Ucifer Rising
A short story written by Matt Gardner with PlotWeaver: Cards of Creation, a storytelling game made by Mod Hob Cooperative.
This story uses an Inverted Plot Pattern, written in 15-minute timed acts with all story cards drawn at random. For more information, visit www.plotweavergame.com
Act 1: Immediate Conflict or Crisis
(Story Element Cards: The Creator, Underwater City, Alien Encounter, and Tragedy)
The city was not always submerged. When Yvon was younger, Square Victoria was a park surrounded by business towers. Over the last few generations, the river overtook its banks and the downtown below Saint Catherine became flooded.
Yvon’s office towered over the water from a building that was now half-submerged. From his window, he watched water taxis crisscross the space below, dropping people off at the dry docks. For years, he had worked to retrofit the downtown core to handle the pressure of the water and to preserve as much of the buildings’ utility as possible.
The debate over how this happened had raged on for decades. The climate crisis has been brutal, but it does not explain the water rising to this extent. Even more troubling was the mystery of the Great Lakes themselves. Scans showed clear evidence that the lake bed was being pushed upward, but no one understood why. Worse still, it was accelerating.
The news was filled with panic and horror as, once again, Southwestern Ontario flooded. Major cities around the Great Lakes were evacuated to higher ground.
But there was something Yvon knew that others did not.
Beneath the lakes, something far more sinister was at work. It was intentional. He knew this because of the patterns. He had studied the scans for thirty-five years.
The shapes rising from the lake bed showed unmistakable signs of design. Sharp angles. Repeating forms. Massive structures that, taken together, resembled city blocks.
Whatever was building this was beyond the comprehension of those in power, and even those who should have known better.
Something was happening beneath the water.
And today, Yvon was meeting a colleague who claimed to know more.
