Jian Ning slept for a long, long time. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a future a thousand years away.
Her homeland was gone, and war raged everywhere. This interstellar world, which seemed to exist only in the imagination, was torn apart, with everyone living in fear.
Space stations, particle cannons. Star fleets, imperial alliances. Genetic mutations, hybrid species.
And Jian Ning had become the last naturally born... ancient human woman in the universe.
“She is a remnant of time, a spark that can set the plains ablaze,
a brilliant galaxy in the boundless universe, never to be lost.”
After seeing true death, you will find meaning in every existence, reasonable or otherwise. You will fall in love with the great miracle of being alive.
To be human is no apology.
To be a woman is my pride.
To survive in this chaotic, barren wasteland, rife with violence and death, conscience and compassion are the least valuable things you can possess.
Kara Salva, the unquestioned leader of Wildfire's Kiss and the most notorious bounty hunter on Garbage Star, was known as the Black Widow.
When she happened upon a cryogenic pod from antiquity, an artifact of immense scientific value, she saw a human-shaped woman inside, eyes closed, with faint signs of life.
Pale and frail, bereft of all her memories, she was as harmless as a snow-white flower that could be crushed into the mud at any moment. Kara sold this rare and valuable find without hesitation.
That was, until Kara broke into a black-market tycoon's private bedroom and saw the young woman she'd dismissed as useless dead weight twist her delicate arms around the thick neck of a half-insect man and snap it with ease.
With her frail, outdated body, a blank past, and a stolen unregistered terminal, Jian Ning left the windswept Garbage Star without looking back.
Holy War nuclear weapons, radioactive calamities, invading mutants. The world had endured endless warfare. Warlords carved out territories of their own, genetic matching systems were introduced, and women became sacrifices kept in captivity.
Jian Ning: an undocumented person with no identity code, a low-ranking citizen of a secondary humanoid class, a wanted fugitive with a murder charge and a bounty on her head,
and the last surviving ancient human woman in the universe, bearer of an uncontaminated, pristine genome.
Within her body lay the sequence code that had to be deciphered to save the new human race.
“Women are destined to be weak and submissive, burdened with the duty to reproduce. They are to grow up carefree beneath the shelter of others' wings, untouched by hardship, bear as many descendants as possible in their prime, and then die with honor. This is the fate laid out for them, the destiny assigned to them.”
“No exceptions.”
Jian Ning: Oh? Is that so?
“Women don't need to become strong for the sake of motherhood. They are strong by nature.”
“Gentle and accommodating, or ambitious and driven: these are simply choices.”
“Someone must carry the fire for everyone, blaze a path for the world, become a glow in the dark or a sea of stars. Even if they die and fall, they will have lived without regret.
And when all things are finally over and my soul returns to its resting place, I will have no regrets.”
Life is a journey against the current. Step forward, again and again.
One-sentence summary:
A story about everyone treating me like a lucky charm while I take on the whole lot of them.
Note:
* The worldbuilding is a hodgepodge, with lots of original additions. A serious story with a strong female lead.
* There may be a romantic pairing. No picking sides; let the story unfold.
* Suggestions are welcome, but no writing lectures or personal attacks.
Theme: Seeking an open-minded path forward, not settling for less.
