The meteorite entered the atmosphere on September 16th, 2032. It burned up on the way down, its substance diffusing through the atmosphere, and, unbeknownst to humanity at the time, changing everything. Not long afterward, infants began to be born who had been fundamentally changed in utero by the meteorite, which scientists eventually took to calling Gaia. Although at first seeming normal, the children (anywhere from five to ten percent of newborns after Gaia’s appearance, varying depending on where in the world they were born) grew at an astonishing rate. When they hit puberty, titans, as they were called, already towered over their parents, were more muscular than a heavyweight male bodybuilder regardless of their sex, and stronger than any normal human on record. Puberty kicked a titan’s growth into overdrive, causing them to gain height and muscle at a speed that defied belief. On average, a Titan who had reached eighteen years old was, regardless of sex, a 20-30 foot hulking mountain of superhumanly massive muscle so hard and dense it was bulletproof. Even in adulthood, titans would undergo occasional growth spurts, which came to be known as surges, in which they visibly gained significant height and muscle within a few minutes. When the first generation of titans started turning eighteen, they had already left a lasting mark on the world, and everyone could tell the changes were just beginning.
