My name was Michael Thomas Jacobson, I am now known as The Old Sage Mike. I was born into a world that has fallen into the realms of legend, but that legend has strayed far from the truth, and so I write this account so that others may know. I saw my world crumble and then explode. 

The world began to die many years prior to the Last Day. For nearly a century prior to my own birth, war, famine and deadly diseases had become obsolete. Law and order was enforced by the United World Government, the world's weather was controlled by sophisticated system of satellites, and genetic researchers had developed ways to feed and immunize increasingly larger populations around the world. As a result, people lived longer, richer lives. For a while, many thought they had created paradise on earth, but they were wrong. The civilization built by the hand of man could no longer sustain its own growth. Over 60% of the world's land masses and 17% of the world's waters were covered by concrete, asphalt and duralloy. The newest housing and development projects for the wealthy took precedence over maintenance of existing infra-structures in the cities where generally poor and elderly citizens lived. These areas of the old cities were in constant state of disrepair- roads, homes and businesses either abandoned or looking like they should be, while only moments away via hover bus stood a brand new multi-million dollar government complex paid for by those people's tax.

The accelerated use of robots and androids in manufacturing and office work was at first seen as a boon to both employers and employees alike, but as these mechanical workers became more and more adept at their tasks, employers were quick to see that the employees themselves were no longer necessary. This resulted in millions of layoffs and massive unemployment world wide, causing a major economic collapse. The United World Government intervened, requiring at least one human worker per three robots or androids on the job-site. The remaining displaced workers were given training and stipends, but in the end, hundreds of thousands more swelled the ranks of the poor and homeless. Abandoned homes and businesses became makeshift apartment complexes for many until local law enforcement agencies forced them out, back into the cracked and ruined streets.

I saw my world crumble. People were living longer but most would grow to hate nearly every moment of it. Protests and demonstrations began to become commonplace. At first, the United World Government ignored the scenes, but after a while, the media were persuaded to portray the demonstrators as anarchists and malcontents. People with jobs and security and homes saw the United World Government as the source of their prosperity and could not fathom why anyone would want to criticize the system. Protests turned into riots when "loyalists" would clash with "anarchists" on narrow decaying streets. These riots were then suppressed by the world military, sometimes in extreme fashion destroying entire blocks of the old cities, killing many and creating even more homeless. 

I remember the Last of Days which was followed by the Long Night very clearly. I was one of the privileged few, a supervisor over many robots and androids. I was driving my hover-vette from Omaha to Des Moines. While discussing plans for the day with my top supervisory borg, Giff, the transmission was suddenly cut, replaced by static and white noise and snow on the vid. Looking ahead to the east, I saw the sight I can never forget. There on the horizon, approximately 30 miles away, a big red cloud formed into the tell-tale mushroom shape. My heart stopped and my foot hit the decellerator. Spinning around the way I came, I saw the other red mushroom engulfing the west. I pulled off to the side into a field of gen-enhanced corn-mato plants and threw up. A short while later I was joined along the side of the road, by other drivers, some not nearly as lucky as I. The advanced design of my hover-vette had protected me from the worst of the radiation. Of those that pulled off into the field with me that day only five survived the burns and radiation poisoning. Those remaining five were sick for many weeks. We built a shelter from our various vehicles and survived on corn-matos while waiting for the sun to reappear. It did not. When the other survivors recovered, they had been changed. Alex could start a fire just by thinking about it, and his wife Jan slapped me in the face twice before I realized she could hear my thoughts. Their son's bones were turned rubbery and he was able to twist his body into improbable shapes and stretch his arms and legs for many feet. We thought we had lost his little 3 year old sister, until it was discovered she could become invisible. The fifth survivor, Gus, was a hover-trucker, big and burly before, he actually seemed to grow in size as he recovered from the radiation sickness and he had gained the strength of 10 men. I had seemed totally unaffected by the radiation, and for many years that is what I believed.

Then the ghouls came. We think they were survivors from the outskirts of the cities. They came to look for food and they were not very particular about where the meat came from. Alex, Gus, Jan and I fought them off, but we realized we could not stay in the field forever. We decided to part. Each taking our own vehicles in different directions; each vowing to contact the others if we discovered any traces of civilization. I never heard from them again, nor did I ever discover why the nukes were dropped, and now 337 years later, I doubt I ever will.