《Spheres》 0 - Prologue ¡°Line up.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this.¡± ¡°¡­Line up.¡± ¡°Please, please, don¡¯t send me there!¡± The man in the yellow jumpsuit fell to the floor. ¡°Listen.¡± The Officer got to the man in yellow, and held his shoulders, getting face to face with his interlocutor. ¡°Listen,¡± he continued, looking the other man right in the eyes, his voice calm but firm. ¡°I¡¯ve been there.¡± ¡°What?! In¡ª¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he responded. ¡°Right there,¡± pointing his finger towards the valley, right outside the outpost where they were. ¡°Do I look different now? Am I a monster now? Am I a cosmic horror, or whatever? No, I¡¯m just a human being, like you.¡± He paused and looked around. His men were watching. Good. He took his breath, waited a moment, and returned to his speech. ¡°I am a ¡®mere¡¯ mortal human being. And I still go forward. I still march on. Hell! I still do this shitty job that I¡¯ve been doing for thirty years now. Ordering people, losing people, sometimes. Why do you think I keep going, even after that?¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. No answer. The man in yellow was either confused or dismayed. Or both. ¡°I keep going on because it¡¯s for the greater good. I¡¯m doing my part. Now, now it¡¯s your turn to do your part,¡± continued the Officer. He turned around, raising his voice. ¡°It¡¯s your turn for all of you here. Remember why we¡¯re doing this. This isn¡¯t about your lives or mine. It¡¯s about humanity as a whole. It¡¯s about your families, your wives, your husbands, and your children. So now, line the fuck up!¡± The people in yellow, lined up and surrounded by armed soldiers, straightened up a bit. ¡°Remember! You do this for the greater good of mankind! Remember!¡± He paused, and took a look around, watching the whole scene. The outpost looked like a small village made of prefabricated buildings, containers serving as barracks, armories, power plants, labs, cafeterias¡­ Everything was enough to handle his division. Supplies were coming regularly. Transportation was automated¡ªa blessing from a god called Science, that had helped them countless times during Rotations. And now they could finally go back to experiments. The Officer lifted up the man and said to him, his voice lowered, ¡°You¡¯re gonna do it. Remember. The greater good. It is for the greater good.¡± He then released it, letting him join his pairs. He nodded at his lieutenant, a Hispanic woman¡ªthe only person in the outpost that had survived long enough to understand all his orders without words. Without any comment, she gestured to the soldiers to take position right behind the crowd of lined people. The Officer turned to the scientists and his armed subordinates. ¡°Begin the procedure.¡± And with that, the men and women in yellow jumpsuits were pushed toward their destiny. Towards the Sphere. Towards the unknown. And the Officer watched them go, knowing that most will die and the rest¡­ For the greater good, he thought. It¡¯s all for the greater good. Chapter 1 The club was full tonight. Someone was organizing a party somewhere among the crowd, music was replacing the nearby oxygen, and drinks invaded people¡¯s glasses. Overall, the time was for festivities and rejoice¡ªwithout forgetting the hangover and possible comas. ¡°This is the worst place for a meeting, you know?¡± ¡°Yes, but no one will look inside restrooms made of shit and vomit, uh?¡± The short and overweight man and the pretty-looking woman were inside a toilet, the restrooms filled with drunk people either taking a piss, puking, chatting with their reflections in the mirror, or doing it all at the same time. The stink was unbearable. It was full of noises you didn¡¯t want to hear. And yet the man had chosen this place, out of everywhere in this goddamn city. ¡°I¡¯ll be brief,¡± he started. ¡°The reports here will contain everything related to the recent fluctuation of the company¡¯s shares. It also shows which angle is necessary to¡­let¡¯s say destabilize the company. The next financial crash will crush it down, thanks to all these data, eh.¡± He brushed off some sweat, and continued. ¡°There are all the graphs, charts everything, yes? But, to read what you need to know, you¡¯ll need this.¡± He handed her a USB drive that he took from one of his pockets. ¡°Inside is the software for decryption. You¡¯ll see, it¡¯s¡­something, uh, impressive. Be careful to not, lose it, eh?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± she replied, taking the drive with a firm movement. ¡°We never saw each other, right?¡± The man lowered his arm, enabling her to pass through. ¡°No. No, this lady heading outside is no one to me, eh. Never saw her,¡± he continued, while pointing a finger at his skull, ¡°I just happen to forget about her¡­now,¡± he said, his mouth evaporating a single *poof* to mark his words. ¡°Now, please, yes?¡± he finished, smiling, closing the door as she left. She got out of this horrible place, the documents now in her purse, the USB drive in her pocket. A car was waiting for her outside. She put the documents and the USB drive in a reinforced briefcase, in case of anything happening on the road. As she went for the exit, something wrong happened. She blinked. Out of nowhere, she was in the car, on the road back to HQ, her clothes soaked as if she got under the rain falling outside. The driver was as surprised as her. Confused, even. But at this speed, on a highway, you didn¡¯t have the right to be confused. Hopefully, his reflexes kicked in. The other drivers around weren¡¯t that lucky. Cars crashed into one another all around them. One collided with them, then another one. It was pure chaos. The truck came. It smashed the car at their right, a direct, lethal hit. The rear of the truck drifted fast and plunged on them, alongside the cargo the truck was hauling. * ¡°¡­yes it seems¡­yes. It seems it¡¯s a worldwide phenomenon. All around the world, people¡­no, mankind¡­Humanity doesn¡¯t seem to remember the last thirty-one minutes. Tonight, an exceptional international security conference will take place among the United Nations to clarify the situation¡­¡± ¡°¡­Martial law has been enacted in several countries following the sudden wave of panic. If you and your loved ones have been victims of an accident, notify the local authorities and¡­¡± ¡°¡­yes¡­yes, broadcast it¡­Oh¡­my¡­god. What is that? Is this live?!¡­ Fuck¡­¡±