Live from the Flood
The oceans rise overnight, and something beneath them reveals itself.
They call themselves the Titarians, driven out from the water by a threat in the depths. They offer humanity a choice. Help them eliminate it, or be erased as the sea swallows the surface. To decide who is worth keeping, they begin a global selection where every human is forced into live-streamed trials. Pass, and you are claimed by a faction and granted power. Fail, and you are eliminated.
Jitsu’s trial begins in his school.
As the sky fractures into watching constellations and the system takes hold, students are forced into a test that determines who is worth claiming. The stream locks onto the strongest, the loudest, the ones most likely to dominate.
No one expects Jitsu to last.
Autistic, quiet, and overlooked, he is dismissed before the trial even begins. While others rush to prove themselves, Jitsu moves differently, thinking through what they ignore.
Then, against all expectations, he starts winning.
This is not survival by chance, and whatever is waiting in the depths may not be the only thing humanity and Titanians should fear.