FA Chapter 33 Epilogue; The Sun

Day 1/March/2973

Geneva, State of Switzerland.

In a giant rectangular room, with white walls on one side, and an array of windows on the opposite side, giving a splendid view of the city below, were many men and women, each suffusing an air of authority. Each gesture and every expression of theirs, radiating power.

Some were standing, chatting with the others, or conversing with people far away through their neural links. While there were those that were already seated around the wooden long table, whose legs had been carved in the likeness of different animal legs, down to the nail. The table had been handcrafted, making it the most expensive item in the room, yet none were in the mood to pay any attention to its beauty.

"A giant hurricane is forming in the Atlantic ocean?! Is that important news? Don't we have the technology to stop that? It is malfunctioning! Fix it!"

"A large piece just separated from a glacier in the arctic, and the ocean level is rising? Is the data accurate?"

"The orbital telecommunications array collapsed? And the quantum computer was destroyed! Damn that Musana! Why the hell did he have to summon a star?!"

"Aris! Contact the Forger Association right now and ask them how they are going to deal with this!"

"Those crystal stage idiots have been eating too much of our money! Now's the time for them to step up!"

"Is this planet going to just end? This is doomsday, I tell ya!"

"How are we going to solve the large hole in the ozone layer, just above the state of Uganda? That's the biggest problem right now!"

One figure, paler than the rest was quietly seated upon one of the chairs, gazing at the large holographic screen taking up the entire length of the table with despair.

It was showing the current location where Kampala city used to sit, now occupied by a massive crater that had even managed to envelop half Lake Victoria.

The waters of the lake were pouring in, creating the world's largest and deepest waterfall, having far surpassed the Niagara falls. But even that large amount of water was instantly being pushed back upwards as steam upon contact with the red hot magma below.

The tectonic plate now had this massive hole that was connected to the ocean of magma it was supposed to be floating upon.

The pale-faced figure moved his gaze to a corner of the floating screen where the diameter of the crater had been denoted. A full 100,000sqkm! And over 20 million people had died, with the deathtoll still rising by the minutes as the ripples of a star appearing within the atmosphere of the planet washed over the world, causing apocalyptic disasters on a scale far surpassing any before them.

"We need to start. Many haven't arrived, but no one can blame them at this time."

A black haired burly man, with blue eyes that were screaming sleepiness, entered the room, with his words bringing about a silence to the chaos in the room. He was the senator from the state of America, one of the five largest states in the Federation.

"Mr. Mukasa, I know that you have lost family, but you need to perk up. We need everyone in the game if we're going to ride out this disaster."

Mukasa, the representative from the state of Uganda was jolted from his despair by those words. He took a deep breath after thanking the man.

"This disaster caught us unawares. The power possessed by those entities known as Forgers...is one we have been underestimating." The man's gaze roamed among those within the room who had become Forgers, and that meant most of them. Only a minor few were still tethered to the shackle that was mortality.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Mukasa had also been a recipient of such a gaze but, he didn't regret becoming a Forger, instead, he regretted not having brought his family prior to arriving in the state of Switzerland.

"...and that underestimation has led to this. The costs to repair everything might even have us having to borrow from the Moon and Mars, not to mention the fact that we are going to need to find a way to facilitate the recovery of the planet. The damage to the ozone layer is minor in comparison to the destabilized magnetic field, coupled with the shift in the angle of the Earth's tilt in relation to the sun."

Everyone at the table paled. They had thought that it had been that simple! And Aris was currently only collaborating data from a Moon satellite that lacked the advanced sensors as the satellite array that had collapsed.

"That problem is going to be more pronounced in our lands. Where is the Federal army?" The senator of Tanzania asked.

Everyone at the table became quiet at the question, with many directing their gazes towards the senator of America.

"It has already moved out."

"Are you joking with me right now? With the speed of their current crafts, they should have appeared by now! Are you blind? Every satellite within the vicinity of our East African region hasn't picked up on any arrivals!" Kenya's senator exploded, with his palms spreading vibrations within the table such that Mukasa felt them.

For a moment, a spark of rage almost ignited within his heart but he held it back. It would be misguided. His rage would mostly be guided by grief for his family...and that was unacceptable in this situation.

So, he took a deep steadying breath before directing his gaze towards America's senator. His eyes were calm but only he knew the storm he was holding back within.

"They were enroute but as you know, natural disasters are happening everywhere, so..."

"Where are they? Over half of the ten trillion budget has been going over to them. It seems like my protests every single time those funds were allocated have been valid all this time!"

"Kakama, are you trying to provoke me?" America's senator asked, a sliver of rage leaking into his tone.

But Kenya's senator didn't back down, keeping his heated gaze trained to the man.

"Where's the army?" Mukasa asked the relevant question while signalling to his hotheaded companion to take a seat and calm down. Now wasn't the time.

"In Congo. Let's go over the next agenda. How to save the Earth from devolving into an apocalyptic mess."

"The first course of action must be to restore communications within the East African region and some close areas."

"I have a question..." Someone, a senator from one of the south American nations started.

"How did we miss the fact that Musana used to be a criminal? And a heinous one at that?"

"That man appeared humble and meek, but this event has exposed his cunning mind."

Mukasa clenched his fists as hatred enveloped his mind like a blanket. Musana...that was a name he would never ever forget!

"I tried all my connections in trying to trace his origins... But there was nothing. He must have erased his past history."

"Let's get back to the point here people! As we are wasting time chatting about irrelevant stuff, the temperature surrounding the crater is rising! The magma is rising!" The Kenyan Senator clapped his hands, after which he gestured towards the screen.

"How long till the army arrives?"

"30 seconds."

"They should be ordered to prioritise evacuations. If I am not mistaken, the damaged magnetic shield around the Earth is causing the magma to be attracted to the surface due to the fact that our atmosphere is leaking into space." A senator from Asia, specifically, South Korea, spoke.

"We need a team of the greatest minds on this. You should try to call upon anyone that you know. This is a crisis requiring the utmost speed in solving."

"Dr. Lee, could we trouble you to lead the special science team?" A European woman asked the South Korean senator.

"It would be my honor."

"Aris, how long till the network is restored?"

The question prompted a holographic figure to walk out of the screen, the AI running this entire building, having been programmed with instructions to help the senators. It was capable of connecting to every single state on this planet and all technological devices...with permission of course.

Its outward appearance was of a young woman with light blue hair and radiant eyes, dressed in office attire.

(30 minutes, sir.)

"What's the hold up?" Someone at the table asked.

(Its time consuming to construct a new quantum chip. The processes required are too complex, preventing me from simply printing it.)

"So, we aren't going to be able to communicate with those within our States for a solid 30 minutes..." The Kenyan senator leaned back into his chair scratching at his hair.

A silence permeated the room for a few minutes before someone asked a question the perked up everyone.

"The Forgers and their Association... Now that Musana has been discovered to be a villain, how are we going to ask them for an explanation?"

"Musana always managed to play tricks that prevented it's removal-"

"Oh come on! You can speak of it. There is no need to try and hide it. You did receive bribes!"

"Hey!"

Chaos took over the room.