CHAPTER 8

The sun was leisurely setting down in the dimension, so gorgeous but admired by no one except this time. Caleb was sitting alone at the edge of the cliff watching the sunset, but his mind was not at all peaceful.

"A nuclear war?" he thought.

He always knew that humans were the true cause of climate change, but until that day he had assumed that it was because of pollution and failure to lead a sustainable life. Truth is, they were more involved than he expected.

The wind shook his short hair, and he closed his eyes to feel the daylight fading. His mind was empty, something that had never happened to him before. He had fled the city, had put his parents in danger, had witnessed the murder of dozens of outsiders, and all in vain.

He wanted to cry, but he felt the need because he knew he had to be strong. He wanted to think about his next steps, but every time he tried, the words of Icarus enveloped his mind, so he left it empty. The more he thought about it, the more he felt disgusted.

"Can I join you?" A voice behind him asked.

Caleb didn't have to turn around to know it was Ariadne.

"A bit of company doesn't hurt," he told her.

Ariadne sat next to him and watched the sunset with him. For a few minutes, neither of them uttered a word, not that they did not want to say anything to each other.

"What are we going to do now?" Ariadne finally asked.

"I don't know," mumbled Caleb muttered. "For the first time in my entire life, I don't know the answer. I guess we just stay here with Icarus, not that we can return to our world anyway."

"The Caleb Smart I know wouldn't give up that easily."

"Do you really know me? We started talking a few days ago, and in case you didn't notice it was for nothing."

"Well, I disagree with that. Until last week, I thought you were just an arrogant boy, and you pretty much are, but you are also a good person that will persevere no matter who or what is against him. I find that admirable… and you are also amazingly clever."

Caleb turned his head to look at his classmate.

"Thank you, that's very nice. To be honest, I never enjoyed working with people; I was always better and faster when I worked alone. However, I don't think I could have accomplished this strange task without you."

"I simply hope you've changed your opinion about me, I know you hate me."

"I don't hate you, just the fact that you don't have opinions of your own, you merely repeat what your father says."

"Unfortunately, my father imparts popular opinion."

"So what? Not because a majority believes that something is right or wrong, you should share that idea. You have to form your opinions based on what you believe in, you have to be countercurrent."

"I like that word."

"Yeah, it's one of my favorites. Let me ask you a question, why did you come with me? Why didn't you stay with your dad?"

"Because you're my friend, and that's what friends are for: to support and be loyal."

"Well, I'm glad you did."

"Hey, this day could not be crazier: I have learned that my father is evil and a liar and our mission seems pointless, but we should not give up. We must always fight and defend what we believe in."

Caleb thought carefully about Ariadne's words. She was right, the fate of the world's fate was in their hands, they could not give up so easily; they had to either press Icarus or find another way.

"I agree," he said, standing up. "Let's go."

He and Ariadne returned to the manor at a steady pace and with all their recovered energy recovered. They were not going to accept a no for an answer.

"Icarus!" They loudly called once they entered the house. "Icarus Abbott!"

Their voice echoed in all the rooms and halls. Immediately, Icarus came to them, looking like he had just awoken from a nap.

"What do you want now?"

"To convince you to come back with us and fix the world."

"Kid, don't you understand English? I'm not going back, it's not worth it."

"Don't call me kid, I'm 16."

"And not all people are bad, there are some innocents," Ariadne added Ariadne. "What happened was not your fault, but you can go and amend things now."

"You two don't get it!" Icarus exclaimed. "Any effort we make to repair the climate will be useless unless people don't change their habits and stop waste to resources."

"People are afraid, but we can change their minds, we just have to show them that there is still hope," Caleb claimed. "You can give it to them, you can teach them, please."

Icarus lowered his gaze and put a hand over his head. By the expression on his face, one could see that there was a struggle between his feelings and his desire to improve the world.

"You feel guilty, but as Ariadne said, it was not your fault. Are you seriously going to abandon the innocents because of the actions of some?"

"Even if I agree to build something that could correct everything, what about Carmichael? He won't allow me to get near the city."

"If he tries to arrest you," Ariadne replied, "we will stop him."

Caleb never thought he'd see Ariadne Carmichael rebel against her father, and that made him be proud of his friend.

"So, can you do that?" Asked Caleb to Icarus.

He sighed heavily and, having regained his composure, looked up again.

"The atmosphere is full of harmful gases that cause the greenhouse effect and contaminate the oxygen. I guess I can make a device to clean it, that would be a start, not a permanent solution."

"Is it similar to the oxygen purifiers we use in the city?"

"Do you use those? I designed them, but yes, it will be essentially the same but bigger and more powerful."

"So you will do it. You will help us."

"Yes, but give me some time to find the blueprints and fabricate the artifact."

"Sure, how much time do you need?" Ariadne asked.

"Two hours."

Punctually, Icarus came down the stairs in a black coat. In his arms, he had a device that resembled a scale rocket model. The duo also noticed a change in his appearance: he had cut his hair and shaved off his beard so that both were now shorter. Although they attempted not to, they could not help staring in shock at the unexpected new appearance of Icarus.

"I needed a haircut," He said.

From behind, Ava joined them in the living room, carrying a large black briefcase.

"What's in there?" Ariadne wondered.

"This is just in case something goes wrong," Icarus explained without paying much attention. "So, this 'rocket' that you see here is the purifier. As soon as it is launched, it will go straight into the atmosphere, and once there, it will absorb the toxicity and convert it into clean oxygen, and thus decontaminating the air."

"Oh, that sounds pretty simple," Caleb claimed.

"Not so fast, there is a small problem. In order for it to be launched, the purifier must be at a high altitude at the time of ignition. Otherwise, it will fall to the earth like a meteor."

"Too good to be true."

"What if we launch it from the roof of the city hall?" Suggested Ariadne.

"That could actually work, but we'll need to pass your father's guards," Caleb mused. "And what about the dome?"

"We can overload the system, but once we do it, it will automatically restart in 90 seconds."

"Ok, that should give enough time."

"Great! Sounds like we have a plan," exclaimed Icarus. "Let's go."

He advanced and opened the door. Outside, darkness had spread everywhere, and the only light that could be seen was that of the stars and the moon above their heads.

"Wait, you said the voyager doesn't work anymore." Caleb stepped outside.

"Yes, that one doesn't" Icarus took a new sphere from his pocket that simulated Caleb's. "But there's more than one door in a house. Come closer now and do a circle"

The three snapped from their thoughts and formed a circle by holding hands. Icarus pressed the button and the blue light involved them again.

A second passed, and when the light vanished the group found itself in the middle of a street in Genesis, it was still at night and Caleb and Ariadne felt that time had frozen since their departure.

"Time works differently in my dimension," Icarus explained after observing their perplexed expressions, "it has a small difference of hours. Ah, it's been a long time since I came here."

"Then, why don't you stay permanently?" a voice asked.

Suddenly, Mayor Carmichael emerged from an alley with a dozen police officers, all armored, pointing at them.

"Hello, old friend. It's good to see you again," he saluted with a cold smile.