"They found you outside a new black zone son, you are the only one alive." The guy looks like the boss of my boss speaking to me.
"New black zone?"
"That's right son, you slept for 1 month, the world changed a lot while you slept, son."
"1 month!!!"
"That's right, out of 5 people only you are alive."
"Wait, only 5 people work in the Grey Zone? Damn, I thought only 10."
"I know you have a lot of questions but we don't have much time son, so I will brief you on what happened in the last 1 month, so shut up and listen, ok?"
"Yes sir."
Then he looks serious and shows me the picture of the 3 black zones in the world, they are bigger than before.
"The world changed after that day son. Suna from a helpless victim now became a dangerous threat in 1 day. We never knew the Grey zone was going to become a black zone. Before, the black zone was only 1 km and the Grey zone was also only 1 km, but then the Grey zone suddenly became the black zone and all the people inside it just went gone and you are the only one alive we found inside a new Grey zone."
"The only bad news is the new Grey zone now is 2 km."
"Sir, what's bad about it sir? It's not very different from before."
He then looks at me seriously and says:
"That's wrong son, this happened once, it could happen again. And when it does, if the new Grey zone is 3 km we are fine, but if it's 4 km we are screwed."
"Why sir? It's just 2 km more."
"No son, it's not 2 km more, it doubles."
I realize how useful the math in school is right now.
"Sir, that's dangerous, it means soon it will keep doubling and doubling until…"
"Until the world is covered in the Grey Zone."
"Oh fuck, no more TV."
"No son, no more electricity, no more radio, the world will return to the 1800s."
"That's not too bad, we still lived in the 1800s."
"Not with the black zone, remember son? The Grey zone will become the black zone soon."
"Oh fuck, you're right sir. How long do we have?"
He then shows me the chart that was clearly made by some science guys.
"It's been 3 months since the first time the aliens came to Earth, so we can count every 3 months a cycle happens."
"Or less."
"Damn right son. Let's hope it's 3 months so the first few cycles things are still normal, but after 8 cycles the Grey Zone will be 512km, that means all of China, Russia, USA will return to the 1800s. Then all of those countries will be gone in cycle 9. They have 2 years 3 months to be alive and do something."
"Oh god, I better move to somewhere else."
"Where to son? In cycle 11 the whole world will be covered in the Grey Zone and in Cycle 12 the world will be gone. We only have 2 years 9 months or 33 months to stop this, son."
"Wait, we can stop this? We have a plan already?"
"That's right son, we haven't played around in 1 month. Even though the whole world is in chaos, we still work. The whole human race is now in threat and we really make magic happen. Son, now you are a part of Project Sun, the only hope of humanity."
"Damn sir, that means I get a high salary right, sir?"
He then looks at me and smiles.
"That's right son, the big bucks."
"Sir, since I am the only one alive from the last job, I want all the money right now sir, since I did such a good job by staying alive."
"How much do you want son?"
"The total sum of the salaries of those 5 dead guys."
"Sure son, I will give you double that if you are ready to work in Project Sun now."
I jump out of the bed and take a stand.
"Sir, I am ready for work NOW, SIR!"
"Good job son, let's go to the Grey Zone again and meet Dr. K."
"Sir, yes sir!"
I walk out of the room and run as fast as I can to the Grey zone.
After being lost for a while, people soon bring me to the Grey zone and inside a building, then they put me in a room. A white room like inside a cop movie when they try to interrogate people, the only thing different is I feel like a lab rat. The room is white, it has a white bed, a white board with many pencils, a simple toilet and nothing else.
Then a guy with glasses walks in and says:
"Hello, I'm Dr. K. It's time to shut up and listen."
He then puts a helmet on my head and then looks at me.
"Boy, this is the world's only hope now. From now on, you are a spy."
"Spy? What spy?"
"Spy for the human race, boy. The accident in the Grey Zone changed you and it really is the best news for humans. With this helmet, you can switch consciousness with a random Suna."
"Wait, what?? How does that even work? Am I an alien now?"
"No you are not. Well, not 100%, but that means you are now a perfect spy. In fact, you are the most perfect spy that has ever existed in human history."
"Damn, that means I must have a salary higher than every spy in human history, right?"
He then looks at me for a while.
"Yes. Anyway, normally we would train you to be a spy but that only works for humans and you can't train someone to spy on aliens, so we will do it anyway."
"Wait, how do I become an alien? Do I get to turn back?"
"Yes, we are going to hit the switch and you will become a random Suna alien. Since this is the first time, just go for 24 hours, ok?"
"Ok, what do I do for 24 hours?"
"Look for clues to turn off that Black Zone or stop it from becoming bigger. If that's too hard, just blend in and get out of the Black Zone."
"Great, but what if I can't get out of the Black Zone? Will I be trapped as an alien forever?"
"No, there is a way for you to switch back here, just kill yourself."
"Wait, what??"
"Yes, that's the only way."
"No way, it will hurt so much, I'm not doing that."
"Yeah, do it or you will be stuck as an alien forever."
"Well, I want more money for this."
He then looks at me and says:
"Ok, we will give you double if you can get back in 24 hours."
"Great, but what if they don't use time in there? Who knows what happens in the Black Zone, maybe it doesn't even use the same sun cycle like us."
"Then just 1 cycle of Suna life and get back as soon as everyone sleeps."
"Wait, they also sleep?"
"Yeah they sleep, and based on their biology, they even have their own language."
"What?? So what do I do if an alien speaks to me?"
"Nothing, you can just smile at them."
"Yeah, I did that all the time in high school."
"That's right, it pays off now, right? Just forget about the alien language, just focus on blending in, smiling, and killing yourself, ok?"
"Got it."
He then looks at me one last time and says:
"Good luck, boy."