The sky looked different but no one understood why.
Ada stood on the balcony of her apartment as she continued studying the stars for a clue. But it was so dark that she couldn't understand a thing.
"Why are the stars appearing this early?" She murmured.
It was just 6 p.m. on a Friday and she watched as people hurried through traffic. She lived in a very busy area of Magodo and could hear the blaring sound of the city. Cars honked, shops closed, generator sounds rumbled in the air. She could sense the tension in the atmosphere. People kept glancing at the sky as they walked with urgency.
This they believed to be an omen.
"Do you think it's the end of the world?" She heard her neighbour's voice behind her.
"Oh! Mr Idris, I don't even know what to think anymore. I have never seen anything like this my whole life."
They both watched as the stars continued to blink against the dark blue sky.
Then there was a sound nobody could describe. It sliced through the air at 7:30 p.m. somewhere above the city.
Ada, online, was searching for answers when the noise began, a low and throbbing hum that rattled through her house like a generator sound somewhere deep down, underneath.
She dropped her phone on the bed, in panic, and ran out to the balcony again. "What is that?"
Idris ran out, too.
"Power plant explosion," he muttered, failing to sound convincing.
"But the lights across the street are still on," she whispered.
People were coming out from their houses; some were in their pajamas, some held torchlights; others had started praying for God's mercy.
Then came the lights.
Four beams, descending from the sky. Not lightning. Not a helicopter searchlight. Silent, perfect columns of pale blue light moved slowly, scanning the terrain.
Ada whispered, "Oh my God."
By 10:55 p.m., chaos was everywhere throughout the city. Car alarm systems were triggered on their own. They hummed, going up and down in volume like a heartbeat.
But people could not help it; they were drawn to the clouds.
Suddenly, a gigantic entity floated above the clouds, covering parts of the sky. No rumbling, just a shadow, larger than anything they had ever seen.
A group of young men down the street were trying to shoot and livestream with their phones.
Suddenly — the cameras short-circuited, sparks spread out, and the phones died instantly.
Ada turned to Idris. "This is not human."
"I know," he murmured, his eyes filled with terror.
Minutes later, without any warning, one of the pale blue beams was directed to a house at the far end of the street. The light swallowed up the entire building. Within the beam, things floated— electronics of all kind, a woman screamed from inside but the sound was cut out just as soon.
Another person shouted, "Run!"
People scattered, tumbling over themselves. Mothers were grabbing their children.
Ada started to run away but stopped as she noticed something: the light never touched organic matter lying on the ground. It only caught electronics.
She screamed, “Drop the phones! Anything with circuits! They're targeting technology!”
Some obeyed the command and threw their phones, radios, and power banks into the gutter.
Mr. Idris tossed his phone and whisked Ada behind a parked truck. The hum softened. The beam moved away.
By midnight, the lights stopped moving. The great shadow above the clouds hovered, silent and still.
People crouched in gutters, under tables, inside drains. No one spoke, only watched in trepidation.
Then — a figure appeared. Not human. Tall, elongated limbs, pale skin like cold marble. No mouth. Large black eyes that reflected everything.
It walked slowly down the road. It stopped, tilting its head as if listening to sounds no one else could hear.
Ada’s breath caught. The creature turned toward the truck they were hiding behind. Its black eyes seemed to look straight into her soul.
She clutched Idris’ arm. Tears slid down her face.
The creature tilted its head again… then calmly walked away, as if uninterested in them now that they had abandoned their devices.
By 12:30 a m., the hum returned, gently, like a fading heartbeat. The columns of light retracted back into the clouds. The dark shape lifted higher, slowly, until it disappeared completely.
The stars returned to normal and the night was silent again — painfully silent.
Some people crawled out, staring at the sky as if afraid it might return. Others stayed frozen, whispering prayers.
Ada sat on the pavement, shaking. Mr. Idris sat beside her, staring at his empty hand where his phone used to be.
“They took only our gadgets. Why didn’t they take us?” she whispered.
“Maybe,” he said quietly, “they weren’t looking for humans. Maybe they were looking for… what we’ve built.”
By dawn, government trucks and men in suits arrived, asking questions, but the people had no answers to them.
The official statement referred to it as “meteorological irregularities” — but nobody believed them.
Most residents of Magodo never touched electronics the same way again. Some refused to own phones again. Some, including Ada, left the city entirely.
All images generated with AI.
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