Chapter 37: FATE OF EARTH

  Cadonif confronted Tocarris in the countdown room as the timer to the end of humanity counted down intimidatingly. He knew it was to taunt him that it was set up across the spacecraft.

  “You’ve actually managed to make it this far. You’ve defeated all the guards and isolated me in this locked room. Good job,” the vicious lady said.

  Cadonif tried not to let her condescending tone get to him. “You know why I’m here. Stop the countdown, or else…” Cadonif pulled out a small, automatic crossbow.

  Tocarris calmly sat down on a nearby cushion, unfazed by the threat.

  “I know you. You wouldn’t shoot me. You’re too soft. Even if you would, you can’t. You would have assassinated me by now if you really wanted to, but that wouldn’t stop the problem. I’m the only person who knows how to stop the virus from being released upon the world.”

  Cadonif dropped the weapon. “You’re right.” He walked in front of her and then sat down. “Let’s talk first.”

  “Sure. I have time. The virus release process is pretty much automatic, and I’ll be free for some time afterward as I watch the results unfold from the comfort of this ship.”

  “Not to mention you have to wait a few months before releasing the virus that reverts the animals back from their mutated state, right?”

  Tocarris stared at him without response.

  “I did my research over the past week. I know your full plan now. It’s to mutate most of the animals across Earth with a virus to change the animals’ DNA, have them eat humans and convert that food to grow their size, and when the species is pretty much extinct, you can revert the animals, or have them blow up if they became too big to, by sending another virus across Earth that’s more aggressive and overwrites the changes in the DNA made by the first one and also swiftly kills any human it comes into contact with. The few humans left would die and their bodies wouldn’t be too much a disturbance.”

  “Well done with your research. But I’m sure there’s one thing you still don’t know. And that’s how I plan to spread the virus. I’ve been extremely secretive about this, so it isn’t in the Computing Room nor with anyone else.”

  She was right. For all Cadonif knew, the mechanism to spread the virus was already on Earth and could only be disarmed by remotely entering a password that only Tocarris knew. That was why he had to be careful.

  “That’s true, so I’ve come here to talk to you. There’s not much I can do but try my best to convince you to change your mind.”

  “I’m curious. Why don’t you try to torture me?”

  “Perhaps you’ll understand that soon. Before we lose too much time, let’s begin. I’ll explain everything going through my mind, and I hope you can change yours.” He was fully using his persuasion ability, hoping to find some semblance of rationality to grasp onto. He took a deep breath.

  “Since that day we last met, I’ve been thinking long and hard about a lot of things. I tried to think of reasons for you to not release this virus.”

  “And the result?”

  “I couldn't think of a single reason why you or your company shouldn't kill all those humans..."

  "So, then…"

  "—But I still can't agree with it from a moral standpoint."

  “…That’s understandable. You’re only an average person—no, a Sartoogian at that. You can’t see at my level to do anything to achieve your goals; you don’t have that ambition.

  “I know your type: you’d rather live in poverty than plan your future, and you’re only willing to do immoral things if you’re desperate to come out of some hardship. You’re idle till the brink of death and hate on others for the problems you can solve by being ‘immoral’.

  “But I do still wonder: it’s fine if you don’t like what I’m doing, but why are you fighting it? No sane person works so hard and risks their life for ‘justice’. You’re desperate enough to risk your life but not enough to resort to immoral tactics. That piques my interest because usually, it’s the other way around—people do anything they can before they are willing to risk their lives as well.”

  “I’ve thought about that, too.”

  Cadonif thought back to when he was at his orphanage on Sartoog. He’d cherished his families and tried to take any jobs to keep them alive. But when the loan sharks took away Sagtillette, he was desperate enough to do anything to get her back. As a result, he was willing to do something immoral and risky. It was an option placed there—a convenient one that would solve his tensions with the loan sharks too, so he’d taken it, focused on the results and less on the moral implications and dangers involved. But because he tried to steal the Castignome, blind to the foreseeable failure, catastrophe ensued.

  Now that he looked back, he wished he had chosen another path—anything else. If there were any way to go back and change things, he would choose it, but there wasn’t. The only thing he could do now was to move forward and ensure that he didn’t make such a blunder again.

  “I don't want to be pushed into doing something I may regret."

  Tocarris closed her eyes. “You don’t want to live a life of regret, eh? I see.”

  “Some months ago, I was pushed into making a bad decision. I chose it hastily and now my life has been screwed up.”

  Even if it had gone fine, and the sharks had returned his sister, Cadonif doubted he could live the rest of his life the same as before, knowing the crime he and Geenud had committed. He didn’t want to compromise. There was always a way. He saw that now.

  “I faced another moral dilemma last week, when you offered me a job—a chance to easily rid my problems. It seemed like I only had two options: to work with you or to go to jail, but I didn’t want to make a decision like that. Those aren’t options for me because I may regret them. It’s the same with trying to escape this ship. I wanted to prove to myself that it was possible to find and choose an option that I wouldn’t regret later on. That’s the one I’m doing. Of course, this was hard. I had to overcome some of my shyness and fear for my life, but I don’t think I could live with myself if I stand by and let billions of people die without putting up a fight.”

  “That’s quite the heart-warming speech. Unfortunately, living such a life doesn’t work for businesses and the elite. Accomplishing goals like making money and having fame, influence, and power are what matter.

  If you can’t live with yourself if you have to do what it takes to be there, then you deserve to stay at the bottom. Rather than being a slave to your conscience, it’s better to kill it and not feel guilt at all.”

  “Tocarris, I don’t believe that way of living is meaningful, and you can disagree, but I don’t think you completely follow that either.”

  Tocarris frowned. “What do you mean?”

  The timer was at six minutes. Cadonif had to get to the point.

  “I think that no matter how much you try to act like you don’t and believe you’re superior to others, you still have some compassion in you.

  “That’s why you didn’t just create a disease with one-hundred percent mortality to kill the humans: you were kind enough to give them a quick death. You’re willing to talk to me, since before and even now. You wanted me to join you rather than be immediately sent to the authorities. With all these ‘guards’, you don’t have much of a need for me, not to mention I’m Sartoogian, but you still wanted to give me a chance.

  “You have some compassion in you. Don’t you make this mistake and regret it for the rest of your life. Both of us are forced by circumstance into this, but we don’t have to. I realized that. The two of us can run away from PVC and the Federation and start life afresh somewhere in isolation. Forget all these plans—they don’t matter. Aren’t there things that you want to do other than work for this company? Do you have to sacrifice your precious compassion and become this ‘elite’?”

  Cadonif was talking to rather than threatening her because, even if it saved humanity, it would defeat the purpose of not having regrets if it was like at the Orphanage where the objective mattered more than the method. He was still willing to steal food to survive and destroy the ship a little to accomplish this. But taking the easy way of torture or blowing up the ship did not outweigh the genocide of humanity. He honestly didn’t care about them much, but it was wrong to allow them to be massacred.

  “So, Tocarris,” Cadonif glanced at the timer, which showed four minutes. “What will it be?”

 

* * *

 

  Tocarris sat and thought about what the Sartoogian in front of her had just said. She remembered how she had been conditioned from her childhood to not care about others and think only about the family. They were strict and cruel; she kind of wanted to rebel against them, but she’d never had the guts to. They’d always seemed like an invincible and formidable threat to her, who had studied them extensively. To escape and hide from them was no easy feat, but it was a possibility that she hadn’t thought of in a long time.

  She thought of what she really wanted. Microbiology was interesting, yes, but was creating weapons for corporations what she wanted? The research was more of a hobby to her. Managing teams wasn’t her style. Thinking back to when she was younger, she recalled a lost interest: a naïve fascination for animals. She’d wanted to travel to various planets and research animals there.

  Tocarris looked at Cadonif. He had determination in his eyes. He knew what he wanted to do without planning his life in the future. Did Tocarris? She just followed what her family told her was best for her. According to them, what she should aspire for was gaining fame, money, and freedom in the form of becoming a manager rather than the employee who worked for them. She had to chase those and, perhaps one day, take place as the head of the family.

  Tocarris closed her eyes and held her head in thought, as Cadonif anxiously but patiently waited. Eventually, she thought of her answer.

  She looked Cadonif in the eye. “Fine. I’ll work with you.”

  Yes! Cadonif relaxed and turned off his persuasion power, which had him mentally drained. Phew, that was surprisingly easy!

  “I want to know the details of the plan.”

  Oof!

  “Actually, I haven’t thought of those,” Cadonif laughed weakly and scratched the back of his head. “B-but—! We can take our time and think of a good one after we stop the virus from deploying and destroying the planet.” He pointed to the timer.

  “Oh. Right. I should explain how that works.

  “The virus is preserved in a fluid. There’s a tank of that stuff inside an escape pod on this ship. It’s disguised as a meteoroid on the outside. The plan was to have that pod detach at the end of the countdown, and once it landed on Shitchi—”

  Tocarris was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door to the room breaking open. The one who entered was Loi. The two in the room got up.

  “Phew. I finally got in.” Loi looked and found Cadonif. “This imp locked me out. Hope he wasn’t causing harm in here, regardless of how he got in.”

  “Loi,” Tocarris spoke. “It’s fine. We came to a compromise. We’re stopping the ‘meteorite’.”

  “What!?!” Loi said, incredulous. “We worked on that for months! You’re suddenly throwing that away?!”

  “Yes. I’ll explain why later. For now, we need to stop it from releasing. Help us.”

  “Hold on,” Loi stepped in front of the two. “I can’t let you do that.”

  “Don’t disobey me, Loi,” Tocarris commanded.

  “I don’t work for you. I work for PVC. And it looks like that makes you my enemy.” He pulled out his weapon.

  Cadonif looked between them in worry.

  “Cadonif. The countdown can’t be stopped from here. It’s an automatic system. You’ll have to go to the escape pod. It’s Pod D-15. You know where that is?”

  Cadonif nodded.

  “Good. I’ll talk to Loi. You head there. I’ll tell you what to do when you get there.” Tocarris looked at the timer. They had less than two minutes.

  “Who says I’ll let you leave?” Loi butted in.

  Tocarris bent down to grab the crossbow Cadonif had brought. Loi immediately aimed his too. Cadonif, seeing his opportunity as the two faced off, bolted. Loi turned to stop him, but Tocarris called him, reminding him not to take his eyes off the one with the weapon.

  Cadonif ran out of the room and was gone through the halls.

  “I thought you weren’t a fan of genocide. Why are you so loyal to PVC?”

  “I’m not. I’m just doing my job. I don’t want to get demoted.”

  “So you’re afraid of the consequences of if you let me stop this and run away. How about if I take the full blame? ‘Tocarris threatened me with a weapon while I didn’t have mine out and tied me up’. How about that?”

  Loi paused. “I’m listening.”

 

* * *

 

  Cadonif halted and panted in front of the door to the designated escape pod. The ship was big enough so that when the Shitchi-One project would have been complete, all the executives of the company, along with many customers, could come and stay here and there would still be plenty of room. Consequently, the halls felt deserted now.

  Cadonif checked a nearby screen, which displayed thirty seconds of time left to determine the fate of a planet.

  The spaceship’s announcement system turned on and from the speakers came Tocarris’ voice. “Cadonif, listen to me,” the voice eerily echoed through the halls, adding to the dire mood. “I’ve convinced Loi, but everything is up to you. You have to follow my instructions carefully.

  “First, enter the pod.”

  Cadonif did as he was told hurriedly. The door was unlocked remotely. Inside the small, chamber-sized pod, he found electronics and controls lining the walls, and, at the center, a giant glass tank filled with a blue liquid. I wish I’d noticed this! He thought. But now wasn’t the time to think. He readily awaited the next order.

  Tocarris instructed him on a series of tasks to input into the electronics and machinery.

  In the end, a voice came from the pod’s computer:

  “Initializing launch procedure.”

  Huh? It didn’t work?

  There were five seconds left. The situation seemed hopeless. Cadonif looked at the door to the pod. If the pod was going to release, he’d better leave it and close the door.

  He gritted his teeth and sprinted for the exit. There was nothing he could do. He would only have to regret it later.

  Suddenly, Loi appeared in the hallway. He had a smile on. In a moment of confusion followed by shock, Loi closed the door on him and locked it, leaving Cadonif trapped inside the pod. Cadonif pounded on the door. The pod was ejected. Looking through the window, he saw Loi’s face staring at him.

  As the pod started its descent towards the Earth, the pod’s speaker came live and Tocarris spoke: “Fool! As if I would throw away my work and secure life! I told you the virus release process was automatic, and it was you! Now, the canon will spread the virus across the world!”

  Cadonif suddenly realized: The countdown was fake: a way to lure him out of hiding and get rid of him in case he would defeat the guards. Tocarris had known how smart Cad was, but had outsmarted him.

  Cadonif fell towards Earth, scared.

 

* * *

 

  From the spaceship, Tocarris watched a small meteoroid gracefully shrink smaller and smaller and become a speck against the face of the Earth, knowing it carried the lives of billions of people and her hard work. A computer reported a successful Radar hack.

  She spoke triumphantly: “Humanity is extinct! The planet is doomed! It’s going to be mayhem on Earth!!!”