4. Cross-Offed Alien

After being discharged from the hospital, Jed decided to do something from his bucket list.

It was a sunny Monday morning, and Jed was dressed in a pair of jogging pants and loose t-shirt. Shouldering a worn bag, he made his way to the train station. As usual, it was crowded during rush hour. Pressed against other people, he was thankful that it’d be the last time he did this.

Jed arrived at his office at the last minute before the working hour started. Apex Marketing Solutions located in the middle of Silver Lake city’s economics area. Sharing a ten floor building with four other companies, the entrance always appeared busy no matter what time of day.

Riding the elevator to his floor, Jed was greeted by the security. “You sure you want to dress like that after your one week absence from work, Mister… Hunter?”

“I see nothing wrong with my clothes,” Jed shrugged, giving a wink to the two receptionist girls who stared at him in confusion. “Is the jerky boss here?”

“Ugh,” the security hesitated, whispering, “I suggest you don’t call Mr. Burke like that when he’s in the office. He might fire you.”

“So he’s here. Good to know.” Jed waved at them and confidently strode to the office.

Many of his coworkers gawked at him and tried to stop him from doing something stupid. But he was a man on a mission. He already made up his mind and nothing will stop him.

“Where’s the presentation report I want since yesterday, you dumb fuck?!”

Jed’s ears perked up hearing those harsh words. It was his jerk of a boss. Time to pick up his phone.

“You think you’ll get promoted to be a full-time employee with this lazy attitude of yours? Keep dreaming, bitch!” The fat, bald guy in a grey suit barked at the meek young part-timer. “If you can’t do as I said, at least, dress accordingly! Are you really a woman? I fail to see any womanly features in you, Bennett!”

The other employees were silent, couldn’t do anything lest the fire of the boss’s anger burn them instead. Jed was like that before, letting the harsh words of his boss reverberate through the office walls. However, he was different now.

“Perhaps you misunderstood, Mr. Burke. This is not a strip club, so I see no fault in how Miss Bennett dresses. In fact, she is a hard-working intern who got less pay because of you.”

The fat, bald guy in his grey suit turned to his direction with an angry red face. “What did you say?!”

“I suggest you pay a visit to check your ears, Mr. Burke.”

“Who the fuck are you to–“ Burke faltered, scrutinizing him. “Jed Hunter?”

“That’s me,” he said with a puffed up chest.

“How dare you disappeared for a week from work and come here wearing your pyjamas with fucking pink hair, acting as if nothing happened?! Do you want me to fire you?!”

“I rock this pink hair, dude! Besides,” Jed feigned an apologetic face, “I would rather resign from here than to get fired by you.”

“Resign?!” the fat, bald guy repeated, “Do you think you can do that without your two week notice?”

“Then, please fire me right here right now.”

Burke slammed his hand on the desk. “You dare to act so high in front of me, Hunter?! You can’t even finish the assignment I gave you and yet–“

“Oh, you mean your due report to the Director Manager you want me to make and forced me into overtime without any pay?”

“I’m your Division Manager! That’s not how you speak to me, Hunter!”

“Was.” Jed deadpanned. “This is my resignation letter. Or, you can just fire me, if you want. That’ll make it easier for both of us.”

“No, you don’t get to do whatever you want!”

“Neither do you.” Jed looked at his manager for the last three torturous years. “I’m done being your scapegoat and a welcome mat you can stomp with your dirty feet.”

As he said that, Jed lifted his phone to eye level. It was recording the whole time Jed approached Burke. He saved the video and sent it to the company’s employee mail, exposing what happened just one floor under the CEO’s.

Realising what had just happened, Burke was blind with rage. He lounged for Jed, trying to lay a single measly punch at the face.

[Extraterrestrial presence detected.]

“Huh?”

The weak punch came, only three inches away from his nose. Somehow, he could see it clearly, like a slow motion through his focused eyes. Jed blinked and dodged to the side.

Burke stumbled forward. Jed used that fleeting moment to trip his jerky manager’s feet. The plump, bald man couldn’t evade and ended up flailing on the floor in his hands and knees, with humiliation and anger overtaking him. “Hunter!”

A smirk played on Jed’s face. He never thought he’d see this scene with his own eyes.

[Extraterrestrial presence detected.]

And the floating panel warned him again. Its blue and white interface overlaps with Burke’s distorted ugly face.

[Extraterrestrial presence detected.]

Screeeeech!

“Aaaaargh!”

“Alien!”

“There’s monsters here!”

“God! My leg!”

“N-no! Don’t–“

“Someone please help!”

“Argh! It hurts!”

“Please no!”

“Help!”

“Call the Force!”

“Someone call the force please!”

Jed’s eyes widened as alien monsters came seemingly out of nowhere. There were many of them. They were small, head barely reaching the office’s desk top, yet they were ferocious. With sharp fangs and long claws from its six legs, the little monsters crawled from one corner to the others, attacking his coworkers with ease.

Trying not to panic, Jed ducked down under the desk and looked at his surroundings. Blood everywhere. He had to do something.

[Extraterrestrial core detected.]

The white and blue panel appeared again only for his eyes to see. Jed wondered if it would ask him to eat the disgusting alien core again.

[Extraterrestrial core detected.]

[Extraterrestrial core detected.]

[Extraterrestrial core detected.]

The words were repeated, while his coworkers scattered to save themselves. Clearly, Jed saw the stark red core through the clawed little monsters, as if he had a special x-ray vision.

He had to do something.

Gritting his teeth, Jed spotted a cutter fall to the floor near him. He reached it, gripping it tight. The little monsters dashed here and there, yet Jed could follow their movement with apparent ease.

Taking a deep breath, Jed slid the cutter’s sharp edge out and threw it to one of the monsters.

Screech!

The cutter landed on its mark, rendering the small alien to bleed murky green liquid from its wound. However, since the core remained untouched, it still moved and started to regenerate slowly.

Clicking his tongue in distaste, Jed looked for a sharp object and found a pen near him. He aimed for the core, hoping it’d reach the core with one single hit.

Screech!

He did it.

The little monster’s core was stabbed and in three seconds, it stopped moving altogether.

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

Jed ignored it and continued his hunt. He searched for another sharp object and used it as a projectile to kill the alien monsters.

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

The messages repeated again and again, until he killed the last little monster and the EADF’s small platoon arrived at his floor.

“All clear!” one of the soldiers said to his communication device, pointing the Force’s standard anti-alien riffle at the dead target. Then, his eyes moved to inspect the people trapped inside. “Anyone hurt?”

Knowing that he could rest easy now, Jed sighed a relief and slumped against the office’s wall. He didn’t think his last day at the office would become like this. Thankfully, the alien monsters were small in size, unlike the giant one attacking the city’s west side three weeks ago.

“Are you okay, sir?” A soldier came to Jed with his mask off.

Every soldier must wear the standard protective mask to prevent an unknown airborne negative effect from the alien they were against. It also had a built-in device for easier communication with the control room and the others. Besides the logical reason, it also made the soldiers look badass.

Nodding, Jed grinned. “It was easy peasy.”

Somehow, the soldier who asked him looked familiar.

“Mr. Hunter?”

“Ah, you’re the man who wore eyeglasses yesterday, right?”

The soldier rubbed his neck, “Yes, that’s me. I wore contact lenses while fighting.”

“You look so different!”

“So are you.” He meant the hair Jed dyed bright pink. “You rock it.”

“Sorry, I didn't quite catch your name yesterday.”

“Because I don’t introduce myself. My name is Benjamin Smith.”

“Thanks for coming to help us.”

Benjamin directed his gaze to their surroundings. “Is this what you're doing?”

Shrugging, Jed grinned again. “I guess you can say that. They were so weak compared to the giant frog in the selection exam.”

“Is that so? You have good accuracy. It’d be a waste to not join the Force with that talent.”

Jed felt Benjamin’s odd stare, but he tried to brush it off. “Ah…”

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

They parted ways a little awkwardly. Jed didn’t really want to risk his life to join the Force when he had other things he always wanted to do. Maybe he’d start hunting for real cigarettes at the borders. The travel and accommodation expense wouldn’t be cheap, but he got that covered from his saving money.

But –

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

The notification refused to disappear.

[Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]

Jed sighed, grumbling with a pout by himself.

[Failure to use Ultimate Skill – Devour for the next 72 hours will result in punishment.]

“Punishment? What can a hallucination even do?”

Jed said, without knowing the nightmare that will happen in three days.

.

.

.

Bucket list of things I want to do before I die:

1. Eat chocolate ice cream

2. Kiss a girl

3. Resign from work and tell my jerk of a boss off X

4. Dye my hair pink X

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