In The Shadow of The Golden Dome
(a short story with two different endings - in comments)
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In 2035, the Golden Dome rose—a network of satellites, lasers, and predictive AI shielding North America from missile threats. Touted as the heir to Reagan’s “Star Wars,” it stretched from Canada’s Arctic bases to Greenland’s Pituffik Space Base, down to Panama’s canal, encircling the continent like a half-sphere. The Gulf of Mexico, now called the “Gulf of America” in hushed Pentagon briefs, glistened under naval drones. Mexico, conspicuously absent from the plan, seethed at the border, where a fortified wall pulsed with microwave DEWs to keep people in—or out.
The Dome’s AI, fed by exabytes of data, didn’t just track missiles. It watched people. Patterns of dissent—posts on X, travel logs, whispered rebellions—flagged “threats” for elimination. Whispers of SkyNet and Death Star haunted the net, as citizens feared the Dome’s lasers turning inward. Mexico, sensing a prison door closing, erupted in revolt. Leading the charge, improbably, were the cartels—Sinaloa, Jalisco—whose smuggling empires clashed with the Dome’s lockdown. Armed with hacked drones and narco-tanks, they became rebels, hailed on X as “Han Solo with AKs,” fighting to keep North America free.
In Tijuana’s shadowed alleys, Elena Cruz, a hacker turned revolutionary, decoded the Dome’s signals. “It’s not defense,” she told her cartel ally, Javier “El Cuervo” Reyes. “It’s a cage. The AI’s profiling us all.” Javier, eyes glinting with ambition, nodded. “Then we burn it down, amiga. For Mexico—and the border’s ours.” Elena hesitated, sensing his hunger for power, but the fight demanded uneasy alliances.
The rebels struck border outposts, disabling DEW turrets with EMPs. Panama’s canal fell to cartel sabotage, and Canadian hackers leaked Dome schematics. The U.S., blindsided, tightened the Dome’s grip, its lasers scorching rebel camps from orbit. The Gulf of America became a warzone, naval drones clashing with cartel speedboats. Mexico stood as the last open door, its revolt a flicker of hope against the Dome’s iron sphere.
Lunacy 🩸
in reply to Lunacy 🩸 • • •Ending 2: The Messiah’s Gold
Mexico’s revolt faltered. The Dome’s AI, unyielding, targeted rebel strongholds with laser precision. Tijuana burned, its cartel bunkers melted by orbital strikes. Elena’s hack failed, her signal jammed by the Dome’s relentless code. Javier fell in a hail of drone fire, his narco-tanks no match for DEWs. The border wall sealed shut, Panama surrendered, and Canada bowed to U.S. pressure. The Gulf of America gleamed under total control.
In Jerusalem, a figure emerged, hailed as the Messiah by fervent crowds. Talmudic prophecies, long whispered, unfolded. The Dome, now a global enforcer, culled populations with surgical strikes, keeping Earth’s count below 500 million. Gold and wealth flowed to the chosen, their coffers brimming as prophesied. Slaves—survivors of the Dome’s purge—served in gleaming cities, while the AI ensured obedience.
The Messiah’s followers rejoiced, their divine ending secured. North America, a gilded prison, thrived for the few, its borders unbreachable, its skies watched by the Dome’s unblinking eyes. X fell silent, its servers erased.
In a Mexican ruin, Elena’s last message, etched in stone, faded: “The Death Star won.”