Lola enlisted thousands of volunteers and they were trained to facilitate the intake of new people into the system. They worked tirelessly to absorb as much of humanity as possible, right up the last minute, which was approaching in just days. There was a last minute swell in interest that far outstripped their capacity. Lola had suspected this would happen, as everyone started to see the logic in playing it safe, despite their difficulty in imagining such a horrific conclusion to the world. Unlike many predictions of the end in past generations, this time there was a prescription, something that could be done. This fact, along with fear, drove the crowds to the induction centers all over the world.
There was even an alternative solution that was released by a tech company months earlier, but it was in limited supply and very expensive. It allowed the privileged and powerful to gain an edge over Lola's allocation process. She wasn't happy about it, but ultimately she favored more people saved, no matter what the means. So while the wealthy sat back in their private dwellings, recalibrating over cocktails and deep tissue massage, the masses frantically tried to get themselves and especially their children into a seat before it was too late. Lola had this to say, to the collective of the already uploaded, all thirty million or more.
"Most of you still live in your bodies as well. You should be aware of what to expect. Levels of ozone will spike as the winds from the east come in following the gamma ray burst. It will be a gradual rise at first. You will experience some throat pain, sinus discomfort, a burning sensation. Your eyes will also feel irritated. After that, within minutes to a few hours at the most, your condition will worsen dramatically and you will experience debilitating pain and ultimately suffocate as the inner linings of your lungs fill with blood from the erosion of the tissue surfaces. If you have any hesitation or doubt, wait until the GRB event is confirmed. After that, if you are on the eastern seaboard, you will have a few hours to consider your options. To the west, people will have more time. California will have the longest wait, maybe a full day. By then, the ozone will come in over land from the east and from the ocean to the west, coming in from Asia."
"Do yourself a favor. Have a plan, and the means to take your biological life. Otherwise, the suffering will be cruel and unnecessary."
*****
Below ground, Avery Balanson verified the final arrival of personnel and initiated the process of sealing off the entrances. Military personnel topside, meanwhile secured the surface entrance and backed away to a safe distance. A countdown began. Moments later in a nearby town, the ground shook and there was a sizable report coming in from the direction of the nearby military facility. The local Sheriff of Arthur, Nebraska and the fire department stood at the ready, waiting for some call for assistance. It never came. After an hour, several Sheriff's cars and a few fire and rescue vehicles, under orders from the town mayor, proceeded down the twenty mile county road to the site. There was still a dispersed but visible plume of dust in the air.
As the line of vehicles neared the site, a convoy of military vehicles suddenly approached from the opposite direction and went speeding bye without stopping. This only added to their curiosity, as they closed the distance to the guard house. There was no one manning the checkpoint and the gate was locked. The cars and trucks all pulled up haphazardly, stirring up a big dust cloud and got out of their vehicles. "Lyle? You got some bolt cutters?" The sheriff directed toward one of the fire and rescue men nearby.
"Yessir," he declared and sprinted toward the back of his vehicle, now excited as he realized what the Sheriff had in mind.
They all drove in through the gate and minutes later arrived at the location where the only gathering of buildings stood. Some of the men had been in here before and they noticed that the largest of the structures, a hangar-sized shed, was gone. What was once the shed, was now stacked and piled nearby in heaps. There were a few pieces of heavy equipment that were working feverishly, filling in what looked like a large crater where the shed once stood. One of the operators stopped his massive excavator and climbed down and walked toward the confused first responders.
"What's happening here friend?" Inquired the sheriff, one hand on his hip, the other resting on his holster.
"We got hired to help demo that big structure." The worker pointed to the heap of scrap off to the side. "Then they set some charges underground, dunno what for. We were told to get way clear. I nearly shit when that thing went off."
"Where are you boys from?"
"We're out of Fort Collins. We just need to finish filling that hole and we'll be headed home within a couple of days."
As the sheriff processed the scene in his mind, trying to piece together what was going on, He looked across the crater to the other side. "I'll be damned," the sheriff declared. He was staring at a wide, paved road heading south into the distance as far as he could see. As far as he or anyone in Arthur knew, the only way into the military facility was through the town. They were completely unaware that the considerable amount of materials, equipment and workers they did see, only represented ten percent of the real total. The bulk of the activity came directly off of interstate eighty and onto this mysterious new access road built by the Army Corps. In just the past few days, buses carrying nearly five thousand passengers and their belongings had descended on the camp via this new route and they mysteriously disappeared below ground.
*****
The fifteenth of March, 2095, came and went in New Zealand, then Asia, and finally Europe, the Middle East and Africa. But, just as workers in California started to think about quitting time and getting themselves home, it happened. On the eastern seaboard, where the sun had just set over the west, it suddenly looked like a new day was mysteriously dawning in the east. A sunrise and a sunset, together, how grand. But very quickly, things evolved and it looked entirely different. As the ionization of the atmosphere spread, brilliant colors and patterns emerged for those gawking toward the eastern horizon. Objectively, it was a beautiful visual display, perhaps unique in the history of the world. And most people were watching, even the skeptics. The believers watched, believing themselves mentally braced, but deep down they were terrified. Non believers also watched, waiting to taunt their gullible friends for being suckered into such a ridiculous hoax.
But in an instant of realization, skeptics became believers and everyone was gripped by paralyzing fear, especially those who had refused to believe and were therefore without prospects of continuing a life of any kind. Former President Carmelo did what she had advised her staff to do that day, two years earlier. She covered her bets and now realized the wisdom in having done so, as she sat on a large terrace, on the western shore of Hilton Head Island. It was the thing to do that day, to go to an end-of-the-world party. For most, it was no different than Cinco de Mayo or Saint Patty's day, an excuse to party. But now, as the fireworks of cosmology hit home, there began a chain reaction caused by mass hysteria. People started to exit where ever it was they happened to be, if not at home. They wanted to be home. Home, where it would be safe and they could ride out this storm, as if it were a tornado or a blizzard or a hurricane.
Most realized at this point, that home would not save them. But there seemed nothing more to do than to get somewhere else, to not remain static. It was a textbook display of the fight or flight response. A overwhelming proportion of people, in this particular case, chose to flee. It was mostly an involuntary response. A course of action that seemed preferable to remaining still and presumably more vulnerable, as if there were a shooter high above, ready to start picking off individuals in the crowd. Within minutes, that portion of humanity not already dead or dying, namely those in the Americas, were gridlocked. In the countryside, cars sped recklessly down country roads, as people tried desperately to reach home, praying for salvation and one last chance to embrace those they loved.
The uninformed, which described most people, believed that it was a blessing to be in America, out of the direct impact of the incinerating cosmic rays that were now bleaching life from over half of the globe. But those in the know were aware of the truth. The place for a swift and compassionate end lay beyond that brilliant, surreal horizon. What lay ahead for the Americas was a hell for which they still had no conception.
The light show lasted about twenty minutes, a comparatively long gamma ray burst. It was low on the intensity scale, as far as GRBs went, but at only forty light years away, emanating from somewhere across the galactic disk of the Milky Way, the light was still highly concentrated. Despite the immense power of the burst, Earth's magnetic field, along with the protective blanket of the upper atmosphere, managed to knock out the worst of it. Nevertheless, the duration, extremely long as it was, caused air temperatures to rise near the surface, to as high as one hundred twenty degrees centigrade.
This was not an instantaneous death blow, even for those in the line of fire, assuming they were adequately sheltered. The problem was that in slowing down the worst impacts, the atmosphere changed abruptly, generating immense quantities of highly reactive and deadly ozone, among other harmful compounds. The production of ozone extended down, nearly all the way to the surface, replacing most of the oxygen and now diffusing rapidly under the influence of high temperatures. Some numbers of wealthy and powerful individual across China, Russia and Europe sat in deep shelters with supplies of oxygen and clean water. But it was a half measure and their hopes, that they could ride it out somehow, were futile. Outside of the Americas, ninety nine percent of the population had perished within minutes. The last holdouts were gone within a few days.
The Americas was a different situation entirely, a slower, more painful death, but just as certain. Earth would simply no longer be habitable by most animal and plant species.
Amanda Carmelo called her daughter, who was in California. Bonnie will have more time in California, according to the experts. Amanda wasn't panicked, just teary and longing to be close to her only child. She was comforted in knowing that they would still be together. Amanda had made sure that Bonnie was also recalibrating frequently. But that was a separate self now, a different awareness. The now vulnerable and hopeless human version of Amanda and her daughter would have to perish. It seemed strange. Amanda kept dialing but the interference was too strong. Nothing was working at this point. Amanda walked to bar counter and topped off her wine and scanned the scene. Most of the people had scattered. Those remaining glanced at one another and then back at the brightening horizon. There was acknowledgement among them as they occasionally locked eyes, some smiling, some distressed. Death is coming. Oh, please make it swift and painless.
There was a stiff, offshore breeze coming in now, the added energy starting to issue its early warning. Amanda decided to just stay there. It was rather a pleasant evening for mid March and the breeze was not unwelcome. She noted a little more action in the waves as they lightly smacked the shoreline. After another glass of wine, she poured her last and sat down. Message got through from Bonnie after all. "Love you so much Mom. See you on the other side." Amanda smiled as the tears began to flow. She noted that there was still one secret service agent, Brent, who hadn't followed her instructions to go and pray and make peace. She waved him over. It took her mind off of things, which was welcome.
"Agent! Get a drink for god's sake." Brent nodded and walked to the bar, coming away with a bottle of beer. "That's the best you can do?" Carmelo chided. He walked over to where she sat.
"It's fine ma'am. I don't drink much."
"Why did you stay?"
"I couldn't think of anything better to do. My family's in Toledo."
"Are you uploaded to Phoenix? Tell me you are."
"Yes Ma'am. My brother is a professor at MIT. He didn't make it about this GRB thing. He just wanted us all to be in that program. He's been involved in it, so I said, Okay why not. I'm feeling very lucky right about now. Gives me piece of mind."
"Hey. Now that's a great pun, or joke or whatever. You're funny. Ever think about becoming a comedian?" She joked, knowing full well it was unintentional. He probably didn't even get it, she guessed.
"No ma'am, not me. There aint a funny bone in my whole body."
"I suppose not. Well, Agent, I'm going to call you Brent. Call me Amanda, please." She raised her glass and his bottle reached out to meet it. "Let's get this shit over with already." They looked out toward the sea. It was already dark and there seemed to be no visible trace of what had happened, and not a hint of what was to come, except for the wind picking up speed and hoisting bigger and bigger waves up onto the eastern shore. That wind carried with it, the agents of death, but they were still a ways off. Carmelo and her protector sat and drank and tried to relax. It would be a while yet.
Such high levels of ozone had a lasting impact on the world. The highly corrosive nature of ozone, especially in combination with water, served to dissolve every inch of the surface of the planet. It was as if the entire process was designed to wipe the slate clean. Neither concrete, nor metal, nor plastic, nor the remains of any life forms could withstand this chemical assault, as it etched away every trace of humanity. The process of such a cleansing, through its chemical reactions, caused ozone to slowly but steadily be consumed, returning once again toward a balance. Earth was nearly sterilized, yet striving toward a new beginning.