Home > Out of the Ashes (Maji #1)

Out of the Ashes (Maji #1)
Author: L.A. Casey

Chapter One

 

 

The Earth was dying.

Overpopulation, natural disasters, illnesses, world wars, a global breakdown of government and law, and as of late, severe climate change. They have all been a deathly combination to my precious world over the past few decades. The latter being the worst of all. Dealing with rapidly melting glaciers and high seas that flooded and drowned entire countries on one side of the planet while frequent droughts and heatwaves consumed the other half was a never-ending nightmare.

After two centuries of constant pollution being pumped into the air, the Earth’s ozone layer had thinned dangerously, and it caused nothing but death and destruction in its wake. Crops growing were few and far in-between, animals and people alike were dying at a rapid pace, oceans and rivers were drying up to form deserts, and it was getting nearly impossible to be outside. Even with thick smog in the air, the UV rays from the scorching sun caused severe burns and blistering to a person’s skin when they managed to break through the black clouds of poison.

Since the year 2005, my beloved planet and race had been fighting a losing battle for survival. Nine point nine billion people out of a ten billion population perished in the past 110 years. Nine point nine billion. Roughly, 100,000 people scattered the Earth’s surface, and that was it. After 200,000 years of procreation, that small and still dwindling number was all we had to show for it. That number now defined us.

For the first time in existence, human beings have been declared an endangered species.

We joined many other species in becoming endangered, and because of that, we were more vulnerable than ever. Five days ago, an SOS accompanied with our species’ status was broadcasted to the cosmos, and the Maji touched down on our exhausted planet four days later. That worried me greatly. Either they were close to our planet when the announcement went out, or they had unrivalled space travel speed to reach us so quickly.

In the year 2002, it was discovered that humans were not the only intelligent lifeforms in the universe—far from it. Including humanity, 1033 known extra-terrestrial species lived in the cosmos. Several of them were hostile, several of them were peaceful and wished to co-exist, and several of them wanted to be left alone.

The greatest discovery in mankind’s history would quickly break the foundation of human life as we knew it. Back in that period, religion to billions of people wasn’t just a concrete faith; it was a way of life. With the news of other life in the universe, it unravelled many people’s beliefs and, for the most part, wreaked havoc and destruction. Holy landmarks were attacked and destroyed, leaders of all religions were slaughtered, and that was only the beginning of the terror humans would unleash on the Earth.

Around the time of the extra-terrestrial discovery and breakdown of religion, an advancement in science and medicine caused a massive breakthrough that created its own point in history. Prosthetics, along with blood and organ donations, quickly became a thing of the past. Scientists discovered ways to grow new organs, replenish all blood types, and attach augmented limbs to living tissue and have every human host accept it as part of their anatomy.

Scientists took up the vacant role of creator and decided to play god.

They wrote DNA codes as if programming a computer instead of a live person. ‘Build-a-Baby’ became an ‘it’ thing for people with enough credits. Once an egg from a woman and sperm from a man were donated, a scientist could design the DNA structure of the newborn based on the specific requirements from the parents. You could decide what your child would look like at every age of their life. You could eliminate all-natural flaws and choose enhanced limbs and organs if you wanted your child to excel at sports or focus on their beauty so they could take the modelling industry by storm.

Soon after that advancement, robotics and technology made its grand mark on the world. Androids were the new cell phones, hover cars were the new bicycles, holograms were the new video calls, and retina scanners were the new thumbprints. The world rapidly changed into a truly presidential digital and robotic era … and no one was prepared for it.

Aliens were real. Robots were real. Augmented humans? Very real.

All of it became the norm, and after a while, something else caught everyone’s attention because nobody could miss it. The Earth had been drained of its resources from humans for far too long, and it began to die. Climate change had always been a threat, but humans were too ignorant and too selfish to treat the world they live in with respect and kindness. When they did decide to act, it was too late. The Earth had had enough of humans and began to fight back.

It was currently the year 2115, and sadly, things had only gotten worse. With the Earth’s current fragile state, an unexpected visit from a new extra-terrestrial species had everyone on edge. Well, more on edge than usual. The Maji’s intentions for humans and our planet were unknown. For me, a twenty-three-year-old woman with no family, friends, or protection other than my two bare original hands, the not knowing was terrifying.

The Maji were the only reason I was so close to Command Central, and why I was out past curfew. I wasn’t exactly a rule breaker since law and order broke down forty-odd years ago, but a person was still likely to be shot on sight if they were caught sneaking around after dark, especially at my region’s Command Central.

Over the past month, it had become the new World Base of Operations since the whole continent of Asia, and part of Africa, was wiped out in a terrifying set of quakes that, quite literally, shook the Earth. Once that incredible mass of land broke apart and became nothing but new canyons on Earth’s surface, those who were able scrambled together and reformed their military force.

The World Base of Operations had been set up six times since I was born, and like the other times, it was destined to fail, too. Though it was unreliable, it was desperately needed. Without the WBO, the Earth’s trading posts would be no more, and as of right now, the trading posts were the only way the people of Earth were being fed, hydrated, and receiving medical care. Without the trading posts, we would all be dead in a few short weeks.

Or less if the Maji decide to gift us death sooner.

I shook my head at my defeated thoughts. My father would turn in his grave if he heard the cowardly words that ran through my mind. He raised me to be strong, to be a survivor, and never to quit when things got hard or give up when hope dwindled. He taught me that my life was a gift, and no one in the universe could take it from me without a fight. It was mine and mine alone.

‘Keep on keepin’ on, baby,’ he would say with that teasing crooked smile of his and a thriving glint in his ocean blue eyes.

My eyes, identical to my father’s, glazed with tears at the thought of him, and I quickly wiped them away before they had a chance to fall. I missed my father dearly. I missed my entire family. My remaining family members had succumbed to the Great Illness seven years ago that wiped out ninety percent of the Earth’s remaining population. I had been sixteen when my father and cousin died, and every day since had been a tremendous struggle.

I was born in an era when playing tag and going to school were things of the past. I wasn’t born in a hospital or even somewhere that could be called home. I was born on the roadside somewhere in Europe while my parents, uncle, and four cousins were making the tough journey to relocate somewhere that would provide us with a better chance at life. But that dream was not to be. My mother died during childbirth, and I almost didn’t make it either.

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