OPERATION STRANGER

File Zero One: Arrival

This recently declassified document is copyrighted.

The names used herein have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.

Earth Date: July 9, 1994

The pod-shaped spacecraft began to enter the Earth's atmosphere using the surrounding meteor shower as a cover. The pod's computer systems whirred to life then. They began calculating. They began to wake the being in hibernation. They prepared to land on this planet. All was going as planned. That was until the storm began to brew...

The pod lowered until it was just above the clouds, then it traveled across them. Lightning struck the pod with no warning. The computer systems went offline and the pod began to rapidly descend. Within moments, it crashed into dense forest. The explosion was seen through the trees for miles. And then, everything was eerily silent except for small flames that began licking the nearby trees.

The pod was so hot that the earth hissed as it was burned. On what was now the pod's side, a crack formed. And a door opened. The human-looking being pushed the door open and looked around cautiously. He soon sat up in order to get an even better look. All was silent.

He began to get out when he heard a sound. It was a chopping sound. Low at first, then slowly gaining volume. He had no idea what this sound was. Then he saw the blinding light coming from above. First, it shone on an area to the east. Then, directly on him in the clearing. He looked up and covered his eyes, discovering that the bright light hurt them. As the light moved on, he heard more sounds. They were coming from all directions.

The man got out of the pod completely and stood. Soon, men just like himself walked out of the dark forest and into the faint orange firelight. They all wore cloth on thier bodies unlike himself, who was naked. They pointed the ends of thier black objects at him. "Hello. Who are you?" one of them asked.

The unearthly man tried to mimic them. "Heh... low." were the only sound he was able to release. Then he noticed the wires attached to his body as he tried to move further from the pod. Looking at the wires, he remembered something. His name was Adam. "Ah.. dem." the man muttered.

"Adam?" one of the men said. "Where did you come fro--"

"What are you doing, Coleman?" said yet another man as he emerged from the trees. "Our orders are to detain everything. And fast."

"Yes, sir." Coleman raised his weapon and approached Adam as he was slowly removing the pod's wires connected to his body. When he looked up and saw the man approaching him, something primal took over. He jumped Coleman and broke his arm while trying to disarm him. Coleman screamed.

"Fire!" a voice commanded. Adam left Coleman on the ground and ran past the edge of the clearing as fire began to break out. "Get him! Alive!"

Adam ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Soon, he had evaded them...

Earth Date: February 18, 2008

Adam Doe awoke in his New York City apartment. He looked over at his girlfriend, still sleeping next to him. He smiled, deciding to let her sleep. It had been a very tiring night, after all. They had only been going out a few weeks, but he already felt he was falling in love with Sara.

Adam carefully got dressed and ready for the work day ahead. He worked at Schultz Advertising. It was a boring job, but it payed the bills.

Adam went into the kitchen and began cooking breakfast. Everything was much better than it once had been. He was a man with no origins. He knows nothing of where he came from, or who he was. And if it wasn't for that mysterious man who helped him out all those years ago, he would still be nobody today. The man gave him an identity, a home. And Adam would forever be greatful.

Adam finished cooking some scrambled eggs and went to get the morning newspaper. He opened it at the door, finding a small scrap of metal wrapped with the paper. He closed the door, ignoring the front page news about our new President, and went to the trash can to throw the metal away. But the moment he touched it, he had some sort of strange vision for a moment. It had looked like an object moving in outer space. Looking at the metal more closely, he felt a familiarity about it. But he just couldn't place where this could be from. He placed the metal in his pants pocket instead.

Adam walked down the street toward his apartment building. His work day was finally complete. As he approached the apartment building's front door, he reached into his pants pocket for the key. He noticed a pulsating light and looked down to see it was coming from his pocket. "What the--" Adam muttered and pulled the piece of metal a bit out of his pocket. It was in fact the metal that was glowing. He quickly shoved the metal back into his pocket so others couldn't see it, and went inside the building.

Across the street, a man stood in the shadows. He had seen the whole thing. A smile appeared on his face.

General Coleman was about to leave for the day when a man got his attention. "General, sir."

"Yes?" Coleman said and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Remember when you told us to look out for a.. certain signal?" the man asked as he approached.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Well, we have just detected a signal very much like that one, sir." the man told him and handed him a sheaf of paper.

Coleman reached for the papers with his only arm and examined them for a moment. Then he looked up. "We need to assemble a team. Immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Adam walked into his apartment and found a note left by his girlfriend. He read it and smiled a little.

Then, he remembered the metal and took it out of his pocket. It was no longer glowing. A puzzled look appeared on Adam's face. As if on cue, another vision began playing in his mind. He saw himself. He seemed asleep. Working computer monitors surrounded his sleeping form. Then, he saw the object moving through space again. "I'm inside," Adam thought. The object began to slow down a little as it.. headed towards Earth. Then, Adam saw the pod enter the Earth's atmosphere, get struck by lightning, and crash -- just as it had happened fourteen years before. The vision ended. "I--.. I'm an alien?!" Adam said to the empty room.

Just then, there was a knock at the door only a few feet away. Adam walked toward it and looked through the peephole. There was a group of military-looking guys outside looking very serious. Could they be here for him?

END

NEXT: File Zero Two - Capture