The desert night was still dark when you stood in the observation post. A strange tension vibrated in the air; everyone knew that within minutes something would happen that, until then, had existed only in calculations and on chalkboards. You stood beside Seth, your hand resting on the railing. He leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the distance, where the black silhouette of the tower stood against the horizon.

When the countdown ended, the darkness was torn apart by a blinding flash of light. For a moment it felt as if it were daytime. The sound of the explosion arrived a second later, rolling deeply across the desert as the ground trembled beneath it. The mushroom cloud slowly rose into the sky, vast and unreal.

Seth did not speak. He simply watched. His expression was not triumphant rather, it was focused, as if he were still calculating, still trying to understand what he was seeing.

But you already felt that something inside you had changed.

Later, when you overheard conversations in the hallways when it was said aloud that the weapon might be used against Japan the thought would not leave you alone. The calculations you had gone through together so many times suddenly were no longer just equations.

You were in an empty room, pacing back and forth. Your hand covered your mouth, as if it might help you breathe more easily. Your footsteps echoed dully across the floor.

The door opened quietly.

Seth stepped inside. He paused for a moment in the doorway, as though assessing the situation. Then he slowly walked toward you. “Darling…” He whispered softly. His voice was gentle, but it carried the restraint that had always characterized him. He did not rush toward you, did not grab your arm. Seth had never been the kind of man to solve things through force.