365 Days

When the king was banished by the heroes, a banquet that followed lasted for a whole year and lit up the faces of everyone in the kingdom. People praised the heroes for defeating the tyrant who had destroyed the world. The kids were playing, the men and women were falling in love, food and drink were abundant. Every day was a party, and every night, the people would try to surpass the previous banquet.

But human nature is foul. One year after the king had been defeated, people were still not content with their way of life. Taking everything from the benevolent king, who they labeled as a tyrant, was the deed of the heroes. Now, the same heroes who shared everything with the people were being called out.

"You dried the very kingdom we live in! Nobody is working anymore! We have nothing and no way to start again! You did this to us; now find a way to fix this!

That was when the heroes got angry.

"We gave them everything, and now they complain? What did they think was going to happen if their demands never stopped? What is wrong with those people? Does their sin know no bounds?

So the heroes abandoned the humans and ran to a faraway land, never to be seen again. They left most of the people of the kingdom behind. They only took a handful of people with them. Their goal was to create their own kingdom, but they were never able to see it through.

...

At the start of their last year on Earth, humanity was at an impasse.

"And once we land on Mars, what? We have no chance of surviving there."

"Ok, then how, pray tell, do you plan to save humanity?"

The two people arguing were dressed in fine suits, both of them being part of a larger meeting, one with the goal of saving humanity.

To the rhetorical question asked by the leader of the council, the man with red eyes gave a twisted smile.

"Tell me, fellow leaders, what is 'humanity' to you?"

"The consensus is that a collective of human beings is defined as 'humanity.'"

"That is the truth as of right now, but how many people do you need to keep true to this principle?"

The council did not give an immediate answer. There was a round of small talks between groups before the leader answered that the necessary number of people would be "every living human."

"Exactly, my dear audience. That is why we fight. Keep people alive to keep humanity alive. So then, let me ask you, what does it matter if the people left alive are billions or merely one individual?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? How could a single human represent billions? There is no logic behind your monologue!"

"Oh, but it can, as long as we pick the right person."

"Nonsense, not even He would be able to..."

"Not now, no. He is incomplete. But there are ways to fix him. We just need his power; everything else can be changed to represent humanity."

"And how do you plan to mold a human being into representing everything humans stand for?"

"Oh, but it is very simple. Sin! Humans are born from sin, live with sin, and die still plagued by it. A perfect sinner is what we need, and who is better prepared than him? The very person who reached the top of the world just to be betrayed and taken down by the very people whom he trusted and loved?"

The crowd was left speechless by the madman whose red eyes were shining as he spoke his madness.

"Listen, humans can't be saved! Stupidity is not curable. The sin most people are plagued with is the one dragging us down. But some of us are still free from it. We have a chance; He has a chance. So listen to me, forget about Mars! It is time that we all unite for a selfless goal! It is time we all take revenge on the masses that brought us here, and we make sure they will be forgotten by the world. Only a single human will keep our legacy alive. Only one human will represent what makes a man, the sins that we all stand for. No need for faking out glory. We can all just pass on this hell to somebody else!"

But the plan of the man was not given priority. Unsurprisingly, the people in the council were too scared to just accept death, so they chose the selfish plan of taking everyone to Mars and erasing their memory with the purpose of controlling them. Still, the plan of No. 2 was not completely ignored. As such, he was tasked with working on his plan to create a god in case everything else fails.

Once on Mars, his words were proven true, and the final command of the council was spoken through the voice of number one. Thus, the final countdown for humanity had started.

One sole computer was left on Olympus Mons for his project. That was the only computer that could change the fate of a single person from completely shutting down. The idea was simple. If nobody is left to guide humanity, the small chance that they could save themselves would gather the people there and bring out the worst of them. It was the final bet that the leading council took. They bet it all on the fact that by the time a single person remained, they would be so far gone that having them roam Mars in their crazed state would serve as the perfect revenge on the stupidity of the common folk.

...

"He's alive? He's alive! HAHA. Finally, somebody who is qualified."

Upon reaching Mars, the scientist with red eyes had a hard time finding a suitable 'vessel' for his experiment of awakening God. The humans he got his hands on, having their memories wiped clean, were supposed to be perfect for his goals, yet none of them were able to become the perfect sinner. The more torture they were put through, the worse their mental state became. Ultimately, most of his subjects were driven crazy way before they would rise to his standards.

"And even if those bastards were to awaken, who is to say those pathetic bodies would be worthy of godship? But he can. No! He already is a god. He just needs to wake up. Once his memory is completely wiped, all he will have left are the sins he cultivated."

That was when No. 2 started planning the life of 1441.

He first led an expedition to the South Pole, where he knew a dormant virus stood.

When he found out that 1441 had found a lover, he laughed out loud while tempting a friend of hers to take his wife back in the city.

Letting No. 7 go crazy was also a gamble that turned out better than he expected. He only hoped that she might serve as backup since she was the strongest of the council, both physically and mentally. He never thought she would actually have such an influence on his God.

But the one thing he focused on most was creating the robot he called Sojourner. The goal was simple. He needed to give 1441 a partner that he could one day simply take away. There was nothing that could break that man more than seeing his trusted do-or-die friend completely forget him and turn on him. Breaking the bond formed throughout many sols in a second was the perfect strategy.

And that is how No. 2 made sure his plan would be fulfilled. He betrayed his other council members like they were nothing to him, and had the only one with authority above him be the one to declare the memory wipe project that ultimately led to him being killed. He dealt with the other members in silence, behind closed doors.

Only the top four kept their memories. The other three were going to have their past lives explained to them and restart their lives on Mars as powerful people for the purpose of having members with a different view in the council.

No. 2 dealt with 3 in silence while 4 fled and got himself killed by the raging crowd.

The lady holding the last number conveniently went south only to become the perfect representation of gluttony and pass on the sin of lust to 1441.

Numbers 5 and 6 blindly followed No. 2, not knowing that their memory had been tampered with. When the journey to Olympus Mons started, their remaining time was drastically reduced, conveniently becoming perfect pawns who could hold back 1441.

"Now, all that is left is to get Him to the top of the volcano."

...

Back to the present sol, after dealing with the two high-ranking officials turned monsters, 1441 finally reached the top of the volcano.

Left and right, bodies of less lucky individuals could be seen. He quickly checked the identities of everyone to make sure that Ray was not one of them. Fortunately, it seems that Ray stuck to her promise of staying out of trouble.

That was when he noticed two familiar faces at the top of the mountain.

The surprise came from the face that was being washed away by lava. The pair of red eyes was still intact, but the rest of the body was nowhere to be found.

"I threw him over there."

The man looked in the direction that was pointed for him and saw the rest of the lifeless body of No. 2.

"What is the meaning of this?" The man asked the other familiar face.

"He stole your precious robot, so I killed him for you, darling." Said the woman carrying the face of the lady he would see in his dreams, the woman he recognized as his first love.