The mongoose raced through the devastated streets. Sand whipped along the side of the Vehicle, old metal facades passed by like ghosts. Buildings – which are half ruins now. I looked ahead – the UCF tower was not even visible.
"The way I see it... the facility is REALLY damn far away."
Cortana reported directly from my HUD.
"That's right. Even MUCH further than you walked from the beach to the city."
I frowned.
"How long do we need even at this speed?"
Short arithmetic. "About... one to two days."
Me, almost rigid. "Are you serious?"
In my HUD, a small animated thumbs up appeared.
An emoji. I laughed dryly.
"At least you have a sense of humor."
She got in touch again.
"We need to make some stopovers anyway. I discovered a halfway intact area nearby. It's a ruin, but protected from wind and storm. You could put your feet up."
I thought for a moment.
"And the monsters?"
"None of them are anywhere near that position."
Then I nodded. "Sounds fair."
Cortana guided me through a half-collapsed side gate. I drove the Mongoose in. I took a deep breath.
For the first time in hours. "Okay... what do we do now?"
Then she said nonchalantly.
"You're... resting. In the meantime, I might find a few... surprises for us here."
I just sat there for a while. The air smelled... of dust and metal, but not of danger. Then I rolled out the blanket and slowly sank backward. My body creaked, not my suit. It was the first time I'd lain down... since I fell from the sky. No surface had ever felt good before.
But this – that was the moment when my body realized how long it had actually been running. I closed my eyes for a moment.
But my thoughts... stayed awake. "Hey... Cortana?"
"Huh?"
"What is the name of this planet anyway?"
"Arellia."
I blinked. "Arellia... "
For some reason, the word Arellia became familiar to me. The word, not the name.
"Sounds... beautiful."
Arellia. The center of the greatest political and military power in this multiverse. Possibly also of all of them, as well as of all realities. Cortana told me more The United Coalition and The United Coalition Forces, UC and UCF. The planet's size could be compared to Jupiter. The Cities are gigantic. The two moons are not as densely populated because they are Wildlife protected... but more like resorts. Beyond them – the pale gray, violet-shimmering atmosphere of these planets.
I mumbled halfway. "It's a shame that I'm only here when it's all over."
Cortana answered quietly.
"Not quite, you might be able to see a small part of it in the HQ."
I turned slightly to the side. Smiled. "Yes, maybe"
I closed my eyes. Just for a moment. And at this moment... Arellia was not just a name. It was the place where my story just began anew.
But then, it’s like my body shuts itself out. I suddenly had no control. Darkness it´s engulfing my view, not like in the mall.
Then...
"AHHHHHHH!!! WAS ZUR HÖLLE!"
//AHHHHHHH!!! WHAT THE HELL!//
It´s like I have been woken up. Like I was sleeping? My WHOLE BODY was dripping swear. But WHY!?
I noticed that Cortana was sitting next to me.She had that concerned Face again.
"Are you OK? What happened!?!?"
I am as confused as she is. "I don't know… I don’t remember…"
"You don’t remember having a nightmare?!"
I was more than confused "A what now?"
Cortana then showed me a holographic image of my Vitals.
"Your brain was lit like a rocket exiting the atmosphere. Those waves indicate that you had a nightmare."
Well, one that I have no memory of.
"Normally I remember dream or nightmares but here… not even a small fragment is left behind. Maybe that nightmare was so bad that my brain refuses to let me remember that?"
Now she looks like that she is processing that.
"That… can be possible. In some cases, nightmares can lead to some sort of dream insomnia."
Well, I guess I nothing to worry about for now.
"Maybe it’s for the best, not to remember that."
She nodded.
A few minutes passed in silence until I suddenly remember.
"Tell me... what’s up about your surprises? That you mentioned earlier?"
Her smile became a little more mischievous.
"Oh yes... I almost forgot about it."She slowly stretched out her hand.
"Come with me. I'll show you."
Hesitantly, I raised my hand. Our fingers met. I was about to say something – when she pulled me up. Not by force. She hadn't let go.
I looked at her. She looked at me and smiled.
"Come."
Then she turned around, still holding my hand. And she went off, pulling me in. Slow. Quiet.
The corridors became wider. Then we stepped through an open arch – and I stopped. Concourse. But not as I knew them. Huge. Broken. Partly overgrown. But in their midst – light. A glow so bright and soft at the same time that I had to blink. I couldn't see what it was – Cortana was running right in front of me. As if she had planned it all. As if this moment wasn't accidental.
Then we stopped. "Okay... here it is."
Slowly, she let go of my hand. She stepped aside, and then... I saw it. I gasped for air – and forgot to exhale. A tree, a huge, luminous, pulsating tree. Its trunk was silvery-white, slightly transparent, as if made of crystal. But it was its leaves that paralyzed me: pink-violet. Dancing gently in the light. They shimmered as if each one carried a memory. It was... beautiful. I approached slowly. I looked up – and for a moment, I forgot everything. Arellia, the shadows, the past.
Cortana stepped next to me again. Her voice was calm. Almost reverently.
"This tree... was a gift. From the Na'vi at –"
I said it automatically, without looking at her. "– Pandora."
My eyes were glued to the light, to the leaves that danced softly in the invisible wind.
Cortana looked at me – and smiled gently.
"Yes, exactly. But... you don't know certainly for what."
I frowned slightly, but I couldn't take my eyes off.
She continued.
"This tree... was a thank you. The UCF has helped defend their planet. Before they get wiped out by the– "
She looked at me, expecting me to intervene again. But I didn't this time. I was much too perplexed by the tree, as if it had hypnotized me.
Cortana smiled and continued.
" – RDA. The United Coalition had even tried to establish contact with their Earth, with some nation from there. They had also tried to contact the RDA again, to offer help with their dying Earth, but everything was ignored."
My gaze was still hypnotic.
"Then, the Omatikaya's Tree of Souls lost a trunk. The strange thing is that it didn't die. It was like... it wanted to be taken away. The Omatikaya then understood that their tree wanted it that way, as a kind of thankful gesture."
That surprised me. "A strange kind of gratitude."
It shimmered even brighter, as if it had heard the words.
I whispered to Cortana. "And? Is it still there?"
She was silent for a moment. "What do you mean?"
I smiled at that.
"Tree of Souls is part of a mind. The Na'vi call it Eywa. Their version of Mother Nature, only that it is actually a mind. I wonder... whether some of it has reached this point... is there."
Cortana understood, roughly. "You feel it, don't you?"
I didn't know if what I was feeling was really IT.
"I don't know..."
I took a step closer. The air changed. Thicker und Clearer. The leaves flickered in gentle waves – and for a split second, I thought they had reacted to my approach.
I slowly stretched out a hand. Uncertain. Reverent.
"Maybe..."
I murmured softly. "It wants us to talk to us..."
Cortana stood quietly next to me, she didn't look back. Her gaze was fixed on the tree. To the glowing leaves that trembled gently in the invisible wind. And then I touched him. My fingertips touched the wood.
And at that moment – not even a second later – everything disappeared into –
[ – Darkness]
Not a darkness like in the mall, no night. But a complete absence of everything. Like an empty space between the breaths of the world. I stumbled because the floor is strangely soft. Moist like fog that lay under the feet.
"CORTANA!?"
My voice echoed into nothingness. I turned around,nothing, no exit, not even any light.
But then – a voice spoke to me.
//Your fall on Arellia is no coincidence. But also no predestination.//
The voice wasn't loud, but it was everywhere.
//The journey will be difficult at times, sometimes easy. Sometimes brutal... but also wonderful.//
I stared into the dark, didn't know where to look.
//But one thing is certain. Your journey... has... still... not... started.//
I breathed. "What?"
[Blinded by bright light]
I stood in front of the tree again.
Cortana was standing next to me, slightly confused. "What do you mean by what?"
I took a deep breath. My skin still shimmered and I felt slightly dizzy. The air seemed thicker, the tree calmer. And my heart... something had changed.
I turned to Cortana. "How long... was I gone?"
She frowned slightly. "Gone?"
I nodded. "Exactly. I was... somewhere else."
She answered slowly, as if she didn't quite believe what she was saying.
"Not at all. Not even for a second. Your arm was still on the bark, your gaze was fixed... and then suddenly you said something."
I took a step back. The tree – stood still, glowed softly, as if nothing had happened.
But inside me... everything was different.
"Quick. Check my vitals. More precisely, my brain."
She looked at me askance for a moment, but did it anyway. I felt the suit hum. A slight pulsation. Cortana began to analyze data.
"What do you see?"
A few seconds passed. Then a visual representation appeared. And Cortana didn't sound surprised, but... pensive.
"Interesting. At the moment of your touch... there was a rash. Not like an epileptic impulse. Rather... like a complete REM-state."
It certainly wasn't a sleep. "So... a dream like back then?"
She sounded confident.
"No. It was too clear for that, too structured. Your brain was... completely synchronized – as if you were processing between two places at the same time in a fully active state."
I said nothing. I didn't have to say anything either. Because I knew: This was not just an impression. It was a contact, a moment, a signal. Cortana watched me closely.
She was calm, but her eyes sought mine.
"What did you see?"
I hesitated. Not because I was afraid – but because I had to process it.
Piece by piece.
"Everything was black. Empty. And I was alone."
Cortana didn't say anything. She let me talk.
"I called for you. But you were gone. There was only... I think it was Eywa. It spoke to me."
I looked at her.
"It said my fall on Arellia was no coincidence. But also, no predestination."
Cortana frowned slightly, but continued to listen attentively.
"It said... my journey will be difficult and wonderful."
I faltered.
"And then she said... But one thing is certain... Your journey... still… has... not... started."
Silence.
"I don't know. But I feel also... that everything I've experienced so far... was only the prelude."
[Sometime later]
We were on the road again. The Mongoose rolled over old roads, between fallen signs, time-scarred facades and whispering winds that carried sand through the urban canyons.
\\Your journey... still… has... not... started\\
This sentence hung like an echo in my head. As if set in stone. If what I had already lived through wasn't the beginning, what was it? A prologue? A test? I thought. Too much. Too deep. And then – my body jerked to the right. The suit suddenly moved by itself, automatically counter steering. The Mongoose dodged a collapsed metal support that was lying on the road as if out of nowhere.
"Whoa!"
Cortana's voice then came in my head, full of sweet sarcasm.
\\Well... too much daydreaming? Or did you mentally hold hands with that tree again?\\
I grimaced. "Ha ha, very funny."
\\I think I'm hilarious\\
I grinned – half annoyed, half grateful.
"By the way, thanks for the automatic correction... otherwise I would have driven into a wall right away."
\\Nothing to thank. I noticed in your brain pattern five seconds before that you were drifting away. What exactly are you thinking all the time?\\
I became quiet again.
"Because of yesterday. I'm just trying... to find out what all this may mean."
Cortana was silent for a moment. \\Welcome to the club.\\
The ride seemed like an endless loop to me, half a wasteland after another. With the hope that it will end one day.
Then Cortana's voice came suddenly. \\STOP!\\
No discussion. I immediately hit the brakes. The Mongoose came to a halt with a jerk. Dust swirled up, sand scraped under the tires.
I asked, while my heartbeat slowly accelerated.
"What's going on? Is there anything here?"
She then in a jerky voice.
\\Multiple motion pings... from different directions. Coming faster than the Mongoose\\
I was immediately on my feet. The suit reacted quickly. I jumped off the Mongoose, grabbed my gun from my back and loaded through.
"Where exactly?"
A brief moment of silence.
\\I can't say. We're... literally surrounded\\
I lowered myself a little. Eyes scanned the surroundings. Between broken buildings, collapsed bridge remains, overgrown metal and shadows. Nothing moved. But I felt it, as if the air is holding its breath.
Like when something is watching you – just waiting for you to make the first move.
"Cortana... can you do another scan of the surroundings?"
I heard the slight buzzing in the suit as sensors went up.
\\Already there\\
Exoskeleton's target assistant went on. My hands were resting quietly on the weapon
There it was again. This inhumanly distorted sound, as if taken from hell itself. Just like in the library. I whirled around, yanked up my weapon and pointed it at the wide entrance to the building, which gaped like an open maw in the wall. Pitch-dark and deep. So deep that the light of my visor was swallowed up in it. I took a few steps back and sank into a fighting position. Legs offset, shoulders lowered, my fingers lay quietly on the trigger. Then – a second scream from a different direction. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth. And then... a whole orchestra of horror.
Directly from this dark corner. Hundreds of screams.
"Oh fucking dammit, not that again."
Cortana answered – strangely calm, but with a depth in her voice that I had never heard before.
\\Here they come\\
A moment of silence. Then, a dull rumble vibrated from the entrance.
Not loud – but deep. Like a pulse from the darkness. As if a mass were to start moving. I fixed on the target, pointed the weapon – and then they burst forth. The first ones ran as if unleashed. Figures with torn skin, bent limbs, glowing eyes and the scream of something that should no longer have a voice. I fired with precise Single shots. A shot to the head. The next one to the heart. Again, and again. The suit corrected slightly, the servo motors helped stabilize my arms. I was a fortress of control and firepower. Click, magazine empty. Zack,change it. In less than two seconds.
Cortana suddenly called.
\\Here comes the bigger Wave!\\
I heard it before I saw it. A roar – not of one being, but of hundreds. A collective storm. They burst out of the building, from all sides. Like a black, living storm, raging.
I was a little louder. "That's too many!"
Cortana didn't scream. But her voice had urgency now.
\\Run. NOW!\\
I reacted. Without thinking, I turned around. The suit ignited the boosters, the speed exploded. The ground seemed to crack under me, the Mongoose shuts down, and i... ran.
The shadows were chasing me, they wanted me. I ran like a champion, as if driven by something alien. My muscles were working at peak performance – but I still felt pain and pressure. The Exo-Suit helped, surely – but I wasn't just a passenger. Behind me was the raging, the roaring, the claws tearing the ground apart. I twisted my upper body slightly, raised my weapon, and fired blindly backwards. A few hits, followed by a couple of screams. Their bodies recoiled, but that didn't stop the rest.
Cortana suddenly called.\\BELOW YOU!\\
It went down like a huge hill. I wanted to react to it, but my right foot stepped into nothingness.
„OH SCHEIßEEEEEEE – !!“
//OH SHIEEEETTTTTT – !!//
I couldn't find any foothold, but I somehow managed to throw myself onto my back and slide down the sand in a controlled manner. Not gracefully, but safely. Compared to me, the creatures were unfortunately a little luckier, if you can put it that way. They simply ran down the slope. Like wolves in formation. I turned lying down, aimed uphill, and kept firing. Headshots, one after the other. The hit creatures staggered and then rolled down the slope like bales of hay – some of them directly onto each other.
The end of the sand slide came quickly, and I slid a few more meters over firm, harder ground. No time for a breather. I stood up – with a hiss, the boosters in the suit activated. A short push, and I was fully upright again.
Cortana called.
\\10 meters further on your left is an open passage – get in there!\\
The sand dune ended right next to a high-rise building. I saw the main entrance and rushed straight through the open doorway. A wide passageway, how inviting... but this was anything but safe. And yet I paused for a moment. The lobby wasn't a cold reception area, it was... impressive. A terrarium of luxury. The reception hall stretched up to the ceiling of the building. Palm trees towered several meters high. In between there were metal seating areas, covered with leather or something that looked like it. But this was no ordinary apartment building. A luxury apartment building, built by those who weren't afraid that the world would collapse, or thought they could.
Cortana spoke sharply.
\\Why are you standing there! The Lift! Quick!\\
I saw it – at the far end of the lobby. Half-embedded in a shiny wall of glass. Cortana had already prepared the doors to be open. I sprinted. The sand still on my boots, my breath like fire. I jumped in – and the doors closed right behind me. I staggered against the wall, almost slipping on the polished surface.
Gasping, no draught, only sweat and palpitations.
"I have... not for a long time... ran like that... if at all..."
[BOOOM]
A jarring impact. Several creatures had already been right behind me. They rammed themselves against the elevator door, but it held. The elevator slowly began to ascend.
I gasped questioningly. "Which floor?"
Cortana on it. \\254. There is a UCF-Saferoom there. We can entrench ourselves there\\
I nodded. "Okay... okay... "
As the elevator ascended, I looked through the transparent walls. From the 100th floor, you could see out. The city – dilapidated, vast, and of a strange, sad beauty. You couldn't see the whole thing, but it was enough for a quick glimpse. I looked down, since the elevator and shaft are openly visible.
And... "Cortana...?"
\\Yes?\\
"You didn't happen to... forget that there are stairs here, don't you?"
Silence. \\Oops\\
A spiral staircase, running along the outside of the shaft. They were there. The creatures were climbing slowly, but they were coming. About 50 floors away.
I asked with a tense look at the floor display.
"Can you do something about the speed?"
The creatures approached. Cortana hesitated only a moment.
"Hold on tight"
I grabbed two support poles with both hands, pressed myself against them, bent my knees slightly, and positioned myself firmly. Then it started. A hum, then a hiss. The elevator shot upwards, not gliding, almost like a catapult. Floors whizzed by, the display barely able to keep up. The exosuit reacted, hardening my leg muscles in certain areas to keep me from tipping over. Then – a short scream from the mechanism. The brakes engaged hard, jerkily. The entire shaft vibrated, and I was pulled forward, but I just managed to stay afloat.
[Floor 254]
Cortana called.
\\Go!\\
The doors opened, and suddenly I stopped, not even a meter from the door. Just a moment, a thought, an idea. I stared briefly into the void, feeling the pounding in my chest.
Cortana shouted alarmed.
\\Philipp!?\\
But I didn't react to her words – I acted. I ran – not further into this floor, but two floors down, as fast as the suit would allow.
During the run, I spoke loudly.
"Cortana! If I stop, I want you to override the boosters under my feet. More energy – and adjusted so that they release the power outwards, not as dampeners!"
\\Wa-!?\\
But she stopped and knew I had some sort of a plan. She began reprogramming as I reached my position – exactly between floors 252 and 251. I stopped, knees bent, both feet firmly planted. And then: Stomp. I kicked the ground as hard as I could. Powerful, precise kicks. One after the other, into the structure. The suit hummed, transmitting the force directly to the ground.
Cortana finally understood my plan – she amplified the impulses, changed the tread dynamics, and let each impact thunder through the concrete. The stairs began to shake and cracks spread. A rhythmic splintering. The creatures were only 20 floors away. Then, a sharp, drawn-out CRACK. The structure could take it no longer. I hauled myself up – ran upwards, making a final sprint to floor 252. The stairs collapsed beneath me – whereupon I jumped just in time, grabbed the edge on the stable structure and hung on it. I MADE IT.
Before I climbed up, I made a last look down. Many of the creatures stood at Floor 249, screaming at me. The creature that almost reached me fell into the depth.
For that moment, I had to make stupid quote. “Well... who stomps last...”
With slow steps, still noticeably exhausted, I walked down the hallway.I stood in front of the door to the UCF safe room... which is clearly marked... for a safe room. Next to it is a security panel that glowed softly blue.
Before I could even say or type anything, I heard Cortana's voice – warped, almost ghostly, almost crazy.
\\Ooooopennnnnn Sesameeeeeeeeee~!\\
I burst into pent-up, relieved laughter. It wasn't even particularly funny, but it was good for a change. A short, whistling hiss – then the door slid silently open. One by one, lights automatically switched on. And what I saw... wasn't what I expected. The room looked like an elegant, luxurious apartment. Nothing like the last Saferoom. Glass walls with the to the city. A soft couch. On the wall, a hologram panel that looks like a television. A UCF emblem embedded on the tabletop. A set of marked weapons on the wall – in a locked holder. Terminals blinking crazily as if they were on standby. The kitchen – fully functional. A power generator hummed quietly in the background. Water, electricity, air – everything was there.
I sank down onto the couch. Cortana appeared next to me. "Not bad, is it?"
She asked with a smile. I nodded, slowly. "I've seen worse hotel rooms."
The suit worked silently, supporting me as if it's aware of my fatigue. With slightly unsteady steps, I walked toward the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. A quiet hiss, cool air rushed toward me, and... food. Packaging, water bottles, individual dishes – portion-sized, color-coded, some with visible seals.
I stared in. "70000 years... and the food looks like it was produced yesterday."
Cortana replied, much too calmly, as if she had been waiting for exactly this comment.
"And they are."
I frowned and half turned to her.
"Excuse me?"
"Even after 70,000 years, many of the automated systems are still running – including the energy supply, air filtration... and also synthetic food production."
I pulled out a packet. A kind of noodle bowl, rice steaming inside, or... what looked like rice. "You mean to tell me that's still being made?"
Cortana nodded.
"Of course. Everything was built to last. UCF was prepared for extreme scenarios. Post-system-collapse-capable, as they called it."
I looked at her. A tiny grin flitted across my face.
"On my earth... we would have needed a few more centuries for such a technology."
Cortana returned the smile.
"Well, welcome to the future. Of sorts."
I sat down on a kitchen stool, opened one of the dishes, and let it steam. The smell was pleasant... yet strangely alien. I'm eating rice from a refrigerator in a luxury apartment. 70,000 years in the future.
On a dead planet.
What a fucking day.