Beta Planet: Rise Read Online Free PDF Page B

sector wrong?”
    “He never gets it wrong, Allea. Let’s head over and see for ourselves. G, stretch those legs out,” Sabien said with a mischievous smile.
    As they continued walking, Geon noticed there were no animals to be seen. No birds in the sky. No flies around them. Nothing . He looked at the devastated building and ruins and realized there were no businesses around them either. No signs of an office, a restaurant, or any stores. He was overwhelmed with this feeling of desolation and hopelessness.
    “Where is everyone?” Geon said, his voice quivering. “Where are the people? The animals? The stores and… and places to eat. And… businesses? What do people do now? Where is EVERYONE?”
    “Geon, take it easy,” Allea said as she grabbed Geon’s hand. “I know this is a lot to take in at once. It’s hard for any of us to handle, and we can’t imagine what it’s like for you, knowing that you’ve missed out on so much of it. But take my word, you wouldn’t have wanted to see it… earlier . Most of the human population has been eradicated. Global warming has been getting progressively worse, since before you were born, but after you went into the coma, it became much worse at an accelerated speed. As a result of the extensive global warming and erosion, the water levels rose so high, so rapidly, that people never even saw it coming. There was nowhere to go… nowhere to run to. It happened so fast. Our only option to survive was to flee to higher ground. The planet is now ninety-nine percent covered in water. Our dry land is at a critical one percent and another severe disaster could endanger that as well. What’s left of our population still carries on and tries to survive. We all support the efforts to keep the human population alive. The more we know and learn about this planet, the more we can help each other. Just remember we’re always here for you. You’re not alone.”
    Geon saw that her eyes were glassy with tears. He felt calmed by her words but still confused and overcome with feelings of sadness and despair for all the people who must have lost their families and loved ones.
    Sabien put his hands up, palms facing Geon and said, “And to answer your other question, yes we do have places to eat, and we’ll take you to one today. Most of the places are closer to the center of the city. We live sort of on the outskirts.”
    “We have sushi! Can we take him for sushi, Sabe?”
    Sabe smiled and patted Kumuki’s shoulder again. “Sure, Kuki. Whatever you like.”
    As they continued walking down the fragmented road, Geon noticed a strange glow ahead of them. As they got closer, he saw that it was some sort of round street light, fixed onto a pole about ten feet off the ground. He stopped just under it and stared up. The light glowed a faint yellow, and faded in and out slowly.
    “That, my friend, is the ORB,” said Sabien. “The Optical Report Beacon. You’ll see them all over. The colors are a guide for any potential dangers in the immediate area. Green means all is safe. Yellow means Level 1 potential dangers… your basic run-of-the-mill disasters, if you will. Light flooding, torrential downpours, slight ground tremors, light hail or ice storms, et cetera. Orange is a Level 2 alert. Heavy storms and blizzards, large hail, flash floods, medium quake tremors, and so on. Level 3 is, of course, red. Tornadoes, hurricanes, severe earthquakes, tsunamis, et cetera. If you see red, you run for your life to a safe house.”
    Geon shivered at the thought of these disasters, staring still at the yellow bulb glowing above them. “Uhmm it’s yellow… now. ”
    “Hahahahaha!” Laughed Sabien, tilting his head back in delight.
    “It’s always yellow, G,” Allea said.
    “Unless it’s orange or red, of course,” Sabien replied with sarcastic assurance.
    “Yup I’ve never even seen green!” blurted Kumuki.
    Geon did not feel at all assured by their comments. He had so many questions about