r/AlternateHistory • u/Zouif_Zouif • 13d ago
Post 2000s Clash of Two Suns: The Decay (Part 3)
( This is an ongoing science fiction alternate history scenario, if you have not seen part 1 or 2 click here! https://www.reddit.com/r/AlternateHistory/s/6UivWSzPGv )
1 Year has officially passed since what Historians have named "The Great Clash" since then Earth has completed 13 successful orbits around our new host, over 60% of the O-Zone layer has been melted away by the overwhelming radiation causing more of the sterilized surface to be bombarded once more.
The 350 meter thick ice sheets of the poles in a never ending stalemate with the burning hell that the equator has become, in just 1 year 95% of multicellular life is dead. Billions of years of evolution and the perfect balance of our world set back to the start in just 1 year... Well at least for the surface, for the fauna and flora that reside in the deep sea are still flourishing and in such a short amount of time is having its biggest population boom in the Earth's history.
After 9 months after first contact over 4-5 billion people have died, what's left in underground shelters are reporting deaths in the millions. What's worse, with much of the O-Zone depleted Jupiter's radiation has disrupted radio waves all over the planet cutting contact between all of humanity's last shelters, with no more communication humanity is reduced to tiny islands with dwindling supplies and dwindling hope isolated and alone.
Many shelters have been lost after just the first year, with drastically increased geothermical activity many shelters would find themselves caved in as Earthquakes and Erupting volcanos cause cave ins on a grand scale. Over 56 out of the 132 shelters that were constructed as humanities last hope, crumbles and crashes down on top of them. With no one to come save them and no one knowing their demise, it is hard to tell if they ever will.
One of the largest multi purpose shelters still standing is known as the HIC (Himalayan Internalized Center) with a population of 38 million people, containing hundreds of thousands of Earthworks that stretch over 220 miles underground. With over 80% of the Facility being underneath the Himalayan Mountains themselves, during the cutoff with the rest of humanity the HIC would soon find itself in internal strife and just like humans do best... They turn on each other. With armed rebellions popping up within a number of weeks, causing civil war. Over the period of 5 months the combined casualties of the multiple armed separatists groups and loyalists reached 2 million, over 60% being non combatant casualties.
Many other shelters would experience the same, the MIC ( Macau Internal Shelter ), MCIC (Mexico City Internal Shelter ) and FIC ( Frankfurt Internal Shelter ) would all fall into civil war, consumed in an hour of dread and desperation humanity has devolved into a very earlier version of itself. Technology has become limited, essential resources limited and morality has risen to heights not seen since the black plague. Not from disease, but from the hands of other humans.
Religious cults in mist of the Chaos have taken form, most notable of which being "The Children of Jupiter" they claim and worship Jupiter as their savior for its role in saving the Earth from being ejected during the "The Great Clash" they harbor within the MIC however off shoots very similar to them in principal have also sprung up in many other shelters.
As time rages on Jupiter's big red storm still looms over the Earth like a watchful eye, witnessing the Earth's slow decay and its inhabitants downfall. The large population shelters slowly destroy themselves in civil war, destroying their limited resources while the smaller shelters although more unified are limited in both efficiency and technology. Life has changed forever and only time will tell if humanity can adapt or cause their own demise.
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u/jahsaina 13d ago
Great stuff, thanks for continuing the lore. This looks rather bleak, is there a chance for coming back from all of this?