Chapter 28: In the image of God

Friday, 16 May, 20XX - Part 2

Yui stood at the lectern at the front of the classroom.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled. “I’m glad that after all this time, I am able to tell you the truth.”

“What do you mean?”

It was past 6pm. No one besides us has entered the abandoned middle school.

“I’m the one in charge of the end of the world.”

“Yui, this isn’t funny. We should wait for whoever is sending the emails to show up.”

She let out a sigh, almost as if she was disappointed by my response. She took out her phone.

“Haruto, I’ve never let you touch my phone, have I?”

“I guess, yeah…”

“Have a close look at it.”

She emerged from behind the lectern and approached the desk where I sat. “Here.” She handed me her phone.

It was a smooth rectangle, with a glass screen and –

“Huh?”

The back of her phone was smooth just like the front. There were no cameras, no microphones – her phone was a perfectly smooth rectangle.

Come to think of it, Yui didn’t use her phone to take a single picture during the entire journey. The only time I saw the back of her phone was when my father called her. Wait, her phone didn’t have a camera bump back then…how come I didn’t ask her about it?

I felt dizzy.

“Yui…are you serious? There is no way you are in charge of the end of the world. Stop it already.”

She let out another sigh.

“Haruto, you sound like one of those people who think the end of the world isn’t going to happen. Here, let me prove to you that I am in charge.”

She took her phone back and began to type something. A few minutes later, she handed me her phone.

“This is the next email.”

———————————————————————

Dear all,

Please be reminded that the world will end on the Effective Date (January 1, 20XX).

To prepare everyone for the end of the world, all electricity will be cut for a full month starting from Friday, May 23, 20XX, 3pm Japan Standard Time.

Electricity will be made available again on Friday, June 20, 20XX, 3pm Japan Standard Time.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Please take care.

———————————————————————

I read the message on her phone, then looked up at her.

“Yui…there is no way…you just copied the writing style of the emails we always get.”

“Please confirm that you have read this draft of the next email.”

“Y-Yeah, I’ve read it.”

“In that case, please hand it back to me so I can send it.”

I handed her phone back to her.

Yui tapped the send button. A moment later, my phone vibrated. It had received the email Yui just wrote and sent out. A quick look on social media confirmed that I wasn’t the only one who received this message. Suddenly, everyone was talking about it.

In one week from now, all electricity will be cut off for an entire month.

Just like previous emails, no other details were given because no other details were necessary.

My heart beat so fast I could hear it. My vision grew blurry. My hands shook.

“Yui…I don’t understand. Are you really behind all of this?”

She put a finger to her chin.

“Hmm…I’m the one behind all of the emails. And the decision regarding the date of the power cuts lies with me. But obviously I’m not the one who is going to end the world. I’m not that powerful. I’m more like a spokesperson for the people who are going to end the world. Mh…yeah, I think it is right to call them ‘people’. I hope she isn’t going to get mad at me for that. If we are people, then they are also people. After all, they created us. We were made in the image of God.”

I said nothing. There was no way Yui was being serious, right? It had to be a prank.

“Haruto, would you like to meet her? My boss?”

I gulped.

Yui just confirmed that she was indeed the person who had been sending out the emails. And now she was inviting me to meet her boss.

In the image of God.

I looked around. No one else had arrived. How would Yui even let me meet her boss?

“It would be nice to meet her.”

Yui smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that. I was right to trust you, Haruto.”

She returned to behind the lectern and closed her eyes.

“Please wait a moment. Remain where you are, even if you are frightened. Your safety is guaranteed.”

“Okay.”

She took a deep breath.

“She is ready to meet you.”

Outside the classroom window, there was a bright flash without any accompanying sound like thunder. When I was able to open my eyes again, there was a grey flying saucer floating outside the classroom, above the outdoor football field.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” Yui’s voice sounded.

She was smiling, but her eyes were not. A shiver traveled down my spine. For the first time, I felt afraid of Yui. My gut feeling told me to run away. That it was better to leave this situation.

But –

“Hello. I’m sorry for the trouble caused,” I said.

Yui’s smile widened, but her eyes remained an emotionless blank.

“Amazing, you’re the first one besides Yui to not run away.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What you see here is not the real me. As a member of the civilization that created your species, I am not permitted to reveal my true appearance to you. In order to communicate with you, I have temporarily borrowed Yui’s body.”

I took a deep breath. Calm down.

Even though this was Yui standing in front of me, it clearly wasn’t her anymore. The air around her, the look in her eyes, her strange distant smile. This wasn’t Yui.

The spaceship outside the classroom wasn’t an illusion either.

“Are you really going to end the world?” I asked.

“The planet itself will survive. By the end of the world, I am referring to the end of the world as you know it. Specifically, we are looking to eliminate human civilization.

“W-What?”

“Please do not worry. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this. We’ve become very good at it. We will do everything possible to minimize the suffering.”

“You’ve wiped out the human race before?”

It felt like my brain was going to explode from all the new information. I concentrated as hard as I could to keep up with the conversation.

“We’ve done it multiple times. Whenever we determine that the human race has reached a point of no return with the current development path you went down over the past handful of millennia, we wipe out your civilization and let you start anew.”

“Why do you do that? Why can’t you leave us alone?”

Yui, or rather, Yui’s boss, tilted her head slightly, as if she was confused by what I just asked.

“Isn’t it the responsibility of a parent to prevent their child from going down the wrong path? And if they do make a mistake, isn’t it a parent’s responsibility to help them by giving them another chance?”

If she was indeed a member of the ‘creator’ race that created us, then this analogy made sense…kind of.

“Ah…my words caused great sorrow in Yui’s heart. Let’s talk about something else,” Yui’s boss said.

“How have you ended human civilization before?”

Yui’s boss let out a deep breath.

“We made a huge mess the first time, you know? That was really bad! We sank an entire continent to end human civilization. The core of the failed civilization covered one main continent, so we thought sinking the whole thing was a neat idea. It was a mess! We almost destroyed the planet doing that. No, no. That was a bad idea.”

She put a finger to her chin, which looked like something she learned from Yui.

“There was another time when we wiped the slate clean with a big flood. You know, like biggggg flood, so big you can’t even see the sky. But that was a bad idea, too. It made a huge mess, just like sinking Mu. We decided not to do that again. I got into a lot of trouble for that one. That’s why – “ She touched her, or rather, Yui’s chest, “ – I thought it might be wise to get some external input. And don’t worry, we always make sure to keep a few humans alive so that you may restart civilization. Hopefully things will work out this time.”

I pursed my lips. As horrifying as her words sounded, it seemed that she was quite friendly. I decided to ask some more questions.

“Would it be possible for you to delay the end of the world?”

Suddenly, the friendliness was gone. Her gaze grew cold. “You seem to think that you are able to make requests. I’m only letting you survive the end of the world because Yui is fond of you.”

I instinctively lowered my head. I had angered a greater power. My entire body was shaking with fear.

Calm down! Stop shaking! This is the only chance I have to get more information.

“Will the world end by having its electricity turned off permanently?”

“No. You lack imagination.”

“How will the world end this time?” I asked.

Her cold smile returned.

“Let me tell you~”