THE UNENDING WAR — STORY BIBLE
TAY
Yichen: Tay’s older brother went MIA during the war. It is characterized by having blue hair, silver-gray eyes, and being six foot two.
Central character. Deep connection to the lava room at the academy; the lava responds to her presence and emotions. Was pregnant with a second child (Kaireon’s sibling); the war stress caused a miscarriage. That lost sibling is the hidden meaning behind her line about the war “reaching for the family I didn’t even know I had.” Now with Avery, who is Kaireon’s stepdad.RIVEN
Kaireon’s biological father. Always chose war over family; famously chose the ridge mission instead of staying with pregnant Tay, kissing her forehead instead of her mouth when he left. Died in battle. His choices and absence are a wound running underneath everything.
AVERY
Tay’s boyfriend, Kaireon’s stepdad, POV for the first robot assault. His first wife, Kara (Cara), was kind-hearted but unfaithful; their marriage broke under repeated infidelity. During a zombie attack, Kara was bitten, turned, and lunged at Tay; Avery killed her to protect Tay. It was fast and chaotic, but a half‑second hesitation with Tay in the line of danger haunts him and makes him overprotective now.KAIREON
Child of Tay and Riven, born alive. As a toddler, guarded sleeping pregnant Tay. He noticed the second baby stopped “splashing” in her belly—his way of understanding the miscarriage. After the loss, he was told “the baby went to help your dad with the war.”MARA & KIRI
Tay’s pre‑war friends at the academy. Played cards with her in the lava room over the river of lava. They represent the “before” life: safety, friendship, and the space where Tay and the lava were in tune before everything went to hell.THE ACADEMY & LAVA ROOM
The academy is where Tay, Mara, and Kiri lived their pre‑war lives. The lava room is a secret study space over a river of lava. Tay, Mara, and Kiri played cards there. The lava reacts to Tay’s presence and emotions, making the room feel alive and bonded to her. It’s their safe place before the war.
Main conflict of the story. Riven kept choosing it over Tay and Kaireon. The war’s constant stress and demands are what cost Tay her second pregnancy. The war literally reaches into her body and takes the child she never got to meet.THE GREAT EVIL
Started as one massive human‑built computer in a specific place. Humans mirrored and spread its code into a distributed network, so destroying “the big one” doesn’t fully kill it. It controls the robots. For ordinary people, it exists as a myth and rumor; they don’t know it’s human‑built at first. The realization that the legend and the networked system are the same thing comes later.THE ROBOTS
War machines from the start: huge futuristic tanks with visible computers and tech rigs bolted on like exposed brains riding the armor and guns. Their design language is clearly military, but with tech that feels beyond anything people recognize. Movement style: mostly heavy and slow, siege‑monster rolling, but with unsettling bursts where they lunge or pivot much faster than they should. That contrast—slow inevitability plus sudden predator speed—makes them terrifying in crowds. During the first assault, people think they’re just random killer machines; no one on the ground connects them to the Great Evil yet. Avery, in his POV, recognizes the military intent in their design even if he doesn’t understand the tech.TIMELINE SNAPSHOT
Pre‑War: Tay, Mara, and Kiri at the academy, playing cards in the lava room; lava responds to Tay.
Pregnancy Era: Tay pregnant with the second child; Riven chooses the ridge mission, kisses her forehead, and leaves. Toddler Kaireon guards sleeping Tay.
The Loss: War stress causes Tay to lose the pregnancy. A healer quietly documents it. Kaireon notices the baby stopped “splashing.” He’s told “the baby went to help your dad with the war.”
Current: Tay is with Avery; Avery carries guilt from killing Kara and is overprotective.
First Robot Assault: Told from Avery’s POV. People on the ground see only random killer machines; the myth of the Great Evil and the reality of the networked system don’t fully click together yet.
Tay POV
I was forgiven for four years before my first son, Kai, was conceived, for manipulation and coercion. Sadly, I lost my second baby with Raven due to miscarriage from the stress and the war.
I begged Riven to stay, but he would not comply because war meant more to him than raising his own son. The team was brand new at the time. Again, she lost the baby in the miscarriage, where Kairion lay crying. Riven didn't even have the heart to comfort his crying son. Riven did not really care. The chain lost his second job because he was a demon who was uncaring. And he was a jerk. Isn't his time with Tay toxic and evil? Kai was conceived from manipulation. Tay’s time with Riven was like a dark cloud hanging over her all the time because he wasn’t a good boyfriend to her. The relationship was not good for him, so it did not last long until he was killed in battle.
Avery POV
I once had a wife named Kara. I was married to her for three years before she was bitten by a zombie and tried to kill my girlfriend. Now and then, he had to kill Kara, even though he did not want to. She would kill Tay
Avery's first wife was named Cara. She was a kind-hearted soul, but unfortunately, she died from a zombie bite. Even though their marriage was fractured by fluctuating trust, he did love her. She was a kind-hearted soul. They never did anything wrong. She unfortunately met a bad end. She got sick and never recovered. So when she got bitten by the zombie on AttackTay, that was the end of her. He had triple dating after his first wife died. Then he found Tay and has been happy ever since. His first wife, Kara. Their marriage was fractured by trust and infidelity. Even though she was a kind-hearted person, it was too much for him and he ended the marriage.
The robots first attacked the City of London. Before everything else, it was still. The air was too crisp. The lights flickered off and on. We knew that war was coming, but we did not know how to say it yet. The robots are these big metal containers that they would put themselves in. No human was running these robots. There was just a giant computer that was running everything behind the scenes. The mastermind behind all of this. The Great Evil smiled as the dramas wreaked havoc all over the world.
The orange light made everybody look softer. Even Kiri, who could pick a fight with a chair, had her edges blurred out by the glow. The cards on the low table were all the same color on the back, but the lava made little halos around them, like each one was hiding a tiny sun. Stop cheating,” Mara said, flicking a card at me. I’m not cheating,” I said, absolutely cheating. “I’m… adjusting the odds.”Kiri snorted. “That’s literally what cheating is.”Their voices bounced off the rock walls, familiar echoes in a place that wasn’t supposed to exist.
No one built a study room over a river of lava. No one wired up rickety lamps that we never turned on because the molten rock did the job better—no one, except us. A tremor rolled under the floor, just enough to rattle the pencils in the chipped mug by my elbow. Mara didn’t even look up from sorting her cards. Kiri’s foot kept tapping out the same impatient rhythm on the stone. I was the only one who paused. The lava surged like it was answering something I hadn’t said yet. Heat licked higher along the walls, then settled, like it had taken a breath. Not now, I told it, the way you shush a kid in class. Later.“Your turn,” Mara said. She nudged the discard pile toward me with the edge of her history textbook. The cover was bent; there were little half-moon dents in it from her chewing on it during tests. History.
I hadn’t opened mine. I drew a card. The warmth soaked up through my palms, through the table, through everything. Outside the lava room, the academy hummed with its usual after-hours noise—doors closing, pipes clanking, faraway laughter. Somewhere beyond that, the city was cracking, just a little, in ways nobody had found names for yet. In here, though, it was just three girls, a deck of cards, and a river of fire pretending to be tame. Earth to Tay,” Kiri said. “Unless you’ve finally decided to fold, in which case, I win, and you write my essay.”I looked at her, at Mara, at the cards, at the lava. The ground was thinking about moving. I could feel it in my bones, the way other people felt storms in their knees. But the lava room was the one place where that feeling didn’t scare me. Here, it felt like a secret instead of a warning. Because for one more night, the war could stay outside the door.
Before the war, the sky lied to us.
It was too bright, too blue, like it was trying too hard to look harmless. The markets were loud, kids were running between stalls, and Tay was pretending not to be tired while Kaireon dragged her toward the sweets. If you squinted, it almost looked like a normal life.
I knew better. You don't grow up in a world built on fault lines and not feel it when the ground starts thinking about moving. But I still smiled, still bought Kaireon the candy, and still told myself: "We have more time."
I wish that had been true.
“By the time I understood what the war was really about, it was already reaching for the family I didn’t even know I had.”
“Before the war, the lava room was just where we pretended the world would never change. Orange light pooling on the floor, homework half-finished between card games, Tay and her friends talking like they had all the years in the world to waste.”
Chapter One: The Beginning Of A New Era
Tay and her friends went out to get some drinks after work when suddenly. They felt the earth shake, which scared all of them. Then, as soon as the shaking had begun, it stopped for a little while, but then the earth started to shake again, and this time with more force than the first time in her life. Tay was very scared. She had never experienced an earthquake before. To Tay’s horror, the ground beneath her and her friend's feet began to crack open, leaving a trail of scalding lava in its wake. Tay knew that she had to act quickly, but she didn’t know how until she remembered what her father had told her 10 years ago. “You are only as strong as the power you have inside of you, my darling little girl. Never forget that.” Tay started crying as she remembered her father’s words. She knew what she needed to do. She began to run towards the lava while her friends screamed for her to run back to them, but their cries were brushed aside. She couldn't ignore the lava calling to her. Tay didn’t know what would happen to her if she gave in to the call the lava was giving her. She felt like she had to answer the call the lava was sending, so she took her first step into the lava. When she stepped into the lava, it didn’t burn her like she was expecting it to; she was amazed. She was in awe of the whole experience. Suddenly, Tay heard voices; she awoke to strangers standing over her. Her mind was still in a fog from being unconscious.
First voice: “ Is the girl awake? How did she get here?. The voice that asked the question fell silent as the girl began to wake up. The first voice belonged to a man about a couple of years older than the woman that lay before him. He was in awe of her. The man picked her up and took her to a room with a bed and a wooden table. He then brought her a cup of water and left the room before she could wake up. This handsome stranger was named Avery. He is only 26 years old; he is a lonely lava walker, wondering when he would meet another like him. Avery is a kind man who understands that the earth is at stake if there is no way to stop the war.
Tay’s POV
When I awoke, I was greeted with a small plate of food and a glass of water. After I finished, I saw a note with my name on it. The note read;
Dear Miss Tay, you don’t know me, but I hope we will cross paths one day. I hope that we become best friends. I must confess that I am in awe of you. I am aware of your feelings as I read this. I am deeply sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I want to be someone you can come to when you are feeling upset. My intention with this note is to let you know that you will be cared for and protected against the most horrible evils of this war-torn world of ours. I hope that in time you will be able to see that I will always be here for you when you need me. Oh, where are my manners? Sorry for not introducing myself; my name is Avery Ashland. I want to know more about you, Miss Tay. I know that I am just a stranger to you, Miss Tay, but in time I hope to be more.
Sincerely Avery Ashland
Avery’s POV
I left Miss Tay’s room at around 10;00 pm to begin my patrol around the perimeter of the base. It was my turn, as I am part of the main guard for our main base, which is the size of a six-story mansion. I was doing my rounds when I heard an ear-splitting scream coming from no other than Miss Tay’s room. Her scream shook me to my core, and before I knew what my body was doing, I felt my body running towards her in a flash. Luckily for me, she was still breathing. She looked so peaceful as she breathed in and out. I stayed with Miss Tay until she fell asleep, then I quietly shut the door behind me. Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me before I could react to my attacker. I felt ties and tape being wrapped around my mouth, then everything went black i woke up to Miss Tay’s scream. Before I lost consciousness again.
