Chapter Nine

Rosa wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders while they cuddled on their couch. Viktoriya played on the floor with the new magnets that she and her mom picked up in D. C. She was sitting on her sensory mat, something she hadn’t touched in a few years.

Old cartoons from the twentieth century played on their TV screen.

They basked in the warm light of the faux-fire place, which crackled from the other side of the room.

“When did Vik start playing with her old mat again?” he asked, his eyes on the cartoons, trying not to look too long at their daughter. Was something wrong? It had been beneficial to help her emerge from her internalization and become more engaging with others. But she had outgrown the mat long ago, and it worried him some that she was back to it.

Eva pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ah, my love, I forgot to mention—today has been so long.”

He sighed. Indeed, it had.

While he spent the day refining their report, she had taken Viktoriya to D.C. for her appointment.

And then there was their evening meeting with the iNASA-Climate team, which was enough excitement for a lifetime—with the world-ending report and all.

He didn’t blame his wife at all for her exhaustion. He certainly was out of it, too.

“Vik had this strange moment in the car today, she—she—it was like when she zones out, but I couldn’t get to her, Rosa.”

She tilted her chin up to look at him, whispering to keep their daughter from hearing. “I couldn’t make her snap out of it. And then she said she saw a flash.”

“Shh, my dear, it’s all right,” he said, pulling his wife closer to sink into the corner of their oversized couch.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. She was probably distracted.”

“I don’t know, Rosa,” he felt her shake her head against his chest.

“Something was different this time; you weren’t there. You didn’t see it. It was like she was completely gone.”

His gut churned. He squeezed his wife in tighter.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. That must have been so scary.”

“Mom, Dad, where do they keep horses now? When can I go ride a horse, like this girl on television?”

“I think we can find out something soon, honey.”

“Okay. How old do you have to be to ride a horse?”

“Um, I’m not exactly sure, hun, but we’ll definitely find out.”

“Okay. I’m nine years old now.”

He, laughing at the validation of her age, to mean that she was old enough to ride horses, turned to Eva and whispered, “So, on that. I found a location northwest of us, out of the district, about half an hour away. They have a few horses, but it is mostly an outpost for animal rescue, a dedicated location attempting to care for and save as many types of animals as possible. Maybe if we ask them if we may come to visit and offer a donation that would assist with food and supplies, we can see about letting her ride one of their smaller horses for a short time.”

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“Oh my, I think that’s a wonderful idea. I know she would love it! I hope they will!”

“Great, then that’s settled. I’ll call and see what they have to say and when they may be—”

EMERGENCY NEWS ALERT! broadcasted throughout the house.

EMERGENCY NEWS ALERT!

Rosa bolted up in his seat, his wife doing the same. The AI repeated the alert in a loud loop, broadcasting it through their house.

“Ahh,” Viktoriya complained, her hands covering her ears. “Make it stop! It’s too loud.”

“Alert received,” Rosa said. Their AI system ceased the alert. His mind raced. They had only set up emergency alerts for a few select events. Whatever this was, it would certainly not be good.

“Cast to the TV, please.”

The cartoons flashed off the screen, and the AI pulled up a local D.C. area news station. The broadcaster stood in front of the TITAN exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum.

A miniature scale replica of TITAN hovered in the background.

“—and the report outlines a doomsday scenario where the celebrated TITAN, which has been removing massive amounts of greenhouse gases over the years, caused this frozen apocalyptic future—the Frost. Meanwhile, the Halikkon team has issued a statement—”

Eva interlaced her fingers with his.

“Rosa…”

“Another station, please!” he called out to the AI as the TV flipped to a national news outlet.

“—as the armed rioters are gathering at government facilities and buildings across the nation.”

“Penned by celebrated scientists Rosa and Evata Kuzland of the Halikkon team, the recently leaked report summarizes over two thousand simulations, all of which end in a global freeze.”

The coiffed reporter sitting at the desk shuffled her papers and turned to her co-anchor.

“What are you making of all this, Jim? Is this real, or the ramblings of two mad scientists—”

Rosa turned to his wife, recalling what she said a couple of weeks ago. “Eva, you know I’ll love you no matter what, but I have to ask—”

She shook her head, her eyes wide and unblinking. “How could you even? This wasn’t me, Rosa; I leaked nothing to anyone! I swear it!”

She grabbed his arm and gasped, rearing backward as she placed her hand on the side of her face.

He nodded.

He knew she would never do something like this without him knowing, but he just wanted to be sure.

But if it wasn’t her, then who?

“INCOMING CALL,” the monotone AI alerted them over the speakers built into the house.

“EDMUND DIVORSIK.”

“Accept,” Eva said. The AI patched them through.

“Edmund, this wasn’t us,” Rosa said, wanting to shield his family from the inevitable backlash that would follow that announcement.

“Don’t be so dense, Rosa. I know that,” he snapped back, his voice low and booming from the other end of the line.

“But there will be an investigation, and you two will certainly be the prime suspects. If you have anything to take care of, though, I would suggest you do so now. Your lives are about to be watched from under a microscope.”

Rosa swallowed the lump in his throat, but neither he nor Eva said anything. This was precisely what they did not need in their lives, especially now.

“The world is panicking, Kuzlands. I’m getting calls left and right from political leaders across the globe. Riots are breaking out globally. Some are escalating into violent attacks and full border skirmishes! World leaders want action, they demand answers, and they want accountability.”

Edmund’s statement came at a breakneck pace, his rattling words barely distinguishable from one another.

“There will be a summit. All the international scientific community’s greatest minds. You will both be there, and that’s not a request. I’ll get a security detail assigned.”

He nodded, listening to Edmund’s words. “Of course—”

“I have to go now,” Edmund’s voice boomed.

“If we don’t quell this panic now, the end may come a lot sooner than you are predicting. See you soon and stay safe—as members of the TITAN team, you’ll be public enemy number one.”

A beep cut off the call.

“He’s right,” Eva said.

“Anyone on the TITAN project, or even remotely associated with it, will be a target. And we deserve it. We are literally ending the world. While trying to save it.”

She looked at the floor.

“The intent may have been good, but our actions were harmful in the end. This was our oversight, our responsibility—no one else’s.”

Rosa held his wife’s hands and looked her in the eyes.

“And we’ll fix it, I’m sure of it—”

“EMERGENCY INCOMING CALL,” the AI interrupted.

“INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.”

Rosa straightened his back. Eva sighed, but gave him the slight nod to answer.

And so, in all of three minutes, the ending of their peaceful life had arrived.