Oblivion (Epilogue: The Vaccine)

- You will need to start from scratch. All the samples you’re working with are contaminated.

- But I do not have the original DNA for starters. It’s too late now.

- No. It’s not!

The doctor and the chief of scientists looked at the young man. Leona was the first one to realize what he meant.

- What are you saying now? Do you have it?

- I told you I came to help and try to save what can be saved, but we are running out of time.

The pupas were almost ready to eclose. One of the colourful chrysalis would hatch in a very short time and by then, a sample of the fluids running in the fragile body could be taken immediately and used for the production of the vaccine.

The doctor and the chief of scientists had to fight against death and time, both being very strong contestants. That would be a risky operation and had to be done in a very short notice, or it would be too late to save that poor human being, going into such a strange mutation.

- What do we do?

- It’s important to get the sample when the fluid has started running through the wings and body of the new butterfly, a little before it is strong enough to fly by itself. It is when the elements in the DNA are more effective.

- So I was told… this is why I brought them in different phases.

- How long are we to wait?

- Not long, really.

- Now look! It’s eclosing. Slow, my dear…

- Help her!

- Never. The struggle is the most important part of the hatching. If we help her out, she will never fly. She needs the fluids to run through all the parts of her body. Patience is all we need now… and extreme care… to get the fluids at the right time…

- Now. Help me out here, please.

The chief of the lab took a syringe with a very thin needle and got ready. The doctor smiled. Time could be on their side…

***

- I’m glad we could produce the vaccine which is now effective. I was afraid we would never get to it.

Leona was serious and still concerned. The young man standing with her was thoughtful and feeling detached of the drama of that scene.

- But we lost that battle. Some of the very ill clones died before the operation.

- But not that one. He was not impossible to recover. Good he was such a strong specimen.

- We can make more clones, now we have it working properly. We have the means to make better ones!

- We will have to select the best of the best this time, to have his blood helping us to make the perfect others…

- He will be the guinea pig…. A prototype… for a new generation!

The two scientists were over excited. The death of the clones was nothing but a side effect in favour of science. They were babbling like two kids with a new toy.

The woman looked at the young man, standing behind them, in silence. She knew there was a purpose for his trip through space and time and the cost for the favour was yet to be charged. His eyes met hers. She knew it was time to pay her dues.

- I think we must go now. Come with me.

He followed her through the corridors of the Stellar Station to where the old and unused transport terminal was located.

- You’ll have to promise not to change anything. Your presence should not be noticed. The consequences are disastrous if you don’t follow my instructions. It is this or nothing at all…

- OK. Deal.

- Are you really sure you want to do this? You’ll be confined…

- I am. This is the main reason I came here for. Let’s do it. We’ve got little time.

- Remember this: you’ll have just one hour and then you’ll be brought back ahead in time to the time and place when and where you belong to.

- What?

- You won’t be coming back here. Ever again.

***

- What have you done?

- I’ve sent him back… to the past… Wasn’t that what you wanted, after all?

- What did he want here? How can you trust someone you do not know?

- He came to bring us hope. He brought the original material for the manufacturing of a new vaccine. You know the others were not working anymore and that was our last chance.

The supreme got serious, as if disturbed by a thought.

- I know it. And did that work?

- It did. We saved the Thirteenth. He’s recovering quickly. You will need to try one sample yourself: your patches are showing…   

- I will. Thanks for the concern.

- He asked about the 'Oumuamua'.

- What? 

- You know: the first Centaur detected by the Earth scientists...

- Stupid time travellers...

- I know. And he also said something so unbelievably absurd.

- Did he? What was that?

She laughed shyly.

- He said you were planning to destroy the planet…

- Ah! And why would I do that? That’s ridiculous!

- I know it. That’s why I sent him back to the time and place he came from, but I added a sample of ‘Oblivion’ in the capsule. He’ll be OK.

- Good… very good. I wouldn’t have done it better. Very well thought, Leona. You’re a very smart woman.

She smiled. He left a sigh come out as they entered the laboratory and met the two scientists working hard on the production of the new vaccine. The Supreme greeted them and stretched his forearm for the examination of the back furry patch growing over it.

The doctor got a syringe and targeted the blue vein which went up at the pressure of his finger. The man smiled when the needle pierced his extremely pale skin. He had some things in mind and very little time left to do them.

In minutes he was back to his quarters. He stood by a large window, looking to the dark sky outside. He mumbled something to himself and programmed the computer for two actions.

He needed to see the Thirteenth, to check the result of the new vaccine, before hitting the right key. There was something else he needed to do before…

***

- I knew it was dangerous. He is not coming back. We killed him.

- Calm down, man. Something must have happened. It’s not too long…

- You said one hour and that is long gone. Two hours have passed. We killed him.

The young soldier was feeling gloomy and guilty for the fate of his fellow friend. Too late for lamentations. Too late for everything. He’s lost his best friend. He wanted to cry.

He looked at the pale man standing in front of him, who was staring at a niche on the wall of one of the many passageways of the city intricate underground sewage tunnels. A strange hissing sound was followed by a bright glint. There was another flash and then they saw him. 
  

- He’s back!

The soldier felt a twitch in his stomach when he saw his friend lying on the floor. He was not awake.

- Is he OK?

- He’s unconscious, but he’s breathing. Let’s bring him up.

The young soldier opened his eyes as soon as he got up, helped by the other two men.

- Oh, man. I thought we had lost you! Where have you been?

- Uh? I think I fainted. Where are we?

- By the transport terminal in the tunnels.

- What are we doing here?

- You don’t remember? You just travelled to the future and back.

- No way. I had this strange dream, but I don’t remember much of it. I’m so tired now. Can we go home?

The two men exchanged their stares. The young soldier shook his head. The pale man spoke what he had in mind.

- Oblivion.

- What?

He smiled.

- I’ll explain later.

***

Oblivion (Part 4: The Future)

The pale skinned man’s green eyes were set sadly at the two young friends. He knew what they wanted from him and he knew what to do, but he did not know if he should… or wanted to do… He was so close to…

***

- Close your eyes. Relax. You’ll be on a hard trip. Try to stay calm.

He did as he was told to. His trip soon began. He felt his face heating up. It seemed to him a bright light was so close ahead. He tried to open his eyes but it was like looking at the sun, so he shut them tight. Some seconds afterwards, he felt the heat receding. He believed it was safe to open his eyes and he did, carefully.

Then he saw it. It was smaller than he thought it would be and was moving faster than he expected. “Oumuamua” or something very similar to it was travelling the space in front of his eyes. He looked around. He was alone in a dark space, like the one when he fell in the hole.

- What the hell? Am I hallucinating?

His body was vibrating as if all the molecules in it were driven in a freaking movement, trying to stay together, but fighting hard for it. Then he felt an excruciating pain. Suddenly it all stopped and he was back in the darkness. He felt as if he was being sucked into a large vacuum cleaner tube in high speed. Then he saw a cool flash of white light and he finally fell into a glass capsule, in the middle of a large white room, without any furniture around. The shock was unexpected. He was on his hands and knees, trying to figure out where he was.

He heard the annoying sound of a siren ringing insistently. He looked around. What he saw was some strange looking people, although somehow familiar to him. He also saw a woman with very deep green eyes. He recognized one of the very pale skinned men. He smiled. He was in the future.

***

- How did you know the terminal was still active?

The pale man looked at the young man in front of him and wondered if he should tell the truth or simply avoid the question and change subject. He decided it was time to say the truth.

- I repaired it myself. I was planning to go back to the future and I knew it would not resist for more than one trip, if so, as it was too damaged. It was luck… In fact, I still don’t know for sure if he succeeded.

- You don’t? Oh, man.

- The damage was almost irreparable. But there was a chance and I had to try it, anyway. I would not mind if anything went wrong with my trip. I’d have not nothing to lose…

- But then why did you not go before and all by yourself? No one would ever know…

- I was not totally ready, but then you guys came and…

- Oh, man. That is not fair and it’s so dangerous anyway.

- It is what it is. That young man needed urgent help and I had the means. I had to help him. Hopefully he’ll come back with an answer.

- And a mission…

The pale skinned man tried to smile but could not. He was not comfortable. He was worried. The sadness in his eyes was so palpable, almost solid.

- Hopefully.

- How long are we to wait?

- If everything goes as planned, just one hour… you know… Time is just a concept. There are too many “ifs” …

The young man looked at him. He was obviously very worried by then. What if anything went wrong? That was insane… but how could he stop a friend in need with such a stubborn resistance?

- I know what you’re thinking. I am as concerned as you are. If the trip was unsuccessful, we would have lost more than just time… and now there is nothing to do but wait.

- Oh, man. I should have never agreed with this madness!

- Too late now! We will have to wait and see… as always…

***

- How could you travel here into time and space? Who helped you?

The Supreme was restless and he was normally a very calm and reasonable man. He had faced some time travellers coming inadvertently into the terminal, but this time he felt something was very wrong.

The stranger kept on looking to the woman, who was also curious about the intent of that interference in their routine, by that young man coming from the distant past of her original birth planet.

The Supreme got even more impatient and told the woman:

- Sort this thing out, will you? And send him back to where and when he came from!

The woman was surprised the Supreme was so upset by a thing that happened so many times before. She knew, however, that he disliked the people from the past. Her brother was a bad example to remember and she knew why she had to sort that thing out, before they had another unpleasant incident.

She set her green eyes on the young man and asked him to follow her to the lab at the Stellar Station, where the doctor would help her with the situation.

Up to the moment when they left, the young man said almost nothing. When they were all by themselves, he looked at the woman and she noticed he was going to say something important. Her heart pounded fast. She knew those could not be good news.

- I have a message from the past and the future.

- You’re not making any sense.

- I know, but you will understand when I explain.

- Then speak, young man.

- Leona…

Her eyes widened. How did he know her name? Her heart was beating faster now. She needed to calm down and she was not likely to.

- I did not come for one reason only. But I’ll need your trust and your help.

- How do you know my name?

- I know more than your name. There are things you must know and act before it’s too late. But I’m here for personal reasons too. I need your help to go back to my past; years before the time I came from.

- How can I trust you and help you? Things are not that easy to do. The terminals are being scrutinized by cameras designed to keep all movements under vigilance.

- I know there is an old terminal at the Stellar Station. The Thirteenth told me about it.

- Who?

- John, the Thirteenth…

- Where is he? How come?

- He is in the past… and cannot come to the future.

- How could you, then?

- Through the terminal he was going to use. It was not totally destroyed when you came through last time… You are in great danger, Leona. You’ve got to believe me.

- Wait. Stop! What are you talking about? John... the Thirteenth… whatever he is being called, is very ill. We are trying to work on the vaccine and we are not succeeding at all. He could not have survived...

- Leona, I need to talk to your father. The vaccines have been sabotaged.

- Sabotaged? By who? Who would be stupid enough?

- Not stupid, Leona. He’s a very wise man with an evil purpose and a hunger for power. We need to do something… urgently, before it’s too late. The Supreme turned into a man with a very twisted mind. He is evil. He will destroy the planet in some days from now.

- No way. You’re hallucinating. He would never… He has all the power he wants. Besides, he is the one more interested in following the results of the research and tests of the vaccine.

- Believe me, please. We are running short of time. How do you think I know all these things? I must talk to your father. Please. I can help you.

- Leona!

The woman turned around. Two older men were coming along the corridor. They simply ignored the visitor, as if he was not there.

- You need to come and see this. The vaccine is not working. The effect is very destructive now.

- Father!

- I can help!

- And who are you?

- A visitor from the past to try and save the future.

- What is he talking about?

She tried to speak, but a cry from the lab on the other side of the corridor made them stop the conversation and run.

- He’s dying!

***

The Thirteenth (Epilogue)

A star and two small planets could be seen in the sky, through the Council Room window of the Main Building. A man alone contemplates, seriously and thoughtfully, the immense darkness, decorated with tiny specks of light, shining on the outside and oblivious to his grief.

"This world is doomed by sameness and monotony. We live for too long a time, but our existence is not necessarily filled with any kind of pleasure. There is no real purpose in living long, preserving the species, or even saving the planet. If an accident destroys this civilization, what difference would the universe feel? What difference could the past make? What if the accident were somewhere in the past, even before the great destruction? Would it really make any difference?

Here and now there is nothing that can give us any reason for pride or for longing to live. Our existence is empty. It is all so gray and dull, without any beauty. There are no feelings either good or bad. Why do we need to keep this thing still working? "

***

- I don’t want to be an experiment anymore. I will no longer be serving as a guinea pig for the creation of a sterile vaccine. I do not want to be changed anymore. This is what makes me unique in this crowd of equals.

- But the mutation is going pretty fast. Your back is covered with these black and white furry spots that are already spreading to the rest of your body and your defenses are low. You will not hold out for long.

- It's my choice.

- You do not have this option, by the rules... No clone has... in these circumstances...

- I am David, the Thirteenth... If things had been different, I would have been chosen to be the next Supreme, for being the best and the stronger, or to be an explorer of the Universe. Now I'm just a freak. It is better to let life go its normal course... or curse… and I'll live with it... for as long as it's possible...

- That can be for very little time, now, you know.

- Whatever. The vaccine does not work, anyway.

***

- We live in a planet, which, together with other smaller ones, revolves around a small star, which has limited natural light, but keeps the system functioning in a balanced way. The planet's orbit around itself occurs for a shorter period than on Earth, for obvious reasons. Time, then, has a different concept. As the day has fewer hours, the count of years is therefore different. The control of life in this system of planets belongs to a group of scientists, who constitute an intellectual elite.

- Why do you use the count of years as A.D.?

- Because the founders wanted to pay a homage to Earth, the planet they originally came from.

- And what are the clones created for, anyway?

- Each planet, in this cluster of other smaller planetoids, has its own peculiarity. What makes this one habitable is the unique and unusual feature of having Oxygen, although in much less quantity than on planet Earth. The element, vital to human life, is processed, filtered and used within the protected structures, which we call Stations. This feature is not the only thing we have in common with our distant predecessor from another galaxy. A stream of water-like liquid flowing through underground rivers is collected, reprocessed and transformed into potable water and then made available to the inhabitants in a natural way. But we are facing a new problem: we are quickly running out of this available water-like liquid. Research teams have already been sent in search of alternatives, through the galaxy, but so far, nothing real has been found. These small teams are mostly composed of selected clones, specially trained for this type of operation. An advanced robotic unit accompanies the crew of each spacecraft. At the moment, we have just a few of them out in the searching trips because we cannot create enough clones.

- Cloning is a reality and it is inevitable, being practically the only form of reproduction in our time. The process is interrupted, from the moment we find that the resistance of the body to any type of problem, physical or mental, is practically guaranteed. After the vaccine has been applied, some characteristics are allowed to mature on their own, forming different individuals within the cocoons, such as chrysalides, in the incubators. We do not use human wombs. Not all of these individuals come to the end of the process and survive, because the vaccine is quite aggressive, but it must be so. When they are ready, the strongest are selected and reported to the Supreme, who inspects them, along with the Council, to send them to the Main Building. This planet is inhabited by a single race, which speaks a unique language. The new humans are virtually devoid of hairs, having their skull box enlarged in size and their bodies diminished in proportion. Once well trained, they will be part of the teams selected by the Council to explore the galaxy. The others, of a more regular, but resistant lineage, are sent for the production of Oxygen. Demographic density is kept under strict control. Our resources are limited, so we have to use them effectively.

- This is amazing. And it all started with my research, in a remote past...

The head of the scientists laughed, a little embarrassed. The man seemed not to be fully aware of the importance his research has had so far in developing that race, which represented, in one way or another, the future of mankind. He could not be blamed for being so naïve, however, since more than twenty-five centuries had passed since then and he could have never guessed that would go so far.

- Yes, doctor. All this based on your precious research... in the remote past and on a planet a bit different from this.

***

- Leona! I need you to come to the lab right away. Something very strange has happened.

- What thing?

- You better come and see... I do not know what to say...

When they arrived they realized that the laboratory was empty, except for a Monarch, standing on the wall.

- How did it come here?

Leona laughed.

- I do not know, for sure, but I have an idea of ​​where it might have come from... a certain clone... that traveled to the past and was enchanted by music and a flock of butterflies...

***

- The outbreak is uncontrollable. The clones perish very quickly and the line can no longer produce them to meet the needs, due to the incubation period. The continuation of life is doomed.

- I have an idea. Do we still have the Monarch with us?

- Yes. But what's a butterfly for, now, anyway?

- That's how the study began. Maybe we have a chance... We're going to have to start all over again. We isolated the DNA and made a vaccine in the past. The original one does not even work anymore. We have to start from scratch. There was something, in the meantime, that stopped working and we do not have enough time to try and repair it. We have to start all over again.

- Yes. Let's stop trying to recover the unrecoverable and do everything from the beginning, again.

- OK. But it may take a long time before we get to the point where we were, before the incident.

- Perhaps. At least we'll know what to do from this point on...

***

The Supreme looked at the black and white patches covering his thin, pale body. They seemed covered with a dense layer of very soft hair. He felt a pang of pain in his head. He knew that his defenses were compromised, as a result of the anomaly and for no longer taking the vaccines.

He sighed and looked up at the sky of that desolate and insignificant planet in the midst of the infinite Universe, so little known, despite all the evolutions after the First Chaos and decided that it was time for a radical decision.

"This was not supposed to happen. They are very close to finding a solution. If they suspect of anything, they will turn against me. But I'll never let them know what I did. I have to fix this situation straightaway before it gets too late."

He programmed the main computer, which controlled all the units, for two actions. Destruction was absolutely necessary. He concluded his commands and sat down, relaxed, as he had never done since he had become the Supreme.

"Genocide and suicide. It was a great idea to sabotage the production of the vaccines, since I discovered that the anomaly could be a great opportunity for the extermination of this sterile breed of beings. This will all look like an accident, but who do I have to explain something to, anyway? There will be nothing left! What a great plan!"

He closed his eyes and waited. In a few seconds, the planet imploded and then exploded completely, in a predetermined sequence, taking on a huge cloud of debris, already devoid of any sign of life, traveling at high speed through the space, in all directions.

A solitary capsule wandered adrift not far from where the asteroid existed a few moments before. Inside it, a metal tube carried precious information about a race of humanoids, who lived on a small, arid planet that ceased to exist. The capsule is thrown, along with the debris of the destroyed planet, through the silent, dark emptiness of space, being drawn into a crevice in the midst of the chaos and disappearing completely with a quick flash of light.

***

On a nearly deserted beach, two young men were talking while walking side by side, each one with a beer can in hand. A flash of lightning crossed the darkness, drawing their attention, especially because the sky seemed clean and starry. The sound of something big falling into the sea, right behind where they came from, made them stop and come back.

The strange metal object floated on the ocean water, swaying to the taste of the waves and still steaming.

It was a warm summer night in the Anno Domini of 2018.