Apocalypse: The Beginning of the End

Chapter I: Dad's Worries

Apollo Drakos

It was a lovely, peaceful evening until Phoenix, my twin brother joked about seeing a dead body. We were playing Hallen before that. But of course, he'd joke about anything just to annoy me.

"Kids!" called Dad from the kitchen. "Come on! It's time to eat!"

Phoenix looked at me. As usual, I thought I was looking into a mirror. Thinner than usual, messy red hair, same height, same brown eyes, etc. The only difference was our clothes, Phoenix always wore red and I always wore black. What else could you expect from identical twins?

"I swear," he said, looking at me. "I saw it."

"We'll talk later," I said. "I'm going to kill you as soon as I can."

"So never," he said, laughing. "It's against the law, you know."

I toppled the Brockol board.

"It's not funny," I said, trying to keep my cool.

Just then, a man entered the room. He had his red hair, as messy as ours. His eyes were a brilliant blue, which would shine in the dark. He always dressed in blue.

"How many times do I have to call you before you kids actually come to eat?" said Dad.

"Sorry, Dad," said Phoenix. "Apollo wasn't sure whether I was real, so I was proving to him I was, but he just wouldn't believe me."

"What?" I said, utterly confused. "Nothing like that-"

"Come on," said Dad, interrupting us. "Dinner time."

He led us into the dining room. Dad looked extremely tense. We began eating.

"So," said Phoenix. "Dad, do you need a sandwich or are you going to tell us what happened?"

Dad didn't even bother to tell Phoenix off for the tone he used.

"The situation is graver than we first thought," Dad replied, after ten seconds of silence.

"The machine situation?" I said.

He nodded silently. I had never seen him look so serious. Apparently, the brainwasher machines had been caught discussing something about "cleansing the environment and removing sadness". This usually meant killing. But it could also mean the planet ending. This had all started when a brainwasher had not been programmed properly.

These were machines, they used artificial intelligence, but they were used to get little children happy to do the right things when their parents found it hard to convince their child otherwise. This one, however, had been able to move and create destructive things.

"We might have to evacuate the planet," said Dad. "It's getting out of hand."

"Wait," I said. "Seriously? We're only fifteen! How do we-"

"Amazing!" cried Phoenix, interrupting me.

Dad looked at Phoenix.

"Amazing?" he said. "Amazing? Phoenix, do you have any idea how difficult it is to space travel? And it's a one-time journey. In your language, it means, you're never getting sandwiches again!"

Phoenix stopped laughing.

"What?" said Phoenix. "Why?"

"Phoenix," said Dad. "This could mean the end of the world! The end of everything as we know it, including... including you! Do you want that to happen?"

"No," said Phoenix. "Of course, not. But Apollo wants to kill me, right?"

"I wasn't-" I began, but Dad cut me off.

"I must go to work overnight," he said. "Do not do anything mischievous while I'm gone. And Phoenix, don't joke about such things, especially not now."

He left that night. Phoenix had the idea of mischief, I could tell. I could still see him smiling. When Dad had asked us not to, especially I knew what to do. I would sneak up on him at night and finally catch him at it. Then finally, I could catch Phoenix in the act for once.

Late that night, everything went as planned. Except-

I made my way to Phoenix's room. We weren't very heavy sleepers. So if he had locked his room, I'd have to knock on it and he'd have to open it. If he didn't, I would know he was up to something.

However, he hadn't locked it. I opened the doorand through my camera, I saw Phoenix's face in terror, as though he had seen aJack.