It’s dark; darker than I remember. I look around me and see nothing. It’s like my whole consciousness is locked into a dark box. I can’t breathe, can’t see, I can’t even think straight in here.

I try to move forward, but something stops me. I can’t control my body. Or maybe, someone doesn’t want me to go down that way. I search inside me for the other Jasih’s voice, but he’s nowhere to be found.

For some reason, being alone scares me. Now that I’ve found him, I don’t want to be alone again.

A picture of Eladia pops in my mind. It takes me a moment to recognize her; she has her hair down, waving above her shoulders, caressing her back. She’s beautiful, more beautiful than ever. I want to touch her, to feel her smooth skin, her soft breasts.

Her image keeps me company until an explosion of light suddenly blinds me. I close my eyes, but it doesn’t help. Light manages to pierce through my thin eyelids and make the darkness behind my eyes burn. It’s torture, a never-ending punishment that I can’t bear.

Jasih.

A woman’s voice echoes inside my mind. Is that voice hers? She certainly doesn’t sound like her.

Jasih, you’re close. You have to keep moving, she says.

Close? Close to where? To do what? What is she talking about?

Jasih, open your eyes.

I want to decline, but it doesn’t seem I have another choice. I feel like I’m trying to avoid the unavoidable. Maybe opening them will stop the burning after all.

I do it slowly, carefully. At that moment, everything changes. I’m back on that roof, in the forest of the cemented trees, the place where the buildings don’t float like Mosa. I turn my head and see a woman appear behind me.

She nods at me and points at something on the horizon. I follow her finger and see the imprint of a falling object leaving a long, burning tail behind it, getting closer to the ground fast.

“What is this? Where am I?” I yell, but she doesn’t answer.

She just looks at me.

Jasih, you have to keep moving. Your race, the Esuh, needs you. You have to keep moving.

“I don’t understand! Moving where? To do what?”

She disappears before giving me a clear answer to my question. The object in the sky is now closer to the ground. What is this? Why do I see this vision? What does she want to tell me?

A moment passes and a girl runs into the roof. I gawp when looking at her.

“It’s you!” I say out loud.

She looks at me; she’s scared. She’s holding a small, metal thing in her hand. I’m not sure what it is, but it must be important. The young woman is hurt, seriously hurt, but it doesn’t stop her from moving, not even for a second. Most of her face is covered in blood, and her hands shake.

“Help me! You have to help me. I can’t leave this place, and it’s about to get hit by that thing over there. It’s going to destroy the whole planet. You have to do something,” she says without ever taking a breath.

“I’m not sure what you want me to do. I can’t stop a meteorite with my bare hands. Maybe if I had...”

“No, no. It’s not a meteorite. It’s something else, something far more dangerous. You have to help me.”

I’m not sure what she’s talking about, but I’m happy she’s here, even if she’s half crazy already.

“Look, my spaceship is close. I can take you to my friends and--”

“There’s no time! Goddammit, there’s no time!” she yells and falls on her knees.

The blond girl bursts into tears, into heart-breaking sobs. Something bad has happened to her, but I’m not sure I understand. I would help her if I could. I would surely do.

I turn to check the falling object.

“Shit! What the hell?”

The big object has changed its trail, and it’s heading straight for us. I stand still for a moment, trying to find a way out of its course when I hear the sound of feet running towards the end of the roof. I have a bad feeling about this.

Everything happens so fast that I can’t keep up. The object is getting really close to us; I can now clearly see that it’s a giant cube, big enough to destroy the whole city in the imminent impact. The girl is now standing on the edge of the roof, one foot hanging above the empty space. She suddenly seems determined to end her life.

“No! Don’t-” I try screaming, but my voice doesn’t even get out of my mouth.

The girl jumps from the roof, leaving nothing behind but the memory of her presence there. However, the weirdest thing comes right after, when the cube gets really small, small enough to fit in her hand, and follows her down.

A flash appears a moment later; I cover my eyes with my hand, but I can still feel the warmth of the flash for the rest of my body.

When it’s over, I open my eyes. I’m suddenly down to the base of the building, standing next to the dying girl. The cube beside her is still red, five strange signs inscribed around her, beating like a heart.

“Fuck! Are you alright?” I get close to her quickly. But, when I touch her, her body collapses under a dust-filled cloud.

I squeeze my fists hard enough to hurt them, but it’s not enough. She’s the second person I could do nothing to save.

I feel useless. I feel cold. I feel alone.

I start shaking, freezing. Something is wrong with me. I can’t control my limbs. I look down on my body, and I see a black, oozing substance coming off my body and connecting to the cube.

And then, excruciating pain comes. I scream, roar, try to pull my skin off my body, do anything to stop the pain.

“Hey! Hey!!! Wake up! What’s wrong with you?”

I open my eyes. I’m on the ground. I look around me and see gigantic trees and a young lady with a bizarre, brownish complexion looking at me.

“What...what’s wrong? Where are am I?”

“You’re in Zeania, the Phadh planet. What’s wrong? Did you forget?” She stops, waiting for an answer. When she understands that I can’t give her one, she keeps talking. “Five minutes after we got here, a flash came from your pocket, and you passed out. You’ve been out for an hour now, and it’s getting dark. We have to find a shelter.”

It was the cube again, right? The fucking, Nusae Cube. Fuck. I’m on the verge of pulling it out of my pocket and tossing it on the ground, but I know it’s futile. It’ll probably fly back to me. But this vision was fucking twisted. The girl dying, me getting covered by that black thing.

And then, somehow, out of nowhere, everything clicks inside me. At that moment, I finally remember who I was, what was my mission back on Primordial Earth, why my people vanished.

“Alyce, we have to go. Now. We have a mission to complete,” I say to her.

She seems surprised for a moment but doesn’t say a thing. We’re both trapped in this hellhole for now, but I’m unreasonably happy. I finally remember who I am.