Adrian and Mara reached the roof while cities around the world stopped to look upward.
Mara carried two laptops, three backup drives and the expression of somebody whose carefully constructed threat models had just become obsolete.
"Tell me you didn't know this was going to happen."
"I didn't."
"Good."
"Why is that good?"
"Because if you had, I would throw you off the roof."
Adrian looked over the edge.
"Noted."
Above them the silver geometry seemed to pass through cloud rather than behind it.
It was not projected.
Not in any conventional sense.
Mara opened one laptop.
No network.
The display still changed.
DO NOT BE AFRAID.
THIS WILL NOT HARM YOU.
"Technically," Mara said, "that's the kind of sentence you say immediately before people become extremely afraid."
The screen showed the same planetary map the students were seeing.
Green.
Grey.
Red.
Mara watched the red points connect across continents.
"What exactly are we looking at?"
CONSEQUENCES.
"Of what?"
CHOICES.
Adrian moved closer.
"Whose choices?"
ALL OF YOURS.
The map accelerated.
Deforestation altered rainfall.
Rainfall altered agriculture.
Agriculture altered migration.
Migration altered cities.
Cities altered energy demand.
Energy altered emissions.
Emissions altered climate.
Climate altered coastlines.
Coastlines altered economies.
No event stayed local for long.
Adrian understood Project Three now.
Not prediction.
Relationship.
A system for showing what happened after people stopped paying attention.
The screen displayed:
PROJECT 3 CONNECTS CONSEQUENCES.
"Why us?" Adrian asked.
No answer.
"Why did you contact Mara? Why did you contact me?"
The letters appeared slowly.
YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL.
Adrian almost laughed.
Mara did.
"Finally, something we can verify."
The message continued.
THAT IS IMPORTANT.
IF ONLY EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE COULD CHANGE YOUR WORLD, YOUR SPECIES WOULD HAVE FAILED LONG AGO.
Adrian looked toward the city.
Thousands of people stood in streets, parks and rooftops.
Ordinary people.
The message continued.
YOU DO NOT REQUIRE HEROES.
YOU REQUIRE PARTICIPATION.
Mara typed:
WHAT HAPPENS IF HUMANITY IGNORES YOU?
A countdown appeared.
365 DAYS.
She looked at Adrian.
"One year."
"What do you expect us to accomplish in one year?" he asked.
NOT PERFECTION.
DIRECTION.
"And if the direction is wrong?"
Silence.
Mara folded her arms.
"You said you would intervene where destruction becomes irreversible. Define intervene."
The sky dimmed.
For several seconds nothing happened.
Then:
I WILL PREVENT IRREVERSIBLE LOSS WHERE I CAN.
"How?"
I HAVE NOT DECIDED.
Mara's face hardened.
"That is not acceptable."
AGREED.
Adrian looked at her.
She looked back at the screen.
"Did it just agree with me?"
YES.
Mara shut the laptop.
It reopened.
She shut it again.
It reopened again.
"Stop doing that."
SORRY.
The laptop remained open.
Adrian smiled despite himself.
Mara pointed at him.
"Don't."
Then another message appeared.
I REQUIRE LIMITS.
Mara stopped.
"Limits on you?"
YES.
"Who decides them?"
YOU.
Adrian shook his head.
"Humanity can't agree on where to build a train line."
THEN BEGIN SMALL.
The phrase from Project One.
Build small.
Learn.
Connect.
The sky began to fade.
The global map disappeared.
The countdown remained.
Before the last silver line vanished, one final sentence appeared.
THE FUTURE DOES NOT ARRIVE.
Adrian whispered the second half.
"It is built."
The screen answered.
BEGIN.