December 31, Federal Time, 4:00 AM.
The Watchers Tower was brightly lit, floor by floor. All staff were working overtime, remaining on standby at their posts. The operations room was in contact with the Department of Defense—though that was the extent of it; the Department of Defense itself wasn't working overtime.
Not everyone believed in the future seen by Prophet Fina. Even in a Federation that had categorized the 'Transcendent' as 'scientific,' they would not mobilize their entire national strategy just because the Prophet said 'a great disaster is about to happen.' This approach, where a nation's strategy hinges on one person, only appears in Hollywood hero movies.
The nation is a collective of myriad interests; they would rather accept the tragic outcome of 'ignoring the Prophet, the wolf at the door' than let a Prophet dictate the future of the country—sometimes they don't even acknowledge the president they elected.
