"If it is really something dangerous, we should just nuke it. Can't we?"

The chamber erupted.

"You can't be serious..."

"The fallout alone would..."

"Environmental catastrophe..."

"Political implications..."

Volkov raised his hand, silencing the protests.

"I am perfectly serious. We have phenomenon we cannot understand. Phenomenon that swallows our people. Phenomenon that may pose existential threat. We possess weapons specifically designed to eliminate existential threats. The solution is obvious."

Secretary-General Silva's voice was strained. "Premier Volkov, nuclear deployment would require unanimous Security Council approval. The environmental damage, the political ramifications..."

"Are irrelevant if the phenomenon spreads," Volkov said flatly.

"Easy for you to say!" The Indian representative shot to her feet, face flushed with anger. "The Aethros Valley is in the Himalayas... our territory! You sit in Moscow, thousands of kilometers away, and casually suggest we irradiate our own land?"

She gestured sharply at the display showing the fog's location. "That region borders populated areas. Millions of Indian citizens live within two hundred kilometers of that valley. You're talking about nuclear fallout that would poison our water sources, contaminate our agricultural regions, render entire provinces uninhabitable for generations!"

The Chinese delegate stood immediately, voice tight with barely controlled rage. "And what about prevailing wind patterns, Premier Volkov? Nuclear detonation in the Himalayas doesn't stay contained. Fallout spreads east across our territories. Tibet. Sichuan. Yunnan. Regions with combined population exceeding one hundred million people."

He leaned forward, eyes blazing. "It's convenient to suggest nuclear solutions when it's not your people who will die from radiation poisoning. Not your children who will be born with mutations. Not your land that becomes a dead zone for the next thousand years."

Volkov's expression didn't change. "I understand your concerns..."

"Do you?" The Indian representative's voice cracked like a whip. "Because from where I'm standing, it sounds like you're proposing we sacrifice millions of innocent civilians to eliminate a threat we don't even understand yet. That's not a solution, Premier. That's genocide disguised as pragmatism."

The Chinese delegate's tone turned icy. "Let me be absolutely clear: China will veto any Security Council resolution authorizing nuclear deployment in the Himalayan region. The collateral damage would be catastrophic, and we have not exhausted diplomatic or scientific alternatives."

"Neither has India," the Indian representative added firmly. "We lost eight operatives to that fog. Eight brave men and women. But I will not honor their sacrifice by killing millions more in a panicked overreaction."

Volkov remained unnervingly calm. "Then what do you propose? We've established that conventional investigation fails. Our people vanish. The phenomenon resists all analysis. How long do we wait while it potentially grows stronger?"

"We send different teams," the Indian representative said. "Scientists instead of soldiers. Researchers instead of commandos. We approach this as a mystery to solve, not a target to destroy."

"And if that fails?" Volkov asked. "How many more teams do we sacrifice while you pursue this idealistic approach?"

The Chinese delegate's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "As many as necessary to avoid turning the most populated region on Earth into a radioactive wasteland. We are talking about nuclear weapons, Premier Volkov. Once deployed, there is no taking them back. No reversing the damage. No undoing the deaths."

He paused, letting that sink in.

"If we're wrong about the threat level, we've committed mass murder. If we're right, we may have made the situation exponentially worse. Either way, hundreds of millions of people... our people... pay the price for a decision made in panic."

The Indian representative nodded. "Nuclear deployment is not a first resort. It's not even a tenth resort. It's the absolute final option when literally nothing else remains. And we haven't exhausted our alternatives yet."

Volkov surveyed them both with that same cold smile. "Very well. Then I suggest you both move quickly with your alternative approaches. Because if the phenomenon expands beyond containment, if it demonstrates clear hostile intent, if it threatens global security... the conversation changes."

His tone remained casual, almost bored. "And when that conversation happens, regional concerns become secondary to species survival."

The chamber fell silent.

Because everyone understood what he wasn't saying: if the fog became a true existential threat, India and China's objections wouldn't matter. Someone would deploy nuclear weapons. And millions would die regardless of who objected.

Secretary-General Silva stood, voice strained. "This discussion is clearly far from resolved. We will reconvene in six hours with detailed proposals for next steps. All options remain on the table, but I emphasize: any military action of this magnitude requires unanimous Security Council approval."

He looked directly at Volkov. "Which, as we've just heard, does not currently exist."

Volkov shrugged, as if the entire conversation had been a mildly interesting academic exercise. "Of course, Secretary-General. I simply wanted to ensure we were all being realistic about what tools we possess. Sometimes stating the obvious accelerates productive discussion."

He sat down, expression unchanged, while around him delegates erupted into heated side conversations.

The Indian and Chinese representatives remained standing, watching him with undisguised hostility.

Because they both understood: Volkov hadn't been making a suggestion.

He'd been issuing a warning.

If you don't solve this problem, someone else will. And they won't ask permission.

***

Alex stared at the silver text, heart pounding.

The world leaders were debating nuclear strikes. India and China... the nations closest to the fog... were desperately trying to prevent mass casualties. And Volkov was calmly suggesting genocide as a "practical solution."

But beneath the political maneuvering, one truth was clear:

Nobody knew what to do. The best minds, the most powerful nations, the most advanced technology... all of it useless against a phenomenon they couldn't understand.

The text shifted, new sections forming.

What happened next? Did they send new teams? Did someone act unilaterally?

Or did something emerge from the fog that made all their debates irrelevant?

***

March 27th, 2025 — Ten Days After the Event

United Nations Headquarters, New York — Security Council Reconvened

Secretary-General António Silva stood at the podium, the weight of forty-eight hours of negotiation evident in the lines etched across his face.

The chamber was quieter than before. The panic had crystallized into grim determination.

"Distinguished delegates," Silva began, voice steady despite exhaustion. "After extensive consultation with all Security Council members, intelligence agencies from affected nations, and scientific advisors from six continents, we have reached a consensus."

He paused, letting that word settle. Consensus. Not compromise. Not surrender to any single position.

"The decision is as follows:"

Silva pulled up a detailed timeline on the main display.

"We will implement a three-phase approach. Phase One begins immediately and extends for seventy-two hours. During this period, all military forces currently stationed at the exclusion perimeter will maintain maximum alert status. Satellite monitoring will continue uninterrupted. Any change in the phenomenon... expansion, contraction, emission of any kind... triggers immediate escalation protocols."

The Russian delegate... not Volkov, who sat silently in the back... nodded approval. Military readiness was non-negotiable.

"Phase Two," Silva continued, "commences simultaneously with Phase One. We are assembling a specialized investigation team. Not conventional military. Not standard reconnaissance. A hybrid unit combining the world's leading experts in atmospheric physics, quantum mechanics, electromagnetic phenomena, field medicine, and survival operations."

The Indian representative leaned forward. "Composition?"

"Fifteen personnel," Silva said. "Five from scientific institutions. Five from special operations with advanced technical training. Five support specialists including communications, medical, and extraction experts. Each member selected for expertise in confronting the unknown rather than eliminating perceived threats."

The Chinese delegate spoke carefully. "And their objective?"

"Penetrate the fog boundary. Locate and extract any survivors from previous teams if possible. Document internal conditions. Return with actionable intelligence within ninety-six hours maximum."

Silva's expression hardened. "If they do not return within that timeframe, or if communication is lost beyond established parameters, we proceed immediately to Phase Three."

The chamber fell silent.

Everyone knew what Phase Three meant.

"Phase Three," Silva stated flatly, "is unrestricted military response. All options become available for Security Council consideration. Including those proposed by Premier Volkov."

The Indian representative's jaw tightened, but she didn't object. They'd negotiated this. Scientific investigation first. Military action only if investigation failed completely.

"This is the compromise we have reached," Silva said. "India and China have agreed not to veto Phase Three consideration if Phase Two fails. Russia and allied nations have agreed to delay any unilateral action until Phase Two concludes. All parties acknowledge that time is critical, but panic serves no one."

He looked directly at where Volkov sat.

"Premier Volkov, does this framework satisfy Russian concerns regarding timeline and contingency planning?"

Volkov stood slowly, that same cold smile playing across his features.

"It is... acceptable," he said, voice carrying thinly veiled condescension. "Seventy-two hours plus ninety-six hours gives us approximately one week total before decisive action becomes necessary. I can live with one week. After all, the phenomenon has remained static for twelve days. One more week of observation costs nothing."

He paused, letting the implicit threat hang in the air.

"But I want absolute clarity on Phase Three triggers. If this team vanishes like the others, if they fail to return, if they provide no intelligence... we stop debating and start acting. Agreed?"

The Indian representative spoke through gritted teeth. "Agreed. But only if the team actually fails. If they return with intelligence suggesting the phenomenon can be understood or contained through non-nuclear means, Phase Three remains off the table."

"Fair," Volkov said simply. "If they return with genuine solutions, I have no desire for unnecessary destruction. But if they return with nothing, or don't return at all, the conversation ends."

Silva nodded. "Then we have consensus. Phase One alert status begins immediately. Phase Two team deployment occurs within forty-eight hours. All Security Council members will receive real-time updates on team status once they enter the fog."

He closed the folder in front of him with quiet finality.

"We have one week to understand what we're dealing with. After that, we make the hardest decision this Council has ever faced. May we find answers that make such decisions unnecessary."

The delegates rose slowly, the atmosphere heavy with unspoken fears.

One week.

Seventy-two hours of waiting. Ninety-six hours of investigation.

And if the team failed like all the others?

Then Volkov's "practical solution" would be back on the table.

And this time, there would be no more delays.

***

Alex stared at the silver text as it continued materializing.

One week. That's all humanity had given itself to solve an impossible mystery.

A specialized team would enter the fog. Scientists and soldiers together. Searching for answers, searching for survivors.

And if they vanished like the forty-seven before them?

The text shifted, new sections forming.

Alex leaned closer, desperate to know what happened when that team finally entered the white silence.

What they found inside.

Whether any of them came back.

And what their discoveries... or their failure... meant for the world that waited outside.

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