Riven's kept her face blank as she stepped into the observation dome. Beyond the curved glass, a violet sky stretched wide, with twin suns full and bright, hanging side by side.
Everyone was already seated, their eyes following her as she awkwardly made her way to her assigned seat.
As one of the greatest contributors to humanity's ability to invade Planet Kovara, she had a front row seat at the centre.
"Is there a reason why you are late, Doctor Callis? You do understand how important this meeting is, don't you?" Director Julian asked, raising a stern brow at Riven.
Riven hated these types of meetings. She was the one doing most of the work, so where were the privileges? But after fourteen years at NEPI, she knew she couldn't avoid them.
She subconsciously pushed up her glasses and offered a tight smile. "I apologize for the delay. I lost track of time while running routine checks on Lynk."
Director Julian's brow twitched. He looked like he wanted to scold her, but seeing that the others weren't bothered by her lateness, he bit back his words and forced a smile.
"Well then, let's get down to business, shall we?" he said, and everyone nodded, which only made Riven smile widen.
"We've had brilliant minds contribute to the remarkable progress we've made here on Planet Kovara." Director Julian began. "With the Originals leading the way, it has become the perfect substitute for the dying planet Earth. But we must not forget our sponsors, the ones who made all this possible. And they're expecting even more progress."
He looked back at Riven, whose mind was now focused on the calculations she routinely did to ensure her checks on Lynk were accurate. She didn't hear her name being called until...
"…How's the progress on Nex-9? Are we getting it today?"
At that moment, Riven became aware of the heavy stares. Her face turned red with embarrassment for zoning out during such an important meeting.
She rose to her feet hurriedly. "Oh, I…"
She quickly composed herself and continued excitedly, "I've made some incomplete samples that I believe are going to be extraordinary once they are ready."
She took a small pause and then continued. "I think this is the one. I took my time to go through all the samples I got from us, the Originals. I even tested some on myself. Also, with the experts in the genetics department, very soon, we'll be able to get more people to join us here and live in Kovara."
"Well, it's good news that you believe it's going to be extraordinary, but our sponsors are impatient, which means you need to finish quickly," Professor Lynn who was sitting beside the Director said, dwindling the excitement Riven was feeling.
Nex-9 wasn't something that was meant to be rushed. But she was ready to start experimenting. That's how much confidence she had in her work.
Planet Kovara was now compatible for human habitation, and the next step was to bring people from Earth, administer Nex-9 to them, and transform them into advanced humans capable of thriving here.
It was perfect. They were going to save everyone, and that was all she wanted.
She parted her lips to speak. "The sa—"
"If we don't give them something soon, we, the Originals, will be in danger," Professor Dominic, who was sitting next to her. suddenly cut in, his tone dismissive, which earned Riven curious looks from everyone else.
She smiled, pushing her glasses up her nose. "The samples are incomplete, but they are very close."
"Finish it by tonight, Doctor Callis. We don't want any more delays," Professor Lynn hissed.
Riven nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she replied softly, slowly sitting back in her seat.
The meeting continued, but Riven's mind returned to calculating Lynk. Because Lynk, the machine she had designed and built, was what kept Planet Kovara running safely, NEPI Labs had become a kind of lawmaker on this new planet. Their meetings covered every aspect of life and survival.
The more Kovara thrived, the more Earth was losing, which meant the experiments had to begin faster.
"Director, when are the first batch of humans going to be arriving?" she asked, drawing all eyes onto her.
Everyone stared at her like she had grown two heads.
"First batch?" Director Julian echoed, as though he hadn't heard her correctly the first time.
Professor Dominic chuckled mockingly. "What do you mean, first batch?"
Riven blinked at them in confusion. "The first batch... Aren't we bringing people from Earth here? Earth isn't safe anymore since Lynk depends on it to survive. We have to move them as quickly as possible and start the experiments."
The others stared at her like she was telling a joke, while some chuckled softly.
Riven was frozen in confusion, searching their faces for any hint that this was all some kind of misunderstanding.
What was going on?
If there was no first batch, if there was no transfer… What was the point of everything?
"Doctor Callis, no human from Earth is coming to our planet."
"We are the new human race. Everyone who needs to be here is already here," Director Julian said calmly, and the others nodded in agreement, their faces disturbingly calm.
Everyone who needs to be here is already here…
What the hell did he mean by that?!
What about the billions left on Earth?
The last time she checked, only five hundred million had been moved to Kovara.
"What?" she breathed in disbelief. "Then what is the point of Lynk? Nex-9? I thought we were saving everyone?"
"Doctor Callis, a genius like you should just focus on your task. Focus on finishing Nex-9 tonight, not on things that can not be helped."
Riven didn't respond. Her chest felt tight, her hands clammy like it was drenched.
Nothing made sense anymore.
And as the meeting dragged on, every word exchanged only made it clearer. They didn't care about Earth. They didn't care about the people left behind.
Riven was completely silent throughout, and no one even asked for her thoughts.
After the meeting, she went straight to the room where Lynk was kept and running.
As soon as the door slid shut behind her and she stood before the enormous, humming machine she had built with her own hands, Riven broke down.
Sobs shook her body as she covered her mouth, muffling the sounds. She cried for Earth and herself.
She had been working for fourteen years. Her entire life had been research, calculations, sleepless nights, and she was only twenty-four.
She remembered the day NEPI Labs took her in. She was just ten, a child genius who had accidentally broken the global Internet.
For fourteen years, she had poured her soul into saving Earth. That had always been the goal...
And even when humanity gave up on Earth, she didn't. Instead, she built them an escape route.
She created Lynk.
Lynk made it possible for humans to survive on Kovara, a planet that was originally hostile to human biology.
Kovara became livable because Lynk offloaded toxic energy and waste back to Earth daily, like a parasite feeding its host to keep the new world clean.
Because of Lynk, Kovara flourished. Because of Lynk, Earth was dying faster than it would have.
And all this time, she had believed that once the systems were stable, the rest of humanity would be moved here. That everyone would be saved.
But now?
"Damn it," she wiped her face with a trembling hand. "I'm so stupid. I actually thought they'd save everyone."
She should've known. But she never let herself dwell on how greedy humans could be. Advanced or normal, humans were still humans.
And they had no idea what Lynk was truly capable of. But she did.
Lynk could be reversed. If it could push waste from Kovara to Earth, then it could pull it back. Take in the poison. The decay. And dump it right into Kovara. The perfect little garden.
Wiping the last of her tears, Riven stood straight and left the room.
She had one goal now, and that was to buy Earth some time.
To do that, she had to access Lynk's mainframe from her private lab.
As soon as she arrived, she began typing furiously at the computer, sliding into the core of the main programming system.
Halfway through, she stood to grab a bottle of water and finished it in seconds, grabbing another as she continued typing.
By the time she was gulping down her fourth bottle, she realized something was wrong.
Her throat burned, her skin felt parched, and there was an aching dryness settling into her bones.
She rubbed her neck, frowning. "Why am I still so thirsty?"
Reaching for a fifth bottle, she activated the visual feed of Earth, zooming in until the planet filled the screen like a living, breathing sphere right in front of her.
From here, she could monitor Earth's rotations, overlay calculations, and track every shift in its dying breath.
But as she returned to the computer with another bottle, she stopped and stared at it in horror.
"What the..."
"Doctor Callis. It seems like you've finally noticed," a familiar voice crackled from the speakers, heavy with amusement that sent a chill down Riven's spine.
"Di...rector?" she rasped, feeling a heavy pulse pounding in her head. "What is—"
"For fourteen years, NEPI has spent ninety billion dollars supporting your dreams, Riven. Ninety. Fucking. Billion. And to satisfy your little hero complex, you've decided to betray us. To betray your saviors."
Riven's grip on the bottle tightened, and she had the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. "You're talking like every dime wasn't tripled in return! You monsters wouldn't have used me if that wasn't the case!"
She quickly gulped the water from the bottle while Director Julian's laughter echoed through the speakers. "Your parents didn't even think you were worth keeping, and yet you think all humans deserve to be brought to Kovara?"
At that moment, Riven dropped to the floor and coughed up blood, wheezing for air as her vision blurred. "What is this…" she gasped. "what did you do?!"
"Oh?" Julian asked. "Since you wanted to change Lynk's trajectory, we thought it would be fitting to let you experience what the air feels like on Earth now."
Riven's heart skipped a beat. "This…" she wheezed, "this is what Earth's air feels like now?"
"You could've done great things, Riven," Director Julian said coldly. "You should've just gone home or gotten back to creating Nex-9 immediately."
"N.. no." Riven's tear-filled eyes shifted to Earth's visual feed and then, right before her eyes, the entire planet exploded.
She closed her eyes, and a defeated sigh escaped her lips.
"I ended the world."