🔥 Signals from the Collapse
As the group huddled in the abandoned shelter, the sunset’s soft glow faded to a sickly orange. 🌅 Ivy Mae and Roman wrapped themselves tightly in their jackets, faces etched with exhaustion. The fire crackled weakly in the corner, casting long, jittering shadows—but it was the tablet that held their attention.
Jas was the first to notice a faint signal pulsing through the static. Eyes met across the dim room, disbelief warring with hope. “Could it be?” he muttered, fumbling with the device’s antenna as solar surges made the signal jitter violently. ⚡
The screen flickered, struggling against the interference. Then—a voice.
It was Elon Musk, unmistakable even through distortion. His tone was frantic, a far cry from the calm confidence he once projected. The video quality was poor, but the scene was clear: Musk inside a makeshift command center, disheveled, surrounded by scattered papers, blinking monitors, and staff who seemed just as lost.
"I tried to fix this!" Musk shouted, voice cracking with desperation. "I tried to save us from ourselves!"
The transmission cut abruptly, replaced by static. Silence hung over the shelter. 😶
Then the tablet sparked back to life, playing a documentary that had somehow survived the chaos. Faces of prominent leaders—Naomi Klein, Bernie Sanders, Justin Trudeau, Elizabeth May—filled the screen, all speaking about an extraordinary event: the Canadian dollar surging to 4.44 CAD to 1 USD. 💸 The world had been thrown into disarray.
💰 The Dollar Surge
Ivy Mae and Roman watched intently as Naomi Klein’s voice cut through the room:
"The surge of the Canadian dollar to 4.44 was more than a fluctuation. It was a warning—an unintended consequence of years of unchecked market manipulation, tax avoidance, and corporate greed."
Bernie Sanders followed, voice sharp with indignation:
"This wasn’t just a matter of currencies. It was the collapse of an economic system built on a house of cards, propped up by oligarchs who thought they were untouchable. When Canada’s dollar hit 4.44, it wasn’t a victory for Canadians—it was a global shockwave."
The documentary cut to grainy footage of chaos: Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates, and others scrambling on social media—especially X—denouncing the surge as “Fake News”. Trump raged in short, fiery posts:
"The Canadian dollar at 4.44 is a scam. Fake news! Fake news! The global markets are being manipulated. We will not let this stand!"
Musk’s messages appeared equally frantic:
"The truth is out there, and it’s not what the media is telling you. Canada has cracked the code—this is not how economies work. The truth will come to light."
📉 The Crash
Then came the stock market footage—the day time itself seemed to pause. Red tickers flashed impossible numbers. Brokers shouted. Investors panicked as the U.S. market crumbled while Canada remained unscathed. The world watched, bewildered and enraged. 🌎🔥
Ivy Mae felt the fear in the air, almost tangible: the panic of the elite, realizing billions had evaporated. Musk, Trump, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates—they clawed to control the narrative, calling it a hoax, framing it as “Fake News.” But the truth was undeniable.
As the video ended, Jas turned to Roman, eyes wide with disbelief. “They actually thought they could stop it. They thought they could manipulate the system forever.”
Roman rubbed his temples, weary from the journey. “They thought they were untouchable. But they were wrong. Their system… it wasn’t built for this.”
💠Reflection
Ivy Mae sat in silence, absorbing what she had seen. A world desperate to fix the unfixable had collapsed under its own greed. The Canadian dollar’s surge had been the final straw. Even if it temporarily shielded Canada, the ripple effects had shattered economies everywhere.
She turned to Jas, scanning the horizon already. “We have to find the rest of the story. The time capsule. We have to know what happened to Rio.”