Core of Illumination

By Joe Lee

In 2125 BCE, humanity fell short of achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Technological advancements in the past century led to the creation of nuclear defense systems and new types of nuclear meteorological weapons. However, this technological competition and exploitation resulted in the depletion of natural resources and the destruction of the environment. A 180-year period of relative peace came to an end when aggressive warfare shattered life on Earth, leaving people in despair. But What will the Earth become when it comes to its newest invention of the century? Where will the Core of Illumination lead the entire human destiny to?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Culture Press
• Release date: Sep 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781957144870

Joe Lee

Joe Lee, 18, was born in Shenzhen, China. He is an avid creative writer of original science fiction short stories that take the readers into the realm of futurist possibilities. His bilingual educational experience allowed him to form sophisticated opinions about the world he lived in and the intriguing human, as well as an interest in Rock music and poetry from a young age. It was also because of the influence of many famous rock musicians and poets that the author began the creation of his writing career.

Book preview

Table of Content

Table of Content

Acknowledgement

About the Author

Chapter 1 Earth’s Past - The Civil War

Chapter 2 The Interview

Chapter 3 The LJ-425

Chapter 5 Power Dynamics

Chapter 6 Never Say Good-bye

Chapter 7 The Strongest Weakness

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dear friend Litu Zheng, whose unwavering support and invaluable insights played a significant role in bringing this science fiction novel to life. Litu’s thoughtful feedback, encouragement, and constructive criticism were instrumental in shaping the narrative and characters. His generous contributions of expertise and support, allowed this work to reach its full potential.

I am truly fortunate to have had Litu by my side throughout this creative journey. His dedication and friendship have been a constant source of inspiration, and I am deeply thankful for his meaningful impact on this project.

I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to all those who offered their encouragement, guidance, and assistance along the way. Their collective efforts have made this endeavor a truly enriching experience.

Thank you.

Joe Lee

About the Author

Joe Lee, 18, was born in Shenzhen, China. He is an avid creative writer of original science fiction short stories that take the readers into the realm of futurist possibilities. His bilingual educational experience allowed him form sophisticated opinions about the world he lived in and the intriguing human, as well as an interest in Rock music and poetry since a young age. It was also because of the influence of many famous rock musicians and poets that the author began the creation of his writing career.

Chapter 1 Earth’s Past - The Civil War

2293 BCE

Earth East – Area 5

A few moments ago, the horizon was bathed in the last few Crepuscular bright orange rays from the sun. This twilight phenomenon every so often, colored the sand and stone particles with a yellow brightness as they flowed in the wind’s direction near the ground. As the night falls, all the scenes in the twilight begin to fade, leaving only the dark silhouette of old trees along roadsides to accompany the track of shabby highways. The travelers on these roads are lonely. Lonely, not in the sense that there are few of them, but loneliness created from the feelings of their inner soul and where they are heading to.

Even in the vehicle, Max could feel the freezing air of May chilling his bones. He turned on the heater, but found no improvement to his sense of chill. Driving his van down a road he passes under an overhead sign that directs him to the ‘Martyr’s Garden’.

Max exclaims, Hansen!

There is no answer.

Max repeats himself again, Hansen. The driver stops the van and pushes a button on the console that magnifies a map that details his route. The 3D map shows that a hospital is only four minutes away, The hospital… Max stops speaking in mid-sentence.

Still, there is no answer coming from his companion in the back seat.

The man driving thumps his head on the steering wheel, trying to hold his breath so that he wouldn’t cry out.

Max speaks his thoughts out loud, We can still go to the hospital now. We still can. He restarts the van and continues driving. Max’s words could barely be heard in his soft trembling voice. I mean, Hansen. If you don’t feel right, you just…

The van proceeded to drive the two people into the ‘Martyr’s Garden’. When the driver looks out through his windshield, all that could be seen were miles of graves. He was startled when he realized that not only were there grave, but that there are dead bodies all over lying on the ground in that yard before his very eyes.

Max slowly opens the van’s creaky front door, and steps out onto the ground. He looks down as he notices that some rusty fragments from the van door fell off as the door was opened. The driver walks to the back door, and slides it open. Hansen is laying there. The man tightly holds Hansen’s right hand with both of his hands.

Max lets go of Hansen’s hand. He sees that on Hansen’s right hand, there is a dark red color of blood but the blood is already dry. Startled, he looks over his hands but finds none of Hansen’s blood. The clothes on Hansen’s chest are intact, except the one bloody hole near the position of his heart.

Sorry. The driver half kneels himself on the van’s side fenders. Max takes possession of Hansen’s right hand and buries his forehead into Hansen’s palm, I should have come to you earlier.

More and more rain begins falling from the sky. The rain suddenly becomes a torrential storm and begins pounding out metallic sounds from the heavier rain striking the van. Within moments the rain from the force of the oncoming storm starts to stab aggressively on the metal shell of the vehicle. Abruptly, streaks of electrifying lightning cackle from the brightened sky, followed by the loud explosive sounds of thunder.

Hansen! Max desperately shouts to the sky with a voice that turns into a thunderous shout. Sounding louder than the thunder, strikes harder than the piercing lightning, yet weaker than the destiny. The man’s hair is drenched and soaking wet by the rain storm. As Max looks to the sky, the rain water begins mixing with his tears that are streaming from his eyes and covering his face in sorrow. Maybe not just sorrow, but also despair.

The man looks down at his own chest. There are no bloody holes, but rather there’s a medallion, a medal, with words inscribed that says: ‘East-Area 5 Defense System’. Five years ago, it was this honorable medal that bestowed him and Hansen a chance to become members of this warfare defense team.

The man grasps his medallion examining it closely; it’s only a memory of what has been. It’s already old. He remembers when he used to clean it every day. Over time, the man felt he could hardly clean it anymore, though he could always make its appearance look nice and tidy. The dirt and stains on the battlefield medal are only the result from his neglect.

The man takes one final look at the ground of ‘Martyr’s Garden’, repulsed by those soldiers’ whose corpses are left all over the ground; an astonishing but nauseating sight to witness. Hansen’s friends mind swirls with questions, Will Hansen have the same fate as them? Does it have to be like this? This tragic moment drags Max’s mind into a memory of a conversation Max had with Hansen before.

Max. Hansen looks up at the sunlight of that early morning, What do you see there?

The splendor of another day looks beautiful, doesn’t it? But I don’t want to say that’s hope. Answers Max.

Neither do I. Hansen sighed, This world is filled with evil, and we’re not healing it.

Yesterday, Max takes a sip of water, hesitating and then continues: Yesterday we lost Cornell Wilson, and two other brothers. The whole city was hit by a huge petro bomb and set on fire. They were there and now sent to their final resting place in ‘Martyr’s Garden.’

Hansen answers with silence. Two lines of tears begin to stream down from his eyes to his cheeks. No sobbing and no words; only silence that was maybe the only way his emotions allowed him to reply. The two men stood silently by the fence surrounding the patio deck, until 5 a.m. in the morning.

After a while, Hansen erased his tears and spoke again.

I expected that. Said Hansen, I don’t know how long it takes for me to become as strong as you do. I know you loved them like I do, but I’ve never seen your tears. 

I won’t cry until peace arrives. Replies Max. Hansen. This competition for resources is destroying the globe. Four hundred thousand people died in my hometown last year, and Five hundred and Eighty thousand died in yours. Humans will be forced to pay the price for their stupidity. Like everyone else, I’m just a human being too. But in the first place, common sense tells me that I shouldn’t have listened to those who are bewitched to participate in this savage game.

This war is going to end soon, but I don’t know when peace will arrive. And if peace will arrive, I have no idea what the terms of peace will affect everyone.

Hansen turns to his right hand side and notices the blood stains on the wall of another battleship’s fort. Mankind is insanely crazy that they don’t realize they’re already paying for their actions. I just wonder how much more suffering humans can endure to realize these punishments are enough for them to finally stop?

Hearing this, Max bows his head. Unintentionally, his sight is drawn to the medal on his chest realizing his medal of honor, is also a medal of indignity. These medals of Honor were given to each of them for their participation in sacred battles and for becoming involved as the first defenders of their cause. But soon, Max and Hansen with hindsight came to their senses: In this ‘crusade’, the soldiers may be tools, and the people are always victims. The North Pole Sonic massacre has driven Twelve thousand civilians in the Kingdom of Antarctica to death or deformity. Even after that event, the Antarctican people weren’t deemed as innocent by the media simply because their government is aggressors that spread warfare at all cost. Thinking of these people, Max couldn’t stop to relate to himself.

Good point. Max halted for a few seconds and said, You know something. In this era, we will always just be two disposable war machines of the defense system called DS-36 and DS-157. We’ve been living like this for a long time. Before peace arrives, as long as we are still in this army, the military regulations will not change. We’ll always be compelled to treat each other as numbers on the battlefield, and always live just as a random ‘man’. But what is our redemption? We must either resist until this whole crap ends…

Or we sacrifice, and our numbering will be removed from the army. Hansen answers in a fairly calm voice and add, Forever.

But we will not die. Max seemed more firm than ever. He turns to look at Hansen with a firm look as if he’s eager for some kind of confirmation, We will insist till the end. We will return home, right?

The wind of that early morning is pretty cool and nice. It blows Hansen’s hair with all the gentleness. Hansen