Croft was lying in his bed, barely resisting the urge to sleep. He'd had way too many emotions for that day. He had gone from tension to utter terror, to relief when he learned the bomb hadn't destroyed the city, to guilt at having helped kill hundreds of innocent people, and finally to fear of what the future might hold for the world.

He still hadn't slept in twenty-four hours. In a way, he was afraid to fall asleep. After that wicked act, international tensions had become very strong. Like him, many expected nuclear war to break out at any moment.

Fortunately, for the time being, both sides seemed to prefer to tread carefully. Neither the Empire nor the Eden Union had yet issued a statement.

However, that calm situation was perhaps more dire than a formal declaration of war. As horror writers and directors taught, waiting for the monster was much scarier than the monster itself. Not knowing what was inside that dark room scared much more than any Lovecraftian creature. And likewise, not knowing what the intentions of the planet's two superpowers were was far scarier than open warfare.

Suddenly Croft heard a knock on the door. He scrambled to open it and was confronted by the same officer who had ordered him to mount the transporter device on the bomb. "General" he greeted him respectfully.

The man entered his apartment without much ceremony. "Mr. Croft, congratulations" he said. "The emperor was very pleased with your work. He called it incomparable"

Croft wasn't too flattered to know that an insane dictator took pride in the devastation the atom bomb he had built had unleashed, but he feigned acquiescence: "I'm honoured, general"

"Good for you, because you have been put in charge of a new project"

"A… new project?"

"Exactly. Your task, in essence, will be to develop the teleportation technology"

"Uh? But I don't know anything about..."

"You were able to assemble it even though you've never seen it before, I'm sure you'll master these technologies in a very short time. The scientists who worked on the project will be at your service and will provide you with all the explanations you need"

Croft gulped. "Okay, but… how should I develop teleportation technology?"

"Put it simply, you'll need to create a teleportation device small enough to fit inside a tactical missile, and powerful enough to teleport a chunk of matter from the Sun"

"From… from the Sun!?"

"More precisely, from its core"

Croft nearly fainted at that request. "Do you realize what you want? Even if he can build such sophisticated technology, we're talking about bringing a piece of the Sun's core to the planet! As soon as that arrives..."

Croft's heart skipped a beat as he realized the Emperor's intent. If a piece of the Sun had been brought to the planet, it would have exploded with unimaginable power.

The core of the Sun was extremely dense and constantly crushed by the enormous weight of the upper layers; but if you took that pressure off, then even a tiny speck of matter from the nucleus would explode. The atmosphere was not strong enough to contain its power. The explosion would have been so strong that the hydrogen bomb that had just exploded over Frigeria would have looked pathetic in comparison.

By comparison, it would have been like throwing a mountain-sized asteroid straight into the surface of Eden. The explosion would have been so powerful as to burn everything within a radius of at least 300 kilometers, while the shock wave and the seismic wave would have circled the planet several times and the immense amount of dust and debris would have been enough to lower the global temperature, causing a small nuclear winter. And of course, the larger the piece of the Sun's core brought to Eden, the more terrible the explosion would be.

"Do you realize what you are asking me!?" Croft snapped. "This is absurd! Human civilization could end!"

"No, Mr. Croft" the general replied. "We have evidence that it will be possible to cope with the climate changes that will follow, and our more advanced knowledge in plant genetics will allow us to produce food even if the temperature and light were to decrease"

"And what are we going to do about the earthquakes, tsunamis, maybe even the volcanic eruptions that will follow?"

"The emperor considers it an acceptable risk"

Croft grit his teeth. "The Emperor ALWAYS considers the risks acceptable!" he exclaimed. "No. I'm sorry, but I'm not willing to do that. I'd say I gave you too much! I won't even help you with… this!"

It was a moment, the general drew his pistol and aimed it at Croft's forehead. "We have many ways of getting your cooperation, sir" he said. "Don't think we won't use them. The emperor needs you alive and with your mind intact. For the rest, we can do what we want with you. Now, you can choose to get to work the easy way, or force me and my colleagues to get to work the hard way. Oh, and before you think it's a good idea to play hero, just know that no one has ever endured our 'treat' longer than three days before turning into a puppet in our hands. So accept your fate and get to work, while you still have free will"

Croft looked the general in his eyes. There was no sign of empathy in his pupils, no sympathy: he would do whatever he just said.

The scientist was tempted to resist, or at least try. But then, he remembered that doing so would save him nothing. He was the only link RE/SYST had to the Empire's military bases. If he died or lost his will, the world would be in even more danger.

Maybe he could…

Suddenly he had an epiphany. "Okay" he whispered in a mock surrender. "But on one condition: I want to witness the creation of any of these devices, ANY. I'm not going to see the world blow up because of some newbie's mistake. I build these bombs for you, but ONLY I build them. None are built without my jurisdiction. It's my condition"

The general looked thoughtful, then lowered his pistol. "As you wish. After all, the emperor doesn't intend to create too many such weapons, especially if the costs prove to be high. As long as you do your job, that's fine with me"

Croft pretended to be relieved, but in reality he was bursting with joy. If he had worked on creating any teleportation devices, he could have created backdoors to disable them. At that point, it would have been enough to wait for the right moment and provide RE/SYST with the necessary data to block them. He would make sure that the emperor continued to trust him and if the costs were not high he would make them so himself; thus, every bomb would be under his jurisdiction. "What should I call these new devices, by the way?"

The general shrugged. "The Emperor has decided to name this project 'Hellfire Bomb'." he simply replied. Croft found that name quite fitting.