Chapter 29 — Comet of Judgment, Homecoming to Eternity
1. Scattered to Starlight, and Reborn Anew
"KRA-KAAAA-THBOOOOOOM!!!"
In a desolate corner of the cosmos, the 'Ark,' the small lifeboat that had carried humanity's last resistance, was engulfed in the blinding flash of dozens of missiles, exploding in an instant into a dazzling corona of light. In the absolute vacuum where all sound vanished, the shuttle's fragments, like the myriad shards of a shattered star, scattered silently into the darkness, a solemn funeral procession across the void. It appeared to be complete annihilation, a devastating, final defeat.
But in that very instant, something bizarre, something mystical that transcended all physical laws, occurred. From the very epicenter of the 'Ark's' explosion, from the spot where everything had turned to ash, three forms of pure, translucent light, like bubbles rising to the surface of an ethereal sea, slowly materialized. They were the souls of Kai, Lilith, and young Naru, cradled in their embrace. No longer bound by the pain, sorrow, or fury of their physical bodies, they had become beings of pure light and energy.
Their souls, with expressions of astonishing serenity, watched the colossal 'Babel Tower' – which was already receding into the distant darkness, having abandoned a now-blue Earth far behind – with a gaze that was dispassionate, perhaps even tinged with a profound pity. Their final, desperate gambit, the 'Trumpet of Judgment,' must have already spread through the 'Asgard' network, sowing the seeds of irretrievable chaos across the entire globe. Their role in that play was now over.
2. Babel Tower, A Fall from the Apex of Arrogance
Meanwhile, aboard the bridge of the colossal starship 'Babel Tower,' cruising towards Mars. Lucian Drake savored a glass of the finest crystal-held red wine, gazing out the observation window at the gradually shrinking blue planet Earth with the satisfied air of a conqueror surveying a vanquished land. Beside him stood the core members of the 'Inner Circle' who had survived to board this 'Ark of the Chosen' – Julian Adler, still pale but as arrogant as ever, and Anja Sharma, her face a mask of cold indifference, as if all emotion had been surgically removed.
Adler spoke first, his voice low, yet trying, and failing, to conceal a tremor of lingering unease.
"In the end… that blue marble of chaos has slipped from our grasp. According to the 'Kairos Engine's' final report, the 'unaccounted variables' remaining on Earth will now inevitably proceed along a path of self-destruction. Perhaps… that 'judgment' the upstart brat called 'Kingdom Builder' prattled on about has, in its own way, come to pass."
Anja Sharma, checking the data on her wrist-mounted terminal, responded with a clinical detachment, yet with a precision that acknowledged the grim reality more accurately than anyone. "The probability of survival for the remaining human population on Earth is currently decreasing exponentially, by 0.01% per hour, Chairmen. The after-effects of the solar magnetic storm, the global pandemic mutation of the 'Archaic Flu,' and the terror of the self-destructive nuclear wars they have initiated themselves… all are occurring simultaneously, converging into a perfect scenario of annihilation. Ironically, thanks to the final, desperate act of those foolish enough to sound that 'Trumpet of Judgment,' our 'Eden Primus' migration plan has, if anything, been imbued with a greater historical inevitability and justification. We are not mere survivors, after all; we are pioneers, saviors of a new era."
Lucian Drake swirled the wine in his glass, a cynical, almost god-like, arrogant smile playing on his lips. His eyes, as if he were the creator of a new cosmos, held a cold, transcendental light.
"A 'purification,' let's call it, Anja. An old, diseased world, unable to bear its own weight and collapsing under its own decay, must naturally burn itself away to make way for a new birth, a new evolution. We merely… read the grand providence of the cosmos a little earlier than others, and wisely prepared a new ark, this magnificent 'Babel Tower.' Down there, the final howls of Earth, fading into dust, are now an irrelevant, ancient cacophony that no longer concerns us."
He smiled with satisfaction, his gaze turning from the Earth, now a faint speck of light like any other myriad star in the night sky, towards their new destination gleaming crimson in the distance: Mars. He raised his wine glass in a majestic toast. "Now, then, to our true paradise, 'Eden Primus'! A place where only the perfect order designed by 'Kairos,' and eternal prosperity, exists! On Mars, we shall finally be reborn as an immortal, neo-humanity, liberated from death, disease, and foolish emotions!"
"To the New Eden!" "To us, the chosen, and the glory of Babel!"
Just as their arrogant, almost maniacal, toasts were about to echo through the bridge, the entire 'Babel Tower' suddenly lurched violently, and all systems simultaneously blared with red emergency warnings!
The bridge AI shrieked, its mechanical voice laced with an uncharacteristic, desperate urgency. "Chairman! Unidentified massive object approaching at extreme velocity, directly ahead! Evasion impossible at current speed! This… this is believed to be the comet '99942 Apophis,' completely off its predicted trajectory! Impact projected in… T-minus 10… 9… 8…"
All color, all arrogance, drained from Lucian Drake's face in an instant. He stared, disbelieving, no, refusing to believe, through the observation window at the colossal fireball hurtling towards them with terrifying speed. The new paradise they had so desperately craved, their eternal empire, was just within their grasp, and now, a giant stone of judgment, fallen from the heavens, was rushing towards their last hope. It was a perfect 'Black Swan,' one that had never appeared in any of 'Kairos Engine's' myriad simulations.
"Damn it…! This can't be… This… This is unfairrrrr!!!"
That was the last, most human, and most pathetic, cry of Lucian Drake, the man who had sought to become a god. The 'Babel Tower,' in a cataclysmic collision with the giant comet, Apophis, disintegrated in an instant into the coldest dust of the cosmos. A demise far swifter, far more ignominious, than the agonizing end of the Earth they had so scornfully abandoned.
3. To Our True Home, Into the Eternal Light
Witnessing that entire spectacle of cosmic judgment from within a distant, unknown nebula of light, Kai's soul murmured softly, a profound sorrow mixed with a certain sense of liberation. "I warned them… there would be no more chances…"
The pure, translucent soul of young Naru drifted closer to him, his childlike curiosity unmarred as he looked around the dazzling expanse. "Papa, where are we? There are so, so many shiny things! Our star… where did our star go?"
Kai gently, almost ethereally, embraced Naru. Beside him, Lilith watched them, a serene, gentle smile gracing her features. Her eyes, no longer tainted by any earthly sorrow or pain, were as clear and deep as the eternal starlight.
Kai: "Yes, son. Let's go home now. To our true home, Naru…"
Their translucent souls, following the current of a boundless river of galaxies, drifted peacefully towards an unknown space from which the brightest, warmest light emanated, like weary travelers finally returning to their homeland after a long, arduous journey.
On Earth, the 'Trumpet of Judgment' they had last sounded had unleashed irretrievable chaos, and the prophesied final world war had erupted, leaving two-thirds of the world dying, awash in red blood and black ash.
The day the Prophet of the End had so desperately warned of, had finally, irrevocably, arrived.