Ruins of the Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE.
“Arghhhhhhhhh!”
“Heeeeeeelp!”
The dust had yet to settle and amidst the backdrop of creaking and groaning concrete and steel, cries for help rang out in a cacophony of multiple languages and volumes. Debris was everywhere, pieces of the shattered building thrown all over downtown Dubai by the blast, which had shattered windows even ten blocks away. Here and there, lucky people who were less injured were pulling themselves from the rubble of the collapsed tower and ruined megamall.
The survivors were wailing in horror, anger, and desperation as they dug through the rubble they had just climbed out of in search of their friends and loved ones who were beside them when the bomb went off. One person found his child’s body, riddled with injuries, burns, and broken bones, and fell to his knees, sobbing, wailing, and cursing at the uncaring god who had allowed the tragedy to happen.
Thirteen short seconds was all it had taken for what everyone thought was a pleasant day into a lifetime of suffering in hell. Vacationers, local shoppers, residents of the Burj Khalifa, and even office workers in the buildings around the former tallest tower in the world were now trapped in rubble as the blast had blown down multiple buildings around the tower. The Address Downtown Dubai had directly collapsed as a result of the blast, and, weakened by the blast, the Emirates Towers had fallen soon after the two iconic skyscrapers due to the shaking of the earth when they hit the ground.
Those who found themselves outside the range of the devastation didn’t escape unscathed, either. Broken water and sewer mains were pumping high-pressure water and raw sewage onto the streets where they stood, making them an electrocution hazard as downed power lines fell into the disgusting mix. Not to mention the disease that would likely spread as the cloud of aerosolized sewage spread outward from the pressurized system.
And all of that horror was being broadcast live by a few livestreamers and paparazzi that were either vacationing there or working there in hopes of catching a breaking news story.
Well, a breaking news story they had found.
……
Istanbul.
“Someone come help me look for survivors!” a lucky survivor of a train derailment shouted. He could hear, and even see, injured people trapped in the wreckage, but didn’t have the strength to pull them out after escaping himself. He was lucky enough to have survived the high-speed derailment with relatively light injuries, but just climbing out of the pile of those who hadn’t been so lucky had exhausted him.
The suspension bridge the train had been passing over was also in dire straits; one of the four main cables holding it up had snapped, tilting the entire thing at a 35 degree angle. The remaining three cables were creaking and groaning as the nearly broken bridge swayed in the wind, threatening to snap and drop the bridge—and the survivors—into the ocean below it. If that were to happen, the lucky survivors would immediately turn unlucky as they faced the slow fate of being trapped in wreckage and drowned by seawater.
……
Similar catastrophes were happening all over the planet, and the world was watching it live. Everyone with AR glasses had suddenly become frontline reporters, livestreaming the situation from their particular scenes of devastation over the free internet.
The entire world was watching, sure, but that only made them more shocked when they saw the extremely fast response by the imperial government. Ten seconds after the first attack, a warning had gone out to everyone that was wearing AR glasses or currently in the public VR simulation.
Gaia had sent everyone messages warning them of the attacks that had taken place along with the likelihood of secondary attacks happening. After all, a common tactic was for attackers to strike twice—once for the initial devastation, then a second strike that targeted good samaritans and first responders. The warning had gone on to warn them of the possibility of chemical and biological contamination of the water table, advising them to only drink bottled water until the all clear was issued by the Imperial Health Agency. If they absolutely had to resort to tap water for any reason, they were advised to boil it for at least ten minutes, first, and to seek medical attention at the first sign of illness.
The warning itself had resulted in those who weren’t in the immediate area of an attack being made aware that something major was happening around the world, resulting in a mass upswell in internet traffic as most of the so-far unaffected people began searching for news and live feeds of the ongoing situation.
As for those in the VR simulation who were logged in from the affected areas, either via helmet or VR pod, they were ordered to log out and prepare for evacuation, but to shelter in place unless there was an immediate threat to their lives or safety in their surroundings.
As more and more people found the live feeds showing the devastation, horror spread around the world as the true extent of the damage became apparent. At least the initial damage, anyway; there was sure to be ongoing issues over the next few days as rescue attempts met with successes and failures. Or even over the next few years as first responders suffered the same kind of health issues that people near the Twin Towers had developed by being near the area when they collapsed. Nearly two-thirds of all the first responders at Ground Zero had suffered serious, chronic health conditions due to exposure to the toxic mix of dust, particulates, noxious gasses, chemicals, and fibers in the air, and there was little doubt that the same would happen at blast sites around the world from this particular terrorist incident.
Thankfully, medical pods could cure the afflictions, but just the fact that so many brave, heroic people would fall ill and require such treatment was downright depressing.
But within minutes, the sound of sirens and chopping helicopter propellers began growing louder and louder in the background of the livestreams, causing the people watching the streams to sigh in secondhand relief.
Help was already on the way.
