Chapter 41: Purpose

The group, consisting mostly of human soldiers, with a disguised Sartoogian guiding them, embarked on their journey outside the Walls.

Over the days spent driving and camping, Steve came to experience Earth’s natural environment. Whole cities, destroyed by Mayhems, were desolate. Yet, life still thrived in those concrete jungles. Greenery emerged: weeds from cracks in the concrete and asphalt, vines climbing along the walls of crumbling buildings, grass, bushes, and trees growing tall without gardening, free to grow in whichever odd places and directions they wanted.

Cadonif’s planet, and many others, didn’t have such diversity in plant life: having harsh conditions for life to thrive, it was a wonder that intelligent life emerged there in the first place. Here, it was tranquil. It was enchanting. Cadonif could understand why PVC wanted humans gone from the planet. It looked better without them, as nature reclaimed the world; they only destroyed the order that attracted people.

Cadonif was reminded of the downside of human existence, which he had begun to forget. They were certainly complex, and there were arguments for both sides of the issue. Humans had a charm to them. Only those who’ve experienced life with them could understand it. Perhaps, if Tocarris had come down, even she might have felt something.

Cadonif realized that he’d discriminated against humans based on the bad that the species as a whole did. It wasn’t that different from how the other planets discriminated against Sartoogians, stereotyping them as unintelligent criminal laborers. Humanity as a whole could be seen as a threat, but that was no reason to judge all of them the same individually. He had been correct in his moral stance there. There were individuals like Drake that had good potential to change things. And now that society was small, things were much easier to change. Humanity could restart, building properly this time.

He expressed his hope to General Arthur and Drake, who agreed.

Soon, however, he began wondering what any of it had to do with him. Why was he helping humanity? Was it because ridding the planet of Mayhems would be beneficial to him, or because he actually cared about the species? Was he a good person? Would a good person even help humans?

* * *

Steve panted heavily in the rain, feeling like he was suffocating. Things had turned around so suddenly. Only an hour ago, he and Drake had been traveling through the fields in their buggy, but now, his leg was stuck under its dashboard and the two were surrounded by Mayhems. Their one hope of survival—General Arthur—had been killed just moments ago, and Drake ran toward the Raven that had killed him in fury.

Shoot! This can’t be happening! I have to get out!

It was now that he regretted not taking the horse.

Wet fingers tried to grip and pull on the bowed metal. Beneath it was a puddle of blood mixed with rainwater. Cadonif had partially healed his leg in a hurry to prevent blood-loss, and was feeling dizzy. The situation felt surreal.

In the distance, Drake seemed to have gone crazy; he was biting the Raven’s leg. Steve was thinking of severing his leg, when Commander Rein flew in to rescue him. With their combined strength, Steve was able to get out. He started limping away.

He saw a flash of light from behind him and heard thunder. Drake’s screaming suddenly stopped. Steve didn’t want to see what had happened, but curiosity got the better of him. Behind him, all of the nearby Mayhems were jumping onto the Raven.

What!? How is that possible?!?

Rein caught up on his jetpack with Drake’s unconscious body. He picked Steve up and they silently traveled to where the rest of the Defense Force was.

* * *

Steve was now sitting in the Base of the Cyll Survivors of the Apocalypse. The hosts brought bedding to the main hall of the Mall for the soldiers to rest. Others were being treated for their injuries.

Trevor Pharrell came to him and handed him a can of warm beans.

“Thanks.” He took it into his hands.

It, along with the blanket on his back, gave him a feeling of warmth on the chilly Autumn night. Steve blew on the food and ate it slowly.

“You know, after you left on that helicopter, I took leadership of this group. It was hard at first, but I got to know everyone. We built this settlement and it’s kept us safe to date. There were some hard days, and problems that were thrown our way…”

Steve reddened, thinking about how he’d left Pharrell.

“You know, most of us lost hope that you’d return. Some expected to stay here for the rest of their lives. Others just gave up, and became shadows of their former selves.”

“Uh-huh…”

The beans seemed to taste bitter.

“Listen, sorry it took so long…”

“Don’t sweat it. It was a real shock when we realized that this event was global. We had to go through a phase of denial, can you believe that?” he chuckled.

Steve put down the can: he wasn’t feeling hungry anymore.

“Of course it would take you time to get here. You probably had your own problems wherever you were.

“You know, at first, I hated you. I hated you for pushing all the responsibility on me and fleeing to safety. Those were stressful times, thinking I had to bear it all. But over time, I began to realize that you weren’t such a bad guy, after all. In the midst of all that chaos, you thought of a plan to help all of us and entrusted me to execute it. I doubted you when you said that you would come back to help us. I didn’t realize: why would you, who helped us, forget about a hundred people waiting for you and instead lead a normal life?” He broke into a laugh.

“Uh… y-yeah…” Steve chuckled weakly.

He tightened the blanket around him, despite being covered in sweat.

“Well, you settle in. We’ll talk more tomorrow.” Trevor left.

Steve gulped.

He lay on his mattress and pondered. I had always thought humans were selfish, but have I been the selfish one all along?

Everything ‘good’ he’d done was less to do with actually doing good so much as to not feel ‘bad’. He’d forgotten about the people of Cyll, who he’d promised to help. Could the reason he was on that mission be selfish also? Had he put enough consideration into the risk it posed for humanity?

He lay on the bed, unable to sleep.

* * *

Days later, Steve lay on the roof of the Mall at night with a healing Drake.

“You know, I never knew my parents. I had a brother, but I don’t know what’s happened to him nor other members of my family; he could be dead by now. I would have given up trying to survive in this scary world by now if you hadn’t inspired me. You taught me not to give up…” Steve was speaking the truth. He looked up to Drake in some ways.

Drake replied modestly and complemented Steve for being more competent than the Defense Force.

It was then that Steve realized that, not only were Drake’s motivations in the military completely different than that of the others, but he believed that the others were alike.

“Drake, I think you’re misunderstanding something. The military doesn’t exist just to kill Mayhems. You don’t have to be some fearless Mayhem slayer to join it. That’s not even what the military is for.”

Obviously, it existed to protect and aid Rencia.

As Steve thought about Drake’s misconception, he realized his motivations were similar. He wasn’t trying to be selfless. He just wanted to survive with his friends. He wouldn’t regret his past decisions, but he would try to learn from mistakes and not be prejudiced or selfish when the situation permitted it, for the sake of his conscience. He would be good when there was room to be.

* * *

It’s finally happening, Steve thought as the Defense Force members watched the meteorite crash on a screen in the SORS. Unfortunately, the PVC base ship was camouflaged, so it couldn’t be detected by the satellites, and PVC must have had hacked into the SORSs because the computer seemed to have trouble transmitting the alert.

On the screen were many black-and-white video recordings, each of various camera angles throughout Beil, the town he’d crashed close to. He spotted one view of a camera in the woods having a direct visual of the meteorite.

What?!? Who put cameras in the middle of the woods!?!

He swiftly and smoothly moved in front of that part of the screen to cover it up with his body. He broke a sweat when he saw himself outside the pod, and was relieved when he exited the scene in his female form.

Before he would show up in the town suspiciously, “I think we’ve seen enough; we don’t need to see any more of the terror that ensues.”

As the group left the station, Steve and Rein secretly used the station’s computer and satellite connection to communicate with Rencia. While they were connecting, Steve talked to Commander Rein:

“Commander, you spend a lot of time with Drake. Have you noticed anything strange about him?”

“He’s always strange. What do you mean?”

“Ha-ha, yeah he is, but I mean about the way events happen around him.

“First of all, he lived in the town near which became the epicenter of the Apocalypse. He lived and managed to find me, who managed to get him out of there and to Rencia. Then, there was the unnaturally large Gorilla that attacked the city, which he managed to save by blowing himself up, yet surviving once again. Finally, there was the Raven Mayhem that killed his mother appearing, nearly killing us and adding the General to its casualties. Drake was hit by lightning, the nearby Mayhems acted weird, and Drake survived!

“Every time, something bad seems to happen close to him, and despite it, he miraculously survived every time.”

“When you put it like that, it is strange.”

Before they could discuss any further, an operator at Rencia picked up the call. Steve requested to talk to a high-ranking government official. Cadonif turned on Persuasion and began negotiations…

* * *

Steve was feeling slightly disappointed. He thought that when the Defense Force went to Beil and inspected the meteorite, they would have discovered that it was actually an alien spaceship, furthering humanity’s knowledge of the orchestration of the Apocalypse, however, there was nothing but a crater left behind. PVC must have retrieved the escape pod, wiping all observable evidence of their presence and job.

Having already secured the group’s means of return, Steve decided he had to try another method to advance humanity’s knowledge: theorizing. If he could share a theory of the existence of aliens with appropriate evidence with one person, and they shared it with the higher-ups of Rencia, then they could prepare accordingly and Steve would remain anonymous. Steve had the perfect person to start with: Drake. He was already in the Smummr and could talk to the Authorities openly.

Hence, Steve brought up the topic to Drake that night. He tried to piece together some evidence and use it to come to a conclusion that aliens sent the meteorite and virus, but at the time didn’t think of the possibility that humans could have sent an unmanned spaceship or one equipped with advanced camouflage technology to space, thereby evading detection by satellites.

* * *

“Yer body’s healin’ skills a’ really some’in’! Far betta than even Drake’s! Yer legs ’a gonna heal complètement in a coupla weeks.” Doctor Poll told Steve at the hospital.

Steve returned home and fell on his bed, exhausted.

Joyously returning to Rencia, his mission mostly a success, Steve wanted to relax. However, he realized that when humanity would come to know about PVC’s work and start to investigate further, they would become suspicious of potential PVC spies. This, along with his clever negotiations with Rencia at the SORS, required him to exercise more caution.

Until now, he’d kept the potent Blucteryhem at the lab where he worked, but now, he decided to keep it with him so that he could leave the city at any time and mutate.

This knowledge leak would also put pressure on PVC, and Steve wondered if he could abandon Rencia if they were to attempt to destroy it.

After many experiences working with humans, Steve had come to realize that they weren’t as bad as he’d thought. He had formed a biased opinion of humans based on PVC’s carefully selected information. In reality, humans did indeed fight and destroy a lot, however, there was a good side to them as well—a side of them that was a lot like any other intelligent life in the galaxy, with emotions and friendship and trust. They were incomparable with monsters like the Mayhems. Even the ones in Rencia, who had to be the ‘worst’ of humans to get there, weren’t that bad when put into a proper society.

Steve made up his mind. He was attached to Rencia and its inhabitants, and he wanted them to live. Now, how could he keep them safe?

After some brainstorming, Steve realized that he needed a way to communicate with Tocarris. And with Rencia’s newly established connection to the SORS, he had an idea of how he could do it. He got off his bed and hurriedly rushed out his apartment.

* * *

Steve was going back to his apartment from the Rencia Official Communications Center (ROCC). Arriving at his door, he heard voices coming from inside.

I must have forgotten to lock it when I ran out.

“…If PVC finds out that the humans in this small city are uncovering their existence and plans, they may come and wipe them out…”

It was his own voice.

The corridor narrowed and blurred. Steve’s ears rung as he peeked inside. His heart stopped. Drake and Rein were listening to his diary.

“Hold on… Steve? There’s no way…!” Drake exclaimed.

Steve felt the blood drain from his head. Is this really happening? No way… I’m not ready…!

He felt dizzy and sick, accidentally leaning onto the door and opening it. The two inside turned toward him. He retrieved his hidden vial of Blucteryhem instinctively. He took steps forward, cast into the spotlight. He couldn’t see either person’s face clearly in the darkness.

“So you found out my secret…”

He gripped the vial and bit his lip. He was terrified. He should have left, but part of him, after seeing Drake, wanted to negotiate. Yet, he couldn’t say anything. He thought he’d developed courage, but it wasn’t enough yet.

Rein drew his sword. Drake was saying something, but Steve couldn’t hear it over the sound of his heartbeat and concentration on the threat to his life.

Rein ran at him. He was amazingly fast.

He’s going to kill me!

He immediately turned to his one chance of survival: the Blucteryhem. He gulped down the vial, hating himself for being cowardly. He felt his mind and body go numb. His only remaining sense—his vision—showed him getting taller and taller. Drake looked up at him, and Steve could see a look of anguish and despair similar to Geenud’s at the spaceport.

His last thought before losing consciousness was: Sorry I couldn’t be there for you either, Drake.

MAYHEM ON EARTH: Volume 7. / End.