The rubble stood still. Dust coated the empty streets. There was calmness in the air. Gradually small pebbles began to rumble. Something from the underground was bubbling up. A white flaming hand burst through the pile of concrete. Another arm popped out. It lifted itself out of it's grey grave. It's flames somewhat weaker than before showing more of its body. It checked it's body and found dozens of random scuff marks all over it's body and a cut on its cheek. A dull pain throbbed all over it's body and it laughed. It felt glad that he was being rewarded for fulfilling its purpose and for finding a worthy opponent. Its white flames began to grow again, relishing the next fight.
Termi carried Aisling on her back, Anan held Mwene up by the shoulder as they walked through a giant empty hallway. It's glass-stained windows drenched everything in red.
"The windows used to be blue." Termi pointed out
Mwene looked closely and he could see at the edges of the circular windows a sky-blue hue. The red seemed recent, but he knew that it wasn't paint. He kept quiet and focused on his legs. He couldn't help the dead now. Only the living around him.
The reached the end of the spacey hallway and began to climb up the only staircase of the Citadel. Mwene would occasionally look outside the window and admire the view of the burning metropolis that stretched as far as the oceans that were described in the books Nike talked about. In the distance he could see the outline of one of the light shields moving in front of the accretion disk of the black hole. It gradually got more darker as they climbed up the seeming Ing endless stairs. They stopped a couple of times for Mwene and Termi to catch their breath.
They would explore a couple of rooms along the way but found nothing but damaged lab equipment. Termi would explain various tools they found ranging from portable solar panels the size of one's hand to salination machines the size of Inyanga to experimental guns that shot compressed heated air. Anan and Mwene carried what they could and made mental notes to come back and collect them. They eventually made it to the top floor with two stainless steel doors in front of them.
Termi handed Aisling to Mwene while she and Anan pressed against the heavy, cold doors. Mwene looked down and winked at Aisling whose eyes shifted from a grey to deep green. His thin lips formed a small smile that warmed Mwene's heart. He proceeded to flare his nostrils playfully but did not get any reaction from him. Mwene frowned wondering why he suddenly became stoic when Aisling playfully smiled. Just as Mwene began to smile in response, Aisling frowned leaving Mwene high and dry. Mwene proceeded to try to match Aisling smile for a moment before they both started to giggle uncontrollably.
The stainless-steel doors finally began to open. Inch by inch it creeped open when it was wide enough to slide through. Anan, with her new rifle, slid through the gap. A few moments later Termi followed. A scream echoed through the room a couple of seconds later. Mwene heard crunching glass and a couple of thuds as he slowly put down Aisling. He raised his raw hands up torn between the thought of rushing in and taking the initiative or using himself as shield and protect Aisling.
The door was fully opened, and a sea of dust and rotten meat violated his face and nose. His eyes watered and he immediately gagged a little bit, but he remained focused. The room was pitch dark and from it emerged Anan with her rifle holstered on her back. They stood and stared at each other for a moment.
"Easy there soldier." Anan raised her hands up and slowly walked towards Mwene. Mwene dropped his fists and felt the weight lift from his shoulders. She patted Mwene on his shoulder and went and picked up Aisling. She went back in the room and Mwene, slightly embarrassed, followed.
The lab was a war zone. In front of him were rotting carcases all over. Some seemingly intact, others in pieces. At the end of the room is a broken tank that Mwene saw in the Mneme. Next to it was a shuttle, no different than that of the New Genesis but only bigger and black, that had crashed through the ceiling. Its engine was still on. In the middle of the room was a table and above it was the U.D.S machine hanging precariously. On the floor he notices two cannisters, one opened and the other sealed. The sealed one grabbed his attention, Mwene couldn't explain it, but he needed to get close to it. He could see a faint black aura surround him. It reminded him of his flames.
A loud sniff broke Mwene out of his trance. He turned back and he found Termi knelling whilst clutching a body. Anan stood behind her holding onto Aisling who was crying quietly. Mwene understood the pain on his face. It was a pain he was all too familiar with. He walked quietly Aisling and wiped the tears from his face with his thumb. Just as Mwene thought of walking over to comfort Termi she stood up.
"Is the shuttle still working?" she asked.
"I don't know. I didn't check." Mwene replied.
She wiped away the teras from her eyes and made a beeline for it. She opened the shuttle door and took out five dead bodies in it. They each had a head wound. Mwene looked at the bodies and realised something.
"Did it shoot people?"
"No, wherever it went it caused mass hysteria. So, if it didn't affect you, it would kill you. Most people I suspect killed themselves." Termi began to work away from the navigation screen, seemingly unbothered by the bodies or by what she said.
"I felt that as well. It was like weaponised nihilism. If his fists don't get you, his words will."
"Interesting. I never heard him talk. Only static." Anan said with Aisling still in her arms.
Mwene walked around to the rocket at the back and inspected it. His fingers tracing along the neat welding lines, nuts, and bolts. He looks to the ground around it and notices a small pool of black. He walked around to the front of the shuttle and grabbed a handful of tools that Termi had with her and set to work. He tightened every screw, inspected all the wires, and fixed up all the leaks. All the while watching Anan hum a soft song to Aisling who watched Mwene and his sister like a hawk.
Once Mwene was finished he got up and wiped the oil and grime from his bare hands onto his suit. He walked to the front and found Anan buckling up Aisling to the seat whilst Termi worked on the holographic screens. He stood out and coughed to get her attention. Termi looks and Mwene nodded. She walked out to him and held out her hand. Mwene shook it.
"Thank you. We would have been dead without you."
"Don't mention it but you're welcome to come with us."
"No, we can't…."
"We have food, we can protect you." Anan joined in the conversation.
"No. We appreciate it, but we belong to our people. There are a handful of outposts out there. We won't be alone." She smiled at them and Mwene and Anan smiled back. They accepted her decision.
The whirr of the New Genesis shuttle filled the brief silence as it flew past above them. The comms on both Anan's and Mwene's suits started to work again as a heavily distorted Nike tried to communicate with them.
"Seems like you've found your family." Termi noted.
They took a step back as Mwene shut the shuttle door. The engine roared to life and rose gently into the heavens above. Mwene took a couple of steps back and nearly tripped over the sealed cannister. He picked it up and felt an odd sensation throughout his arm. He quickly focused back onto the ship as it continued to ascend. The further away it got the lighter his heart got. They were no different themselves. They were going to find a home amongst the stars. Then static filled his ears, and his heart began to race. He saw it fly straight into the shuttle which exploded into a million pieces.
Anan gasped. From the explosion it emerged, it's white flames brighter than ever. It crashed into the lab and lunged straight at Mwene. He tried to put up his arms to protect himself, but he was too slow. It's fist punched through the canister which was still in his hand and right through his stomach. Anan screamed. Mwene looked at it's featureless flaming face as it spoke softly to him
"God's death has given me life, a singular purpose: to take yours."