy baby food and staring at his comm displayed on
the wall.
Seth, we need to have a serious discussion about what were going to
do in the near future. Things are starting to get bad out there.
Things are getting bad all over. Look, responded Seth. Ellen did and
saw what Seth was looking at, news footage of a skyscraper burning. Her fist
tightened until her knuckles turned white. Then she read the captions
scrawling along the bottom of the screen: Third building to burn down in
London in the last hour. Experts puzzled as to the source of the
fires.
It said things would get like before long, said Seth quietly. He turned
his attention from the infant in his arms and fed another spoonful of apple
mush. People spending days locked inside their homes will retreat within
themselves next and then they will soon find the gift given to them. How
long do you think itll take for everyone to figure out whats been done to
them? Seth smiled bitterly and looked to Ellen for her response.
Ellen looked at the burning building for a moment longer before sighing
and collapsing onto the couch next to Seth. She loosened her grip and found
her nails had actually broken the skin on her palms causing blood to drip on
the floor. She pushed of the couch and went to retrieve the small first aid kit
hidden beneath the sink. I dont know Seth, her voice betraying the anger
and weariness shed been feeling all day.

She pulled the first aid kit out from its spot and blew most of the dust
covering it into the sink. Leona shot a man today. She looked at him and
deliberately shot him, she suddenly announced. Seth looked up with a
shocked expression. There was an incident a little over an hour ago where
two men, with the same ability Chanda had, fought. Ellen explained the
entire incident to Seth, including Leonas theory about the demons.
I wonder whatll happen when she discovers shes one of those
freaks? asked Seth.
Shit. I forgot about that, Ellen cursed, pulling out the medical
supplies. She looked at the salve tube, checking for any sign of an expiration
date. Finding none, she applied the salve to her hands and watched as the
small crescent-shaped cuts stopped bleeding almost immediately and
scabbed over just as quickly. I dont know Seth. If she finds out anytime
soon, I I dont know what shed do.
With a growl Ellen wheeled around to face Seth and said, I hate this.
Last month we were practically invincible and we on the cusp of rooting out
Zacalla forever but now? Now the world is beginning to break apart and we
cant do a fucking thing to stop it! I just watched my partner of the last five
years shoot an innocent man dead and she thought she was doing
something good! Now people are burning down buildings! What next?
People waltzing through the streets claiming to have banished the demons
and demanding worship? Ellen once again collapsed onto the couch next to
Seth, causing Joan to start crying.
Seth rocked the baby, shushing it gently. Fortunately for all present,
Joan did stop crying before long and Seth resumed feeding her. Do you
want to leave Berlin? he asked.
Im not sure. Part of me remembers what thatthing said and is
terrified of what might happen in this city. Another part feels like that
equates to abandoning everyone here to their fates when my job is to
protect them. Yet another part just wants to wake up and find this all to be
just a bad dream. Ellen leaned against Seth and looked at their daughter.
I feel the exact same way Ellen but let me tell you something. We
need to make a decision and soon. People will eventually stop hiding in their
homes and I think thats when things will get really bad. Ellen grunted in
response and the pair just watched Joan eat the apple mush.