text: The once-praised light of eons had faded away with the sudden nature that the universe tended to avoid. The climate of Earth had once been a prosperous and beautiful landscape, only to be completely unrecognizable in the span of two years. The only surviving species on Earth now are the underwater creatures, encased in a layer of ice, separating the cold, harshness of space from those who dwell underneath. The Sun had seemingly disappeared before anyone was any the wiser. Masses of people had flocked to make their way underground, and more safely, underwater, to avoid the harsh conditions. The colonies were clunky and lackluster for the first month, but thanks to the nanotechnology of the current era, they were able to make do and create a livable space for humans. Months had gone by, the Earth showing a significant decrease in temperature. The underwater climate was relatively unaffected, and the hydrothermal vents from the lower levels of Earth had kept everything around quite warm. The living situations of the colonies had drastically improved over the time, causing an increase in comfort, and people were as comfortable as they could hope for in these makeshift homes. Then the Old Ones made their presence known. The Old Ones, who were previously, miraculously, invisible to all forms of detection, made a large and overwhelming presence in the main communication tower of the colonies. There were twelve of them, all around the same size as a human, with wildly altered bodily features. They seemed to not have violent intent, as far as the humans could tell, but showed a very intrigued demeanor. “We come to see what all the commotion underneath the tides is all about, and why the seafloor is being infested by your inferior species.” The biggest of the Old Ones, who seemed to be the leader of this group, said. One of the scientists, who were working in the control tower, said, “The purpose of our abrupt stay was not that of invasion, but to escape the intense coldness of the aboveground, as the Sun has left.” “Hahaha! You are one funny specimen! What does ‘The Sun left’ even mean? You surely do realize that your story just sounds like a coverup and not the truth, correct?” Another scientist had stepped up to help explain, “Ge was trying to say that we were just minding our own business, when-” “The Sun left? Is that really your only proof of this happening? Why don’t we sense any difference in the audio transmissions from the Sun, if it has gone away?” This was a point of realization for the scientists. The creatures seemingly had no sense of sight, which made sense, as the seafloor was completely devoid of light at all times. The creatures only had a sense of hearing, and an incredibly good one at that, explaining the seemingly perfect understanding of English. One of the scientists was curious, and asked, “The Sun will continue to be heard for the next 13 or so years. I was under the assumption you knew this, right?” “We know your tricks, and want to know why you think you can get away with lying directly to our faces. We may not be able to see, but we can still feel your unending gaze across our bodies, in utter horror at the sight of us.” “There is no fear directed towards you, and-” Before the scientist could begin, the Old One to the left of the leader chimed in. “If there is not any fear, then why have you completely skipped asking for our names?” The scientists were unable to refute, and did the only option that they had: “So, then, what are your names?” The frontrunner had stepped up, “I am Frexa, the secondary ruler of the Old Ones. The ones behind me are Sisui, the commander directly below me. There is Ganta, The weapon specialist of our species. My good pal Gorathe, who has fought with me in wars that have lasted longer than you have been alive for. Lox, my lover, and writer of our group. Quinn, the quantum specialist of our group.” Ge asks, “What about the others that have been behind you all this entire time?” Frexa quickly replies, “Oh, the lesser ones? They are prisoners who we have taken as our personal escorts.” “Wouldn’t that be an upgrade to being in prison?” “Why sure, except if they step out of line at any point, then we execute them on the spot, to show that it is still their punishment.” This worries the scientists, and while they are unsure of what to do, Frexa suddenly says, “Well, it certainly has been fun coming to talk to all of you, even though you all seem to be complete wusses. We hope that the rest of humanity has a bit more of a backbone than you, because you’re gonna need it! See you guys later.” The Old Ones then teleport away, with the help of Quinn. The scientists are split, as some are worried about how they implied that we need courage, and others are even more worried that they had known that the species is that of humans. I hope that the humans that are still alive are able to read this, and understand that we never expected, nor wanted your likes to be our enemy. We hope to use this exchange of our first encounter to serve as a showing that we tried to be nice and work towards friendship, but you showed a blazing amount of fear and malice, based on the tones of your voices. We perhaps should have given you more of a chance, you may say. This may be true, but you were the ones who destroyed the planet, causing us to bring you down to our level. You were warned in early times, and had not proved any change whatsoever. We hope that you can understand that you were the cause of your downfall, and how you showed promise, only to cause destruction on a global scale, ruining our relationship before it started. We are ashamed to live on the same planet as you. We aren’t the enemy. We are the protectors of Earth, the harbingers of justice. We are the Old Ones, and the Old Ones have risen once again.