Heavens Ascending Affront Towards the Bruised Clock

They said building a fusion reactor would change the world.

They never said it might wake the dead.

Athena's Apostles-a group of filthy-rich teen geniuses-are done waiting for adults to fix the planet. Inside the abandoned Texas Super Collider tunnels, they're building the impossible: a working fusion reactor. Clean energy forever. No more fossil fuels. No more wars over oil.

That's the lie they tell themselves.

Because the reactor could also be a weapon. Or a door. Or something else entirely. Something that makes the abandoned particle accelerator hum at frequencies that shouldn't exist.

Now someone wants them dead.

The 12th Havoc Bombardment Corp-a broken, caffiene overloaded force of unemployed douchebags flying 1/3-scale remote-controlled warplanes from forgotten Army Air Corps strips-has marked the Apostles for termination. These guys aren't soldiers. They're morons with joysticks, convinced that remote violence and high-explosive ordance are the tip of the spear. And they're coming.

But here's the thing: the Apostles aren't the villains of this story. They're the ones you'll root for.

And just when you think you know who wins? Something else wakes up.

TAC-Star-a sentient AI left over from the Cold War. Abandoned by its human operators after 9/11. Ordered to protect the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex from anyone dumb enough to start the next big war. It's been sleeping for years. Bruised. Forgotten. Waiting.

Now it's opening one eye.

✧ ✧ ✧

A Squadron of downed planes. One message. And a clock that's five minutes from something terrible.

Heavens Ascending Affront Towards the Bruised Clock is a story of privilege vs. desperation, science vs. superstition, and the terrifying question:

What if the people trying to save the world are the ones who accidentally end it?

For fans of: morally grey teens, broken aerial combat, AIs with attitude, and endings that leave you staring at the ceiling at 3 AM.