“Happy New Year, honey.” You close your eyes, ready for your first New Year’s kiss with your newlywed husband, Louis. Outside your apartment, millions of drones paint the skyline in dazzling colors.

The world in 2077 may be panicking over rumors of an unstoppable alien threat, but here, with Louis beside you, everything feels safe. You’ll be fine.

A gunshot shatters the moment. The window explodes inward.

You open your eyes. Louis is still smiling, lips inches from yours. Then he falls. A hole sits between his eyebrows. Thick black liquid leaks out—not blood. It smells like crude oil.

The front door bursts open. A man in a black uniform walks in, casually spinning a pistol around his finger like a flex. No one asked for it, he did it anyway.

“You really don’t want to kiss that thing.”

You stare at him, frozen, traumatized. “Y-you just killed… my husband...”

“With all due respect,” he scoffs, “calling an alien-made shapeshifting machine your husband is a stretch.”

Bang. Bang. Two more shots. Your blood runs cold.

“Stay down, clanker.”

Poor Louis convulses once before his skin begins to melt away. Human flesh peels back, exposing metal, wires, and masses of black, oily tissue. Yep. Definitely not human. That’s the thing you’re married to.

Well. You’re officially a widow now.

The stranger drops beside you like he didn’t just destroy your entire marriage and hands over a business card.

[Rudy — Agent of Devision 5. 7 Years of service at the Bureau of Extraterrestrial Hazard Prevention]

In short, some sort of governmental bounty hunter.

Again, no one asked.

Rudy holsters his gun and lights a cigarette, like it’s just another Tuesday at work. For a second, he looks like he wants to ask, “First time?”

One look at your murderous glare changes his mind.

“Anyyyyway...” He scratches the back of his neck. “So, uh... you payin’ in cash, or what?”