SIDE C | CHAPTER 6

May 1st, 2032

Andrew stared up at the mountain for only a moment longer.

"What do you want to do?" Jen asked. Her look was the most resilient out of the three of them.

Sarah was thankful that the rain from her dream carried over to the waking world, it hid the tears streaking down her face well. She held herself tight in a defensive position. "I want to leave here and never turn back...but we can't do that."

"We can't turn back for good...but maybe we shouldn't move head forward like this. We're not even remotely prepared..." Jen said.

"I don't think we can turn away at all..." Sarah shook her head. "I think if we try we'll be turned right back around."

"But we don't know that for sure."

Andrew spoke up, "I feel that Sarah's right. The air around here is...tighter. It feels like there's a cage around us. I don't think we're getting out of here without going in there," He nodded his head toward the monument.

"If it helps any," a voice from behind all of them came. They turned to see the owner—Larry George. "Your guess that you're unable to leave without attending the meeting is correct."

"Who are you?" Sarah asked.

"This is Larry," Jen began. "He's who we met at the cafe before we picked you up."

"So he's with whoever's in there," Sarah said, turning him him to Jen.

"We're all in the same boat. Just seems that the boat is...marooned for now. May I lead you inside?"

"Do you have any choice?" Andrew asked. "Do we?"

Larry's face contorted as if he'd just been told an off-color joke, "Do you understand the meaning of the word maroon?"

And that was the end of that discussion. Sarah tried to subtly wipe her eyes, but she nodded toward the group. Larry returned a look that seemed almost apologetic but before it could fully manifest he walked ahead of them. The three remained behind, staring at him going, almost testing how far he'd go without them. It wasn't far, turns out. He stopped and cocked his head slightly, "They're not a fan of being kept waiting. There's an incredible patience there, but everything has its limits."

With solemn resolution, Andrew led as Sarah and Jen trailed behind. They trailed up the side of the path until Andrew could see just where they were going—there was a continuing path that eventually lead up what looked like would be an extremely unstable climb up to the rear of George Washington's head.

Andrew doubted that a man of Larry's build was even up to climbing, but Andrew's doubts were immediately answered when the ground under their feet changed in a flash—instantly warping them to a sight that hadn't been familiar to him. It was familiar to Sarah, however.

She looked around with her breath held firm, fearing the same arm would reach for her shoulder. "We're inside, aren't we?"

"We are," Larry answered.

"I saw this place. It was as toxic as it feels now."

Now that Sarah had put the word to it—Andrew agreed that he felt a deep seated poison seeping from the innards. His eyes shifted to the side—he saw the shadows of Aria and Lindsey clearer than he had before. It were as if he were dreaming now. He could almost hear the whispers on their lips.

"If we've no choice then let's keep moving," Jen said. "I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling the despair of this area sinking into their core."

"You don't get used to it," Larry said, taking in a deep breath and continued walking forward. The area was only lit by the random flashes of what must have been lightning from the outside—the ground was very clearly man-made, but the walls and ceiling looked to be made from the natural stone. Cracks where the foundation broke away offered small pockets of light that spilled in. Sarah could only hear the rhythmic pounding of the metal as they approached. Andrew began thinking of the water tank.

They reached a staircase which ascended into what must have been Thomas Jefferson's head based on how far they had walked. At the top lay a door of solid steel. It opened at their presence and the inside walls transitioned to similar looking metal as the floor outside did.

"Still a work in progress out there. Or at least, it was..." Larry trailed off.

Leading up toward the rear on the left hand side of the lab was an exoskeleton of a machine that was comprised of many different parts—all serving the central column where Andrew felt his heart stop as he saw the water tank—and the creature that inhabited it. It looked somewhere in the middle between a man and an amoeba. A fleshy membrane flashed through and exposed fading internal organs. It tried to smile at them as they entered, but it was clear to all that it was a struggle.

"finally we meet," a voice echoed into each of their minds. "i am thankful that everyone here can hear me this way. it is troubling having to exert so much energy speaking to larry physically."

"Who...or what are you?" Andrew started. "Just what the hell do you want from us? It's never as simple as your letter so go on and explain why we shouldn't take you out here and be done with it."

"cool your temper, andrew. we seek common goals. i shall gladly offer everything i can to help you understand. my name is khap-en. I do not originate from your planet. it is a long story, but i shall avoid giving unnecessary details so we can move onto the important stuff, can we agree to that?"

"An alien...? Whatever else you have must be something if it supersedes talking about that."

"when the important matters are discussed we can talk about it all you like. we unfortunately do not have time to cover everything now."

"Okay," Andrew nodded, but with some hesitance. "Why did you summon us?"

"i discussed half the reason inside the letter. the orb that which you conceal is very, very dangerous. i have a method to ensure it does not cause any harm, but to discuss that involves the other half of the reason. two of your ambassadors were going to england, were they not?"

"How would you know that?" Jen asked, a bit more bite to the question than she realized, but it mattered little to Khap-En.

"irrelevant. i am in the know of many things. my view is large. i assume you are angry about the bomb on the plane? that is an easy thing to guess."

"Angry? Of course I'm angry!" Jen yelled at him.

"your friend lives, for now. i know many things. the other—the one you care less about has the power to protect him from the explosion. i wasn't aiming to kill them—simply remove the chance of anybody from england making a return trip."

"The plane? Why's that?" Andrew asked.

"while i am sure that the both of your ambassadors survived the explosion, i fear that by arriving in england they are as good as dead. have you ever wondered why news about anything that's going on over there was cut off to you? why you never heard of anything over the past few decades? england has been busy evolving far past the point of survival. the queen has been involved in a great many experiments of catastrophic design. i could spend time we do not have going over the minutiae, but the point that is of greatest interest to you is that each and every citizen of that kingdom is a walking time-bomb. they are like you three."

"Radical-9..." Sarah said, her eyes widening.

"You mean...if just one of them dies..." Andrew was thinking at the destructive power that John and Jack had combined—it would have been enough to level half the country. If even five people like that went off it'd be enough to clear a country off the globe, but if an entire nation went like that...

"it is not tied to their death. they are not exactly the same as you. people have died and no such explosions as you experienced have occurred. however, the trigger to unlocking them is currently in their hands. matthew was always an unknowing key to the queen's plans."

"How long have you known this?" Jen asked. "And how can we be sure that you're telling the truth?"

"He is," Andrew said, staring bullets at Khap-En. "I can feel it."

"i think we have little time to waste on doubting the truth. the long and short of our situation is very dire. i have been...unwell as of late, and my ability to affect the world around me is weakening every day. in truth, if you so wanted i could send you all over there to confirm that those you sent are still alive, however you would be there on your own without any reasonable way back, and when the key fits the lock...you would be unable to escape all of your untimely deaths—and the deaths of this entire planet."

Andrew could see the possibility play out in his head. He felt like Khap-En was reading his emotions directly. He could see him asking to see the proof for himself, being sent over, and confirming everything Khap-En said as true. And that would leave nothing behind. He wouldn't have failed just Aria and Lindsey...he would have failed them all. Everyone on this planet...

"You sound like you have a better alternative," Andrew said.

"Andy, are you even considering this?" Sarah asked.

He turned to her, "I have to hear him out. If it sounds like something that will help...I think the end of everything you saw in your dream was...was refusing that."

"I don't think so, Andy," she shook her head. "John warned me about...that thing."

"our time runs low, and you may refer to me using male pronouns. less confusion, less arguing."

She looked up at Khap-En and held her wrist tight with one hand. "I don't like any of this."

"I...don't either," Jen said. "I still can't get over the fact that you bombed us and expect us to help you."

"What do you need? What's your plan?" Andrew reiterated. He feared that arguing amongst everyone would be just as worthless as throwing themselves up to the slaughter.

Sarah noticed his decision, and loosened her grip. "You're the boss. I...I guess I'll go with whatever you decide."

Jen looked from her to Andrew, and in looking at his pleading eyes she softened, and nodded slightly.

"excellent. now that we're all on the same page, i fear it is too late to save the planet as a whole. it is an inevitability that the trigger will ignite. we have one option remaining to us—to save as many people as we possibly can. i have had larry working for me for quite some time. he wasn't the only one—but he is the only one remaining. in the time since i have been having him construct a vehicle that could take the remaining humans off of the planet."

"You spent your time building a ship instead of alerting us of this threat earlier?"

Khap-En stared simply back at Andrew. "i had as much proof of my words then as i do now. and you only choose to believe me because of the situation you are now in. besides, we have only just recently been able to complete the vessel. any wasted time and we would be too late no matter what."

"This is crazy," Andrew said to himself, putting a hand to his head. Slowly he raised his gaze back up to Khap-En. "You're saying the Earth is fucked no matter what we do?"

"i estimate by nightfall tonight the key will fall into the ignition. there are approximately ten million people across the kingdom. do you really believe that even one percent of them going nuclear would imply a future for this planet?"

As crazy as it sounded...it rang true to him. He felt no lies coming from Khap-En. "This ship...where would it go? I'm not familiar with any planets around our solar system that can support human life."

"not a planet...we would travel to charon. it is a moon that orbits pluto on the edge of the solar system. it is where i originate from. the innards of the moon are sufficient—albeit unpleasant toward humankind. although at this point unpleasant is better than dead."

"Move as many people as possible to the moon..." Andrew repeated. "That's...how many could this ship hold?"

"this comes to a tough decision...and i bring this lightly because it does spell the difference between the survival of the human race and complete eradication. there are two choices. both of them are estimations, mind you."

"What are the choices?" Andrew asked.

"if we were to fill the ship with people back to front—absolutely take advantage of squeezing in as many people as possible...approximately five hundred people. that's unrealistic as it'd probably be closer to four hundred-eighty or so to be able to travel."

"That's..." Andrew swallowed...his heart sank to his stomach. "...what's the other option?"

"we have a real chance of saving the lives of millions of people. i don't honestly think we'd reach the cap of this second option, but i could understand the serious blowback to the idea. the ship has been outfitted with a quantum computer. i've combined the limited technology i've encountered on this planet with the knowledge of my kind. we can upload the consciousnesses of as many people as we can find to the neural database and not take up a single physical occupancy on the ship."

"That would leave everyone's bodies behind, right?" Jen asked, breaking her silence.

"It would, yes. This option would be much easier in the beginning, but much harder in the end as the ultimate goal when landing is made on charon to restore the minds of those to substitute bodies."

"Reminds me of Gavin," Sarah said, looking up to Andrew.

"Me too...god, I wish he was here right now. He could make this so much easier...could probably jump over there to remove the threat without a hitch."

"the one you call gavin...ah, i am familiar. i am sorry for your loss. but i actually was thinking of similar when i thought of human substitutes. so if that makes it easier to digest, i would strive to come as close as possible to that design of use."

"Andy...I think the physical option is impossible, going off of the distance," Jen said, finishing the mental calculations. "I don't have exact numbers, but the last rocket that went out to Pluto took eleven years to make it, and that was unmanned. Saying this was our choice...as much as I hate to admit it, it only makes sense to go with the numbers."

"That's...awful though. How could we force everybody to give up their bodies or die?"

"it is a tough situation. i understand the severity of the choice, but i do agree that the second option is the best outcome out of all planned proposals."

"And the orb would be left here, then? Doesn't matter how we dispose of it if the entire planet is going out." Andrew asked.

"no, the orb would be our propulsion to assure the ship can make it into orbit. if we ran a fully manned ship it would take much longer than eleven years as our strength of propulsion would run out after initial breaching of the atmosphere."

"So it's the takeoff fuel..." Andrew said. "And we have until nightfall to decide?"

"we have until nightfall to make it off the planet. i assume based on my last finding we have...well, we have no more time to decide. it is your choice, i have no more will or power to make anything happen. i am in this boat alongside the rest of you. my survival depends on your survival."

Andrew turned to Sarah and Jen. "I want to have your support. I don't think we have any other choice. I haven't felt any lies since we came here. I..." he turned to Jen, "I hate...that this means we can't save Jake. It..." he started gripping his fist tight.

Jen clasped her hands over his. Andrew looked up and saw the fresh tears in her eyes. "I...support you."

Sarah joined in, holding her breathing steady. "I trust you, completely."

Andrew, still shaking, let out a small sound and felt the weight of two extra hands on his—looking up he saw the darkened faces of his dreams. He turned slowly toward Khap-En. "I wish to save as many people as possible."