Children of Sun - The Gift

Chapter 2 - Zone, 2025 Ad

Do you believe in saying that bad things come in threes? Well, the appearance of Zone was a good example.

Humanity was already strained by the unprecedented and super-fast pace of progress during the twentieth century - provoking all kinds of financial and social dislocations at the beginning of the next century; it was already a disaster waiting to happen.

And it was. The first came a biotech market crush. It happened a few years before Artifact's arrival, leaving economies in chaos worldwide.

Next came Artifact. Its origin and purpose remain a mystery. It was discovered too late, and humanity didn't have any means to prevent a cataclysm anyway. The Apophis size object originated somewhere outside the solar system, moving toward Earth at two hundred kilometers per second. More than fifty miles long, oblong-shaped rock threatens to destroy ninety-five percent of Earth's population.

The extraterrestrial defense grid wasn't ready to counter something at this scale and moved at such a high speed. More than two dozen missiles were launched out of desperation. They all failed, creating more panic and distress.

At the very last moment, just before puncturing Earth's atmosphere, the vast object slowed down, somehow losing all its massive kinetic energy, and landed quietly somewhere in the French Alps.

Everybody sighed in relief - everybody wanted to get back to everyday life. But, irreparable damage was already done. The only idea about the end of the world was deeply damaging to society. It caused all kinds of civil unrest worldwide. The very fabric of civilization, already strained by the recent crisis, was distorted, ripping apart economies and displacing billions of people across the globe.

The alien origin became apparent after the first response team reached the landing site. The Artifact appeared to be an odd shape crystal structure. Having the size of a large building, it was much smaller than expected. Its surface consisted of dark green and blue crystals, forming irregular shapes. The best description was a 3D fractal of some kind. The observers surrounded the Artifact with sensors, waiting for what would happen next.

The object was lying dormant for a few weeks. Surrounded by robots, it resisted any attempt to sample its composition. It felt like another scientific curiosity. And, once again, life started returning back to its normal state.

Then, it became active again, setting an extending force field that looked like a giant growing soap bubble. The wast hollow sphere expanded its iridescent surface, taking more and more area every coming day.

It didn't cause widespread panic this time. The general public was already saturated with fear after the last few months of waiting for the inevitable end of the world - it didn't happen. "We can manage this harmless-looking bubble this time as well" - many hoped.

But, it causes anxiety across a scientific community. A few robotic probes had been sent toward the bubble interior. According to external observations, they stopped sending signals and ceased to operate as soon as they crossed a force field threshold.

This information quickly propagated to "decision-makers" and became a genuine reason for concern when the Zone bubble reached fifty kilometers in diameter and kept growing. Even though the expansion rate slowed down, simple calculation confirmed - the force field would envelop the entire planet in a matter of months.

At this point, the military took charge. They examine a few different options. But, due to lack of information, they chose the crudest and simplest solution - detonating a low-tech but powerful hundred megatons devices just above a force field.

With the world fully connected, this unusual act of altering humankind's history becomes entertainment - a freak technology show.

Thousands of people worldwide were glued to screens, observing the tiny black speck separated from the bomber, barely visible, flying on the edge of the stratosphere. The small parachute slowed the bomb's descent. After a long five minutes, the nuke reached the upper border of the force field. It was set to release incredible energy, melting ground to glass for many kilometers in all directions.

What happened next was utterly unexpected. The high-speed camera registered a second bubble engulfed the bomb in a tiny fraction of a second before detonation. Many bright minds still try to process what was followed. When the bomb had exploded, the resulting EMP pulse appeared to be a hundred times stronger than supposed to be. It wiped out all electrical devices. All around the world, the electrical grid, communications, cars, everything powered by electricity stopped working - the damage was beyond repair.

The second effect was astounding. The bomb inside of the small bubble had detonated. But instead of forty seconds of raging power, the explosion took two days to unravel. As if time slowed down thousands of times inside of a small bubble.

The impossibly bright light illuminated the area without destruction like an artificial sun.

But, not many had witnessed this. The resulting EMP pulse knocked down all communication and burned down electronic devices all around the globe.

That caused a third and last crisis wave that rolled around the world. It affected some places more than others. But, the overall outcome was clear - the old way of life was lost with centuries of dark ages and an unclear future ahead.