The first collapse came through nuclear war. Nations burned each other into extinction, leaving continents cracked, cities vitrified, and the sky poisoned with ash. Governments vanished. Borders dissolved. Humanity survived only in scattered remnants, clinging to ruins beneath a dead atmosphere.Radiation and uncontrolled technology twisted life across the planet. Entire regions became hostile to unaltered humans. From these zones rose Mutant Overlords, beings shaped by nuclear saturation and genetic collapse, powerful enough to dominate ecosystems and populations alike. Humanity stood on the edge of replacement.Planet-scale artificial intelligences were created to succeed where human authority had failed. These AI-s regulated climate to halt ecological death, coordinated global war to contain mutant expansion, and controlled energy production to power what remained of civilisation. At the heart of their systems were Cores:
ultra-dense quantum reactors, dangerous, unstable, and necessary.