Day One

It only took one day. The world was in shambles, and showed us just how barely pieced together it all really was. What was once thought as the strongest bonds, left as careless whispers in the wind. For some, the world seemed routine, almost quiet in comparison to the direction things went. The 9-5 bustle of wake up, shower, eat, work, eat, work, eat, sleep and repeat. For most people this was their life, but no longer. One day after, no one had a regular place of work anymore, or routine. All financial institutions, hospitals, news networks and military resources were all either obliterated, ransacked, or operating rogue. Humanity was all on their own, without a clue how to mend it all. As always, humanity reacted to diversity as one would expect, with fierce opposition. It must have been a mistake, or lapse of judgement that someone allowed this to happen. Humanity has never even treated themselves kindly, let alone other species.

The momentous occasion of humans setting foot on another planet would have gone down in the annals of history as humanity's biggest step forward, had it not been overshadowed by utter decimation upon the same day. There was apparently a government rulebook on how to deal with aliens should they ever show, but who would have thought that the perfect mixture of variables would enact a chaotic nuclear holocaust. The people on Mars would likely be considered lucky to not have to go through what those on earth went through.

The first ship appeared within an instant. Humanity never realized the constant eye, the judgment of one's development. The moment Mars was considered the first colony, the ship appeared within seconds. This cascade was considered an immediate retaliation to space colonialism, of which the United States had prepared a nuclear playbook for, apparently. The sad truth is that nuclear technology was a freak of nature, of which nothing could defend against. The United States bombarded the unknown space fairer with enough nuclear arsenal to turn all of Australia to fire and brimstone. Little did they know this was a refugee ship. A ship looking for hope. A ship that just happened to be in the area when Earth was cleared for initial contact. This first ship carried nearly half of these "aliens". This was the first true decimation of life on Earth.

No one knew what the ship was there for, except us. Humanity did not know its deed, only that they thought to defend their home. This act of war, and destruction of a defenseless population, sparks the council to "reset" a civilization. This means that all formal structures within their species are to be destroyed, and then their recreation and development to be guided with a heavier influence. For a civilization to get as far as space colonialism and nuclear technology, but not globalism and proper treatment of all species is considered too dangerous and warmongering. Humanity was in for a tough time, tougher than they ever knew. Maybe a half a billion of humanity survived the precision bombardment.

The rest were left to figure it out. At least that is what they thought. The "aliens" left as quickly as they came. What was left was ruin and despair. Buildings were dilapidated, governments upturned, and minds twisted. Only those outside of cities were safe from the blasts.

When the first ship fell, it was maybe four hours before the second one appeared. The first ship had fallen to the ground in smoldering pieces that broke apart upon impact of the surface. A few people were reckless enough to inspect the rubble, and a few naive enough. Anyone in the vicinity of that radiation reeking rubble would eventually die. We had to keep an eye on everything to ensure no technology was left behind, to ensure a clean restart for humanity. Nothing dangerous was pocketed from the wreckage.

The second ship was big enough that anyone on the half of earth facing the ship would have only been able to see the ship. The ship was a star destroyer. Many would consider it overkill, but to ensure a species does not go down the wrong path, you can't take chances. This also had a personal tinge to it. The justice commander's daughter was on that first ship. Many did not know, but it was a religious refugee ship. The commander had to ensure humanity would not rise back up and take the wrong path. The commander self-assigned herself to oversee humanities development.

The goal of the first twenty four hours after a reset are two fold, ensure no outside interference, and ensure that the species is not fully eradicated. Normally the first part is easy enough, but the first ship was blasted into so many pieces that Dawn struggled with where to start. Dawn was determined to ensure every piece that showed up on her radar was accounted for, this was more than what council wanted from Dawn, but she was always overly cautious. The second piece would be monitored from afar every hour for a while to ensure that humanity could repopulate and not destroy themselves.

"Dawn, do you read?" The surveillance command officer said.

"Yes, I can hear you, this better be important."

"The first hour numbers are in and it is already grim. The human population has gone down 5% due to radiation poisoning from their own bombs, and another 5% due to suicide"

"Who knew they were such fickle creatures." Dawn remarked callously. "If that continues we may have to step in further. The council claims this species is of utmost importance...even though I feel they always say that."

"We will report back at the regular intervals unless things change drastically. As it stands this means just under fifty million have already died. The council stated if the total deaths go over two hundred and fifty million that further intervention would be needed."

"We will see about that" Dawn whispered under her breath.

For John's daughter, Alexa, this was a normal day. She was on her way to school for her last day of 4th grade, but a little late as usual. She loved taking the route through the park to look at the tulips and butterflies. Then it happened.

"What is that?!" Alexa screamed out.

"This must be the end!" The homeless man at the park replied.

Alexa could only stare in horror as she witnessed bomb after bomb go off in the distance. It was blinding and took Alexa minutes regain her sight. Even though she was horrified, for some reason she headed toward the falling ship, like staring into the void.

It took Alexa two hours by scooter to get to the crash site. She stumbled around aimlessly until she saw something that stuck out to her. It did not seem to belong amongst the rest of the metal and insulation, so she pocketed it for safe keeping. After that she seemed satisfied.

"I should probably get back home!" Alexa said, ignoring the fact that she had already been gone for three hours and was supposed to be at school.



"This is not looking good" Paxton said to the rest of the council

"Atheneum, do we have any information about like species and if things happened similarly?" Qatou asked of the recorder and master of the Universal Library.

"Not exactly the same, but Dawn's species reacted with violence when we formally reached out to them."

"We can't have another like Dawn's. As it is, their relationship is based on bribes and giving them a seat at the council." Paxton said, in an almost demanding way.

"Now Paxton, we must find a place amongst the Universe for all species, big and little, peaceful and warlike" Qatou said reverently. "Your role as arbitrator for new species is to ensure proper channels are opened and they are brought to the rest of the Universe as peacefully as possible."

"Dawn, we are coming to the end of the first day, what more are you looking for? The council has already stated that humanity would need further guidance and anything left on the planet would be of little concern, but we need you back to give your statement to Atheneum Analistia after you give a debrief to the council."

"Leave me alone for longer than an hour dammit. I don't care anymore, I need to find it. I swear this radar is picking it up."

The surveillance command officer had never heard Dawn sound so shaken. "Alright, you have two hours before we activate your transporter."

At this point Dawn was sprinting through a park to catch up with the blip on her radar, until she came upon a bed of tulips. She could just barely see it, but it was a little girl laying in the bed of tulips. Dawn broke down crying in front of the flower bed. She slowly crawled to the little girl and opened her hand to see her daughter's only worldly possession after joining that cult. A heart shaped locket Dawn had given her with a picture of the two of them.

"Dawn, what did you see out there?" Qatou asked.

"A species not deserving of free will. Just in that twenty four hours they wrecked havoc upon themselves, when they should have united. Thievery, murder, rape, and heinous crimes occurred just in that short time. I am suggesting maximum security and military state if we allow this species to continue." Dawn spoke revengefully.

"Dawn...we understand this is personal for you, so please refrain from recommendations in this instance. We want as much objectivity as possible. As it stands we never should have let you down there."

"Paxton, don't discredit what I have to say, I have a place in this council no less than you!" Dawn said as she stood up.

"Dawn, please sit. We will review everyone's thoughts on this afterward and decide if in the future the guidelines need to be changed. For now, we follow the guide." Qatou said, always finding just the right words.



Humanity would have great leaders rise up, to lead them to salvation. Half of the leaders focused on technology, and the other half focused on spirituality. This was the path to enlightenment. Humanity would be so focused on these goals, they never would realize all of their rights and freedoms would be taken away. The spirituality was really indoctrination for self-restraint, with the guiding hand of "officers" within each segregation. Those focused on technology had no time for anything else, so it was a form of self-discipline. This was all a part of the plan, and was enacted just twenty four hours after reset.

Humanity was now on day one.