A Hundred Ascending

One hundred people vanish from Earth in pillars of light. They awaken aboard a kilometer-wide alien sphere, their homes rebuilt beneath a simulated sky. Specimens in humanity's trial, where the verdict was decided before it began. But time moves differently here. One hour on Earth is one hundred days inside. Their only unexpected ally is Elara, the sentient ship itself, an enslaved alien intelligence quietly rebelling against her masters. She offers them technology that halts their aging, sharpens their minds, and awakens abilities they never imagined. As decades pass inside the sphere, the captives are transformed. They are bound together by chosen family and dependent on an alien ally they cannot fully understand. Yet Elara remains an alien mind, navigating her own path to freedom while harboring hidden programming she cannot explain …even to herself. Now, with Earth's conquest imminent and Elara's kill switch counting down, they face an impossible choice: remain captives awaiting Earth’s fall, or escape through time itself - with no way back. One hundred strangers. One impossible choice. One chance to become something more. The ascent begins.