THE LAST ARCHIPELAGO

By: Aaron Matthew O. Tan

Year 3049, everything is High-tech. Flying cars, Robotic Body Modifications or

RBM is a trend, and the cure for all ailments or “ The Eternal Cure “ was developed.
The quality of life is at its peak. Everyone is contented and happy with their way of
life. Then a tragedy struck the world. An Astrophysicist named Dr. Rumwaldo
reported that a great tragedy will occur in a week’s time. A big asteroid, the size of a
medium-sized state like New York will hit the Earth and it will be very devastating.
Even though a trusted Scientist predicted this, the people are still laid-back. They are
confident that the Extraterrestrial Defense System or EDS will protect them.

Then the day of tragedy happened, everyone gathered in plazas, parks, or in

the open area. They partied and cheered as the asteroid approached the Earth
because of their advance technology. The citizens are confident that EDS can protect
them. The EDS fired everything it has. The cosmos filled with smoke and dust. Silence
became apparent as humanity awaits the outcome. Then a silhouette of something
big can be seen through the cloud of dust. The asteroid is still heading towards the
Earth. Even the most advance of technologies can’t shield humanity against a natural
catastrophe. Humanity accepted their faith, everyone hugged and said their last
goodbyes. The world shook to its core as the asteroid made contact. Nearly
everything that humanity built-up were turned to ashes.
Year 3050, a year passed after the catastrophe. Streams of water got
replaced by hot-glowing magma, soil turned to stone, mountains flattened. Year
3055, Land mass reduced, continents shifted, and new volcanoes formed.
Year 4055, a millenia has passed. The planet is still unstable, New volcanoes
forming every year, the planet is being bombarded by small asteroids. The planet is
still inhabitable. Year 500,068, life forced its way to this inhabitable planet. Simple
organisms are trying to strive in this planet’s harsh conditions. 602,004 year passed,
the atmosphere returned, clouds formed, traces of water can be detected. Due to
the catastrophe, weather got altered. Extreme thunderstorms, strong winds, and
clusters and clusters of big tornadoes became a norm. The world is covered in water.
Or is it?
Year 900,143. The most eventful year, the first multicellular creature sprung
to life. Even in the most harshest conditions, life still flourished. A million years
passed, creatures like invertebrates and vertebrates appeared. As time goes on, this
creatures evolved to become more acclimated to the new environment. Some
creatures developed intelligence, some evolve to have wings, some bared teeth, and
some evolve to have a hard shell. Then, as all of this evolution is happening, a highly
developed and intelligent creature discovered an odd shaped thing. The creature
discovered the last standing land mass named “Paragua”. Paragua is still intact
because Palaweños did not boast of their technology, they stayed vigilant and
cautious. The Scientific department of Paragua back then made a program called
“Project Aegis”. Project Aegis or auto-defence system is a system that protects its
land and people to unprecedented threats. Still, even though Palaweños have this
kind of technology the land of Paragua suffered damages.
 At first this curious creature was scared, it’s the creature’s first time seeing
plants, rocks, and dry land. The creature is at awe because of this grainy and
powdery thing beneath its feet. The creature can’t contain its curiosity. The creature
took its first step, history repeated it’s self. “One small step for man, one giant leap
for mankind.” The creature is very ecstatic, it jumped, rolled, and tumbled. This
creature admired the new sensations. Then, a patrol group who are escorting
scientists at the coastline saw this weird creature. It is round, stout, and has stubby
legs. They put their weapons on standby as they observe this very peculiar creature.
As time passes, they deemed this creature as nonthreatening. Then, they
immediately fired their net gun, capturing this cute little creature. They rushed to
their commander, Major Mutya. MAJ Mutya’s quiet day came to an end, as reports
about the creature came flooding in. Because of this, an urgent meeting was held. All
of the heads of every department came to the meeting. Namely, PRES Andoy of
Paragua, Dr. Allan of Scientific department, MAJ Mutya of the Advance and patrol
team, GEN Arnel of the Army of the Paragua, CHWM Coco of the Human resource
management, and many other. Because of the creature everybody got riled up.
Some wants to dispose of if it. GEN Arnel shouted, “It might be cute, but we don’t
know how that thing would react if it sees people. Let’s kill it.” Everyone shouted,
“YES…LET’S KILL IT.” Then Dr. Allan stood and said, “You muscle head. Think before
you act. We can use that thing as a test subject. Am I wrong?” Then everyone
murmured, “yeah..I think he’s right. We can use that thing as a test subject.” The
room got heated up, both sides shouting at each other. Then PRES Andoy slammed
the table. Everyone settled down. “Let’s just vote. Let’s not fight amongst ourselves.”
then they proceeded with voting. “Raise your hand if your voting for eliminating it.”
Almost half of the room voted for killing it “Now raise your ha-” then the daughter of
the President barged inside the meeting room. “PAPA!”

TO BE CONTINUED!