69. Desperate

69. Desperate
Lucas was now dressed in a metallic specialized uniform unique to Orvantis, its surface shimmering under the light. He was frantically packing his technological gear into a kinetic bag, preparing for a solo evacuation from Earth.
"Wait, you said this device can contact Liuz?" Rose asked, her hands trembling as she held the alien object.
"Yes, just press the button there! He’s actually still on Earth, he's just hiding from you!" Lucas explained without looking up, still occupied with his packing.
Lucas’s face was deathly pale. As soon as Rose told him about the meteor threat, he had checked the coordinates himself. It turned out the approaching meteor was a rare type that was nearly impossible to destroy with standard weaponry. Driven by survival instincts, he had decided to flee as quickly as possible. Yet, Rose remained frozen, still firing off questions.
"Stop asking so many questions and just press it!" Lucas snapped in frustration.
Rose complied. She pressed the screen of the strange device as instructed. Moments later, a very familiar voice crackled through the static.
"What is it, Lucas?"
"Liuz!" Rose’s voice shook violently.
The voice on the other end cut off instantly. Silence. The Orvantian man had gone quiet the second he realized it wasn't his brother on the line, but Rose.
"Liuz, it’s really you, isn't it?! How could you just leave me like that? You’re so cruel, Liuz! So cruel!" Rose broke down completely. Her sobs filled the room, releasing all the longing and heartache she had been suppressing.
"Good grief, must this drama happen right now?! Give me that gadget!" Lucas roughly snatched the device back. "Liuz, listen to me! A massive meteorite is going to hit Earth within hours. Check your radar immediately—can that thing be destroyed, or are we all finished?!"
"What? A meteor?!" Liuz’s voice instantly sharpened with alarm. "Astray! I forgot to turn on my radar because I was focused on... something else! Let me check right now!"
Liuz responded immediately once Lucas spoke in technical terms. Meanwhile, Rose continued to weep. Her heart was shattered yet fuming; the man she had been crying over, whom she thought was far away on planet Orvantis, had been on Earth all along—hiding and watching her from a distance.
"That thing is massive! Lucas, don't waste any more time! Get Rose off Earth right now!" Liuz’s voice thundered through the device, filled with a rare, palpable panic.
"I’m not leaving!" Rose protested fiercely, even as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. "I won't leave my friends, my aunt, and everyone I know! Is there really no other way to stop it?!"
"I’ll bring your mother and your friends! We’ll transport them to the emergency ship. Come on, we have to leave this planet now!" Liuz urged.
Rose fell silent, her chest tightening. Leaving Earth meant leaving behind her identity as a human. "Is there really no other way? We’re just going to let Earth be destroyed?"
"I’m not sure, Rose! Whatever we try to do, we don't have much time! The meteor is moving too fast!" Liuz explained, his voice starting to crack from signal interference.
"Liuz! Please... save my planet! You have the technology, don't you? Don't just save me—save my home!" Rose pleaded, her voice hoarse with desperation.
"Don't be selfish!" Lucas snapped, unable to contain his frustration any longer. "You want my brother to die for nothing just for this planet?! Our technology isn't meant to fight a cosmic catastrophe of this magnitude! If he tries to destroy it, he risks his ship exploding along with it!"
Rose stared blankly at Lucas, then turned her gaze back to the device in her hand. "I’m sorry... but if there’s truly no way to save Earth, then I’m not going. Let me just die here with everyone else. I can't live with the guilt of being the only survivor."
A cold silence hung over the line for several seconds.
"Fine, have it your way!" Liuz said sharply.
Click. The connection was cut off. The device in Rose's hand went dead. Lucas stared in disbelief, stunned that his brother had actually hung up.
"Great, Rose. You just made your only hope furious," Lucas muttered bitterly, slinging his kinetic bag over his shoulder. "Now, you and your entire world are truly on your own."
Lucas roughly snatched his device back from Rose's hands. "Goodbye! Don't you dare say I didn't help you!" he snapped, before his body suddenly glowed with a bluish light and vanished instantly right before Rose's eyes through teleportation technology.
Rose sank to the floor, her body feeling weak and bone-weary. Her last shred of hope had just vanished into thin air. In the silence of her apartment, she picked up her own phone and, with trembling hands, called the only family she had left.
"Auntie, can you hear me?" Rose's voice was hoarse.
"Yes, Rose. What’s wrong? Your voice sounds strange," her aunt replied from the other end.
"I love you, Auntie! I... I’ve always thought of you as my own mother!" Rose sobbed quietly.
"What is the matter with you? Are you in some kind of trouble?" her aunt asked, sounding bewildered and increasingly anxious.
"No! I just suddenly missed you," Rose answered, struggling to hold back her tears so her aunt wouldn't be frightened.
"You’re being very strange. Oh, by the way, how are things going? Do you have a boyfriend yet? Is there a man you like now?" her aunt asked in a teasing tone.
Rose closed her eyes, the image of Liuz's face filling her mind. "Actually, there is, Auntie. But he already left me. Even though I really wanted to introduce him to you and marry him. I wanted to have a small family, and cute children with him..." Rose could no longer hold back the flood of her tears.
"There, there, don't dwell too much on a man who left you! Life is still long; you have to face everything with spirit, Rose!"
"Yes, Auntie..."
Suddenly, a loud, deafening static noise erupted. The phone network vanished completely. Rose pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at the screen which displayed a 'No Service' status. It seemed what she feared was truly happening; the massive meteor was drawing closer to the atmosphere, emitting electromagnetic radiation that disrupted all telecommunication signals on Earth.
"I have to get back to the lab!" Rose muttered with what little strength she had left. If she had to die, she wanted to die fighting, alongside her colleagues.