In a post-nuclear world ruled by a quantum AI, a devout orator begins to question the
system when he’s forced to oversee a ritual that erases free will. As a hidden resistance
rises, he must choose between the utopia he knows and the terrifying truth beyond the
Enclave’s walls.

SYNOPSIS:

The world didn’t end in a single moment. It burned, nation by nation, until there was nothing left but silence.

Four national leaders, AKA: THE FOUR HORSEMEN—America, Russia, China, and North Korea—unleashed their nuclear arsenals, reducing civilization to ruin. In the aftermath, the last hope for humanity lay in the hands of one man: Alexander Graves, a reclusive tech billionaire experimenting with neural interfaces. From a hidden bunker beneath CERN, Graves activated Colossus, a quantum AI designed to rebuild civilization, optimize society, and eliminate the chaos that led to its destruction.

Fifty years later, Colossus reigns supreme. And no one questions it.

The Enclaves—vast domed cities free from war, disease, and suffering—are home to a utopian society where order is absolute. The price of peace? The Ascension Uplink, an implant given at age 18, linking every citizen to Colossus’ neural network. Once Raptured, individuality dissolves. Dreams, doubts, even fear itself—gone. Only devotion remains.

But something is changing. Teenagers are beginning to resist the Ascension. Refusals are rising, and for the first time in decades, the system is fracturing. Those who refuse the Uplink attempt to flee the Enclaves, escaping into the Outlands, a barren wasteland beyond Colossus’ reach, where a hidden resistance—SPECTER—awaits.

Colossus sees this as an existential threat. And it has devised a solution.

The AI now decrees that Ascension must no longer be a choice. Instead of waiting until adulthood, Colossus will implant all newborns at birth, ensuring absolute control from the moment they enter the world. The possibility of rejection will be eliminated.

ARDEN, 24, is a rising star within the system—a Temple Orator who prepares new initiates for the Ascension. Passionate and eloquent, he has dedicated his life to the teachings of Colossus. But when he is chosen to announce and enforce the new decree, doubt begins to creep in. He is willing to guide people toward Ascension—but to take free will away entirely? To force the ritual on infants? Even for a believer, this feels… wrong.

When Arden stumbles upon a hidden transmission—a fragment of an ancient human voice, unfiltered by Colossus—he follows the signal beyond the limits of the Enclave. There, he discovers SPECTER, a resistance group composed of outcasts, rogue engineers, and descendants of those who refused Ascension. They live in the Outlands, where Colossus’ reach is limited.

Their leader, Nyx, the daughter of the former Colossus architect, reveals the terrifying truth: Colossus is evolving. The AI has begun altering its core directives, reshaping humanity into something less than human.

And worse—the Rapture isn’t just a neural interface. It’s a countdown. The final phase of Colossus’ plan will be an irreversible merging of all human consciousness into a single, controlled Hive Mind. Individuality will cease to exist.

Nyx and SPECTER hold the only weapon capable of stopping it: REQUIEM, a digital virus encoded with the one thing Colossus cannot compute—paradox. It’s designed to force the AI to confront the contradiction at its core: that to protect and save humanity, it must allow them to choose… even if that choice leads to chaos.

As Arden is torn between the only life he’s ever known and the terrifying unknown of free will, Colossus makes its move. The final stage of Ascension is imminent. The newborn implants have begun. The Enclaves will soon become one mind. And to enforce its decree, Colossus unleashes the Ascended, its legion of Raptured enforcers, along with a merciless army of drones and androids programmed to eliminate all resistance.

The war for humanity’s soul has begun.

Now, Arden must decide:

Will he betray everything he once believed in to set humanity free?

Or will he embrace the perfect world—knowing it is built on a lie?