*redacted* looked around at the destruction she'd wreaked.
A smoldering agony was the best description of the state of the world.
She looked to the sky and laughed.
She laughed, laughed, and laughed some more.
Never had she felt so euphoric in her life.
The loss of life fueled her.
The Great War, also known as World War 1 in the current day.
At the time, it was the best she'd ever felt. Then, she craved something greater.
World War 2.
Its scale was much larger. Many more lives were lost.
Another rush of euphoria. She craved something even greater!
And now, what would have been the "Cold" War was no longer.
One mistake was all it took for humanity's demise.
"Ah... Where do I go from here?"
The Earth was now a nuclear wasteland created by the United States and the Soviet Union. There was nothing left.
Humanity wasn't extinct. There were several billion of them, after all. In the end, a few would survive. However, the life force they would provide was abysmal compared to what she'd just experienced. And the time it would take for the population to regrow... would be far too long.
The energy she'd gained from all of this... was likely enough to be able to leave.
*redacted* giggled again.
She felt like she'd spent far too much time on this planet. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't very long at all. The Earth had been around for 4.6 billion years while *redacted* had been around for a little over a hundred.
However, this hundred-and-twenty or so years was the entirety of *redacted*'s lifespan. From her point of view, she had been around as long as the Earth had.
Because her view was the only one that mattered.
How could she contain herself after what she saw?
Ever since she was little, she wanted to break free.
And when she noticed there was something else out there, Earth became her prison.
How could she break free?
How could she unchain the shackles of this reality?
It was all thanks to the man who'd raised her... and Allard.
"Or... I guess he's 'Allan' now... what a ridiculous change in name."
To *redacted*, the borderline extinction of humanity wasn't her fault. If there was someone to blame, it was the man for raising her the way he did, as well as Allard for showing her what was out there. It was only this deadly combination that ended the world.
Now, the truth of the project was complete. It was time to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
"But first... let's take a look around. Why not?"
*redacted* left the control center at many times the speed of sound.
"This..."
When she used it, she realized her essence capacity was at an unprecedented level. It felt like as long as whatever she did remained on Earth, her supply was near limitless.
It was clear she was drunk on her newfound power.
With a grin on her face, she traveled the world to see everything in person.
Major cities were destroyed and desolate.
Forests were burning.
Ice caps were melting.
Fallout was raining.
When she saw the work of her hands with her own eyes, she couldn't stop herself from laughing again.
An ordinary person would be horrified at the number of lives she'd cut short. They would be horrified at how much of humanity's progress was reset in an instant. And the uncertainty of the future of humanity would bring them despair.
But *redacted* saw it differently.
"Be glad you all were useful for this project."
Lives cut short?
The future of humanity?
It was nonsense.
She was the only person who truly existed.
Nothing was more important than herself.
What was the point of the future of humanity if she wasn't around to experience it? After all when she died, her reality would end anyway.
The fact that these "beings", if they even deserved to be called that, provided a breakthrough in this project was the most esteemed honor bequeathed to them.
As she journeyed around the world, she subconsciously ended up at a location she didn't really want to visit.
"Ah... Dammit."
She was in Rouen, France.
This place made her feel emotions she didn't want to feel.
She thought she'd cut this place out of her life, but in the end, it seemed like a bit of humanity was still left within her.
"..."
She pondered whether she should just leave. But after some thought, she resolved herself to take one last look around. After all, once she left, it would be impossible to return.
"Now that I'm here... Might as well experience it how it used to be."
After aging herself down to 10 years old, *redacted* suppressed all of new newfound essence in the depths of her heart.
For the time being, she was no longer *redacted*. She'd returned to being her former self... a girl named *redacted*.
"... Truly restricting."
This was the first thing she noticed before anything else. It was natural for her - she was vigilant of anything that restricted her freedom.
It was why she didn't want to be here. Because in this sense, "*redacted*" was currently the enemy of "*redacted*".
But she forced herself to bear with it.
*redacted* looked around at her surroundings.
The obscenely gray sky seemed to leak into the atmosphere below.
Acid rain and nuclear fallout tumbled to the ground.
This delicate 10-year-old's body was undoubtedly being damaged right now... but it made her feel strangely nostalgic.
She crossed a bridge and entered the "downtown" area. Since Rouen was a small town, even this central area wasn't very large.
But, after the passage of over a hundred years, it was undoubtedly larger than before.
"I wonder if it's still here."
After wandering through the streets for about half an hour, *redacted* stumbled across a familiar doorway.
She opened it and stepped inside.
And when she did, she was hit with a wave of emotions she didn't know were still possible to feel.
She could almost see her childhood events happening again... right in front of her.
A little girl and a little boy were playing around in the small room.
The boy was up to no good, but the girl was sly. She never let him get away with it!
And... she was more sly than he was. He always wanted to tell on her to his father, but he had no proof...
As this image played out in front of her, the catalyst for the end of the world arrived.
"A fair trade."
With that quote, the three-year-old girl was forever taken away from her family.
The boy was devastated.
And that's the last she saw of him.
*redacted* felt something wet roll down her cheek.
"... Must be the rain."
She didn't want to admit that it wasn't raining inside the house.
But she was curious as to the fate of the boy.
She rushed out of the house into the sopping wet streets.
The water splashed in her wake with every step.
"Haah... Where is it?"
She had only been running for a few minutes, but she was already out of breath.
She couldn't believe she used to be such a fragile little thing.
She pushed this body to its limits in an effort to find her destination.
Her skin felt like it was burning, and her lungs felt like they were aflame.
She didn't know if it was the effects of the fallout, acid rain, running, or all three.
But she would spare no effort to find it.
And finally, after what seemed like an eternity in a searing hell, she found it.
"Why am I doing this?"
Though *redacted* knew the answer deep down, she didn't want to admit it.
Her conscious and subconscious mind both wanted to have some sort of recompense.
*redacted* arrived at a cemetery.
This cemetery was extremely old... easily dating back hundreds of years.
But there was a name she wished to see on one of the tombstones.
"Come on, where is it?"
Searching through this vast cemetery with the sense of an ordinary child was frustrating, to say the least.
After another half hour, *redacted* finally came across the one she'd been looking for.
*"*redacted*"*
*"1859-1875"*
*redacted* stared at the engraving with hollow eyes.
"Only 16 years. What a pity."
Though he only lived to 16, *redacted* was a bit jealous of *redacted*'s ignorant bliss.
Would she rather have 16 years of an ignorant life... or continue to chase her goals for over a hundred years?
She would have almost picked the former. Almost.
*redacted* sighed as she searched the depths of her heart for a small clump of essence.
After scanning several billion tiny bits, she found it.
... And she let it go.
The bit of essence slowly rose into the atmosphere and dissipated as it merged with the universe once again.
Now, there was nothing left.
It was time to go.
With a deep breath, *redacted* became *redacted* once again.
She scanned the world for several tools.
Of course, she could create them. But harvesting these tools from the Earth was her way of thanking this Mother for raising her.
She visited what used to be a flower shop and took an essence superconductor, a wire that was as thick as a rope, from the back storage.
She visited an armory and snagged a firearm and pocket knife.
She swiped at the clouds and gathered a handful of fallout.
And finally, she searched for a high surface that overlooked the world below.
But which one should she choose?
With some exasperation, she chose another spot her past self was familiar with.
Over the river Seine, a small distance away from a large city, was a massive cliff. And coincidentally enough, some power lines were running in the distance.
*redacted* set herself down on top of the cliff and turned herself back into *redacted*.
It was likely she'd succeed as *redacted* as well, but she figured it'd be more poetic if she did it as *redacted*.
"Now... how should I do this?"
*redacted* scanned her items and her surroundings.
The rope.
The gun.
The knife.
The power lines that ran above.
And the river that ran below.
The methods were endless; they stretched as far as the eye could see.
But...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Comments
Post a Comment