“What now Malacoda?” Virgil addressed the crimson-robed man.

“Now?” Malacoda said ponderously. “What a battle... what will I do now?”

“You know what to do.” Virgil said ominously.

Malacoda sneered, but his expression softened almost immediately, “I suppose I do, but what will you tell them?”

“Do me the favor of going back into hibernation and I will keep your name out of my notes. As far as I am concerned, this was Ghaelvord’s doing and his alone.” Virgil narrowed his eyes, “Do not test me. If you cause any more trouble, I will bring the wrath of the Kingdom of Shambhala down on you in a way that you never dreamt possible.”

Malacoda snorted at that, “Do your worst. I welcome the challenge. But I have nothing to live for here, alone in this world. I suppose I will return and awake with my bretheren.”

Virgil knew when to stop talking.

“Excellent” was all that Virgil said in reply.

Hongo approached Shenouda, “Shenouda, I am so sorry for what happened to you. I always liked you. You were an excellent cook.”

She replied, “I am not sorry and I do not need your pity.”

Hongo put his arms around her, “Okay, no pity then.”

She tensed at his touch, but softened after a moment.

Hongo turned to Virgil, “What can we do for her?”

Virgil eyed her warily, “I may be able to find a treatment for her condition. The Aldenduenum had records that we may be able to find. I cannot guarantee anything.”

“Who said I want treatment?” Shenouda snapped. “I am who I am now.”

Tiyana looked her in the eyes, “No one will force you to do anything. But come with us. Be with us. Know that you are not alone.”

“I was not alone.” Shenouda looked on the verge of tears again.

“Shenouda.” Tiyana pleaded.

Shenouda nodded her head. At that moment, Malacoda leapt off the rooftop, declopsed, and flew south toward Egypt. They left the roof. Shenouda followed along with them. They inspected the wreckage, but found nothing. Soon, they heard first response teams from the Genovois police and fire departments coming with sirens blazing. No one wanted to answer questions or talk to the local officials. So, after a very hasty, superficial survey of the area, they left. They checked into a local hotel and slept. In the morning, Shenouda was gone.

• • •

Hunter lived on through his son. Eight months after the events at the Large Hadron Collider, Tiyana gave birth to John Terrance Price the Second. Tiyana split her time between the United States, Australia, and Egypt. As the months wore on, she spent less and less time managing the digsite. Hongo had gradually taken over operations and he hardly needed her anymore. Their staff had grown. The most qualified people in the world all wanted to work with their treasure trove of artifacts. Tiyana was just one scientist among many. Tiyana was tired. The digsite discovery seemed hollow after the incredible journey that she had taken. She continually batted away the press. Her name became legendary, but she did not care. She missed Hunter, but her grief was soothed by baby John’s presence.

Hunter’s family called her frequently, always wanting to see the baby. She did not mind those calls. She appreciated having family around. Her own family was too broken to be emotionally available for her. While vacationing at the Douglas Lake Ranch with Hunter’s family, she sat with Hunter’s sister and cousins. They were holding baby John while she read the news.

An article caught her attention, “Missing Energy at the New ETHER Detector” read the headline. According to the article, the ATLAS detector had been retired after the inexplicable catastrophe, which was still being investigated. The synchrotron was shut down for about a year over safety concerns. After enough time passed, and the people at CERN found no explanation for the disaster, they went ahead and installed the new ETHER detector and fired up the synchrotron again. While there was some political pushback over safety fears, no one wanted the vast amount of money that had gone into the project to go to waste. All of the international partners in the project pushed hard for its revival.

The article, however, was about the new ETHER detector. Strange things had been happening with the particle collisions inside it. Energy inexplicably went missing from time to time. The researchers had no idea why the energy went missing. It was just gone. Theories abounded, but none seemed particularly insightful. They checked and rechecked the equipment. It was always working properly. Nevertheless, they continued to lose energy. Tiyana read the article over and over again.

“Hmmmm.” She hummed thoughtfully.

She felt hope swell up in her chest and tried not to inflate it.

“It’s nothing.” She mumbled to herself.

Then, she got up and took baby John, who had begun to cry. She held him and rocked him to sleep.

• • •

Lukas Gisler was mowing the lawn beside the Route de Meyrin in front of the new above-ground ETHER facility that was built over the old, destroyed ATLAS shaft. He had mowed that lawn over a hundred times. When he finished, he would tend to the landscaping. He had a green thumb. He loved his job.

“Sacrébleu!” The man exclaimed.

He stared at the hedges as he drove his riding lawnmower through a bed of bright flowers. An enormous arm burst from the soft dirt. Then a shoulder emerged. Then, covered in dirt, a colossal head emerged. Lukas saw two bright eyes and between them, on the forehead, a bulbous emerald third eye.

• • •

“Any luck?” Tiyana asked.

She had called Virgil from a payphone. She was surprised to find out that they still existed. They wanted to avoid questions as much as possible, so they kept their communication surreptitious.

“I am still hunting her.” Virgil said. “I have done this before. Trust me. I will find her.”

“I don’t like it when you use that word, ‘hunting.’” Tiyana replied. “Be gentle with her. She has been through a lot and it’s sort of our fault.”

“Okay.” Virgil replied mechanically.

“Virgil...” Tiyana started and stopped.

“Yes?” Virgil replied after he realized that she was not going to finish.

“About Hunter?” She said.

She had planned on asking about the article, but for some reason, it felt too silly to say it out loud. Instead, she just asked about Hunter.

“Nothing has changed. The epoch has only just begun.” Came the reply.

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Author's Note:

You finished reading all 100 chapters of Dawn of the Epoch! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, then please do me a personal favor and go back and vote for each chapter if you didn't before. Each vote helps! If you have questions or comments, then I would love to hear them. Also, please check out my website -- dawnoftheepoch.weebly.com

Sincerely,

Ian

The End.