We were never Rehana, but we love Daiyna like a sister, and it gives us great joy to see her at peace. Like Luther, she carries more than her share of guilt for the past. But perhaps with the passage of the seasons, those scars will continue to heal.
Samson and Shechara work in Dome 9 on Erik's family farm. After footage of his rooftop run made its way across the Linkstream, there was no shortage of Dome 5 entertainment companies offering to hire him for lead roles. He was tempted, but after coming face to face with his own mortality at the tattooed hands of Trezon and his henchmen, Erik decided to return to his roots. And he invited his biological parents to enjoy the simple life with him. Mrs. Paine was more than happy to have them all back on the farm; after hearing the true story of Erik's origins and what Samson and Shechara survived outside the Domes, she promised to cook a delicious meal for them every day until she ran out of days.
Most of our human friends live on the same floor of a cube complex in Dome 2. After being together for so many seasons, living in caves and city ruins, they could not bear the thought of living apart. They spend much of their free time wandering among the trees, inhaling the oxygen-rich air until they are almost dizzy with it.
James Bishop was unanimously voted in as Interim Chancellor once Hawthorne's psychotic break became public knowledge. She never recovered from seeing her husband's ghost; the wild one who appeared to Milton as Jackson, to Daiyna as Mother Lairen, and to Cain as Gaia has not left her.
Erik managed to temporarily shut down the Linkstream long enough for every human to remember James Bishop and what he did for Eurasia. His status as a hero brought back from the dead made it possible for him to enact important changes.
"I'm no politician," Bishop tells us, watching majestic elephants graze below him. "With the election coming up, I'll be stepping down and throwing all my support behind Emmanuel."
During his seasons as Chancellor, he has accomplished much. He dismantled Hawthorne's authoritarian regime and its strict class divisions. The Governors were allowed to remain in power if they fell in line; all agreed to do so, some begrudgingly, for the sake of Eurasian stability. Bishop invited the malcontents from Dome 10 and elsewhere to air their grievances and share their strategies for making the Domes more equitable with regard to opportunity and advancement. Captain Mutegi and his crew returned home to their families, and the raiders were given new responsibilities that included locating any remaining survivors across the globe and transporting them to Eurasia. The families of Granger, Sinclair, and Harris were well provided for. And when Bishop eventually revealed Dr. Wong's plan to terraform the earth, citizens were inspired by hope for a future they would never see, but one later generations would someday enjoy.
While the real Persephone Hawthorne will live out her days under psychiatric care in Dome 6, the cloned version was assigned the role of looking after Dr. Wong's clones in Futuro Tower. Wong originally designed them to work nonstop until they expired, only to be replaced by the next clone out of its maturation chamber. But the Hawthorne clone has instituted break time, meal time, and recreation time, and the Wong clones are thriving. Should the Creator will it, they may very well discover how to terraform the earth ahead of schedule.
"I know you were never really Emma...but thank you for keeping me alive over there." Bishop squints up into the sunlight, seeming to speak to the Creator when he says, "I'm not sure if you exist. But Luther has always believed in you, and he said I'd see my family again." He nods slowly. "Thanks for that."
We love him, and we are pleased that he found his way to his children. Perhaps he will find his way to faith, as well.
The Creator moves in mysterious ways, and we play only a small part in His great plan. Humankind, made in His image, is equally capable of magnificent wonders and horrific destruction. We have seen them achieve both.
We existed alongside them, shared our abilities with them, helped them and harmed them. We do not understand them completely, and we never will. Some of us love them, while others continue to hate them, and still others remain indifferent. But we are all thankful for this Preserve that reminds us of the magnificent earth that was before and our place in it as companions of humankind.
Humankind destroyed us. Humankind gave us new life.
Because of them, now we run across these fields of grass.
We soar through fresh air untainted by ash.
We dive and swim through clean water.
We live.
And if it is the Creator's will, perhaps someday we will return to the earth outside these glass walls and find it is not so very different from how we left it long ago. Humans and animals alike, living together in a distant future we can only imagine, in a world that is very good.
As it was in the beginning.
as a thank you for reading Children of the Earth.
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Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) Page 118
