Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The Omega File By CSquared



   Chapter One:

   Dominick Polinsky stepped out of his front door on a freezing morning in
December.  Wrapping his coat tightly around him, he began his walk towards
college.  On arrival, he made haste to his physics class - he was already
late.  However, on entry, he managed to irritate his teacher even more. 
His phone went off right in the middle of his excuse.  To his teacher's
consternation, he answered it.  "Dude, what is it?  I can't talk no..." He
was interrupted by Elias saying, with more than a touch of urgency in his
voice, "Open the package." Dom was surprised, Elias had never acted like
this before.  "I can't, dude, I'm in college.  I'll do it late..." He was
again interrupted, this time violently.  "YOU'LL DO IT FUCKING *NOW*!"
Elias screamed down the phone, so loud as to cause distortion in the
phone's speaker.  "You've only got about half an hour left!" At this, he
hung up.

   Dom looked at his phone, then at his teacher, then turned and walked
towards the door.  "And just where do you think you're going?" his teacher
snapped.  Dom turned, and looked the man right in the eye.  "Fuck off." he
said, left the room and went home.

   He lived about a twenty minute walk from the college, but made it at a
fast jog in a little over ten.  According to Elias, this left him about
twice as long again before...  before what?  He didn't know.  He started
tearing the place apart, trying to find the package.  It took him over five
minutes to locate it, and another two to get it open.  Shredded paper spilt
everywhere, and he extracted a jewel case.  The cover was black, with a
white omega symbol emblazoned across it.  Raising an eyebrow, he opened it.
There was a similarly decorated CD inside, and a message was written on the
inside of the cover.  It read: "Place this CD in a laptop.  Plug in the
laptop, you'll need all the battery power you can get when the time comes."

   Dom shrugged, and fished out his laptop from its bag.  Plugging it in
and turning it on, he slid the disc into the drive.  There was a whirring
sound, and white writing appeared onscreen.  "Formatting disc drive..." it
said, then: "Formatting complete.  Running program."

   The screen went black again, then got a little fuzzy.  Suddenly, a face
appeared.  Dom didn't recognise the man, nor did he recognise the voice
when he spoke.  "Hello.  If you are hearing this, you are one of the
priviledged few.  You are either my friend, or the friend of a friend.  You
are one of the chosen ones.  On this disc you will find all the information
you will need to survive in the New Eden.  You will need to plug in the
device, if you have not done so already."

   _`Device?  What device?'_ Dom thought, panicking by this point.  He
hurriedly searched the box, and pulled out something that looked like a
satellite dish on a small stand.  A USB cable protruded from the bottom,
and he slid it into place in the back.  As he sat down, a visible blue
field rose from the dish, forming a dome over him and the computer.  The
man on the screen continued, having waited just long enough for this to
occur.  "I'm sorry to say that your world as you know it will soon cease to
exist.  If we had had the resources to save everyone, we would have, but
there just wasn't time.  A few months ago, we learnt of the impending doom
- an antimatter asteroid, heading directly for the Earth.  We tried to
alert the scientific community, but due to our...  amateur status, they
didn't believe us, stating that they "couldn't spare the time or the effort
to check up on a ridiculous claim like ours".  Well, it's their loss.  The
asteroid is going to strike the Earth at approximately fifteen minutes to
nine on Monday the 13th December, 2004."

   Dom looked up at the clock - it was 8:43.  His eyes widened as he
watched the next part of the video.  A view of the Earth from space
appeared.  It quickly zoomed in on the UK, then the south east.  "The
asteroid will impact approximately...  here." A large red cross drew itself
directly over Brighton.  Dom's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and he
was about to jump up and run around in terror, when the voice spoke again.
"I'd advise you stay *within* the force dome...  you won't stand much of a
chance otherwise.  Well, I'll see you on the other side.  There can't be
much more than a few seconds left.  Goodbye for now."

   With that, the screen went black.  Exactly fourteen seconds later, the
world turned white.  A noise louder than Dom had ever heard before rushed
past the force dome, as the power supply to the laptop disintegrated before
his eyes.  More white writing appeared on the screen, but Dom missed it
entirely.  It said: "Initialising transportation in 5...4...3...2...1..."
   Dom's world went black.