Chapter Five "The Mountain of Omega"

Simon looked up at the gigantic barrel of the Omega Space Gun. To think someone actually climbed it to the top. Must have been some climber, or someone couldn't turn back. Simon went with the more positive thought. He still held the Phi Storage Bag with some tools Ross managed to fix up despite the lack of legs.

He'd spent some time watching the WAU, talking to it and asking questions. Philosophical debates with one unspoken voice simply watching, answering in silence that spoke with thunder. Maybe the WAU would give him legs again, who knows. It got Simon this far and brought him back from the dead at Upsilon. Why? He didn't ask. He didn't want to know. He believed he was lucky to get a second chance. Knowing would break his happy lie. Is that better?

The creaking metal brought Simon back to the present.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok," he muttered to himself. The only thing he even did close to this back in Toronto was the hill Jesse wanted to topple at four in the morning. He slowly eased himself over the railing to the barrel of the gun. The helmet-light sparked up after he messed around with his back. Thus the long journey began.

Ahead of him he could see only the barrel besides that was nothing. The Abyss illuminated nothing save for the dread of what lies in it. The Leviathan was far off near the WAU acting as the last defense. Did it have a personal connection with it? He didn't want to know that either. All the faces gave him nightmares that they were actually people trapped forever in the same body, all wondering what's going on with the only bit of agreement that was there was the need for Structure Gel. It was the only thing that kept some of these creatures alive. Like those drones up at Upsilon when he first found out he wasn't...human. Who were they? What happened to them?

Along the way he found caps to oxygen tanks left behind, still floating up in the deep sea they were trapped in. The climb itself was not hard or confusing, the only challenge was his mentality about the walk. He's walked the ground of the Abyss itself, the emptiness of it didn't bother him since the path was clear with him knowing where he would be not long into it. Glasser's hut, the Light Drone Station, the tunnels near Tau, Site Tau, Alpha, Phi, he could find him. He was guided by Ross and Catherine at the time. That was then.

Now he was guiding himself, the path ahead was sightless and unknowable. Was he really going? It's been hours and yet here he still was on the barrel separating him from death. The thought of taking the dive etched at him. Scratched, scratched, scratched, scratched, scratching at his walls of resolve.

Maybe if he took the plunge…

"Stay focused," he could hear Catherine say. "Keep going. Don't lose hope. Stick to the bright side. Don't stop."

Simon pushed onward.

Another hour passed. He saw the roof of the sky and the yellow sun up where it should be. Dark clouds filled where blue should be; Simon wondered if the nights were just as beautiful from before, he hoped so. He reached out and felt his fingers break the barrier, the warmth spread as the rest of him emerged, he got through.

He was finally out. He was out.

Site Omega wasn't much in comparison to the others though there were some living areas, offices, and a kitchen. The perfect place to live out the rest of your days with the best view of a dead world. Out on the deck, when he glanced around the corner, was a body. It wasn't alone, it sat in a chair with books at their side, a bottle of alcohol, and a Power Suit up on a hook.

Simon recognized the Power Suit's markings, they were from Phi or Tau, he could never remember which one was which. But someone actually did it. Some regular old joe climbed the barrel all the way here, living out their last moments reliving what they could of their old life, of the old world. A man's flannel and jeans with the best alcohol there could be around, whiskey from Toronto, nice touch. Blood stained around their mouth and nose, their eyes closed with satisfaction, and the body relaxed one last time. Even when the world ended, someone still managed to fulfill a dream. He wished he could have had the same resolve as her.

There was one book still open resting atop their legs. It was poems by Keats, a good read for your last moments on Earth. The sun hung low in the sky, vibrant ever so still, yet it now shone light to a dead world, somewhere out there it was still on was either ash or on fire. Do the cities still stand? Does the world still have the memories of Humanity outside Pathos-II? He wondered if Toronto was still there, if his apartment still existed.

"Simon? Are you there?" Ross's voice sparked through the radio nearby. "Simon, there's a problem. Something's blowing up an old system alarm. The screen's cracked, I can't read what it says, is there something wrong? Can you confirm?"

He hobbled on over to the closest terminal:

DESCENT DETECTED.

BRACE.

BRACE.

SITE THETA: BLACKOUT POSSIBLE

SITE DELTA: BLIMP IN IMPACT PATHWAY

SITE OMEGA: INFORM SITE STAFF

BRACE

BRACE

BRACE

Simon looked out the old glass window to see a streak in the sky. Another comet? Another world ending asteroid, comet, meteor, whatever?! Was it the ARK? No, no, it was too small to be a comet or the like. Too fast to be an asteroid or a meteor. What the hell was it? It got closer and closer, larger and larger, debris broke away and landed in the ocean. It flew past him, too close for comfort, smashing all the windows with the wind and threw Simon back against the terminal.

"Simon! What was it? Si-bzzzzzzzzzz"

He rushed out to the deck to look at the floating debris passing by. A metal plate marked with the words: PATHOS-II KAPPA SATELLITE

The ground shook, the barrel wobbled a little bit, Simon lost his footing and fell back. He grabbed the foot of the Power Suit to hold on. The entire thing broke off the hook and came crashing into him. They both fell off the deck, colliding into the barrel and sliding down. He tried to grab the suit and a ledge to hold on only for him to slip. Falling into the deep sea with a large splash, slowly finding his way back down, away from the sky of Heaven, back down to the depths of Hell.

There is no greater darkness than the very thoughts and the depths they originate from when our minds are alone to think. On top of the mountain or in the depths of despair. That's what he thought as he and the suit sank back down. The view of Site Omega fading into nothing.