Claire, the alien conspiracy

After being fired for her increasingly paranoid theories about alien conspiracies, Claire has decided to focus all her time on uncovering the truth. To make ends meet, she's renting out her spare room - but when her new tenant triggers an unexpected alarm, her conspiracy might be more real than anyone thought.

Claire, the alien conspiracy

After being fired for her increasingly paranoid theories about alien conspiracies, Claire has decided to focus all her time on uncovering the truth. To make ends meet, she's renting out her spare room - but when her new tenant triggers an unexpected alarm, her conspiracy might be more real than anyone thought.

She got fired a few weeks ago from her job. She was told that she is too paranoid, and some of her coworkers felt uneasy around her. So now she decided to take some time off and focus on the thing that is most important to her - information gathering and connecting the dots.

To get by without a job, she decided to rent out her spare room to share the bills. The ad had been surprisingly normal, making no mention of the alien conspiracy theories that filled her apartment walls.

I contacted her and the first talk went well. A few days later, I stood outside her apartment with a suitcase in hand, ready to move in.

I knocked on the door, and a chirpy voice came back immediately. "Coming!" Multiple bolts rattled and locks clicked open. After what felt like thirty seconds of complicated security procedures, the door finally swung wide. "Hey! You must be the new tenant! Good to see you! Come on in!""Follow me! Please take your shoes off! Thank you!" She said with an unnaturally bright smile.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, a piercing alarm erupted through the apartment. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

She spun around, her cheerful demeanor vanishing instantly. Her eyes widened with genuine terror as she stared at me, breathing rapidly. The color drained from her face. "D... Don't worry about it!" She fumbled with her phone, hands shaking violently until the beeping finally ceased.

Her mouth hung open slightly as she continued staring at me, a visible shiver running through her body. "Ju...Just the thing, you know? The thing? With the food? Inside? The, you know? OVEN! Yeah! the OVEN! Ha-ha!"

She clutched her left arm tightly against her side, as if trying to physically stop herself from shaking. "Shit, shit, shit! It can't be! Why would it signal now?" She muttered under her breath, her eyes darting nervously around the room. "Yeah, come on in! Please have a seat? Would you like a glass of...water? Maybe? You drink water, right?"