Back within the towering walls of Emox, General Bola stood before Eimear and Miss Ali.
"I KNOW NEITHER OF YOU AGREES WITH MY DECISION TO REVEAL THE TRUTH TO A WORLD FILLED WITH THE WEAK. BUT THE WORLD IS ALMOST DONE."
He paused, looking between them.
"For generations, we have sent children into the Wasteland in search of the source of its spread. Yet nothing has changed. Nothing we have tried has worked. Our only remaining option is to expose the truth and give humanity a chance to fight for its own survival."
He turned towards the towering corridor behind them.
"It has been a long time since we made an announcement from the broadcasting room. Not since the last incident. Well, I suppose it's time."
His gaze shifted towards Eimear.
"Eimear, I know you may hate me for this, but I hope one day you'll understand that there are things even I cannot explain to you."
Finally, they arrived before an enormous door. Engraved across its surface was a simple label:
BROADCAST ROOM.
The room had been designed so that only one person could open it: General Bola himself.
He placed his hand against the door and pushed. The enormous structure slowly swung open, revealing an almost entirely empty room. There was nothing inside except a floating microphone, suspended in the air like some mythical object.
Eimear stood to the right, while Miss Ali remained to the left. Bola walked towards the centre of the room and reached out with his right hand, grasping the floating microphone.
It glowed faintly, almost as though welcoming its rightful owner.
Silence filled the room.
There was tension in the air as Bola prepared to use the very same microphone the Unknown had once used to declare war against humanity.
He raised it towards his mouth.
"HELLO, FELLOW HUMANS."
His voice reverberated through every crack and corner of the world.
Across the streets, people stopped in their tracks. Passengers aboard buses turned their attention towards the heavens. Animals deep within the Wasteland lifted their heads. Far away, in the mountains, Zeus stared into the sky. Even Michael and his group, somewhere within the Wasteland, looked upwards.
Above them all, Bola's enormous image materialised in the sky, towering over the world as though he were a god addressing his creation.
"HUMANS, I HAVE COME TO PLEAD FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS AND ASSISTANCE."
He paused.
"YOU DO NOT LIVE IN A HAPPY WORLD. AND YOUR CHILDREN ARE NOT GRADUATING. YOUR CHILDREN ARE MOST LIKELY DEAD WITHIN EMOX, OR THEY ARE NEVER COMING BACK."
His voice grew heavier.
"THE WALLS YOU HAVE STARED AT FOR YEARS, THE ONES WE TOLD YOU WERE GOVERNMENT PROJECTS, WERE ALL PART OF A LIE. HAVE YOU NEVER WONDERED WHY THOSE WALLS KEEP GETTING CLOSER? THERE IS NO SECRET DEVELOPMENT. NO HIDDEN ADVANCEMENT. THE ONLY THING ADVANCING IS THE WASTELAND."
The image behind him shifted, revealing the enormous scale of the spreading catastrophe.
"AN ABOMINATION THAT IS CURRENTLY AFFECTING SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT OF OUR WORLD."
He took a breath.
"WE CAN NO LONGER PROTECT YOU. WE MUST FIND A SOLUTION, AND WE HAVE RUN OUT OF TIME. BUT YOU CAN HELP US. YOU CAN JOIN US IN OUR FINAL EXPEDITION. JOIN US IN THE APOCALYPSE!"
Yet the citizens barely reacted.
Some continued walking. Others returned to their conversations. People looked at one another, confused, before dismissing the announcement entirely.
Bola stared at the response.
For a moment, silence filled the broadcasting room.
Then his expression changed.
"IGNORANT FOOLS! YOU THINK THE FANTASY YOU LIVE IN IS REAL?!"
His voice thundered across the world.
"I WANTED TO ASK NICELY, BUT I DON'T HAVE THE TIME! THE WORLD IS BREAKING APART, AND YOU MUST EITHER JOIN US OR DIE REFUSING!"
Eimear stared at him in disbelief.
"NO..."
Bola turned towards her.
He slowly raised his hand.
"OPEN GATE."
With a flick of his fingers, the enormous walls separating the Wasteland from the supposedly unaffected regions began to disappear.
The barriers that had protected humanity for generations vanished.
And then came the screams.
Beasts poured through the newly opened passages, rushing towards the cities and slaughtering every human unfortunate enough to stand in their path. The streets descended into chaos as people finally realised that the danger they had been warned about was real.
Bola turned towards Miss Ali.
"Do it."
She slowly approached the microphone.
Her expression was solemn as she looked towards the world she was about to condemn to the truth.
"AS I MOURN THE DEATHS OF THE THOUSANDS WHO HAVE ALREADY PERISHED, MAY THE THOUSANDS WHO LIVE TODAY FINALLY SEE THE FATE THEY HAVE BEEN OBLIVIOUS TO."
Her eyes turned completely white.
But this was different from the time she had forced an entire classroom to witness her Prophecy.
This time, she was attempting something far beyond anything she had ever done.
She was going to force an entire world to see the truth.
Humanity's population had dwindled since the war. There were now approximately one billion people remaining on Earth. And Miss Ali intended to make every single one of them witness what had been hidden from them.
She began pouring every ounce of energy she possessed into her ability.
Her voice rose towards the heavens, carrying an authority that sounded almost divine.
A massive book materialised before her, its pages slowly turning in midair.
"HUMANS, YOU INSOLENT BEINGS! WITNESS YOUR OWN DEMISE AS I TURN THESE PAGES!"
She thrust her hand forward, smashing it through the pages.
Each page revealed a different fragment of the truth.
The horrors of Emox.
The Wasteland.
The war.
The Unknown.
And the countless deaths that had been concealed behind the walls.
Across the world, humanity was forced to witness the truth.
Parents watched their children die in the Wasteland, realising that the graduation ceremonies they had celebrated were nothing more than a cruel illusion. The children they believed would return as heroes had instead become corpses scattered across an unforgiving land.
Some collapsed to their knees.
Others screamed.
People who had spent their lives believing in the system watched their entire understanding of reality crumble before their eyes. Those dressed in expensive suits tore at their clothes, unable to comprehend the horrors being revealed to them.
The world descended into chaos.
Miss Ali watched the destruction unfold, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"THAT'S ENOUGH."
Bola reached out and tapped her shoulder.
But she didn't even turn towards him.
Her eyes remained fixed on the pages.
"THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END, BUT WE CAN STILL STOP IT. WE MUST FIND THE SOURCE OF THE WASTELAND. IF WE CAN FIND IT, WE MAY BE ABLE TO BRING ITS SPREAD TO A HALT."
Her voice weakened, but she continued.
"THE WALLS ARE DOWN. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN HIDING BEHIND THEM, PROTECTED FROM THE TRUTH, MUST NOW STEP FORWARD. EVERYONE WHO CAN FIGHT MUST ENTER THE WASTELAND AND SEARCH FOR ITS SOURCE."
She paused.
Then came her final declaration.
"WHOEVER FINDS THE SOURCE SHALL BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD AND REPLACE THE ONE CURRENTLY HIDING FROM IT."
She lowered her head.
"GOODBYE."
The book disappeared.
Miss Ali collapsed to the ground, her body unable to withstand the enormous energy she had expended forcing an entire billion people to witness her Prophecy.
But she still had one issue to confront.
Bola stared down at her, his expression twisted with pure anger.
"YOU OFFERED MY POSITION AS A WAGER?!"
Miss Ali didn't flinch.
Even as she struggled to remain conscious, she answered calmly.
"HUMANITY'S GREATEST MOTIVATOR CAN NEVER BE LOVE. IT IS GREED."
Her eyes slowly closed.
As she passed out, Eimear rushed forward and picked her up.
She stared at Bola, then towards the open passage leading into the Wasteland.
"YOU STARTED THIS. NOW GET READY. WE'RE WALKING INTO THE VERY LAND THAT TOOK FOURTEEN LIVES TO ESCAPE."
BACK IN THE WASTELAND
Elizabeth's eyelids twitched.