Alloy

1:25 pm January 25th, 2025, New York City - The first primary national cyberattack targets the Financial District. They cut the electricity. They fried the communications. And to add insult to injury, they made private investors' data fair game to anyone with an internet connection. The cause was a hacker conglomerate with no known government ties. Alloy is what they called themselves at the time.

Lawsuits and legal battles spiraled exponentially. Civilians and corporations alike locked in perpetual number games now that the truth was out. Everyone was lying to each other. That wasn't new, but it was different when you knew how much it costs.

As this event made national to then international news, Alloy's second attack begun. This time it was in Beijing, China, on June 21st at 3 pm. Alloy exposed fifty billionaires for supporting and profiting from sex and drug trafficking. Due to their influence on the police, they were untouchable by the authorities. A militia group separate from Alloy formed to rectify this problem. They were determined to assassinate these 50 billionaires as well as the investors exposed during the first attack.

Many of the affluent and their associates rapidly adjusted their plans. Instead of making mega hedge funds and screwing over the general public, guns were a wiser investment. Unfortunately, with their atrocities as public knowledge, their need to hold back became unnecessary. Hired thugs roamed the streets of every 1st world country to locate Alloy and destroy them. They got tipped that this group would be in a one-floor house with a heart-shaped locket design on the mailbox. None of them ever found it. Alternatively, what they did accomplish was creating a civil war in each country. Massive casualties ensued. Each month after that, the conglomerate exposed another nation's most wealthy individuals.

By November that same year, the markets of the world crashed. The dollar was meaningless. All shared public benefits like supermarkets, the grid, and public waste were abandoned. All that was left was the last step in Alloy's plan.

Russia had been secretly sending satellites to spy on other countries. Russia shared this technology with the US and the UK. This project was tucked away as a ruse to "improve the lives of citizens and prevent international catastrophes." Its real intention was to compete with Chinese technologies and to ensure oil reserves in the middle east. Alloy took hold of these satellites amongst many others. They systematically leaked and destroyed the contents of each satellite. The storm had reached its apex. China and neighboring Asian countries invaded Russia. The US, UK, and its associates effectively imploded. Government officials across the world began committing mass suicide. Most detention facilities overrun, and most public goods abandoned; all that was left was the start – the earth.

It's 2035. Cities around the world have overgrown, and nature has reclaimed its home. The human population was cut in third by the wars of 25'. Half of the remaining lay claimed by scarcity – starvation, dehydration, or overall inadequate medical assistance. The rest live in what the world is now – a shell of what was once modern society. Those who were aware enough during the fallout sought to find Alloy themselves. One of the most determined of that bunch was Jane Williams - A 32-year-old New Yorker, or what was once New York, who experienced the first attack. Her mother and father were both related to investors on wall street. Jane was completing her Bachelors in Liberal Arts with a minor in secret societies. She was unable to walk her graduation from NYU because of the chaos. Her parents fled the country when the news went international. She then had to make a home of her one-bedroom apartment.

Her vendetta grew. According to Jane, Alloy did nothing but ruin her life. The others who searched for them treated the journey like a search for god itself - The all-seeing, all-knowing cybernetic god. She's been searching for three years now with a group of Alloy worshiping tech-heads. The billionaire's puppets searched the most obvious places and some less obvious ones with nothing to show for it. She knew an actual secret society would never be that easy to find. She chuckles to herself that her minor could even matter to her at a time like this: right time, right chaos.

There had to be some clue they would've left for the right people to find, she thought. A man in her group, who went by Bonnie, heard about the one-floor home with the heart shape locket designed on the mailbox. They searched across America. Many wondered if it were overseas or if it were underwater. Nothing. Not until one conversation, Bonnie and Jane had in their hideout on the outskirts of New York City.

"Bonnie, so you're a nerdy computer weirdo, right?" says Jane.

Bonnie, brushing off the disrespect, firmly replies, "Yes, I understand code."

"So, tell me, if something gets hacked, doesn't there need to be a thing to do the hacking" Jane tries to put together. With newfound curiosity, Bonnie confirms, "Well, yea, a hack would need a server of some kind to be launched." For a moment, they both pause. Jane breaks the silence. "That must mean that their servers would have info of how to un-destroy the world, yes?" Bonnie, disappointed by the uselessness of that idea, "I guess, but that doesn't get us any closer to finding it. I'm sure they have some of the best stuff on everyone and everything in there."

"I can't believe I'm just now thinking this, but what if the clue was a code?" says Jane.

"Okay, well, that sounds like your first good idea ever. I'm glad I was here to witness it." scoffs Bonnie.

"Hear me out, what if the one-floor house and the mailbox aren't the real things, but codes for things, or maybe they're not even things…." Jane brainstorms

Bonnie interrupts, "Oh, I got it. What if I've spent three years with a group of crazy people because that's all there's left to do in the world?"

Jane shook her head. "Seriously, this could be huge."

And then it hits them both.

Their eyes light up, and in unison, "the one-floor house is code for the servers."

Bonnie continues, "Servers are typically stored in big rooms that are well ventilated, which would make sense that you would need a one-floor house."

Jane questions, "okay, but like what does the mailbox with the heart-shaped locket design on it mean?"

Bonnie's jaw slacked in complete awe. "Jane, remember when we were in Maine?"

Jane replies, "Yea, following the one-floor house clue earlier this year?"

"And we saw a person with a weird tattoo on their wrist, and it looked like .." Bonnie begins.

Finishing his sentence, Jane exclaims, "A HEART SHAPED LOCKET. THE MAILBOX IS A PERSON …. OR PEOPLE????"

….

DONE.