If you want to understand how a disaster can happen in slow motion, you only need to look at Major Adrian Kess.

As the operational commander of the Calderon Geothermal Research Station, Kess is a man who believes that the universe can be kept in order through discipline, hierarchy, and strict adherence to the rules. He is younger than Elias Vey, but he outranks him in practical authority—a dynamic he never lets the disgraced commander forget.

To Kess, the Ashfall Contingency isn’t just a contingency plan; it is a shield. It is a perfectly written document that absolves him of having to make impossible choices. If the plan says the local villagers are not his responsibility, then they are not his responsibility. If the plan says the data is within acceptable parameters, then the mountain is safe.

But as the ground beneath the station begins to fracture, Kess will be forced to confront the fatal flaw in his worldview: reality does not care about the rulebook.

When the alarms finally sound, will Kess have the courage to break the very rules he has built his career upon, or will he simply follow the plan straight into the ash?

The Ashfall Contingency is coming soon. Stay tuned for more glimpses into the world of Veyr and the people fighting to survive there!