When Day Breaks

When Day Breaks

The event minutes after its beginning. Photographer unknown.
Date	13 March 2026
Duration	Indefinite (ongoing)
Location	Worldwide
Also known as	Daybreak
Cause	Unknown, but known to be something done to the sun.
Deaths	6.8 billion (consensus), estimates range from 7 billion to 7.5 billion.
Missing	6.8 billion (consensus), estimates range from 7 billion to 7.5 billion.

When Day Breaks or the Daybreak is an event that is commonly referred to a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection (CME) that began around 13 March 2026. Astronomical activity in and around the sun at the time of the occurrence was largely calm and no disturbances were reported in the time of March 1 to March 13th. Although, it is also commonly attributed with the disappearances of the sunspots that were common on the surface of the sun.

Several warnings released by government entities have warned against the introduction of biological matter or any part of the skin to light emitted by the sun and the moon. Entities like the United States government say that "survivors of the event must fully cover their bodies in protective clothing; preferably several layers. Travel by foot should be limited as much as possible. Cities, and man-made structures in general, provide the greatest protection. Formerly-wooded areas should be circumvented. Travel by air is preferable above all other methods."

Approximately 6.8 billion deaths have been recorded due to the event commonly called "Daybreak", an esoteric part of this event is that it does not seem to result from exposure to ultraviolet rays, but rather light in the visual spectrum (~390–700 nanometers). Upon contact with visible light produced by the sun, living organisms liquefy at the point of contact, with the effect spreading until the entire organism is liquefied. Flora typically remain physically inert, yet are still capable of photosynthesis, and still produce oxygen. Fauna remain sentient, and display behavior that parallels their unaffected counterparts when not included into a collective. Humans retain a part of sapience and memory.

Overview

Taken near Las Vegas, Nevada. March 16, 2026.

In days leading up to the event on March 13, several small–though very important now–astronomical events took place that seemed to be ordinary at the time. Suddenly on March 10, all of the sun spots on the sun disappeared either from view or just overall, but then the light started to turn a saffron orange, which confused experts at NASA and the ISS up until the events occurrence. By early morning March 13, the first regions to be effected by this event were the ones in contact with moonlight, taking approximately 7 minutes and 11 seconds versus the 8 minutes that it took for the sunlight to change in the regions covered in sunlight.

6,837,833,124 people (approximately) died in the first 24 hours of the event, and hundreds of millions more are estimated to be killed as well. Only the well prepared or conveniently positioned people survived, and approximately 1.3 billion people still remain alive as of late 2026. Power and water have been shut off in most urban areas, with the remaining water and power being concentrated along survivors who have access to fresh water and generators. The sea level has dropped around 1-2 inches due to the heat that the sun now produces. However, the color of light it produces is along stars that are usually less heated than the sun, baffling scientists and researchers who seek to explain why this event occurred.

Due to the danger that the light poses, settlements and small communities have formed underground or in heavily barricaded buildings. People across the world have taken up barricading their doors and windows with wood planks and miscellaneous furniture. The biological entities formed by the light of the sun pose extreme danger to those in range, and attempt to mock or replicate the voices of their former selves to draw survivors into the light of the sun, making more of the living organisms. As a result of the organisms, scavenging for supplies has become incredibly difficult due to the danger the outside poses, as a result of this, farming has become incredibly popular among survivors of the event as they had freed up space in their survivor homes to farm.

Possible causes

• Coronal Mass Ejection; a Coronal Mass Ejection is a significant ejection of magnetic field and accompanying plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, It is popularly rumored that the cause of the event is Coronal Mass Ejection. It's also rumored to be caused by a Solar Storm.
• Eschatological apocalypse;

Timeline of events

• March 1; The Greenhouse effect intensifies on this date, and the Saharan desert becomes the hottest place again as it reaches 187 °F. 34 people are reported dead due to the heat.
• March 4; Schools are cancelled in the North-Eastern United States due to a major storm, causing the death of 18 people.
• March 5; Scientists become baffled as to why this is occurring, and seek answers from other groups.
• March 10; All of the currently known sunspots disappear, and the light becomes very slightly more saffron every 8 minute interval.
• March 13; The event begins on this date, and billions immediately die. The light is now incredibly saffron orange and emergency alerts signal across the world.

Global reactions (from moment of effect)

The countries are listed from which countries were effected first.

Asia

• China; The Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the government of China was "currently under lockdown and all personnel were not allowed to exit or enter the buildings controlled by the government", and had imposed "a curfew that forced everyone inside from 12:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M." as they would be attempting to send small amounts of supplies to the cities in the east, while completely abandoning the west and leaving them to themselves, refugee centers in Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan, Qingdao, Shanghai, Wuhan, Hong Kong, and Changchun exist and are actively assisting people in need. China has taken a scorched earth policy to their past territories, using nuclear weapons to neutralize heavily populated areas that have been considered lost or compromised, and leaving cities is strictly prohibited. Contact between cities is also banned, and only Government-related contact between cities are allowed.
• Mongolia;
• Russia; President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to the billions that died in the days after the activation of the event and expressed concern over the catastrophic drop of sea level, but never actually sent out an emergency message and had actually relied on the localities of Russia to actually transmit the information that civilians needed to survive in this event. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attempted to calm the nerves of the remaining Russian civilians, but failed as the government collapsed under the stress of the entire event. Vladimir Putin was killed in a bombing by in which a person carrying an explosive was purposefully exposed to the light and broke into "Putin's Palace", detonating the explosive and exposing Vladimir Putin and his family to the light. All transmissions from the Russian government was lost in June 2026.
  • Chechnya; The republic's head Ramzan Kadyrov issued a statement saying that they had split formally from the Russian government, and transmission with them was lost 2 months after this statement.
• Vietnam;
• Laos;
• Cambodia;
• Philippines;
• Taiwan;
• Thailand;
• East Timor;
• Indonesia;
• Japan;
• Brunei;
• Singapore;
• Malaysia;
• North Korea;
• South Korea;
• Myanmar;
• Nepal;
• Bhutan;
• India; Most of their population died, almost 1.3 billion people. President Droupadi Murmu would instate a curfew for the remaining Indian populations that don't live in the cities, and went silent in December 2026. Transmissions from India and the settlement in the north went silent in January 2027.
• Bangladesh;
• Kazakhstan;
• Uzbekistan;
• Kyrgyzstan;
• Tajikistan;
• Turkmenistan;
• Afghanistan;
• Pakistan;
• Iran;
• Armenia;
• Georgia;
• Azerbaijan;
• Iraq;
• Syria;
• Jordan;
• Lebanon;
• Palestine;
• Israel;
• Saudi Arabia;
• Bahrain;
• Qatar;
• United Arab Emirates;
• Oman;
• Yemen;
• Sri Lanka;

Oceania

• Palau;
• Australia;
• Papua New Guinea;
• Solomon Islands;
• New Caledonia;
• New Zealand;
• Vanuatu;
• Marshall Islands;
• Micronesia;
• Fiji;
• Tonga;
• Samoa;
• Cook Islands;
• Kiribati;

North America

• United States; President Donald J. Trump issued a statement over television stations across the United States, saying "Civilians of the United States must stay safe in this event by avoiding all sunlight", but also forgot to mention the danger that moonlight also poses. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered the shutdown of multiple power generating stations across the United States to lower the chance of major blackouts in government facilities that they wished to protect. The United States government also issued a statement discussing the state of the government and the nation as a whole, saying "It has largely collapsed and It's only us in Washington, individual states and counties are completely ungovernable as of right now. We also have no wishes to actually protect those areas, as it is useless." The response to this was largely negative, with most describing how they could've done "something" to help people who remained in unprotected areas (referring to the use of nuclear weapons to neutralize danger zones). American elections are still active.
  • New York; Governor Kathy Hochul says in a press conference with the United States government in the weeks post event that they "have lost contact with all sectors of New York City," and that there were massive groups of teenagers that held "turfs" across the city, but have established contact with a group of survivors on Staten Island, appointing them the interim Borough council until an established government in Staten Island can be made. Efforts have been made to establish men on the ground in several boroughs, but contact between the group and the state government ceased after a couple hours. Hochul says that specific areas are hotspots for the creatures, specifically Greenwood Heights, Times Square, and Astoria.
• Canada; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that "Canadians as a whole have the ability to persevere through this event." The Canadian government has done large operations in the east to support the Canadian people who have continued on, airlifting people who need immediate help to government facilities. Canadian people in the east left outside of cities were described as lost hopes and Justin Trudeau described that "Western Canada is a planned operation that we intend to go through with at some point, but the most important is the east. We understand the concerns of civilians who live in the west, but our country has been virtually split in two. We have no survivors reported in the center, only in the west and east." At some point during June 2026, Trudeau later confirmed that "most of the east has been assisted" and "strategies and search teams and navigators have been attempting to go westward." Canadian elections were cancelled early on during the crisis.
• Mexico; Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed dead by the event, and the cabinet was later taken over by the Secretariat for Home Affairs days succeeding the event. The Mexican government shared the same alert played by the Americans, though translated into Spanish. Luis Sandoval the Secretary of National Defense, said "The scum of the Earth that has effected our people must go, use anything you can to protect yourself against this threat." Cartels in Mexico have also responded by issuing orders of remaining personnel to continue the production of illegal drugs, but have also instituted a policy of protecting civilians. Cities that have seen major cartel activity pre-event have largely been given to the winds and the Cartels. The Mexican government largely remains the south, while Mexican cartels have taken territories to the north. Top ground activity from the cartel have largely diminished since pre-event, as sunlight has made cartel operations notoriously hard. Mexican elections have been canceled as of late May 2026.
• Guatemala; The capital of Guatemala was destroyed in a neutralization attempt by the Americans. No message was transmitted from Guatemala.
• Belize; Governor-General of Belize Froyla Tzalam released a statement over Belizean television that gave a description of all the dangers that the sun posed quickly after the activation of the event, and has been attributed to the protection of all civilians of Belize except for a few. Froyla Tazalam has called for assistance from the remaining United Nations members, to largely no response. During a speech in May 2026, she said "In my attempt to get other nations to assist us, none answered. I believe in this way that I saved each and everyone of you quickly, while the others failed.
• El Salvador; President Nayib Bukele, on his way to a meeting, was caught up in the incident in a motorcade. Unlike Mexican cartels, cartel activity in El Salvador actually ramped up as millions in El Salvador succumb to the event as no emergency alert is transmitted through television and internet. The Government of El Salvador is generally accepted to have collapsed the days after the events beginning. Nayib Bukele's location is currently unknown and is assumed dead.
• Honduras; Transmissions from Honduras immediately ended as the event occurred, and the country is assumed collapsed.
• Nicaragua; President Daniel Ortega was conducting a speech, and was outside for the event. The Government of Nicaragua is confirmed to have survived and moved underground.
• Costa Rica; The condition of Costa Rica is unknown, and the last transmission from Costa Rica was on March 14, 2026.
• Panama; President Martin Torrijos released a statement in the afternoon of March 13, stating an evacuation plan to a section of Panama beyond the Panama Canal. Thousands fled to the site, but then the canal would be destroyed as an oil tanker that was situation inside the canal was destroyed as it had caught fire while attempting to transport survivors to the other side.
• Cuba; President Miguel Díaz-Canel discloses the location of a shelter days after the event began, and continually sends transmissions of the status of their condition, having lost 30 members of his cabinet in the months after the incident. He admitted that he left his civilians to die in an act of selfishness, but admits it's too late to actually act.
• The Bahamas;
• Jamaica;
• Haiti;
• Dominican Republic;
• Aguilla;
• St Kitts & Nevis;
• Antigua and Barbuda;
• Montserrat;
• Dominica;
• Guadeloupe;
• Martinique;
• St Lucia;
• St Vincent and the Grenadines;
• Barbados;
• Grenada;
• Trinidad and Tobago;
• Greenland;

South America

• Peru;
• Ecuador;
• Colombia;
• Venezuela;
• Brazil;
• Chile;
• Bolivia;
• Argentina;
• Paraguay;
• Guyana;
• Uruguay;
• Suriname;
• French Guiana;

Europe

• Iceland; At the time, Iceland was experiencing midnight, and so once contact with other nations were severed, Iceland had no idea about the event until morning.
• Portugal;
• Spain;
• Ireland;
• United Kingdom; Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "profoundly worried" and "attempting to assist in anyway" when describing the event in an emergency alert hours after the activation of the event. An illumination of the United Kingdom flag was projected onto most surfaces that could have it projected onto it, but it was incredibly difficult to see because of the shift in the color of the sun's light. A statement issued by Buckingham Palace said that King Charles III was caught in the event on route to Scotland in the hours leading up to the event. On 16 March, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly attempted a evacuation protocol in London that led to the deaths of hundreds of survivors, and was killed in the event as well. On 18 March, Foreign Secretary David Cameron backed an operation that was similar to the Canadians air-based protocol, and faced moderate success.
• France; President Emmanuel Macron suggested an evacuation route outside of populated cities and into country-sides that are out of the way of sunlight. French embassies across the world became miniature military installations, and helped shelter those in need in the event. On March 15, Macron said a "massive intervention that would put the lives of civilians and military personnel would be an error, and we do not wish to make such errors in an event like this." On March 18, Macron relapsed his decision and said, "We looked in depth, and deemed it not an error, and we are attempting to help the civilians across the nation with surviving this event." On June 1, Macron accused many members of his army of deliberately exposing civilians to the light of the sun, and correctly accused them of running a cult.
• Andorra; Prime Minister Xavier Espot said "I express my greatest sympathies to the people of every nation on Earth" before killing himself.
• Belgium; Foreign Ministers Hadja Lahbib said that it was currently in the process of attempting rescue operations across Belgium to try to save every soul they can, and called on the Belgian government to act swiftly. Prime Minister De Croo held a conference between government staff to plan rescue operations in the capital and other rural areas. Transmissions from Belgium went offline but is still considered to be active as thousands of Belgian citizens are airlifted away from dangerous areas.
• Netherlands; Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he was "taking all precautions to protect the citizens of the Netherlands" and "was deeply shocked" by the inaction by the United States, which at the time they had no knowledge of the collapse of contact between the two nations, assuming that the United States was doing nothing. King Willem-Alexander conveyed his condolences per telegram across Europe to commemorate the deaths of all that have been affected by the sun and it's dangerous light. The Dutch government decided to create several shelters underground in the aftermath of the event, and those shelters currently house 1.3 million people. Dutch elections still take place, and are entirely online.
• Luxembourg;
• Italy;
• Vatican City; Pope Francis described during a prayer on March 13, 2026, that "The people of the world must remain safe and with god."
• San Marino; San Marino said they had evacuated a group of their civilians down into bunkers.
• Switzerland; The government said that they had evacuated most civilians to the previously designated nuclear shelters, reusing them as bunkers for the event instead.
• Monaco; Albert II said that he was evacuated to the Neuschwanstein Castle after receiving the transmission of evacuation through secure channels.
• Germany; Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was deeply shocked by the event, and immediately alerted the citizens he could before it turned to day, making sure all heard important information. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock described using the Neuschwanstein castle as a refugee center, and later said that they were keeping hundreds of Germans inside the castle, stating that they had set Fussen and several cities aflame to keep the organisms away from the population of Germany. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier relocated the Government of Germany to the Neuschwanstein castle and is one of the remaining active members of the United Nations as of early 2027. Most of the population of Germany was lost to the event, however.
• Austria;
• Slovenia;
• Croatia;
• Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Denmark;
• Norway;
• Czechia;
• Sweden;
• Poland; President Donald Tusk would alert the citizens of Poland about the event through the internet, interrupting all internet services to take it over with a broadcast that describes the extreme danger that they're in. Millions still die, but his effort to save as much as he could was celebrated by the remaining Polish population. Polish Elections are still active, and take place entirely online, with votes being casted online as well.
• Slovakia;
• Hungary;
• Greece;
• Montenegro;
• Albania;
• Serbia;
• North Macedonia;
• Finland;
• Estonia;
• Latvia;
• Lithuania;
• Belarus;
• Ukraine; Due to the ongoing (at the time) Russo-Ukrainian War, all communications across Ukraine were destroyed, but the war had continued for a while before March 13, 2026. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy including his Foreign Ministry said that Ukraine was attempting scavenging missions on abandoned Russian outposts left inside of Ukraine at the time of the event, and issued a statement saying that they were attempting a rescue mission in Kyiv before communications were cut.
• Romania;
• Bulgaria;
• Moldova;

Africa

• Madagascar;
• Somalia;
• Western Sahara;
• Mauritania;
• Senegal;
• The Gambia;
• Guinea-Bissau;
• Guinea;
• Mali;
• Sierra Leone;
• Liberia;
• Cote D'Ivoire;
• Algeria;
• Burkina Faso;
• Ghana;
• Togo;
• Benin;
• Niger;
• Nigeria;
• São Tomé and Príncipe;
• Tunisia;
• Libya;
• Cameroon;
• Chad;
• Equatorial Guinea;
• Gabon;
• Republic of the Congo;
• Democratic Republic of the Congo;
• Angola;
• Namibia;
• South Africa;
• Central African Republic;
• Botswana;
• Zambia;
• Sudan;
• Zimbabwe;
• South Sudan;
• Egypt;
• Lesotho;
• Rwanda;
• Burundi;
• Eswatini;
• Tanzania;
• Mozambique;
• Malawi;
• Kenya;
• Ethiopia;
• Eritrea;
• Djibouti;