Z Day

 

It's the year 2137. The world has made itself a Utopia. Through near godlike medical science, singularity based communication and simulation technology, and complete and synchronized free energy the Human race managed to transcend the limits of their once noble planet. Reaching through their Solar System they colonized, conquered, and created laying the framework for the possibilities of a once great empire.

However no state, especially that of one of perfection, stays in as such for long. The tides of change and balance will bring their destruction. In a state of scientific greed and glutton humanity decided to peek into unknown and dangerous territories. The mere solar system was not enough for the potential of the human species, or so they would say.

 

Even though the scientists of the planet were working on faster than light speed travel, a realistic design would not be possible for at least another decade. Emperor Venus the Grand Commander of the Human Race was not known for his patience. The growing knowledge and power of the human race coupled with what remained of his human emotions led to an artificial ego solidified in a quest for knowledge at the cost of anything.

 

A group of scientists, working on fringe warp drive technology, had the formulations of some experimental new technology utilizing unstable rifts in quantum space. They were hoping to be able to capture jumps in space-time by utilizing spontaneously opening and closing riffs in an attempt to be able to circumnavigate the generally accepted law that humans couldn't break the speed of light, at least through standard propulsion systems. 

 

The technology wasn't anywhere near being ready for trials, let alone human experimentation, however Venus was desperate to move Humanity into the next stage of what he believed was to be their Galactic Conquest. However despite his ambition, he was also a cautious man. Realizing he couldn't threaten opening up a wormhole on the planet he decided to contract this scientists to develop a prototype to be used in a 5 man space pod that could move through jumping through micro wormholes instead of standard propulsion.

 

Giving the scientists the promise of unlimited resources and luxury both during and after their working term, the scientists managed to make their prototype technology workable to at least the size of the pod. It was a great achievement that took several years, and the destruction of several labs and the loss of several lab teams. But eventually with enough blood, sweat, and tears Venus got what he desired.

 

However, despite having success in making working jumping technology, there were was one major issue that was eating away at the scientists. Even though they could punch in coordinates to the locations, and when they did so the machine would seem to transport the pod to a location that did not instantly destroy the pod, they truly had not way of validating exactly where it is that they were transporting themselves. They could see planets, and a star, but there was no way of knowing whether this was the star they intended it to go to.

 

This uncertainty led several the scientists to actively seek to have the program dismantled, or at the very least halted until it could be perfected. But Venus would hear none of this, and executed the scientists that opposed, and imprisoned the scientists (still keeping them under work however) that remained as to make sure that unwanted knowledge about the program could not be leaked out. No beaurocracy could stop the vision of Venus, not before he had a chance to at least see some fruits from his lofty efforts. 

 

Heed their warnings he should of, for upon the return of the first mission there was disaster not only for Venus, but for the whole of the human species. Seemingly almost immediately after launch and warp jump the ship disappeared, and only but a few minutes later appeared back, this time in a state of disaster. Systems were malfunctioning, vitals were low in the ship, and there was only one surviving member.

 

The craft immediately began to head straight back to earth burning up in the atmosphere luckily being cooled by a collision into the ocean. A retrieval squad was sent to return what was believed to be the only survivor. However, out of the ship stumbled four mutated creatures, shambling mounds of organic matter and synthetic biotechnology. These creatures displayed remarkable strength and mutation and quickly overtook the squad of people sent to recover what was presumed to be solitary survivor.

 

What was previously bone was replaced by thick tubes composed of billions of self-replicating nano-machines that could re-shape and re-assemble at will in a matter of seconds.  The same nano-machines then overtook key organs replacing them with a variety of different components, with sometimes unique abilities being granted to the seemingly alpha versions of the creatures. 

 

These different new abilities came in a wide variety: from commanding and controlling their brethren, giving the squads with alphas an almost intelligence to the way they ;  to having unique control over their environment (such as being able to effect magnetic waves disabling key weapons systems, sending out swarms of nano-machines to disrupt enemies or create disruptions in key environmental locations giving the creature a distinct advantage in the battlefield, or use sonar to echo-locate enemies in impossibly dark situations, amongst countless other advantages to diverse to discuss in this passage).

 

The final, and most terrifying feature of the creatures, was their predatory ability to manipulate the minds of those who they were stalking. Using what seemed only to be psionic powers, these creatures could cause terrifying hallucinations in their victims, making their already mutating changing body apear to be distorted with traits routed in the victims fears. For instance of the victim was scared of spiders, the creature would apear with many eyes all over it's body, it's body becoming furry, and the legs replaced with multiple legs (all hallucinations of course). In the case of the person being fearful of zombies, they would apear rotted and decaying, possibly in the form of a loved one. Another possible example would be them apearing angelic or demonic, in the case of those who have strong religious association. The possibilities of terrifying halluciations being as endless as the array of human phobias and fears...

 

Upon the disappearance of the first survival craft a second retrieval craft was sent, this time with a military convoy as backup. But to their surprise they found what looked like to be the bloody remains of vicious combat. Even more unbelievably, one of the astronauts was still in their resting pod unconsciousness, but alive. There was no sign of the first retrieval ship or the combatants that left the mess, and even more unexplainable was how the one astronaut managed to survived the lethal encounter, literally untouched.

 

Quickly rushed away to a Hospital for recovery and debriefing, the Emperor was hoping to find out what went wrong with what was supposed to be his revolutionary mission. But before the survivor could be fully reawaken and medically ready for debriefing, the city was overrun by the same monstrosities that had killed his companions, and attacked the first round of recovery ships.

 

When the survivor finally awoke from his stasis, the city was already overrun and torn apart, the Emperor slain, with the military in a desperate battle with the creatures. The resistance had had found EMP blasts to be particular useful, but only temporarily, in scrambling the ability for the nano-creatures to reform. Sometimes, with enough explosives, timed with key EMP blasts, the creatures could be driven far enough back that certain key transport ships were allowed to escape the city with crucial scientists, military, and political leaders, to underground and underwater bases that were stored all across the planet in the case of a planetary disaster. However, most of the worlds population would end up being decimated in the initial attack.

 

Unsure of why he must walk this world, unaffected by these cruel monsters that he had seemingly brought, with no memories of his past, this cursed Prophet must painfully watch the destruction of the world he had once loved, with no clear memories of how he himself actually had caused the tragedy.