The New Age

Humanity didn't collapse in chaos or fade out slowly-it was erased. A single, merciless virus tore through the world with surgical efficiency, killing billions and transforming the survivors into something else entirely. Cities fell silent. Nations dissolved overnight. The surface of the Earth became a rotting graveyard of concrete, bone, and infected shadows wandering endlessly in search of their next kill. For most of the world, extinction was absolute. But deep beneath the ruins, humanity refused to die.

Below the surface lies The New Age, a colossal underground city carved into the Earth as a final safeguard for civilisation. Originally conceived as a contingency plan, it has become the last functioning remnant of human society-self-sustaining, technologically advanced, and obsessively controlled. Within its reinforced walls, children are born who have never seen the sun, and history is carefully curated to preserve hope rather than truth. The New Age is not just a refuge; it is an experiment in rebuilding humanity from the ground up.

At its helm stands Prime Minister Sir Clive Powell, a charismatic and relentless leader whose vision defines the city's future. Clive believes survival alone is not enough. Under his leadership, The New Age has evolved from a sanctuary into a launchpad for something far more ambitious.

Alongside Clive is The Nine, an elite inner council chosen not by popular vote, but by influence, intellect, and usefulness. Together, they shape policy, control information, and quietly decide who lives, who leads, and who is expendable. To the citizens of The New Age, The Nine are distant guardians of stability. In reality, they are power brokers locked in a constant struggle between ideology, ambition, and self-preservation. As the pressure to secure humanity's future intensifies, so does the temptation to rule through control rather than consent.

The survival of The New Age hinges on science-specifically, the work of Dr Miller, its most brilliant and volatile mind. Tasked with understanding the virus and the infected above, Dr Miller operates at the edge of human ethics, conducting experiments that blur the line between salvation and monstrosity. To Dr Miller, morality is a luxury of a dead world; progress demands sacrifice. While his discoveries could hold the key to reclaiming the surface, they may also doom what remains of humanity if unleashed without restraint. Even Clive struggles to control a man who sees himself not as a servant of humanity, but as its architect.

While The New Age tightens its grip underground, the surface is far from silent. A resistance is forming-survivors who rejected the underground sanctuary or were denied entry altogether. These groups have adapted to the horrors above, learning to live alongside the infected rather than hide from them. At their forefront is General Carter, a hardened and ruthless leader who views The New Age not as humanity's saviour, but as a cowardly regime built on abandonment and lies. Carter believes the underground city hoards resources, knowledge, and power that should belong to all survivors, not a chosen few.

Carter's most lethal weapon is Grace, a young assassin shaped entirely by the brutality of the surface world. Raised amid violence and loss, Grace is efficient, precise, and terrifyingly loyal-but beneath her deadly skill lies a fractured sense of identity. To her, the war is not about ideology or leadership; it is personal. The New Age represents everything that left her world to burn, and she will dismantle it piece by piece.