Wednesday - October 31st, 2121:

The wide panel retracted as an opening revealed itself at the central point. As the room opened, smoke billowed out, chilling the area to an icy crawl. There was enough room for one person to fit, and I walked into it, feeling a slight tingle against my flesh as that icy mist washed over my suit. Inside, the Ozone Reactor looked akin to some modified satellite with a large pillar aimed at the paneled ceiling overhead.

I could not see how I was supposed to interact with it— or do anything remotely humanity-saving. But as the panel behind me began to close, confining me to the reactor room within, the reactor whirred and awoke into motion as a series of compartments shifted, revealing a space within it fit for a single person.

I walked into it feeling for the first time since I awoke an unbreakable confidence to do right. The space was restrictive and narrow, and as I walked into it, it sealed itself, blocking me into a path without retreat. But that was fine.

As it shut, bindings unfolded from compartments that lined the space, trapping me in a tight embrace that held on as if it were afraid I'd change my mind.

Immediately after, a part of me regretted my decision as objects jutted out from the inside, piercing into my body, tearing into my suit, and shattering my helmet. As the air entered my lungs, my insides burned and surged like howling worms writhing within. Worse was the voice scraping against my mind— a veritable fiend clawing for an escape.

I shook uncontrollably, with my eyes rolling into the back of my skull. My fingers wriggled and clenched, and nothing made any sense. From the cramped space, a blinding light erupted, and I could hear the scraping of the ceiling as it retracted open, and then—there was nothing.

After who knows how long, my eyes opened, and I saw my home, I saw—Earth. It wasn't in a metaphoric sense or a spiritual one. It was the actual world—that once beautiful blue marble that lay before my eyes. I stared down at it with expressionless confusion, and it stared back, rippling with an ethereal force that parted the ashen clouds that blanketed the atmosphere.

Then I heard that familiar croak as the raven appeared before me—perched atop the starry void surrounding us. It defied logic—yet there it was. Its rubied eyes gazed at me—penetrating deep into the depths of my soul, and I knew—

I could see—the dull green bulbous growth that latched onto half my face, leeching onto the very life that I lost. It squirmed in the hollow starry sky, crippled and afraid. I—It floated away into the life-barren void toward the distant horizon.

Stolen novel; please report.

Then, the flapping sound crackled across the empty plane, moving toward Earth, free and liberated. As the clouds parted above the earthen sky, I witnessed the wonders that blessed it. Creatures large and monstrous burrowed into the depths, each one opening the ground up into a visceral maw that consumed entire ruined cities.

I witnessed the Caretaker laughing as he stood in the camp with the children near him. Flora, too, stood nearby, unharmed but saddened. The Caretaker raised his arms, saying something to the children who backed away from him. The man's lower body melded with the rising soil, and his bark-covered skin grew exponentially both in width and height—it quickly towered over a vast stretch of Earth. His upper body crumbled into dust, replacing itself with a verdant splash of leaves that cast a shadow over the once hidden-away camp.

The children got swept up in the storm that the Caretaker's transformation caused, but the children reacted with unity and climbed the shifting terrain, raising themselves until they reached the crown of the colossal tree that now stood firmly in the ground.

All across the world, some survived, and others got caught up in the shifting tides of change that encompassed Earth and vanished, buried in the dark depths of the world—lost and forgotten.

Eventually, calm returned, and all was as it should be for humanity's sake. All across the world, I could see the groups of people who found a way to defy all of the odds. Neither monster nor parasite could destroy their wills, and despite everything, the corruption threw their way—humans survived.

I was overwhelmed by the world and the changes, but in a sense, I felt relief more than anything. Whether before or after, my home was gone—all that remained was a future for those who came after. But even that was joyous, for Flora, Sapphire, and the rest could have a future. One devoid of strife and manipulation, threats, and the spreading corruption.

In the end, I was content.

Maybe not fully satisfied, but at least I helped someone. Maybe—they would forgive me now for all the mistakes I made along the way. When all was said and done, it was time to rest.

My vision blinked, and I was about to drift away—when it knocked on my peripheral. I jolted to the side, penetrating the depths beyond the hills and valleys, past the rivers and mountains, and through the surging waves. And then, I saw it. Burrowing. Eating. Buried.

'No!'

As the thought poured out of my mind—it stopped and turned its leathery, dried head toward the stars lying beyond the thick earthen surface that shielded it. Its black, beady, listless eyes stared with a rhythmic tilt in my direction—yet distant. And then, from the hollow black pupils, two fleshy, human hands reached out and slammed against the cornea.

A visceral laugh crackled like thunder that spanned across the void, causing me to flinch and gaze away. And when I looked back, it was gone.

I scanned the world from top to bottom.

But after that. I could not find any sign of it.

There was nothing.