4 The Edge System

With a simple snap, Aurora made the beautiful space diagram disappear.

[ Alright, that's everything you need to know right now. The virus will be here very soon, so wasting any more time talking about the past would be useless. ]

Aurora was about to say something else but I really wanted to ask some questions so I forced myself to 'think'.

[ uhh... h-how will the virus start spreading and uhh... h-how long will it take for the other infected to come to earth? ]

She seemed a bit surprised and amused by my sudden questions, but ultimately decided to answer.

[ Hmmm... good questions~ In our case, and the few planets we observed, the 'carrier' randomly appears on the targeted planet and starts the spread of the virus. We didn't have much information about the carrier. We only knew that it was a life form that was deeply connected with the space virus. It is also one of the main ways the virus travels through space. If we had just known a little bit more about it... it might have been different... As for the other infected, it took around half a year for those beasts to arrive. ]

Her expression was filled with anger so I decided to keep my 'thoughts' shut.

[ Anywho, we have one last important thing to talk about~ ]

While Aurora said that she raised her right hand towards the sky and after a bright flash of red, a cube the size of a fist appeared, floating in thin air above her hand.

The cube was mystical. At first glance it looked like a plain glass cube, but the bright rainbow colors swirling around inside it gave it an extraordinary appearance.

Aurora then extend her hand towards me with the cube still floating an inch above it.

[ All life has been wiped from the universe except for the one present on Earth. This cube is life's last hope. This is the final weapon my kind was able to come up with to fight against the virus, but by the time it was completed we had already lost... thus I came to earth to bestow this upon humanity, so atleast life itself won't perish. ]

I wasn't sure how to react to her comments. All other species except for humans getting destroyed was indeed sad but I didn't really feel too much grief.

Maybe it was for the fact that we humans had never known or interacted with any of the different planets she spoke about.

I kept quiet as she proceeded to talk about the strange cube.

[ This cube is called the 'Edge System', It was created with technology and magic far beyond humanity's imagination. This system allows the user to grow the more they fight, granting them different abilities and strength so they would have a better chance to survive. To you humans this can be considered god's power. Accepting this would give you the best shot you have to live but... there's a catch. ]

Aurora's last sentence alarmed me as I stared at the innocent looking cube.

[ A-a catch? ]

[ Yes, it is true that this cube would give you the power you are in need of, but you can not just simply gain such power with ease. Nothing in this universe is free and it stands true for this aswell. ]

Aurora no longer spoke like she did previously, her tone was rather flat and serious.

[ I will give you two options. You can either pretend like this never happened and go back to your normal life untill your world goes to hell, or... you can accept the 'Edge System'. Accepting the System would mean it would have to merge with your body, causing you extreme pain throughout the process. The time period of the process varies from person to person and there is a 30% chance that you won't be able to bare the pain... and die. ]

If you thought about it logically, accepting the System would be the most obvious thing to do. The 30% chance of death was indeed scary, but compared to the hell Aurora had described it could be considered a blessing.

Of course some people would argue that statistically many people would die if everyone on earth was to accept the 'Edge System', but you could consider that the lesser evil. Meaning in return for all those deaths at least life itself would get a chance to fight.

I was sure Aurora had the same mindset. She probably expected people to understand that and take the leap of faith.

Unfortunately I knew humans much better than her.

I knew that there was going to be a large number of people who would be too ignorant and selfish to think about the greater good, who would reject the System and try to relay on the military or other people who took the risk and accepted it.

I also knew many people would be just too confused and scared, and would only want to go home at the moment.

That's just how humans were.

I was still lost in my thoughts when Aurora's cold voice interrupted me.

[ So... what do you choose? ]

I knew what I wanted to do but I just had to confirm some 'small' details before I made a decision.

[ Do you know how long exactly is left untill the 'carrier' comes to Earth? ]

[ Well according to the data we had collected... between 3 to 6 hours ]

I was quite surprised by what she told me, as she seemed to have a calm attitude. I would have at least expected it to be a few days because of the way she acted.

This made me quite nervous as I asked my next question.

[ A- and approximately how long will the merging process take? ]

[ Humm... If your lucky, a few minutes ]

[ And if your not? ]

[ Maybe a few hours... or days... but don't worry, during that time you will be in a protected area so no one or no thing will harm you~ ]

Aurora seemed entertained as I racked my brain to make sure I wasn't making a mistake. After quite a while I made my final decision.

[ I think I'll accept the 'Edge System'. ]