This is my entry into Welcome to Antarctica - Conspiracy Creative Writing Contest II instigated by the awesome @v4vapid I hope you enjoy.........

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ATLANTIS

10,500BC

Pandora looked up towards the sky with trepidation, any time now the event would start and not a moment too soon. The 'Earthmen' had become a scourge on the planet and it needed to stop. They were too warlike and greedy to ever be allowed to control the 'Power station'.

"How long now?" asked Penfold.
"Not long, we should get to the portal now." she replied.

The 'Watchers' had decided enough was enough, a restart was required if they were ever going to get this planet back on track. They'd made an error when creating the Earthmen and it needed to be corrected. Wiping them out entirely had been considered a step too far however a healthy cull was deemed in the best interest of all the other species sharing the planet.

"Has the Ark left yet?" inquired Percy.
"It left an hour ago, it should be in Earth orbit now." was Pandora's reply.
She continued. "Ok Everybody lets go, this place is going to be carnage for the next forty days and nights."

The plan was to displace the earths crust, they needed to get this island of theirs repositioned to the South Pole in order to hide it from the 'Earthmen'. The vote had been close, five of the 'Nine' had decided to vote to save the earthmen and give them a second chance. The other four had felt that now their mission was over the planet should be cleansed of all 'modified hominids' to ensure its future but they'd lost so the essence of the Earthmen and women had been added to the Ark.

Pandora looked out of the portal one last time at the planet that had been her home for the last 3500 years. What a difference her team had made, the Power Station had been finished over three millennia ago and it was the most technologically advanced she had ever worked on.
It was hard to believe that all of their hard work would be buried under a kilometre of ice and snow when they returned. Why had it come to this? Surely they could have come up with a solution that didn't involve virtually terraforming the planet. The decision had been made by the Watchers and the timer was set, all she could do was go into orbit with the others and wait it out.

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As the portal was enacted they all had a moment of singularity when they ceased to be anything but atomic matter, almost instantly they were all standing on the deck of the 'Earth Orbiter' naked as the day they were cloned.

"When are they going to modify this bloody thing so it transports earth clothing?" moaned Percy. "It'll be freezing when we go back, I don't want to rock up tackle out with a air temperature of minus 40!" he continued.
"They're working on it, besides it won't matter, I didn't tell you all before but we're being promoted to shape shifters before we return so we can perform our roles." explained Pandora.

The group all looked at each other, they knew the mission was important to the Watchers but the promotion to shape shifters was a game changer. They were all apprehensive when they'd been told they weren't going home but were to stay and protect the Power Station and keep it in working order until the 'Creator' returned. Having the added bonus of shape shifting ability gave them a collective confidence that thier mission would succeed.

"When will we be going back Pandora?" asked Patmos
"The seeding party will go back in roughly 1000 years, we'll be following behind them in about 5000."
"Oh, Ok then, well I'm off for a beer, coming?"

ANTARCTICA

5500BC

Pandora and the team arrived at the portal on board the Earth Orbiter donning their new shapes. They all smiled as they looked around the group, centuries of training in controlling their shapes and advanced military tactics had turned them into a formidble team. The team had been named 'The Gnostic Warriors'. They were to go back to Earth defend the power plant and the 'knowledge'.
The scene upon arrival was spectacular, they couldn't see where the city and the power plant had gone it was buried so deep under the ice. The shapes they had chosen were perfect for the terrain and they began work in earnest. They had to locate the city, get the power plant running at minimum and watch the perimeter.
For how long they didn't know.....
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ANTARCTICA

PRESENT DAY

The recent activity of the Earthmen was a concern to Pandora, for 75 centuries there had been little to do outside of routine maintenance. Oh sure there had been the odd incident like the time when men first started to fly in earnest and they'd had to create a cloaking device for the parts of the city that were exposed and the German members of the Vril society that had visited during the second great conflict.
They'd been convinced that they had found the secret to the knowledge in ancient Essenne scriptures during their many excavations around the old settlements in Qumran, Sumer and Ur.
They had come very close to discovering the Power Plant however the Gnostic Warriors had ensured their failure and protected the secret.
This time was different though, something had changed. Pandora had known 12,500 years ago that it was a mistake giving the Earthmen a second chance, they were doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, it was who they are the way they'd been designed.
They were everywhere now, ever since she'd received the order to run the Power Plant at full capacity to facilitate the powering up of the Earth Orbiters weapon system there had been more and more of them coming. Many had been treated with reverence by the ones that were there all the time, all colours of man had arrived some in garish uniform not unlike the high priest back home.
Ever since they'd rammed up the power to maximum 3 decades ago the ice had been melting in the SW corner of the continent, the ignorant Earthmen had said it was their own doing which was good cover however they'd sent so many people to investigate they had discovered parts of the outer city. The Gnostic Warriors had been forced to retreat.
Pandora had reported this to the Watchers and another vote was being taken.

"When will we hear?" asked Penny
"The Watchers are voting as we speak, I'll be informed anytime now." said Pandora

A single beep sounded in Pandora's ear bud informing her there was a message coming in on her comms display from the Earth Orbiter.

The message read:

Unanimous Vote, prepare team for immediate evacuation to Earth Orbiter. Earthmen cannot be allowed to discover the Power Plant. Countdown has begun.

As Pandora was putting the comms display away another message came through......

There will be no Ark.

The team had gathered around as Pandora was reading the message, she looked up to see them staring at her in anticipation.

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"Head for the portal guys, we're going home."

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