The Last Bastion

Chapter 1: The Last City

By 2058, the world had shrunk.

New York City was no longer just a city—it was the last state standing. The rest of the country, and much of the world, had been ravaged by the disasters of the previous decades: rising seas, unrelenting droughts, political collapses, and the relentless spread of diseases that no one had seen coming. Borders had disappeared, swallowed by oceans and abandoned by governments that no longer existed.

But New York had survived. Its towers had grown even taller, its streets even more crowded. The five boroughs now stretched beyond their original limits, the city swallowing up the land that used to be New Jersey and Connecticut, reaching as far as Boston and Philadelphia. The skyscrapers formed jagged mountains of steel and glass, rising above streets that never slept. Every inch of land was used for something—housing, trade, agriculture. The city's population now stood at over 30 million, a melting pot of the world's last remaining cultures.

For Lena, born into this world of towering buildings and neon lights, it was hard to imagine what life had been like before the world changed. The stories of vast forests, quiet suburbs, and clear, open skies sounded like fairy tales—fantasies told by her grandparents. Now, everything was concrete, artificial parks, and crowded airways buzzing with drones and hovercraft.

She stood in the heart of Midtown, where the streets were even busier than usual. Men in heavy work uniforms moved quickly, construction still ongoing as more skyscrapers were built to house the endless influx of people. The sun reflected off the glass towers, casting an almost blinding light down below. No one paid attention to her, just another face in the endless flow of bodies. She was one of the few women in sight, but that didn't surprise her—manual labor, security, and the operations of the city had become almost entirely male-dominated in recent years. Not by law, but by choice. Lena didn't mind. She preferred to blend in, to keep her head down as she made her way through the labyrinth of the streets.

A massive digital billboard flickered above her, showing the latest government message.

_"New York: The Last Bastion. Unity. Strength. Survival."_

Lena rolled her eyes at the slogan. Unity was just a pretty word for control, strength meant wealth and power concentrated in the hands of the few, and survival? Well, that was the only real truth left in this world.

She weaved her way through the crowds, heading toward the Lower District, where the remnants of what was once Brooklyn now stood. Most people avoided that area—too rough, too unpredictable. But that's where she needed to go. Hidden among the abandoned buildings and makeshift markets, there were rumors of something from the old world. A place where a few old-timers gathered, a group that still believed there was more to life than this cramped, overcrowded existence.

The men standing on the corner watched her as she passed, their faces unreadable behind their visors and augmented reality displays. She kept her pace steady, unbothered by the stares. This city may have been a jungle of steel, but she had learned how to navigate it, how to move unnoticed.

When she finally reached the Lower District, the streets grew narrower, darker. The towering skyscrapers loomed even larger overhead, casting shadows that made it feel like the sun barely touched these parts. It was quiet here, except for the distant hum of machinery and the occasional flicker of a broken neon sign. This was where the forgotten parts of New York still lingered—the ones that hadn't been touched by the sleek, modern advancements of the upper districts.

She found the building easily enough. Tucked between two crumbling warehouses, its entrance was almost invisible behind a rusted metal gate. Lena took a deep breath and pushed through, stepping inside.

Inside, she found a room full of men, huddled around dimly lit tables, their faces worn and hardened by the city's harsh realities. They were talking in hushed voices, exchanging items—some legal, some not. She was the only woman here, but that was nothing new.

An older man, sitting at the back, looked up and nodded toward her. His face was lined with age, his eyes sharp despite the years. "You here for the past, or the future?" he asked, his voice gravelly from years of smoke and secrets.

Lena stepped forward, her heart pounding. "Both," she said quietly. "I'm here to find out what's left of it."

In this New York, the past and the future had collided, and Lena was determined to uncover what had been lost before everything disappeared completely.