Earth Biome

by Christian Gutierrez

  After the Guardian ran some geological scans we found the best point of entry, the left corner of the bottom floor of control tower 3. He used his weapon to cut into the cement leaving a hole right into the room causing a cement circle to fall and crack below with a muffled ‘srhoomp.’ While he gracefully jumped down and landed on the metal floor, I fell and landed somewhere in the dark room on some equipment. Then the lights turned on. They were like no other, there was no power source, just floating glowing orbs. I looked at the Guardian, he was in shock. Half of the room was filled, and half of it was empty. There were shelves with no objects, cabinets with no contents, it didn’t look like they were removed or stolen, just gone. But most surprisingly ,right in the center was the half built device my grandfather made that was supposed to destroy the Earth.

  I asked, “Wh-Why is that there?”

  The Guardian replied, “It all makes sense now, the private funding source was the Prime Guardian himself. The reason this room is still here is because they were not from Earth, when the timeline was reversed, for the same reason the C.M.C. was still standing, this facility was still here.”

  However, the Prime Guardian didn’t want to destroy the world with this device, he wanted to raise a red flag and force the scientific division to take action to save the planet. Is it because he wanted to then take over the planet with Guardians, then kill the scientific team running the C.M.C. that was never even functioning. It made sense why the C.M.C. was fake, to act as a ploy to just increase presence of the Guardians, but why continue to supply Dark Lithion or why go through the trouble at all?

  The answer came when one of the clear panels in the room illuminated with a red glow. It displayed text in a blood red, the Guardian translated it: “Alert, Evacuate All Guardian Personnel Immediately, Planetary Destruction Imminent.” No this couldn’t be right, we sat right in front of the thing that was supposed to cause the end of the world, but now it was gonna end anyways. The Guardian used his com device and called in to his superior, no longer caring if he’d be caught.

  “Commander, this is Garion, Report.”

  “Garion!” exclaimed his commander, “I can’t believe it, I haven’t heard your voice in a long while.”

  “What is the reason for the Planetary Destruction of Earth!” replied the Guardian.

  “You didn’t know. One Solarian Cycle ago, the funding for the C.M.C. project was shut down, it was costing too much and put a few small sections of Guardians living on the planet Droth into poverty. So with much dismay, we had to stop sending Dark Lithion. At the same time we found that there was a problem with the C.M.C. we had not thought through, if there was a shortage of Dark Lithion, the reactor would create an impulsion radon octrion explosion that could demolecularize the entire universe. Which was the risk of using such a high value prototype material from the depths of space. In order to disengage the device, we have to destroy the C.M.C. device itself and sadly anything living on the Earth’s crust will die along with it. It is a price we must pay.”

  “Thank you commander,” said the Guardian.”

  It was now clear, the whole reason for the C.M.C. was to destroy humanity, the very words of the Prime Guardian himself. But it was an all clever and deceiving plan. It would be impossible to destroy the Earth or its population in secret. First of all, the Seekers could see everything and the cause of destruction would be traced back to the Guardians, most likely the Prime Guardian. Therefore a thorough plan was devised to make Earth’s destruction look like a failed intervention. It seemed like every question was answered except why. What was the motivation for killing the humans in the first place?

  * * * *

  Chapter 9: The Race to Space

  The Guardian called Garion made it clear, the only way to stop this madness was to get into space to speak directly to the council, any attempt at digital communication or sending the recording would be filtered and banned by the Prime Guardian. Garion knew of an old landing site where the Guardians first arrived on the island of Oahu. Inside of a barrier constructed in the shape of a Volcano, referred to as ‘Diamond Head’ by the locals. In it lie the only remaining seldomly used craft that would be able to transport us to the Prime Guardian ship, since teleportation could lead us to being trapped in Z space forever. He drove us to the base which was now full of commotion. They no longer cared about the public knowing who the Guardians were, or seeing a spacecraft for the first time. They wanted to get off this planet before the explosion went off. There was so much going at the time so we blended right in. The guards were off their posts, and people were teleporting to the ship. So we got our chance when one of the small cargo craft was preparing to take off. We hijacked it, then flew up to the Prime Guardian’s ship. We were a sitting duck, and a beacon of safety. We couldn’t be fired upon without the entire Guardian population knowing that a Guardian had commited an act of violence, so they let us land right in the landing bay. We were met with a barrage of security forces which gladly took us out of the ship. But that was part of the plan. We knew they would take us to a prison compound for further questioning but we didn’t have time. So as we were being taken to the heart of the ship, we neared the Grand Hall of the Council.

  It was time. I grabbed onto the Guardian’s hand and everyone other than the two of us were electrocuted. I guess they forgot one thing. Then we made a break for the door. Sirens erupted and Guardians began to run in all directions, some away from us and others toward. As my hand touched the door, it began to open. As soon as I was about to enter, guards had caught up with us and started to drag us away. I screamed, “You don’t understand,” which was then translated and rephrased by the Guardian. It didn’t work.

  Suddenly the doors to the Grand Hall of the Concil swung open and one of the members of the Guardian council locked eyes with me. It wasn’t a stare of admiration, or intrigue, but one of understanding. Information began to pass from my mind, it felt like cool air rushing through my skull and a warmth growing in the back of my eyes. Then with the swift movement of a hand, we were released. We walked to the council hall. Luckily there was a meeting in progress, which we interrupted to save earth. However, something was going on, all of the Council members stared into my mind, as if they were looking into my soul, then I felt my true self leaving my body as I floated into a warmth of white empty space. Then I saw everything, the past, the future, the history of the Guardians. Then everything went black. I could see, the Earth was never replicated, the earth was just reversed in time, that explains the spinning of the earth in the video. Suddenly, I felt cold, like metal had surrounded me and it absorbed all the heat in my body. I began to fall and fall . . .

  * * * *

  Chapter 10: Awakening

  I felt a thud like I had hit the bottom. I caught my breath, as I lay on a bed in what appeared to be a hospital. I rubbed the bump on the side of my head, I must have blacked out. I had a horrible headache and my vision was blurred, but somehow I could see even clearer than before, as if I could feel the room without my senses. A warmth tingled my body as I noticed a Guardian in robes dressed in the corner. Without moving his lips he told me to follow him, it was the first time a Guardian had spoken to me, and I understood. I pulled out all of the leads in my arms and stood up on the floor. We walked through halls, I felt like I was traveling very slowly but my mind could think faster than I could move. There were Guardians looking and watching. Some had smiles and others had faces of respect.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw him, walking . . . cuffed in thermonetic binds, being escorted down to the containment sector, it was the Prime Guardian. I knew my mission was complete, earth was saved. I looked deep into his sad old eyes, as if he still had something left to say. Our conversation took place in half a second, I knew everything. As we gazed at each other, I got the explanation I deserved. After all I did save Earth along with the help Garion, the rogue Guardian. The Prime Guardian told me he saw something in the humans, that one day they would overthrow the Guard
ians, succeed them, and become them. He did not want that to happen, he wanted the humans dead, however there was a risk, the Earth may be destroyed through the time reversal prototype. It would be better in his mind to all be destroyed than to be overrun by a lesser population. Yet it had worked, until I came along to stop him. He pleaded saying that humans were corrupt and evil, they would have destroyed the universe in one way or another. They will kill and fight wars for greed and lust. Then I looked even harder. I understood him, but it wasn’t fair, it was not our fault for being born with minds that had a taste for good and evil. In that moment, I forgave the most powerful and possibly evil being in the universe for being, for lack of a better word . . . human.

  Thats when it dawned on me, we are all Guardians. The humans just haven’t realized it yet. That is why I was able to communicate with them, we shared the same type of mind. Later in the evening, I was invited to a ceremony deep inside the craft. The halls of the Grand Ceremony Room were amazing. The craftsmanship was astounding. The floors were made of solid diamond and there were pillars made from solar gold. The ceiling was high enough to fit the Statue of Liberty. There were six pillars on the left and an equal amount on the right. A long red cloth hung from each pillar encrusted in rubies that glowed from the orb lights floating above. Garion followed me and he too was amazed by the room. I could tell he had never been there before. Ten chairs sat on either side of what looked like to be a marble table. In each sat a well dressed Royal Guardian who were second to the Prime Guardian in command. They stood to reveal their sword like weapons and drew them in salute. Then they all turned and uniformly came towards us. Then they kneeled down and bowed to us in respect. Then we followed them to one point behind the table where slots were fitted into the floor. Each of the Royal Guardians inserted their swords in part way causing a secret pillar in the floor to rise up. In it was a sword, it was amazing and beautiful. The edges of the sword were translucent diamond while the interior flowed with a dark liquid that pulsated and glistened. I glanced at them, they told me to grasp the sword. I reached forward and wrapped my hands around the hilt. When my fingers touched the cool surface, the sword began to glow blue as if outlining where my fingers held it. The sword was lighter than diamond but I could tell it was a lot stronger. I began to look closely at the blade, then I realized the lights were galaxies and stars, the sword was a window into space and time. I then walked further away to another slot and inserted my sword halfway. Suddenly, the room began to shake and vibrate as a throne rose up from the ground. I walked up to it and sat down, suddenly a flurry of glowing particles rushed out from the sides of the throne and began to form armor around me. The armor of the Prime Guardian. At the same time, the throne began to sink down into the floor into a very secret room. As I walked forward a large door opened to reveal the same room from the recording, the Prime Guardian’s secret room.

  I could see Earth through the two large windows. I walked forward toward a small pad glowing on the floor. Suddenly the room changed, the floor and its surrounding became an infinite white. Then a screen appeared along with a glass orb which was connected to it. It began to glow and a live feed was being displayed on the screen. It was a broadcast, and I was the Prime Guardian. I then explained everything to the Guardian’s spread out all across the universe what had happened including the humans on Earth. Then I returned to the Grand Ceremony Room and felt a sense of relief, I had finally completed the mission. Just before I had given the sword to Garion so I could return home, the ship was hit by a large pulse causing the lighting to flicker. Then all the lights in the ship began to flash red, we were under attack.

  The Royal Guardians led me further through the ship to the control room. The armor told me what I needed to do, everything after that felt natural.

  ###

  Author’s Remarks

  Earth Biome was an idea I had for a film quite some time ago while I waited for my father to pick something up at an autoparts store. I had put it off for a long time for now since it would take quite some time to write and if I did many things would have to be condensed. The weeks after I thought of the idea were very busy with current films and photography projects. About four or five months later an assignment in school was given to write a historical fiction story. I had no idea I would be basing it on my Earth Biome idea I had.

  The first thing I thought about the day I was given the assignment was what a good scene or plot would be. The first cinematic visualization I had was me in my grandmothers house opening the closet to find a briefcase, which actually exists, and opening it to find secrets about a government conspiracy. This idea became the scene in the story where I go to the Hudson’s house to discover the briefcase in the wall. In the afternoon before one of my classes I had an epiphany, why not use the story I already was thinking about, Earth Biome. After that everything fit into place, while there was no real story to Earth Biome other than the main points in my head about the Guardians and their seeing of Earth being destroyed. The story spiraled out of control when new ideas and plots flooded into my head, almost all of the first draft was written from ideas I thought about on the spot. After reading the entirety of the Earth Biome story in it’s final state, I am very happy about it. It is the longest story I have ever written to date and despite some complex story points it seems very clear. The overall moral of the story is about corruption and greed. While the Prime Guardian wants to keep his people safe and not become overrun by the humans, he sacrifices his promise and duty as a Guardian to protect life. He went against everything the Guardians stood for and betrayed them all. While he thought he was doing something good he didn’t open his eyes to see that the humans are like Guardians, the vision was misinterpreted and the humans were supposed to join the Guardians sometime in the future after they have become more peaceful.

  I ended up rewriting the end of the story because I knew there had to be a twist or an even more interesting part to raise new questions or interests if the reader wants to learn more. This will open the door to future short stories following the events of Earth Biome.

  The story itself actually began with an assignment being given out in class which I thought would be interesting since it was a real school assignment. Since this assignment required that there be an aspect of true history, I really needed to do the interview and add real facts. Almost everything about my grandfather and grandmother in this book are true other than he being on the run from the guardians etc. Truthfully, I don’t think I sacrificed history over art or vice versa. I only put in the history that I thought would add to the story. However, as you already know this was a mainly science fiction based story, so there was not much truth. However the historical portions of the story were infact true.

  Author’s Bio

  Christian is an ambitions 15-year-old videographer, photographer, artist, entrepreneur and first-time writer. He founded, Amber Blue Films this year, to launch his creative talents and mastery of video special effects, Cinema 4D and animation. As a student and aspiring artist, he has received 3 prestigious, Gold Keys from the Scholastic Art program in photography and has exhibited his work around the country. He plants to attend USC film school in 2015.

  “Hi my name as you know is Christian and I am an A student at Punahou in the 10th grade here in Hawaii. I love both academics and creative media especially film. Making movies and directing is my passion and goal in life. I hear many people complaining about their career choice, so I ask them, why did they choose it? Most of them reply telling me, ‘the pay is good!’ or they’ve actually grown tired of it. I plan to be a director for the rest of my life. Not as a choice based on the outcome or benefits, but a lifelong adventure in imagination and I know this is my future.”

  The following is an accurate digital transcript of the actual interview that took place to research my family history for this story

  Q: How exactly did to meet your husband Joe Iwamura?

  A: “I met your grandpa, when he came to apply for a job at my p
arent’s dry cleaning shop. They had a big dry cleaning shop in Kailua. And grandpa was working at the Marine Corps Air Station and he was through working at 3:00 everyday. And he thought well it would be nice to have a job after 3 because there was so much time on his hands. So he came to my parents drycleaning shop to look for a job and he met anty Florence and asked … it just so happened that the delevery driver quit and there was a job opening. It worked out perfectly because all they wanted was someone to come late in the afternoon. In those days you know dry cleaning shops used to deliver drycleaning clothes to the families all around kailua and lanakai. So he got that job and I was working in town and I came home about 3:00 or 4:00 and so my sister aunty flo said oh, would you teach grandpa all the routes. Where the families live and where the clothes have to be delivered. And I very reluctantly went and of course grandpa fell in love with me and he wanted to, I wasnt even aware of it and he kept saying Oh I cant remember where exactly so you have to teach me some more (laughs)  so he kept saying oh you have to keep teaching me because I dont know where to deliver the clothes you know. But he had an alterier motive. And thats how we fell in love. And got married.”

  Q: And when did you guys get married?

  A: “In 1952, 61 years ago. Thats a long time ago.”

  Q: So what did grandpa do? He was in the air...

  A: “He was working at the marine core air station in the field engineering. He was working for a private company in the engineering department at the marine core station.”

  Q: “Do you know what private company it was?”

  A: “I think it was called Mid Pacific Construction.”

  Q: “Do you know any specific projects he was working on?”