Outline
CHAPTER 1
Miraculous Meteor
In 2080, life on Earth has become hazardous due to extreme climate change and intense pollution. SAV-I (short for "Savage Immortals"), a transnational terrorist group led by a man known as Captain Seth, nukes the top nuclear power plants across the world, insisting that the existence of an asteroid belt around the Earth, with magical healing powers to revive the planet, is being kept secret. But the leaders are soon captured and, except for Captain Seth and a few of his followers, executed. Dr. Carver Road is the leading scientist of the Seattle Underground Capital project (Seattle UC), a city built to be a haven from the toxic air. He urges environmental refugees to move to Seattle, which is run by CASI (Central Artificial Superintelligence). He believes that CASI is the key to human survival. Dr. Road has conducted many experiments, including creating intelligent, DNA-altered Wombats, who have become a vital part of the population.
Years ago, Dr. Road discovered one of the magical meteorites, a Curite, in Antarctica, and kept it a secret. Zuri, a Curite Angel, appeared to him, saying, "The Curite that you're holding is the sacred Bloodstone of Rapha, god of Earth, who sleeps in space.” Zuri shows Dr. Road images of her past. She was once a Tanzanian girl with albinism. The Bloodstone fell to Earth and landed in her backyard. When she touched it, it enabled her to fly off into space and meet Rapha. Soon, the Belt of Curites was formed, with other people and animals ascending to space.
Refugees arrive en masse at the Seattle UC. The US Coast Guard (USCG) is still operational and protects the West Coast. Dr. Road communicates with Captain Lee of the cutter Aurora, and together they start an expedition to find more Curites. Meanwhile, Seattle UC is experiencing a terrible famine. All Wombats are expelled from Seattle. Sometime later, Dr. Road discovers that Soo, his assistant, who is also a Wombat, stole the Bloodstone before he and Captain Lee left on their mission. Soo thought it might be used to allow herself and the other Wombats to survive on the surface once they were exiled. In a flashback, Dr. Road announces that he will raise his 8-year-old son, Ezra, to become the sole leader to save all humanity. Ezra is injured, and Dr. Road injects him with a special serum to treat the injury, but also to mask his condition. Ezra is actually a Wombat who has been physically altered to look human. Soo is there watching, as is young Aara, our protagonist, an albino wombat, peeking out of Soo’s pouch. Soo surreptitiously takes the Bloodstone from Dr. Road and puts it in her pouch. When Aara picks it up, light emanates spectacularly from her hands. She can feel the healing power in it.
Soo, Aara, and the remaining Wombats stop near a gigantic, floating trash mound. The Bloodstone transforms it into an island filled with greenery, foliage, and life. They decide to call it Birrong. Soon after, they are barraged by Curite meteorites. Soo is tragically killed by one. The Wombats hear voices from the skies, prophesying that Aara may be someone who can change the world.
Meanwhile, CASI rules like a dictator in Seattle UC. Dr. Road gathers some allies to form AOC, short for “Allies of the Curites”, and leaves Seattle UC in search of Curite and to free Seattle UC from its AI tyrant. This expedition team includes Dr. Road, his assistant Marlon, Captain Lee, and Ezra. While on the open seas, they are attacked by SAV-I, who still think they work for Seattle UC. The leaders of SAV-I are looking for anything that will help them capture Seattle UC. Captain Seth, aboard SAV-I’s mighty battleship Dark Star, uses the ship’s loudspeaker to project his booming voice, “Bow down to us! We are the Chosen!”
CHAPTER 2
Master of Prophecy
Years later, on Birrong, Aara is regularly bullied by others her age, who call her the “Nuked Panda.” Her albinism is misunderstood, thought to be caused by nuclear contamination. Aara decides to start military training to protect herself. Troy, a Wombat warrior, and her only friend, goes with her. He has a secret crush on her. Years earlier, the Bloodstone was lost when Birrong was hit with the landing Curite, which settled far underground. Aara has been searching for it for what seems like forever. When she finds it and touches it, Birrong is shaken by a powerful earthquake. Birrong is left slightly below sea level, but that is still enough to endanger all of the population living there. This angers the Wombats. She is apprehended and tied to the ground. The Elders give her an ultimatum: either be expelled from the colony or never be allowed to be anywhere near the Bloodstone.
The quake is felt by the allies on the Aurora. Dr. Road thinks that the quake may have been caused by the Bloodstone. Dr. Road instructs Ezra, who is now a young adult, to locate Birrong and bring back the Bloodstone.
Ezra finds Birrong. Upon seeing Aara, Ezra instantly falls for her. The two leave Birrong and are picked up by the Aurora. Dr. Road gives Aara a mission called "The Surgery" along with the hologram device to disguise herself as a human.
A reorganized SAV-I attacks the AOC. Captain Seth and his crew have fashioned a weapon that uses converted Curites to spew a stream of freezing, dark energy. It strikes the Aurora with massive ice waves. Because the Aurora is the world's largest icebreaker, it is able to break free. USCG vessels guarding the Aurora transform from ships to planes and helicopters, attacking the Dark Star. After a hard-won victory, they continue to search for Curite. Aara and Ezra arrive at the secret underground bunker near Seattle UC to look for the Curites on land after reporting to Aurora.
An image of Zuri projects from the Bloodstone, resembling a hologram, in front of Aara. Zuri then tells Aara that she can summon the Curite Angels from the Belt using the collected pieces of Curite. Aara physically summons Zuri and some of the other Angels to Earth permanently.
Aara attempts to sneak into the CASI tower numerous times but is stopped and beaten by local citizens. Ezra sympathizes with Aara, who is shunned by both her kind and humans. Despite CASI sensing Aara and luring her with an offer to grant her the authority she never had, "The Surgery" mission is accomplished when Aara uses a program that transfers CASI into a large hard drive she’s brought with her. The newly encapsulated CASI is then sent to Dr. Road.
Because of the expeditions she has led and her successful mission to capture CASI, Aara is increasingly seen as a leader, one who may bring the people out of exile to freedom. Still, some people see Ezra as the one to fulfill the prophecy.
One night, Aara shows Ezra her genuine ability to harness the light and heal from the invisible Belt for the first time since her mother had forbidden her from doing so. This enables Ezra to finally see the Belt, deepening their love.
CHAPTER 3
The Betrayal
Aara bonds with Rayelle, a Curite Angel who used to be an Asian woman with albinism while on Earth. When Marlon, Dr. Road’s assistant, tells him that Aara is Soo's daughter, Dr. Road leaks the truth to the masses -- that Aara is a Wombat – which causes an uproar against her among much of the population. Dr. Road sends Aara to check out a location assumed to be SAV-I's secret base, but it is actually a death trap. Ezra, unbeknownst to his father, follows Aara. He tries to get to SAV-I’s secret base first, because Marlon told him that it’s too dangerous to attack without researching the site. We learn that Marlon is a spy working for SAV-I. Marlon tells SAV-I that Ezra is coming, and they kidnap him. They discover that he is a Wombat who’s been altered, and devise a better serum than what Dr. Road had for him. Then, they put an implant into Ezra’s arm, which enables SAV-I to take control of his mind.
Aara summons an albino Curite whale for this mission. She rides on the whale, gets through SAV-I’s defenses, and rescues Ezra. She then purifies much of Seattle's land and sea and drops Ezra off at Seattle UC. She’s now seen by even more people as the prophesied savior. Later, Aara, Rayelle, and the whale head to Birrong together, and they revert to their natural form. The Wombats now understand that Aara’s albinism is a natural trait (not some mystical one), but now they criticize her for helping humans. She travels back to the Seattle UC, and Aara purifies more areas, assisted by the USCG's VOSS program. This accelerates the summoning of Curite Angels. Aara discovers that the powers of the Curite Angels are fundamentally connected to the Belt, and Birrong, which has a large deposit of them, should be lifted to the Belt to awaken Rapha.
We see that SAV-I had built secret bases along the coast like moles. Marlon has been their spy. A festival begins at the shores of Seattle to celebrate the achievement of AOC, and Aara is the center of attention. But Captain Seth and SAV-I, looking to crash the party, attack. They seize the encapsulated CASI and take over parts of Seattle. A full-scale war breaks out between SAV-I and Aara and the people of the Seattle UC. Initially, SAV-I takes over a massive stretch of the coast, from Seattle down to San Diego. Aara and her allies fight back and retake some of the territories. However, once Aara and Aurora arrive at SAV-I's headquarters, they see Ezra standing before a massive rocket, with Marlon and Seth at his side. They explain their master plan and how CASI fits into it. They want to take over the Belt and migrate to another planet to become like gods to the people there. They’ve kidnapped all the Curite Angels, including Zuri, and will force them to help them get off-planet. For CASI to be most effective, it must now be synced to a human’s consciousness. They are about to use Ezra, since they control him, when Dr. Road offers himself, sacrificing himself to save Ezra. When the process is completed, SAV-I has created what may be the most dangerous being in the world– Dr. CASI.
Dr. CASI creates a massive wave that crashes and damages the Aurora, knocking Aara into the ocean. Rayelle scoops her out of the water and takes her to a hideout in a ruined mansion in Medina, Washington. But Troy and his Wombat troops have followed, and they break in. Troy says that Aara betrayed and abandoned him. Disillusioned, he then gathered a group of disenchanted followers and formed an alliance with SAV-I to get access to their cutting-edge technology. This tech allows them to thrive on the surface. A furious battle commences. Troy kills Rayelle, which stops the summoning of Curite Angels. Troy seizes the Bloodstone from Aara and then pushes her off a cliff. Aara hangs on the cliff with her claws and survives. She heads to Birrong, now the new base of SAV-I and the Wombats. Despite the betrayal of Ezra and Troy, she has now become a modern-day Joan of Arc.
CHAPTER 4
Arena of Light
The rocket from SAV-I's canyon base that carries Dr. CASI and Ezra is aimed towards the location in space where the lifted Birrong will meet the Belt and hijack it. Back on Earth, the rest of SAV-I begin their takeover of the planet. However, Aara arrives at Birrong. She fights and defeats Marlon, defeats the renegade Wombats, and retrieves the Bloodstone.
Aara learns that the true nature of her ability, the summoning, was to control the connective light from the Curites and the Belt freely, as if they were strings of an instrument. Then, she would lift Birrong up into space to the Belt. The weapons of light, cradled with Curite, would be given as a reward to combat her enemies. She plays with the light thread created from the Bloodstone to feel its powers.
Then, Aara is confronted by Troy and his renegades. With all her will, Aara takes the light she gathered from Birrong straight to Troy to push him into the deepest ocean. Aara then hands the Wombats the threads of light so that the ones who shunned her can feel the power themselves. The Wombats, realizing how foolish they’d been, leap into battle against SAV-I, with Aara leading the way.
Zuri, now freed, warns Aara that whoever enters the Throne Room of the Belt, where Rapha is, will surely die if it had an artificially altered genetic structure. Though Aara is an artificially engineered Wombat, she says she’s going to enter the Throne Room despite the risk.
Captain Seth and the Dark Star are intercepted by Captain Lee and the Aurora before they can get to Birrong. Seth is determined to take the Curite away from the Wombats so that only he, his crew, and his followers can ascend and keep the healing power to themselves.
Aara uses all the power she can muster from the Curite around her to raise Birrong into the air and send it on its way to the Belt. Meanwhile, the Dark Star is being barraged by weapons of light from the Wombats and AOC on the Aurora.
When Aara and Birrong get closer to the Throne Room, the small asteroids floating in space between the Curite Angels emit light to align themselves like a bar of musical notes. The light goes to Aara and connects the Curite Angels like a grand symphony of light.
Meanwhile, Aara learns that Ezra was a nearly-humanized Wombat.
Ezra and Dr. CASI attack but fail when Aara bombards them with massive light, which defeats Ezra. Aara takes Dr. CASI to the Throne Room, which paralyzes CASI for a moment and brings Dr. Road's consciousness back to him. He then removes the micro-implant from Ezra's arm and puts him into the only escape pod in the rocket. Dr. Road presses the button to self-destruct the rocket he is standing on, while Ezra's pod safely lands near Aurora. Ezra joins Captain Lee, and they defeat SAV-I and Seth.
As expected, Aara's body dissipates as she enters the Throne Room. Rapha shares his divine love for all lives as a vision with Aara, and Aara steps out of the Throne Room as a complete human with albinism. The Bloodstone shines with the celestial secret in her hands, which will complete Ezra's humanization. All the Curites come alive, and Aara then jumps into space to skydive with them. All the people from the night sailing Aurora and on Earth watch the grand meteor shower of the Curites return graciously to Earth. USCG vessels track down the Curites and operate rescue missions across the ocean.
CHAPTER 5
Hero's Paradise
A funeral at sea is held on the coast of Washington to commemorate Dr. Road's sacrifice. Rapha heals the people of the relics that were all connected to CASI while returning Zuri to her original form with only one leg. The AOC's last voyage is then arranged.
Before leaving Seattle, the trio—Aara, Zuri, and Ezra—meets up with people with albinism, those Rayelle mentioned, to chat cheerfully inside a café. They commemorate Rayelle, the experience at the Belt, and the extraordinary journey all were on with Aara and Rapha.
Zuri reunites with her family at the newly reconstructed Seattle-Tacoma airport; it's been decades. Ezra and Aara look on, happy to see Zuri’s gleaming joy.
The expedition's final mission is to go to New Zealand's Port Wellington, to the Blue Hole that’s surrounded by coral reef graveyards, to let Rapha be absorbed back into his own body that has been dormant there. Once this is done, they discuss a new home for Aara and Ezra.
Upon arrival at Hawaii (Coast Guard Base Honolulu), Captain Lee expresses his uttermost gratitude to Aara for resurrecting his homeland.
Zuri has taken over Dr. Road's role to become the new chief scientist of Aurora, while Ezra has enlisted in the Coast Guard. All celebrate with Thanksgiving dinner at the mess deck, with plentiful food unlike before.
Soon, the cutter Aurora arrives in Tasmania, Australia, the original habitat of the Wombats. Once Aara lays the Bloodstone on the ground, light surrounds the devastated island, turning it into a colorful paradise. Aara picks up the Bloodstone and returns it to Zuri, who nods. Aara and Ezra hold their hands together while Zuri and the Coast Guardsmen bid them goodbye.
Aara waves back. The two of them gaze at each other lovingly, evoking the image of Adam and Eve on this paradise island. A new dawn rises.
THE END