New Story Idea - Apocalyptic Horror
Story Summary (≈300 words) Working Title: The Last Reservoir The world did not end with fire, plague, or nuclear war. It died of thirst. Decades of competition for artificial intelligence supremacy drove governments and technology giants to construct millions of increasingly powerful AI data centers across the globe. Each facility consumed staggering amounts of electricity and freshwater for cooling. Individually, their impact seemed manageable. Together, they quietly drained rivers, emptied aquifers, and accelerated drought beyond recovery. Scientists warned of the growing crisis, but profits, politics, and the promise of technological dominance drowned out every alarm. Now, nearly ninety-eight percent of humanity is dead. The novel opens more than three years after civilization has collapsed. Former data center systems engineer Ethan Cole travels across the desiccated American Southwest with sixteen-year-old Emma Ruiz, whose parents died during the famine. They belong to a small resi...