Intervention

"Hey, Mr. Simon. Wake up"

"Ugh. Kid, it's five in the freakin' morning. What do you want?" He said as he reached his watch.

"Well, about that, we're not so sure. It may be eight in the morning, noon maybe? You know, with the magnetic interference that's happening around."

"oh gimme a break about smart stuff. What do you need?"

"You remember our deal, right?"

"Yeah? What about that?" He said as he scratched his eyes.

"It's your turn to keep your end of the bargain"

"What?? But you just woke up from a deep sleep and are you sure you're already okay??" He looked worried.

"Yes. I am. And we don't have much time left" I assured him.

"Why are you in such a hurry to go there? We're safe in here kid, atleast for now." Looks like he kinda changed his mind on our deal.

I got where he's coming from. After hearing what Dr. Dave told us, he may gave up on the inside. Also, the surface had become ridiculously catastrophic due to the abnormalities of the poles. Everytime he goes out was a risk he took for the people and now he's about to do it for just a boy he just rescued days ago. Way far-fetched if you'd ask me.

I stared at him for seconds thinking if I should tell him or not 'cause it may sound ridiculous but I had no choice.

"Okay, here goes. It's not just a memorable thing that I need to get from there. I might have found a way to fix the planet's problem." I don't usually speak my mind especially if what I'm about to say isn't proven or tested but...

"Wait, what was that?" Looks like I got his attention. He opened his eyes and turned to my direction.

"Just to make things clear, I said I "might". Which means it's all theory yet." I don't like getting people's hopes too high. I'm kinda allergic to that.

"So you're saying you want me to get out there and risk my life for a hunch? Kid, WCE is a bit far from here. We'll never know what shit's waiting on our way to there."

Now he sound irritated.

I took a deep breath.

"So it's better to stay here and wait for our deaths?"

I got him thinking.

He kept quiet for a while.

"Wait, why do you even need me? Don't you know how to drive? We've got hybrid cars available" Finally, he's catching up.

"I do, for cars and motorbikes."

"Then?" He's puzzled. He still doesn't get it.

"I need to get to the sky. For that I need a pilot. I figured you're a soldier. You might know how to fly one." Finally, the beans are spilled.

"The sky!? Are you nuts?? No way I'm gonna do this. Yes. I am able to fly planes but with how things escalate quickly out there, I doubt I could fly straight. This is next to suicide, kid." I knew he'd say that.

"I know but we can't just hang around and wait for things to get better either, right? 'Cause they won't. If I were to choose how I die, I'd choose to die trying to make a difference." I looked him in the eye and asked him.

"How about you, Simon?"

He sighed.

"So what's the plan kid?"

I filled him up with my ideas and he told me his plan on getting to WCE. We got our things packed up and the next thing we knew was that we're back at that humongous door we entered a few days before. We're about to open it but suddenly we heard footsteps...

"Mr. Madrid, phew. Wait, let me catch my breath. Hoo!" It's Dr. Dave with Dr. Chan.

"Joe, I suppose you've already met Dr. Dave. He's the one I told you about." Dr. Chan arrived with Dr. Dave.

"Yes. I am waiting for this moment and I won't ever forgive myself if I miss seeing it first hand. I wanna go with you and be of help in any way."

"But how about this bunker, Dr. Dave?"

I wondered.

"I thought about that too after Dr. Chan told me your plan. There are many who can handle this bunker. Originally, my purpose here is to foresee these unfortunate events and make sure we adjust to it accordingly but helping you would benefit not only this bunker but all of the rest. So, I thought. I must go."

I might need his expertise out there. He would be a great addition to the team.

"How about you Dr. Chan? You coming too?" I asked.

"I'd just be in the way, Joe. My experties is with people's health. I'll leave the planet to you." Then he smiled.

Before we went out, we put on a climate regulator suit developed by Dr. Dave himself. In preparation for the Sun's UV rays or the freezing temperature we may encounter. As its name suggests, it regulates abnormal temperatures to levels that a body can withstand but only for a certain period of time. It has this meter on its right arm showing its remaining capacity.

"We must hurry. I don't think this suit could last for more that three hours outside." Dr. Dave was worried.

"Well, I think it's doable in one hour or so." Simon reassured us.

"Dr. Chan, you may wanna get back a little bit."

"Okay, Joe. Goodluck" he went upstairs as the giant door opened.

Freezing cold temperature breezed through us. We would be goners if we hadn't wore the suit.

"The meter's running! Let's go!"

Simon took the lead.

The once gushing river solidified to a solid ice plain. The storm clouds were still present but instead of rain, snow fell from the sky with some freezing wind. Judging from the surroundings, it looked like there was a great flood that occured on the surface. Vehicles were hung randomly everywhere. The snow covered almost everything on sight. Carcasses of animals and humans scattered on rubbles. A tragedy one can only hope to never see.

The wind froze the gears and had shorted electronic panels in our hybrid cars forcing them to shutdown in the middle of our journey.

"Damn, looks like we're on foot now" Simon uttered as he checked the cars.

"Let's go this way" He took the lead. With 87% left on our meters, we can't afford to waste another minute.

The wind blew intensely making each step harder and harder for us. Plus the road's cracked and slippery, we had to rely on improvised canes to proceed further. The meter's running low and we still can't get a clear picture of where exactly we are. A few moments later...

"Hey!" Simon cried.

"I can see the bridge! next to it should be WCE, right?"

"Yes. Correct." Dr. Dave responded as he was panting.

"I got you, Dr. Dave. We're almost there." I supported his weight onto mine. He's a bit old after all.

The suits' meters were down to 40% as we carefully crossed the frozen river. It's harder than we thought. Other parts of the river were already cracked. A few detours were made before we came across it.

Finally...

Five days after I arrived at the bunker in need of help getting here.

I'm now right infront of WCE.

"Phew! Kid, we're here. Now what??"

Simon asked facing the rubble of what was left of WCE after the series of catastrophies that took place.

"Not there. Follow me."

I led them towards what was supposed to be a treeline but due to catastrophic weather conditions, all there were were roots.

But there was that one tree standing and there I knew it was that tree. I ran towards it and pressed the middle part of its stem. A biometric scanner appeared from its body and scanned my face. Seconds later the ground shooked as the soil around the tree eroded and formed a series of spiral steps towards an underground base.

"Let's go."

We barely just made it. Our suits were only 10% away from freezing us to death.

"Woah, what's this place?" Simon looked astonished.

This was the hidden research laboratory of WCE where advanced tech was cultivated. The type of tech the world of the past wasn't ready to have so they were hidden. Not that anything that was in there was the direct solution to the problem but I believed tools in here could help me in my theory. It was a wide 3 floor laboratory that had 3 test areas and a launchpad. WCE's newest and most advanced inventions were kept and tested under strict supervision of research scientists who were at that time either dead or were invited to live on Mars. That would only mean we had every available resources at our disposal. Lucky us.

"Mr. Madrid, what exactly is your plan?" Dr. Dave asked.

Then I reached something out of my right pocket and showed it to them.

"This is my plan"

It was that stone that was given to me by an old guy who just disappeared out of nowhere.

"I had conducted preliminary tests on this stone in the Zellwinger's bunker but due to the limited equipment, I wasn't able to fully descern its full potential"

"The stone illuminates red flashing lights. Its malleability is comparable to that of Gold. What's more interesting is that it has this regenerative ability that after a part of it is scraped, it regenerates the lost part within seconds." I continued.

Dr. Dave was left speechless. Astonished he held on the stone close to his eyeglasses as if he doesn't believe such a thing exists.

"This is totally a new element!" He rejoiced.

On the other hand, Simon clearly had no clue with what we were talking about.

"Hey, kid. I know these are all fascinating and stuff. And apologies that I really don't get one bit of what you both are saying but do you have food and drinks in here? I'm starving"

"Oh! Yeah, we have." I pointed the direction of the food storage.

"By the way, how do you plan on using this?" Dr. Dave was totally curious.

"About that, I want to show you something. Put the stone here." I pointed at the advanced multimeter.

He put the stone on a circular pad that measures electrical charges and electronic waves. The readings exceeded the meter's capacity and it returned an infinite reading and destroyed it.

"Woah!" Dr. Dave couldn't believe what he had witnessed.

"How come?! this is a state of the art multimeter. Objects like this could've been lethal for us to hold??"

"Exactly, it defies the laws of Physics. But I can't get it anywhere close to any machine. That's why I wanted to conduct tests here."

"If we solve its mystery I would like to take advantage of this by using it as a power source to amplify a machine's output in the Ionosphere."

"What machine?" Dr. Dave asked.

"It's called ML. It was built by someone very dear to me. I lost her in this apocalypse. Her invention purifies the Air, burns dusts/impurities and recycles them as its own power source." I explained.

"Wow! Somethink like that exists??"

"Yeah. It's the next big product launch of WCE this coming December 22, 2022. Unfortunately, this happened and She's nowhere to be found."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Madrid."

I just smiled at Dr. Dave as a response.

"So we're using the ML and purify the Atmosphere from above? Is one ML enough to cleanse the Earth's atmosphere?" A great question.

"No, that's why I'll improvise this and incorporate nano technology. We'll need to build ultra-light nano mites."

"I'm not following, what're these nanomites for?"

"According to the data I have gathered in your studies, all these catastrophies boils down to one cause, the abnormal rise of the planet's greenhouse gases. We'll manufacture nano mites that'll neutralize the greenhouse gases. Instead of building ML devices, we'll build nano mites that'll serve as its wings and arms. With the help of the immense power from this stone and its conducting properties, we'll be able to disperse these nanomites in the charged portion of our atmosphere causing a chain reaction that hopefully would normalize the planet's temperature."

"I think that'll work but what would happen to the nanomites after the deployment and are they even safe for humans if incase inhaled?" A great question from Dr. Dave.

"Inhalation wouldn't be a problem. I'll be programming nano mites to return to the machine as soon as it regulates an abnormally polluted airspace. They'll only exist in the Stratosphere to the Exosphere."

"Also, I'm not fully sure of the extent of this stone's power so planning on reserving its potential power on the dispersal of the nano mites throughout the Globe. So taking it up will be up to us. This is where Simon comes in." I explained.

"Mr. Madrid, I think this would be tougher than you think this is." Dr. Dave interrupted.

I stopped and listened.

"In recent years, the Ionosphere has gradually been shrinking. And now that the poles are already disrupted, This means it is nearly depleted. we'll need to shoot up higher. If possible, we'll need to shoot at least a few kilometers near the exosphere if we want it to end at the charged region of the atmosphere" He explained.

A real problem. I would probably mess up if he didn't come with us.

"Thanks, Dr. Dave. I really mean that. I guess we'll just have to conduct tests and just add the highest flight altitude we can make."

"Fair enough." He agreed.

And so it began...

[𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍]