polarthings

[polarthings]

Chapter 1: Preparation for a Storm

Max ran through the halls of the facility, trying to find an exit as quickly as possible but he couldn’t find one. Loud explosions rang out everywhere as he practically fell down the stairwell trying to get out before the explosions or they got to him. 

He finally saw an exit sign and chased the red glowing sign as he escape-

Max woke up.

He punched the button on his alarm for it to stop ringing in his face, he stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before getting up. 

He was having that damn nightmare again, it was over a year since it happened but he was still waking up late at night thinking about it. Thankfully, he was referred to a therapist, unfortunately, he never really got to see them very often.

He ate a piece of toast as he grabbed the newspaper that was slid under his apartment door. 

“IRAQ REFUSES TO WITHDRAW FROM KUWAIT”

This was good, that means they would be on time. The Gulf War was about 2 weeks away but he still needed time to talk with contractors and government officials about possible security measures, he was an NSA agent after all.

As he got dressed for his flight to Maryland, he stared at himself in the mirror.

Max, in his late twenties, stood at a comfortable 5 '10, he had dark brown, almost black hair that he liked keeping brushed but still loose, he had soft brown eyes. His face was quite angular but not to the point of looking scary. He had a pretty strong build for somebody who barely worked out. He admired this quality and put on his black suit.  

As he walked out of his apartment, he hailed a taxi and asked to be driven to the airport.

Just at that moment, he got a call, it was Lewis. Lewis was in his early thirties and worked for the CIA and the Pentagon. Max always admired him a bit, but he didn't think about it now, he answered the phone. 

“Yes?” Max said, answering the phone 

“Well, we aren’t getting on our planned flight.” Lewis replied 

Shit. 

“Why? I thought- … We need to get to Maryland as quickly as possible!” Max stammered 

“Look, I’ll meet you in the airport, we can figure something out there.” 

He hung up his phone and asked the driver to turn on the radio. He listened to the president ramble on about supporting allies. The car soon arrived at the airport. He got out of the car and thanked the driver before running into the airport. 

After a few minutes of searching, he found Lewis sitting in a chair in a busy airport and walked up to him. 

“What even happened?” Max questioned, nearly out of breath.

Lewis was wearing a clean, recently bought suit, he towered over Max as he stood up.

“First of all, hello to you too, second of all, I’m going to guess that whoever took our seats has bigger priority than us.”

“Well, what are you going to do? I mean, we need to be there within a couple hours.”

Lewis pulled out his phone.

“Sorry to disturb you but me and my friend really need to get to Maryland and somebody took our flight!” Lewis said with an almost sarcastic tone.

He heard a sigh and some mumbling on the other end before Lewis hung up.

“What was that?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Lewis replied with a smirk as he and Max sat down.

A few minutes later, He noticed the woman in charge of one of the many gates connecting the planes suddenly got a call. He watched as her face turned from confusion to realization as she suddenly turned her gaze towards them.

“Are you two Max and Lewis?” she asked.

“Yes?” Max replied with interest.

“Well, come with me!” she said, weirdly happily as she walked away.

He exchanged gazes with Lewis as they followed the woman towards one of the planes before reaching a flight attendant at the entrance. The woman whispered in the flight attendant’s ear before the flight attendant went to the pilot and explained to them what was happening. The pilot nodded as she went to the Intercom and picked up the microphone as the woman who started it all walked away.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m terribly sorry to disturb you but we have two gentlemen who need to get to Maryland as quickly as possible due to an emergency. Our airline will be offering 300 dollars for each passenger who gives up their flight.” 

Some murmurs were exchanged between the passengers but ultimately nobody came forward. 

He grew more worried as time went on.

The flight attendant sighed, “500 dollars? We’ll even throw in a free night at a nearby hotel.”

The crowd became more indecisive until a young couple eventually came forward. 

The flight attendant thanked the passengers and directed them to where their reward would be as Max and Lewis took their seats. Lewis offered Max the window seat in which he kindly took the offer. 

“Well, that was interesting.” Max said, still surprised at what happened 

“You haven’t seen nothing yet.” Lewis replied with that same charming smirk 

He smiled as the plane took off.

[polarthings]

silly little guy I doodled :3

alt under cut

[polarthings]

Neat simulation I made :D

[polarthings]

Slice of a city

[polarthings]

here's the art from my background picture