(*-*-*Noobwriter96's note: I took some time off from Deathless Reign For the time being. I had to rest my eyes from staring too much into the screen, wondering how to proceed and conclude the series. And so, I came up with this project on the side, which lets me play around with some world building and practice writing sex scenes. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my work. Constructive feedback is very welcome. *-*-*)
(This is more of an anthology-series sort. First part talks more about the world through reports and writings that exists within said world. While the second part is on the perspective of characters living within that world.)
Excerpt taken from the historical annals as compounded in the book '
From Ashes
' by archivist Barreth Livingston, representing the Halls of History of Great Aphrodisia, year 2209.
Upon the eruption of World War VII, humanity nearly sealed the fate of their entire race. The entirety of the war only lasted for a mere three minutes and twenty-two seconds and in that time, eradicated 99.99999% of the global population, sending the once civilized race to the brink of savagery and depravity. Another attributable factor was the prior World War VI, which lasted for some fifty odd years as humanity expanded in an explosive space race that saw the colonization and subsequent territorial conflicts over the Moon and Mars themselves.
Deemed as science fiction from the previous centuries, the technological advancement and innovation saw a boom that had been now finally realized as humans from various factions and nations sought ways to one-up their enemies and gain the upper hand in the decades-long conflict. It had dragged for so long and so destructive that much of the general population no longer have any certainty as to how it all started and who was fighting with whom. The simple civilians only focused on surviving one day at a time.
Until the day the three-minute war that was World War VII came, destroying the last vestiges of law and order and sending the surviving remnants of the human race to a new dark age.
Estimates of the time put the number of human survivors at roughly two hundred thousand, against a peak population count of what was once twenty billion prior to the start of the Great Old-World War, a mere 0.00001%. That number would further drop in what is recorded in the accounts of history as the 23
rd
Century Dark Age.
Contact was lost to the inhabitants of the space hives and colonies amongst the Moon and Mars. The outworlders primarily lived through resupplies from their respective factions here on Earth, although they have succeeded in partial terraforming that enabled them to grow their own food in their respective habitats off-world. But no contact was made for the better part of the last decade as the war reached its tumultuous climax. They were lost to the minds and hearts of the survivors of scorched Earth, who had to contend amongst themselves for scarce resources and shelter, amidst the irradiated wastelands of the planet. Although much of the population lived little different than animals, there is the 0.0000005% that retained much of the splendor and comfort of technology.
The Megacorporations, the only ones to have ever profited and saw the Great Old-World Wars as opportunities and to have benefited off during the misery and suffering caused by the Old-World Governments. The various governments of the world all kept a tight leash on how much power the Megacorporations had and weren't above threats of nuclear retribution to keep them in their heels. So firm was the belief of the Governments of the Old World in their respective dogma, believing their enemies to be entirely in the wrong and needs to be vanquished. This same stalwart dogma also made them distrustful of the Megacorps and revile them for their greed whilst oblivious to their own warmongering and utter disregard for the wellbeing of their citizens, erstwhile proclaiming that all they have done was for the greater good.
The Megacorps foresaw the impending absolute destruction of the species and thus set to work on doomsday Megadomes all across the globe. They kept it secured and hidden, away from the prying eyes of the Old Government. Construction took place from a great variety of biomes, from deep caverns within the earth, to the abyssal trenches of the great oceans. Others nestled themselves in between natural barriers of mountain ranges while some were hidden in plain sight, such as simply built amidst the middle of a bustling metropolis under the guise of "efficiency facilities" to fool Government Inspectors.
Reinforced to withstand the greatest of nuclear devastations and even outdoing those of the Government Constructs by installing luxuries and cadence of their own personal shelters, the Megacorps bided their time within the safety and decadence of their colossal bunkers, which could have been a city in their own rights. Housing those of their loyal employees and contracted geniuses to cater to their whims and pleasures in exchange for shelter and safety should the worst eventually come to pass.
And the worst did come to pass.
The total utilization of the Earth's nuclear weapons and the governments that held them resulted in the utter extinction of those governing institutions.
No one knew for certain who fired the first shot, not even the Executives of the Megacorps. For half a century, war was the norm. Peace was such an alien idea to the vast majority of the civilian population who were nothing more than just a disposable cog to fuel their respective countries' war machines.
The Cataclysmic explosion that rocked the very foundations of the planet itself was an event that would forever leave its mark from hence on towards eternity of the once fertile blue rock. The nuclear might of a hundred nations, weapons of mass destruction on a scale that should have completely obliterated the planet itself. Weapons that dared to touch upon the very essence of the cosmos down to the last atom as warheads exploded against one another, canceling the very force the destructive force. Anomalies from such immense power left the world's natural order forever changed.
By the time of this writing, our scientists are still left perplexed as to the full effect of the Nuclear Cataclysm and have yet barely scratched the surface, sixty years since then.
The lines between where World War VI ended and World War VII started are blurred to say the least.
The already war-ravaged territories were all the more made egregiously hostile by the culminative detonation of the worlds' nuclear weapons. When society was destroyed, it brought out the very worst in the remnants of humanity. These were the survivors, roving bands of groups, be they raiders, nomads or far worse that roamed the irradiated wastelands of this new Earth.
And then there were those in the Domed cities, paradises made by the Mega Corporations.
The Megacorps reigned unopposed as the new supreme power of the pitiful remnants of humanity. Unshackled by the uncompromising oversight of the Military Government of the world, they were free to explore research that were otherwise restricted and condemned. From Human-Animal gene splicing to Neo-Cortex subliminal manipulation (commonly referred to as mind control) and plenty of others that dared play God on life itself.
And even the highly prohibited Artificial Intelligence Research and Development were finally put into motion after of decades of toiling in the dark recesses of the Megacorps darkest corners.
Resources long spent focused on weapon development now found new purpose as the new masters of humanity and the Earth itself, the Megacorps wished to shape humanity as they should see fit. But they also found wisdom in the errors of their predecessors, the Governments of the Old World. Rather than fight one another like their predecessors, for so sickened were they by war already, they pooled their resources altogether in the ultimate amalgamation of their vision and covetousness. Together, they formed the Coalition of Corporations, to remake the earth as they see fit.
From the fruits of their research was borne the Olympian Strain, a compound that corrects and reinforces the very genetic level of an individual, a much-needed edge in an environment ravaged by nuclear holocaust. From this, on the dawn of the 23
rd
century, the long-sought prize that humanities' elite had hounded for millennia had finally been attained.
Immortality. Or at the very least, as close as one could be.
