The Extinction Trials(99)

“I’m assuming they failed.”

“Every time,” Will said. “The conclusion was quite clear: the reason the world fell wasn’t The Change—or the mesh or the Genesis Virus or The Alliance or The Union. It wasn’t biology or technology or the environment. It was something far more fundamental. Revelation showed us that. And your arrival here has confirmed it. Do you know what the root cause of humanity’s fall was?”

“It’s how we’re different from the other cohort—Alister’s cohort.”

“Yes, Owen.”

“They betrayed each other. We didn’t.”

“That’s a part of it. What’s at the root?”

“Our values. That’s how we’re different.”

“Precisely.”

“What are you saying?” Maya asked. “That we succeeded in the trials because... of our beliefs?”

“That’s correct. In a word, you care. For each other. And for strangers. For the future. Caring isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Indeed, those who don’t care are often happier. They’re unburdened by what they encounter in life. But not you all. You believed in each other. You took the time to get to know each other, to understand each other. And you cared for one another. You all refused to leave Alister behind, saving him. Alister risked losing everything he loved when he helped you escape. Cara gave her life to help you two get here. Time and again, you put yourselves at risk for each other. The other cohorts who arrived did so at the expense of their fellow participants—not in sacrifice and service.”

Bryce held out his hands. “We’re still analyzing the data from your trial, but we believe the root breakthrough is a simple perspective: treating others the way you wish to be treated. Time will reveal further nuances.”

“What do you plan to do with these... revelations?” Owen asked.

“This code that you’ve demonstrated is the key to creating a human race that can survive long-term—with a large population. As such, it is the true cure to what ailed your species. It will be administered like any other treatment.”

“How?”

“These values that are the key to humanity’s survival will be embedded in the psyche of all survivors. They will operate at a fundamental level, manifesting themselves in belief systems and mythologies that will be created over and over again. The humans we release will be biologically programmed to recognize these stories and beliefs and to gravitate to them. We believe this is not something we have discovered, but rather a phenomenon that is a component of a far greater force at work, one that predates humanity, one that operates on a grand scale we don’t yet understand.”

Maya squinted at the proctors. “What about the people out there—The Union and Alliance citizens?”

The proctors paused, as if communicating wirelessly with each other, deciding how much to say.

“Right now,” Will said, “a final battle is raging at the containership you found. Our models indicate that casualties will be heavy. The two combatants haven’t had an opportunity like this since the Fall: an opening to end the war. They have both pushed all their forces forward. They will fight to the end, until the ship sinks.”

“Can you stop it?”

“No. This was always how the Change War was going to end.”

“What will you do next?” Maya asked.

“We will send proctors to The Alliance and The Union—specifically to The Colony—to collect the remaining survivors. Those populations are in terminal decline. We’ll bring them back to Garden Station.”

“Why not retake the world?” Owen asked.

“Consider what you didn’t see out there.”

“Animals.”

“Correct. The world out there is ruined in more ways than you know.”

“But you can fix it,” Owen said.

“No. We can’t. There are limits to what we can achieve. We will have to wait and see if this world can heal itself. If not… we have an alternative plan.”

“What does that mean?” Owen asked.

“We’ll explain when—and if—it becomes necessary.”

Owen felt Maya squeeze his hand. Like him, she was scared, but she was facing the news with a brave face.

“What will happen to us?” Maya asked. “To Owen and me?”

“Once again, you have a role to play in the new world, a role similar to the role we played in this one.”

“You want us to be proctors? For trials?” Owen asked.

“Of a sort,” Will replied. When he had finished telling them what ARC was proposing, Owen looked over at Maya, who was staring at him.

She nodded once, a silent confirmation.

“Our answer is yes,” Owen said. “What now?”

“I believe,” Will said, “that each of you has two final questions you want to ask us. For both of you, they are the same two questions.”

Owen swallowed hard, knowing what those two questions were and almost dreading the answers. He glanced at Maya and whispered, “You first.”

“Is my family here?”

Bryce turned and led them deeper into the cavernous room to a glass chamber that held a sleeping girl with her eyes closed. Owen had seen the girl once before in his life, lying on a bed in the Oasis Park Building, on the eleventh floor, in unit 1107. On that morning, she had looked much the same as she did now: lying peacefully on her bed, eyes closed. What Owen learned later, in Station 17, was that the girl that he had carried out of that burning building was Maya’s sister. Since he had awakened after the Fall, he had never stopped wondering what had happened to her.