Per 
System of A Down played in the room over keeping a young boy, no older than ten, awake in his small bed. The boy's parents didn’t particularly care. They had endured the longest day of their lives and were happy for it to be over. they sat together, blasted their favorite songs, drank beer, told jokes and pretended to be young again. But as was often the case in the strange world they lived in, their momentary peace would not last.
A man on the side of the road stands under the rain, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the rain fell all around him. He would be lying to himself if he claimed that he wasn’t nervous, if this went south this would mean the end of his career with the foundation. Tenderly pressing the button that activated his radio the man spoke quickly.
“Alpha 1-1 what’s your status”
“Alpha 1-1 to Alpha Actual. The building is clear. The securement team is ready to go.” The man on the other end almost sounded casual, somehow.
The man nibbled on the edge of his lip, the light drizzle falling down all around him suddenly seemed very loud.
“Do a second sweep but leave a man on the door. We can’t let this one get out of hand”
“Copy that Alpha Actual”
Another half hour passed, the rain picked up.
“Alpha 1-1 to Alpha Actual. Second sweep completed. Do we have the go?”
The man's hands shook violently as he held down the remote.
“Alpha Actual to Alpha 1-1 you have permission to proceed.”
Outside of the third story windows a blue glow permeated the air. There was a barely audible crack and a scream.
The boy sat up from his bed. The rain, the music and a deep and inexplicably concrete feeling that something terrible was going to happen kept him awake. The boy pulled his curtains aside revealing the bright city, every third window appeared to have a light shining through it lighting up the sky and illuminating every inch in spite of the rain that fell all over the city.
Somethings not right. What is going to happen, I’m scared I need mom.
The boy let the wall guide him to the door, nearly tripping over some discarded toy or old piece of clothing. Eventually the cold drywall was replaced by the familiar wood of the door that separated his room from the rest of the home.
“Mama?” The boy opened his door slowly, nervously creeping out of his room towards parents who he thought simply wanted him gone for the night.
“Baby are you alright?” The mother was slightly concerned, he usually sleeps like a rock. Scratching her hairline for a moment she tried to decide what she should be doing. The mother who had almost been shot wanted to send the boy to bed and fall asleep in the crook of her husband's arm. The mother saw her baby was scared of something and needed comfort after a terrible day.
“Come here.” The mother reluctantly set down her drink and positioned herself closer to the father who was already asleep on the old leather couch. The little boy waddled over and placed himself on the far right end, pulling his little legs and setting his head on his mother's thigh.
While he lay there all was good. laying with his parents, the heat itself feeling perfectly warm, like a thick blanket fresh out of the drier, the sense of terror seemed to abate. The mother played with her boy's hair as he drifted off to sleep, twisting it and feeling it’s curly texture between her thin fingers.
I’m so lucky to have him. For a moment all the stresses of the day were forgotten. It was just her and her family. All was well.
That’s when the air glowed blue all around them, making everything it touched seem more in focus, its corners more defined, the light flying from the lamp on the wall seeming more predominant for a second. The mother's mind felt clear, much clearer than it should have after staying up so late drinking.
There was a crack and the front door creeped open to reveal a tall man, his face covered by a gas mask. One hand was placed in front of his mouth, a pointer finger raised high making a shushing gesture. The other hand held a gun, the cold steel of the suppressor on the end telling the family that this didn’t end well better than a thousand words could.
“Let’s keep this quick” The man's voice was smooth yet intimidating. “Give us the boy”
“Mama what’s going on?” The child was distressed, more so from the terrible feeling in his core, a feeling like the blue light that hung all around him was holding him still and keeping every cell in his body rigid and frozen, than the strange men holding guns.
The man gestured with his firearm, another four men shuffled into the room, all of them armed.
“Handle the mother and father. I’ll take the boy.” The man spoke commandingly, keeping his gun trained on the father the whole time.
“Nice and easy now ma’am. Give me the boy” The man's voice was losing its smoothness with every moment the family didn’t comply with his commands. Slowly, the woman took her hands off the cowering child and pushed him softly towards the man.
“Mama…” The child's voice was full of fear.
“Go now love, I’ll see you soon.” The mother's voice was full of fear and contempt. She hated this man but was powerless to stop him.
“Sedating the target” One of the men spoke before he rushed up and stuck an autoinjector into the child's neck, knocking him out.
“Give the parents their amnestics. I’ll take the anomaly to the vehicle”
Down in the city by the pouring rain, the leader stood patiently. He had given the order nearly 30 minutes ago and there was no word. Every second that past the more he was sure something had gone wrong. Every second he rubbed his ever more clammy and cold hands together trying to bring some semblance of warmth back to his cold and fear ridden appendages.
“Alpha Actual I’ve secured the target”
