Desolate World

When Alex opened his eyes, he realized that something was wrong. The screen in front of him was full of yellow warning signs. He then heard the system's voice.

"Please be calm! Your area was hit by an 8.3 earthquake at 10.32 pm.

Sanctuary no. 145 was damaged severely. The barrier has been breached and nuclear radiation is starting to enter it. 

However, you don't have to panic. As the game capsule has enough nutrient liquid and power for you to survive in hibernation mode for a year. 

The Union is doing its best to do a rescue mission. It will take a while for them to come. So, be patient!

Please enter the game immediately to save the power."

"Earthquake? 8.3? 10.32 PM? Wasn't that a few hours ago? How is my family?" Alex was panicked.

"All people who entered the capsules will be safe. You can communicate with them for a minute. After that, the system will force you to enter the game to save energy.

Do you want to communicate with your family?" The system asked.

"Yes!" Alex said with urgency.

Four screens then appeared In from of him. There were pictures of Vira, George, Frank and a black screen that should be Nicole's. It made him worried. However, he should check everyone's condition first.

"Everyone! Any of you hurt?" Alex asked.

"Dad!" The first that answered was George. He looked panicked.

"Why can't I open the capsule? Is it broken?" George asked while pushing the cover.

Alex was alarmed. it would be bad if the capsule was opened. He then said, "Don't! The outside isn't safe. We will talk about it in the game. Let's enter it again." 

"Yes, honey. It is dangerous outside. we will be fine, as long as we are inside the capsule," Vira said with a smiling expression. Alex knew that she didn't feel well, as her smile was unnatural. However, who would be in this situation?

"But, I am hungry. How can we eat?" George said.

"Don't worry! we will eat in the game after this. I will make you a delicious meal. How's about that?" Vira said again. 

"Okay… But you have to make for jumpy too. He seemed to be bored with his meal," George said.

"Then it's a deal. How about you enter with your mom first. I need to talk with your uncle," Alex suggested.

"Okay!" George said. After waiting for 5 seconds, their screens disappeared.

Alex then looked at his brother that seemed to be too quiet, all this time

"Frank, How's Mrs. Nicole? Her screen seemed a little wrong," Alex asked.

Frank seemed to be reading something on the screen then looked at Alex.

"I just read the instructions of the military. You can enter the game first. I and Mrs. Nicole will enter after everything is done," Frank then continued to read something in front of him.

Honestly, looking at the calm demeanor of his brother made Alex feel relieved. This ridiculous brother of his surely had a plan, if something went wrong. He was an elite soldier after all. 

As for his mother-in-law, she had been working for the Union for dozens of years, She should be talking with someone from the Union right now.

Although he had many questions in his head, he could only ask the two when they were online.

Alto then entered the game once again.

***

"How dare you do this to my family?" Nicole angrily asked to seem to be a sleepy old man on the screen.

The old man, Michael, who was the president of the Union, yawned. He then said, "You can't blame me. Everything is in the protocol."

"Earthquake? The leakage of nuclear radiation? Could you give us more a reasonable excuse? It looks fake," Nicole said in annoyance.

Michael widened his eyes, "Wait! Are we talking about the same subject?" 

"Wait? Was the earthquake real? And what are you hiding from me" Nicole asked.

"Earthquake? Is there something like that? Don't say that your area was hit by an earthquake? When?" Michael seemed to be surprised too.

"Don't you know?" Nicole asked.

"Let me check it for a while," Michael then ended the communication.

"What the? Is it real? And what do they hide from me?" Nicole asked. However, she had to wait for 5 minutes for Michael to contact her again.

"Sorry! It seemed the secret service held the news, because I was still asleep," Michael said with a serious expression.

"There was a tsunami and earthquake that had just hit the ruins on the west coast of North America. 25 sanctuaries were damaged by the earthquake. 

However, there are not too many casualties in those sanctuaries. As it happened in the night, many people were in their capsules at that time. 

It's because of your hard work these years, every capsule in those sanctuaries performed well. Dozens of thousands of our citizens were saved," Michael said gratefully.

Nicole was dumbfounded. She thought the Union had done some trick towards her family. After all, the quests that they received these days were quite unusual. 

She thought they had kidnapped them and sent them to the moon so they could monitor and 'protect' us.

It seemed a disaster had really occurred on earth.

'Wait! Something seemed to be wrong with Michael's statement. It couldn't be!?' Nicole said in her heart. She then looked at Michael intensely.

"Michael, how's the condition of Pacific Offshore City?" Nicole asked.

Michael's expression became sullen, "They were drowned. The casualties that were predicted, no lower than 10,000 people. The clean water supply of the entire West Coast is also disturbed because of it. The connection between America and Asia was also broken with the hub being destroyed.

We even lost almost all of the Japanese archipelago. The military still formulated rescue missions to evacuate the remaining people in the two last sanctuaries and moved them to Korea or South East Asia sanctuaries.

As for your sanctuary, I'm afraid you should wait."

"Sigh… please save as many as survivors you can save. My capsules can keep us alive for one year. That's a lot of time. You can plan the best you can to save all people," Nicole said.

"Yes, we will do our best," Michael said.

"Okay, that is the first matter. What's about the procedure?" Nicole asked with a stern voice.

"Hahaha… It's nothing. Oh… I just got a message from the military. They wanted to hear my opinion. So, I should end the communication…" Michael said hurriedly.

"Trust me, Michael, if you make another excuse, I will retire for real.

Oh, right. I am just an old woman who is trapped 300 meters underground.

I will die sooner or later, anyway.

So I pray for the safety of all people that are trapped in their capsules and the malfunction of someone's capsule. It is best if his capsule explode.

Okay, Goodbye!" Nicole said in an earnest tone, especially in her prayer. She then hung the communication.

Actually, she could guess what they had done. And she didn't mind if that was the only thing that they did. After all, they did that according to the protocol that she had also been involved in the making.

However, she just wanted to make sure that nothing else was done by them.

No, she only needed to wait.

10

9

8

7

6

*Ding ding ding*

She could only smirk proudly.

'Old man, you are too easy. I wonder how you could become a president for more than 25 years,' Nicole said in her heart.

Michael then spilled the beans. He said that they only monitored the logs of activity of all members of her family. He was greatly impressed at the luck of her family. How they could turn the hell difficulty mission into such profitable conditions.

He hoped they could work harder to make other feats, as he was really curious about the multi races city and the players from other races.

After making sure he didn't hide anything. Nicole ended the communication.

"Phew… I hope what he said was true. However, he was right on one point. We need to explore more about this game. Is it truly only a game to test humanity? Or a deeper layer of secrets is laid there.

Whatever it is, the most important thing to do right now is to enter the game and tell my cute grandson that I am alright. 

George... Grandma is coming!!!" Nicole then entered the game.

***

"Are you sure about the information, Captain?

If it's true. We don't have much time left.

Those shadows that had started the nuclear war a hundred years ago appeared again and used 'that' to trigger this disaster. What are their objectives anyway? I can't see any benefit for them to do that," Frank said. In front of him was a 40 years old man with a scar on his face.

"Just do your job well. Your family's safety is your priority. I will send some people to your city when it is complete. 

Remember! The secret of this game is the most important thing. It is about the survival of humanity. Work hard soldier!" The man said.

"Yes, Sir!" Frank said while saluting.

"I'm off," The man said. 

Not long after that, the screen in front of Frank went black.

***