The city of Norton always looked like it was halfway between progress and falling apart. Cracked sidewalks sat next to smart billboards. Electric cars parked by rusted streetlamps. It was a strange place to call home—especially for someone like Sierra, who never planned to be here in the first place.
She missed her old city. Her friends. Her routine. The familiar corners of her high school where she belonged. But none of that mattered now. Her father, a police officer of twenty years, had been transferred. Norton was his new post. A "quiet town," they told him. "Less chaos."
Sierra knew better. Chaos wasn't always loud. Sometimes it came slowly, like rot. And this place reeked of it.
The day had been heavy. Her new school was cold and unwelcoming. No one looked her in the eye. They had their cliques, their whispers, their jokes that didn't need explaining. Sierra walked the halls like a ghost with new sneakers. Invisible. Or worse—noticeably alone.
She needed to clear her head.
So she ran. Not for sport. Not for time. Just to feel the air hit her face, to remind herself she existed in the world. Her sneakers pounded the pavement as she cut across back roads and side alleys, heading toward the edge of town where fewer people noticed her.
That's when she saw them.
Two boys, maybe her age. One tall and brooding, the other wiry with a backpack that looked like it belonged in a cartoon. They were in the junkyard, of all places, bickering like an old married couple while digging through piles of trash. At first, she thought they were fighting.
"You can't just name it an assault gun if it doesn't assault anything!" the taller one yelled.
"It stuns aggressively! That's a form of assault!" the wiry one shot back.
Sierra actually laughed—loudly. She clapped a hand over her mouth, surprised by herself.
They didn't notice.
She stood behind the fence for a moment, watching. Weirdly, it was the first time all day she felt lighter.
But the sun was sinking. The light was dimming. And she knew better than to linger on this side of town when it got dark. Her dad would kill her. Probably get a chopper in the air if she was ten minutes late.
So she turned back.
She was jogging toward home, earphones in, when it started.
"Hey, gorgeous, where you running to? Lost or just playing hard to get?"
Sierra ignored them. Classic losers. Don't give them oxygen.
She picked up speed.
But they didn't take the hint.
Three of them. Greasy smiles. That low tone that made your skin crawl.
One stepped in her path. "Come on, sugar. Just a minute. We can make it worth your while."
She shoved past him. Hard.
Then hands grabbed her arm.
She twisted, elbowed the guy in the ribs, and backed against a wall.
"Get off me!"
They didn't.
She fought. Fiercely. Her dad didn't raise a victim. One guy yelped, clutching his nose. But they were too many.
That's when she heard someone shout.
"HEY!"
And then it got blurry. Fast.
A punch landed from nowhere. One guy hit the dirt. A weird buzzing sound. Another guy collapsed, twitching.
The two junkyard boys had arrived.
The tall one fought like he had nothing to lose. The wiry one held some ridiculous, sparking contraption that somehow worked. Within seconds, the attackers were running.
They all stood panting in the silence.
Sierra felt her heart thudding against her ribs. She hated the fact that she needed help. She hated the fact that, even with her training and anger, they might've had her. But she hated being ungrateful more.
"You didn't have to interfere," she said, catching her breath. "I could've handled them."
The tall one looked at her sideways. "Oh, totally. I saw you about to flip the one dude into space. Thought we'd speed it up."
She smirked despite herself. "I had it under control."
"Sure. You almost had their morale broken."
And then came the wiry one—Max. Staring off into the horizon like he'd just saved the galaxy.
"Alex," he whispered. "We were so cool just now. Did you see me? I was like 'ZAP!' and he went 'AAAH!' and then we were like 'YEAH!'"
"Are you okay?" Alex asked, squinting.
"I think I'm transcending."
"You're thinking about how cool we looked?"
"Obviously!"
Sierra sighed. "Boys."
They sat down on the curb, laughter slowly replacing adrenaline. Sierra didn't say much at first, just watched them. She was supposed to be invisible here. Instead, she was sitting with two strangers who had somehow stumbled into her chaos.
"I'm Sierra," she said finally. "New in town. Not loving it."
"Alex," the tall one said. "Dumped this morning. Almost punched twice today. Overall, still a better day than yesterday."
"Max," said the wiry one. "Mad scientist. Probably not legally allowed to build weapons, but here we are."
They shared a silence that wasn't awkward.
Just as they started to relax again, a crash split the air.
Loud. Heavy. Like metal on metal.
All three of them jumped to their feet.
"What now?" Alex muttered.
They turned toward the junkyard.
From behind a mountain of old car parts, a strange blue glow pulsed. A faint hum followed, rising and falling like a distant engine. Then another hiss of steam.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Max whispered.
"Probably," Alex replied, eyes wide.
Sierra took a step forward. "Is that a… pod?"
It looked like something from a sci-fi movie. A capsule, metallic and smooth, half-buried in the junk. Blue light spilled from its seams. It thrummed with power.
Max was already walking.
"We should go check it out."
"Bad idea," Alex said immediately.
"It could be dangerous," Sierra added.
"It could be everything," Max countered. "You don't get a weird pod in a dump every day."
"We could just peek," Alex said. "If it looks like it's going to explode or hatch a murder alien, we run."
"Sounds responsible," Sierra muttered.
Still, none of them moved away.
Curiosity is a powerful drug.
One by one, they edged closer. The light from the pod reflected on their faces as they reached the ridge. Max crouched low, eyes gleaming. Alex stood ready to bolt. Sierra folded her arms but leaned in.
Max exhaled, his voice reverent. "Guys... I think this is the beginning of something huge."
None of them said it, but in that moment, they all felt it too.
Everything had just changed.