Ben and Amy were enjoying a Saturday afternoon on the patio. Timmy, their six year old son, was climbing a tree nearby. Ben couldn’t help but feel a tad annoyed that his son was far more interested in the tree than the bike he had gotten for his birthday just a few days prior. Still, it was a happy family with very little to complain about, with the exception of the occasional kick from their daughter, who was due in less than three months.
Suddenly, a loud bang and a bright flash left a scorched trail in their yard. Amy screamed and Ben ran to the tree to get their son, who was as confused as they were. The dust settled, revealing an unusual structure at the end of the trench. Ben’s first guess was that a meteorite had landed in their yard. Still in disbelieve, he handed his son to Amy and went to investigate.
He expected the meteorite to be rocky but this object was smooth with lines were etched along the surface. The uniform trails glowed with a dim blue light.
Still unsure of it’s origin, he picked up a stick and carefully poked the side of the pod.
The lines pulsed with a greenish hue and began to hiss. Little did he know, it was releasing a highly infectious chemical vapor. This gas was meant be absorbed into nearby lifeforms, sharing advanced knowledge with those who had the means to decode it. This was standard protocol for the pod after it detected carbon based life in close proximity. Whether the life forms could decode and understand it was an entirely different matter.
Before any of them understood what was happening, the entire yard was enveloped in the invisible gas.
Within the hour, government officials came to claim the object. At the time, none of them knew what it was. All they knew was that it had been detected several days prior and tracked to this back yard. They were quick to tell the family that it had fallen off of an aircraft. Amy had enough to worry about and didn’t care to argue. Ben was hesitant to accept their explanation, but let it go when they handed him a sizable check to fix the damaged lawn, start a small college fund and keep him quiet.
Weeks passed and the hissing pod was quickly forgotten. The yard was repaired and he was happy to have a head start on their daughter’s college fund. Little did they know, the alien pod had completed it’s mission. The family was now carrying a highly infectious chemical cocktail that would soon change everything...