“You look so pale, En,” Julie said quietly. “We’ve been here five days, walking along the beach. How is it even possible that you’re so pale?” she added, smiling.

“You’re trying to steer the conversation somewhere else,” Hannen said, also smiling. “If you don’t want to talk about it, at least find a better topic for distraction.”

“En, it is not that I do not want to talk about it.” 

She paused for a moment. 

“It is that there is no solution really. And what we can do is approach the inevitable, confront the future, and organize it in a way that you and May will live well after I am gone.”

Hannen’s face didn’t reveal the emotions he felt inside. 

He shook his head, then he shook it again.

Seeing this, Julie started to laugh, but immediately stopped. He didn’t like her laughing recently, as later she would end coughing up blood.

The sunset was near, with a soft and warm light. 

Her face looked calm, even if tired. In this sunlight, her hair would look like reddish gold, like on fire—but she had no hair currently.

They tried to save her using the technology still available after the Disruption, but it didn’t help much. 

Jul was dying.

“You are thinking about it again, aren’t you?” 

She was looking at him, checking his face.

Jul started to walk slowly, and he followed. The beach was almost empty of people.

“You know me so well,” he thought, not realizing he had spoken aloud.

“It took me some time to decipher your face,” she said slowly.

“Was it worth it?” he asked, and momentarily wanted to take it back.

“This question is more to you, right? It is you who could say that you wasted young years with me. And I am leaving you. It is you who will have to figure it out. For yourself and for May, as I am also leaving him.”

She took a moment to breathe and continued slowly.

“He is eleven now. Based on the current situation, he has around twenty-five to thirty more years if he’s lucky. Is that much? I don’t know. I hope you will do it, En. The formula—I almost finished testing it. It should work.” 

Jul stopped talking.

Hannen waited.

“I can say, En, that you are angry with them. But remember, I wanted to do it. It is not their fault. It was my decision, after all.”

This was out of nowhere. Or wasn’t it? Hannen controlled his face and his words, but Jul truly knew him. 

It was of no surprise. 

She could tell that he felt anger.

“I am, Jul, I…” he said, admitting. Then he stopped walking, looked at her, and spoke. “I will take care of May; I will raise our son. You will be proud of him.”

He saw tears in her eyes and a smile. 

What he said made her happy.

Hannen decided not to say more. He wanted her last days to be peaceful. Jul was exhausted. He knew, he saw. Jul talked less. She stopped swearing. She used to be so passionate. Currently, Jul was very fragile. 

It was heartbreaking.

What he planned to do was not something she needed to know. Only later would he start to work on his idea.

He was not alone, being angry at those with Ability. They could save more. They could help more. 

Hannen promised himself that he would do everything to punish them.

The formula was almost ready. 

Patience was necessary.

// LOG: [PAST] 11 ACD-6-13 the City

💀 What did Hannen do? And what did it cost?
The answer reshaped the world.

This is only a glimpse into the past. The consequences unfold in the present—
in the story of the next generation.