Buried beneath the ruins of the old capital was the functioning center of the Union of Columbia, or what remained of it.

The President sat still in his office, the woes of the frozen world above of no concern to him. He was flanked by generals, cabinet members, analysts, and scientists.

The bunker complex was self sustaining, and considerably more formidable than that which Dean had rushed the production of beneath his own meager home.

The lead scientist among those gathered stepped forward and pointed to a chart, more specifically a star circled in red.

He pushed up his glasses before speaking, his voice struggling not to tremble as he made his hypothesis clear.

"Our team has identified the most likely culprit of the phenomenon that has struck Terra and triggered the drastic shift in climate. This star right here, IK Pegasi B, one of two stars in the IK Pegasi system, is believed to have gone supernova. Considering it is roughly 154 light years away from the Sol System it is within a range that is believed to have cascading effects to our solar system, including rapid climate change, a massive increase in radiation, and other effects that are currently under study."

The President sat there, gazing at the image displayed. The explanation made very little sense to him, but he wasn’t exactly an expert in astrophysics.

Yet he looked relatively unphased, if anything he seemed slightly bored by the explanation, instead looking directly to the future rather than the cause of their current predicament. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"If that is true, then what exactly are our solutions? And how long will this damn snow continue to last?"

The lead scientist shot a hesitant glance towards his team, who equally responded in kind, none of them wanted to say the truth, and because of that the lead scientist stepped forward and did it with all the strength he could reasonably muster.

"Unfortunately, there is no way to know. The best case scenario? A few decades..."

His words trailed with unease, something the Vice President picked up on immediately as he shouted far more sternly than the President had been before him.

"A few decades? You must be kidding me! The entire species could be extinct by then if things continue as they have been!"

The scientist’s brow sweat profusely, he couldn’t say it.... But he had to... There was a high inflection as he spoke, showing his confidence shatter.

"As I said that is the best case scenario...."

The President raised his hand, knowing that the Vice President was about to break out into an outburst on his behalf, instantly silencing the man as if he were a hound whose leash he had just yanked on.

Once the room had gone silent, the President folded his hands beneath his chin and stared the scientist down.

"If that is our optimal projection, then what is the absolute worst case scenario?"

The room once more went quiet as all the scientists stared at one another with dread. Finally, one of them blurted out the figure none of them had dared speak aloud.

"Thousands of years... potentially even hundreds of thousands depending on how much damage has been done to the ozone layer, and depending on how much of the cosmic rays have already bombarded us and how much are yet to come."

The words that escaped the scientist’s mouth were like a death sentence handed out, not to a common criminal, but to the entirety of the human race. All the men stood in abject horror at what they just heard.

And the Vice President was forced to sit down, lest he’d collapse to the floor in shock. All the vibrant rage that had consumed him moments ago was thoroughly snuffed out by this revelation.

Finally, the Lead Scientist stepped forward and spoke softly, but gently. As he reassured everyone in the room.

"Frankly speaking, sir... we are lucky you acted decisively when you did. And evacuated all critical government personnel and useful assets to fortified complexes like this. If not, our chances of survival as a species would be much lower. Because the truth of the matter is, we could see up to or exceeding 99% of all life extinguished in just five to ten years. And no doubt we have already seen such... depopulation in the coldest regions, especially those above the habitable zone."

The decision to swiftly and decisively abandon the country at large, and focus on preserving what could be preserved had been a controversial action in the halls of the Capitol. But it had been necessary.

And it had proven to be the single saving grace to come from this whole apocalyptic series of events.

But that did not fill anyone’s hearts with ease or comfort. They were already barely managing to maintain things as they were. However, if what the scientists said was true, then effective immediately there were certain changes that needed to be made.

The President reached forward towards the glass sitting on the edge of his desk and poured himself two fingers of whiskey on the rocks.

He took a slow sip and paused for dramatic effect. When he spoke, he spoke with the weight of not just the Union of Columbia, but the entirety of the human race behind him.

"There are going to be some changes around here.... Effectively immediately, democracy is suspended indefinitely. And the first act I am going to make is a total repeal of the 19th Amendment and all the liberties that followed."

The men in the room silently looked at one another with equal parts understanding and dread. Because the moment they went back to their wives and daughters and explained their role in the new world order, they would never hear the end of it.

The President didn’t allow the thought to fester. He quickly rose from his seat and stared at everyone gathered, giving them a single order.

"You are all dismissed...."

The men fled the room in orderly fashion, leaving the President to look behind him at the office, which was a perfect mirror of the one in the ruins above the surface. Even the "windows" projected a fake scene of a world that no longer existed.

He sighed heavily before smirking a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

"It’s about damn time that old bitch named liberty finally croaked...."