Slyiita was confused. She could still see the planet, but the explosion was so loud, as if it had happened right next to her. She closed her eyes and rubbed them with her fists, but it didn't change what she saw.
There was a commotion to her left and, turning, Slyiita saw smoke emitting from what appeared to be a radio. Apparently this had been the explosion she had heard. But wasn't this the exact time the planet was supposed to blow up?
"Why isn't the planet gone?" asked the hooded guy in a small voice.
After a moment of silence, Jeeka spoke up unexpectedly. "I've been thinking this for awhile. What if we saved the planet by something we did on accident? Maybe we delayed someone setting of the bomb by running into them. Or possibly when we unplugged the coffee machine, it made them late. Something we did may have saved the planet."
It was interesting theory, Slyiita thought. She was about to say so when everything started going white . . . it felt like a dream . . . was she fainting?
Slyiita was looking up out of what felt like a cradle of some sort. She pushed the glass top and emerged into a room full of people applauding. Disoriented, she looked around to see everyone else, from the tall hooded guy to small Jeeka, also emerging with equally confused looks on their face.
An elderly woman stepped forward, and the thunderous applause quickly stifled. The lady said, "You have spent the last three days in a virtual reality simulation. It was a part of the LIT program. We thought we should give future leaders a chance to try out their skills in a critical situation."
She paused and looked at the seven of them with tears in her eyes. "Inspired by your brave acts, valiant deeds, and, most of all, Slyiita's speech, the leaders of every single planet - even the Outer Ring planets - met together to arrange a plan for peace. While it may take years, even decades, to become a peaceful society, we have taken the first vital steps to becoming just that."
"So none of that was real?" asked Mulaa.
"Not really," she said. "But what you did is as real as can be."
A young child stepped shyly from the audience. "You have saved us all."
Suddenly, throughout the spacious room cries rang out, "You are heroes!", "We honor you!", "We owe you our lives!"
Staggering under all this information, Slyiita turned to see the elderly woman, presenting each of them with a medal.
"The Heroes of Time."
