Ryan adjusted his work gloves, tightening them as he walked through the dimly lit tunnels of the bunker. It had been weeks since he’d started working on the construction, helping to fortify the underground shelters that would supposedly be humanity’s last refuge. The work was repetitive but necessary, reinforcing the walls and making sure the systems keeping them alive were functioning flawlessly.

The bunker was massive, a sprawling subterranean city designed to house millions. Its corridors stretched on endlessly, with levels upon levels of living quarters, supply depots, medical centers, and command rooms. Power stations, built deep into the earth, harnessed geothermal energy to keep the entire place running indefinitely. Advanced filtration systems ensured clean air and water, and massive vaults of food and supplies were stockpiled in case the surface world became inhospitable for longer than expected.

Above ground, everything had been destroyed—entire cities wiped out in the blink of an eye. Yet down here, life had a strange stillness to it, as if the chaos above was just a bad dream. The walls hummed with the sound of machines working, but it felt hollow to Ryan. No amount of technology could erase the grief and uncertainty hanging over the few survivors that remained.

Ryan took a moment to rest, leaning against the cold steel of the tunnel wall. His thoughts drifted as they often did to the solar system he once knew so well.

The universe had always fascinated him. As a technician, he had often found himself pondering the vastness of space and the limits of human achievement. Their solar system had only three large planets—one, like Earth, habitable and advanced; the others, distant and unyielding. The closest planet to the sun, Aethera, was a scorched wasteland, its surface so hot that no human could survive there for more than a few seconds without being incinerated. The planet furthest from the sun, Nixion, was a frozen tundra, its icy surface blanketed in eternal darkness.

For centuries, humanity had attempted to terraform both Aethera and Nixion. Monarchies poured their vast resources into creating advanced atmospheric processors and climate control systems, aiming to make these planets habitable. But each effort had ended in failure. Aethera’s proximity to the sun made it impossible to regulate the temperature long enough for any sustainable life to form. Nixion’s harsh, freezing winds crushed every outpost before they could establish a foothold.

Despite these failures, the monarchs hadn’t given up. They had set up bases on several moons orbiting the three planets, using them as observation posts and resource hubs. These moons were key to their interplanetary strategies, serving as gateways to the larger celestial bodies. Monarch-controlled moon bases had become vital outposts for research, exploration, and defense. Some of Ryan’s colleagues had even been recruited to work on these lunar colonies, their work critical to the expansion of human reach...

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As Ryan stared down the long, dark tunnel, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss—not just for the people and cities destroyed, but for the promise that had once driven them forward as a Type 1 civilization. Earth had achieved so much, yet they had still failed to extend their grasp beyond their own planet. The monarchs still clung to their dream of terraforming, but Ryan wondered if they would ever succeed.

The workday ended, and Ryan made his way to the small quarters assigned to him in the bunker. He had a single bed, a desk, and a tiny storage space for his meager belongings. It was sparse but functional, just like everything else in the bunker. As he lay on his bed, staring at the low ceiling, his mind wandered back to the day of the storm—the day everything changed.

The unknown force that had saved him gnawed at the back of his mind. No matter how much time passed, he couldn’t shake the memory of being pulled from the tornado’s grasp by something beyond his understanding. It hadn’t been technology, not as far as he could tell. No visible drone, no emergency rescue tech had been nearby. It was something else—something he couldn’t explain.

Since that day, Ryan had been quietly investigating, trying to find any trace of what had happened to him. He had subjected himself to scans, both medical and technological. He’d even hacked into the monarchy’s medical records, combing through advanced diagnostics to see if there was any anomaly in his physiology, any clue as to why he had survived. But every test came back clean. His body was normal. No strange energy signatures, no genetic mutations, nothing. The unknown force had left no mark on him, ...

Frustration welled up inside him. He had been spared for a reason, he was sure of it. But why? And how? The questions churned in his mind, distracting him as the days passed.

In his quiet moments, Ryan often found himself wondering if the monarchy knew more than they let on. He wasn’t naive—he knew the monarchs were hiding something. They had access to technology and knowledge far beyond what the average citizen could comprehend, and yet they had said nothing about the force that had caused the storm. Their official statements were vague, full of platitudes about rebuilding and protecting what remained, but never any answers about the phenomenon itself.

Weeks passed, and the underground city grew. New tunnels were dug, additional living quarters were constructed, and more survivors were brought into the bunkers. But the sense of unease never left Ryan. It was as if the storm had been just the beginning, and something far worse was coming.

The monarchs had continued to issue statements, assuring the populace that they were doing everything they could to prevent future disasters. But even as they spoke of safety and stability, their actions betrayed a deeper fear. The bunkers were being fortified at an alarming rate. Every day, new layers of protection were added, new systems put in place to ensure the survival of the underground populations. It was clear they were preparing for something catastrophic, something that went beyond the storms.

Ryan’s thoughts returned once more to the unknown force that had saved him. He still didn’t understand it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was connected to whatever the monarchy was hiding. If only he could find some evidence, some trace of it. But every search turned up nothing, leaving him with nothing but questions and a growing sense of dread.

He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, as the bunker hummed quietly around him. The air was thick with tension, the weight of the unknown pressing down on them all. The world had changed, and Ryan knew that more changes were coming. He could feel it, deep in his bones.

The chaos wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.