Chapter Thirty-Nine

“Hey, kiddo, how are you feeling today?” Rosa asked as he and Evata made their way out of the room.

“Good,” Viktoriya said, still pondering on it. She was about to say something of her last vision and ask about the meaning of the numbers and formulas when her dad kissed her forehead and then bade her goodbye.

“See you later this afternoon. Be safe,” he said.

Her mom did the same, following Rosa out the door.

Viktoriya exhaled.

She would find the answer herself. Her parents had become strangers since the death of Aura. They worked endlessly in their home labs and down in their workshops in the basement, trying to push the ark’s progress forward at every chance that came.

Sometimes, she overheard them arguing. But the only time they were not working was when they left the house to some meeting at a local office.

Choe had somehow become a distant memory. The two friends had not seen one another for such a long time.

Viktoriya mainly had spent all her time with CLEFF, bonding with and learning more with him.

“I’m not sure that I understand how to be a friend. It seems impossible,” she thought out loud.

From her point of view, CLEFF was more of a friend than any person could be. He understood her drive to gain knowledge, and when she spoke, they mainly had intellectual conversations, but he was more than capable of understanding her.

“Today, we will begin our karate training,” he said. “I have selected some robes for you. Now, as you learn more, you upgrade in belts, but for now, you are going to start with this,” he said, tossing her the robe and a single white belt.

* * *

Evata and Rosa arrived at the Halikkon facility, and as usual, he exchanged greetings with the Artificial Intelligence while Eva strode past, paying no heed to the welcome.

It had been a long while since they stepped into the building, even before the death of Aura. If curiosity killed the cat, as they say, then curiosity drove them there that day.

It had sounded like a big, terrible joke when they were called earlier that morning to come in. And initially, both had decided to attend remotely and not go onsite.

They had scaled back their involvement with Team Halikkon since the death of Aura. Only essential tele-meetings, report updates, and analysis verifications were ongoing.

They did not want anything to do with them outside of the essential required work contributions, and everything had gone just the same for months. But when the urgent call came in earlier that day, requesting they come in, and that it was of utmost importance, it hadn’t been up for questioning.

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And even though they were not willing or ready to face the Halikkon team, they knew they must attend the meeting.

Amidst the warm facility air, the fragrance of tropical plants basked their senses. The warmth of the building slowly washed away the numbing effect of the world outside. One might even live inside the confines of these walls and be completely free of the terrors that had amassed beyond them.

They made their way to the elevator, then the top floor, exiting into the quiet hallway to the conference room. The last time they had been there, they struggled desperately for an idea that was immediately buried deep and hadn’t resurfaced.

All the attendees had fought over the simplest of truths, or at least what they convinced themselves was the truth.

They arrived at the room, and as the door slid open, all eyes turned to them. They took their seats next to each other.

Edmund spoke up after an awkward, long silence, starting the meeting.

Earth had undergone even more change over the last few months.

It was rapidly getting difficult to tell the difference between day and night from the deep cloud overcast. Hundreds of average men and women died daily from harsh weather or earthquakes that had now bemoaned their planet.

They shut schools down, workplaces, as well as anything that required anyone to leave the safety of their home for a long period. The Frost was the most significant pandemic of them all. They had not equipped most homes to provide adequate shelter and continuous heat from the Frost, which added to the issues.

The government’s ruse had faded, and the world knew they did not have control.

“I’m… We are afraid we’re out of options, Evata, Rosa,” Edmund said. He brushed his chin, then added, “We must leave Earth. The only hope now is the ark. The one you proposed.”

“Um, okay?” Evata responded, cocking an eyebrow.

“How far have you gone with it?” Edmund asked and pressed his lips. He knew she was going to make him work for the answer.

“I haven’t. You asked that we never pursue it, remember?” she replied.

Rosa could not help but smile. It was one thing to disagree with Eva, but it was another to return, saying she was right all along.

“Damn it, Eva! Don’t stress it,” Edmund said, slamming the table.

She stood from her seat, pointing directly at Edmund, and shouted, “Did you not state, explicitly, that we would be ‘Carrying out a plan for destroying human life’—not saving it; and that we were only to focus on reversing TITAN, and nothing else?”

“I’m sorry. Eva, please calm down. I know you’ve been working on it. Tell me, how ready are you? For all our sakes. Look, I was wrong. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”

She kept her gaze on him as though analyzing him.

“You should have listened to us before,” she said.

“Agreed. I am listening now,” he replied. He was not in for games. As the Director of Halikkon, Edmund was not about to spend the last of his days in prison, freezing to death, away from whatever daylight remained to pay for his catastrophic failures, crimes against humanity.

“Fine. Yes, we’ve made significant progress,” she finally admitted.

“How much progress?” he asked, leaning forward on the table.

“We have a functioning prototype and design in Rosa’s lab. We know everything we need to make it work,” she said.

“Great! We shou—”

“We will get you the database of the resources required. It is a massive undertaking, unlike anything we have ever done before,” she said as they pushed away from the conference table, then turned to leave.

They were halfway to the door when Edmund said, “Eva, Rosa! I am so sorry about Aura.”

It was an attempt to strike a chord in healing a wound. She remained frozen on the spot for a few moments.

She recalled how miserable and depressed she had been after her beloved friend’s death. Aura was her close friend, and even though she had lost her way at one point, she was young, and it was an impossible situation that she found herself in.

It was definitely not worth her life, but she paid the price, anyway. Aura had only been trying to right the wrong, a wrong that they, themselves, had caused in how she thought best for everyone. Which she believed was honorable and noble.

Eva and Rosa remained silent as they looked at one another, then proceeded out of the office as they originally were, without acknowledging Edmund’s condolences.

Some things just could not be undone.

Sometimes wrongs could not be made right, no matter how much time had passed.