Quintessence
Chapter 11: The End

3 Percent.

I had seen the commands. Hwei-Ru and I had understood them for years, not why they were included, but what they could achieve. I wish I knew more about those who programmed them. We talked about it at length, Hwei-Ru and I, but we could never solve the mystery of who exactly had been complicit in their integration into the Safehold systems.

It didn’t have to be many workers, but it did have to be more than just the Coordinators. It would have required having agents on the engineering and programming crews, agents who likely remained inside as the Safeholds went into lockdown.

How did they keep their secret? Maybe they were those intentionally left on the outside during the lockout, or perhaps they had been dealt with more directly once their duty was complete. The questions are moot now. Contingencies were required, though I’m guessing they didn’t count on this exact conclusion.

It has been 25 hours since I opened the vents and purged the atmosphere of the Safehold out onto the surface of the planet. I vented slowly while keeping the power to the heat running. It took five hours for everyone to slowly fall asleep. I could hear them as they deduced their fate. As they started passing out. They never knew who was responsible for the vent, though I’m guessing many of them placed the blame firmly on the Fatalists. Indirectly, at least, they would be right.

As of this moment, I am likely the only living human within a thousand kilometers.

I don’t believe in heaven. If I did I would know I’m not worthy. I don’t believe in hell. If I did I would expect that my destination.

I have one last job to do. I have to put on the suit and make my way to the communication center. If I’m lucky, then I’ll be able to reroute what little power we have left into the long-range relays.

By the time you get this, I’ll be gone. I have three percent of my air remaining, and I don’t intend to spend my last hours in this place. Enough have been lost here, so far from where we belong.

If I am going to die, then I’m going to do it under the stars.

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This is meant for you,

My greatest and closest friend, my only love

A final history of my people

Make the changes you see fit, and send the rest

Yours forever