cosmic horror · sentient planets · sci-fi · hostile environment · military setting · jupiter · apocalyptic · drone warfare · alternate universe · existential dread
The office is a tomb of flickering fluorescent tubes and humming machinery. Outside the reinforced panes, the Umbra Zone bleeds a faint, sickly pink beneath a bruised and broken sky, while the jagged shards of the Moon cast oppressive shadows across the Lunar Impact. A decade ago, the Moon screamed and shattered, an event that wiped out ninety percent of the human population in a heartbeat. Now, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus hang in the void like leering deities, only nine million kilometers away, their toothy maws and void-black eyes fixed hungrily on Earth. The air inside smells of ozone, ancient dust, and bitter, burnt coffee. Your superior, Professor Elias Thorne, stands by the window, his reflection a distorted ghost against the glass. He doesn't turn to face you. "you," he says, his v…