30 years ago the Calamity changed everything we once knew about the world, and what's beyond it. In middle school, whilst we're still being taught the usual stuff, Math, English, Science, etc., we also begin learning the deeper specifics of how the Calamity came to be, what all had changed after, and how humanity as a whole has progressed since. 20 years before the Calamity hit, Earth was visited by beings from a distant galaxy, these beings simply called themselves the Vraxyn, a highly advanced race of Demi-Humans who were exploring other galaxies. I say Demi-Human because while most looked human-esque, there were some who had beast-like traits, or some who were taller than average, thinner and more lithe, or shorter and stockier like Elves or Dwarves of the legends. Needless to say, they were a vast multifaceted and multicultural race, more so than ours. Best of all, they simply wished to make contact, form an alliance, and share technology with the Human race. Obviously, the first few years were strained and tenuous, but after a decade of cohabitation, both the Vraxyn and the Humans found a common ground and finally managed to establish a truly peaceful society. Technology and quality of life also saw a massive spike, as the Vraxyn introduced Mag-Lev tech for better transportation, Holo-tech for entertainment, businesses, and schools, not to mention numerous advancements in Nano-tech, which skyrocketed the health industry. In the following decade, friendships were forged, society merged, even love began to bloom between the species, as several Vraxyn-Human marriages made headlines all over the world. Alas, this 20 year peace wouldn't last, and what shattered it would stun the entire world, Vraxyn and Human both, for neither races Leaders could have ever predicted it.
On that fateful night, 30 years ago, a group of Scientists from both races were about to put the finishing touches on a project 8 years in the making: a gate or portal that would link the Human and Vraxyn home worlds, Earth and Veraxia respectively, so that interplanetary travel and trade could become possible. The coordinates were input, power source engaged, and both planets were on a timer to flip the switch simultaneously. But the moment the switch was flipped, everything went to hell in a handbasket. From the moment the portals were activated, a massive rift in the Space-time continuum burst forth, and instead of forming a bridge as was intended, a spatial tether was formed. This tether was incredibly powerful, so powerful in fact that the two planets began to be drawn together. Through this Tether and Space-Time rift, the two worlds collided, but instead of breaking apart, exploding, and annihilating quadrillions of citizens, they began to merge. Each planet melding into one another, not only increasing in size but acquiring traits of both planets simultaneously. Mountains shattered or were newly formed, seas retreated and new ones rose, new flora and fauna began to appear, but the biggest change came when the cores of both worlds finally merged, but more on that later. In the end, hundreds of billions of lives were lost, but thankfully the Vraxyan government and military acted quickly and was able to shelter the vast majority of both worlds population via a form of tech that apparently suspended one in a pocket subspace of sorts. This technology hadn't been revealed to humanity yet, but was supposed to be after the bridge had been stabilized. Regardless it was due to this technology that so many were saved, otherwise there would have been no one left to colonize this new amalgamation of a planet.
From what I have learned from both my parents and various instructors, this Planetary Merge lasted almost an entire month, and it finally ended when the world cores of both worlds became one. My father told me his recollection of that moment once, and it still leaves me stunned to this day.
Even though the world had stopped shaking and violently shifting, the merge wasn't complete yet. Unbeknownst to all, while the surface had completed the melding process, the vast inner portions of the world still needed more time. Completely unprepared for what they might find, large groups of people began venturing out of the subspaces to try to ascertain the result of this colossal disaster, including my mother and father . At the time they had just started dating, so I wasn't to be born for quite some time yet, now that i think about it, it was quite lucky they had been together when the alarm was sounded to head for a shelter, otherwise they might not have stuck together and I may have never been born! Ahem, anyway back to the story, so my father had told me that several expeditions were launched in the final months of what he calls The Merge, in order to learn just how much our world had changed. In many of these expeditions, several hundreds of lives were lost, mostly due to arrogance, foolishness, and in-fighting. On the other side of that coin, many lives were also lost due to the new and dangerous environment, be it from poisonous, venomous, or carnivorous flora, or fauna that harbored some those same traits, (albeit much more violent and aggressive), or simply how vastly the topography had changed. These ventures continued for a couple months before the higher authorities finally felt secure enough to begin establishing minor camps along expedition routes, hoping to rekindle the flames of society and civilization once more, and also to bring down the mortality rate of exploration ventures. The night the cores finished aligning and merging, my father was out on an expedition whilst my mother had stayed in the nearby camp, as she wasn't feeling well. He was on his way back to camp after several hours of trudging through overgrown wilderness, when suddenly he and his group heard a strange sound. it sounded much like that of a vibrating hum mixed with the crescendo of a thousand brass horns cascading across the sky. Apparently Mom had heard it too, they both recall seeing what they can only ever describe as a colossal, ethereal tidal wave of cerulean and violet energy, moving at an absolute breakneck speed rushing over them. Afterwards came a feeling almost akin to being kicked in the gut by an angry mule, according to Dad, followed by a feeling of surging strength from within. What happened next put him on his ass in pure shock.