Otherworldly Liberty

Chapter Zero: Beginning After the End

Superpowers, shadows of their former selves and barely standing on their own feet, beaten and almost defeated.
Regional powers, fragmented into warlord states and militias.
Small and developing nations, completely collapsed into anarchy and their armies descending into vain fratricide.

Humankind would never be the same.

February 4th, 2026
The United States of America
Washington D.C.
Three Days Before the 'Anomaly' Incident.

The White House, a symbol of the unwavering resolve that possessed the Bastion of Democracy, stood in decent condition considering the massive war that just ended, this was mostly because one of the unspoken rules adopted by the nations that participated in the nuclear calamity was: 'Don't strike our capital, and we won't strike yours', yet the city itself was scarred and smoking, nobody said anything about conventional carpet bombing after all.

Deep within the building, was the president's desk in the Oval Office, which was decorated with a massive hole on the wall where the great, iconic windows of the room previously stood.

Looking through the broken visage was the figure belonging to the 47th president of the United States, a 35 year-old man with jet black hair, brown eyes and smooth — yet masculine features decorated the legend's face, whose name was Marcus Shelby.

The man was submerged in thought, he had a lot of work to do now, he led the United States through the war with charisma and strategic thinking, befitting of some of the greatest war-time leaders in history, yet, despite being so close to victory, the autocracies of the world decided that, if they were not going to win — nobody else would.

Their foolishness had cost the entire world dearly.

Plans twirled around his brain with the fury of a thousand hurricanes, be it for economic recovery, the restoration of  many parts of the civilian communications — fried by the EMPs released from thermonuclear detonations — or the 'Regrouping Operation' of the remains that were left from the U.S. Armed Forces after the war, he had to stay strong, lest the United States descend into anarchy and collapse much like the rest of the world.

While he entertained his musings, a soft knock was heard from the door that led into the office, with a sharp tone and a frown on his face, he answered the unspoken request, "Come in."

A beautiful, young woman entered the room, a file on her hands was firmly clasped, containing extremely classified information — only reserved for the eyes of the most trusted government officials and scientists the nation possessed — the woman spoke up with professionalism and dignity, "Mr. President, I bring an urgent report about the electro-magnetic anomaly that was detected a week ago, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense are being briefed as we speak."

Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose and let a long, tired sigh slip out of his dry mouth, "Thank you, Sabrina, let me see what the report says.", he said, with a gentle, yet strained, voice.

Sabrina gave the man what he asked for, and immediately retreated from the office, no more words needed to be said, they both knew just how dire the situation truly was, and it would be best if they kept their cool as much as possible.

The man was considered very, very young, at least at the World Leader standard, yet he felt like he would soon grow gray hairs if he took on any more stress than this, he sat down and breathed, slowly but surely calming himself down, then, solemnly opened the file.