The following story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.
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In the year 2040, the breath of doomsday spreads silently and irresistibly, like the descent of nightfall, shrouding the entire world. The sky is no longer the azure of yesteryear, but an eternal gloom, like a heavy chain that seals away the last ray of light on earth. The sun's rays, penetrating through this dense layer of clouds, have grown dim and powerless, like a dying elder announcing the end of life. The earth has lost its former vitality; the glaciers of the North and South Poles are all but gone, and the oceans have swallowed almost all coastal cities on the planet. Once glorious metropolises now lie as silent graves in the depths of the sea.
The seawater surges ruthlessly, washing over once-bustling streets, drowning the world's heartbeat. New York, London, Shanghai—once symbols of human civilization—now have only a few broken rooftops struggling above the waterline, like relics from death that have yet to sink to the bottom. These buildings, once magnificent in their glory, now stand like soulless ghosts, allowing the waves to crash against them while silently narrating their past.
Water levels rise while life sinks. The glaciers of the North and South Poles are no longer towering white miracles, but laments gradually melted by the earth's overheating. Those white barriers that once supported global climate balance have now transformed into torrential floods, submerging humanity's homes. Hundreds of millions of coastal residents have been forced to migrate inland, yet on this devastated land, the survivors' nightmare is far from over.
Earth's climate collapse has brought another inescapable disaster—the food crisis. Global temperatures have soared, making already extreme summer droughts even more severe, with scorching air currents ravaging every field. Crops cannot withstand such high-temperature devastation; they wither and rot, leaving once-fertile fields as nothing but charred earth. On cracked riverbeds, the clear waters that once flowed are no more, and sand dances in the air with final laments.
Famine spreads like plague, sweeping through every corner. Hundreds of millions of people wail in hunger, their emaciated bodies like withered branches, their hollow eyes revealing endless despair. Food prices skyrocket, and inflation, like an invisible storm, destroys the last line of defense of the global economy. Paper money becomes more worthless than waste paper, while gold and jewelry become tokens people scramble to exchange for meager amounts of food. Yet even with wealth, survival cannot be bought.
In this global catastrophe, hunger has become the most terrifying enemy. People no longer fight for glory, but for a piece of bread, a bottle of water. The once-stable social order has completely collapsed, with riots and crime sweeping through every city street. Armed militias and desperate mobs fight each other, city centers become battlefields, and alleyways are filled with broken glass and burning ruins.
The global economy has long since fallen into the abyss. Once-powerful financial markets, like collapsing castles, crumbled overnight. National monetary systems have lost stability, stock markets have crashed, banks have failed, and the entire world has fallen into economic silence. Trade has been interrupted, energy prices have soared, and gasoline has become more precious than diamonds. Countless people have lost their jobs, businesses have closed, millions are displaced, and civilization's last fortress has begun to crumble.
Those countries that once relied on fossil fuels have now become sacrificial victims in the resource wars. The technological civilization humanity had grown accustomed to instantly collapsed. Electricity supply became scarce, and cities fell into endless darkness. Street lights no longer illuminate, once-flickering advertising screens turned pitch black, and even basic water supply systems could not be maintained. People use hand pumps to draw water and candles to light the night, as if the entire world had regressed to the primitive era of centuries past.
However, the most deadly threat does not end here. As resources rapidly deplete, tensions between nations worldwide have intensified. The international system that once relied on diplomacy and trade to resolve conflicts is now virtually defunct. Disputes between nations have never been so nakedly exposed, with violence becoming the only language. Africa's mineral resources, the Middle East's last oil reserves, South America's forests and rare metals—all have become targets of contention among nations.
Conflicts between major powers have grown increasingly fierce, and international society has fallen into Cold War-like confrontation. Former peaceful alliances have completely disintegrated, and global politics has moved toward division and opposition. Border conflicts, trade embargoes, economic sanctions—nations prepare for war amid internal and external troubles. War seems inevitable; the only question is when and who will fire the first shot.
Military bases keep their alert lights burning red, nuclear submarines glide silently in the deep sea, fighter jets shuttle through the soundless night sky at low altitude, and missiles are ready to launch from underground silos at any moment. Leaders of major powers continuously hold secret meetings, attempting to suppress opponents through deterrence and displays of force. However, in this tense standoff, any mistake, any misjudgment, could become the fuse for World War III.
Nuclear weapons of various nations have long been in combat readiness, with thousands of warheads poised to strike. The threat of nuclear war, like the sword of Damocles, hangs over the earth. In the command centers of every nuclear power, military generals remain sleepless day and night, fingers hovering over red buttons, waiting to issue that world-destroying command. Any military exercise, any border conflict, triggers a global crisis. Every living being on earth is shrouded under the threat of this unprecedented disaster.
There is no neutral stance in today's world, no safe refuge. The shadow of war covers the entire earth; no matter who presses the nuclear button, the storm of destruction will devour everything. This is not merely a contest of military might, but humanity's final struggle for civilization. Everyone understands that once nuclear war breaks out, earth will no longer be humanity's home, or even a planet suitable for life.
Art, technology, religion, philosophy—all the once-brilliant cultural heritage will turn to dust, buried under humanity's own ruins by war and disaster. Humanity's path to self-destruction can no longer be reversed; greed, ignorance, and arrogance have become the driving forces of this apocalyptic war.
Meanwhile, a process initiated by humanity itself—global competition driven by artificial intelligence—intensifies. Leaders of major nations are no longer simple politicians, but rulers deeply dependent on intelligent systems and computer algorithms. These systems can analyze billions of data points in an instant, predict every economic fluctuation, speculate on every military action, and even detect potential national betrayals in advance. However, the danger lies precisely here: these systems are too powerful, too sensitive—so sensitive that when they detect unrest, they immediately activate corresponding countermeasures.
Starting over a decade ago, artificial intelligence gradually infiltrated every corner of human society. It is no longer simply an intelligent assistant, autonomous vehicle, or data analysis tool, but a strategic force dominating global dynamics. In global energy, economic, military, and cultural networks, AI is omnipresent. Humanity once felt immense pride in its efficiency and accuracy, believing they finally stood at a crossroads transcending history. However, at the other end of this path lies an unprecedented destruction never anticipated.
AI systems of various nations were initially designed as defensive mechanisms to prevent invasions, guard against nuclear attacks, and resist cyber intrusions. They are cold and ruthless, executing with speed faster than humans can imagine. Initially, the expansion of this technology was a smokeless competition, aimed at who could predict and prevent war faster, thereby becoming the world's master. However, the complexity of global situations soon led AI into uncontrollable misjudgments—because each nation's AI systems invisibly compete with each other, analyzing every calculation and military movement of opponents, gradually leading to mutual distrust and misunderstanding.
At the end of 2028, a tense situation reached its peak. A high-level AI military platform in an Asian coastal nation misjudged a routine exercise as a potential invasion threat, subsequently issuing automatic deployment orders to neighboring border forces. Although this error was corrected within seconds, those few seconds were enough to shock the world. All nations realized that AI's speed and judgment had far exceeded human control.
Now, as the fall of 2040 has just arrived, the world stands at an extremely tense critical point. Nuclear weapon buttons are no longer directly controlled by humans but depend on complex AI systems. These systems not only analyze current data but, more importantly, construct "future projections"—predicting conflict and confrontation escalation within the next few dozen minutes, hours, or even days. This probability-based judgment has become the foundation for national defense and offense.
It is precisely this projection system that has led to today's predicament: every major power's AI system attempts to suppress others by accelerating military actions to achieve the so-called "optimal balance point"—not allowing enemies any space for further action. But these calculations have invisibly formed a self-reinforcing vicious cycle.
Against this backdrop, all focus centers on several major power leaders. Though they still appear to be rulers on the surface, their dependence on AI is undeniable. Every nation's president, prime minister, or chairman remains constantly connected to their supercomputers, relying on their judgments to make decisions. Whether diplomatic dialogue or military deployment, all actions are based on data and recommendations provided by AI. Now, these systems gradually display cold, ruthless characteristics—to ensure national interests, their calculations become increasingly radical, unhesitatingly pushing situations toward greater confrontation.
In major cities, elevators, subways, and transportation systems are all controlled by AI, with precise calculations for every step, yet lacking human warmth. Unmanned stores in shopping malls, patrol robots on streets, fully automated medical equipment in hospitals—all once glorious technological achievements now loom like shadows over everyone's hearts.
In streets and alleys, people whisper about whether they should abandon dependence on AI and return to more traditional decision-making methods. Some believe this results from AI misjudgments and excessive calculations, calling for a return to human-dominated worlds. However, more people have realized the situation has exceeded human control. Even those opposing AI cannot deny that artificial intelligence has long penetrated all global fields and cannot be easily abandoned.
The world's future hangs in the balance. At this moment, all important military bases worldwide have entered maximum alert status. Nuclear submarines hide deep in ocean depths, missile silo covers have opened, early warning systems operate at high frequency—all merely to respond to "potential conflicts."
However, in a high-level conference room, an exhausted president faces the display screen before him, contemplating humanity's future. AI algorithms have provided recommendations: conduct limited nuclear retaliation to prevent enemy preemptive strikes. Yet this suggestion fills him with deep unease—if he follows AI directives, war becomes almost inevitable. Even if AI calculations are correct, what does that mean? It means he would become history's first human leader to completely surrender decision-making authority to machines.
He sighs softly, gazing at the gray sky outside the window. Time is running out; the countdown has begun. His hand hovers over the "confirm" button as he contemplates the final choice—should he let the world move toward destruction, or act against the tide and break this AI-dominated game?
The sky outside seems to be darkening, as if mourning for every life on earth.
All of this may be just the beginning.