World War Three

September 6, 2041

Mariupol, Eurasian Empire, Earth

Ravaged by war over the last nineteen years, Mariupol never recovered. World War Three began in 2014. Of course, nobody realized it was the beginning of World War Three when it started. 10 years after World War Three started people finally realized it was war when the open conflict started in 2024 between Russia and Ukraine. People didn’t realize it was world war three until the first nuclear weapon fell on Iran in 2029, but at least they realized it was a war.

Allorien and Sai sat on a bench in Ekstrim Park as members of the military paraded up the road. What was an amusement park was now little more than benches in a concrete field. Allorien signed deeply and hung their head. Overwhelmed by what they were about to watch, they asked telepathically, How do you handle it? Humans can’t seem to think of anything larger than their tribe, however they define it.

There were no civilians left in this city. After Russia invaded, Mariupol slowly transformed into a military stronghold throughout world war three. It was the city and docks from which the Eurasian Empire was built.

You know I’m retiring after this happens. Sai responded with an air of regret. I sincerely wish I could have been the one to say humanity was ready.

I hope that I can do it in your name. Allorien thought.

No, you are the senior watcher of humanity now. Anything that happens from here for the rest of your term is in your name. A new junior will join you eventually. Set a good example for them. Sai stood up. These people have seen to repeat its mistakes over and over. I do not have high hopes for them.

Allorien continued, I do. Watching a hopeless race spiral into the abyss is not what I signed up for. Allorien stood up and began to follow Sai as another military unit passed in front of them. They at least can look inward, but they look at the wrong things. That can be changed.

That feeling is why it’s your turn, Allorien. I don’t have it anymore. I’ve come to believe starting over is the only way. However, be careful. It is that thinking that cause us to get involved in humanity’s affairs. Even go so far as leading them to write all the religious documentation that causes so many disturbances even today. Sai shifted uncomfortably, This war may have started here in Ukraine. But it was the conflict in the Middle East that caused it to spiral. Sai surrounded the Middle East in air quotes when talking. The United States made the decision that sealed the deal by connecting the funding. That made it a truly world war by linking the two conflicts together as one entity to oppose or support as one unit. Now every world nation is involved in one way or another. No more neutrality remains.

An air raid siren went off and some people on the street ran to take cover, others pulled out shoulder mounted rocket launchers. Planes of the Eurafrican Union and planes of the United Nations of the Americas flew overhead fighting against planes of the Eurasian Empire.

Sai and Allorien both looked up. Allorien broke the heavy silence of the moment, At least two thirds of humanity’s tribes, sorry, in this context they call them nations. At least two thirds of nations are working together now.

But to what end? Sai asked with a deep sigh.

As some planes overhead were destroyed by the missiles being fired from the ground, others successfully dropped ordinance on the fractured city so critical to the efforts of the Eurasian Empire.

Both Sai and Allorien sighed deeply. They knew what was coming; they saw the bombs being loaded in London before they came here to witness the event.

Minutes later, Mariupol was decimated under the weight of ten simultaneous nuclear explosions. Moments later, Sai and Allorien stood amid the devastation of rubble and bodies; their bodies were unaffected by the weaponry used. Well, the last report I write about humanity will be very similar to the one I wrote in 1945, except this time it won’t end this war…

Sai floated up into the sky, preparing to head back to Crest Cross. At that moment, a few dying members of humanity, who would shortly succumb to radiation, saw an angel slowly rising into the sky as they opened their mind to a higher meaning. One of those unlucky souls managed to draw the image with their last act.

Allorien stayed on Earth amid the now radioactive rubble, regretting their actions. In some ways, Allorien helped bring about this calamity. But here they were destined to keep watching the wayward species.