The command center felt like a tomb. The constant hum of failing electronics mixed with the heavy silence of everyone being in shock. The main screen showed the Obelisk, standing there like a silent, stone god. Smaller screens showed replays of their failed defense against the sphere rain. The air was heavy, smelling like ozone and stale coffee.
Aris leaned heavily against a console, feeling a phantom hum in his skull. It was like a persistent drill. The psychic pressure had lessened, but it left him feeling raw, like his nerves were exposed. Kaito stood a few feet away, unusually quiet. He was studying the data from their disastrous field trip, looking grim.
The heavy door hissed open, and Commander Rostova walked in. The composed commander from before was gone, replaced by someone harder and sharper. Her eyes swept the room, skipping over Kaito and landing on Aris like a targeting laser.
"Well, Doctor," she started, her voice dangerously calm. "Your little trip got us a result. Congrats. You caused another seeding event. Now we have twice the number of spheres buried in a five-kilometer area." She put her hands flat on the central table, leaning forward. "The debate is over. We're done with just watching."
Aris pushed himself up, meeting her gaze. "And what does that mean, Commander? What's the next step in your plan when containment doesn't work?"
"Digging and getting rid of them," she said, her words short. "We drill. We put tactical nuclear charges right under the Obelisk and around where the spheres are most concentrated. We burn the earth."
A cold dread washed over Aris, separate from the Obelisk's influence. "You can't be serious. You don't know what that energy would do to the Obelisk itself. It could set off a disaster. It could be exactly what it's waiting for—a way to see what we can really destroy."
"Or it could turn the whole thing into nothing," Rostova replied. "It's a machine, Thorne. A big one. But everything can be broken."
"A machine?" Kaito's head snapped up, his voice full of a passion that seemed to overcome his fear. "With all respect, Commander, that's a simple view. What we saw wasn't just mechanics; it was almost a dance. The energy it took for that spin, how precise the spheres were placed… it's amazing! We're talking about tech that changes what we know about physics, and your plan is to hit it with a nuke? That's not a plan; it's a fit of anger!"
Rostova's eyes narrowed. "This is not a class, Tanaka. That 'marvel' is slowly killing a protected biosphere. It's a weapon. My job is to get rid of threats, not admire their tech."
"And my job is to figure it out!" Kaito shot back, waving his hands. "A bomb means we learn nothing! What if it's not a weapon? What if we're wrong about what it's for? What if it's… changing the earth? Or getting resources for a long trip? Blowing it up is the one thing we can't undo!"
"It turned a city to dust," Aris said, his voice quiet but cutting through their argument. He looked at Kaito, his eyes haunted. "It's a harvest. You saw the data. You felt the pressure. Don't let what interests you hide what it does."
"And don't let what happened to you hide what it could do!" Kaito replied, the words hanging in the air, sharp and unforgiving.
The room went silent. Aris flinched as if he'd been hit.
Rostova broke the silence, her eyes on Aris. "He's right, Doctor." She stood up straight, her posture stiff. "You think I hired you for your smart, even if desperate, ideas? Your papers were a cover story. The real reason you're here, the only reason, is marked in red in your GORCI file: 'Sole Survivor, Jakarta Draw.'"
Aris felt like he was falling. The secret he'd kept, the shame and fear he'd tried to forget in the Highlands, had been known all along.
"I knew when the first Obelisk showed up that we were facing something we couldn't understand," Rostova continued, her tone practical. "I needed someone who had been there. Not someone who read about it, but someone whose brain had been changed by it. Your 'episodes,' Thorne, aren't a problem to me. They are the only sensor we have. You're not just a consultant. You're a warning. And today, you warned us."
The truth hit him hard. He wasn't important for his mind, but because he was damaged. He was a living Geiger counter for dangers.
Kaito looked at him, his anger replaced by a growing, horrified understanding. "You… you never said…"
"It's not something you say," Aris whispered, giving up.
Rostova looked at both of them, the veteran and the rookie, one broken by the truth, the other just starting to understand it. "The decision is made. Bombing plans are being made. You have a day to give me a better idea. Use what you know, Thorne. Use your interest, Tanaka. Find a weakness. A way that doesn't cause a disaster. If not, I will burn this forest to save the country."
She turned and left, the door closing behind her with a solid thud.
The silence she left was worse than before. Kaito finally looked at Aris, his face showing a mix of apology and awe. "I didn't know."
Aris didn't answer. He was staring at the live feed of the Obelisk, but he was seeing Jakarta. He was a warning. And as the familiar, cold pressure started to stir again, he knew that the mine was getting deeper, and they were running out of air.