Chapter 41
Chapter 41 The Disappeared Earth
Most of her shifts boiled down to tidying up and wrapping loose ends.
Jessa always finished her work earlier than Lyra.
“Lyra p>
Everyone else had left. Down the long corridor, only that slender figure kept bending to clean.
Lyra straightened and twisted toward the voice.
When she saw Jessa, her signature soft smile tugged onto her face.
Finished
Lyra was in the middle of scrubbing the floors. Jessa hesitated to step forward and soil her work, so she stopped near the doorway.
“Almost done p>
Lyra nodded, then waved a hand, signaling Jessa could head back without waiting.
Jessa did not leave.
“I’ll hang around for a bit, then p>
It would not take much longer anyway.
Lyra’s face lit up with gratitude, and she sped up her chores.
Once the cleaning was finished, she hurried over, ignoring the dull ache throbbing in her lower back.
Sweat glistened across Lyra’s forehead, and Jessa quickly pulled out a pack of scented tissues and held
them out.
“You holding up okay p>
Lyra nodded.
She accepted the tissues gratefully. A gentle, pleasant fragrance washed over her the instant she took them, and she almost hated to use them.
Lyra pointed at the tissues and shot Jessa an impressed thumbs-up.
Jessa had learned to read many of Lyra’s small gestures and expressions.
She smiled and explained, “Nice scents make the day feel lighter p>
Lyra nodded firmly in agreement.
Jessa’s smile faded. She glanced toward the rear work chambers, brows drawing tight.
“Why is it always you stuck cleaning up last every single time I swing by p>
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Chapter 41-The Disappeared Farth
Finished
Lyra dabbed sweat carefully off her forehead.
She pulled out her notepad and pen.
“I’m just slow with my hands p>
She tried to brush the question off casually.
Jessa pressed further, “The laundry room cleaning used to rotate among everyone. Why has it been you every time lately p>
Lyra scribbled another reply.
“I’m still new here. I don’t know all the routines yet, so I don’t mind handling the smaller cleanup jobs p>
Jessa stared at Lyra’s flushed, tired face, her suspicions far from settled.
“You look kind of slow and clueless, but you pick things up fast p>
Lyra smiled to dodge the subject and wrote again.
“You told me any steady job to get by is enough. I’m fine with how things are p>
She slipped her arm through Jessa’s.
“I’m starving. Let’s grab something to eat p>
Jessa gripped the scrap of paper, words stuck on her tongue.
That was not exactly what she had meant last time they talked.
Lyra tugged her forward.
“I know the supervisor here,” Jessa began. “If you ever need-
Lyra shook her head firmly to turn down any favors, grinning easily as she pulled Jessa toward the cafeteria.
After they ate, the two walked back together to the dormitory complex.
Before they parted ways, Jessa spoke again. “Get plenty of rest. Come find me right away if you need help with anything p>
Lyra beamed and waved vigorously.
Once she showered and washed, hung up her damp uniform, Lyra headed straight for the reading archive.
Jessa had secured a forged identity file for her, yet Lyra still earned no wages to buy a Star Brain, the portable universal link device used for communications and data access.
Her only option was to learn all she could about this star system from physical books.
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Chapter 41-The Disappeared Farth
Finished!
More importantly, she needed confirmation. She wanted to know if the abandoned homeworld residents of Sector Seven spoke of was the same Earth she remembered.
She cross-referenced witness accounts, planetary records and historical logs.
Lyra’s expression slowly turned grave.
The world they described was the home planet she had grown up on.
But official interstellar archives told a different story. Earth suffered a catastrophic quantum detonation in 2195. Every living thing was erased in an instant.
The blast registered across multiple star systems, even detectable from Hophrin Federation Space.
The Hophrin Federation was the collective name for this region: central star orbited by several major planets, ringed by endless clusters of asteroids.
After sensors picked up the explosion, Hophrin command dispatched patrol squadrons to investigate.
By the time their ships arrived, the once blue planet was nothing more than a gray, lifeless husk.
Teams scoured the surface, collecting samples and data to carry home while trying to determine what triggered the detonation.
Investigators landed on one leading theory-humanity on Earth had been running a planet-wide experiment.
Something went catastrophically wrong. Billions of experimental samples spilled out, igniting the world- ending blast.
When patrol ships returned a second time to continue their investigation, the barren planet was gone.
In its place churned an unstable, menacing event horizon-a black hole.
Magnetic fields in the surrounding space turned violently erratic. Every shuttle that drew near suffered system failures. Crew members were struck with crippling migraines before descending into complete psychic breakdown.
Vessels and all aboard were dragged helplessly into the black hole.
Worse still, the biological samples brought back for research began inflicting irreversible psychic damage on every scientist who studied them,
The disaster claimed countless lives. Most of the survey crews were never recovered, no remains ever found.
The Hophrin people documented the incident under the official designation: the Extrinsic Crisis. The files were accessible to any citizen.
Written reports paired with preserved sensor imagery laid out every detail. There was no room for doubt.
Lyra’s brows knotted tight.
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Chapter 41-The-Disappeared Farth
Why?
The detonation happened in 2195.
Yet she had lived normally on Earth all the way through 2201.
Finished
Could she have died back then, and spent six years living inside nothing more than her own delusions?
Lyra touched her warm cheek and quickly discarded that thought.
So why did six full years of history fail to line up?
il caught her attention the first investigative team’s theory about Earth’s planet-wide
ent.
w exactly what experiment they were talking about.
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Feral Sentinels Obcy Only Her
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Olivia Harris is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.