Heres a cool but eery plotline imagine a time is coming where only a few know that an asteroid is going to reset the world. One of them is a rocket engineer who was casually building rockets to ferry cargo for NASA. But then upped his launch rate, began building recyclables vehicles and with every launch was secretly sending a payload to a platform he put in place secretly. In the end, is the man a hero?

That’s an intriguing premise! The ambiguity of the engineer’s heroism adds depth to the story. Here’s an expansion:

The asteroid’s impending arrival is known only to a shadowy few, including the engineer, who stumbles upon the classified data while contracted by NASA. Recognizing the futility of conventional countermeasures and the reluctance of authorities to act openly, he begins working covertly.

Using his expertise and access, he repurposes his private launches to construct a hidden orbital platform. His payloads contain essential technologies, seeds, genetic material, and instructions to preserve human knowledge and biodiversity. As time runs out, his efforts are discovered, and he faces accusations of treason and wasting critical resources.

The twist comes after the asteroid strikes. His platform, a self-sustaining sanctuary, becomes humanity’s ark. Survivors on Earth and in orbit look to it as their only hope for rebuilding civilization. Some see him as a visionary savior, others as an arrogant elitist who gambled on a personal vision while the world burned.

**Key questions for the story to explore:**
– Was the engineer morally justified in acting unilaterally?
– Did he save humanity—or just a select few on his terms?
– What happens when survivors turn to his vision for their future? Does the ark represent salvation or a new dystopia?

You could push the tension further by revealing that the engineer deliberately withheld knowledge of the asteroid to avoid mass panic—raising questions of manipulation versus foresight.