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BREAKING NEWS: MICROBES FOUND IN THE ‘PETROVA LINE’ CONFIRMED TO BE HAVING PROFOUNDLY DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON THE SUN
Monoma Hiromi
21XX November 11
In the most recent statement put out by the World Health Organization, our fears have been confirmed: the microbes comprising the Petrova Line are confirmed to be dimming our Sun.
The effects of such a phenomena have not been felt yet, but will undoubtedly have a catastrophic impact on the world as we know it.
Countries have already begun panicking at this…
-
Izuku has always been the type of person to scroll through articles of various news outlets. It’s more than just a way to kill time.
He remembers when Irena Petrova discovered the infrared line connecting the Sun to Venus. The discovery had sent the science community into an uproar.
Though Petrova hadn’t been a scientist, she had been invited to hundreds of conferences in the aftermath of her discovery as a guest speaker.
Izuku, as well as the world, had never seen anything like the Petrova Line.
Hundreds of the world’s best minds had gathered together in an attempt to figure out exactly what they were looking at.
From what reports have said, even Nedzu himself had joined said task force.
That fact makes Izuku’s acceptance to U.A. all the more exciting.
-
Nedzu has… quite the dilemma.
The moment he had looked at all of the facts known about the Petrova Line, he had known that something was wrong.
Everything about the Petrova Line challenged existing conventions of the universe.
Everything about the Petrova Line makes his fur stand upright.
Something about the Petrova Line is fundamentally and utterly impossible.
And yet, it’s there, and it’s hungry.
-
When Shouta walks into his classroom, he’s greeted by twenty teenagers with their phones out and loudly discussing the newest discovery regarding the Petrova Line.
Even Todoroki is staring at his phone screen with furrowed brows.
“Okay, but like, how bad will it actually be if the Sun goes dark from this Petrova Line thing?” Ashido asks.
“Very?” Midoriya replies, somewhat incredulously.
Shouta clears his throat.
Twenty pairs of eyes stare at him in various stages of alarm and embarrassment.
“Sensei, what do you know about the Petrova Line?” Midoriya asks, his voice uncharacteristically strong.
“Midoriya, we cannot simply ask him to disclose what is likely incredibly classified information to satiate our curiosity!” Iida chides, ever the worrier.
“I know just as much as all of you. That being nothing,” Shouta admits. It’s not too difficult to keep the paranoia from his voice.
Even though he’s a hero, he’s only received the smallest bits of information regarding the scientific discoveries in the developing field. The classroom explodes into a cacophony of questions, debates, and unneeded remarks.
“Do you think the Sun will actually, you know, go dark?”
“Doesn’t someone have a quirk to stop that?”
“Can’t we just get rid of the Petrova Line?”
“What even is the Petrova Line and all this?”
“Is the Sun actually being eaten?”
In the chaos, Todoroki calmly raises his hand.
When the noise finally dies down, Shouta glances at Todoroki and nods at him to speak.
“Isn’t the Sun necessary for our continued existence as a species?”
For once, Class 1-A remains blissfully quiet as everyone comes to a collective revelation of just how bad the situation is at Todoroki’s words.
“That is correct,” Shouta confirms before continuing.
“From what I know, there are over a hundred scientists, chemists, biologists, physicists, and engineers from all over the world working on a way to save the Sun. The next press conference will be held on Thursday morning. We can dedicate that class to watching the broadcast.”
-
Thursday barely comes quick enough.
Every single day, Izuku researched every single public detail regarding the Petrova Line.
His classmates are silent as they watch the live broadcast. There’s seven people sitting at a table.
Izuku’s gaze is locked on the woman in the middle. Her appearance is that of a normal person, but something about her immediately draws his attention.
She’s probably in her late forties or early fifties with orange hair. The jacket over her black turtleneck is free of any stains and wrinkles.
The name tag in front of her reads E. Stratt.
When she begins speaking, Izuku straightens his back and listens.
Her voice is delicate, but not weak by any means. Japanese subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen as she speaks.
Izuku’s first thought is that Stratt is very confident in her abilities.
Just from the first ten minutes of the press conference, it’s apparent that Stratt is an absolute force to be reckoned with. She handles every question with the grace of a seasoned professional, and an unexpected patience.
Though her face doesn’t convey any particular emotion, Izuku can make out the passion in her words.
In the dark of the classroom, his eyes are burning with unshed tears at the sheer amount of resolve in Stratt’s voice.
Stratt’s next words echo in his mind the whole day.
“Humanity has survived countless times of difficulty. There have been disasters that devastate whole societies. There have been times of economic crisis that damn the unfortunate and already downtrodden. There have been wars that threaten entire nations.
And yet, we have continued to live. We have continued to prosper. We have continued to fight. Time has shown us time and again that we cannot do so alone.
I will do my part to ensure the continued existence of mankind. I ask that all of you do the same.”
-
They call it Astrophage. Star eater.
Toshinori finds it to be a fitting name.
In all his years as a hero, Toshinori has gone against countless opponents with a variety of abilities, weapons, and tactics.
He's seen countless quirks.
He’s seen shadows dance and destroy at the command of a ruthless master.
He’s seen innocent civilians become little more than prisoners in their own bodies at the hands of a cruel warden.
He’s seen calm, collected strategists throw caution to the wind in one last desperate attempt to live.
Toshinori has seen many things.
Toshinori has seen so, so many things.
For every child that he’s saved, there’s an orphan somewhere out there sobbing.
For every man he’s carried from the scene of an attack, there’s a widow somewhere out there screaming at his failures.
And yet, Toshinori has never seen anything as horrifying as Astrophage.
It’s not a physical enemy. It’s not a problem he can solve with an unwavering smile and balled fist.
And that scares him.
Toshinori is hopeful that the Petrova Line will eventually cease to exist. With the sheer amount of capable individuals dedicated to the project, he has faith that the mission will succeed.
Though he’s no genius like Nedzu, he's no idiot. He is not blind to the possible dangers that would be worsened by the Astrophage.
He’s seen men devolve into monsters over lesser things than Astrophage.
Toshinori does not fear the Astrophage. He has faith in the selfless souls dedicated to saving mankind.
Toshinori fears what mankind will resort to at the threat of extinction.
-
Yáo Li-Jie.
Olesya Ilyukhina.
Martin DuBois.
Mankind’s only chance at salvation.
Izuku stares at the three individual photos. There’s paragraphs upon paragraphs beneath each of their images.
Yáo’s an older man with gray hair and a slight frown on his face. Yet, his eyes are warm.
Ilyukhina has a slight smirk tugging at her lips.
DuBois is openly smiling in his picture. His glasses are slightly askew.
He’s already seen some of the online discussions surrounding the three of them.
The topic of their quirks resurfaced in every other forum. Rather, their lack of quirks.
Izuku doesn’t understand how their quirk statuses are relevant to the mission in any sense.
There are quirks that could be of great help onboard the Hail Mary, but the logistics of someone having a desired quirk and being qualified have to be incredibly low.
Izuku clicks on another article and continues reading.
-
Nedzu pauses as his phone rings. His phone that only a select few know the phone number of.
At this hour, he highly doubts that it’s a simple social call.
He answers on the third ring. Enough to build artificial tension, but not enough that the person feels ignored.
“Nedzu.”
Stratt’s voice is as unemotional as ever, but he can hear the underlying strain in her voice.
“Hello, Stratt. What is the reason for your call today?” Nedzu makes an effort to keep his voice more subdued than usual.
“The Hail Mary has successfully launched.”
There’s something anguished beneath the myriad of emotions in her voice. Nedzu shivers at the implications of what has occurred.
“I have not seen any reports yet,” Nedzu comments in lieu of acknowledging the despair in her voice.
“You wouldn’t have. It will be announced to the public shortly.”
Something is off about the situation.
Nedzu doesn’t like it. As a key member within Project Hail Mary, he had rather high clearance. Clearance that was clearly not high enough, as something had occurred and he was unaware of it.
He has to know if the mission has been compromised.
He has to know if their efforts have been for nothing.
He has to know if his students will have a future.
“Stratt, what are you not telling me?”
“There was an… incident approximately eight days ago. DuBois is deceased, as are fifteen scientists. Doctor Shapiro was among the deceased.”
Thousands of thoughts immediately flow through Nedzu’s mind.
The circumstances behind such an incident had to be catastrophic.
The deaths of Martin DuBois and Doctor Annie Shapiro are all the more devastating for Project Hail Mary.
The anguish in Stratt’s voice-
“Stratt. Who is fulfilling the scientist role on the Hail Mary?”
-
When his phone vibrates with the notification of a newly published article, Izuku doesn’t hesitate to pull his phone out at the lunch table.
It’s probably another article going over the same known facts, but Izuku can’t help but check anyway.
He had promised to save as many people as he could as a hero. He had promised to become a hero to help people. The Petrova Line changed things because there was nothing he could do. The most he could do was watch as a bystander and spend countless late-nights taking notes from available press conferences.
When he unlocks his home screen, he balks at the title and stares at his screen in a mix of awe, hope, shock, and horror.
HAIL MARY SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES, DUBOIS CONFIRMED AS DECEASED: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT DOCTOR RYLAND GRACE