"Humans are a plague on this planet. We're going to end up either killing it and ourselves or discarding our mother like the spoiled entitled children we are. I won't stand for it" I shrugged.

"You know I can't let you do this" Sorcha grimaced, tightening her grip on the magical sword in her hand. Dam thing was terrifying, you could feel the power crackling off of it, and in the hands of a master like her it was all but impossible to avoid.

"Oh I know, that's why I didn't let you stop me" I sighed, raising my hands in surrender. She narrowed her eyes and advanced slowly, looking over my instrument panel with a suspicion.

"But I did, stop you, this machine hasn't been activated" she smirked, realizing it's inert state, before slashing her sword through the interface. It sparked and sputtered, but didn't really do much.

"You ever try to stop a speeding train with one brake? Doesn't fuckin work" I sighed, stepping quickly into the protective faraday cage I'd designed for myself. I left the door open, hoping to lure my former paramour inside, but she wasn't taking the bait. "Any engineer worth his salt believes in redundancy. Nine labs much lower key than this have been activated around the globe. Used the CIAs registry of the mentally disturbed to find former cult members absolutely willing to die for a cause. If even one of em pulls the trigger, this cage and a couple of others will be the only place on earth where humans survive in..." I checked my watch for a countdown and smiled. "Eight Seconds. I can't stop it my darling, so you can either join me in the new world and have a chance to see it or perish with the rest" I smiled, grabbing the handle for the door. Her eyes widened in panic, and then I saw the rage. It would take her four seconds to cross the room, either to kill me or join me. When I saw the sword begin to rise I knew which one she'd chosen and used my free hand to fire the tazer. I knew she'd parry it expertly, but it would burn three seconds. I slammed the cage shut and flopped back on the floor, closing my eyes with a heavy breath. The pulse wasn't audible, and was impossible to feel in my little bubble of safety, but when I heard the sword clatter to the floor I knew it had gone off.

"And the sun rises on a grateful planet" I whispered to myself, pushing to my feet to go and survey my new kingdom of ghosts.