Atomic Atmosphere

The Graveyard of the World

Ethan felt light. He felt dizzy and drowsy, and a tiny bit sleepy.

It didn't feel real.

He opened his eyes, only to be met with more darkness. There was no difference with being with his eyes closed or open.

He didn't remember much. There were just random thoughts floating around his head, like loose feathers falling from the sky.

A word suddenly appeared in the middle of floating memories.

Ethan.

"Ethan. It's my name, right? Right. Ethan." he thought.

Then, a photo of his family flashed, but soon changed to a girl's face.

"That's my sister... She's dead now. Anna, isn't it? She was only 13..."

Finally a date appears in the blur of memories.

"23/04/2254. Isn't that the date of the bomb? The end of the world, end of humanity..."

Then, suddenly, a flash of images passed, quickly, but Ethan could see all of them clearly.

"Ethan, want to do me a favour?" It was his sister's voice. She sounded nice and sweet.

A scene from his recent memories passed. Ethan looked at someone from the scene, and was slightly confused. It looked exactly like him. It not only looked, it was him. And he was... different.

The room they were in was full of computers and high technology devices. Some math equations pinned to the wall here and there, but in the centre an image of a bomb. With the date 23/04/2254.

There was a plain bed with a desk, showing that the room was, in fact, the bedroom of one of the two siblings. Judging by the nostalgia Ethan felt when looking at it, it was probably his.

"No, but what do you want?" The old Ethan was doing something in his laptop. Well, a kind of laptop. The screen was in the air, almost like a hologram.

"Aww, come on, a favour for your little sister! You see, I could use some intelligence of yours..."

"Father says you're the smartest in this house. Whatever thing you need, you can have it." Old Ethan answered with distaste.

"You see, I am the smartest. But not in radioactivity or science. I only know how to mess up with your mind."

"Dad is the best one in radioactivity, and you know it. Or he wouldn't be in the National Nuclear Association." Whatever the Old Ethan was doing, it was probably important because he didn't take his eyes off the holographic computer.

"Not exactly, dear brother. I know you hacked their servers. And know about this exact bomb." She pointed at the poster at the wall with the date "You know you would be in jail for having this, right?"

Old Ethan froze on the same second. Seconds later, he was with his hands on his sister's throat.

"That can't be me. It's absolutely not me. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't dare." Old Ethan said, hardening his grip on his sister's throat.

"Oh, I would. And you know that I can make you stay there until eternity. So, I'll ask one more time. Will you do this favour for your little sister?" Her smile was innocent. Fake.

Old Ethan let her fall to the ground, with a red mark in her neck. "Fine."

Another scene passed, but this time the siblings were walking through the streets of Washington.

There were many trees. No cars, only floating hover boards. Images passed in front of everybody's face. Some were watching new TV channels, some were simply working.

Humanity had evolved in terms of technology and knowledge, but in greed they were still the same.

"How are we going to get in the White House, my wonderful brother?" Even with the loudness of other people around them, the sound of Anna's heels were clearly audible for everybody.

"It's safety is easier to access than the National Nuclear Association, so I could do it. We'll enter as children to fill the ads of the presidential election for the next president. The guards will never leave our side, so I'll ask to go to the bathroom, turn off all security cameras and light. We'll go safely to the control room and your wish will become true. You think it's going to work?"

"Your plan absolutely yes. And our aim as well." She said with a smile.

"What is this plan? I feel like it's my fault..."

The scene changed once again. This time they were in a dark room, with alarms buzzing everywhere. The siblings stood in the middle of the room in front of a very old computer.

"They think nobody know about this technology from the past. Complete idiots." Old Ethan said with a laugh.

"Hurry up, they're getting here. You remembered to put a timer so that we can run to be able to survive the explosion?"

"What explosion? What did we do? This doesn't make much sense to me..."

The memory started fading away into nothing, leaving lots of Ethan's questions unanswered.
_______________

Soon, Ethan blinked and saw light.

He was still processing his memories.

Apparently he was evil?

He shouldn't be alive.

He should die.

He survived.

His sister didn't.

And then he heard it.

"Hey. Hey. Are you dead?" He woke up with a girl slapping his face multiple times. It didn't hurt for some odd reason.

"Unfortunately not.".