"No no no… this can't be happening…", Boris said as he nervously walked across the room, the male nurse had been raised in a Christian household, if Mario's words were to become true, his beliefs might be affected.
"I'm sorry Mario, I can't believe you", said Marianne, hesitating she continued, "do you have any way to prove what you are saying? Something besides your… friend".
Mario understood how hard it would be for them to believe his words, but he had already planned for this situation, "I just need you to stay with me until midnight, if nothing happens you can take everything I've said as the words of a lunatic".
Marianne nodded, "That would not exactly be the most professional of me, but I'm guessing it's the reason you chose me, right?".
"You certainly know me by now Doctor", Mario answered with a wide smile on his face, a hint of amusement in his gaze, "we only have to wait for a couple of hours, how about a chess game to help us pass time?".
"The board is already set", the white pieces were on her side so Marianne picked a pawn and moved it forward, starting the game.
Boris watched the two of them, he couldn't understand how they could be playing a game, for him there were two possible outcomes, either the world would end tonight or Mario would be wrong, yet, Mario's friend existence would still be there and he didn't know how to cope with something like that. If the world where to end tonight, what would happen to his family?
"Mario", Boris said interrupting their game, "Let's say something happens tonight, should I warn my family? What can they do to prepare?".
Mario moved the horse piece, then he looked at Boris, "There is a place outside the city, I convinced my family to get a house far from people, you should try to get your family to go there for now", he looked towards Marianne, "is there anyone you would like to warn?".
Boris was thinking what to say to his parents and his girlfriend. He realized that his cellphone was in his locker, "I'll be back in a minute", and left the room.
Marianne was making her move, "I only have my father left, he is traveling around the globe in a cruiser, I have no way to communicate with him at the moment", she sighed, "If the world were to end tonight, it means I would never see my father again, right?".
The two of them remained silent, Mario didn't know what to say to her, so he kept moving his pieces.
Meanwhile, the male nurse was taking out his phone from his locker, he wasn't sure he believed Mario, but would he risk his loved ones safety? He called his girlfriend first, he asked her to bring some documents from home to the institution, she was going to be next to him if anything were to happen tonight.
His parents were harder to convince, "Papá por favor, I need you and mom to be at my friend's house by midnight", Boris said to his father, "Es una emergencia, I can't tell you the details but I need you to trust me".
It took him a couple of minutes to convince his father, it was always hard talking to the man as he refused to properly learn english. After the call, Boris sighed in relief, now I only have to get the address from Mario, for some reason he was sure the younger man was telling the truth, he was used to dealing with crazy, Mario was not crazy.
When Boris got back in the room, the doctor and her patient were silently playing chess, each took their time making a move. "I need to send the location to my parents", the male nurse said.
Mario who was waiting for his opponent to make her next move, stood up and took Boris's phone from his hands, then dialed a number, "Matt, it's me, Mario, is everything ready for tonight?", he heard his brother say something, "that's okay, I need you to send the location to this number, if everything goes as planned we will see each other soon, love you little brother", he handed the phone back to an stupefied Boris and went back to the table, Marianne had already made her move.
"Patients aren't allowed to make calls you know", said the doctor with a smirk on her face, "You are causing a lot of trouble for Boris here".
"If nothing happens tonight, I might as well give up ever leaving this place", Mario answered smiling back at her, "what is a phone call when my sanity could be questioned".
Boris picked a chair and sat next to them, "my girlfriend is coming here, she will be with me, with us, if anything happens", he said, "I hope that's alright with you".
"That's okay, I don't know what the first wave is going to be like", Mario had prepared a place with enough resources and weapons to survive whatever happened tonight. Given that Blake didn't know how the invaders were going to begin their invasion, he could only make a vague plan while training himself to be ready for anything.
"Check", said Marianne to her distracted counterpart, "Chaos, if I were to invade our world I would do so in way that humanity self-destructs, as you said, we are too divided, the enemies are in a perfect position to impede our society from properly organizing a coordinated response".
Mario looked at her, he knew the woman was smart, but seeing as she is already thinking ahead and analyzing the invaders with so little information made him glad to have chosen her.
"I've given up thinking about specific situations", Mario said, "there was nothing I could have done to prevent their invasion, I can only be prepared to survive whatever they throw at us".
Doctor Moore couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities, but she too knew it was a waste of effort to do so, there was nothing she could do in case of an invasion. She glanced at the clock on the wall, it marked 11:13, a little more than forty-five minutes to go.
"My girlfriend is here", Boris said while glancing at his phone, "what should I say to her?".
"Tell her you have a break", answered Marianne, "invite her to stay with you until said break is over, come back here before midnight".
"I agree with the doctor", said Mario, "you should enjoy your last few minutes of peace with her".
The male nurse decided to follow their words and left the room, only coming back with his girlfriend five minutes before midnight.
Mario and Doctor Moore were still playing chess, they glanced towards Boris and his girlfriend, introducing themselves to her.
"It's time", Mario said as he waited for the clock to go from 11:59 to 12:00.