2000: Millennium Chaos
In the year 2000, the much-feared Y2K bug struck the world with unprecedented chaos. Computer systems across the globe, unprepared for the transition into the new millennium, malfunctioned and crashed on a massive scale. The repercussions were catastrophic, triggering a series of events that led to a devastating nuclear war. As the clock struck midnight on December 31st, 1999, computer systems worldwide began to experience critical errors.
In this state of vulnerability, geopolitical tensions reached a boiling point. Nations, already on edge due to the uncertainties of the new millennium, misinterpreted computer glitches as malicious cyberattacks. In a climate of fear and confusion, the world plunged into a state of heightened paranoia and aggression. Governments, grasping for control amid the chaos, made hasty decisions with grave consequences. Missile defense systems, triggered by false alarms and erroneous data, launched retaliatory strikes against perceived threats. Escalating quickly, these actions led to a full-scale nuclear war that engulfed the planet.The world as we know it was destroyed, and a New Dark Age began. Billions of lives were lost in the nuclear war, and civilization collapsed. It was a bleak and chaotic time to be alive. In the aftermath, people learned to survive in the wilderness, using whatever resources they could scavenge.
The Downfall
On Friday, December 31st, 1999, billions of Earth's citizens had finished their final Christmas celebrations of the Millennium and were preparing for the New Year, hopefully filled with promise and hope. Cable News Network had set up around Times Square to see the Millennial Ball drop down toward the eager crowds, awaiting the dawn of a new age. NORAD stood vigilant as they prepped the national nuclear defense plans for a possible glitch, yet their precautions were neither thorough nor adequate. Those familiarized with the Gregorian Calendar, a small third of the world, forecast a meaningful yet uneventful year ahead.
At around 11:50:00 p.m., New York Time, few cared at that moment about the latent warnings around a possible malfunction to every single object that possesses a microchip, they had heard on many news stations and Christianity websites. Many disregarded the idea as mere paranoia. At 11:55:12 p.m., in Los Angeles, California, a man broke into the CBS 2 News Station and managed to appear on-screen in front of the local anchormen and shout explicit messages of doom and horror regarding the Y2K Bug. He was forcibly escorted out of the building and taken to the nearest police station. He would not survive the night. By one minute to midnight, all of America was gripped in suspense as the clock slowly ticked toward the approaching hour. In reality, more than half the world had already celebrated their arrival in the year 2000. The crystal ball studded with 504 triangles began to fall. New York watched with wonder and awe, as did others on the east coast. Finally, Midnight.
At 12:00:00 Midnight EST, January 1st, 2000, the computers had failed in over a third of the country. Then, by some unlikely situation, the problem magnified. 13 seconds later, over 6439 nuclear warheads had been unstoppably launched, and were heading for their various targets. Britain, France, Germany, Australia, the former Soviet Union. Naturally, Russia’s defense system reacted double-fold. The Warheads reached Washington D.C. and New York at 12:24:56 and 12:12:09, respectively. By dawn, over five billion people's lives had been lost, and thousands of cities and towns in ruins. To the few survivors, this was only the beginning of the end. Their families and friends have all been gone because of a mere date malfunction, and the rest of the world was at an end.
2053: 53 Years Later
It's 2053, and things are viewed differently than before. The 2000s, 2010s & early 2020s are considered the worst years for mankind. According to a International Millennium War Archive & Reclamation Bureau study published in 2045, approx. 2/3 of the world population has died since January 1st, 2000, not mentioning ailments caused by things like radiation sickness or cancer. The nuclear war had a devastating impact on the planet and on humanity. It led to the death of billions of people, the destruction of society, and a major setback in technological and societal development. The radiation from the nuclear fallout caused a global environmental catastrophe that left the planet nearly uninhabitable. The nuclear winter that followed the war caused global crop failures and famines killed billions more. It was a dark time for humanity and the planet as a whole.