PART FOUR: WHAT HAPPENED HAPPENED

Sam leaned forward, placing both palms flat on the holographic table as the weight of his words pressed on the group.

“Ten years ago, we saw the Zones destabilizing. People pulled into them, cities and countries wiped off the map. No one knew why it was happening.”

His voice carried the weight of those lost years, of unanswered questions. He let the silence settle before continuing.

“After an ill-advised project to the core to find a solution to save the world, they made it even worse. The project as we now know resulted in the pulse activities and the formation of the zones and then... we appeared— the so-called ‘Children of the Light.’ Randomly, unpredictably, in every corner of the world.”

Jax, arms crossed, let out an exaggerated sigh. “Sam, we’ve all heard this before. Can we skip the history lesson?”

Sam smirked. “I’m getting to it, Relax. Not everyone here knows the full picture.” His smile faded as he became serious again.

 “The day Kate and I were found in the desert, the Zones became more volatile than ever. Dr. Lila and her team had spent years studying us and found something... unsettling, we were somehow connected to the zones and the pulse energy as a whole. The three of us—me, Jax, and …Kate felt something calling us from the inside the zones. So, we went in.”

Thalia leaned forward with a smile on her face. “What did you see inside? What changed the Zones?”

Sam hesitated, his usual cocky demeanor fading. “It wasn’t the Zones that changed when we entered. It was us. And when we came out... two years had passed.”

A tense silence filled the air as the weight of his words settled over the group.

Lila broke the quiet. “And now the Coalition is meddling with Zone core fragments. If they mess with them, they could throw everything off balance.”

Thalia turned to Sam. “What exactly are the core fragments?”

Jax answered before Sam could. “The core fragments are like an unlimited power source. Think of them as batteries, stabilizing the zones, keeping them from collapsing and consuming everything around them. Removing one would cause catastrophic chain reactions—destruction on a scale we can’t even comprehend. If the Coalition is moving fragments without causing disasters, then what you saw wasn’t the cores.”

Kieran scoffed, leaning in. “We saw it with our own eyes.  The Coalition transports carrying fragments. We’re not making this up.”

Jax’s gaze was cold, unyielding. “Enough. This conversation is over. Sam, let’s go.”

Sam hesitated, looking between Kieran and Jax. “This isn’t over,” he muttered before following Jax, with Lila and Thalia close behind. Kieran and Kalduram exchanged uneasy glances, the tension thick between them.

“Never meet your heroes, huh,” Kieran remarked.

The Coalition’s governing council convened in a sleek, sterile chamber, illuminated only by the glow of floating holograms above each council member. Minister Zhao stood before them, her expression unreadable.

“Minister Zhao,” a stoic woman from the Oceania Bloc spoke up, her voice hoarsely like a man. She spoke with a heavy accent. “This six-month delay you’ve proposed—it’s uncharacteristic. The Firewall is critical to our control over the Zones, yet you ask us to wait?”

Zhao kept her expression neutral, her hands clasped in front of her. “The Firewall is a monumental undertaking. If we rush installation without addressing anomalies in Pulse activity, we could compromise the entire operation.”

General Marlowe leaned forward and scoffed. “You expect us to believe that a few anomalies are worth halting the most important project of our time? The Firewall isn’t just about controlling the Zones—it’s about ensuring humanity’s survival.”

Zhao held her ground. “And precisely because of its importance, we must proceed cautiously. Data from the field shows unaccounted surges in Pulse activity near key installation sites. Until we can confirm the cause, proceeding recklessly could trigger a disaster greater than any we’ve faced.”

A tense silence followed. Then, Ellian Drex, the council’s chancellor, finally spoke. “You have your six months, Minister Zhao. But understand this, failure is not an option. Find the source of these anomalies and resolve them swiftly. The Coalition’s authority must remain unquestioned.”

Zhao bowed her head slightly. “Understood.”

As she exited the chamber, her aide, Carter, followed closely beside her. “That was close,” he whispered. “If they find out you’re feeding information to the resistance—”

“They won’t,” Zhao interrupted firmly. “But we have bigger problems. If the resistance doesn’t act fast, the Coalition’s experiments with the core fragments will undo everything we’ve tried to stabilize.”

Carter hesitated before speaking. “Have they started removing the fragments?”

Zhao exhaled slowly. “Unfortunately, I am not privy to that information yet but I intend to find out.”