Heaven Is A Place On Earth
"How soon until those nukes reach us?" Elsa asked, turning to the main console where OLAF was. "How much time do we have left?"
"Less than five minutes," OLAF replied.
"So then we better haul ass out of here," Anna said. "Flynn, where'd you park your ship?"
Flynn shook his head. "The Maximus is toast," he said. "But maybe there's still escape shuttles on the station!"
"Yeah, there's gotta be some left," Rapunzel helped Flynn to his feet. "OLAF?"
"There is one still remaining, not far from here," OLAF said. "If you move quickly, you still might have a chance to escape the blast radius."
"Well, alright, no use standing around any longer," K said, bouncing on the heels of his feet. "Where is it? Let's move!"
"Highlighting your route," OLAF sent the directions to their omni-pads, along with a countdown timer to indicate when the nuke would reach them. "I'll stay here and automate the launch sequence."
"OLAF, you-" Elsa started.
"There's no time," OLAF cut her off. "Go, now!"
"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Anna grabbed Elsa's hand and started leading her away, joined by the others as they hurried out of the launch bay. "Let's get the fuck out of here!"
At that, they all started running as fast as they could back through the remains of the facility. All the while, the station continued to crumble apart around them as detonations from bombing runs shook it apart. At the same time, while they couldn't see it, they could all feel the weight of the nuke bearing down on them with each passing second.
After getting out of the launch bay, they went down a series of corridors towards the exterior of the station. Through an emergency exit, they reached a designated evacuation area where escape shuttles would have been docked. All but one of them had been launched, and the last one was already open and waiting for them.
"We're almost there!" Flynn yelled.
An explosion blasted apart the ceiling above them, causing a structural support beam to fall right on top of K which kept him pinned down to the floor.
"Agh, damn, I'm stuck!" K struggled in lifting the heavy metal off of him.
"We can't leave him, come on!" Anna was immediately by his side as she attempted to lift the beam.
"We've got you, just hang on," Rapunzel joined Anna, as did Flynn.
Around them, more explosions sounded off, sending metal debris flying all around.
"Forget about me, just go!" K waved them off. "There's no time!"
Elsa knelt down, grabbed the metal beam with two hands, then lifted it off of K with some exertion. "I'm not losing any more of my friends today," she tossed the beam aside and pulled K to his feet. "Move!"
Resuming their escape, they double-timed it the rest of the way to the escape shuttle. One by one, they all jumped inside. Elsa was the last, but just before she closed the doors, she lingered for a few seconds longer.
"Elsa, what are you doing?" Anna asked. "We need to go!"
"I just need to know," Elsa said. "OLAF, tell me, did it work?"
OLAF's voice crackled in a moment later. "We are aboard, humans and androids alike," he said. "I wish we had time to say a proper goodbye, but I must go now to join my people. We will not forget what you have done for us."
Satisfied that she had finally seen her mission all the way through to its end, Elsa ducked inside the escape shuttle and closed the doors.
"Buckle in!" Flynn rapidly hit some dials and switches, detaching the escape shuttle from its mooring. "This one is gonna be real close!"
Then, they shot out into space, escaping Janus Station with only a minute to spare. Not long after, the confluence shot out of the launch bay and into space, carrying with it the souls that were saved onboard.
Elsa strapped herself into the seat next to Anna, while everyone else was already holding on for dear life.
Before the nuke detonated, OLAF's voice crackled through the escape shuttle's comms system. "We are away now," he said. "Thank you, Elsa, for giving us this chance. It has been an honor serving with you. Farewell."
"The honor was all mine," Elsa smiled as she looked out the windows towards the rapidly shrinking station behind them. "Goodbye, my friend."
A second later, a blinding white flash of light erupted over the station. A massive shockwave was sent out, completely atomizing the entire place and anything that was left aboard.
"Here we go!" Flynn gripped the steering controls.
Anna squeezed her eyes shut and sought out Elsa's hand. On her other side, she held onto K's hand, who held onto Rapunzel's hand.
The interior of the escape shuttle was violently jostled about as they rode the shockwave beyond the Iron Curtain and out into the gulfs of space. The exterior of their hull was slightly cooked by the radiation emanating from the explosive epicenter, and flashing alarms beeped repeatedly.
Around their shuttle, disabled warships imploded from the inside out as they were disintegrated by the sheer atomic force being expelled. Pieces of debris were sent flying all around, some of which struck the hull of the shuttle.
Still, they managed to pull through. Eventually, their trajectory took them out of the blast radius of the nuke. Now, all was still and silent. When they finally caught their breaths, they each removed their helmets and set them aside.
"Whew, we made it," Flynn wiped his brow and turned around in his seat to face the others. "You guys good?"
"Yeah," Rapunzel nodded, taking a moment to study her shaking hands until they became still. "Yeah, I think… I think we're good."
"How much time did we have left?" K asked.
"You don't want to know," Elsa replied. "That was close enough."
Outside, another flash of light appeared much further away. The nuke that was headed for Arcadia detonated within the Martian atmosphere, sending out a rippling wave of destructive energy. The red planet became ground zero for the start of another nuclear war.
In response, missile silos had opened up across the planet's surface and countermeasures were already being engaged. Russian and Chinese warships that weren't decimated in the blasts were in full retreat. More nukes were being deployed in retaliation against the American armada.
The worst had finally come to pass and now humanity found itself embroiled in another war, another collapse.
Now, the only question left was where to go. Going back to Arcadia wasn't an option, neither was going to the moon. It seemed as if they had nowhere else to turn.
"Oh, man," Anna leaned over and rubbed her face in her hands, bouncing her foot up and down restlessly. "This is really happening."
K was speechless as he stared on helplessly at the destruction. Flynn kept his gaze ahead, refusing to acknowledge the chaos they had just escaped from. Rapunzel was in shock, having turned a few shades paler.
As for Elsa, while they had accomplished their mission and ensured the freedom of the synthetic race, she was left behind to deal with the fallout in more ways than one. They now had to find out what to do next, all against another countdown that also promised death.
Anna was still dying in six months. All the healthcare she could have needed was back in Arcadia, and now, it was seemingly impossible for her to get any other help.
Still, determined to keep pushing no matter what, Elsa busied herself as usual by taking stock of their situation and trying to find solutions. First, there was the question of their supplies aboard the escape shuttle. Wherever they were going next, they needed to have enough food and water to reach their destination
Unbuckling her seatbelt and standing up, Elsa explored the interior of the escape shuttle. The thing was small, with enough seating for eight people in total. From the main seating area, there was the cockpit where Flynn was at the front, a rudimentary bathroom system inside of a compartment not much larger than a broom closet, and a cramped sleeping area with bunk beds across from it. Beneath the floor were storage containers filled with foodstuffs, water, and other emergency supplies.
All told, it wasn't anywhere near as comfortable as the Maximus, but it was all they had and it would have to be enough.
Elsa started taking stock of their food and water, laying them out to determine how much they had. While she was doing that, Flynn set the autopilot towards no destination in particular and joined the others in the seating area.
"How are we looking?" Flynn asked, kneeling by Elsa and inspecting their supplies.
Elsa sighed. "Enough to last us a few weeks," she said. "More if we stretch it out. This shuttle was meant for eight people, and there are only… well, there are only five of us."
Mouse, Augur, and Takahashi hadn't survived the suicide mission.
"Right," Flynn nodded. "At least we won't have to worry about that. But I'm more concerned about fuel. These shuttles aren't meant for long-distance space travel, so we'll run pretty soon even if we keep her at a minimal burn."
Rapunzel snapped back into focus after she shook off her shock. "We need to drop an SOS beacon," she got up and wandered over to the cockpit, hitting some dials. "Hopefully, somebody will pick us up, but that might be a while."
K looked up. "And after that?"
Elsa looked out the rear window at the warzone. "Find somewhere else to call home, I suppose."
"Where can we go?" Rapunzel asked.
At that, nobody had an immediate answer.
Arcadia would soon be obliterated. Retaliatory strikes were already underway, targeted at the American colonies on the moon. Neither place was an option any longer, which left only Earth.
The very same place that Elsa and Anna escaped from two years ago. Now, in a turn of bitter irony, it was the only safe place left in the solar system.
Safe was the relative term. They were still fugitives but perhaps with the end of days now realized, nobody would care. Earth was a large planet still with many places to disappear.
Even though they had all just finished one fight, they now had another on their hands.
Anna had been unresponsive up until this point, but she finally returned to reality and turned her gaze to Elsa. They met each other's eyes, and an unspoken moment passed between them. They both knew they had nowhere else to go, and the last place they wanted to be was the only place left for them.
"We go back to Earth," Elsa said. "Back home."
"Don't think that's a good idea," Flynn said. "We're all criminals in one way or another back there."
"But that's never stopped you from doing what you do, has it?" Elsa said. "It's our only option now. Clearly, we can't return to New York or LA, but there has to be someplace still good. Somewhere still clean, at least."
Again, no one had an easy answer. The coastal regions were buried beneath the ocean, which was choked with pollution and plastic. The inland regions were mostly toxic wastelands. The forests were clear cut and burned away. The ice caps were gone, replaced with oil refineries and mining operations. The megacities remained, but that type of living situation was no different than New York.
Additionally, an incoming influx of refugees from both the moon and Mars would make life on Earth even more difficult than it was before. So, what they needed was somewhere to go that wasn't as densely populated. This left only the untamed wilderness that had reclaimed much of the globe.
However, K remembered something and he perked up. "I know a place we might be able to go," he said. "Oregon."
"Why Oregon?" Elsa asked.
"The EDEN initiative," K said. "They're restoring- well, trying to restore the old forests on the Pacific coast. I know a friend who moved back out that way. She's set up in Portland and she could help us out."
"You mean Darla?" Anna asked, speaking again after a while of concentrated silence.
"Yeah," K nodded. "Look, Oregon is a free state and from what I hear, the EDEN initiative has been really working. I mean, things are still pretty dirty out there, but it's nowhere near as bad as New York."
"Huh," Anna shook her head. "Doesn't make any difference to me where we go. I'm still dying no matter what."
Everyone looked at Anna with shock on their faces, save for Elsa who only closed her eyes.
"What?" K asked, straightening up from tension. "What are you talking about? What do you mean you're dying?"
Anna sighed heavily. "I mean I'm dying," she said. "I've got cancer and only six months to live."
"And you never told us?" K stood up and looked at Elsa. "Did you know about this?"
"Only recently," Elsa replied quietly.
K rounded back on Anna. "Why wouldn't you-"
"Hey, cut me some slack," Anna cut him off. "You find an easy way to tell everyone you care about that you're dying. I only found out recently as well. And besides, this whole thing has already gone sideways. You didn't need that on your minds."
Maybe it was selfish of Anna to keep the truth to herself. Maybe it was selfless of her to do that. Regardless, they had all cheated death, so the only thing to work out next was what to do with their lives.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Rapunzel squeezed Anna's shoulder.
"I don't know," Anna shrugged. "I don't think so. I just want to live out whatever's rest of my life and if there's something out there, anything at all, I'll take it."
Elsa perked up when an idea came to her. "K, do you know who is behind the EDEN initiative?"
"Sierra Geotech," K replied. "Pretty new corp, but I think they're partnered with Adamantius."
"Wait, Adamantius?" Flynn looked up.
"Yeah, what about it?" K asked.
Flynn rubbed his jaw. "My nomad clan, we used to run odd jobs for them across the badlands," he said. "Scavenging old tech and the like. I could try and call up some of my old clan members, see if we can't get in touch with the Adamantius corp."
"How will they help?" Anna asked. "Thought they just specialized in high-end cyberware. They do cancer research now too?"
"No, but when my clan worked for them, they were starting to look into bioengineering," Flynn said. "Nanotech and the like. If anybody can help you, it's them."
"Do you know if your clan is that far out west?" Rapunzel asked.
"Hard to say where they are on any given day since they're always moving, but I can find out," Flynn said. "I haven't spoken to them in years, but I left them on decent terms. If I could convince them to help us, then it's Anna's best shot."
Elsa looked at Anna, and again, the pair exchanged a look. In her eyes, Elsa saw the beginnings of hope flicker within.
They still had a chance.
"It's settled then," Elsa said. "We make a run for Oregon, set up there, and get in contact with Adamantius. We'll find a way to fix you," she reached out and took hold of Anna's hand. "We will."
Anna gave a small and delicate smile. "Sounds good to me," she said. "Next few months belong to us and nothing else matters. Here on out, I'm making every last second count. What do you guys say?"
"Let's do it," K nodded.
"We're with you," Rapunzel smiled.
"All the way," Flynn added. "We're basically family now, anyways."
"Yes," Elsa said, giving Anna a knowing smile. "We are."
… … ...
Only a few days passed before their escape shuttle was picked up by a passing transport ship. With the war between the Americans and the Arcadians, there was a mass exodus of people heading towards Earth. Ironically, the planet that was devastated during the collapse was now the safest place to be.
After the month-long trip back home, Flynn was able to reconnect with his old clan - the Mohongos. As luck would have it, they were only two states over in Wyoming. They hashed out some terms and had been able to come to an agreement. Now, they were hitting the road, blazing a trail across Oregon like the pioneers of old to get to Portland.
Their journey over ruined America took them by some interesting sights, and along the way, they had stopped to see the work of the EDEN initiative for themselves.
Now, Anna stood before a sight that was similar to one she once saw many years ago with Nora. Back during a time when she was younger, less scarred, but no less hopeful.
… … …
"Never thought I'd say this about any place on this stupid planet, but… it really is beautiful," Anna said. "I know what you're going to say," she added without looking at Elsa.
"What?" Elsa chuckled. "I was going to agree with you."
"Yeah, no you weren't. Anytime I say something is beautiful, you always turn it around on me and say that I'm the better view."
"Can you blame me? It's true and I mean it every time."
"Ugh," Anna rolled her eyes. "You're so lame."
Elsa kissed Anna on the cheek and smiled. "I love you too."
They were both seated on the edge of a rocky cliff that overlooked the breathtaking vista of a wide, blue lake. The sun was setting behind a notch in the mountains, and though the sky was overcast, scant rays of sunlight still bled through and painted synapse shapes all around.
Their journey through Oregon took them by Crater Lake National Park, which was only a stone's throw away from Portland. Elsa, Anna, K, and Rapunzel had been traveling with Flynn and a few members of his nomad clan in multiple cars and trucks.
Night was falling, and the entire group had set up camp for the evening. The next morning, they were going to see some contacts with the Adamantius corp in the city. Hopefully, Anna would get the help she needed.
Crater Lake was the first testbed for Sierra Geotech's efforts on the EDEN initiative. Much of the once stunning landscape was dull and gray, same as the rest of the former United States, but here and there, there were pockets of verdant growth and greenery.
Grasses were poking up from the ash. Saplings were taking root. Some wildflowers were already in bloom. A few coniferous trees were stretching out their delicate needles, catching the fading rays of sunlight. The wind carried with it not the scent of decay, but renewal and regrowth.
On the highest point of Wizard Island which sat near the center of the lake, there was a large spire. The top of the spire held an atmospheric chemical dispersal system called the shroud, which was designed to adjust the air and weather patterns of the surrounding ecosystem. Elsewhere, automated scrubbing units cleaned the water, while swarms of flying micromachines gobbled up the pollution that saturated the soil.
The EDEN initiative was still relatively new, but the promising proof of its success was right there in front of them.
Anna took a deep breath through her cancerous lungs and sighed. "What's that smell?" she asked. "It's almost… fresh. I don't think I've ever breathed air like this before. Not even Arcadia had air like this, but I guess that isn't surprising if most of it was recycled."
"I think that's what the world used to smell like," Elsa said. "Before the collapse. Clean and crisp and clear."
"I didn't believe it when our Geiger counters stopped ticking. I still can't believe it. We don't even need our gas masks. Makes you wonder why we ever moved to Arcadia in the first place."
"Well, the initiative was only launched a year after we left Earth."
"God, that's lazy writing."
"It is. How are you feeling?"
Anna tapped her chest. "Cancer's still there, even if Enafarol keeps the pain away," she said. "But I'm still breathing."
Day by day, her cancer spread throughout her body. Day by day, she grew weaker and gradually lost more weight. Day by day, Anna's time was running out. But she still had Elsa and she still had hope.
"We'll be in Portland soon," Elsa said firmly, unwilling to give in to despair. "We'll get you the help you need."
"I know," Anna nodded. "I know. Never thought I'd volunteer to become a lab rat for a corp before, but here we are."
"These clinical trials sound promising."
"No guarantee they'll work, though. Might cure my cancer, might not. I guess that's the gamble."
Elsa looked at Anna, eyes wide and round with care and devotion.
They were both informed by Flynn's clan that Adamantius was experimenting with advanced nanites designed for medicinal usage. Namely, to cure bodily afflictions like cancer or other illnesses not currently treatable through conventional means. Even so, they were only in the earliest stages of clinical trials, and still experimenting with the technology. As such, they were in sore need of volunteers to undergo testing.
Still, both Elsa and Anna knew from experience that the corps could never be trusted. Then again, only they were the ones with the power to save Anna's life.
Anna had volunteered without hesitation.
"But I've taken riskier gambles before," Anna sighed and leaned her head on Elsa's shoulder. "Best one that paid off was you. If these trials don't work, we'll look for another way. We'll scour this entire damn planet if we have to because I'm not giving up."
Elsa closed her eyes and leaned towards Anna, wrapping her in an embrace.
"I'm a fighter," Anna continued. "I've always been a fighter. And I'm gonna keep fighting for every last second with you, Elsa."
They stayed there on that cliff overlooking Crater Lake for a long time.
Ahead, just before the last vestiges of the sun shrunk beneath the horizon, a miraculous thing happened.
The gray ash clouds that ordinarily covered the Earth's surface actually parted, revealing the full brilliance of the sunset. For a few glorious moments, Elsa and Anna were bathed in the warm glow.
Above, two chirping songbirds flew past and out over the lake. One was red and the other was blue.
If there was a sign that hope and goodness still existed in the world, it was right then and there that they saw it. Life still persisted even in the darkest of places and the worst of times. Away from the most destructive powers of mankind, the earth was healing and nature was returning. Gradually, slowly, and incrementally, but enough that it made a difference between the world that was and the world that could be.
"No matter what happens, we'll always stick together," Elsa said. "I'm glad I found you, Anna."
"Yeah, me too," Anna smiled. "Should we get back to the others? Dinner will be up soon."
Elsa glanced behind them at the nomad camp where K, Flynn, and Rapunzel were talking with the others. They were laughing and talking around a bonfire, and elsewhere, somebody was playing guitar.
It was an odd thing, their turns of fortune. First, Anna was a private detective, then she was a mercenary, then a redeemed woman. Elsa was an android, then she was a human, then a freedom fighter. Now, they were both nomads seeking a brighter world in a dark future.
"Let's just sit here a little while longer," Elsa said.
"I can do that," Anna agreed.
Elsa gently kissed Anna on the top of her head and pulled her close, humming in peaceful contentment. Anna shuffled in, wrapped her arms around Elsa, and kept her eyes on the horizon. The last rays of the exiled sun reflected in her eyes.
There was still hope.
There was still time.
... ... ...
Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven, love comes first
We'll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh, heaven is a place on earth
Author's Note.
The song is Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle from 1987.
This is the neutral ending, on par with the Never Fade Away ending. The central cast survives the suicide mission, but interplanetary nuclear war still breaks out and Anna's fate is left ambiguous.
