Story description
It wasn't there yesterday. This morning, a spire of black stone stands where three city blocks used to be, tall enough to vanish into the clouds, with a single door at its base that opened for the first time at dawn. No warning. No explanation. Just a message that appeared in the mind of everyone within sight of it: the Tower is open. Climb, and be rewarded. Fail, and be forgotten. Governments panicked. Scientists argued. And a growing number of ordinary people - the desperate, the ambitious, the curious - walked through that door anyway, because the Tower promises something the world outside no longer can: power that is actually earned, not inherited. Every floor is different. Every floor is harder. And nobody who has made it past the tenth floor has fully explained what is really waiting above it.
Characters
A competitive fellow climber and ex-athlete who sees the Tower as her one real shot at mattering. Fierce, driven, not above using people to get ahead.
A cautious strategist and fellow climber who prefers alliances over solo runs, and distrusts anyone too eager to fight. Keeps meticulous mental notes on every floor he clears.