Hanging perfectly in the night sky sat the Moon, illuminating the city of GQC-6 with its reflected radiance. Deep within its grid-like structure a woman was using the shining moonlight to navigate her way through a crowded street. In her arms she carried a precious cargo, her dying infant son.
"WARNING…WARNING…WARNING"
"SPORES WILL BE DETONATED AT THE END OF THE 24TH HOUR."
"TEN MINUTES REMAIN… PREPARE FOR SALVATION"
Hearing the sound of the deep synthetic voice, the crowd around her exploded into a frenzy of panic. People were practically stomping on each other in an effort to get away from the detonation zone. However, the woman stopped, frozen like a statue while the crowd rushed past her as if it were a stampede. She began to question the warning.
'Salvation? There has been warnings throughout the year, but only now have the words changed. Minutes away from detonation as well? There's something they aren't telling us about the spores.'
"NINE MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
'I don't think 'salvation' is the word I would use to describe what our friends from the stars gave us.'
Thinking about these so called 'friends', the woman's mind began to drift... to a time when life was much brighter.
Only six short months ago, she was at a family picnic, enjoying a conversation with her husband while they looked over their newborn twin boys. The pair was huddled together in a carrier and sleeping peacefully. Unbeknownst to the couple, that day would be one of the last times their family would be together, because on that day, they arrived.
"EIGHT MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
The visitors were a highly advanced extraterrestrial race called the "Interlopers" and when they appeared there were no negotiations, only declarations.
Foolishly, humanity tried to stand up to their otherworldly invaders. They were not successful. With their onyx colored ships, the Interlopers instantly dismantled any opposition, whether it be on Earth... or in space. Strangely, anyone taking part in an attack was spared, teleported to safety before the destruction of their vehicle or weapon platform.
The attacks continued only for a few days before humanity understood how outclassed they were. With opposition thoroughly crushed, the Interlopers took humanities' colonies on the Moon and Mars for the purposes of "Integration". They then turned their attention to Earth and offered humanity a proposal.
"Accept the Sever or die, this is the only way. Accept our proposal and you will be given the tools necessary to join The Trials. Reject our offer, and your colonies will be all that is left of your kind."
Without delay, humanity sent its representatives to graciously accept the offer. What the representatives brought back with them was information about the so called "tools" that the Interlopers promised.
"SEVEN MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
Sever spores. In a word, they were bombs... of unholy proportions. However, unlike the most powerful of humanity's weapons, the spores did not cause physical damage. Instead, all entities within their detonation zones would have their bodies permeated with the Sever, an extradimensional energy that produced 'anomalous effects'.
Before leaving, the Interlopers had one last surprise. During humanity's futile resistance, they had constructed colossal cities called Galactic Quality Centers. Each one was massive, featuring a main metropolis that dwarfed both Tokyo and Manhattan in size, a wall surrounding that city, and small pockets of wilderness on its boundaries.
To populate these massive centers, the Interlopers teleported humans seemingly at random.
"SIX MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
As a result of this, the woman was separated from her husband and one of their sons. To make matters worse, Galactic Quality Centers (GQCs) were completely isolated from each other. Despite the sophisticated technology within the centers, even finding the location of other installations was deemed impossible. The Interlopers had placed an electromagnetic barrier of some kind over each installation, limiting not only communication but also vehicular travel.
With the GQCs populated, humanity was told to prepare for an Interloper return in 15 years. On that day they would conduct "evaluation".
Trapped in a unique situation, human decency quickly degenerated within GQC-6. In spite of the massive size of the cities, they were unable to accommodate the over 1 billion residents. As a result, thousands of small conflicts erupted to determine who would remain within the city. It didn't take long for the weak to be cast out and the elites to take control of the installation. Worried for her newborns life, the woman removed herself from the conflicts and prematurely left the city. Over time she began to think that it may not have been the best choice...
"FIVE MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
Dragged out of her stupor by the announcement, the woman looked around to see that she was now alone in the streets. In one direction she could hear the rumblings of the crowd as they fled from the spore. In the other, she could see a faint green light growing over the edge of the street. It was time to make her choice.
"FOUR MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
She looked down at her son. To say he was on his last legs would be an understatement. He had contracted some sort of illness from the unsanitary conditions of the slums they called her their home. He was shriveled up like a raisin, coughing up blood, refused to nurse, and had not cried in months. He didn't have long left. Just looking at him made the woman's heart tremble.
"THREE MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
Pressured by the countdown and allured by the image of salvation, the mother made her decision, kicking up dirt as she ran towards the green light. Fueled by doubt about the nature of the spore and motherly delusion for the future of her child, the woman moved faster than she ever had in her entire life.
"TWO MINUTES REMAIN... PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
She had her concerns of course, but something was telling her that this was her last chance to do something for her dying son. Flying down the street, the woman was nearly blinded as the green light grew, radiating brightly from a floating green orb of energy.
"ONE MINUTE REMAINS...PREPARE FOR SALAVATION."
Stopping a mere foot in front of the orb, the woman's mind rapidly spawned all sorts of questions as she paused and thought about the consequences of her choice.
'Is this the right thing to do? What are these "anomalous effects" the Interlopers spoke of? If I don't make it, who will care for my son? Will he even survive? Is it too late for us to try and hide?'
"WARNING... SALVATION IMMINENT"
Spurred on by the warning, all hesitation was erased from her mind as she did the unthinkable, thrusting her son into the glowing green mass of energy.
"Little Pondus... I'm sorry... This is all I can do for you now."
With those words, there was a brilliant flash of green light as night was turned to day by the detonation of hundreds of sever spores across GQC-6.