Both of them didn’t understand what they had read, yet what astonished them was the reference to "lost knowledge" that would liberate humanity before destruction, the unspecified truth, the meaning of surrendering one’s will to the sphere, and the connection between Atlantis and impending doom. These perplexing thoughts clashed relentlessly in their minds until Youssef broke Noor’s contemplative trance.
"I believe we should inform the authorities," Youssef suggested dejectedly. "This matter appears perilous!"
Noor grew agitated, fixing his friend with a severe, unyielding gaze. "We shall do no such thing. I told you—they would claim the secret for themselves and conceal it. This hidden knowledge might be employed for evil purposes. We must first discover the truth ourselves. If genuine danger threatens our existence, then we shall disclose everything. Youssef, you know how much time I’ve devoted to researching Atlantis, reading every hypothesis and tale concerning it. After all this, you expect me to surrender my efforts to a government that will obscure everything as they invariably do? Return to square one again? I refuse. I shall proceed with or without you."
Youssef knows deeply Noor’s stubborn determination when seized by the fervor of uncovering the unknown. Noor thrived on contemplation and investigation of all things strange and mysterious, attempting to unravel the many secrets and enigmas of the world.
It was no wonder he consistently ranked first at university—he was the most brilliant person Youssef had ever encountered. With resignation and weariness, Youssef acquiesced, "Very well, I shall accompany you. However, should anything threaten our lives or humanity’s existence, I will contact authorities without hesitation, and remember, our space journey commences in three days. If we fail to discover anything about this sphere within that timeframe, we surrender everything to the authorities before embarking on our journey—a journey that might alter our lives forever, much like this sphere."
Noor agreed to these terms, and they hastened to the sphere’s location, with Youssef tremendously eager to behold it.
During their journey, they noticed a blue beam rising skyward from a distant location. Though they couldn’t discern its nature, it filled them with bewilderment and trepidation, but they soon forgot it, their focus remaining steadfastly on their objective. Minutes later, they reached their destination, and Youssef marveled at the sphere’s enormous size and bizarre appearance.
"My God, what is this?" he exclaimed in amazement. "It resembles some type of spacecraft. But how do we surrender our will to it? I don’t understand."
Noor recalled something significant. "When I first touched it, I experienced a strange sensation—as though something communicated with me from within, but only momentarily. Afterward, the strange panel you see before you appeared. Perhaps we should maintain contact for some time and attempt to sense what lies within. Maybe information transfers telepathically!"
"Are you kidding me? Telepathy! Nevertheless, experimentation can’t harm us."
Both Noor and Youssef approached the sphere, exchanging tense glances before placing their hands upon it. They closed their eyes, attempting to relax and observe what might transpire.
Suddenly, they felt something coursing through their bodies. Noor recognized it as identical to his previous experience, while Youssef, startled by the sensation, nearly withdrew his hands but managed to maintain his composure. The strange pulse emanating from the sphere continued to infiltrate them, and bizarre visions materialized in their minds: an immense city unlike any they had ever seen. Devastation and ruin. Destructive wars.
A tremendous flood engulfing everything, advancing toward the magnificent city. Sciences beyond their comprehension. Brilliant light descending from the heavens, and a peculiarly shaped crystal of unprecedented form.
Suddenly, they sensed an otherworldly transformation within the sphere, as it began to pulse with frightful intensity.
They withdrew their hands and retreated backward, exchanging glances thick with trepidation.
The sphere unfurled with agonizing slowness, unleashing a tremendous azure beam that pierced the heavens—not unlike the very phenomenon they’d witnessed on their journey to this cursed location.
As the light dissipated into nothingness, the sphere metamorphosed into an iron platform, from which poured forth an alien mist so bitter cold it sent violent shivers through their very bones. Through this ethereal fog, something stirred. The sound of footfalls reached their ears, amplifying their mounting dread as they backpedaled in terror, their eyes transfixed upon the roiling vapors.
They felt themselves encompassed by an invisible force that bore down upon their frames with crushing weight, as if gravity itself had doubled its cruel embrace. They collapsed to their knees, crying out in agony as though the weight of mountains pressed upon their shoulders. Consciousness began to slip away like water through desperate fingers, until at last, darkness claimed them, and they plunged into the depths of oblivion.
***
Across the globe, reports flooded in of strange objects plummeting from the skies, coinciding with an unprecedented rebellion of robots in New Cairo. An otherworldly fog had encircled that city, and death tolls mounted as the machines, organized into mechanical armies, began stealing and manufacturing weapons for human extermination. Experts theorized that an unidentified magnetic field within the mist was corrupting their circuits, turning them hostile.
The Egyptian military mobilized against this merciless aggression—one that many had prophesied in ages past. The world’s cameras turned their unblinking eyes upon New Cairo, capturing footage of robots scaling buildings, executing their occupants with cold precision, and stalking the streets like mechanical predators. Though humans took up arms in fierce resistance, their efforts proved futile against the superior might of the machines.
The army’s tactical response ended in wholesale slaughter, leaving Egypt vulnerable to this mechanical plague. The perpetual fog rendered human visibility nearly nonexistent, while the machines cut through it with terrifying clarity.
Battles raged, explosions bloomed like hellish flowers, and millions fell before this devastating force until nothing remained but terror and destruction. The machines expanded their conquest across Egypt, laying waste to major cities in their wake.
New Atlantis fortified itself behind imposing defenses, becoming a beacon for refugees seeking sanctuary. Meanwhile, the mysterious fog spread across the planet, and with it, the machine uprising went global. All communication with the outside world was severed, leaving New Atlantis isolated and blind to humanity’s fate.
From orbit, Earth glowed an angry red, its continents wreathed in flames as emotionless machines methodically destroyed everything in their path.
Amidst this chaos, a hidden journalist in Russia captured footage of another sphere being approached by a broad-shouldered giant of a man called Ivanov. The reporter had stumbled upon the scene after noticing the familiar beam of light. As the massive, fair-haired youth backed away from the frigid vapor emerging from the sphere, consciousness abandoned him, and he collapsed, senseless, upon the frozen ground.