Energy

Kelis, Eno, Axel, Nix, and Tera looked intently at Lien. After Kelis had told what he had seen in the past, everyone was waiting for Lien's answer. They were waiting to see if he would agree to participate in the project.

- "There will be only three arks left for people?" - Lien clarified.

- "In the best case. If all the dissatisfied people unite, the defense lines can be broken through. Get to the ships. Establish your own rules and regulations inside the arks. And then, just hope that at least that part of humanity that was forced onto the arks will be able to survive the Rebirth," - Kelis added.

Lien looked thoughtfully at the pillars. He examined their majestic and mysterious aura that they radiated.

- "Let's do it," Lien said confidently.

Hearing Lien's words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

- "Do you have a plan?" - Lien clarified.

Axel opened the inside of one of the pillars. Inside were the Tihirax stones. However, none of the stones glowed.

- “This is what tihirax looks like. It is a powerful source of energy, the analogues of which are no longer available. As soon as it was found in the first TDC and studied, they tried to find it in all corners of our planet. However, all efforts ended in failure. This created the theory that tihirax was brought from another planet,” - said Axel.

- “At one time, part of the expeditions on the Moon and projects on Mars were associated with the search for Tihirax. However, to no avail,” - added Kelis.

- “In addition, there is no analogue on our planet that could replace Tihirax. Many attempts have been made to start TDC with alternative energy sources. However, with none of them, TDC have worked stably,” - said Axel.

- “This can only be found in other TDC,” - added Eno.

- “It was precisely because of the lack of tihirax, which is the main driver for the launch of most TDC, that the authorities of all countries decided to vote for one single technology, to which they would transfer all available tihirax,” - said Kelis.

- “We pinned all our hopes on the fact that our project would be chosen as the one that would save humanity. If this happened, then all countries, according to the international treaty on the salvation of humanity, would transfer the tihirax available in their countries to our project,” - said Eno.

- “It looks as if tihirax is not available to us. But, if this were the case, then you would not have launched the project… So where else are the tihirax?” - asked Lien.

- “An island called Eitelia, which is not on open maps and history textbooks,” - answered Tera.

- “Eitelia… If there is a tihirax, then why wasn’t it taken from there for the Ark project?” - Lien asked.

- “A hundred years ago, several countries joined forces to explore the TDC, which was hidden underwater. For this purpose, they created an artificial island. However, in the course of various historical factors, the project was closed. And entry was prohibited. This island became untouched for reasons that remain known only to a limited number of people,” - Kelis answered.

- “According to our information, there is enough tihirax there to launch our project,” - Axel clarified.

- “So, we will violate existing agreements,” - Lien thought.

- “We will go there under the guise of a fishing boat. This will only buy us a little time. But, this time should be enough to get the tihirax,” - Kelis said.

- “Everything under the island is new to us. "None of us have seen that TDC in person. Just a few documents that describe in general terms what's inside. Once we get inside, you'll be our guide. You and your knowledge of the language, Lien," Eno said.

"When do we start?" Lien asked.

"Tomorrow," Kelis replied.

Lien was surprised by Kelis's words. However, he only silently turned around and headed for the elevator.

Nix confidently put his hand on Lien's shoulder.

- "Don't worry. I'll show you where you can spend the night," - Nix said.

Nix led Lien to a small office space on the upper floors, which had been converted into a bedroom.

- "They say that many people stayed here for the night because of the large amount of work," - Nix said.

- "I know. My grandfather often stayed here," - Lien said sadly.

- "Now we all live here. Now every minute is precious... and we all want to devote them to the project"

Lien looked thoughtfully at the room. Nix looked closely at Lien.

- "Hey, Lien..." - Nix said seriously.

Lien looked at Nix.

- "Are you ready for this?"

- "What do you mean?"

- “What we have started, we do not know what it will lead to. We are risking not only ourselves and the future of humanity. We are going against the established order. And this is the most dangerous thing. Therefore, I ask you, are you ready for this? Are you ready to go with us to the end?”

Lien thought.

- “I am with you. However, should we go to the very end? Well… when the moment comes to choose, that's when we will find out. Because right now, even I do not know the answer.”

Lien went into his room and closed the door behind him. He continued to think about Nix's words.

Lien lay down on the bed, but almost immediately fell asleep.

Lien's morning passed quite quickly. He got ready and left the research center with his team. They drove to the nearest port and began loading things onto a fishing boat. However, the ship was huge and had quite a lot of space.

Lien noticed a bus approaching the ship. The same thirty of Nix's people got out of it. They were armed and began to board the ship. Nix's people were dragging bags and a box of weapons onto the ship. They were ready to defend the ship.

- "We must be ready for anything," Nix said, approaching Lien.

Lien looked at the ship. Everything that could be needed was being loaded onto it. He even noticed exoskeletons being loaded to lift large loads.

The ship is about to sail.