"Course 0-0-4, dash 7. Enter a geostationary orbit".
"Course 0-0-4, dash 7 confirmed. Arrival in twelve minutes.", A mechanical sounding voice comes from the speakers around the captain's seat. On the left side of the bridge, a couple of doors open, and two excited humans wearing lab coats come running onto the bridge.
"AAAAAAHH!", the first person exclaims, completely beside herself in anticipation, "I saw we're approaching the planet. Uhh, Doug, I'm so excited..."
She jumps up and down, full of energy.
"Calm down Kate... This is just another scouting mission, just like the last one. And the one before that. And the one before that...", the second person in a lab coat states, far less anticipatory than his colleague. The captain turns to both of them.
"Professor Unsi, Professor Smith... Welcome to the bridge. And yes, indeed, we'll be there shortly.", the captain announces, to which Doug grumbles.
"Took us long enough... Two months with only four people on the whole ship... Just one more day and I would have gone nuts."
"Professor Unsi, did you really sign up for this opportunity just to whine all the time about how much everything sucks?", Doug doesn't reply to that, but gives the captain a pissed off look, "I suppose you could start loading your gear into the shuttle in the hangar bay..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I'm leaving already... Geez…", he utters in defeat, before turning around, and leaving the bridge again. Now only the captain and Professor Smith are present there.
/
"So, Professor...", the captain begins, catching Kate's attention, "I take it that you'd like to see the planet in full size, am I right?"
Kate nods energetically. The captain smiles slightly.
"Computer, bring up planet AMP-103a on the main screen!"
On the screen that is in front of the captain, a few meters in front of him, and so far, was just showing status diagrams and a three-dimensional map of the planetary system, disappear, and the planet appears, taking up a large part of the two-meter-high and three-and-a-half-meter-wide screen.
"Wow...", Kate whispers softly to herself, "That moment when you see a new planet for the first time with your own eyes, instead of just on maps, diagrams, and sensor images... Indescribable..."
"And that's exactly why I signed on with the exploration fleet. That's one of my highlights, too..."
Both of them look at the screen in front of them for a short while, fascinated, until the captain's AI assistant speaks up.
"Environmental analysis complete. Planet AMP-103a's atmosphere is 87.92% nitrogen, 10.03% oxygen, 2% iron, and 0.05% exotic gases. Temperature at landing zone: 278.15° Kelvin.", Kate frowns at that report.
"Computer, please confirm: did you say 2% iron?"
"Affirmative."
"Is something wrong?"
"It is unusual to find iron in the atmosphere from M-class planets..."
"Well, that's what you're here to investigate, Professor. So, what do we know about this planet?"
Kate pulls out a mobile hologram generator from a pocket of her lab coat, which she briskly turns on. It projects a three-dimensional, transparent, rotating image of the planet.
"Um... Planet AMP-103a was discovered about forty years ago by a commercial freighter that was dodging a large ion storm. Eight years ago, the Committee for Colony Establishment had considered it as a possible site for colonization-"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Huh?"
"I asked, what do we know about the planet itself?"
"Oh... Actually, we don't know very much. The surface measures 460 million square kilometers, according to calculations, and a good 70% of it is covered with water. There are two continents... Heh, one of them looks a bit like a water lily...", the captain snaps once, "Oh, yeah, right, sorry. Um... In the north-western hemisphere, near the water lily continent, there are remains of a massive crater."
"How massive?"
"It measures about a quarter of the total surface area of the planet. I can't say exactly what formed it."
"Alright, that's fine."
"Destination reached.", the AI assistant announces.
"I... should make my way down towards the shuttle. Doug always gets impatient so quickly."
"Go ahead. Hope you enjoy yourselves down there."
"Thank you, Captain."
/
"Where have you been? I've been waiting here for you for ten minutes...", Doug says with a deprecating tone.
"Calm down. I still had to get the carbon dating device from my lab.", she casually explains herself with the device in her hand.
"Oh yeah, the carbon dating device, sure... And what's that in your other hand?", he asks annoyed. She raises her other hand as if asking if he means that hand. He nods.
"That' s a bucket.", she explains.
"A bucket?"
"Yes... Don't tell me you've never seen a bucket before...", he looks at her fiercely, "It's a thing you can carry other things in. It also has a handle..."
"Get in.", he just growls. She doesn't bother to hide her grin as she follows him into the yet spacious shuttle. The folding door closes behind her, and she makes her way to the small cockpit in the front compartment.
"I guess you've put your gear in the storage compartment?"
"Yup. Not sure what we'll find down there. I like to be prepared for any eventuality.", Doug's voice has lost all bite and the professional in him comes out. He sits down in the pilot's seat and Kate makes her way to the seat next to him, from which it is possible to access all of the shuttle's sensors and protective measures should that be necessary.
"Very good."
"Okay, now please take a seat… which you're already sitting in… Umm, we are about to take off- now."
The shuttle has just left the protective force field of the shuttle bay and set course for the planet, when Kate frantically starts to operate the sensors.
"So... What do you think we'll find down there?", she asks as she operates the consoles in front of her.
"Not much. At least there's been no sign of intelligent life so far...", he notices Kate frowning, "There's no radio traffic and overall, no one has responded to comm attempts... Maybe there's some wildlife you can make friends with..."
She continues to frown, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with him.
"Okay, what is it?", he asks.
"I just sent out some topographic probes to give me a 3D relief of the planet...", she states as she drifts off.
"And?"
"At the water lily continent, in the south, there's a valley surrounded by a mountain range. Fly over there.", she instructs him.
"Okay...", he confirms in a vague tone and changes course. The shuttle enters the planet's atmosphere, "What's there?"
"It seems like some kind of settlement..."
"Life signs?", he wonders.
"Can't tell until we get out of the turbulence...", she states.
"I guess this trip is going to be more interesting than I thought... Anything else worth noting? More settlements?"
"No. The probes aren't out of the valley yet.", Kate leans forward to look out the front window, "A lot of it is covered by trees. Outside the valley, though, that is, behind the mountain range, everything seems a little... I don't know, gray. Especially towards the crater..."
"Crater?", he asks.
"Don't tell me you didn't look out the window once back on the ship..."
"I was... busy packing, okay?"
Silence fills the cockpit cabin as Kate sits back down and continues to operate the shuttle sensors, and Doug struggles to keep the shuttle steady and counteract the air turbulence.
"Okay, we're through now. Scan for life signs now.", he suggests.
"Nothing.", she says disappointedly after about a minute, "Nothing but vegetation."
"Planet-wide?", he inquires.
"Nah, just this continent...", she replies crestfallen.
"Well... Can you send me over the coordinates of this settlement? We can set up camp there while we look around a bit.", he suggests. He has managed to bring a small smile to Kate's face. She slumps back in her chair as the shuttle settles into a horizontal position.
"What would I do if you weren't here?", she asks sarcastically.
"Well, you probably would have been traveling with someone else... Or worse, alone.", he jokes as the shuttle comes in for a landing.
"Of course... I mean, you have a husband waiting for you at home. But no, you fly with your sister to the end of the galaxy to explore new worlds...", she notes jokingly.
"Patrick himself is also traveling and playing the archaeologist... Or he's with his brother and nephew... Anyway, he's busy too."
"Alright...", and with a 'clonk' and a little hop, the shuttle has landed on the planet.
Kate immediately jumps up from her seat and runs to the shuttle door, just until Doug stops her.
"STOP!", he yells.
"What?"
"Atmosphere check. Remember? You have to follow protocol...", he reminds her, but she just rolls her eyes.
"87.92% nitrogen, 10.03% oxygen, 2% iron, and 0.05% exotic gases. Temperature is planetary average 5°C.", she verbally throws at his face with smug grin. He's not satisfied yet, though.
"And the local temperature? Potential toxins in the environment?", he argues, "Put on protective gear!"
Kate knows for a fact that Doug is right. However, right now she is unwilling to acknowledge that. Instead, she just turns without a word and heads ahead into the storage area to put on her protective gear. He follows her about half a minute later after she hears the engines being shut down.
The protective suits consist of a coverall made of white nano-carbon fibers, supported by a lightweight metal exoskeleton, which protects her not only from potential environmental hazards, but also attacks of various kinds. Suits of this type come in many forms, depending on the level of danger researchers face. The protective suits Doug and Kate equip themselves with are designed for a low threat level, and offer enough storage space for all kinds of portable equipment. In addition, a helmet, the front half of which is almost completely sealed by an invisible force field, which does not restrict direct communication among each other, but still filters the air.
Right after both of them had finished changing, they are now both standing in front of the shuttle door, which is slowly opening.
"Okay, why are you carrying the bucket?", Doug asks.
"Well for the carbon dating device. It won't fit in my pockets.", Kate replies.
"And the shovel is for..."
"Soil samples."
"All right.", Doug dismisses the subject, they both take out their mobile scanners, and they exit the shuttle. Immediately, even before exiting the shuttle, it is clear that Kate's assumption is correct. In front of them are structures that are definitely artificial in origin. Kate is completely out of her mind with excitement about this finding and runs at it.
"Uhhh huhuhu", Kate exclaims joyfully as she kneels on the ground in front of a dilapidated wall, and has replaced her scanner with a camera, with which she busily takes photos. Doug catches up and begins scanning.
"This is definitely not exclusively natural decay...", he observes. Kate jumps up and approaches the remains of a building, much of which is overgrown with vines.
"Multi-story building structure consisting of... Clay? No. Wood?", she wonders, until Doug arrives, still with his scanner in his hand.
"Both is correct. It appears to have a wooden skeleton, which has been reinforced with clay and dried mud."
"Is it possible to find out what this used to be?", she asks, but he ponders.
"Hmm... no. The building is too badly damaged for that..."
"You mean dilapidated."
"No, damaged. Something has purposely destroyed this. It's been ages though...", she frowns at that.
"Let's keep looking. Maybe we can find out what this place was..."
/
For a good three more hours, they both wander through the abandoned village, reclaimed by nature. On their exploration, they have found several items that Kate has estimated to be at least two thousand years old, suggesting that they society that once lived here was probably of a late-medieval level of development. Among the finds are porcelain dishes, copper coins, and even paper, the inscriptions of which, unfortunately, were no longer legible. There are two things, however, that make the two scientists wondering. On the one hand, there is damage to almost all buildings caused by laser or plasma weapons. The second thing are the corpses. Or rather the lack of them. Was the village under attack, after it was abandoned? Were the bodies taken away somewhere, and if so, by whom? They have not been able to find a cemetery. Animal life has not been detected either by previous scans for life signs. Were the inhabitants perhaps abducted and taken?
Doug gradually wanted to finish exploring and finally start working, however Kate was able to convince him that they should look at one last ruin, hoping to find something interesting there.
"Uhh, that's so cool...", Kate exclaims.
"It's a stump."
"Yeah, but look how big it is. About eight meters at least. Imagine how big the rest must have been..."
"Mhm.", Doug hums disinterestedly.
"Fine. I'm going in and you're welcome to wait out here.", defiantly, Kate trudges away towards the hole in the tree trunk she has identified as a possible entrance.
Kate stops abruptly inside the house, taking in the scene. In general, this house is in much better condition than the rest of the village. Although the ceiling has collapsed here as well, however, a certain structure of the house is recognizable.
The ground seems to be made of very thick, though partly rotten, wooden boards. On all walls grow various fungi and there are the beginnings of a staircase to an upper floor to recognize, whose remains in front of her on in rubble disappeared. Near the entrance, she discovers a closed hatch in the floor, which she carefully opens.
'A basement? A storage area?' she wonders to herself inwardly, as her scanner's anomaly detector sounds an alarm. 'Huh, plastic? Where?'
Kate's gaze flashes across the room until it lingers on a magenta pink object that appears to be hidden under a crate. She moves the box aside and a surprisingly intact plastic backpack appears. She opens it and widens her eyes as she takes in its contents.
"DOUG!", Kate yells with all her strength. Doug comes running.
"What's going on?", he asks tensely. Kate holds a rather faded photo in her hand, which she shows to Doug.
"Please tell me how it could be that humans have been out here!", Kate demands with an inquiring tone. Doug climbs down to her to examine the photo himself. The photo shows three human teenage girls making different poses.
Hastily, Kate scans the photo and loads the data into the carbon-dating device.
"Two thousand years.", is all she says at first.
"No way."
"Doug, I'm telling you; this photo is two thousand years old. Like everything else here... How is it that humans could be on a planet, at the end of the galaxy, two thousand years ago?"
Instead of answering, however, Doug hastily types on his own scanner. He seems to have found something odd, as he climbs back up with a frown on his forehead, probably looking for something. Curious, and still with the backpack in her hand, she follows him, watching as he digs through the rubble inside the house.
He keeps digging and digging... until he suddenly stops. He must have found what he was looking for. He sighs sadly before picking up the object and showing it to Kate. It's a human skull.
"Oh no...", she whispers.
Doug carefully sets the skull aside, before continuing to dig.
A short time later, he finds a golden breastplate, adorned with blue ornaments, along with more bones. And a second skull. And a third one.
With a sad heart, Kate watches as her brother digs up more and more bones, as well as old, partially decayed scraps of textiles. She can't help but look at the photo again and again. These three girls somehow ended up in this world and...
"They died here.", Kate says slowly, no louder than a whisper. Doug turns to her, but doesn't really know what to say. "How old were they when they died?"
Doug picks up his scanner and scans each of the three skulls.
"They were between... thirteen and fifteen years old at the time of their deaths. I'm afraid I can't be more specific than that after so long...", he replies. Both of them share a moment of silence.
"Doug...", Kate begins, "Did you, by any chance, pack a DNA hologram generator?"
"Nononono... Kate, please don't tell me you're planning to do what I think you're planning to do...", he pleads.
"Did you bring it, yes or no?"
"Yes.", is all he replies. He can tell by the look on Kate's face that she was definitely hoping for a different answer. She sighs heavily.
"Please get it from the shuttle. We need to bring them back.", she orders, deliberately averting her gaze from both the three skulls, as well as the picture.
Doug leaves the house for about fifteen minutes, and when he returns, he is carrying four, each a meter long, cylinder-shaped devices under one arm, and a small, silver-colored box under his other arm. When he re-enters the house, he immediately notices that Kate hasn't moved a bit from her spot during the time Doug has been gone.
"I'm back...", Doug announces himself guardedly. Kate merely hums in reply. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Fuck no.", she snaps her gaze towards Doug, "I mean, we're about to bring back the ghosts of three children who died in here, thousands of years ago, quite possibly in excruciating agony..."
"We... don't have to do this-"
"Yes, we do, Doug. We have to. You of all people, as an exo-archaeologist, should know that we have to examine unusual human remains. And our mission dictates that we must assess the viability of this planet... We have to talk to them, as cruel as that may be...", she argues. It's not entirely clear, however, exactly who she's trying to convince. Doug, or herself. He recognizes how much she's struggling with herself right now.
"Look... If you think we need to do this, we will. But... I'll do the talking, you watch the tech.", Doug prompts.
"Y-Y-Yeah... Probably better that way. The deceased are your area of expertise, not mine.", she states, accepting two of the cylindrical devices Doug holds out to her.
Kate climbs over the debris pile and places the two devices at two far corners of the room. Doug does the same on the other side. She climbs back again, and sees that he has already set up the silver-colored box.
"Okay, the pattern containment units are set up. The area should definitely be big enough that they shouldn't feel too cramped.", Kate reports to him, joining his side.
"Very good. Um... Tell me, have you ever dealt with ghosts at all?", he asks, to which Kate shakes her head.
"Never, and I had very much hoped that I would never be in a situation where I would have to deal with ghosts."
"You do know they're not actually ghosts, right?"
"Like the details matter... It's just wrong. Wrong and dangerous...", she states with complete conviction, to which Doug just rolls his eyes, "Oh please, you know full well that the ghosts can be unpredictable. Just think of the massacre on Mars in 3510."
Doug sighs heavily. "And that's what the containment units are for... Let's just continue, okay?"
Doug proceeds to remove pieces of the machine and spread them out in front of him. He pairs both his scanner and Kate's scanner with the machine, before asking her to place the first of the girls' skulls on a recess on the top of one of the detached parts. Kate is more than uncomfortable with this, but does as he requested, if only to get all of this over with as quickly as possible.
Doug activates the DNA hologram generator, which emits a soft but succinct humming sound. A lower hum now also emanates from the containment units, and one by one, a blue light turns on at the top of each cylinder, one after the other, to signal that these units are now activated as well. Each of the devices sends out a beam of light to the other two, immediately to the right and left of them, which then extend up and down to form a transparent wall that glows slightly blue.
"Okay, the field is active. Now, please step back. We don't know where the ghosts will appear.", Doug orders, and both of them take a few steps back from the generator, watching for any sign of movement within the room.
/
For several minutes, nothing happens. Not until...
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!", a blood freezing cry of pain comes bursting from the debris pile. The two scientists are startled violently, but quickly catch themselves again.
"What- where am I? I can't see anything.", the same new voice speaks, sounding confused and frightened.
"Oh shit.", Doug mutters in a panic, dashing forward to the pile. "Kate, watch the displays!"
"Who is this? Who are you?", the voice asks.
"Don't worry, I'll help you.", Doug assures her, and hastily begins clearing away the pile of rocks, dirt, and wood, until he notices a transparent blur of blue in the debris. He frees the first girl from the pile, who at first looked completely terrified, but is now looking at Doug rather confused.
"Thank you...? You guys are... You are... Humans...", she states in a whisper. Kate's gaze remains on the generator, and Doug nods at her, a sad smile on his face. "Hey... I'm Anne-"
Anne extends a hand to him, but freezes in that pose moments later with horror-flooded eyes, as she glances at her hand. It is transparent and faded in color. Slowly, she moves her hands to her face to examine them. She looks down at herself and sees that she is wearing her old school uniform. It, too, is transparent and through it, she can see the floor on which she kneels. Doug watches her with a sympathetic look, while Kate does her best not to look at her.
Anne runs a few fingers to her other hand to test if she has mass and can touch herself. She can. Her gaze now wanders for the first time through the remains of the room she is in. Tears seem to form in her eyes. The holes in the walls and roof, the debris on the floor, the rotten wood and all the mushrooms on the walls... Her eyes finally fall on Kate and the apparatus she is working on.
And on the skulls.
Anne falls backwards to the floor in shock, her body completely trembling. She hyperventilates. Her gaze falls back to Doug.
"What... what's going on here? Who are you? What have you done to me?", Anne accuses him. Doug sighs sadly and kneels on the floor in front of her at a respectable distance, while she presses her own back against some kind of wall.
"Anne is your name, right?", he asks gently. She nods hesitantly. "You... Um... I'm sorry, but you're... dead." Anne freezes again in shock, but also disbelief.
"This can't- But I- ... How? Why?", she stammers.
"I know this is hard to comprehend, and you can take all the time in the world you need... My name is Doug, by the way. That's my sister Kate back there."
"I'm... dead? A-And... that's m-my skull there?"
"Unfortunately, yes.", Doug replies, and Anne's breath falters again.
"And- and that next to it are..."
"The other two girls."
Silence fills the room as Anne's gaze lingers on the three skulls lying just a few meters away from her. She feels like screaming. And crying. And hoping that this is all a nightmare, and she'll wake up soon. However, none of this happens. She just sits there, staring at the skulls.
After several minutes of silence, Doug turns to Kate.
"Kate, please prepare number two.", she nods in affirmation. Anne's gaze snaps to him.
"What?", she asks.
"If you don't have any objections, we'll get the other two girls to join you as well. You might be able to help lessen the shock for them."
"Tze... I'm kind of in the middle of figuring out what's going on here myself... But... I do miss them."
Doug recognizes an opportunity to make the situation a tiny bit more comfortable for the frightened girl.
"Can you tell me about them? Who are they?", he asks sounding curious. A small smile springs up on Anne's face.
"Sasha and Marcy. My best friends in the whole world... Well, two worlds."
"Two worlds?", he asks.
"Well, Earth and Amphibia."
"That's the name of this planet? Amphibia?", though being somewhat scaptical, Anne hums in confirmation.
"Well, at least before-", Anne is interrupted by Kate reporting.
"Number two is prepared. Beginning... now."
This time there is no need for the two scientists to step aside in any way. After all, they know now where the girls will show up. Expectantly, Doug and Anne look to where she herself has just emerged.
"It's going to take a little while for your friend to show up. Was the same with you.", he comments.
"What is all this stuff anyway?", Anne asks, trying to distract herself.
"That box there is a DNA hologram generator, and the four cylinders there make sure that you and your friends can move freely in this room.", he explains as simply as possible.
Anne was about to comment on this information when a familiar sounding voice throws her off track.
"Anne?", Anne turns to her right and recognizes the second girl in the room. Same age, blonde hair, wearing the same school uniform. Anne dashes forward and throws herself into the other girl's arms with tears in her eyes.
"Oh my frog, SASHA!", she exclaims happily as she hugs the other girl tightly. Hesitantly, she accepts the hug and returns it. She looks at Anne in confusion as the hug breaks apart again.
"Anne?", she asks with a worried tone, "Why can I see through you? And... Aren't we supposed to be dead?"
"You are.", Doug speaks, which seems to startle her. She pushes Anne behind her and goes to reach for something specific, but only finds air.
"Fuck! Where are my swords?"
Anne puts her hands reassuringly on her shoulders. "It's okay, Sash... It's all right..."
"What's going on here? Who is that?", she asks sounding quite aggressive.
"Sasha, this is Doug and Kate. They say they are scientists. And we're... we're actually dead."
"Oh...", Sasha's aggression instantly disappears and is replaced by sadness. "Where- Where's Marcy?"
Anne points to the three skulls connected to the device Kate is working on. Immediately seeing the skulls, she drags her gaze away again, and back to Anne.
"Are those...?"
"Yes.", Anne replies, to which Sasha takes a nervous breath. Sasha turns her back to Doug.
"Okay, so you're saying we're dead, you're scientists... Are you guys human?", she demands to know.
"That's correct. My sister and I are both from a country you probably know as Canada.", Doug replies.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Instead of Doug or Kate, another, fifth voice speaks up.
"This is the future, Sash.", both girls, both scientists turn to the third girl that has now appeared. She has black hair, in which sits a small, green hair clip, and, like the other two, she wears the same school uniform. She sits on the floor by the blue light wall, her knees drawn up to her chest, and her gaze fixed on her feet. "Hundreds, maybe tens of thousands of years in the future..."
"Oh Marcy...", Anne and Sasha say at the same time, walking over to the third girl and kneeling on the floor in front of, and beside her. She raises her head, but instead of looking at her friends, her eyes meet Doug's.
"We didn't make it, did we? We're dead...", she states, her voice utterly broken. She doesn't wait for an answer, but just buries her head in her knees again.
Anne turns her gaze from Marcy back to Doug.
"Say, what year is it?", she asks.
"4140.", he replies.
"Dead for more than two thousand years...", Sasha says.
"My mom... dad... We- we just wanted...", Anne can't bring herself to finish that thought before the bursts into tears again. Sasha puts her arm around Anne and gently rests her head on her shoulder. However, she doesn't do this before lifting her head back up to Doug and looking directly at him.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Why did you bring us back?"
A feeling of guilt spreads through his heart.
"As I said before, Kate and I are scientists. This planet was chosen as a possible site for human colonization, and we should check if it is really suitable. We are here to conduct an TBA. A threat-benefit-analysis."
"Tell whoever sent you to stay the hell out of here!", Sasha demands in a serious voice.
"I... understand."
"No, you don't.", Sasha snaps at him, "None of you were here when... when..."
"When?", Kate suddenly asks, noticing how much Sasha struggles to finish that sentence. Anne wipes some of the holographic tears from her face, and turns to the two of them.
"How many survived? How many life forms are there on this planet?", Anne demands to know. Doug and Kate look at each other with heavy hearts. "I see... It's all my fault. I let them all die..."
"Don't say that!", Sasha demands, "You couldn't have done anything else."
Anne starts listing names.
"Hop Pop, Sprig, Polly, Maddie, Ivy, Wally, Mrs. Croaker, Loggle, Stumpy, Mayor Toadstool, Toadie-"
"Okay, that's enough," Sasha argues. However, Marcy now continues.
"Grime, Yunan, Olivia, Joe-"
"STOP!", Sasha screams. Kate now interjects.
"What exactly happened? Do you know how you died?"
"It was the moon.", Anne replies with a heavy heart.
"This planet doesn't have a moon...", Doug comments confusedly, but suspecting where this is going.
"Not anymore..."
"All our lives I have followed you, counted on you and trusted you. Now it is your turn to follow my example. I ask you. Let me do this."
"Anne...", Marcy says through tears.
"But... But...", Sasha stammers, also with heavy tears in her eyes. Both Sasha and Marcy throw themselves forward to Anne and hug each other tightly.
"Not sure how this'll go, so, you better get out of here."
"You'd better come back alive, Boonchuy. I swear to frog, YOU'D BETTER!", the last part echoes in the room as Sasha and Marcy are both taken back to the surface.
They had let me have their gems, and I now had all three. Mother Olm had told me what I had to do to save the planet, my friends, my family.
"Mother Olm said all I had to do was ask, so, I'm asking... can you help me save the world I love?", she asks, pressing the gems against her heart. Her hands begin rumbling and she opens them, only to see all three hovering just above her hands. Seconds later, they begin to dissolve.
"What? Nononono...", she begins to panic. She desperately tries to capture the individual pieces again. Unsuccessfully. With no other ideas, she looks back and forth between the approaching moon and the planet panic-stricken, until suddenly an idea comes to her. She gasps.
"Wait... It must have an engine. I can destroy that."
So, I flew around the moon and there were indeed thrusters there, pushing it at full power towards Amphibia. And in fact, I was able to destroy all the engines before I flew back and tried to slow the moon down. But my powers didn't last that long, unfortunately...
"What happened then?"
"I can fill you in on that.", Marcy speaks up.
Anne had sent Sash and me back down, and we had watched it all happen. We saw her fly around the moon, as well as the explosions at the engine.
"What's happening up there?", Sasha asks, watching the bright blue of Anne's powers diminish, and gradually move away from the moon.
"She's... I think she's falling.", Marcy guesses.
And so it was. We saw a first blue, then red blur in the sky as she re-entered the atmosphere. Sasha immediately activated her remaining powers and flew up to her to intercept her before she hit the ground.
"I... I'm sorry.", Marcy apologizes to the residents of Amphibia who are standing around her, utterly devastated. "I'm so very sorry..."
I activated the rest of mine too and flew after them. They landed here in the Valley, and I had seen Sasha carrying Anne here into the house.
"What's wrong with her?", Marcy asks, even as she enters the door to the Plantars' house. Her heart stops short as she sees Sasha trying to get Anne's heart pumping again.
"Her heart stopped. Don't just stand there like that. Help me!", Sasha screams with tears in her eyes. Marcy dashed forward to her side at the same time as Anne regains consciousness. Instead of rejoicing, however, Anne immediately begins to cry. She grabs Sasha's shirt, pulls herself up to her, and hugs her as tight as she can.
"It... didn't work.", she confesses between sobs, "I failed."
Sasha and Marcy's eyes now begin to water as well.
"That means we... we...", Marcy now throws herself into the hug as well, definitely crying the loudest.
"I... I... I don't wanna die...", Marcy cries.
"I love you guys. Really...", Anne confesses through tears, "You guys mean the world to me. If I'm going to... you know, there's no one I'd rather be with than you guys."
"Shut up Boonchuy!"
"I mean it. Sasha, Marcy... I love y-"
"And that was it."
Silence fills the room for several minutes. No one knows exactly how to respond.
"... The Core crashed the moon into the planet...", Doug breaks the silence, "... and wiped out all life..."
The three girls nod.
"You can't let everything that's left, be wiped out.", Anne pleads, "Please."
Everyone in the room looks at him expectantly. He sighs.
"I... will see what I can do...", he merely says, which doesn't necessarily satisfy them three girls. Kate speaks up.
"We could impose a level 9 quarantine around the planet...", she suggests.
"That would be nice.", Anne replies before her gaze wanders to the three skulls. "I have one more wish, though..."
"We can't keep you active, I'm afraid.", Doug clarifies ruefully. Anne shakes her head.
"No, I don't want that either. Umm, in the middle of the continent is -well, used to be- a city. It would be nice if you buried us there.", Anne wishes. Doug and Kate look at each other, then back at the girls.
"Sasha, Marcy, would you like that too?", he asks, to which they nod.
"We promised to protect this world. We failed, and they died without us. I would want to be with the ones I loved."
"I agree."
"All right.", Doug agrees, "I think, we can grant you that wish."
"Thank you.", Anne says, still with tears in her eyes. Doug nods before turning to Kate. "You can turn off the generator."
Kate walks back to the generator as Doug observes the three girls saying goodbye to each other. They have all stood up and are holding each other tightly in their arms.
"I love you guys, and I'm going to miss you so much.", Anne says under tears.
"You're repeating yourself, Boonchuy.", Sasha says, to which Anne chuckles briefly.
"I love you guys too.", Marcy mutters.
/
The three of them remain in this position for several minutes, until Kate shuts down the generator, and the figures of the three girls fade out into the nothingness.
"They were able to say goodbye to each other...", Doug states, his gaze still focused on the spot where until just a moment ago the three girls stood, himself now struggling with tears as well. "A lot of others can't do that."
"I said earlier that this whole thing was wrong, and I have to apologize for that. I was wrong. This was beautiful."
The two siblings now share a hug themselves.
"Okay... We should clean up, and leave.", he says shortly after.
"Are you going to stick with it? The quarantine?", Kate asks as Doug gathers the bones.
"It would be better."