And As They Talk, They Become The Closest Of Friends

Sunset dropped onto the roof, and caused Lunar Mist to jump – higher than most, thanks to his superhuman abilities.

“We haven’t met in broad daylight before,” said Sunset cheerfully.

“I don’t do much daytime hero stuff,” said Lunar Mist. “Only in extreme cases.”

“Really?” said Sunset. “I love daytime patrols.”

“Do you ever get any sleep?”

“I find I don’t need much,” said Sunset. Before Lunar Mist could say a thing, she turned suddenly. “But aliens! How cool is that? We’ve got to go and see them.”

“No!” said Lunar Mist, and for once, Sunset was taken aback. “That’s the last thing we can do.”

“Why?” asked Sunset, confused.

“Aliens have landed,” he said. “Proper, real, genuine aliens. From space. This isn’t local news, this is worldwide. We can’t go down there, all powers ablazing, or even non-ablazing. We’re blunt instruments – overblown vigilantes. If we start assuming authority over anything that’s a bit out there …”

“You’re right,” said Sunset thoughtfully.

“If there’s a war, we’ll fight,” said Lunar Mist. “But for the time being, we have to assume they’re diplomats.”

“So what do we do?”

Lunar Mist shrugged.

“I’ve got the day off work,” he said. “I’m going to hunt down opportunistic looters, taking advantage of the chaos.”

“Nice one,” said Sunset. “I think I’ll do the same.”

“Let me know how it goes,” said Lunar Mist.

“I’ll text you.” She laughed. “Bet it’s just you and me, though, wandering through empty streets. I can’t imagine anyone doing anything right now, apart from sitting in front of their TVs.”

-10001-

Meanwhile, in Brecon, Mr Spencer was running. He’d cut his speed down somewhat – a concession, since Geoff was running with him.

“I can … get back to … the car … if you like …” breathed Geoff.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Mr Spencer. “I’ll run a bit extra later, that’s all.”

“How long are … you going to keep … this up?”

And for the first time since he’d started running, Mr Spencer gave an honest answer.

“A week.”

“Only a week?” asked Geoff, surprised.

“That’s all that’s left.”

“And then … you’re done?”

“And then I’m done.”

“What happens then?”

“The world will be worth living in again.”

-10001-

Two weeks later, Geoff received a phone call. It was Mr Spencer. They’d exchanged phone numbers back in Brecon, but Geoff hadn’t expected a call so soon.

“Where are you?” asked Mr Spencer.

“Searching Newport at the moment.”

“Fancy meeting up later?”

“Great!” said Geoff, surprised. “I’ll be here all day.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

And, four hours later, they were in a fast food restaurant. Mr Spencer still had his suit and briefcase.

Finally, Mr Spencer told Geoff the whole story, from beginning to end. The fact that he’d had to run to save his wife’s life, the device in the briefcase that tapped into his DNA, his wife’s insistence that he shouldn’t tell anyone why he was doing it until he’d finished – everything.

“So,” said Geoff. “Why not run around the local neighbourhood, and go home for tea and such?”

“To get my face in as many newspapers as possible,” said Mr Spencer. He smiled. “Of course not. But I needed to motivate myself. If I’d stayed at home, it would have been harder and harder every day to say goodbye and to run for twelve hours. I needed to get used to hardship. Not to mention that my wife did all she could to stop me as it was – I think I’d have given up fairly quickly if she’d done that every day for six years.”

“Still seems a bit daft to me.”

Mr Spencer chuckled. “Anyway, I’ve brought a gift for you,” he said. “It should help with your quest.”

“What is it?”

Mr Spencer opened the briefcase. Inside was a pair of thick sunglasses, which had a thin wire running into a device built into the case itself.

“Put these on,” he said, and Geoff obeyed.

“Oh, wow,” said Geoff. Suddenly, wherever he looked, people’s bodies were tinted red – and only their bodies.

“Thought you’d need to see the heads clearly,” said Mr Spencer. “Now, hold this.” He handed him a thin, wand-shaped device, with two buttons along the side. “Point it at me, and press the button.”

Geoff obeyed again, and immediately, Mr Spencer’s body was tinted green.

“Point it at people who aren’t your mystery girl,” said Mr Spencer. “It’ll save you having to check the same people multiple times. The second button resets people to red, by the way, in case you make a mistake.”

Geoff was stunned. He looked around the restaurant, clicking everyone in sight. They all turned green.

“How can it remember all these people?” he asked.

“Scans their DNA and converts it into digital information.”

“How does that work?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” admitted Mr Spencer. “But the device originally did so to my own DNA, so it was a simple matter to adapt the original device.”

“Hang on,” said Geoff. “If you could adapt this device, why not change it to accept any DNA at all?”

“Mainly because I couldn’t be sure it’d work,” he said. “But even if I could – can you think of anyone who runs for twelve hours a day?”

“You could get a bunch of mates to do it in shifts,” said Geoff. “Plenty of charitable people around. Honestly, you should use your head more.” He spotted a gang of children outside, and he eagerly clicked them all green. “Anyway, can this really store everyone in the world?”

“Sadly not,” said Mr Spencer. “It’s got an SD card of two gigabytes in it at the moment, and that’ll store half a million people. As soon as you’ve reached the limit, additional strangers won’t show up as red any more. The green ones will still be green, though, so it’ll still be useful.”

“That’s a shame,” said Geoff.

“But I’ve added an adapter that means you can have several SD cards in at the same time,” said Mr Spencer. “And I’m trying to develop cards with bigger capacities, so by the time you fill all the spaces, you’ll be ready for more.” He smiled. “You’ll have to buy additional cards yourself in the meantime, I’m afraid.”

“Does it need charging?” asked Geoff.

“It no longer requires you to run, if that’s what you mean,” said Mr Spencer. “And it doesn’t need to be inserted into your nervous system either. There’s a steel bracelet inside, and if you wear it, walking will charge the system. I’d recommend power walking, personally.”

Geoff sighed. “You’re such a sadist. Power walking to clock half a million people?” But he was grinning broadly.

To show his appreciation, Geoff paid for a slap-up meal, and the two men were finally able to relax – for both of them, it felt like the first time in years.

“So,” said Mr Spencer. “What about these aliens, eh?”