The Extinction Trials(60)

When the video ended, Owen gazed into the distance. The container ship was shrinking. The storm was lashing it with wind and rain, rocking it like a toy in a bathtub. Thankfully, their vessel was moving faster than the storm. Strangely, the storm seemed to slow down, hovering over the larger ship. He felt that was strange, but he didn’t know what it meant.

Will tapped the next video:

4_Dark ………………………………… [30]





The proctor once again appeared, still standing on the bridge.

“Video four. Dark.”

The proctor paused a moment, perhaps allowing time for the audience to prepare for taking notes.

“After The Change swept the world, The Alliance initiated a counterstrike. With their armies crippled, they could not prosecute a conventional war. As such, they turned to the same weapon that The Human Union had used against them: technology. The governments that comprised The Alliance had one thing that was still operational: drones. And soon, they began using these high-altitude drones to initiate weather events: small storms at first and later very large storms. We soon learned that these Allied-caused storms had a unique characteristic: they were lethal for anyone who had undergone The Change. From ARC’s standpoint, this constituted a potential extinction-level event. The Extinction Trials thus began at this moment. Our initial protocol was to wait and hope that there was a peaceful resolution to the Change War, as it had become known. Our focus at this time became very simple: gather as many humans as possible and archive them for a future when there was peace and they might survive. The obstacles were clear: create a vaccine and treatment for the Genesis Virus and create humans who could survive the Allied Storms.”

The proctor paused. “This was a turning point for ARC and The Extinction Trials. We had in our possession the last human survivors. Both groups—The Alliance and The Union—needed those survivors to form an army and to populate colonies that would reclaim the planet. They searched for our stations and raided them. As such, we went further underground and initiated additional lockdown protocols. We went dark. And have remained in dark protocol since.”

When the video ended, Owen couldn’t help but glance at the storm lashing the cargo ship. Was it one of the storms controlled by the Allied drones? It seemed like too much of a coincidence for it not to be.

And if it was, why had it attacked the ship? Was it related to them being there? That seemed to be the logical conclusion to Owen.

Maya nodded towards the tablet. “I think the government placed me in the trials as a way to hide me away from The Human Union—and Genesis Bio. And to potentially save me. If The Extinction Trials did find a cure, that would be my best way to receive it.”

“Well,” Alister said, “they seem to have abandoned you.”

“So it would seem,” Maya said. “And I don’t think I was the only one. Do you all remember the old man—at the beginning of The Extinction Trials, when we woke up in Station 17—the man who killed Bryce? He said to us that The Extinction Trials weren’t what we thought they were. Then he ran out. He didn’t believe there was a storm. I think it’s safe to say now that he was a government agent. A government agent that had been told that The Extinction Trials were taking human survivors from The Alliance and refusing to return them or provide any information on a cure. He must have been collected and put in the trials after the Dark protocol was initiated.”

“Yes,” Owen said, “that makes sense.”

“There are two more videos,” Will said. “Perhaps they will provide further insight.”

He pressed a finger against the file titled 5_Exit, and once again, the proctor appeared on the screen, standing on the bridge of the ship.

“Video number five. Exit.”

The proctor paused. “If you are viewing this, it means that The Extinction Trials have failed. Our attempts to find a cohort that can survive the global interventions initiated by The Alliance and The Union have proved unsuccessful to date. That leaves me at a disadvantage as to how to advise your next steps. You have exited your station and are now in search of a resolution to a war that may have ended or perhaps is ongoing. The questions you must answer at this point are: is The Union still active? Has The Change been completed? Has The Alliance been defeated, or have they triumphed? At the crux of the issue is differing views for humanity and the way forward. ARC Technologies and The Extinction Trials seek only a sustainable future for the human race. Please see the terminal video in the series for further instructions.”

Will closed the video and selected the last file.

“Video number six. Next steps. As is required of my role here, I am compelled to provide you with a clear path to move forward. I have already done so. Good luck.”

The video closed and the tablet turned black.

Alister buried his head in his hands. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I don’t get it,” Cara said.

But Owen did. He paced on the deck, turning over in his mind everything he had seen.

“I don’t see any other choice,” Alister said. “We go to The Colony now. We don’t have any other option.”

“But who controls The Colony?” Cara asked. “The Alliance—the government coalition—or The Human Union? And beyond that, who are the good guys in all of this?”