The Vitrified Mantle

On the barren, geology-starved continent of Locris, human life is an engineered miracle. Seven colossal, pre-cataclysm Mantle Spires dredge sub-atomic magma from the planet's core, synthesizing endless streams of fresh water, synthetic grain, and structural polymers for five militarized industrial powers. When Spire Four abruptly chokes on its own feed and vomits an expanding tide of light-devouring obsidian glass, the fragile peace between nations disintegrates into panic and accusations of resource theft.

Leonthes, an exhausted counter-sabotage praetor for the Thessalian Union, wades through starving breadline riots to inspect a grain silo turned into solid black bedrock. Deep beneath the crust, Nauplian bore-mechanic Thalassia navigates boiling coolant flues where automated repair swarms have begun hunting their human handlers. In low orbit, Hegemony lance-director Isidoros watches weapon telemetry that blames surface saboteurs, even as his orbital thermographs prove the rot is rising from the inaccessible planetary mantle. As the expanding glass swallows entire border cities and continental war looms, three sworn enemies must untangle a machine purge older than their nations before the continental crust collapses into the void.