Saffi Kalashnik.
Saffi's Underground Laboratory,
The year 2168.
Dust blanketed her desk, floor, and every scientific instrument she owned. Papers scattered all over the ground.
"There must have been an earthquake."
Great tremors shook her entire laboratory, and everything around it. She couldn't pinpoint why. She sat in her chair, resting her chin on her cybernetic hand, staring at a dusty photograph of Svivla and her. She was holding her certificate from university in her hand, it was the day of graduation. Her eyes were so bright, so full of promise next to someone she called brother.
"Please, you two, please be okay."
Something opened her laboratory door. She forgot to lock it. Panic jolted through her body. Saffi pushed herself away from her desk, running to the main hallway of the laboratory, and-
-Lydia.
Lydia stood at the bottom of the stairs, limping. Moonlight glow shining down the stairway. Blood stained her hands, soaking her clothes, soot latched onto the wet crimson. Her eyes were cloudy, in a haze as she silently sobbed.
Lydia stood at the bottom of the stairs, alone. She looked up at Saffi, her will and hope broken in pieces.
"S-Saffi..."
After she began speaking, Saffi began to weep as well, covering her mouth as her face turned red. Lydia ran into her arms, wailing her heart out where she left it, beside Svivla.
Beside her father's grave.
***
Saffi Kalashnik.
The Church of Armageddon: Cologne Cathedral,
The year 2146.
"Oh, Armageddon, sweet Armageddon, wherever you reside, watch closely as we close our prayers to you, that we may earn your embrace in the coming of the end. Armageddon, whatever form you take, we shall welcome you forth to bring the new dawn. In thy child, Armageddon, and holy Mother Earth, bring about all we know You are. Bring about her fruition, Armageddon, so that we who follow You may prosper in Your warmth."
The hiss of the gospel echoed through the magnificent towering ceilings of the cathedral, hymns carrying the one true constant, a purpose for all to serve under the hand of annihilation: Die.
"Praise thy child, Armageddon!"
Rising from their seats, hands locked in prayer, Saffi rose with the crowd as if she were tied to them. Few were smiling, few cried, and many just sang with the choir under their breath.
"Praise..." Saffi's thoughts wandered, eyes trailing around the expansive, gargantuan cathedral. Arches reaching for the heavens, ceilings hanging lights dangling from mock branches of breathing trees; fruits of trees. Along the trachyte pillars striking up to the sky, banners of the bleeding earth looked down on them. Branches sprawled on the embroidered banners, bordering and lining the flowing edges, sprouting from Her heart as fire rose across the land. Water- Her blood, She drowned in Her blood. Fissure down to her core, a chain reaction since the dawn of humanity.
"Praise thy child-"
The choir's siren call looped the people, and everyone's hands rose to the cloudless skies. Saffi hesitated to follow. Against her pale skin, sunlight washed in red dug into her arms, she hadn't blinked since the closing prayer started. Wide, hazel eyes with a dull blunt hue, seeing red. Nothing but red. Seeing nothing at all. Her grip tightened, fingertips digging into the top of her hand, grinding into her tendons. In the corner of her eye, she saw Karishma with her sister Karla following along. Karishma had a different expression, she was visibly angry, more annoyed. They were more important than Saffi, their father was a higher-up because of him being a Child of Blight. He could move things with his mind, a swipe of his hand, manifesting the energy of his mind for all to see. With that kind of power, he dominated all of India, it was a wonder why he ever came here. Maybe this was a ticket to dominating the world. His children carry the same prowess, that's why they adorn The Bleeding Earth on the back of their cloaks. That's why Karishma could show such resentment without punishment, because what could anyone do about it?
YOU ARE READING
Mother Earth.
Science Fiction"I want to create a better world where no one hurts each other, to foster a place where love doesn't have to make hate, where no one hurts or kills anybody. A world where I don't have to hurt anybody anymore." The First Dawn has concluded; Children...
