3... 2... 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Fireworks exploded in the distance, streaking gold and crimson across the midnight sky. The sound echoed like thunder made of joy.
Anika laughed as she poured two glasses of wine. Barefoot, she danced across the apartment and held one out to her husband, Cory who sat hunched at his desk, pen in hand, focused on a worn leather notebook his father had given him.
"Come on, babe," she grinned, sliding onto the edge of his desk. "You just ranked up to an E-7 Sergeant First Class. Don't tell me you're spending New Year's as the official Grinch of the Army."
Cory looked up, eyes tired but warm. "I've been offered a classified assignment," he said carefully. "A special mission to the Netherlands. My commander says they need top-tier operators. It's urgent. I leave in two days."
Anika's jaw dropped. "Wait! what? That's huge babe!" Her excitement quickly narrowed into suspicion. "Let me guess. It's about those strange seismic spikes and all the weird atmospheric activity that's been occurring after that volcano eruption last month? I bet it's connected."
Cory blinked. "How did you—? It's supposed to be..."
"Confidential?" She smirked, taking a slow sip of her wine. "I'm the youngest doctor in the program. Those old heads in the lab talk about everything! From the women the General sleeps with to the upcoming orders from the commander. They forget I'm even in the room most times."
He chuckled, easing for the first time. "In twenty years, you'll be fifty-four and one of those old heads too. Bitching about numbers and data, scattering papers everywhere looking for weeks old post-it notes"
"Maybe," she teased, "but I'll still be hotter, younger, and more fun than you Mr. Pitman.."
He grabbed her waist, pulling her close, pressing a kiss to her cheek, then another, deeper, to her lips. Sliding his hands up her warm inner thighs. Softly kissing her neck.
She exhaled, her voice caught somewhere between a laugh and a moan. "Don't start..."
His kisses deepened, mouth trailing across her collarbone, slow, and deliberate.
Breathing softly struggling to resist his caresses Anika grabs his hands, but her body betrayed her, leaning into him.
"Hold on mister. It still doesn't take away from the fact that you're leaving in two days!"
"It'll only be a few months babe. You know how these missions go. We've both know when duty calls we rise to the occasion ." "It's part of the job."
Anika nodded, but her smile dimmed. She cupped his face, eyes locked to his."I just wish our schedules would ease up a bit, I feel like it's been pulling us apart." "Cory I—"
Suddenly, the lights flickered..
A low hum vibrated through the building. Then a blinding flash lit up the sky outside. The power surged once... twice... and then everything went black.
Total silence..
"Whoa—what the hell?" Cory reached for his phone just as it buzzed in his hand. "Hello? Yes sir, this is Sergeant Pitman..."
Anika was already at her laptop, fingers flying across the keys. "No, no, no... that's not possible..." she muttered. "The magnetic field, it's spiking. These numbers, they're off the charts."
Suddenly her own phone rang. She snatched it up.
"Dr. Lynn? Hey! I was just looking at the data and...wait, hello? you're breaking up, hellooo?"
Static...
Cory zipped his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Babe, my commander just called and they need me at the base. Right now."
"Cory, wait! something's not right." She turned toward him, eyes wide. "This isn't just a blackout. The atmosphere its...it's destabilizing, like there's some type of crazy intense energy in the magnetic field."
Their eyes locked in the dark, and for a split second, it wasn't just husband and wife looking at each other. It was a soldier and a scientist standing at the edge with an inner knowing of something bigger than either of them could imagine...
"I love you," Cory said with a smile as he closed the door.
"I...I love you too," Anika whispered, but her voice felt hollow. As the door clicked shut, a chill ran through her. Something had shifted, and she felt it in her bones.
The room hummed quietly. She stared at the data scrolling across her laptop screen. Outside, another brilliant flash lit up the night sky, and just like that, the power flickered and turned back on.
Silence fell.
Then, a sudden, piercing ring whined in her left ear, sharp and unsettling.
Instinctively, she clutched the amethyst crystal around her neck, steadying herself with deep, deliberate breaths.
She glanced at her Apple Watch. 12:55 AM.
Click. The TV came on.
"If you want to change your coverage, call 555..."
Anika grabbed the remote and shut it off, slightly startled and annoyed. Her eyes drifted to the flashing microwave clock: 5:55
A long sigh escaped her. "I need to head to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a shit show."
She gazed back at the laptop, the data was doing something strange. The numbers were fluctuating wildly in a rhythmic cycle.
Drop. Spike. Drop again. Almost like breathing.
A quiet ping pulled her attention. It was an Email.
Then suddenly, "wheeeeee" the high-pitched buzzed in her left ear again, louder this time.
Heart racing, Anika bolted out of her chair and darted to the home office. She yanked a worn book off the shelf: The Angel Numbers Guide.
Her fingers flew through the pages until she landed on Angel number 555.
The text read, Major life changes are ahead. Transition. New beginnings. Your guardian angel is near urging you to embrace the shift. These changes are for your highest good.
Anika stared at the page, unblinking. She shook her head, rolling her eyes.
"Ugh. Not this again...no more psychosis episodes" slamming the book closed, she climbed in the bed.
Arriving at the base. Cory quickly ran into the meeting space. Cory stood in a dimly lit operations room, deep in thought as his commanding officer started the briefing .
"Change of plans, Sergeant," said Commander Reyes, eyes sharp as flint. "Your deployment to the Netherlands is off the table. You've been assigned to a high-clearance domestic operation. Effective immediately."
Cory raised a brow. "Sir? What kind of operation?"
Reyes leaned forward, hands clasped over a sealed black folder. "We received an off-grid medical alert out of Wisconsin. A local hospital reported a birthing anomaly. A woman came in at 11:44 PM in active labor. At exactly 11:58, she levitated off the bed."
"Levitated?" Cory echoed.
"Eyes glowing," Reyes continued, unfazed. "Her body began emitting low-frequency pulses. It shook the building, set off car alarms everywhere. Then at 12:00 AM on the dot, she dropped back onto the bed and gave birth. The moment the baby cried, it caused a massive blackout in the entire country."
Cory's chest tightened. His wife, Anika, had mentioned strange data spikes before he left. "This wasn't a normal blackout," she warned. "Something is shifting."
When the power came back, the child's eyes also glowing, returned to normal."
Cory stared in silence.
"The mother died moments later. No cause, no trauma. Her vitals just stopped. We've already deployed a covert response team. Our job is to study the child. Observe him. Monitor his growth. You'll lead the initiative."
Reyes slid the classified folder across the table.
"PROJECT TRIAD" – Level 9 Clearance Only.
Inside were security stills: the woman mid-air, crackling with energy; the hospital room bathed in flickering blue light; the infant swaddled in a foil thermal blanket, his eyes bright like molten stars.
A DNA profile followed.
GENETIC STRUCTURE: XY – with a third strand marked "Z"
SUBJECT 001 – Brevin Tollison. MALE.
"Z chromosome?" Cory said aloud, stunned.
"We don't fully understand it yet, but compared to a normal male child there's something more to it than just the typical "XY" chromosomes we have. We're putting our best scientists on the case. So not only will you be busy leading this project, but your wife will be busy as well."
"I'm sorry sir, My wife's on this project?" Cory asked.
"No." The commander replied sharply.
"I don't understand sir" Cory said confused.
"This is top secret so she cannot know what we have discussed in this room. However, It's her expertise we need. She's very skilled at understanding and explaining the unexplainable. To her it'll just be a regular day in the lab with a complex case study."
Cory stared at the file conflicted.
"Something on your mind Sergeant?" The commander asked.
"No-no sir" Cory replied jumping from his thoughts.
"Great, your flight to Wisconsin is in 30."
"Alright sir" Cory shook his commanders hand and left.
Anika tossed and turned for hours that night. Her thoughts tangled. Restless, Anika picked up her phone 3:13 AM. She tried calling her husband Cory.
"We're sorry, the person you're trying to reach is currently unavail—"
She hung up before the recording could finish, her heart sinking into the silence that followed.
Frustrated, she opened her sound frequency app and chose a soft, calming song. Headphones in, she took several deep breaths, letting the tones soothe her. Then, it happened again..
A sudden, unnatural silence. The high-pitched ringing returned, this time in both ears. An energy she never felt before surged through her body.
Anika gasped as her limbs went weightless. Her body levitated above the bed. Her eyes fluttered shut. Suddenly, she was somewhere else..
In an ethereal realm. She stood barefoot on a soft dirt path, her long nightgown brushing against her legs. A warm golden haze surrounded everything.
Children's laughter echoed gently from a distance in this ethereal forest, their silhouettes flickering at the edge of her vision.
Then, a voice familiar yet distant whispered, "Anika... come."
Anika paused. Calm but on guard.
"Who are you?" she called out.
"I am the one you seek and have yet become," the voice replied, calm and serene.
"The one I..what?" Anika scoffed. "No seriously, who are yo—"
A gust of wind swept around her, and a flash of light appeared before her. A figure emerged, bathed in a radiant white and gold aura. The figure turned.
Anika gasped! breath caught in her throat.
It was her...
Or rather... a version of her. Older, elegant. Her long white locs shimmered like strands of moonlight. Her eyes held depth, timeless, ancient wisdom wrapped in softness.
"What are yo—" Anika started to asked.
"I am you." the figure said, gently interrupting her.
"The one who's been sending you numbers. Trying to get your attention."
"But how? I don't understand."
"You will," she replied. "I am the highest version of you that exists twenty-four years into the future, awaiting your arrival."
Anika stared, speechless.
"Here I'll show you, hold my hand." Her higher self said as she extended her palms.
Anika hesitated, then placed her hands in hers.
The figure's voice echoed: "Close your eyes... see with mine."
As their hands connected, a surge of energy rushed through Anika's body. Her eyes snapped open glowing, and a flood of visions tore through her mind like lightning across the cosmos.
She saw fragments, flashes of future memories yet to unfold.
"What is this?" Anika replied slightly afraid.
The voice chuckled softly. "These are glimpses of the journey you're about to embark on."
"That blackout you witnessed... it wasn't just a blackout. It marked the start of a new era.
Earth has been called to a higher vibration. The planet has been drenched in darkness, weighed down by destruction and division. But now, its magnetic frequency is shifting, calling forth for more evolved, harmonious beings... and birthing a new reality, but not without resistance.
Darker forces, and entities that built these systems, laws, and illusions meant to control and drain humanity are still at work. They won't go quietly."
Anika's heart pounded. "Okay, but what does this have to do with me?"
"You've spent your life solving problems through data. But this isn't data, Anika. It's destiny. Your soul chose this timeline. Now it's time to remember." Her higher self replied.
The flashes shifted. Anika saw herself in a vast mansion, rooted on powerfully protected land in the mountains. At each corner of the property stood towering Black Tourmaline crystals, gleaming under the sun like protective sentinels.
"Woah!" Anika said in awe. "Those are massive!" Black Tourmaline, those are protection crystals! Why would this place need that kind of protection?" Anika asked admiring the beauty of the property and the crystals.
"Well the mission that you will be leading not only needs physical protection, you'll need spiritual protection as well, a safe haven for you and the twelve chosen starseeds to reside."
" Chosen? Starseeds? What are you talking about? Cory and I jus—"
" Cory isn't the love of your life dear, he's only the catalyst for your awakening to your highest path" Her higher self said firm but gently.
"What? No! We love—
Suddenly, the vision dimmed. The warmth vanished. A new memory surfaced. Sharp. Cold.
A conference room. Men in suits. Monitors glowing. Cory sat among them. His face calm, too calm. Distant. His fingers rested on a thick, confidential file...her file.
One of the men asked, "Can she be controlled?"
Cory didn't blink. Then he spoke...
"She's unpredictable," he said, voice low. "Brilliant, but dangerous. She's not your traditional scientist."
"Meaning what exactly..?" another man asked.
Cory hesitated. Then proceeded.
"I used to be married to her, she has this esoteric way of using her connection to her "spiritual" nature to understand what most can't seem to comprehend. These spiritual practices she does, but I know how she thinks. I know her routines and what she values. I know how to break her... and if necessary, end her if she tries to interfere with the mission sir."
Anika's chest clenched. Her breath hitched.
"No, no, this is a trick. He wouldn't, This isn't real!" she cried in disbelief.
Or was this a possible future? One that hadn't happened... yet?
As the vision began to fade, silence filled the air... everything grew still. Too still. It all felt real..
Anika gasped, jolting upright from the vision and collapsing back onto her bed, breathless.
She could still smell the fresh forest air. Still feel the warmth of her future self's hand. It wasn't just a dream, it was a warning.
Her trembling fingers reached for the amethyst crystal necklace resting on her nightstand. It was hot to the touch.
She glanced at her phone. 5:55 a.m.
13 missed calls. Cory.
Anika shot up and stumbled to the bathroom. Splashing cold water on her face again and again, she finally met her reflection in the mirror.
Her heart dropped as she noticed one of the locks in her hair, right at the root had turned white.
Her pulse quickened. Anxiety began to creep throughout her body. Was the vision real? Am I in danger? Or is this all just a fear based illusion in my head?