2026 AD : NEW YEAR'S DAY
The skies over countless cities around the world bloomed with fireworks.
Rivers of light burst across the heavens, painting the night in gold, crimson, and electric blue. Beneath those skies, the ground overflowed with people—dancing, drinking, laughing, and cheering—each heart clinging to the same fragile hope:
That this new year would be prosperous.
That it would be productive.
That it would finally be better.
But was it really going to happen?
Washington, D.C., United States
New York — Headquarters of NASA
Inside the headquarters of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), there was no music, no laughter, and no celebration. The corridors buzzed with tension as scientists, engineers, and analysts gathered around glowing screens, deep in discussion about the missions scheduled for the coming year.
Mars probes. Orbital defenses. Deep-space surveillance.
Humanity's eyes were fixed firmly on the stars.
Suddenly—
WEEEUU—WEEEUU—WEEEUU!
An alarm ripped through the room, cutting their conversation short.
This was no ordinary alert.
"What is this?" an old man muttered, a cigar clenched between his fingers as smoke curled into the air. His brows furrowed in disbelief. "Am I dreaming? This… this is a Global Threat Alarm."
The man was Robert Harrington, the Chief of NASA—widely known as the Genius of the Century.
Decades earlier, Robert had revolutionized modern science with his development of applied Quantum Physics, briefly opening access to the Quantum Realm—for less than a millisecond. No human had survived entry; only laboratory rats had ever crossed that boundary. Still, the discovery shook the foundations of physics and reshaped humanity's understanding of reality.
NASA, under his leadership, had launched countless missions to protect Earth from threats beyond the atmosphere. Asteroid deflection systems, planetary defense satellites, deep-space monitoring arrays—every precaution imaginable.
The probability of a large-scale impact was negligible.
And yet…
Orbiting Earth at this very moment were dozens of classified satellites, waiting for an emergency that might never come.
But a Global Threat?
Never—not once in NASA's entire history—had such an alarm been triggered.
"If this were real," Robert murmured, his voice heavy with doubt, "we should have known years in advance."
He turned slowly toward the main display, convinced it was nothing more than a catastrophic technical error.
…Or so he hoped.
Antarctic Circle
Vostok Station
Vostok Station—a Russian research base buried deep within the Antarctic interior, near the South Geomagnetic Pole.
Here, temperatures plunged to an unimaginable −89°C, the coldest ever recorded on Earth.
Antarctica—
A continent that belonged to no one.
The coldest, driest, and most unforgiving place on the planet.
A world of endless ice and snow, where violent blizzards erased the horizon and silence pressed heavier than sound. Ancient glaciers stretched across the land, carrying histories older than civilization itself—knowledge locked beneath miles of ice.
Under shimmering auroras, the continent held nearly 70% of the world's fresh water, untouched, eternal, and hostile in its beauty.
At the Base
A group of figures trudged forward, their boots crunching against the frozen surface as they approached Vostok Station. Their journey had begun from a cruise ship that had landed near the distant shore, its engines now silent against the white void.
"Dimitri," a young man complained through chattering teeth, "is it really necessary to go to the base right now? Can't we enjoy the New Year like everyone else?"
His name was Nikolia, and his voice carried more exhaustion than rebellion.
"Shhh," growled a bulky man beside him. "Lower your voice, Nik. If the Chief hears you, he'll kick your butt straight back to Russia."
This was Dimitri, broad-shouldered and stone-faced, his breath fogging the air.
"I can hear you loudmouths perfectly," a sharp voice cut in. "So shut up!"
The speaker was Viktor, the Expedition Chief. His glare alone was enough to freeze blood.
"S-Sorry, Chief," Nikolia and Dimitri muttered in unison, their heads lowered.
Before anyone could speak again, a young technician suddenly pointed upward.
"Sir… is that a shooting sta—"
He never finished the sentence.
The bright dot in the sky was far too large. And it was growing.
Bigger.
Closer.
The air trembled.
Time itself seemed to hesitate.
And then—
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The frozen world erupted.
Fire tore through the ice. Shockwaves shattered glaciers. Snow vaporized into steam as the ground convulsed like a living thing.
The pristine white expanse of Antarctica—
—had become a battlefield of fire and ice.
And far away, under fireworks and celebration, humanity remained unaware that the new year had begun with the sound of its future breaking apart.
Will they survive this calamity ??
is this the end of humanity ??
Or.....
TO BE CONTINUED...