“Il n'y a qu'un héroïsme au monde : c'est de voir le monde tel qu'il est et de l'aimer.” 

- Romain Rolland

The sky poured the world with rain as if trying to drown the silent civilization. Each droplet pounded heavily onto the nave roof of the church. The church was ancient and gradually rusting, the white walls had begun to turn yellow, and the pews creaked with any weight. At the front row just beneath the second platform stood a dark wooden cross, polished and out of place compared to the ragged appearance of the church. With similar refined and intricate designs was the ebony clock above the cross. Its gold pendulum swung from one side to the other, slowly vibrating with the quarter-hour chime, breaking the sound patterns of the rain.

Across where the clock stood were a young girl and a man. The girl had her eyes closed and one hand in front of her heart. She was slim and short like a child, her cheeks were hollow, and there was little color left on her face. Her black hair was messily cut to the neck, exposing a little of her abnormally pale neck. Beside her, the man was a stark contrast. He had a large and muscular build with dark skin, notably uncommon physical traits in the post-World War III Meta-Society, exposing his occupation at first glance. His mannerisms were supercilious, and the way his stern eyes stared down was most intimidating. Unlike her, it was pretty obvious he didn’t care for sanctity. 

Once the chime ended, he said, “Are you done? I don’t have all day for this. Ms-”

“I don’t think I’m in my twenties yet. Call me Eve,” she said unhurriedly, opening her eyes and finishing her prayers. “Has MetaSchool never taught you patience? Mr. Police, you’ve looked for me for years. You can wait another minute. The old Surface folks never understood patience, or the war wouldn’t have decimated the society.”

“Eve, I am asking you politely, don’t make me do this another way,” the man replied in his deep voice, clenching his fist. He pulled out his taser knife and pressed it lightly into her neck when she didn’t respond. “I am a policeman. You don’t tell me to wait another minute. God won’t help you escape.”

She widened her eyes in feign astonishment before throwing her head back, laughing, almost hurting herself as her neck pressed into the sharp edge. After she recovered, she spoke tauntingly, “A policeman? You say it as if it’s still the same as it was a hundred years ago. All you people do now is bury corpses and guard the Surface that no one even attempts to go to anymore.”

“I don’t have all day,” he growled. “You have more than a thousand accounts of theft. Admit to your crimes now, or else your punishment will be worse. As long as people like you exist, there remains a need for my duty to protect the innocents in the Meta.”

The girl’s smile didn’t subside. But as she chuckled, he caught a flicker of fire in her big eyes. He hadn’t seen a fire like that in decades, not since his father had died, full of the purest ambition and desire, dangerous yet alluring.

“Eve,” he said hesitatingly. He was still bound to his duty, and he must complete what he was born to do. His duty was to protect the Meta people, and the girl was dangerous. She must be taken down. The hand on the taser held still, “Admit to your crimes.”

The spark in her eyes shone even brighter, and for a second, she was mesmerizing, even with sickly pale skin and sunken cheeks. The fire seemed to have the power to ignite the world. She shook her head and said, “You underestimate me.”

A bang sounded behind the man. Immediately, the impact blew him to the wall. The light in the church flickered before turning off, and all the curtains shut. Before the man could react, the girl who had been ready for the explosion had already retreated into the darkness. 

Winded, he tried to get back on his feet, but as soon as he could feel his limbs again, he felt a hard edge skimming along his neck. He slowly raised his hands, but he went for a front leg sweep below. It only succeeded momentarily as the silver edge again found its rim on his neck. This time it felt different. The rim belonged to his own taser knife.

“I got you,” Eve’s voice mocked in the dark. 

Clenching his fist, he punched into the darkness. He missed, but he did so again, again and again. Every time, his fist only made contact with the air. Running out of patience, the taser knife pierced through his skin. A searing pain went up to his body, but he never stopped fighting even when his world spun. He struggled until he plunged into an abyss. 

When his consciousness returned, his eyes were bound with a black cloth and there were patches of soreness in his worn body. Blindfolded, hands tied, he was indeed not in heaven. In the background, unfamiliar crowds of voices and whispering were his only clues. Attempting to decipher them, one voice became distinct. It was the girl. As soon as his limbs could move, he floundered against the ropes.

“Relax,” the voice spoke with mocking patronization, the same voice he had used.

However, he was too preoccupied to notice her tone. Trying to suppress his acrimony, he spoke acidly with gritted teeth, “What do you want?” 

There was a short silence before the girl approached him and ripped the black blindfold from his eyes. The man blinked at first to adjust to the light, and when he did, the grandeur of the place left him utterly agape. 

Not that it was anything remotely close to a palace, nor did it have any ornamentation, but the pure size of the tunnel was awe-striking. He and the girl stood at an elevated platform above the rest of the busy tunnel, where they could oversee every interaction. Dozens of children walked around in packs, coming out from their little campsite to another. Campsites were segregated with old curtains, and inside each would be mattresses, blankets, food, and books. They were all scattered around the pod; the blankets that laid messily on the mattress, unfinished food, and folded books all showed such robust signs of life and vitality. There were no signs of Meta nor any technology as if they didn’t need it to live. It was abstruse, leaving him genuinely at a loss. This was not a criminal hideout, this was an underground society living by the rules of the old world.

This time there was no humor in her voice when she spoke, “Do you still want to capture me?” 

“I am not going to abet in this swindle. This is an absolute swindle,” he muttered repetitively. “You take all these possessions from those that live in the meta for your own-”

“They’re all dead,” she cut him off darkly. “Face it, they are all dead. Whether they still breathe or not is not important, the Meta has stripped away their humanity. They are not alive, none of them are. But look at these children. They are all alive. These are the children of the new world.”

“The people in the Meta are not dead,” he remarked indignantly. “They are humans just like you and me and they deserve to be respected.”

“Don’t make excuses for those animals. Do you know where these children came from? These children have all been abandoned by their parents, left out to die. I saved them. I took them in, giving them a life, a home. Not their monster of a parent.

“For their stupid MetaPoints, they are willing to abandon their children. So many parents fail to hook their kids up to their Metas and forget that these real children will end up living in the real world, suffering from hunger and pain. That’s how I found them—crying and dying as their parents fought dragons to earn more points to change their stupid avatar. For their stupid points, they are willing to sacrifice their own child, their own blood. I would never ally myself with that,” she deadpanned. A quiet fell as she gathered her following words. Her voice became gentler and her tone softer, “I know you are trying to save this world too. But, following your police rules from a hundred years ago, abiding by this Meta-Society, and burying corpses is not the way.” 

The man fell silent. 

Her eyes shifted away from the man, and she looked down the seemingly never-ending tunnel, “We have to live forwards.”

After a long while, he finally said, “You are a thief.” In his voice, she heard it all, sarcasm, resignation, bitterness, and acceptance. Then, he laughed in the same way she had. The sound of his laughter echoed in the chambers of the tunnel. But the children below were louder, and the sounds of their chattering covered him as if he didn’t matter at all. Not to the bustling of life.

She was patient and waited for his laughter to die before she spoke, “I- We need you.”

He raised his head up lazily, “Me?”

“We want to leave. We want to leave the underground,” she replied shortly. 

He frowned as if momentarily confused by her question before pursing his lips, “You want to go to the Surface? That’s when you know someone is going nuts.”

“We are not crazy. If anyone is nuts, it’s all the people living in the Meta. You, out of all people, should know how limited our food supply is here. I’ve gone to the big storage space, the supply will not last for another decade. And funnily, I want to live past that,” she persuaded. As she spoke, the man couldn’t help but again notice the fire in her eyes. He couldn’t help but think in disbelief, ‘after living through this trashy world, there are still people who want to try?’ 

“No, you’re not going out there. Have you ever seen what the Surface looks like? It’s most probably barren fields and freezing nights. Do you even know how to farm?” He paused to see her unimpressed expression before adding, “You are all kids.”

“We do, actually. We have borrowed a handful of books. As long as there is water, we know that we can survive,” in her head, she seemed to be weighing options before she resigned and said, “If you don’t trust us, come with us. You know that all these people living in the Meta, they’re all going to die sooner or later. They are hooked and addicted, their souls are dead. That is not the future of mankind. That is not what humanity looks like and that is not what God created us to be.”

He asked doubtfully, “So you propose we all migrate to the Surface?”

“Yes, the nuclear winter has passed following the theoretical predictions that I have read. It’s been a century. Come with us,” she said with confidence and assertiveness. “Think. I have two hundred and thirty-one kids that know how to survive on the Surface. If we all stay here in the Metaworld, we would either live the rest of our lives as thieves or die. But if you let us out, we could either be the future of humanity and restore the human race or we die before that happens. At least give us the chance to repent on the Surface.”

“You will die,” he voiced, shaking his head.

“I would rather die on the Surface there than here, as would you. People like us, we live on hope and duty. Hope and duty make us who we are,” she said vigorously. “It is our duty to restore humanity, and we can do it if you show us the path.”

He sighed, “untie me.”

Eve hesitated, “I need a promise.”

“Just kill me if I don’t abide, why do you need a promise?” Seeing her unchanging demeanor, he surrendered, “Fine, I promise that I will do what you ask if you untie me.”

Eve gave a slight nod. Another child walked out from the darkness with a sharp knife, bent down, and cut the rope. But before he could move, the child took out a gun from his other pocket and pressed it onto his head.

“I just gave you my promise. We will all leave together. Eve, what is this?” 

“Well, I thought so too. But then, little Finn over there, and I both saw your hand move towards the knife in your boot. The gun is just a precaution,” she responded innocently with a smile.

The man grabbed the knife out of his boot, throwing it on the floor before slowly raising his hands up, “how about this?” 

“Better. Finn, you should go get ready. We are leaving soon.”

The child lowered his gun, “Okay, I’ll go tell May and the others. They’re all packed.”

Once the child left, the man stood up. His limbs cracked as he moved, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He asked, “how did you get a gun?”

“We built it,” she replied carelessly. “You should go pack too. We all leave at dusk.”

The policeman rubbed his face. When he spoke again, his voice was weak and worn, “I’m ready. I have nothing to pack. We can leave whenever.”

Her eyes darted towards him, scrutinizing every inch of his face as if trying to decipher any other emotion. Finally, she looked away as if satisfied with what she found, “Alright, we leave in an hour. If you really have nothing to pack, follow me.”

He did, trailing behind the girl, subtle and strange feelings circled around him. Never has he been in a similar situation. Born into his job, he had been trying to do the duties of a policeman all his life. Until he turned ten, he did whatever his father told him to do, and on his tenth birthday, his father hooked himself up and left the boy all to himself. He didn’t even know how old he was anymore. There was no one left to celebrate his birthday anyway. There was no one left for him to follow.

“This is where I come to think. And to avoid you. Now, before I leave, it’s the only place out of the quarters that I want to remember,” she said as she sat down, her legs hanging off the edge of the tunnel far above the endless unmoving black water, looking out to the boundless blue sky. “You’ve probably never seen this. This is the very end of Meta, the southernmost point you can get if you use the directions of the Map.”

“I thought the southernmost was the border,” he remarked.

“That’s the southernmost marked destination. This place is not designed to be found, nor is it particularly safe,” she told him patiently. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Sometimes, I just want to simply lie here for the rest of my life, watch the sun rise and fall, the moon’s shadows dancing on the black water. But then I would go back to the quarters and see all the other children. I imagine that they must be like the Old Surface folks, free from the Metaworld, complex, intricate and mesmerizing. I want that back. It's one of the only thoughts that can get me to stand up and walk away from all of this. Hope can be particularly exhausting to grasp on when you live the life of a thief in a deaf world.”

He commented, “You don’t talk like a child.”

“Hmmm…I haven’t been a child for a while,” she responded lightly.

He closed his eyes, “In reality, I know that this is all fake. The sun, the sky, and the water. None of this is real. It’s screens and artificial lights. But I never tried to prove it, not only once. I guess the big part of me still wants to convince myself that everything we see is still real. It’s just too tiring. Duty to protect the Meta people had driven me on for too long, I don’t have enough energy in my heart and body for another responsibility like that.” 

She stated after a short-lived peace, “I figured you knew. I only found out when I jumped into the black water, hit the bottom fast and broke my ankle. Hard to climb out.”

“You climbed out? That’s a ten feet drop with a broken ankle, seems pretty impossible,” he commented, “You’re always trying so hard, holding on so tightly… Are you really fighting for the remnants of this wretched and broken humanity? I find that hard to believe.” 

It could have been the horizon’s illusion, but her eyes sparkled as she uttered, “You’re right. I’m not altruistic. I fight for myself and those I care for and I selfishly crave for light; real light. I want the wind to brush by our faces, the sun to heat up our skin and the endlessly vast night sky and its countless stars to really mean something. Like how an animal craves food and water, we crave for freedom and survival. But if I could make humanity blossom on land again and see these children grow up with hope at their fingertips, I would willingly let the new world burn on the fuel of my blood.”

“Is humanity really worth it? Is the new world really worth it? Ever since I was a child, I have been protecting the people in the Meta even if it meant endlessly lonely days of collecting corpses. It’s a duty that is engraved in my soul,” he cut her off and laughed. “ Going back in time, I think I really believed that I was saving and protecting the world. I would have undoubtedly followed your ambitions if I knew that we had the people and resources.”

This time, her voice was quieter because she could already sense the answer, “What changed you?”

He shook his head before he heard his own despondent voice, “After years of watching the people living in the Meta, even as someone with such a strong sense of duty and loyalty, I am forced to question, is humanity really worth reviving? Our pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth is so overpoweringly strong. Maybe slow extinction isn’t so bad. Maybe freedom, hope and longevity was just a short-lived fever dream, bound to end.”

Two hours later, all of the children assembled past the chapel, each with a hefty rucksack over their shoulder. They appeared young but alert and aware of the world they lived in. The policeman had never seen nor talked to so many people in his life. Everyone he’d interacted with lived in the metaverse the way these children were supposed to. However, he couldn’t help but feel glad that they didn’t. None of those people that lived in the metaverse held the same fire they did, the same awareness and curiosity for another world. 

“We’ve all been waiting for this moment. When we begin our journey, we move in our pack and remember to listen for instructions. I want to have your attention at all times,” Eve instructed loudly above the noise. “If we want to survive, we have to do this right.”

“We should go,” the policeman said, leading them down the once inanimate street. As the group passed by, warmth and sound came flushing in. The city once again seemed to be bustling with noise, youths, and excitement. 

The journey was not long as all the children knew the city well enough to remember every route. It was a survival skill for all of them. That is why when the policeman stopped in front of a tall clock tower that copied the designs of Big Ben, the children all looked at him curiously. Even the girl couldn’t help but ask cautiously, “is it here? We’ve… We’ve been here before. The gate can’t be this. You know where the gate is, right?”

“This is the center of the city and the highest point. Of course, the gate is here. You can’t find it, because you don’t happen to be a policeman nor the descendent of one. Your DNA would not trigger the gate,” he explained as he pushed open the gate. They all took the staircase to walk up the ten levels of the building as the elevators have broken throughout years of deterioration. Once they finally reached the apex, he stopped before a blurred painting that had broken through time. With all of the children’s eyes on him, he rested his hand gently on the painting.

With a tremendous clamor, the painting split the wall in half, and both began to slowly shift into the sides. At first, it was all darkness. Then as the wall disappeared into the sides, lights turned on inside, showing innumerable sets of stairs. The path was gray, and the end was distant, but to Eve, her dream had never been so close. 

The policeman looked to his side at the girl, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were fixated on the path in front of her. The fire in her burnt. It was so hot and wild that it decimated everything around her. It was pure hope and desire to live. He smiled.

“Leave now,” he spoke gently. 

She nodded. She led the children through the doorway and stepped onto the stairs without hesitating. After a few seconds, as if coming to a realization, she stopped and turned around. Seeing the policeman stationary behind the doorway, she bit her lips and let out a breath. In return, she smiled too and asked, “not coming to see the real sky, Adam?”

His eyes widened as he heard his name. It was so foreign that it seemed to be from another lifetime.

“That is your duty, make a better world,” he said softly, eyes staring into the vast unknown ahead of him. “But it’s not mine. My duty is here.” 

Just as the echo of his last word bounced down the chambers, the walls trembled once more, signaling the end of its travel period. Once again forming a complete painting, he watched the doors close. He didn’t know that as he turned back around, there was light in his eyes too.

Stepping out of the building, the quarter-hour chimed, and a rain droplet fell onto his face from the sky. The sun really left as fast as it came, he thought. Moments later, his footsteps sounded once more, but they were heavy, with her last words at the Southernmost Point still echoing in his head. 

“I think humanity is worth saving and freedom is worth chasing. I don’t know about the sins of the past, nor the story of how we got to this point. But I know that these children deserve to live freely in the world that belongs to them, deserve to get enough water and food without needing to steal and fight, deserve to live with dignity and purpose. They deserve to know what strawberry shortcakes taste like without a crap ton of condiments. I fight for them, their dreams and their destiny, is not here. Most importantly, I know that we write the world, the world never writes us.”

As simple as that, the fire of new humanity left with a little thief. 

“Il n'y a qu'un héroïsme au monde: c’est de voir le monde tel qu'il est, de l'aimer et d'avoir le courage de faire la différence.” 

- People of the New World