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Beyond Survival: Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2025-03-26 16:00:12 +0000 UTCUnited States of America, Earth, 2098.
Deep within the Nevada air base, a large group of scientists were working frantically, knowing that they were racing against time.
As the hundreds of Directed Energy Deposit printers, called the DED printers for short, worked overtime to print the various components required for the project that they were working on, the lead scientist, Dr. David Anderson, worked on his tablet, looking through the final checklist.
However, he was distracted from his work when the entrance to their bunker opened, and a man dressed in the uniform of the US armed forces entered.
“Dr. Anderson! I hope you have some good news for me.”
Dr. David Anderson turned his head to look at the tall and well-built man with his tired blue eyes. Combing back his disheveled blond hair, the scientist walked towards the military man.
“General Carter. I do have news, but I don’t know if it is good or not.”
The military man, the General of the United States Army, sighed tiredly as he motioned the scientist to continue talking.
“The rift generators have successfully passed the test. However, the Collider suffered a catastrophic failure after an hour of sustained use. We theorize that the strain of opening a dimensional gate for more than an hour is not possible at the moment.”
“Dr. Anderson, you know better than anyone that one hour is not enough to evacuate nearly ten thousand civilians and more than five thousand military personnel. Not to mention all of our military and scientific equipment along with the basic needs and resources.”
The scientist gave a grim nod at the General’s words.
“I know, sir. But we don’t have any other choice. The Last of the Arc ships prototype test was already launched by NASA over a month ago and has gone missing in the Stellar Storm just like the others. This Gate device, and others like it across the planet, are quite literally our last resort options.”
Once again, the General sighed and collapsed onto the nearest chair.
“…I just received the final message from the Fleet Admiral in the Pacific. His message said that the spread of corruption has accelerated significantly. Best case scenario, we have a week before it makes landfall.”
Dr. Anderson’s face went pale at those words.
“What about the Fleet Admiral?”
“His ship was infected by the time he sent the message, along with the rest of our last Naval Fleet. They chose to rig their ships to sink before they took their cyanide pills. We have officially lost our last sea-worthy ship.”
“…Any word from Project: Infinity?”
“Last I heard, General Jackson was pushing them hard to complete the Shuttles, but he was not sure if they would complete it in time. He said that it would take at least a year before even a prototype was completed. Even our most optimistic predictions put Antarctica barely a month away from full corruption. It is safe to assume that Project: Infinity is a dead end.”
Dr. Anderson gritted his teeth as he collapsed in another chair opposite the general.
The Scientist and the General could still vividly remember when this nightmare first began more than two decades ago.
The year of 2078. Everyone was celebrating the new year, parties were occurring across multiple time zones across the world, celebrating the passage of another year in human history.
However, they did not know that this new year would also mark the downfall of Humanity and Earth itself.
Nobody knows where it came from, or what it even was. The only thing they knew was that it originated from somewhere on the other side of the Galaxy.
A storm of energy, made up of all kinds of radiation and particles, both known and unknown, ravaged the Solar System, knocking out all the satellite systems across Earth, the mining colony on the Moon, and the Martian Research base.
Worse yet, the storm did not let up, it continued indefinitely, keeping everyone stranded where they were.
Dr. Anderson still remembers the horror of listening to laser communications transmitted from the Moon base, the Martian Base, and the large group of miners present on the massive asteroid parked in a stable orbit above the Earth for resource harvesting.
He remembers the desperate cries for help, the pleading, the anger and hate, and finally, the resignation of those people stuck on those bases without any resources.
Of course, the space agencies on Earth were not idly listening to these people dying. They had tried desperately to try and reach them in any way they can, but they soon discovered that this damned storm, which would later be named the Stellar Storm, made all human technology inoperable the moment it reached outer space.
Plasma Thrusters sputtered out the moment the shuttles left the Atmosphere. Chemical rocketry exploded in contact with the Stellar Storm. Mass Driver projectiles veered off course due to the stellar winds, even the experimental Anti-matter drives died the moment the ship came in contact with the storm.
While all of this was going on, the scientists ground-side discovered that this storm brought with it a sinister disease that they simply could not identify.
This disease, simply called ‘The Corruption’, was neither a bacteria, a virus, a fungus, nor any known organic substance. Hell, the researchers did not even know if it was organic or inorganic since every sample they took came back completely empty with nothing that could be detected through their state-of-the-art equipment.
However, the corruption was quite clear for the naked eye to see as a tide of darkness that rapidly spread everywhere.
It blackened the skies, seeped into the land, polluted the air with a dark fog, decomposed organic matter, oxidized inorganic matter, and even destroyed polymers and plastics that should normally take millions of years to deteriorate.
And yet, despite such devastating odds, Humanity still held on.
They built underground shelters near major population centers. Shielded with every form of shielding technology they had. Concrete, lead shielding, electromagnetic shielding, Macron particle shielding, and even experimental Energy shielding technology, no expenses were spared.
For sustenance, they used a heavily modified strain of Spirulina along with organic growing vats used to grow artificial meats for food sources. Alongside this, they drilled deep into the Earth, searching for underground water sources to sustain their population.
And yet, despite all these efforts, Humanity only delayed the inevitable.
For two decades, Human civilization withered from over a few hundred bunkers to a measly three due to various issues, most of which included mass suicides, riots, resource shortage, and The Corruption finding its way into the bunkers through infected individuals that somehow managed to pass through the screening systems.
One is located under the Nevada Airbase, one under the Himalayan Mountains, and the last under the ice sheets of Antarctica.
“If Project: Infinity is a lost cause, then we have no choice but to depend on the Gates of Project: Exodus and manually transfer the goods.”
General Ethan Carter nodded at those words.
“Do we know where we will be dropping out of the portals?”
“No. It is already a miracle that the Casimir Effect managed to rip through the fabric of space-time at all at the energy levels we are providing. My best guess is that this Stellar Storm has somehow weakened the fabric of reality. However, I do have some good news for you regarding this topic.”
The scientist turned his data pad towards the General, showing towering trees and a beautiful landscape, although the General found it difficult to identify what type of trees they were.
“This is the image taken by our drones during their scouting missions into the rifts. Whatever is on the other side, it is definitely a suitable location for humanity.”
The General continued staring in awe at the image, trying to remember when was the last time he had seen so much nature without any kind of artificial sustenance technology.
With his mind made up, the General got up from his seat.
“Let's get to it, then. Dr. Anderson, I want the Gates open as many times and as frequently as possible. I will issue an evacuation order across all three bunkers soon. We will first send out the basic necessities into this place, along with military personnel to secure a landing zone. Then, we will send the infrastructure fabricators along with civilians in groups. Finally, we will send the last of our military and scientific equipment along with everyone else.”
Dr. Anderson nodded at those words and immediately got back to work as the General marched out towards his quarters.
This was his last chance to protect what remains of his race and he would be damned if he left any man, woman, or child behind.
