Mistrunner 4 - Epilogue - In the Wake of Sacrifice (Patreon)

Many of you know that this is the last volume of Mistrunner.  As such, this chapter is the last in the series.  I won't claim that I'll never come back to this world.  I probably will.  But it'll be a different story.  

All things must end, and I count it a personal accomplishment that I could give this story a good conclusion.  I hope you all enjoyed it.

Patrick glanced up at the sky and smiled sadly. It had been a little more than a year since Mira’s sacrifice, and the shield around Earth remained as strong as ever. From the planet’s surface, it was only visible during the day, and even then, the visual effect was limited to giving the atmosphere a slightly more vivid color palette. Most days, Patrick didn’t even notice it at all.

But all it took was one stray thought, and he’d remember that day. Usually, that resulted in tears.

Mira’s choice might not have been necessary. There may have been other options. Patrick could barely conceive of the scope of her powers, there at the end, so neither he nor anyone else on the planet could truly criticize her decision to sacrifice herself for Earth’s protection.

Especially when it had worked.

Since that day, no aliens – save for Alistaris and his people – had been allowed onto Earth’s surface. The ones who were already there had been given the option to leave. Patrick wasn’t sure if that was the system responding to Mira’s shield, or if she’d somehow hijacked it for her own use. What was clear, though, was that if the hostile aliens chose to remain past the deadline for evacuation, they met with grisly ends.

Patrick had seen an entire city of aliens who’d had the Mist sucked right out of them. When he had found them, they had been reduced to barely-living husks that begged for death. He – along with a squad he’d formed for that very purpose – had obliged. As a result, they’d all been rewarded by the system, gaining quite a lot of progress to their levels.

For the aliens, the message was clear.

Even if they managed to find their way to the surface, they would be used for nothing more than fuel for humanity’s progression. And there was nothing any of them could do about it.

As a result, Earth had been largely left to their own devices. Certainly, there were ships hovering just above the shield. For six months, another Templar fleet fired upon the shield in the hopes they could breach it. However, their every attack served only to strengthen it. Even when some obscenely powerful mystic arrived, the results were the same. She had filled the entire atmosphere with lightning and fire, and yet, the shield held against an assault that, according to Gala, was strong enough to destroy the planet.

After that, most of the aliens had departed, leaving only a few in the area to monitor the situation. Because, from what Alistaris and Gala claimed, no one truly believed that Mira was gone. Instead, they thought that she had simply empowered the shield in some way they didn’t understand. As such, Earth’s enemies were simply biding their time until the power source ran out.

Patrick wasn’t sure that day would ever come.

After all, there was a long history of people being used as infinitely rechargeable Mist batteries. The Pacificians had done it, and the universe was full of others who’d gone down that route. It was frowned upon, certainly, but no one ever actually did anything about it. It was a sad commentary on the worth of a sapient soul that it was allowed to continue.

Regardless, that history was why Patrick expected Mira’s shield to last indefinitely. That expectation was even further supported by the fact that it seemed to harvest the Mist from any attacks leveled against it, strengthening its structure in the process.

No – the shield would remain.

Fortunately, humanity wasn’t trapped by it. If they so desired, people could leave Earth. Patrick had, visiting Earth’s closest neighbors. There was no life present, but for that month, the journey as well as the magnificent sights he’d beheld were a nice distraction. More, he’d managed to get a handle on space travel and navigation, which he would need if he ever wanted to travel to any other inhabited planets.

Or perhaps the core systems.

“She’s up there, you know,” came a familiar voice. Patrick looked back to see Gala standing slightly behind him. She continued, “I can feel her watching over us.”

“I can’t,” Patrick said, feeling tears trace lines down his cheeks. He didn’t wipe them away. What was the point? More would just come. It was the same anytime he considered Mira’s death.

Or transformation, he admitted. She might not have died. There was every chance that some part of her consciousness inhabited the shield. That’s what Alistaris and Gala insisted. Yet, that didn’t really matter – not in any practical sense. If the person Patrick loved was still alive, she would have reappeared by now. No – her sacrifice might not have been complete, but it was close enough that the distinction didn’t matter. Mira was gone. Alive or dead, she was no longer the person Patrick had loved.

“She’s up there,” Gala insisted. Then, she put her hand on his shoulder, turning him slightly. When he turned around, he saw a large box in her hand. She handed it over, saying, “We found this yesterday when we were retrofitting the Leviathan.”

Patrick took it, then flipped it over. The cube was made of metal, with a host of esoteric designs on the surface. Other than that, there was a single port meant for a personal link.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A record,” Gala stated. “I tried to access it, but it’s coded only for you.”

“Is it safe?”

Gala shrugged her huge shoulders, saying, “I don’t know. I think so, though.”

“Why? Do you have any evidence of that?” he asked.

“Just access it,” she said. “You’ll see.”

Patrick sighed. He hated it when people withheld information, but Gala had proven herself a hundred times over. She was a friend, and she only wanted what was best for him. He trusted her.

Still, he wasn’t going to access the cube immediately. He wanted privacy for that. So, he asked, “Is the ship ready?”

Gala and a few of the Dingyts had been fitting the Leviathan with new and upgraded weaponry they’d built from the harvested wreckage of the alien ships and settlements that had been left behind. Patrick had offered to help, but his class was more suited to working on personal cybernetics.

Gala went on to explain that the Leviathan’s upgrades were progressing well, and that it would be finished within a month. Other than that, she explained the other efforts to drag humanity forward. Mimicking some of the larger forces in the universe, they’d established schools and other programs meant to efficiently develop children. In addition, they had begun to build a global fleet as well as a fighting force.

Because even if Earth remained protected by the shield, they would eventually want to venture out into the universe. And for that, they would need power.

Real power.

Universal power.

Fortunately, Gala and Alistaris were well-equipped to handle that burden. Gala was a former member of one of the most elite fighting forces in the universe, so she knew their training methods as well as the level of gear they would need to be effective. Meanwhile, Alistaris had connections with the Ark Alliance that he could leverage to their advantage. The only thing missing were mystics, though there were bound to be some people who could carry that torch.

They had the tools. Now, they just needed to implement them. It was a process that would take decades. Perhaps even centuries. But that was okay. Mira had given them time. It was up to them to use it wisely.

“What about the Wildlings?” asked Patrick. “Are they still acting weird?”

“Yes,” Gala said. “All reports suggest that they’re far less aggressive.”

“Do we know why?”

Gala shook her head. “It might be natural evolution,” she stated. “Or maybe it’s something Mira did. We have no idea. Maybe the cube will help.”

He sighed. “You’re going to keep bugging me until I look at it, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“Fine. I’ll be in my quarters, then,” he said.

After that, Patrick made his way through their settlement – even though it was almost a year old, it was still rough around the edges – until he reached his house. Once he was inside, he sat in his favorite chair and pulled his personal link from the port in his artificial arm. Then, he plugged it into the cube.

Scanning…

Identity confirmed. Welcome, Patrick Ward. Auto-playing message…

“Hey, Pick,” came Mira’s voice. “I’m using the last bit of my consciousness to put this together for you. I hope you don’t mind.”

Patrick’s throat constricted, and his heart felt like it had skipped a beat.

The message went on, “Mostly, this is a record of what I went through since I got my Nexus Implant. Did you know they record everything? I didn’t. Thoughts, emotions – everything. Kind of creepy, if you ask me, but there it is, all the same. I don’t know if you have any interest in looking through all of that, but I thought I’d record it, just in case.”

“Mira? Are you there?” Patrick asked, hoping that the record was more than it seemed. The fact that it existed at all meant that Mira had survived her sacrifice. But there was no response, dashing his hopes.

Instead, the recording went on, “Mostly, though, I just wanted to say a proper goodbye. I’m sorry, Pick. I didn’t set out to do any of this. It’s just…I didn’t know any other way. In retrospect, there’s a chance I could have teleported over to the other fleet and killed everyone inside, but that was a temporary measure. There were always going to be more. I think this was the only way to ensure that Earth had a chance. That humanity would survive.

She sighed, continuing, “I’m sorry we couldn’t grow old together. I’m sorry we couldn’t explore the galaxy. The universe. I wish…I wish we’d had more time. I love you. To me, you’re the most important person on Earth. In the entire universe. So, survive. Find a way to thrive. You deserve it.”

There was a slight pause, then she said, “The shield will last for at least two centuries. More if the idiots keep feeding me Mist. But by the time you hear this, my consciousness will have been absorbed into the Mist. It’s all so…there’s so much more to it all than we ever knew. I don’t know if I believe in the afterlife. Maybe these are all just echoes. I might even be one. But I don’t think so. Regardless, I want you to understand that I’m going to a better place. I know that probably doesn’t help. You’re going to be sad no matter what. That’s inevitable. But when your time comes, Pick – I just want you to know I’ll be waiting for you with open arms. Then, we can be together for all eternity.”

Patrick’s tears continued to flow.

“Oh, and Pick? Quit moping and get to living.”

After that, the message ended, and the record laid out before him. He started it:

I tore through the ally, ignoring the trash piled against the walls as I clutched my ill-gotten gains to my chest. Behind me…

Patrick settled in to listen to Mira’s story, a small but sad smile spreading across his face as he got to hear her voice for a little while longer.