The history classroom at Aresia Metro Secondary(section 2) was usually a place of quiet dates and debated theories. Today, the air was thick with a different tension. Avenger stood at the front, the holographic display behind him shimmering with a map of the red, cratered supercontinent they called home.
"Your project, Mr. Avenger," said Mr. Thorne, the history facilitator, his arms crossed. "The founding of Aresia. Proceed."
Avenger took a steadying breath. This wasn't just an assignment. It was an autopsy of the world that made him.
"My presentation isn't just about how Aresia was built," he began, his voice carrying a weight that stilled the usual rustling of notes. "It's about why it looks like this. Why we're segregated by sectors. It's about the price of survival, paid in special grades and blood."
He tapped the console. The hologram zoomed out to show a ruined Earth, then focused on Mars, displaying a vast, engineered landmass.
"Aresia. Humanity's last stronghold. Completed fifteen years ago, just after Earth's final broadcast ceased. It is three times the size of Africa. And it is divided."
The map subdivided into ten colorful, distinctly bordered sectors.
"Sectors 1 and 2 are Neutral Territory—the administrative and military heart of the Silent Council. Combined, they're about 0.2 times Africa's size." He pointed as the map highlighted each zone. "Then, the residential sections: 3 for Europeans(0.15). 4 for the Soviet diaspora(0.4). 5 for Asians(0.25). 6 for the Islanders(0.25). 7, the largest, for Africans(0.9). 8 for South Americans(0.30). 9 for North Americans(0.35). 10 for Oceanians(0.4)."
A hand shot up. It was Chen, a boy from the Asian sector. "So we're just… repeating geography? Sticking to our own kind?"
"It's not geography," Avenger replied, meeting his gaze. "It's trauma. To understand the map, you have to understand the wound that never healed."
Part 1: The First Fire—Not Infestation, But Humanity
"The first mass awakening of Resonators didn't come from the Infestation," Avenger said, his voice dropping. "It came from a human-made hell. Sudan. 2010."
The hologram changed to declassified footage: villages burning, militia trucks, then reports of civilians performing impossible feats.
"A genocide. Funded and fueled by foreign powers—White and Arab—arming terrorists to slaughter African people. Millions died. And from that specific, targeted evil, from the will to survive that, the first major wave of Resonators was forged. Not as a gift. As a desperate answer to attempted extinction."
He let the image hang.
"That's the first truth," he said. "WIL is an acronym, but it's also a fact. Your Will determines your power(Grade). It fuels 80% of your Grade—your scale. Your innate Inner World's Class determines the other 20% of your Grade potential . Your will to live, to fight, to protect… that's the engine. And our(Africa)engine was built in a genocide."
Part 2: The Fracturing—When Power Met Prejudice
"The following decades were called the 'War Era' globally. In Africa, we call it the Retribution Era. After Sudan, more awakened other Africans purged the foreign-backed rebels and corrupt leaders. Nation by nation, they threw or killed off neo-imperialism and united the continent."
The hologram showed borders solidifying into one massive bloc.
"Elsewhere, Resonance fractured societies along their deepest faults. In Asia, systemic oppression of women erupted into a literal, continent-splitting Gender War. In the Americas, Race Wars. White supremacist Resonators sparked conflicts that ended with the African diaspora being brought back to Africa and the Caribbean. South America's war… ended in the genocide of Afro-descendants."
The class was silent. This was not in the standard curriculum.
"Europe faced both race and gender wars. Russia fought to reclaim its old Soviet empire. The Middle East collapsed into internal strife. And then… the first major Infestation bloomed right in its heart."
The hologram showed a swirling vortex of corrupt reality over the Arabian Peninsula.
"Africa sealed its borders. Europe sealed its borders. The legions and the desperate people were left to face each other. The result was the absolute genocide of the Arab world."
Part 3: The Desertion and the Deal
"As Infestations spread, the world shattered. Our salvation came from Africa, in 2060. A Special Grade Resonator named Oyá, Iansã, whose power was Terraforming."
From military reports I qoute
"The Infestation doesn't just kill life. According to early reports, it... unmakes it. Turns it into something else. A more aggressive/ alien form of existence."
A figure of luminous energy appeared in the hologram.
"Oyá, lansã She devised a plan with another Special Grade, Legba. He would take her soul to Mars as a seed. She would give her life if need to begin a biosphere. It worked and she survived. But they could only transport those above Grade 2—the warriors. 80% of the population, including… all the children, would be left behind."
The horror of that calculus hung in the air.
"Then, Asia and Europe produced their first Special Grades. Their powers could enable mass transport. Their price? 80% of Aresia's land. Africa refused. Later, Special Grades emerged among Indigenous Americans and the Soviets. They offered help for a fair share. Africa agreed."
The map of Aresia began to form.
"Asia and Europe, facing extinction, planned to sabotage the exodus. They tried to recruit Indigenous Islanders and Australians. But the younger generations remembered old betrayals. They warned Africa. In gratitude, they were brought into the pact."
"Those left out—Asia and Europe—had no choice. They bargained for the last, smallest slices and offered their Special Grades to speed the work. The 80-year project was cut to 40. We thought we had a chance."
Avenger's fist clenched.
"We were wrong. The Legions were breeding in the deep ocean. They surfaced, globally, all at once. The final evacuation was thrown into chaos. Humanity's 25 Special Grades were reduced to 7. The last, desperate transports were pushed to 2160."
Part 4: The Question—And The Answer
A student from the Islanders' sector spoke. "So we rebuilt humanity just to split it up again? What's the point?"
Avenger's previously measured tone vanished. His gaze hardened.
"That question assumes we were ever undivided," he said, voice cool and precise. "The point of surviving isn't to hold hands. It's to continue existing. And continuing existence meant understanding a truth: some alliances are fatal."
He zoomed the map back to Earth.
"Let's be clear. During the Retribution Era, Africa purged invaders who had spent centuries draining it—first with chains, then with debt, then with guns. The help Africa gave the world was met with contempt, violence, and genocide for four hundred years. When we gained power to defend ourselves, the world called us vengeful."
He shifted the hologram to the Mars Project deals.
"And when our Special Grades found escape? Who came? Only those who needed something. Groups who spent generations perpetuating evil against us only extended a hand when their extinction was on the line. Not repentance. Necessity. That's not trust. That's a transaction with a gun to your head."
A hand went up from Sector 3. Ethan, face flushed. "That's ancient history! We're not our ancestors!"
"I'm not holding you responsible," Avenger shot back. "I'm holding humanity accountable to the pattern. Your ancestors enslaved, colonized, and genocided. Your grandparents waged race and gender wars. Your leadership tried to sabotage the Mars Project. The pattern is exploitation, violence, betrayal. The Silent Council's segregation isn't punishment. It's a containment field. It stops the pattern from repeating inside this last, fragile bottle. You have your sector to live. We have ours to survive. Not just the Legions. The legacy."
The room was ice-cold.
"Your final question," Mr. Thorne said quietly. "Is Aresia's structure sustainable?"
Avenger looked at the holographic map, his eyes locking on Sector 7.
"My conclusion is it's the only sustainable structure. Trust is a privilege earned by consistent action over centuries, It was incineratedand most of humanity hasnt shown they deserve it . What we have isn't unity. It's a ceasefire. And a ceasefire needs clearly defined lines, and the will to defend them."
Part 5: The Personal Cost
The final slide appeared. A grainy image of a massive transport ship, half-submerged in alien growth.
"The final transport from Earth was fifteen years ago. It failed. Military reports indicate six Special-Grade Legions manifested at the site."
He looked up, his voice dropping to something profoundly personal.
"That was the transport I was on. I was one year old. I am the only registered survivor."
The hologram clicked off. Absolute silence.
Avenger stood there, not as a presenter, but as a living relic of the history he'd recounted. The final cost, made flesh.
Mr. Thorne cleared his throat. "That was… comprehensive. Class dismissed."
No one moved. Then, chairs scraped slowly. Students filed out, casting complicated looks at Avenger, who gathered his notes, the weight of the past a familiar anchor.
He had a field trip to get to. A bus to catch. He needed to hear his friends' voices, to remind himself he was more than a surviving statistic.
He was part of a new rhythm. At least, for a few more hours.
He never heard the first plates begin to shift.