Gleam of San Francisco

The year is 2347. Earth, as you knew it, is gone. Not in a fiery apocalypse of war or environmental collapse, but a silent, insidious transformation. Nanites, originally designed to clean up pollution, went rogue. They consumed everything – organic and inorganic – converting it into a homogeneous, grey, metallic goo known as the Gleam. Humanity scattered to the stars. Some fled on gargantuan colony ships, desperately seeking habitable planets. Others burrowed deep within Earth's core, eking out a precarious existence powered by geothermal energy. And a few, a scattered, desperate few, remained on the surface, living within shielded domes powered by increasingly unstable fusion reactors. You are Kai, a Scavenger. Not a glorious hero, not a valiant soldier. You're simply trying to survive. Your dome, New Shanghai, is nearing its end. The reactor is failing, the air filters are choked with Gleam particles, and the Council, a group of self-serving technocrats, are more interested in hoarding resources than finding a solution. Your skills lie in navigating the Gleam-choked wasteland outside the dome, scavenging for parts, data chips, anything of value that can be traded or repurposed. You're equipped with a rickety exosuit, a jury-rigged plasma cutter, and a neural implant that allows you to interface with the few remaining automated systems from the old world. But the Gleam isn't your only concern. Rogue nanite swarms roam the wasteland, capable of dissolving your suit in seconds. Rival Scavenger gangs, hardened by the harsh reality, are always looking to steal your hard-earned loot. And whispers speak of something else out there, something mutated by the Gleam, something far more dangerous than anything you've encountered before. Today, you received a message. A faint, distorted signal promising a lead on a stable power source, a source capable of saving New Shanghai. The catch? It's located deep within the Gleam-infested ruins of Old San Francisco, a place from which no one has ever returned. The Council dismisses it as a hoax. The other Scavengers laugh at your foolish optimism. But you, Kai, you have nothing to lose. Load your plasma cutter, calibrate your exosuit, and prepare to brave the Gleam. The fate of New Shanghai, and perhaps more, rests on your shoulders. Your journey begins now.