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There was something to be said for my abilities to experience premonitions. Despite my resolve to shut them all down, there was one more I was forced to witness eventually. The sixth and final premonition seemed like the most important and most critical prophecy anyone could ever experience, and I was dragged along to the ride by force.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIZmzwf0OF
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In a world I clearly knew as Earth, many locations and places I've never seen before kept waning in and out of my fractured perception. I was seeing into the future of thousands of individuals, flashes of moments and memories that while brief, carried so much fear and sorrow.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6la2Xo2Cr
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The horror and crisis that would plague the entire planet was destined to trigger. Whatever caused this crisis only had one end result; countless millions of lives suffering from extreme poverty, starvation, wicked crime, exposure to nature, and some kind of strange, broken military control. What I heard and felt most was the mass starvation of the world. Thousands of places, millions of souls, slowly suffering, slowly dying from the triggered economic collapse combined with the collapse of a massive food chain built in singularity.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWjNjvU30M
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Fragments of information swarmed my mind in the same moment, giving me clarity on the reasons why this devastation worldwide was happening. It started with the collapse of the human currency, a currency that seemed to be universally attached to one, single, all-powerful world government. Nations that were divided by distance and nature were linked by politics, economics, military loyalty, and other elements linking to globalism.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywN2Yh2GoO
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This one-world government, confident it would be stronger in unity, made the mistake of having no backup or local method to absorb a systematic breakdown of financial chains controlling their interlocked networks of food production, fuel distribution, or energy production. As a result, instead of a single nation being plunged into chaos, the entire world was swept in with it.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfS6gdF4r0
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All I could see and feel were the thousands of screaming lives calling out for help, and those begging in prayer that something be done about the situation. With enough time, most of these people would die out on their own, the government either refusing or failing to provide help. After all that, I woke from the dream, forced to process everything then, as I was also stuck with the familiar certainty that this dream was another premonition.
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"Are you really sure?" Her voice echoed amidst the noise of the gym around me, though as usual, only I could hear her.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXweS1FPZy
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"No, I'm not." I did what I knew I had to do after this morning's crazy dream; I told Lumina everything I felt and saw. Despite what I felt when I woke up, I considered all I witnessed to be false, a prophecy born only from mere imagination and nothing else. I can't really call the moment a premonition if I don't believe it to be one now, can I? "The only thing I can be sure about, is that here on Earth, a one world government would become the end of humanity, at least for most of us. If it was a premonition, it felt like it would occur in more than a hundred years from now."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpH1wsHOh4o
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"I understand why you wouldn't want to be worried about it then... I thought you would stop having these dreams."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7nrT5ppmR
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"Can't say." I couldn't tell Lumina about the crazier dream I had, if I could even call it that. My imagination spawned an incredible zone called the nexus of time. Given what happened in there, I shouldn't have the power of premonitions anymore, after the sixth and final one anyway.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKwmZp39DM
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That wasn't the only reason I felt calm about how I might tie into the premonition. I should have considered sooner that these dreams might not be premonitions at all, but rather intelligent reflections of events most likely to happen based on what my personal subconscious mind knows, disguising them as premonitions so that I take more notice of them. I can't be sure of anything in that regard, but I have taken Reba Sound's advice to heart.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlSrYDUgUC
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I've been listening to myself more, to what I feel inside rather than what I think inside my head. That talking hallucination was right; I really can sense if something is bothering me deep down, if I choose to pay attention instead of blocking that feeling out like I used to. The subconscious mind knows more than the conscious mind does, or at least brings up everything I might forget or deem unimportant. If I'm as intelligent as I think I am, then to me, my subconscious mind is a genius. I wouldn't put it past myself to subconsciously invoke an unseen logical prediction method to envision events that would happen later on. Either way, the future is unknowable anyway, since invoking a premonition changes the future in the very same moment.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlVyhTu7dz
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When I thought about premonitions this way, combined with everything new I've learned, I finally stopped letting the idea of it get to me. I told myself, if I ever do have more, I'll appraise them only as predictive dreaming and ignore them. If I don't, that's just fine too. Prophesies are meaningless after all; the numbers of probability do not matter when we spring into action. People are stronger than they realize; anyone can mold the future they want with their own two hands, or change course if they feel a horrible train wreck coming at them.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskOn5IPy24
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Still, at least for curiosity sake, I tried to figure out if such a dream as the one I had this morning was possible. Lumina didn't seem to disagree with its likelihood. "I could see it happening, but you do realize The Unity is technically a one world government too?"139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSdrbUKYwp
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"Yeah, but that's different..." Her silence demanded I fully elaborate to what I knew, forcing me to explain it all over again. "In your world, The Unity only makes up one single nation, involving everyone by default. I don't have to explain to you how different humans behave from Altiri. No unjustified violence, no war, even a neighborly feud is unheard of out there. Your government might all be stemmed from a queen, but despite that, there are no wasteful politics there, no corrupted officials, nor is there any greed, given the lack of money. I can't speak for everyone there, but I can guess most Altiri are selfless loving people... Then just take a look at us."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz4nHBotGJ
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I knew what I was saying, sensing similar guilt by association by comparing humanity with Altiri. If I had never known Lumina, I'd fit into any of these categories I was about to describe. "Many humans are greedy, selfish, violent, and worst of all, asleep to how their interactions affect other people. Sure, humanity has come a long way since we were first cavemen. Times used to be worse; people used to be monsters down here, until we gradually enveloped in a civil display of elegance. However, a display is all that exists for most to date. People who pretend to be kind, loving, or elegant members of society use that facade to mask what they are really thinking. I can see the contradictions of mental betrayal in some of the students that pass me by. Of course, I don't speak for everyone. There are excellent people in this world who aren't wearing a mask, or at the very least, are awake to their flaws trying to improve themselves, but based on what I see, it's rare."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfCTTkcA8k
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"It's finally happened, hasn't it? You're talking a lot more like I would."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7SaEHdbZr
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"Ah, well that's—" I don't know why I was embarrassed to hear that from her, but Lumina's dereliction from my earlier point had me thinking about how she used to say something similar about humanity. She must have known what I was saying already, yet here I am telling this to her like it's some kind of news. Maybe I'm the only one who just now picked up on it.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPk97t3SQ7R
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"I knew this already... But, I think this is the first time I've heard it put into such precise meaning. I always thought your world was even worse than you've described, mainly because of the heathens."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kAQQSwM7A
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The heathens again... Lumina never did let off on her hatred for men, particularly those whose behavior closely resembled that of Legasso. Even I share the same hatred for similar reasons, though I don't let it bother me much anymore. My new way of thinking is, if a man wants to prove he can be good to others, who can prove he isn't harmful, destructive, or toxic to those around him, or who can change to become better if he is a heathen, then I have reason to give that person a chance, if only one. Lumina has focused on them less too, and I feel like it's because I've done the same. Sure, she still lashes out and screams at certain characters and actors when we are watching movies, if they portray some level of douchebaggery, but when her eyes and ears are placed in the presence of real heathens around me, she's more mute about it than before. All I've done was presume any and all toxic behavior from anybody would automatically have net consequences on how people treat them in return. As long as one doesn't bother me directly, I block it out. "I wonder, if it's because we are humans, imperfect beings that makes this world so unstable, or if it is all just heathenism in play."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJ92dxv8RB
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I didn't want to push on the thought for too long, but it was the other aspect I tied together. All of the imperfections in our society, among the saints and criminals, among the lunatics and the cool, among the rich and the poor, and among the intelligent and the stupid, all of our imperfections coexist with each other. We get to meet amazing people sometimes, and other times, we have to deal with people we don't want anything to do with. When it all comes down to compliance and survival, everybody is doing all they can just to live and learn. Lumina is wrong to think that everything wrong with humanity has only to do with such attentive focus on the elements of masculinity. The scars we inflict on each other are far more complex than I used to imagine, and there's so much more at play.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WNCyRuQSg
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"But you're not like that Reed. You're better than them."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xsYsOtFEm
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"I'm only the best version of myself, and only because of you Lumina. I'm not perfect, and I don't want to act like I'm somehow better than everyone else simply because I'm aware of what I know now. I didn't get this way entirely on my own, now did I?" What bothered me even more was how arrogant believing this would have made me sound. I get it; Lumina thinks the world of me. I'm not all that special though. Anybody can become this self-aware, this intelligent, or simply a version of themself they like better. I'm not in some contest to be the best; all I care about is my own happiness.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzo6W2xZomu
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"I guess you did have my help."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpTCg5CZ0A
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Help I did have Lumina. Everything I know, not just about Altiri, but about perspective and everything else was all mostly because I met her, because my awakening was enough for me to build off that moment further. Talking with Lumina all this time gave me the chance to hear what I sounded like thinking back, and it gave me experiencing talking to people despite having no other humans friends. With all the crazy things that happened in between, I became stronger as well, as I will continue to each passing day. The point is, not everybody is lucky enough to have such an awakening, no matter what shape it may form. Therefore, I wonder just how much I can blame humanity for its many shortcomings. It can't be as bad as it used to. "All said and done though, I wouldn't want to be around if all the countries on earth become wound together in one singular unit. If that happens, all it will take is one bad actor to wreck the planet."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcV3l9BmWv6
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"It's an issue of responsibility. Your world has a bad history with evil tyrants who are only obsessed with money and power. So, if the amount of control to the world were to increase, and become fixed on a single point of success or failure, then that person's responsibility increases, where every action affects as much as the entire population of the world. It makes sense to me. If planet Earth had one single government controlling one single economic currency, food system, and manufacturing and supply chain, then it would become all too easy to ruin everyone's lives, if the person in charge desires it. Maybe your world is divided for a reason."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6UtuHsK18
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"At what end? At what cost? Millions of lives could be affected in a single moment, destroyed by a small few individuals who care only about themselves." It was worse than I thought. Humanity has an extinction level threat to itself, where humanity is also the same predator. I've heard all about the possibilities of world ending disasters caused by man; thermonuclear war, corruption through mass cartels, even the complete utilization of all essential non-renewable resources can wipe out our race, the last threat being a current issue pressing on the Altiri. However, I've had until now to consider the more dangerous threat to society coming from deep within, a slow and gradual destruction brought on by wannabe oligarchs, dictators, and tyrants in political positions above us. The core values of any society can be changed when done slowly over time, the nudge effect that prevents awareness to what is going on in the power structure above us. A country can be taken over by a hostile actor, all without firing a single shot or doing anything violent, and all without the masses knowing about it until it is far too late.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJsQ2l2Zcc
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I've heard tiny bits and pieces of breadcrumb conspiracies panning out, as told on certain radio stations a small part of my family listens to. I tend to tune it out, but going back to this new style of cold war, it may fully explain how something so horrible as the sixth premonition could happen. Many believe already that a one world government would be a terrible idea, that and the currency being combined. However, what if it were done anyway, and what if all nations become combined through gradual political influence, over the span of about a hundred years, all designed just to lead the elite families of the world into further self-profit and control over everyone else?139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJ5hDPiHuT
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If this really is a possibility, a threat targeting all of humanity to yield such a horrible future, it should be stopped at all costs. If people one day find themselves under some tyrannical system devoid of all personal freedom and happiness, then it would be up to everyone to directly oppose and fight back, preferably before it can ever get bad enough to lead to mass starvation. However, since it's about a hundred years out, I'm not going to bother having any part of that fight.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5Q5AOt2i1
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I wouldn't want to anyway. I shouldn't have to fight for my own freedom, should I? Everyone is supposed to already have it, born into a loving wonderful world... Maybe I'm being naive though. After all, the Altiri had their dark moments of the past too. They were always good people, but Legasso was the bad egg among them all, his own evil hidden from himself until circumstances tested him. The Altiri were never violent people to begin with, but they were forced to learn how to separate themselves from the masses and become self-dependent. They were forced to fight and die for the freedoms they had today. Before that happened, they blindly played into Legasso's authority, believing him to be a god.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g6ZYh98m5
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What about us? America fought for our freedom in two world wars, but after all that, even this country is far from what I would call perfect, from the level the Altiri have their world right now. I don't know if I can ever understand the difference between human society and Altiri society; there is a huge difference, I just don't know why. I don't think people should have to suffer in order to eventually be better off or happier, but nature seems to force that rule on us every single time, another aspect I don't understand.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1MrG3tpCT
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"Nobody is perfect Reed. Even we are not saints. Our queen is the best queen we've ever had. If somebody else were to replace her, and it quickly became clear they wanted our demise rather than our prosperity, do you really think all of us Altiri would just stand by in horror letting it happen?"139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnanur2sZS
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How could I forget? The Altiri once rose up for that exact purpose when they stood up to Legasso. They had enough of him and his crimes, so they formed their own party to fight him, until every last Altiri stood against the one tyrant in the end, becoming unified in their fight, becoming The Unity. On Earth, people die quickly. Families and generations who learned lessons the hard way have such little time to pass on what they know to their children, who then need to pass it on further, the significance of the lesson slowly forgotten over time. On Earth, history repeats itself because we have such a short memory for all the horrible things that happen to us.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zZfp0Th3S
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The Altiri are different though. Their life spans are so much longer, nearly infinite. If that's not enough, they stopped having children during the height of their conflict with Legasso, which means the very same people who formed a party against Legasso are the very same people who are there now; they've always been that one generation who can never forget, because all they ever had was each other. Their story hasn't had the chance to be muddled and fogged up between generations of future offspring, because there have not been any new generations. Lumina is the same Lumina who watched that world burn to ash with her own two eyes, who watched in horror as millions of innocent Altiri lives were instantly vaporized. Nearly a hundred thousand years have passed since then; Lumina has even died and been resurrected several times with the technology they have there, her memories carried over and still intact. She isn't a different Lumina each time she is reborn; she is the same person, the same soul. "Maybe that's the difference between humans and Altiri."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5G81h7HHn
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"What is?"139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRV7HhQD5Fq
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I realize now that my thoughts were becoming louder given the epiphany. "Our life span difference. With as little time as we have to live, and as much as we reproduce, it's no wonder why it's so hard for humanity to get a grip on itself."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEMl4C9YFY
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"You really think that's the only weak link?"139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfGcCfnd2f
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I had to think about it some more when Lumina's tone opposed my own simplicity. I was sure I wasn't mistaken, though it could have been what I described and much more I was still unaware of. "Probably, but I guess I can't know everything... Look, after today, I won't want to talk about this stuff anymore."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5bFs467cs
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"Not your favorite subject?"139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKe52nXzHx
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"I just... I don't want to talk about all that stuff, about the Fall of Zinod. I don't want you to be sad about it."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZo0LQXTQR
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"Our past happened Reed. It's too late for me not to be sad about it."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ75W9Vje7B
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Then why did I have to bring it up? "Lumina..."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTkO7GpguK
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"Despite everything that happened back then though, I'm much happier now. I'm happy because I got to meet you. I'm happy because you and I are soul mates now. I wouldn't change that for the world. In the end, that's all that matters to me."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J1GNwvVLi
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... I went speechless for a short moment, but her emotion reciprocated within me. Knowing that our love made her happy also made me happier in return. "If I'm really that amazing, maybe I should spent even more time with you."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMCeV5XJbT
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"As if you really debated the idea," she laughed sarcastically.139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbRmpdUxDL
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"I don't know if I have it in me to actually fight or hurt other people for the sake of a few freedoms Lumina. But I do know, I'll tear this entire world apart if it makes us happier, and I'll eliminate anybody who ever tries to stand in the way of our goal. I don't have to do that, because who would get in my way like that? But, you get the point. I'll fight and die for you if that's what it takes, whatever it takes; that is worth fighting for."139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKj30nwFRzD
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"I like the confidence, but are you sure you know what you need to do?"139Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw79jW2YnHQ
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I knew why she was asking this now. Lumina has still been somewhat skeptical of my true confidence ever since I lost my will to live earlier. "I am sure. I won't fail." Persistence isn't the only virtue I need to have. I meant every word. I'll fight anybody who gets in the way of our future, even if that somebody has to be me. It will take a long time, and it won't be easy. If I do everything in my power to make my wish come true, then someday, I'll be there before I know it.
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