It's been two weeks since the generator incident. The moon continues to move closer and closer to the Earth, but no one knows yet.
Every day, the tides grow larger and stronger. At first glance, though, people seemed unconcerned about such news. However, soon enough, rumors began circulating among them saying exactly who caused it! After hearing numerous stories claiming responsibility, everyone became worried about whether anyone would accept the blame. No matter whom someone blamed, nothing happened anyway. and now tensions were getting worse instead of better.
The human's fate is unknown.
***
"We have some work ahead," muttered Arman to himself as he stared outside the window. The sky looked dark and foreboding; clouds covered the entire area.
The rain started pouring heavily before night fell, and it didn't let up for hours afterward. Lightning flashed in the blackness like angry eyes glaring at Arman.
He shivered uncontrollably despite wearing thick clothes. He hated storms and their unpredictability, especially when they came on suddenly. There was always so much noise and chaos whenever nature unleashed her fury.
Thunder rumbled, and lightning struck again. Water dripped incessantly from the eaves onto the ground below where he stood.
A gusty breeze blew hard against his face. Arman felt cold but couldn't help thinking back to those warm summer days. Back then, he could swim in the sea without fear of drowning. When he saw the water level rising each day, he knew things would never go back to the way they used to be.
***
After waiting until morning broke through heavy foggy skies, Arman went to visit Dr. Nambu's laboratory. Inside, he found his mentor sitting alone in front of the main screen, which displayed various images taken from different telescopes all over the world.
Nambe turned toward Arman and said, "So you're here." He paused, looking intently at his protégé. Then, turning away once again, he added, "You must tell me everything you discovered."
His mentor's voice sounded almost desperate, and Arman realized that this was one subject he wanted to talk about.
Dr. Nambu leaned forward, his elbows resting on the desk. His fingers danced across his keyboard and mouse pad. After several seconds, he typed rapidly on the monitor. A second later, a graph appeared showing the variations of the tidal cycles over the past few months.
"These are the latest data gathered by OSA (Osmium Space Agency) satellites," he explained. "They show clearly that the tidal oscillations have increased drastically since the generator failure two weeks ago."
"This is a sudden increase in the amplitude of the tidal oscillation. This means that the tides are getting stronger than usual!" Arman exclaimed.
"Yes, this makes sense if we consider your hypothesis regarding the irregularity in the orbit of the moon around Earth," replied Dr. Nambu with terror in his voice.
Arman nodded. "And what does it mean for us?"
"Well, unfortunately, there may be serious consequences. As the tides get higher and higher, the seas will rise very fast—much faster than people can evacuate. Many coastal cities would flood within a month! And that's only the beginning."
***
On the following day, Arman visited the Osmium Oceanic Administration Headquarters. It looked deserted except for some employees working behind desks located near elevators leading upstairs.
In his hands, he carried an official document about his research proposal. Although most office rooms contained computer terminals linked together via LAN networks, every single door connecting two adjacent buildings remained closed.
After passing security checks and signing documents confirming confidentiality agreements between himself and the government agencies involved, he entered the large auditorium hall containing numerous offices lined up like rows inside tall cabinets made entirely of glass walls surrounding three sides, forming concentric circles centered upon central podiums holding microphones connected directly to speakers placed strategically among participants.
Inside the conference room were representatives from government agencies, including OSA, and other researchers representing universities. There might even be experts who were specifically invited today. Everyone sat facing each other's table, wearing headsets plugged straight back towards the microphone positioned centrally above everyone else. They discussed Arman's findings and ideas with him for nearly five hours.
Finally, when they finished discussing his project, the meeting adjourned. Arman walked down the hallway into another conference room, where he waited anxiously while watching TV news reports on high tide levels along Osmium's coastlines.
The newscasters reported: In addition to flooding, the ocean currents also became unpredictable and destructive. On more than one occasion, fishermen lost their lives trying to reach deep-sea fishing grounds.
Several scientists pointed out that such natural disasters should be expected now because the oceans contain too much carbon dioxide, which has caused global warming. However, none of them mentioned the possibility of the moon falling toward the planet.
Meanwhile, no measures have been taken yet against a possible disaster.
***
Arman left the building feeling drained physically and mentally. He had been through many meetings during his career as a scientist and engineer, but nothing compared to this one.
It felt good not having anything important scheduled for tomorrow; so far everything went well enough anyway, though I guess things could change anytime...
As soon as night fell outside, the rain started pouring heavily without letting up. The streets turned dark under heavy rain, battering windows throughout town.
Before long, darkness covered both the sky overhead and the ground below.
At his pace, he watched television until late in the evening. At first, the reports seemed normal, except that they showed an increasing amount of rainfall and extreme weather conditions worldwide. Then they report about the political instability due to the recent generator failure last week. A lot has happened since then. After some discussion amongst themselves, people began pointing fingers—maintenance workers blamed others, saying maintenance didn't do what needed to be done correctly. Engineers claimed there was something wrong with the machinery itself, rather than faulty workmanship.
But none of this mattered much to Arman. What concerned him most about the tidal anomaly was its effect on ocean levels. The high tide gets higher every day. Now, however, the tides seem to be getting worse instead of better. Every time the moon passed through perigee, the oceans rose significantly, threatening the existence of coastal communities.
"What's going to happen next?"
***
The following morning, Arman woke early. Today was Sunday again—another quiet day before the storm hit. He decided to go to the beach for a walk. Even at low tide, the ocean water never dried completely. When he stepped onto the dunes bordering the shoreline, waves crashed over him.
He stood still and listened. Nothing unusual sounded. No strange noises or vibrations came from anywhere nearby. Everything seemed peaceful here on Earth. But he knew that wasn't true.
"I hope this is a tidal anomaly and not a sign of something worse."
He continued walking south along the shore, hoping to find a nice spot to sit and enjoy the quiet morning. He found a place under the shade of a tree and sat on the sand. After a short rest, he started writing again.
A few minutes later, the sun peeked over the horizon. Soon, it illuminated the entire sky, making everything look bright and colorful.
As the tide receded farther and farther, Arman felt the ocean water become warmer. Something fishy must be happening here somewhere.
But nothing dramatic occurred.
***
Today, Arman was supposed to meet with the head of the OSA but canceled because today would have been a one-month anniversary celebration event held by their organization called "World Ocean Watch". It had already begun when news broke out regarding abnormal changes occurring around the world due to sea level rise.
As usual, the tides are getting higher and larger.
The government is trying hard to cover up all facts related to this phenomenon. People were afraid as well; even though scientists tried explaining things clearly during press conferences, etc., nobody paid attention anymore.
He was staring blankly at the screen, thinking deeply.
He thought about the Osmium Space Agency headquarters and how it resembled any other government agency or company, with the exception that the space station orbiting above Osmium was the largest structure ever built by man. Its construction took ten years before it was launched into orbit. It circled the planet once every ninety minutes, taking pictures of the entire surface and transmitting data to the OSA satellite network.
Since then, the satellites have continued to transmit images of the Earth's and Moon's gravitational fields, helping predict lunar eclipses.
However, these satellites did not detect any unusual activity around the moon, despite frequent observations over the past several decades.
"I wonder if anyone knows what's happening," Arman muttered aloud. "If only someone knew!"
He clicked the mouse button twice. Immediately, the main window displayed information concerning the current state of the tides in various locations across the globe.
Tides are rising rapidly!
The high tide level reached 2 meters above sea level. Flooding occurred on many coasts.
Sea levels continue to rise. A new record was set today in northern Europe. High tides were recorded in Aspiania Bay, Aspiania (3 m), and the Yurhie Sea off Netra, Netraurhie (2.8m). Tidal waves inundated many towns along the coastline of the Aspho Region.
Rumors are spreading like wildfire that the moon will fall to Earth.
But no one believed these stories. Why would the moon come crashing down? How can we know for certain?
No official announcement was made.
This is the end of the world as we know it.
Arman stared dumbfounded at the screen.
The ocean waters have risen dramatically. In just two weeks, the sea level has risen nearly three meters.
It seems as though the moon is falling to Earth.
But why hasn't the OSA released an official statement?
"The OSA is hiding something," Arman muttered to himself. "And they don't want people to know what's happening."
***
