Date: 2077.11.21
I once believed that our world was the only existence in the universe. Until I stood in front of the dimensional fissure with my own eyes, this naive cognition collapsed. That glowing crack tore our planet into two parallel worlds. Ours is Alpha Earth, and the other is Omega Earth.
More than a decade ago, an event we called “the light of the origin” swept the original earth. An energy storm has given a few people great powers, and left a rare mineral-source crystal. It has become the pillar of our scientific and technological development. Alpha Earth relies on this resource to develop and build an advanced city. But the Omega Earth is not so lucky. Their world is poisoned by storms, the oceans become poisonous, and the land is deserted. Because of the lack of enough source crystals, Omega is slowly dying out, and in order to survive, they will go to war and grab our source crystals.
The beginning of the war was that Omega’s special forces raided our source crystal mine. The battle was extremely fierce, but what was really engraved in my mind was not gunfire and casualties, but a fallen Omega agent. She didn’t curse us, she just grabbed my arm and begged. She said that the only refuge for the people in their city would collapse without the source crystal. Their children will suffocate in poisonous air. I hesitated, and when I came to my senses, she was out of breath.
A few months later, I was selected to perform a top secret task: sneak into the main city of Omega, steal their energy core data, and return to Alpha before they found me. I stepped into their city under the cover of darkness. The streets are dark everywhere and covered with a thin layer of dust. A huge dome hangs over the head, which can filter out toxic air. Posters were plastered on every wall, depicting Agent Alpha as an intruder. The citizens are particularly haggard. I soon realized that the source crystal was the only way for them to sustain life. It’s not easy to sneak into their energy core. But when I finally reached the core area, I froze in place. I thought the source crystal was a weapon used to attack Alpha, but it was actually a life support system. Every crystal they steal from us is used to purify the water and maintain the lives of millions of Omega civilians. I really can’t bear to destroy it. Instead, I left an encrypted data disk, which recorded the whole truth of the “original light”. We once came from the same world, split by a cosmic accident, and were not natural enemies.
Now that I’m back in Alpha, every detail of Omega comes back to me. They only fight to live. The war is still going on, and I can’t tell who is the just side anymore. Even more frightening, after my return trip, I found a small piece of Omega source crystal in my pocket. I never took it, and I didn’t have it when I left. It beats weakly, with the same frequency as my heartbeat, as if calling someone or something. The dimensional crack is still open, and I always feel that there is something on the other side of the crack, which has not let me go. I don’t know if that data disk can change anything, and I don’t know if this war will have an end.
All I know is that the boundary between enemy and ally has blurred, and I may never be able to distinguish it again.