[ Year 2142, Washington DC ]
*Rattle* *Rattle*
As the ground began to quake, Leo Skyshard glanced at the seismic reading on his battered smartphone and muttered, "4.2, it's okay" almost under his breath.
For a moment, as the make-shift platform he was working on began to quake, his heartbeat began to rise rapidly as the project he was working on today was an old construction bar that was facing a risk of collapse, potentially burying him in debris.
Thankfully, the number was hardly shocking. 4.2 was not enough to cause significant damage to the structure made with a century old construction method.
In this day and age, the once-dreaded natural calamities had become humdrum background noise. Tokyo, Los Angeles, Rome—they were all gone, swallowed by the Earth or washed away by tsunamis while natural disasters became a weekly occurrence.
There was not a single city in the world that looked intact anymore as the concrete empire was crumbling.
At first it was a yearly affair, then it became bi-annual, then seasonal, then monthly and now finally the frequency had increased to just a few weeks apart.
The earth was falling apart and hundreds of thousands were dying everyday.
In a world where cities vanished and disasters became mundane, people barely flinched anymore at small events like a 4.2 earthquake.
Leo looked at his elder brother, Luke, who was engrossed in cleaning old glasses made of oak wood as he gave him a reassuring smile.
Both were waiting in a ramshackle bar for their next freelance gig, a high-rise window cleaning and restoration, one of the few remaining jobs that could be performed outside a computer screen. It was a risky job in unpredictable weather, but risks were a luxury only the rich could afford to avoid.
In this world where disasters were frequent, the ultra rich had already isolated themselves in nuclear bunkers with years worth of canned food to survive, however, for commoners like Leo and Luke, they needed to work 3 days a week in dangerous environments to ensure the survival of their family which consisted of the two brothers and their mother.
Once, this trio belonged to the echelons of urban elite, but that era has long faded, much like their father who vanished without a trace, bequeathing them a mere $500 in their bank account.
Since the abrupt departure of their father a decade ago, the family had grappled with financial hardship, a situation that had deteriorated with each subsequent year.
It was only four years ago, upon Luke's 18th birthday, that he was able to contribute through various odd jobs and lessen the financial burden on their mother, which was further improved two years later, as Leo joined him in this laborious endeavour.
For now, the family of 3 barely made their ends meet but they could be considered as happy as one could be while surviving on the bare minimum.
Suddenly then, in a moment that Luke and Leo would probably never forget for the rest of their lives, much like everyone else on Earth, the bar's dust-covered TV flickered to life, and President Verma's face appeared on screen.
Leo had never liked her. She was stern, severe, and in power not because people admired her, but because she was considered strong—something desperately needed in these chaotic times.
"My fellow citizens," she began, her voice unusually calm.
"As you all must know and experience on a day to day basis, our beloved planet Earth, a place we call 'Home' is suffering from countless natural disasters and has become unsuitable for the human population.
It's time for us to move on, it's time for us to explore new planets and become a species that has presence throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
It's with great pride and joy that I declare today that we have successfully negotiated with an alien species to allow us to populate their planet.
They are an advanced species with great technological achievements and have been kind enough to send 4 Arc Ships that can carry 250 million people each.
In precisely 3 months time from today, these 4 Arc Ships will leave planet Earth and shall be bound for a planet called 'Terra Nova'.
For those who dare to explore a new world and think they have the necessary expertise to be chosen as a member onboard the ship, I implore you to apply for a position and escape this dying planet.
I myself am going to board the ship alongside you all to demonstrate that it's completely safe and a great opportunity.
It's going to be a fresh start on a lush green and stable planet, full of new possibilities, and I hope every last one of us are reunited there someday."
The screen went blank once the speech was over as Luke and Leo were dumbfounded by it's content.
"What the actual fuck?" Luke cursed, as he did not listen to any gibberish beyond the fact that the president was boarding the ship.
If that selfish hag was boarding the ship, it was sure as hell not to demonstrate anything positive.
If she was boarding the ship it could mean one thing and one thing only and that was the undeniable fact that Earth was done for.
It wasn't just a 'Cataclysmic Cycle' that the government claimed it was. It wasn't just a phase that would last 20 years and then recede like many 'experts' and 'pundits' claimed it would be.
The Earth was dying and these ship's were the one chance for humanity to survive.
"We have to apply, brother. We have to get out" Leo said with conviction in his eyes as Luke nodded.
Although the two did not buy into the promise of a fresh start, they understood the urgency to leave.
There were 8 billion people on Earth and the ship was only going to carry a billion which meant that it was going to be incredibly difficult to make the cut but they had 3 months to figure out how to.