F.B.

Three days ago.

Loki and Veronica arrive at the forbidden zone housing classroom 102.

Near the border, two bodies lie on the ground. Julian and Isha. Julian carried Isha as far as he could but lost leg strength just before reaching the border. Unable to do anymore, he held Isha close, their last moments spent together.

Their bodies unrecoverable, the amount of radiation on them will kill a plant just by their presence.

“Loki, we bring him back alive.”

Loki brandishes his bat, his eyes staring at the university. Veronica can only hope he will listen, but won’t stop him if he chooses otherwise.

·

“Anything you wish to say, Anastasia? Genius of the mind, but also a man known to dabble in engineering.”

“I’ve nothing to say about your madness. I will say I warned them, you’re just a lunatic.”

“I’ve got no time for your games. Fine, I’ll tell them myself. Where do we start? Oh yes, how about your meeting with European powers only months after the creation of the first fusion reactor. You made some deals; you were seen with sudden luxuries soon after. It was you; you gave them a bomb.”

“Veronica!” Bell yells.

“Bell, shut the hell up! Say it Anastasia, admit what you did.”

“I admit to nothing. You’re a lunatic without any proof.” Anastasia said.

Veronica laughs and kicks Anastasia’s jaw. “Loki.”

Loki walks inside, behind him a man being dragged by a rope. His arms tied behind his back, his body beaten and bloodied. He struggles to breath but is helpless to resists against Loki.

“Dante!” Bell yells.

The geniuses share a similar reaction of shock, all except for Anastasia who grows pale. None dare move however, Veronica’s glare inviting them to receive similar punishment.

Setting Dante next to Anastasia, Veronica walks behind the two.

“Go.” Veronica pushes the back of Dante’s head with her foot.

Dante sobs, his body in terrible pain, the last three days the most excruciating one could imagine. He refuses to speak, he’s sung enough the past few days, he will not do so in front of his dear friends.

Veronica places a gun against the back of Dante’s head. “Talk, or.” She points the gun at Bell. “I’ll start with him.”

“Wait!” Dante yelled. “Please… Anastasia and I built it. We gave it to the government who promised it was only a deterrent. But the cold war intensified, they were planning on using it. No one would stand a chance against it. We believed giving them one as well was the only way to keep them from using it, they should have understood how dangerous it was then. But Anastasia, how could you? You went behind my back and dealt with other powers, and for what? Money?”

Anastasia sighs before speaking. “Money was just a given. You’re the one at fault, Dante. Genius of weapons, you’re the one with the worst sins amongst us. Everything you have created only led to the drawing of blood. And yet, no one ever stopped you. In the name of science? Please, all of you would have done the same had you known what Dante was doing. I may have helped, but you’re the reason for it all. You doomed us, Dante.”

“I-I never wanted to cause the end of the world. For eight years, for eight terrible years I kept myself in seclusion because of the guilt. I’m responsible for 90% of the planet dying, I’m responsible for the wasteland we live in. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. My curiosity bested me, I should have never created that bomb. I should have never betrayed you all.”

“Dante-” Bell steps forward. The reveal as gut wrenching for him as it for everyone else, such a creation should have never existed. The consequences of it the worst imaginable, but Bell believes there is a road for redemption, a path to fixing their greatest mistake.

Dante looks to Bell, a faint smile growing as the two friends make eye contact. His eyes lose life, a bullet piercing his skull and sending his body to the ground.

The geniuses recoil, Bell has blood splattered on his boots.

“V-Veronica! How dare you?! He showed regret!”

“Regret?” Veronica mutters. “What good is regret in the world he created? I regret many things but that changes nothing, his will do no better. You can build whatever rage you want against me; I’ve only done what he deserved. Do you believe anyone other than you lot would object to what I did?” Veronica points her gun at Anastasia. “Anything else to say?”

Anastasia cackles. “The floor is mine then. Dante got what he deserved, and soon I will as well. I foresaw this day long ago, I will accept it. But there is someone else behind this.”

“Who?” Bell asked.

“You, Bell. This world has always been about power. Every war won by they who could wield the most, every war begun by they who tasted just a sample of it. But who wielded the most power after the second world war? It was us. It was you, Bell. You never realized it, but you held the world in your hands. With such might you could have created something, but your eyes were too narrow. You gave the world the seed of power when you should have planted it yourself. We are the chosen ones; we should have led. Allowing other to orchestrate with the power we created, with the power only we knew how to handle was our biggest mistake, our sign of ignorance. We could have been much more. We should have been the ones at the head of everything.”

“Anastasia, you wanted to be a god. But we’re just men.”

Anastasia laughs. “You’re mistaken Bell. Why must you all be so oblivious. You’re going to make the same mistake, again. You’re giving the power to yet another lunatic. I’ll confess to this at last, the reason I gave up on my research on the brain. It wasn’t because it was too difficult or because I hit a block, no, it was because I was too disgusted by the brain itself. Such a thing of marvel, riddled with the worst possible illness, humanity. I found ways to interact with the brain, to power technology with it, to communicate with and empower it. It gave me a greater understanding, a way to look into it like a book. And every time, without fail, the brain disgusted me. Their greed and arrogance overpower sense, stopping you all from giving them gifts was the only way to save everyone but I knew that was impossible. I saw what was coming, a future of pure suffering for us all, so I decided to show mercy. The fusion bomb, a weapon so powerful it could wipe out the entire planet with ease. You can blame me for this world, but understand that it would have happened eventually, through much harsher means and a prolonged suffering that would have made everyone beg for it to end. I gave them the key to make it quick and painless, but even that was too much for those below us to do.”

“Anastasia, you should have consulted us. There are ways to limit what they could have done, ways to prevent such downfall.”

“Enough, Bell. Such immature thoughts are the very reason I understood I could never stop you. I’ll say it one last time, you’re making a mistake. You’re giving our power to yet another lunatic. If you’re going to five them the seed once again, you may as well set the bomb off yourself this time.”

Anastasia collapses, a single bullet through his head.