[ WP ] `` Almost all communication with the West coast of the United States is down after an unprecedented multiple earthquake event spanning the Pacific Ring of Fire . ''

*Almost all communication with the West Coast of the United States is down after an unprecedented multiple earthquake event spanning the Pacific Ring of Fire. We have received reports that New Zealand is in complete darkness, the nation split in two. We do not know the fate of the rest of the nations involved. More after the break. * 
 
 I had expected this. There was no way I could not have. It was a ramification to be beheld by the world. The shift had occurred. People did not understand the purpose of the Ring of Fire, or why it had formed in the shape that it had. They could n't understand. Why would people be sacrificed in any capacity? Were n't human lives worth anything? The world had shifted, I could feel it. 
 
 The Ring of Fire was most certainly a natural formation -- as was anything else formed naturally on the world. That was n't to say that there was no hand in its creation, however. The planet was sentient. She had created her own defences, had she not? Oh, they did n't know that either. The plates would shift, creating the instruments of her defence. She simply had not anticipated life. She had never expected life. 
 
 When life was borne upon her surface, Gaia knew that she could not easily communicate. Her style of communication required rapid shifts in weather patterns. While the humans had learned to react to it, they could not read it. She needed a Herald. She needed me. Yet they would not listen to me. I could not guide them as she wished. The ages told me that; I was told of my own insanity, but how could they know? They did n't understand. 
 
 And when the time came for Gaia to defend herself, they could only panic. The plates shifted, but Gaia did n't understand the harm. She was simply saving herself. The weapon was primed and readied, and yet Gaia could n't pull the trigger. Strange. She had never cared so much before. 
 
 Within moments I found myself above the Pacific Ocean, staring down at the shimmering depths. I ask her why she can not do it. Her life is in danger. The entire planet is in danger. *I can not kill them. I can not take their lives. * Why now? Why only now? *I do not know. * She senses my frustration. *You have lived amongst them. You must feel compassion for them. * Of course I do. I always have. I am one of them, after all. But even I can see the necessity of sacrifice. *Then you do it. * 
 
 I feel something open up in my mind. Even with my connection to Gaia, I had never felt this before. I turn and face the fleet, staring it down with cinder-burning eyes. I clench my fists. At least five million people will be sacrificed, but those five million people will save the rest. Those earthquakes were only the beginning, for Gaia's own safety would be cemented in fire. I close my eyes and let out a long, slow breath. 
 
 Gaia will cleanse the interlopers and remain safe. That is what she has designed herself to do. She will survive, even if it costs a portion of humanity to do so.
