Chapter 38: Live or Survive

Iris stares out the window, open-mouthed at what she saw: the United States, Canada, and Mexico were frozen, although the hole of shadows could be clearly seen in the distance. She manages to get a signal so she can write an article about what happened. All the passengers are feeling nothing. There were many surprises, but the surprises that shocked the most were: The ships caused partial amnesia for most of them, but it didn't cause it for Iris, Yamal, Jawara, and Yadir. Iris begins to meditate and draw her own conclusions, and writes them down in her article.

"Life is famous for the confusion it causes. Now, we are witnessing something we've never seen before: possible spaceships, the existence of doppelgangers from other universes, natural disasters that inspire great fear in us, but even more so, we ourselves are afraid of ourselves because we believe that perhaps we don't have enough resources and tools to survive this apocalypse. We were able to observe two gigantic ships; it seemed their weapons were pointed at us, but they weren't. What's next? We need to remain calm and live or survive, either way is fine. Now, we see that three countries no longer exist, there is a lot of fear and confusion, but the best we can do is find a way out of this."

"What are you writing, Iris?" Yamal asks.

"What we've experienced, we must find a way out of this," Iris said. "I have a feeling." Those ships are coming back.

_ What surprised me most is that they didn't do anything to us. They were simply there, aiming at us, but not firing. What are we supposed to think?

_ I honestly don't know, but with that we've already gained something; we're still alive.

_ But now many people are no longer alive, Yamal said with a sad tone.

_ I know, now we just have to survive.

_ How much time does Earth have left?

_ We don't know, but natural disasters are happening at a rapid pace, so the time left is dwindling. Now we only have the underground ark that the governments built. Only then will we be able to survive.

_ But Iris, if those spaceships return, will the ark be able to survive an alien attack?

_ I hope so. If not, they wouldn't have told us anything. The only thing I do know is that... now with the truth that Yadir and I are not your full brothers, Andrei, Jaidev, and Sharon are my brothers, having seen that black hole, the one I've called father, isn't really biologically true, but for me it still is... Iris sighs. I don't know what to think now. I just know that I want to keep fighting, despite so much adversity.

"You will always be my little girl," Joe said, approaching Yamal and Iris.

"You set an extraordinary example when you told me the truth. I know I should honor my true father, but... you are my dad! And I don't want that to ever change!"

"My dear girl, you will always be my little girl, just like Yadir. You don't have to stop calling me father. In fact, I long with all my heart for you to keep saying it because you are that to me: "blood of my blood," like Yadir is, like Yamal is. Your brother is co-pilot, but when the time comes, I want the three of you together, because there's a truth about me, and it will greatly change the way you see life. Now it's a matter of living or surviving, but we'd be in better shape to survive if we told him that truth now, and now, we have to live!

Iris hugs Joe, whose memories weren't erased from the alien existence, from the black hole that inspired more fear than any other, now that he knows about the existence of doppelgängers and The Fighting Cats, then she says:

_I don't care what that truth is, you'll always be my father—then she smiles, tears of joy welling up in her eyes.

_Baby, promise me, you'll also call your real father father.

_But he's dead now!

_Trust me, I implore you, Iris, and it's something I also want Yadir to do.

_Accept that, Iris,_ Yamal said. _Father is right, your real father suffered greatly not knowing about you and dying without finding "his little girl."

_Trust me, Iris, because there is more beyond the truth about your real parents.

Iris still didn't understand, but accepted, and Yamal supported the decision, although he already knew the other truth that Joe should tell Yadir and Iris (about Joe).

Jawara drives the Airspace-wanderer slowly, carefully observing what happened to the United States, Mexico, and Canada: they no longer exist, they are frozen. Now there is more panic over the countless lives lost. The crater beneath the United States caused a volcanic explosion that subsequently turned to ice, freezing all of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. What's next? Although they search for answers, they cannot find them. There is a prolonged silence, both Jawara and

As Yadir and the passengers are stunned by what just happened, many begin to lament what happened.

"This is such a shame!" Yadir said.

Jawara doesn't say anything. He's very stunned by what happened, also very shocked. He feels like he can't breathe, especially when he remembers the ships and the black hole. But what had him most doubtful and very restless was the dream he had: about his biological mother's doppelganger. Even though she told him the truth, for Jawara, it was a lie. What now? Fortunately, his family was with them, but the problem was, how are they going to protect themselves? Jawara has no confidence in the project the governments built.

"Jawara, I think the only thing we have left is the project the governments built."

"I don't think that will work," Jawara said.

"Why do you think that? I say it's equipped to withstand whatever comes, but if you want, we can find out for sure."

_ Something I've seen in the world is that not even the powerful always win the battle, and I think this would also apply to those with immense wealth. Even I, even if I managed to create the Airspace-Wanderer, was extremely successful, and even have the money to pay for those coffers. I ask myself: can money, fame, and power save you from imminent destruction?

Jawara pondered how they would get out of this free. His face showed concern and fear, and at the same time, he felt a deep sadness for all the lives lost. Could he have saved more? That question now tormented him; he couldn't stop mulling it over.

"Hey Yadir, do you think I could have saved more people?" Jawara said.

"I honestly don't know what to tell you. Things can always be done better. All I can say is that you did what you could. Yamal always tells me: 'If you make a mistake, learn from it, move on, and strive not to make it again, and don't let the guilt crush you.'"

"You're always encouraging me, and I'm treating you like I have lately," Jawara said, unable to turn to look at Yadir, his head down.

"Calm down, friend! As much as friends love each other, from time to time we will do or say things that upset our friends. In fact, I haven't been very nice to you, interfering in certain matters. As the song goes: "What's done is done, and I don't care," Yadir said, smiling. "I know all this is mysterious," Yadir replied. "The question now is: what are we going to do? Wait, look at that!"

The three frozen countries could be seen to have ice with phosphorescent colors, similar to those of the shadow hole, even some colors emanating from the black hole they saw along with the ships.

"Oh my God! It's just like the shadow hole!" said Jawara.

"And some colors are like those emanating from the black hole."

They were astonished and watched for a long time, no longer knowing whether to mourn the countless deaths or shudder at the colors. Although they were phosphorescent colors, they were colors that seemed to be from outer space. They were colors that, far from being a pleasant sight to behold, were inspiring fear.

"What's all that?" said Yadir. "I must contact Dorothy."

Yadir managed to contact Dorothy, although she didn't want to talk to Yadir.

"Dorothy! Are you okay?" said Yadir.

"Yes, I am, and you?"

"Of course, doll!" Where are you? Did you see the two spaceships?

_ What ships are you talking about?

_ We were extracted into outer space again, and we saw two gigantic spaceships.

Dorothy is surprised that the ships didn't give them partial amnesia, so she contacts someone about it.

_ Hey man, the amnesia didn't work for some of the Airspace-wanderer passengers.

_ Don't worry, we'll make it go away, says a mysterious voice.

Later, another mysterious ship appears and, with a powerful laser beam created through an alien chemical, causes everyone to have partial amnesia, making them unable to remember the spaceships or the black hole, forgetting the alien existence, forgetting The Fighting Cats again.

On the other hand, Iris manages to connect and begins transmitting what she saw on Earth. She also managed to write down the story about the spaceships in time, so she can write her article.

_ (Iris typing) Hello, I'm Iris Patterson, here reporting this shocking event: three countries are frozen. Now, people are more panicked than ever. What's next? What I can say is that no one is prepared for something like this. The events that mark the end of the world aren't like they'll end in a matter of days. In fact, the gradual nature of how they've been arriving makes people feel more afraid, but they also feel hopeful that they might stop, generating mixed feelings. There's no doubt about it! The end of the world has arrived as we didn't expect, and we're witnessing that no one is prepared.

The space plane descends to get a closer look at what happened. Iris continues

Writing her report

_ What we witnessed was shocking. A terrible eruption occurred, and it wiped out the entire United States. Not a soul is reported, but what's shocking is that it's frozen. Canada and Mexico are frozen, and of course, they were affected by the terrible mega-eruption.

_ "Wait!" Iris said loudly. "I wrote here that there were two spaceships."

_ "What are you talking about, Iris?" Yamal said. "There are no spaceships."

_ "Then why did I write that I saw two spaceships?"

_ "Maybe the tension of being extracted made you imagine you saw two spaceships, my sister," Andrei said.

_ "Maybe so, but I'll take it as a riddle worth solving. Besides, I still have some suspicions about Dorothy for not saving the people of North Africa."

_ "We'll have to find out if she saved people now that the United States erupted," Blossom said.

_ "Very well!"

Iris goes up to the cockpit to ask Yadir to contact Dorothy.

"Hello, could you please contact Dorothy?"

"Yes, of course," said Jawara.

"Yes, hello?" said Dorothy.

"Dorothy, it's Iris. Were you able to save some people from the gigantic natural disaster?"

"Actually, yes. I managed to save thousands in time. I know you're still upset with me for not saving the people of North Africa, but I was able to save many Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans."

"I'm glad to hear you say that!"

Meanwhile, Jawara continues to think about her current relationship with her mother. She doesn't want to have anything to do with her, but deep down, she wants to reconcile with her. She finds herself in a dilemma.

They manage to land the Airspace Wanderer in the United Kingdom. All the passengers are very scared. There is so much chaos around the world. They fear for their lives, but what shocks them most is the way the natural disasters are unfolding.

Jawara gets off the space plane. Her mother approaches and stares at her. Jawara looks at her with deep pain but also with profound defiance. Sharon approaches and looks at her defiantly.

"Are you satisfied now?" Sharon said, challenging her.

"Daughter, listen to me, okay? I just wanted..."

"To abandon us! That's what you wanted! Why don't you just leave already? Now that I know..." Sharon stops, confused. She doesn't know if it's time to tell Jawara that she is not her blood sister. Jawara already knew this through her biological mother's doppelganger, but she doesn't know that.

"Now that you know... you rude girl?" Madeleine responded sternly.

"Now that I know... that you're a bad mother who doesn't care about her children, nor about her husband, you should leave!"

"I want to fix things. Don't think it's because of the passes to the underground ark, it's because I truly want to do things right."

"Look, Madeleine!" Jawara said. "The only truth is that I wish you would disappear from our lives forever, but deep down, I want to forgive you, because I've missed you so much. There's a void in my life that not even starting a family has filled." Jawara's voice cracked. "I've had true friends, my father with me, a beautiful wife, the joy of knowing I'm going to be a father, a career as an aerospace engineer and pilot, but I still don't feel complete." Jawara's eyes began to flow with tears. "I keep remembering you. I replay in my mind the day you left, and how I begged you not to leave, but you just walked away without a care! Now you come back and act like nothing happened, and you take advantage of my desire to forgive you..."

"I didn't come here to cause confusion," Madeleine said, indifferent to Jawara's feelings. "I came here to reconcile with you, but I won't force you to forgive me either." But I have my conditions. You know not just anyone will get into the underground ark. I have passes. And forgiving me will be your pass to the ark. What they're asking for is too much money. Not even you, Jawara, can pay it, not even to save your new friends! So they won't get the money so easily.

"We'll get him out somehow!" Sharon said. "We don't want your money or your compassion! So get out of here!"

While Sharon shows her firmness that she doesn't want anything to do with her mother, Jawara is still confused.

"I need a moment alone, please," Jawara said.

Jawara ponders what he should do. He had enough resources to pay for a ticket to the underground ark. The problem is, they were already full, so they only relied on Madeleine's tickets.

"What's wrong, my love?" Blossom said, approaching him.

_ I don't know what to do. Seeing my mother again stirred many deep emotions in me. My sister flatly rejects her, but I don't know why I don't.

_ It's normal for every human being to react differently; you shouldn't blame yourself for that.

_ I have enough money to buy tickets to the underground ark. The Airspace-wanderer is worth enough for thousands of tickets, but there are no more seats

My mother's tickets are our only salvation.

_ There's another way to save us, Jawara. The advantage is that the Airspace Wanderer can fly in space, so we could hide there while this whole catastrophe happens.

_ I don't know if that's convenient. You could see that twice we were almost sucked into a black hole. I don't know. I need someone to tell me what to do.

_ You have to do the right thing, Jawara. I want to be honest. If Madeleine truly loved you and Sharon, she wouldn't ask you to give them the tickets in exchange for reconciliation, so we can't know what her intentions are. My advice would be to reject her and find a way to survive, but if you decide to forgive her, I won't stop you.

On the other hand, to Yadir's surprise, he runs into Dorothy.

_ Dorothy! "I thought I'd never see you again!" Yadir said, giving her a big hug and a kiss.

_"Here I am, my love. I didn't think we'd see each other again so soon."

_"You know, when we were in outer space being sucked into a black hole, I dreamed about you, but it was a nightmare.

_"Oh yeah?" Dorothy said, surprised. "What did you dream about?"

_"About an alien invasion. The aliens looked human, but the worst part is that you were an alien too."

_ Should you?

"Yes, deberas. I asked you why, but you told me they should destroy the Earth because we were a threat to the galaxy.

"Threat? Gosh! I never imagined it.

"Yes, and you told me to join you, but then you left and continued destroying the Earth.

"Oh, what the hell with your dreams, Yadir!" But the good news is that it was just a dream. Now we just have to survive.

_Yes, I don't know if it's living or surviving, but either way, we have to stay alive.

_Hey, look at the sky! - said Iris.

The sky formed a circle of phosphorescent colors, similar to the hole in the shadows. They shone very brightly, spun clockwise, and strange noises could be heard. Its shape was like a labyrinth. The catastrophe wasn't over; they had to protect themselves from many more things. It was either live or survive.