THE MOMENT
Clara padded down the stairs with an uneasy tickle on the back of her neck. She slept in and it was mid-morning. There should have been more visible activity by now. Buddy, her golden retriever, always found ways to entertain himself whenever she slept late. But there was no blaring TV or music. All the lights were out and the house was quiet enough to make her cautious. She didn't call out to Buddy to avoid attracting any attention to herself; just in case.
She reached the bottom step and saw Buddy staring out the front window at a dark sky. A chill ran down Clara's spine when Buddy did not turn around. He always sensed her but he continued to stare through the window without moving a muscle.
"What's up, Buddy? You okay?" He continued to stare out the window for a moment, then slowly turned his head to look at her.
"It's time," he said. Clara felt her stomach drop and her eyes opened wide in surprise. She took a step back, closer to the stairs but she shook her head subconsciously.
"No...," she said as she tried to organize the million thoughts that assaulted her. They'd spent 12 years together and Buddy knew she wasn't arguing. She just needed a bit of extra time to process the situation. Buddy hoped it would help things along if he explained things. He walked over and sat in front of her looking up.
"This Earth is being conquered as we speak. We need to leave." Clara stared at Buddy with confusion and worry in her watering eyes. He inched forward and nudged her thigh to try and calm her down. Clara was an open-hearted woman with a large circle of close friends and family. And, Buddy loved each one of them as much as she did. He looked up at her after the nudge.
"I got everyone already; you're the last one, sleepyhead," he said. "If you didn't wake up here, you would have woken up somewhere else. But, I thought you might like to see the house one last time." Clara fell to her knees and hugged Buddy as relief washed over her.
"Thank you," she whispered into his fur. But, it bristled and Buddy began to growl. He stood on his legs and stiffened. Clara stood and turned to find a short, golden woman with black hair standing in her living room. She raised her arm towards Clara.
"Eliminate human," she said.
"Run!" Buddy barked at Clara as a black portal opened next to her. She took a step into it, but the woman changed her tactics.
"Prevent escape," the intruder said. A high-pitched ringing filled the air and the portal disappeared. Clara screamed in pain when the portal took her leg from the shin down. She crumpled to the floor holding her bleeding stump and Buddy put himself between Clara and the gold woman. He growled and began to glow with a golden light.
"Go back to your own Earth!" Buddy said. A black portal appeared next the woman and moved forward to swallow her. But, she remained in place after it passed. But, once the portal dissipated she looked around and realized Clara was gone. Buddy slipped a portal under her at the same time he distracted the woman. She sighed.
"Human escaped. Priority lowered. Follow after eliminating the rest on this Earth," she said. The woman hovered upward but Buddy did not want to let that happen. Unfortunately, Buddy wasn't a dog of many tricks and he already used his best ones. However, he did have an ace up his sleeve. Or, maybe it was a useless scrap of paper; he couldn't be sure. Buddy looked up at the woman and yelled as loud as a dog could.
"BALLISEA!!!!!!!!!!"
"What is it, Buddy?" A woman's annoyed voice instantly filled the room as black dots began to coalesce in front of him. The golden woman was intrigued and floated back down to the floor. In seconds, a tall, pale, white-horned woman stood between Buddy and the gold woman. He gestured forward to direct Ballisea's attention. She turned and saw the woman raising her arm towards her.
"Eliminate...," The woman paused and lowered her arm. "Not human." Ballisea turned back to Buddy.
"A Luna. So what?" she asked.
"Designation: Io," the woman said.
"She's killing everyone on Earth!" Buddy said.
"Is that right?" Ballisea asked. She turned back to Io with interest. "A genocidal Luna is new," she mumbled under her breath, then asked Io a direct question. "You're an A.I., is that right?"
"Correct," Io nodded.
"Why are you killing humans?" she asked.
"It is my programming," Io said. Ballisea shook her head.
"You're a Unique; you're more than that programming and you know it. Why are you killing humans?" she asked. The corners of Io's mouths tugged upward into a faint smirk.
"It is my recreation," Io said. Ballisea giggled.
"Well then, off you go," she gave Io a dismissive wave. Io nodded and flew upward through the ceiling.
"You're not going to stop her?" Buddy asked. Ballisea shook her head.
"Who am I to ruin her fun?"