> “The sound traveled across the planet in an instant, and even without a single word, it spoke in every language: “We failed.”"
The man writing quickly spun the pen between his fingers, thinking about what to write next. The loud, thunderous sky didn't disrupt him. He felt as if the sound wasn't even there, blending with the world, as unnoticeable as the action of breathing.
> "My memory now seems to embellish the scene a little. As soon as I heard the noise of rock breaking, I ran outside of my home. The fields of vibrant green grass around the farm offered a great contrast to the dark gray clouds encompassing the sky all the way to the horizon. Suddenly, a flaming rock fell through it, as a spear tip pierced the heavens downwards, parting the clouds, screaming during its descent.
>
> But the flames weren’t burning in bright red, instead they were alien in nature. It had a purplish color, magenta they call it now. The plumes of smoke following it had thunder moving skywards. The rock itself slowly dissolved borke into dust particles, a dust that meshed into the clouds and remained in orbit, leaving a translucent purple where it trails.
>
> But some strived, remaining intact the whole way through. When the bulk of it hit the ground, even though distant from home, everything trembled, cracking the floor of the plains and my house’s walls. A vibrant wave of heated air embraced all around it, lifting so much soil and minerals that my lungs couldn’t take it easily. Still, I couldn’t go back in. The view of the clouds opening as more and more rocks kep ont falling, as if they were Moises parting the Red Sea was a unique sight to behold. To me, God was sending a message.”
“What are you doing Eric?” Asked a young man dressed in a green army uniform with a rifle strapped on his back. Although the uniform resembled the usual army outfit, the quality of the cloth was nowhere closer to the real thing.
Eric was sitting on a rock in the middle of a forest shrouded by the night, and still, it wasn’t truly dark. Reality had applied a filter coloring the whole surroundings with a very light purple. In his hands, he held a pencil and a notebook. Unlike the young man beside him, he wore simple civilian clothes, the rifle on the floor was the only indication of their association. “Writing… well, a biography I guess,” Eric replied. The constant humming of electricity and the roar of thunder partially covered his words.
“Never took you for an author” replied the young man. “Is there anything in your life that is worth telling?”
“Well, not now, but who knows what the future will bring.”
“We both know it's a daily dose of electricity and bad news,” the young man's reply sounded like a joke, even though it represented the truth.
A flock of birds was passing high above the trees, chirping away a sad song. Eric and his friend looked up in an attempt to see them through the foliage. Instead, they could only notice the ever-present night’s electrical storm, the dust particles settled on the atmosphere, emanating electricity from themselves, zapping rays from one another, under a hue of luminescent magenta. Huge chunks of left debris orbited Earth as a ring, but they were barely visible, and so were the stars beyond.
The sound of tree branches breaking as something fell evaded the deafening sky. Without a single sentence told to one another, they ran towards it, Eric quickly grabbing the rifle from the ground before sprinting. At their feet, a bird lay on the ground, dead. Eric took it into his hands gently.
“Maybe it got struck by lightning?” asked the young man.
“No signs of burn. Besides the damage of the fall, it seemed to be healthy before it.”
Erick took a flashlight, an item both he and his friend had strapped on their belt, and turned it on. Instead of a normal white light, a bluish color came out, cyan. In the air it illuminated, little particles invisible seconds ago began to shine in a gradient from blue to purple. He focused it on the corpse of the bird, and like magic, it sprung to life a luminescent dark blue and magenta mark sprung into life underneath its feather, growing in the lithe animal’s skin. “Same symptoms then, this one is also infected,” said Eric.
“One moment you’re alright and the next, you’re falling out of the sky.”
“Well, maybe the rumors are true, something about a threshold, genetics, and your age…” Eric's words served doom.
"Do you believe what they say? That the babies are being born weaker? That the next generation might live less than ours just because of this threshold thing?"
"I—" The flashlight’s light briefly illuminated Eric’s arm and the same luminescent mark showed up on his kin. It didn’t move, and yet, it seemed alive, colonizing his arm.
“Have they ever told your threshold? I hope—” His friend tried to say, but the radio on his uniform interrupted him.
“Mark, do you copy? How is Sector 5?” Said the voice on the radio.
“Sorry Travis,” followed Mark, “me and Eric finished the search, nothing on Sector 5 but dead birds.”
“Nothing new under the Sunless sky”, said the voice of Travis on the radio. “If you’re near the cliff, be careful, Elysium will be submerging soon.”
“Copy that, Travis!” Mark followed.
Eric felt a rush of energy overcoming him. He put the little bird’s corpse on the ground and turned off the flashlight. Without any warning he marched on a steady pace through the forest towards a clearing, leading to a cliff overlooking the ocean by a large bay with a long stretching beach.
A giant factory plumbing piles of smoke could be seen attached to a giant structure in the ocean by a retracting bridge. The factory had giant pylons, where electricity from the sky would hit from time to time. Alarms kept on ringing non-stop, people rushing and zapping from place to place in the middle of the madness. Somehow they managed to keep some semblance of order.
“I guess the whole 'be careful with the cliffs' meant nothing huh?” Mark asked.
“Common, this is history in the making! I got to see it to put it in my book!”
The giant metallic structure, shaped like a dome, had the retracted bridge completely recovered by now. Being completely cut off from the land, a final siren rang before the engines’ clinging echoed across the region, waves crashing all around it, including at the base of the cliff Eric stood, symbolizing the submerging process had begun. Eric watched it, his gaze shining with the dream of a future unseen.
“Wishing you could be inside that?” Mark quickly asked him
“No. What would they need me for? I’m just a simple farmer and they are… the future, scientists, and all that.”
“Scientists or not, they still need food. Which a farmer can produce,” said Mark. “Unless you now see yourself as a writer,” he followed with a smirk on his face.
“That is not what I meant.” Followed Eric, glancing briefly at the wedding ring on his finger. “I just think those outside will need me more.” Eric picked up his pen and notebook, quickly putting himself to work once again.
> “The moment I saw Elysium-1 submerging reminded me of the sentiment I felt when I saw the rocket, launching skyward to save us from imminent extinction.
>
> It felt like hope for clearer skies had returned. It would still take years for all those engineers to come up with a solution, and even longer till it could be fully implemented, but the fight we started when the asteroid showed up with this strange matter was not yet lost, this was just another step on it.
>
> And I’ll do what I can out here, so one day, when I meet my wife and son again, whatever you go after death, they can be proud of me. They’ll know that despite the fact that I missed them both so much, there was joy to protect in this dying world, and I would not let go of it.”
“From the book 'Echoes of….' Chapter 1, by Eric Monroe” written centuries ago.
——
A father and his son sat atop the metal tower, overlooking a metallic city, trapped inside a glass dome surrounded by nothing but the ocean water and the view of distant lands. Outside the glass, colors in abundance heating the world. Inside, the cold view of gray walls was slightly brightened by the fading light of a distant sunset.
It was their last sunset together, and Kaidan knew the boy was aware.
As usual, the eternal magenta dust was falling from the sky, and each grain energized to a point that a trace of light followed behind it, resembling falling stars made of thunder. The coming of the night always allowed you to see it more clearly.
“Alright, I’ve made my wish!” shouted the boy with enthusiasm.
“Are you still going on about it?” Replied the man sitting by his side with a strong and confident voice. Kaidan was gazing at the islands beyond the ocean. His black eyes seemed almost hopeful, if not for a small hint of sadness as if the light of the sun were not reflecting on them.
“I know they are not shooting stars but still…” The boy flustered.
Without standing, Kaidan reached his son with his arm and placed his hand on top of the boy’s head. He stared deeply into his eyes. He wanted to say the next set of words. He had to say them. “You know, that no matter what, I have to do this right?” Kaidan said with a soft voice.
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“Well, I actually asked for something different,” said the boy with some semblance of pride.
“R–Really? Then what did you wish for?” His voice cracked, but he couldn't fail, so he mustered the will to continue.
“I can’t really tell, that is the rule y’know?” The little one finished.
Kaidan smiled at him “Listen, Sean— '' Kaidan was abruptly interrupted by a loud sound of metal sliding, shortly followed by an announcement.
“Elysium-3 will be closing at the usual time but due to special circumstances will only submerge around 0100 hours. Please, all personnel ensure to be in position and complete your duties at the scheduled time to not endanger the colony further than needed”.
Kaidan stood up and pulled his son next to him as the lid slowly removed the sunlight from inside Elysium-3. Seconds later, there was a single sliver of light passing through, growing thinner and thinner, surrounding the two as they embraced themselves. And then, only darkness remained, the city vanishing from view. Embraced in it, seconds felt like years, and a bitter cold began to settle in.
One after another lights turned on from the center of the city towards its edges, a faint shade of cyan emitted from lines surrounding every wall. Even their clothes had some traces of fluorescent cyan on them, following the strips over their shoulders, chests, arms, and legs The two looked at one another, you could see the breath steaming out of their mouth.
“What do you think of a run to the lab to warm up? Before dinn— ” The boy raced ahead, unwilling to listen to the rest. They knew they wouldn’t have dinner again.
——
The constant dripping of water falling from the closed lid and hitting the glass echoed through all of Elysium-3. In reality, every sound echoed in there. The footsteps of people running their daily errands had a synchronicity to it The lamps sequentially turned on with a noise that felt like the air was vibrating. Nothing unusual or out of the expected.
The houses were small and uninteresting, simple cold cubes that, similar to everything else, were made of the same colorless metal, steel. Many of them were empty but still cared for.
“Hey Dad, look!” Sean shouted to Kaidan who was running ahead of him, pointing to a group of mosquitos flying around a lamp on the street. A few of them had faint, but yet very noticeable, luminescent dark blue marks on them.
“Should we do something? Mr. Corbyn will be— " Before Sean could finish the sentence, Kaidan squashed the mosquitos with both his hands.
“Wow!” Said the boy with surprise.
Kaidan prepared to interact with something akin to a flat-screen strapped around his left wrist when Sean scolded him. “No, no, no! I’ll do the report, I’ve learned last week.”
Oh yeah, you learn this kind of thing when you turn six. I wish you didn't need to, Kaidan murmured in his mind. “Alright then, by all means…”
The boy had no such apparatus on his wrist but on every street, a series of touch screens could be found, and towards one the boy walked and fumbled with. “Done, now Mr. Corbyn will come here to check.”
“Great job. Keep as much dust out of the colony and we might guarantee another generation to live as much as us.”
“Yeah but… you know, I don’t like killing those things, it’s not their fault.”
“Sometimes there is no helping it. No matter how good your intentions are, we, people, must always come first.”
Sean thought for a second before replying. “When you leave, you’re gonna save everyone right? Like, not only us but all other creatures?”
“I hope so. It’s a little more complicated than that but we’ll cross that bridge when you’re older.”
“We?” Sean replied with concern. “I…” But the boy refused to continue the thought. "I want to see the flower, can we go?"
——
The Research and Development section was far larger than any other section of Elysium-3 bare the Engine Rooms. The inside was very different as well, fields of green grass, trees bearing a diversity of fruits, and farms filled with different crops. You could hear bugs all around, dogs barking, roosters and chickens moving about, birds singing their songs from inside giant cages… and the smell of flowers, earth, and wet grass, all combined to construct a real place that felt lived in, unlike everywhere else.
After passing through the decontamination chamber into the zone, Kaidan and Sean followed towards the main building, towering over the farms. The interior was sterile. The whole place was one single room, white on white and… white, filled with tables and working stations. At the center, for everyone to see, a tube with three unique flowers stood, their petals half white and half blue capturing the gaze of all.
In front of the tube was a woman, she had long black hair with two intricate braids at the edges falling in front of her shoulders, and another braid circling the top of her head. She dressed far differently from everyone around, wearing a simple white dress filled with light blue flowery patterns, aligned with a blue belt around her waist. Next to her was a blonde man in a lab coat.
“Aya!” Sean screamed, running towards the woman.
“Oh, hi Sean” she replied. Her voice was as soft as her brown eyes.
“Heyo! Is it ready?” The little one asked enthusiastically.
“Yes,” she replied. “Look at the flower, it’s changing color!”
“Wow, Did Mr. Lance see it? He must be proud!” Sean said with wide eyes.
“Indeed, he would," agreed Ayane. “Let me show something else," she continued while typing something on a computer.
“Speaking of things being ready," approached the blond man, “how is the team doing Kaidan? All set? I’m asking because Thomas seems to be giving some trouble.”
“We are as ready as we can be,” replied Kaidan. “Tom kind of came to terms with it. Kind of.”
“Look, Dad, it changed,” Sean called.
Kaidan looked at the tube. The inside was being illuminated by a faint cyan light, dust particles could be seen floating about, but only a very small portion of it contained the usual color characteristic of the strange matter: the dark blue to magenta hues. Some of the flower petals had a strain of the fluorescent color inside their Anemone’s petal pattern. In reality, it wasn’t an Anemone. It was a creation of man, not of nature.
Ayane looked at Rutgers as she clutched her fists in front of her chest and lowered her head. “Do you think everything I’ve learned will be enough? Three months isn't that much,” she said in doubt.
“Well, they’ve permitted you to go out. If that isn’t trust, I don’t know what it is," replied Rutgers.
“I was just thinking that— ” continued Ayane until Kaidan gently gave her a hit with a snap of fingers on her forehead.
“Don’t think, just do it”. He quickly glanced at Sean. “Don’t think…”
“Come Ayane, let’s get the seeds. The sooner we do this, the better,” Rutgers said staring at Sean's confused face.
Ayane soon followed him “Meet you at the exit then," she said.
——
The warm ocean breeze came in through the open shell door leading to the outside world. With a calm sea, a boat stood outside connected to a precarious docking platform attached to Elysium-3. By the door, two young men stood still, in all-black uniforms marked with dark green lines, their hands at their back, signalizing respect.
“Everything has been done as requested sir!” said the blonde one with explosive enthusiasm. He was trying to control his smile.
“I imagine we have places to stay the night then Dylan?” Followed Kaidan. Sean watched from the side.
“Yes sir!” followed the blonde boy. “I’ve also guaranteed a trip to the Tower tomorrow morning. The islanders were eager to help.”
“Good work as usual soldier.” Kaidan turned to the other boy with brownish hair completely out of control, he seemed to be struggling to keep his posture and a genuine air of disinterest in all that was happening. “What about you Thomas? Everything sorted?”
“Yes sir! Weapons, supplies, and clothes were moved onto the boat," Kaidan had trouble hearing what he said.
Sean quickly ran towards Dylan, genuinely excited.
“Hey, Mr Dylan, did you see the mountain from close by?”
“Oh, yes I did — ”
“Cool! Was it big? It seems huge from here,” Sean said bursting with energy.
“Indeed it was. Way taller than the Lookout Tower… Well, way taller than this place!”
“Daddy, you have to promise me, you’ll visit the mountain and climb it.”
“Is that an order soldier?”
“Yes, you bet it is daddy.”
“I’m ready!” Ayane’s voice echoed from behind Kaidan, breaking the conversation.
When he turned to her, she wasn’t wearing her usual clothes anymore. Instead, she changed into the same uniform as the boys, but with orange stripes rather than green, and two small extra items strapped around her waist: a satchel filled with seeds and a glass case with a flower. Even her usual braids were undone. For Kaidan, this seemed like a different person. She quickly moved into formation with the other two, clearing not fitting but their side.
Rutgers, who had arrived with her, approached Sean and gave something to the boy, who quickly hid it behind him and out of Kaidan’s sight. Then, Rutgers proceeded to talk with the team. “I’ll pray for your mission’s success. And I’ll take good care of Sean for you.”
“We have to get going” shouted a voice from the boat, with a strong accent. “Those waters aren’t safe at night.”
“Alright everyone, let's proceed into the boat.” Kaidan gave the order with all the strength he could, knowing that this would be the order that would set them apart forever.
As Kaidan watched his team moving towards the boat he turned to give one final look to the interior of Elysium-3. No one came to bid us farewell… everyone carrying their duty, he thought to himself.
He then turned to Sean. What should I say now? Is there anything to say?
“You’re already a hero,” said Sean timidly.
“Huh?” Kaidan didn’t understand the line.
“My wish. It was that you would be a hero and clear the skies so fast you would be back here in a heartbeat before the year is gone and your threshold....” He stopped for a second before following. “Telling you my wish makes it impossible to realize, but… there is nothing to realize, you're already a hero.” Those final words came out with difficulty, the boy wanted to cry. “Could you do something for me?” Sean continued, showing what he kept behind him all along, a book, made with brown leather, a little belt strapping it close, the cover adorned with the image of the world map.
“A book?” Pondered Kaidan, surprised. There is no means to produce paper inside Elysium-3 without several problems.
“I’ll give you this, so then you can write or glue stuff from your journey, and at the end, if you send it back, I’ll know everything you’ve been through, like if we were together,” Sean said, pretending to be joyful.
Kaidan took the book, settled it aside for a second, and gave Sean the biggest hug he could give. “Take care baby boy. I wish this could be done in under a year, but the world is far too big.” Kaidan’s voice was gentle and caring. “And I hope that once all we’ll do is said and done. You’ll live a life longer than mine. No one should ever know how long they have left to live.”