March 3rd 2015

“There is no such thing as stagnation. A body in motion stays in motion unless acted on by an outside ****. This is the second law of thermodynamics determined by Sir Isaac Newton. In terms of planets, moons, asteroids and suns, the gravitational **** from these celestial bodies creates a dance of push and pull all around us. When you look up into the night sky, all the stars are in motion, pulled by black holes, pushed by quasars, and diverted by collisions with asteroids and other planets. Influencing each other in a swirl of motion just as the sun and the moon influences you or me in our day to day lives. This was why I found a fascination in horoscopes… Despite my major in math and calculus.”

“It is August the 5th, 1995. My brother encouraged me to come with him to Coney Island after school had ended, to celebrate our graduation. My horoscope told me I would find something that would open my heart and to look forward to unseen futures. While deciding whether to go to the bumper cars or the tilt-o-whirl, following what my horoscope told me, I chose the tilt-o-whirl. But before I could step in line, I met two boys who stepped out of the ride’s exit and the slimmer of the two collapsed at my feet. Crouching down to help him up, our eyes meet, and I feel my heart flutter. I offered him a milkshake to calm his stomach. When we sit at a bench with a tray of drinks together, our hands met around the same milkshake at the same time, our fingers making contact.”

“It is March 3rd, 2015. Coney Island is rapidly being de-atomized by cosmic energies and converted into anti-matter to be fed on.”

“It is July the 21st, 2003. My horoscope told me I would have to endure some hardships before finding a light at the end of the tunnel. I failed my flight endurance test again, passing out after reaching negative 4 g-forces. The higher ups in charge with Reed’s experimental rocket to Jupiter suggested he pick a different mathematician to accompany them on the mission. They believed his judgement was clouded by his personal feelings for me. He convinced them to give me another chance, and a week later I was informed I passed my next test, one I did not recall taking.”

“It is October 25th, 2004. After being gently woken back up mid flight after passing out from the turbulence, Reed, Ben, Johnny, and myself ride the length of the trip through space. Thanks to Reed’s patented ion engines, the trip would take only hours to reach Jupiter. We would be the first people in history to do so. Ben continued to keep his hands on the controls while Johnny takes pictures of us each. They are the only pictures of me prior to the incident.”

“It is March 3rd, 2015. Johnny and Ben are hugging each other to the sight of a wake of cosmic energy swallowing up the city, their bodies disintegrating along with thousands of others near them as the city is disassembled at the molecular level.”

“It is October 26th, 2004. Reed convinces me to go space walking with him outside the ship, I’ve never been more scared in my life… Or more excited. The moment I left the air lock and saw the massive gas giant in its entirety, surrounded by all its moons and churning with hurricanes kept in perpetual motion, all because nothing was present to stop them was breathtaking. I was mesmerized… Until I noticed a ribbon of energy heading towards us. Reed and I try to turn back and return to the ship, I could see Johnny and Ben waving at us to move faster and get inside before its too late. Twenty-eight feet from the airlock, my thruster pack malfunctions and sputters, putting me in a clockwise spin at one rotation per minute, locking me in place as the world spun around me. Reed tries to reach for me, but his fuel is expended. I can hear them calling out to me, promising to get me out of this. Reed apologises to me over my intercom, and I cry my eyes out as I rotate just in time to see the ribbon of energy come towards me. I close my eyes and feel fear for the last time.”

“The Daily Gazette called me the Invisible Woman, a misnomer brought on by my abilities bending the visible spectrum of light to the human eye when I teleported myself and the Jupiter flight crew back to Earth in the middle of Times Square New York. Reporters, scientists, and other researchers wanted to study my abilities and physiology which came to a halt when a branch of homeland security called S.A.B.E.R. requested I be an agent for them, to perform tasks their government could not do internationally. Johnny and Ben are apprehensive to the idea, Reed suggests I should have a symbol, something for people to get behind and recognise me by. If I am to have a symbol, it will be one that I respect. I trace the symbol of Sagittarius over my heart, the symbol of Jupiter for all to see and remember where I came from.”

“It is April 18th, 2005. Creatures made of living earth and stone invade New York city, lead, and controlled by a man calling himself the Mole Man, claiming his conquest of the surface world was at hand. The position of Mars and Venus in alignment with Earth indicated to me that his victory should be met with crippling defeat. 15 minutes and 32 seconds later, his entire army and people are disintegrated by my abilities, and his geode kingdom handed over to the authorities to study.”

“It is January 9th, 2007. A European dictator calling himself Victor Von Doom declares war on the United States, claiming he will only cease once my services are under his sole command. During the solar eclipse, the people of Latvaria look up to me appearing in their mid-day sky. The last thing they see before the entire country state is flattened and turned into a polished surface of glass measuring miles in every direction.

“It is December 12th, 2010. The underwater city of Atlantis wages an attack on the East coast, making religious boasts that Earth shall be the realm of Poseidon once more. Namor, their queen says so personally when I am sent to deal with their armies in delegation. She claimed she would only be appeased when she ruled over an ocean world. Minor tsunamis rock the coast after I teleported the entire Atlantean civilization to the surface of Neptune itself, inspired that this was the closest the planet would orbit in its 165-year cycle.”

“It is December 25th, 2012. I look down at Reed as he sits on his knees in front of a Christmas tree, clutching a small gift in his hands he planned to give me. He looks up at me in hesitation, almost as if he no longer recognises me. He claims I’m like a goddess to him now. I tell him he may be right; humans are surrounded by gods all the time in their stellar orbit. Mars, Venus, Mercury, Luna, Jupiter, Sol. All of them influence their actions and behaviour daily, as do I. The words do not comfort him, neither do I after he gives me his gift and I look down at the golden ring in stark fascination. The loop of gold was machine crafted and burnished, topped with a rare blue diamond. To this day I do not know what the ring implies.

“It is February 3rd, 2014. S.A.B.E.R. informs me that there is an extra-terrestrial object heading towards Earth at an unprecedented speed, I am requested to intercept the object in space. I intercept the object just outside of Jupiter’s orbit when the object stops. He calls himself the Silver Surfer, a herald to a being who hungers for life energy to sustain itself. Galactus. We converse for 8 hours and 22 minutes regarding its nature and the nature of the cosmic powers he gave the surfer to perform his task, cosmic energy I am told is what has given me my abilities. For the first time I no longer feel alone.”

“It is February 12th, 2014. Reed screams furiously at me while Ben and Johnny look on in shock at my declaration. Several dozen agents of S.A.B.E.R. are yelling at me to surrender after I inform them that the Silver Surfer is here to determine if the planet is rich enough with life to sustain Galactus. The Surfer determined that Earth has enough bio-energy to sate his hunger for 4 months and 8 days. Reed is screaming at me, demanding if that is all they are to me. It’s true. All life is comprised of matter and energy in one state or another, always in motion, always moved by the bodies of others. My explanation prompted the agents of S.A.B.E.R to fire upon me, resulting in me to reduce them to carbon dust and vapour. Reed breaks down emotionally, and I decide to leave.”

“It is March 3rd, 2015. I have grown tired of humanity, their chaos, their blur of noises and lights without aim or reason, blind to everything around them. they lack the clockwork precision and perfection of the stars and their planets. Even from my perch on the moon I am aware of all that transpires in the Sol system down to its lowly meteorite, their motions are a symphony to me, their influence over each other properly measured and predictable. All while the humans down below scatter in panic to a being that has come to feed on them, like ants they bite and scratch and swarm with all they have, all in futility in the presence of an anteater, built specifically to eat them. This was all in tune with the universe, all the signs were there, this event, this apocalypse, this destiny.”

“It was in my horoscope.”

*

Collapsing back on the floor and coughing up a fit, Reed regained his bearings, only to break down into tears at everything he was shown. It was all so vivid, so real. Perfect clarity in seeing 7 billion people reduced to raw energy to feed Galactus. Looking up at the glowing woman floating in front of him, it startled him to see this woman, this shadow of his wife, turn to look down at him with a soft, impartial smile and gently speak.

“It’s good to see you again Reed.”