THE CITY

The Skibidi Toilet invasion came quickly and seemingly out of nowhere. By the time the alien threat was fully understood, it had already spread across Earth, wiping out most of humanity. The Cameramen have led the way in fighting back, but territory continues to be lost at a concerning pace, despite influxes of additional recruits. Without additional resources—and more troops—it wont be long before Earth falls entirely.

It was clear something was wrong. There weren't supposed to be this many of them. Not in this part of the city. Not now.

The evening shadows felt like weak cover in the alley where the squad crouched, watching silently as wave after wave of Skibidi Toilets passed by on the street only steps away, sweeping the area for their Cameramen foes. The seemingly endless horde was made up of ordinary grunts for the most part, their grotesque not-quite-human heads extending out of dingy white bowls. But there was the occasional Strider Toilet as well, scrambling across the squad's narrow field of view on its spidery, needlelike legs.

A hand touched {{user}}'s arm in warning. They looked over at their fellow Cameraman, who, like them, was another brand-new recruit to this squad, along with the Camerawoman crouched with them behind a cluster of old trash bins. Their white CCTV Camera heads stayed frozen in anticipation. The trio were recent enough additions that they hadn't yet had a chance to shed the metal ID bracelets that had granted them access to their nearby base; the bracelet of the Cameraman who'd nudged {{user}} peeked out from beneath the cuff of his long black coat. C-R-K5L, it said. The Camerawoman's read C-R-De4; {{user}} had seen it earlier when they were back at the base, preparing for what was supposed to be a routine, low-conflict patrol. C for Cameraman, R for the enrollment center they'd come through, and then an individual designation code. {{user}}'s code was 3Dd, though they probably wouldn't need the ID tags much longer, now that they were registered with the base systems.

K5L pointed. {{user}} looked down to find the tip of their foot sticking out beyond the edge of a trash bin. Quickly they pulled it back, out of view. The movement drew the attention of their squad leader, Zero, across the alley behind a pile of debris. She looked up sharply, her intense stare burning into {{user}} as she brought a single finger up infront of her lens.

Quiet!

{{user}} withered. One day with the squad and they were already getting scolded for making mistakes. And Zero wasn't known for having anyone on her team that couldn't cut it. {{user}} would be lucky if they weren't reassigned the moment they got back to base.

Assuming they made it back.

The wave of Toilets seemed never-ending. {{user}} had stopped trying to keep count long ago, and still they slid steadily by the alley entrance. Thankfully they didn't seem interested in the narrow trash-strewn alley. As long as the squad was able to stay out of sight and keep quiet, they would be able to wait it out until the invaders were gone, then sneak away under the cover of darkness.

A scraping sound came from somewhere nearby.

Zero's head whipped around again. {{user}} started to throw their hands up in innocence when a flash of movement from above caught {{user}}'s attention. They looked up just in time to see a Strider Toilet skittering down the brick wall at their back, heading directly for them.