This was the tricky part. He would have to create mechanical antibodies programmed with data on the structure of pollutant particles. They would also have to be programmed with tactical data on how to target and destroy the nucellus of the pollutant particles. This would scatter the particles, but not completely destroy them, so he would have to include a dissolvent.

A safety device would also have to be included so that biological life would not be harmed by the explosion. The weapons worked on the same principle as the nukes, they would be destroyed also. The antibodies would also take care of the radioactivity.

Yuri had painstakingly catalogued the project from the beginning. Now he would have to find out how to deploy it. Computers. Computers were the answer. The pathogen would be encrypted in a computer virus. Once the computer ordered the weapons to fire, the weapons would fire according to the encrypted instructions. Since Yuri knew all the security codes, it would be easy to get past the security. All computers were connected; all he would have to do was download the virus into his computer chip. Within a matter of hours, the virus would have surely reached base command.

Now the virus was prepared. He pressed a button in the side of his computer and a dish containing a barely visible computer chip slid out. He programmed the virus, replaced the computer chip, and carefully slid the dish back in. He looked at his computer and thought of the years he had waited for this moment. He knew that by 0600 hours the pathogen should have worked. He would be able to see the sun, a sight that had not been seen for nearly a century. The sun had faded completely from the sky on June 21st, 2431; it was now October, 2526. If it wasn’t for pictures from the shuttles and reports from the colonies, no one would believe the sun existed.

The hours of the night seemed to creep by. At some point, Yuri must have fallen asleep; it was now 05:49. He looked around. There was light in the dwelling, even though no lights were on. Black meowed, as if to say, “Let us go outside and welcome the home-coming of the sun.”

Yuri got up, surveyed the room, and slowly moved toward the door. He proceeded to unbolt the many locks on the door. The clouds were clearing, and there was a faint light shining through. Yuri was the only one outside; the streets were empty, and there was an eerie silence. Yuri squinted in the bright light. This was incredible. He smiled and he laughed and laughed; he knew that this was his doing. The sweet laughter rang through the streets like the singing of birds. He laughed so hard he started to cry. Black jumped into his arms and he laughed harder.

After a while, he stopped laughing and went inside with Black still in his arms. He left the door open and sunlight filtered in, and shone gently on his wrinkled face. His eyes sparkled, and his smile was at it’s fullest.

But this victory was only bittersweet. Mars was polluted, and the moon was surrounded in a halo of space junk. Venus and Mars were threatening to start the next inter-planetary war.

The fighting had ceased on Earth, and 97% of the pollutants were gone. But Earth was only one planet of the billions that had been ruined by it’s inhabitants.

Yuri lived out the rest of his days on peace. No one ever knew what he had done, but he did. Yuri died on March 28 th , 2527. Black died exactly one week later. Their bodies were donated to science, and used for medical research.