THERE IS HOPE: A DARK NIGHT

S5E3 • Mythic Sci-fi • Transhumanism • Haunting

Jun 08, 2025

Hello, fellow voyagers🖖. Welcome back to There Is Hope, a five-episode cli-fi mini-series and the fifth and final season of my ongoing cli-fi series with the same name.

As the last forest dies, a young girl encounters an unexpected glimmer of hope—but saving it and herself won’t be easy.

Episode 2 • First contact with an unexpected being.

Episode 3 • Can Shia survive the betrayal?

There Is Hope is part of my larger climate fiction series, There Is Hope, a five-season mosaic story about life on a planet devastated by climate change and the things that give people hope.

📖 New here? Start at the beginning > series overview

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📚 Series Overview | S5 > Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep.5

At first, her body was heavy, like a gigantic turtle flipped on its back. She felt her way back into it, as if slowly awakening from a long and vivid dream, still unsure on which side reality ended or began. She ran her fingers along the back of her neck, searching for irregularities. The skin was smooth, unblemished… Oh, there–just below the hairline—she felt a minuscule bump, a scar. They had implanted something, but the brain scan on her virtual screen showed nothing. Sanse was asleep by her side. They were not in the Oasis any longer.

‘Good evening, beautiful,’ said Dr. Sokov.

His voice was soft and winding, words wrapping around her like a snake, suffocating in their embrace.

‘Where are we?’ said Shia.

He was sitting at the edge of her bed. His eyes brushed against hers, wondered down her chin, tracing the line of her neck.

‘Somewhere safe,’ said Dr. Sokov.

That’s when she noticed the zipper of her Skin biosuit was pulled down all the way to her navel.

‘You were struggling to breathe,’ said Dr. Sokov. ‘Thankfully, I was able to stabilize you.’

She crawled against the wall, pulling up the zipper. The scientist’s gold toothed grin was cruel and grotesque. She scanned the small, windowless room, wondering if the door was locked.

‘How long was I gone?’ said Shia.

‘Long enough to miss you,‘ said Dr. Sokov.

Something was wrong. She felt it in her gut. The scientist was giddy with excitement—more unhinged than usual. What were they doing in this room? Her thoughts ran in circles, her heart was in her throat, she trembled like a kelp leaf in the stormy currents of the ocean.

‘Where’s the Officer?’ said Shia.

The presence of a friend was the only reassurance she needed right now. Dr. Sokov searched through his pockets and took something out. He playfully tossed it into the air, then caught it with one hand. It was the Ghost’s heart!

‘The good Officer fulfilled his last mission with honor,’ said Dr. Sokov. ‘This is a souvenir for you.’

‘What are you talking about? What mission?’ said Shia.

Dr. Sokov tossed the heart gadget into her lap.

‘I must take care of some last details,’ said Dr. Sokov, unlocking the door. ‘I’ll be back soon to get us ready for the trip.’

She was trapped.

‘The trip? What trip?’ said Shia.

‘The Siberian Cooperatives have extended an official invitation for the two of you to join the Space Station,’ said Dr. Sokov. ‘Isn’t it great?’

Alone in her prison cell, Shia held the Ghost’s heart. Its glowing fire was gone. Her friend, her ally—gone. She was all alone, held hostage in the middle of nowhere, at the mercy of a mad scientist who wanted to launch her into space. May the dust take him! Grief came in waves with fresh tears to shed, until nothing was left. No pain. No tears. Until she felt empty. Numb. Sanse’s slow, rhythmic breath was the only sound breaking the heavy silence, soothing her heart, reminding her that she was not alone.

‘Sanse?’

She tried to wake him but it was no use. He was gone, peacefully unaware of everything. Exhausted, she closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come. The ceiling lamp glared down, depriving her of the comfort of darkness. She didn’t know how long she lay there. A minute? An eternity? Did time move anymore? Everything was still. Perhaps they’d forgotten her. If she died locked in that room, buried deep in the Dust Pirate’s underground facility, no one would ever find her body. Two salty tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, running down her temples, gathering behind her ears—hot at first, then cold. Her mind was drifting away to the land of dreams when an unexpected sound jolted her back to awareness. It was the door lock. He was back.

‘Blessed be the sands, I’ve found you.’

The gentle voice of Olderman Yooko was like a balm to her ears.

‘Olderman Yooko!’

The dry well of her eyes filled up again with tears of joy.

‘My tired old legs couldn’t have carried me any further,’ said Olderman Yooko sitting on the edge of her bed. ‘I’m so relieved you’re both alive and well. After all that went down here, I feared the worst.’

‘What happened?’ said Shia.

A shadow crossed the old man’s face. She could feel its dark, heavy burden.

‘Where shall I start?’ said Olderman Yooko. ‘Dr. Sokov betrayed us. All this time, he was secretly feeding information to The Cooperatives, trying to earn a place on their space station escape. Now he’s brought them here. He thinks he’s a magician. He thinks he can turn things into something out there, in space. There’s an old yaqui legend about a group of people who moved from one place to another. They said they carried a lake with them wherever they liked. When they wanted, they rolled up the lake like a rug and took it away. Dr. Sokov thinks they can roll up Earth and take it away in their spaceship. He wants to take the young Sea Hamut—the young wise woman—with him to interpret the otherworldly foretelling of a new way of life. I can’t let that happen. I must protect you!’

‘They won’t save the humans,’ said Shia. ‘Not if we escape with them into space and let everyone else here to die.’

Olderman Yooko felt around the bed looking for the switch that detached the upper part of Sanse’s bed turning it into a floating carpet.

‘We must hurry! The Cooperatives ships will arrive soon to collect you,’ said Olderman Yooko.

‘I don’t understand,’ said Shia. ‘Where is everyone else?’

‘I’m the only one left to roam freely because I’m an old sick man. My comrades are either fighting, imprisoned or dead. But not without putting up a good fight first. This is how we are!’

Shia held up the Ghost’s lightless heart gadget.

‘What about the Officer? Dr. Sokov said he completed his last mission. What does that mean?’

‘Oh, the poor Officer was neutralized trying to protect the two of you,’ said Olderman Yooko.

So many people died to rescue her—it was an unbearable feeling.

‘Vamos hija!’ said Olderman Yooko. ‘We don’t have time to waste!’

The underground facility was quiet like a grave. Olderman Yooko marched down dimly lit hallways and climbed flights of stairs with a newly found agility. Before she knew it, they stood in front of the exit door.

‘This was easy,’ said Shia.

‘Too easy.’

Olderman Yooko peeked outside, then pushed Sanse’ flying carpet through the door. The silvery desert shimmered under the moonlight, the air was cool, the sky bright with stars. It would have been a beautiful night, but for the gunshots in the distance, the scattered bodies, the fearful heart beating in her chest.

‘Hurry up!’ said Olderman Yooko, heading toward the ancient Data Center.

Shia walked around the lifeless bodies, careful not to step on them. They were all yaqui warriors, Olderman Yooko’s fierce desert army. To her relief, the glasshouse was intact. No one dared to harm the Oasis even in the most heated of battles. Nature was sacred.

‘What will happen to the plants?’ said Shia.

‘They will survive one way or another. Besides, we’re taking a sample with us!’ said Olderman Yooko, tapping his belt pouch.

They moved quickly, their long dark shadows trembling over the silvery sand. Only a couple of hundred meters separated them from the Data Center when a solitary gunshot sent Olderman Yooko tumbling face down in the dust.

‘No!’ said Shia.

She grabbed the old man’s shoulder, using all her might to pull him onto his back. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth down to his chin.

‘Olderman Yooko, Olderman Yooko!’ said Shia, shaking him.

She felt his pulse, checked his breath. He was still alive. She pressed her hands on his chest wound, the warm, sticky blood oozing between her fingers.

‘Please, don’t die!’ said Shia.

Whoever had shot him was still hiding somewhere close by.

‘Take my pouch and run,’ said Olderman Yooko.

As he spoke, more blood gurgled out of his mouth. Tired, pleading eyes looked at her.

‘I can’t leave you here to die alone,’ said Shia.

‘We will all be taken back into the earth in payment for our nourishment during life, mi hija,’ said Olderman Yooko. ‘You must save Sanse. Go!’

Her hands shaking, she unbuckled his pouch, then ran toward the Data Center as fast as she could, followed by the flying carpet. What would she find in the abandoned Data Center? Was there anyone or anything left to save them now?

‘Stop! Don’t make me shoot you!’

Dr. Sokov called from a distance. Shia looked over her shoulder and saw a dark shadow running over the silver sand, drawing nearer. A few bullets ricocheted off the ground. Shia ran behind the Data Center looking for a place to hide.

‘Don’t be stupid, Shia! Where do you think you’re going?’

Her body tightened, willing itself to become an impenetrable fortress. The muffled steps of Dr. Sokov were coming closer.

‘We located a planet suitable for life! Isn’t this amazing? It will take only 6300 years to reach Proxima Centauri. There are 49 breeding pairs on the spaceship. This should help us create enough offspring to make it there. But fertility rates are different in space than on Earth. The chances of a successful pregnancy are much lower because of higher mutation rates due to radiation. You’re a young, fertile woman. We could add another breeding pair. Think about it—your offspring will be the inhabitants of a brave new world.’

What about Earth? What about her fiance Lusius? What about her grandmother? She didn’t have the strength to leave Earth behind—not even for Sanse. She would rather be swallowed by the dust of the planet she loved than leave forever. There was nothing for her out there.

‘You have all your life before you. Don’t be stupid, Shia,’ said Dr. Sokov.

She took out a small kaiken dagger from one of her boots and placed it on the ground. Sitting in seiza, with her legs folded under her buttocks, she did a deep shin bow. Then she unzipped her Skin, revealing the pale skin of her neck.

‘I’m sorry, Sanse. You should have let me die in the slums.’

The dagger glistened under the moonlight. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. In an instant, her whole life flashed before her eyes, like a dream. Her jugular vein pulsed against the cold blade. One swift cut and all would be over. Would she wake up in another dream as beautiful and tragic as this? As bitterly lonely?

‘You are not alone.’

That was the Ghost’s voice. Was she hallucinating? Holding the dagger to her neck, Shia searched around, then saw it—the Ghost’s heart glowing in the silvery dust. She let the dagger fall into the sand.

‘Are you there?’ said Shia, taking the Ghost’s heart into her hands.

At its center, there was the glowing golden sphere.

‘Gotcha, little Shia,’ said Dr. Sokov, his boots pounding the ground.

She crawled deeper into the Data Center, holding the Ghost’s heart close to her chest. Sanse’s flying bed followed her.

‘Please, talk to me! I thought you were gone!’ said Shia.

The Ghost’s heart was the only light in the pitch dark.

‘The Ghost is part of us now.’

It was his voice, but the words didn’t belong to him.

‘Aea? Is that you? Can you help us?’ said Shia.

‘You are part of us now. We always look after our kind.’

The lights of a blue flying pod flickered on, the whistle of an engine filled the air.

‘Thank you!’ said Shia, running toward the flier as fast as she could.

‘There is hope,’ said Aea.

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Hope nourished our starving system like water flowing upwards against gravity through the xylem of trees. It revived us with a new sense of purpose. New paths branched into the future, carrying the promise of a plentiful harvest for generations to come. We planted the seeds. We tended the gardens.

Beneath the ashes and painful memories of the past, the roots of a new world order began to spread. A mycorrhizal network extended their hyphae, creating new pathways of communication, water and nutrient movement. From the quiet, fertile darkness, a new form of life sprouted, blooming into a civilization unlike anything humanity had ever known.

But it wasn’t made for us.
They didn’t come to save us.
They came to start all over—
with or without us.

The end

📚 Series Overview | S5 > Ep.1 | Ep.2 | Ep.3 | Ep.4 | Ep.5

Author Notes

After more than a decade spent creating this fictional world, finishing this novel feels less like an ending and more like planting the first seed. This is not just a story. Like a seed capsule, it carries the essence of my beliefs, a blueprint of how I see the world and the kernel of my imagination.

The writing process has been deeply cathartic—a deconstruction and reconstruction of what once lived only in the abstraction of my mind, now rooted on the page.

It’s been an emotional journey, both for me and for the protagonists of these stories. A reader once asked if I put myself into the characters. The truth is, it was the other way around. I had to let the characters fully inhabit me in order to tell their stories. Each writing session felt like entering a parallel reality—my own personal everything, everywhere, all at once. That, more than everything, was the most surprising aspect of writing and perhaps the most addictive part. Letting go of my own reality to immerse into one born of my imagination has been an intoxicating experience.

I hope some of that emotion found its way to you through the words. Thank you for diving into this world with me. Two concluding episodes remain—a letter from the future and an epilogue—before we say goodbye to this series.

But as I’ve mentioned before, this is not an end. It’s only the beginning of an epic journey. I hope you’ll stay with me to discover what comes next.

STORY VOYAGER

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