The Lonely Earth - Earth ISOT into Magitek fantasy

Chapter 1: Earthfall

International Space Station: 18:38 GMT+0, Second of February 2019

Ann McClain gazed wistfully out of the porthole, her eyes fixed on the distant Earth. She found herself wondering why she kept returning to this view, knowing well that the planet wouldn't be going anywhere, and its once awe-inspiring panorama had slowly lost its allure, becoming almost mundane.

Suddenly, a crackling voice pierced the silence, jolting her heart. The message was anything but comforting -

"ISS, please come in, we're picking up some massive interference." Dread settled in her stomach; such words were never a good sign.

"Ground control, what's the situation?" Ann inquired, her voice betraying her concern.

"All our telescopes and scanners are going ballistic. Can you see anything we can't?" The voice on the other end sounded anxious, conveying the seriousness of the situation.

"I'm not see—" Ann's reply caught in her throat as she witnessed something inexplicable. Cracks began to form through the pitch-black expanse of space, as if the very fabric of the universe was being torn asunder. A sense of impending doom hung heavily in the air, and it seemed as though something powerful was straining to breach the fragile barrier between dimensions.

Ann McClain's breath caught in her throat as she witnessed the unimaginable unfolding before her eyes. "Holy shit... ground control... it's starting to break."

Panic laced the voice on the other end, "What's starting to break? ISS, can you clarify?!"

Struggling to find the right words to convey the unprecedented catastrophe, Ann responded urgently, "Space, it's starting to break! I don't know how else to put it!"

Pressing for more clarity, the voice insisted, "Can you clarify less metaphorically?"

"No, it's literally starting to sh-"

Before Ann could finish her sentence, she was cut off by the chilling sight that unfolded before her. Like spider webs weaving their way across the vast expanse of the universe, ominous cracks began to fracture the black void of space. Even the moon, once a symbol of serenity, was now being swallowed by a three-dimensional network of splinterlines, as evidenced by the alarmed exclamations she heard in Russian from her fellow astronauts.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what!?" The uncharacteristic exclamation from ground control mirrored Ann's shock at the mind-boggling sight before her. Clearly, they were witnessing the same unsettling phenomenon to prompt such a break in professionalism.

As the ISS cruised past one of the splinters in space, a momentary calm washed over Ann. Through that rift, she caught glimpses of... everything. A kaleidoscope of countless visions played out chaotically, lacking any sense of coherence or stability. She felt a mix of terror and fascination, torn between the instinct to recoil from the unknown and the insatiable scientific curiosity demanding that it be studied.

"I have visual on one of the cracks. I'm seeing... random visions. Stars, planets... people... war... corpses... Christ, what is this?" Ann's voice quivered with the intensity of the images flooding her senses, leaving her thoroughly shaken.

Ground control responded with confirmation, "Telescopes are confirming as much. The cracks haven't spread too far for now."

In that moment, Ann realized that they were on the brink of witnessing something beyond comprehension—a phenomenon that defied the laws of physics and challenged their understanding of the cosmos. And as the splinterlines in space remained relatively contained, it was as if the universe itself were holding its breath, preparing for an event that could change the course of human history forever.