Chapter 5: The seeds of sweet disaster (3).

His short conversation with Alice had left Reiner worried. What if his brother wasn't even talking to him? What if it was actually pointless to go and see him? When he timidly left his apartment, he shook his head as he headed for his car to start it up, and leave here to head for his brother's place. Something he hadn't done in a long time.

Soon enough, he saw a huge holographic sign reading "You are leaving principium", and headed for a city very close to his own, albeit much larger. When, barely ten seconds later, he saw another huge holographic sign reading "Welcome to Initium Finis", he felt his heart clench with the stress that was invading him ever more violently. Soon, he found himself maneuvering in the middle of a huge road surrounded by imposing buildings serving as company premises. The streets were just as clean in appearance as in his home town. Although fewer alleyways could be seen here and there. However, every existing alley was guarded by men leaning against a wall, or pacing not far from the entrances. These led to interconnected streets, in a vast, sprawling network criss-crossing the megalopolis, like a second city unknown to the general public, or to the forces of law and order.

Reiner headed for the outskirts of the city, where the residential skyscrapers were located. He then pulled into a parking lot not far from one of the smaller ones. It also appeared to be one of the oldest buildings.

Reiner entered hesitantly, but summoned up all his courage before taking the elevator to the third floor.

The elevator doors opened quickly, revealing four doors along a corridor. Reiner clumsily made his way to the door closest to the elevator on his left, pressing the buzzer. A distant echo echoed through the apartment, mingled with the sound of footsteps.

When the door opened, it revealed a man almost the same height as Reiner. He resembled him to a T, except that he seemed more muscular and older than Reiner.

"Reiner?" Said the man with an expression mixing joy and surprise, before it hardened the next moment, as he asked.

"What are you doing here after a year and a half?"

"Leo...I..."

"If you want money you don't have to come, I warned you last time not to even think about coming back to ask for money because of that whore."

"It's been a year since I cut all ties with her, I didn't come for money, but...to apologize..."

Reiner replied weakly, carelessly waving his hands to relieve his stress.

"Huum...In that case I'm listening."

Leo replied tartly, masking a puzzled expression.

"Leo, I'm really sorry for everything I've said and done to you, and I wish I could make it up to you..." he said.

"I've got a question, do you think a year and a half of complete separation, a staggering number of arguments, and so much money taken, even if it was partly repaid, can be resolved by snapping your fingers with a "Sorry, I'd like to make it up to you."?"

Leo asked honestly. His scathing voice was like blades, as it sank straight into Reiner's heart, who replied in a low voice, while bowing his head.

"No..."

"You haven't changed in all this time... I'm willing to go a step further by accepting your apology, it would be childish to refuse it. And anyway, I don't care about the money you didn't give back. I gave it to you and I don't need it, so don't even think about bringing it back to make a good impression, forgiveness can't be bought with money. If you really want to be forgiven, come more often, and try to reconnect over time... Mere apologies are just words, I want sincere proof, not hollow words or actions. Do you have anything else to say?"

"No..."

Reiner whispered, even more weakly.

"Then goodbye."

Leo growled. However, after a sigh, he added a sentence in the direction of Reiner, who was about to turn on his heels, an air of resignation mixed with disappointment written on his face, although he had expected this, if not worse.

"Come back later, I've got something to think about and check on..."

After closing the door, Leo slumped onto his sofa, whispering.

"He's definitely the same...if I hadn't added that at the end, I wouldn't have seen him for a while...he could at least have asked for my new number...but hey, I'm glad he came to apologize, it's been a while..."

Then he sighed again as he stood up, a slight smile on his face this time, as he watched Reiner return to his car.

* * *

Once home, Reiner gently opened the front door. He moved discreetly forward, but dropped onto the sofa as soon as he was close enough to it, picking up the remote control which had leapt onto the sofa following his uncontrolled fall. Alice intercepted him before he could do anything else, asking with a puzzled air, and very slightly tense in view of Reiner's first reflex after coming in.

"Well?"

"Not much...but I guess he'd already forgiven me by now.... Or that he was blaming himself for something, he was much nicer than last time and even told me to come back later, so I'll try to go back in not too long...Thanks Alice, and I'll have to thank Clovis too..."

"You're still a brother, and it can't be that serious a subject that's caused you to argue in the first place, but congratulations on getting there."

Alice replied with a big smile.

"Thank you."

Retorted Reiner, also wearing a sincere smile before turning on his TV, which immediately broadcast news. Apart from the hot topic of the near asteroid impact, new weapons, or new synthetic models, nothing else was on, leaving Reiner to change channels, only to find nothing of interest. He got up and headed for his room, closely followed by the discreet Alice, who was trying not to be noticed.

He turned on his computer, knowing that Alice was not far behind him. He had the idea of a joke, but stopped himself after writing "hent", holding back for fear of being misunderstood. Instead, he wrote the name of one of the many sites where a plethora of novels were posted, then tried to speak softly, without letting his self-induced slight discomfort show.

"I'm only on the second chapter out of a few hundred since I had to find Clovis. Besides, it must be boring for you too, sitting here doing nothing, isn't it?"

Reiner asked, a hint of apprehension creeping over him.

"If you don't mind, I'd be happy to."

Alice rejoiced, happy to learn a little more about Reiner.

"In that case, let's go back to the living room."

"Huh, why?"

Alice asked, a confused look written all over her face.

"So you can read comfortably too...unless you want to keep your head on my shoulder and contort yourself to see that little screen."

Reiner retorted, pointing to his computer screen.

"I can simply read it via my internal web browser."

"But that's not reading it together...that's reading it on your own."

Reiner replied with a sigh, before shrugging his shoulders. This got Alice talking, but he cut her off almost instantly.

"But..."

"I can also put it on my TV screen don't worry, and then it'll be more comfortable for both of us, me I'm just used to coming here to read quietly."

Reiner smiled, then pulled Alice by the arm into the living room. He then changed the TV screen to project the same site as on his computer, slightly excited at the idea of sharing one of his hobbies with someone, before saying.

"What kind of novel do you want to read?"

"But, didn't you just say you'd started one?"

"Yes, but it might not be to your taste, so I wanted to know if it had a chance of pleasing or not."

"Considering I've never read one before, I guess I'm okay with anything."

Alice replied, shrugging her shoulders. Reiner accordingly displayed a novel, before putting on the first chapter. It spoke of a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear war, where every tiny resource was more precious than its own life, and where the few human survivors were barely managing to survive amidst the rubble of civilization and the various mutant monsters also trying to survive. Some humans even underwent various mutations, in most cases generating great power. Although they were frowned upon, as a human could lose his mind due to these mutations without any warning. The protagonist was one of these mutants.

Alice was immediately hooked on the story, leaving Reiner to smile as he watched her read everything on the screen with great speed. Then, when the two had finished the second chapter, Reiner spoke with a smirk.

"It's a bit better than reading alone, what do you think?"

"I admit defeat, you were right about that. Seeing your reactions out of the corner of your eye is pretty funny."

Alice replied, holding up her hands and looking at Reiner, who was smiling in satisfaction as he held back his embarrassment, while displaying the next chapter on the screen.

* * *

It wasn't until all outside light was cut off, and Reiner's eyes stung, along with an overwhelming sense of hunger, that they both stopped reading. They chatted instead about the novel while Reiner ate, listening to Alice talk.

"What did you think of the part where he loses control and slaughters everyone when his friends were at death's door?"

"It was fun, maybe I'd do the same thing in his place. In any case, you must have really fallen under the novel's spell to talk about it, even now."

"Yes, maybe I got carried away..."

Alice replied with a shy smile, giggling as she scratched her head, almost letting Reiner choke on his laughter as he ate.

Just after the meal was over, they both continued reading, until Reiner went to his room to go to bed. He gave Alice one last look, before saying.

"Hey...wait for me to read the rest tomorrow... I don't want you to spoil the ending... But I'd recommend other novels like 'The Necropolis' or 'Gloutonie' in the meantime, they're really cool."

Hearing this, Alice giggled as the door closed. She then absent-mindedly changed the novel they were reading together, displaying instead one of those recommended by Reiner, a slight feeling of loneliness rising in her chest.

* * *

It was only when Reiner's alarm clock read 9.03 that he got up, accompanied by the sound of birds from outside. He headed straight for the bathroom, emerging in an all-black ensemble some twenty minutes later, then headed for the living room, his hair still wet. He discreetly approached Alice, who was sitting on the sofa, also dressed in black, reading something. Once close enough, he put his mouth to Alice's ear before whispering softly.

"I see we match. I thought black wasn't a color..."

Alice gasped almost immediately on hearing Reiner, hitting him on the chin with her head as she scrambled to her feet. However, her initial embarrassment and panic quickly gave way to calm, as she realized what had happened, while Reiner rubbed her chin with a pained expression. She felt even more embarrassed as she blushed while watching Reiner, but still quickly, if awkwardly, addressed him.

"S-sorry about your chin...but on the other hand, you could have saved me the trouble...you really scared me."

"Sorry it was too tempting, you were so absorbed in your reading, otherwise you're okay?"

"Yes, I was feeling fine until you scared me, how about you?"

"A little sore because of you...otherwise, I'm fine."

Alice sniffed at Reiner's words in response, before pulling away and saying energetically and enthusiastically.

"T'es recommendations were good, but I want to read the rest of the novel we were reading together since you're awake!"

"Me too, but I'd like to get the news a bit later, I'm curious about the current situation...especially with regard to the impact, so do you mind if I change for the news at one forty, or a little after?"

"I'm curious too, so why not."

"So here we go, we stopped at chapter forty-three, right?"

Alice nodded in agreement, waiting for Reiner.

They both read for a long time, the story much more detailed than when they started, and even more gripping. The author had obviously improved while writing. Scenes now seemed almost alive, and although the story had progressed a long way, it was for the better, although the hero had suffered much loss and still seemed far from omnipotent.

It was not until much later that Reiner turned on the news, displaying a countdown beneath the TV station's logo. This indicated the estimated time of impact, to be caused by the asteroid at "thirteen fifty-two", while broadcasting relatively tense experts discussing the possible repercussions after the excessive use of weapons by certain countries, while the current time read thirteen thirty-seven. The impact was imminent.

"But you're forgetting how the great war of unification began, and if certain countries find themselves weakened, a new war could break out!

"And let's not forget that this possible declaration of war would not be instantaneous, and that countries not providing support, or attacking directly, would be very badly regarded by the few others. The attacking country would therefore be faced with a possible coalition. What's more, the African coalition has volunteered to mediate in any potential conflict."

But as the debate continued, the plan abruptly changed, as if to interrupt the journalists. In their place, the channel broadcast a general in a studio, clearly not ready to go on air. As a result, she was forced to hastily explain various unnecessarily complex details, such as the fact that the missiles would explode long after leaving the atmosphere, and how their weapon would deflect, or reduce, the asteroid on impact.

Reiner and Alice watched the screen in silence, until it changed to show a multitude of surface-to-air missiles so numerous it was almost impossible to count them. Then the order to fire sounded, allowing each missile to be launched with a time lag long enough to ensure that none was damaged in flight or on impact, but short enough to be almost imperceptible. However, they were soon joined by a few other missiles, launched from other strategic launch sites, so that not all the impact was localized at the same point.

Once all the missiles had been launched, the impact resounded slightly before the level of the exit from the Earth's atmosphere, then, a shock wave shook the cameras, the clock reading thirteen forty-nine. This was three minutes faster than expected. The General looked calm as she gazed at the huge cloud of dust she thought was the asteroid, but this calm quickly disappeared from her face, replaced by a serious expression. She immediately ordered the energy-hungry plasma cannons to fire as the asteroid neared the Earth's atmosphere, as well as launching the rare remaining nuclear-tipped missiles, which took off accordingly even before the smoke disappeared, immediately adding to the experts now displayed in small print in the right-hand corner of the image.

"Don't worry, as I said two days ago, and frequently remind you, these missiles have increased explosive power but in exchange carry far less radiation, which shouldn't even be felt, because as you may know, we're constantly exposed to radiation, and our bodies can withstand very slightly more without it even being noticeable. What's more, the radiation that will be dispersed by these missiles will be minute, and should not endanger you in any way. Everything has been calculated to remain at a level that poses no danger to the world's population, wherever you live, even at the closest missile impact point, in addition to vaporizing the remains of the asteroid."

Yet, while the calm voice of the expert could be heard speaking, the screen displayed the asteroid almost motionless. It was covered in smoke from the various missile and plasma impacts. On the other hand, the image was much sharper, making it possible to discern several details of the asteroid, which had received almost no damage and no longer looked like a rocky asteroid. Instead, it showed a metallic, smooth appearance in places. Several faint points of light could be seen on it, before the nuclear missiles quickly struck the top of the asteroid with a strangely chosen bell-shaped trajectory.

A deafening explosion then sounded. Everything shook, and although the asteroid was located on the South American continent, the explosion could be felt slightly even in Europe. When the images became stable again, and the smoke in the air was dispersed, only the asteroid's severely damaged top, with parts torn off, could be seen. Its trajectory was even modified to head towards the United States of America, where the main missile launch site was located, at a speed even faster than that of a shooting star as it seemed to enter the atmosphere.

Reiner and Alice were stunned and petrified in front of the screen, just looking at each other, seeing the same look of surprise and panic in each other, yet neither could speak or move. The same phenomenon was in fact true for everyone, whether it was the experts broadcasting live, or those watching the show on the street thanks to the giant screens on the buildings, time almost seemed to stand still.

This phenomenon was worldwide, except for the citizens of the United States of America. They moved in all directions at the sight of the fast-approaching asteroid, hurtling towards the New Mexico desert. This was the exact location of the site, and the troops who had launched the majority of the missiles, as well as the cannons that had fired previously, were now almost completely melted away by the violence of their own fire.

Strangely, the asteroid slowed to a crawl shortly before hitting the ground, to the point where it seemed impossible, though its speed was so great that it did so in barely a fraction of a second, creating an immense sonic ring, accompanied by a shock wave, as if it had hit the ground, when in fact it hadn't. Time seemed to freeze as the asteroid hit the ground. Time seemed to stand still for an instant, everything so calm. Even the sky seemed to tear in two, allowing the asteroid to crash head-on into the journalist team, the soldiers and the military installations that had been used to fire or launch the missiles, while releasing a second immense shockwave from the aftermath of the impact, seemingly yet strangely weak.