"Turn it up, Kael!" I shouted."I'm trying, Osric! The signal is trash!" Kael’s voice came through the speakers.The room was cold. We were in a gutted office building that I now called my throne room. It didn't feel like a palace. It felt like a tomb. Jax stood by the window, his hand on his holster. "Is that a distress call?" Jax asked."It’s coming from Pennsylvania," Kael said. "An inland city. Allentown, I think."The static cleared for a second. A woman’s voice screamed. It was a high, thin sound that made my hair stand up. "Please! Anyone! They’re inside the hospital! They’re not human anymore! They’re eating—"The signal cut out."Did she say they’re eating people?" Ross asked. The General walked over to the table. He looked tired. "Is this the Gardeners? Did the harvest start?""No," I said, looking at the Pearl in my hand. "The Gardeners use beams. They use drones. They don't eat people. This is something else.""Maybe it's a virus," Miller said. The former President was s

The humid air of the Amazon hit us like a wet blanket the moment we stepped off the chopper. We hacked through the thick vines, our boots sinking into soil that didn't feel right."Look at this grass," Jax said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "It’s not supposed to be blue.""It’s not just blue," I said, kicking a clump of the stuff. "It’s glowing. The whole jungle is dying because of it.""Kael, you seeing this through the drone?" Jax asked, looking up at the small machine buzzing above us."I see it," Kael’s voice came through the comms. "The moss is spreading fast. It’s like a virus. It’s eating the trees and replacing them with that glowing junk.""Where is the source?" I asked."About five hundred yards ahead," Kael said. "I’m picking up a massive heat signature underground. Watch your step, Osric. The readings are off the charts.""I don't like this," Jax muttered, gripping his rifle. "Everything feels wrong. Even the birds stopped chirping.""Keep moving," I said. "We didn't co

Everything was black. Mud was everywhere. It was in my mouth. It was in my eyes. It was filling my gills."You’re drowning in the dirt," the Director laughed. "How does it feel to be a fish out of water?""Shut... up..." I tried to say. Only mud came out."I can't hear you," the Director said. "I guess you're finally finished."I couldn't move. My lungs were screaming. My gills were useless. The mud was too thick.[WARNING: GILLS COMPROMISED. OXYGEN LEVELS AT 4%. IMMEDIATE EVOLUTION REQUIRED.]"Do it," I whispered in my mind. "Do whatever you have to do."[INITIATING TIER-4 EVOLUTION: DUAL-LUNG ADAPTATION.]My chest felt like it was being ripped open with a hot iron. I wanted to scream, but the mud held my mouth shut. My ribs were cracking. My insides were shifting. It was the worst pain I had ever felt."What's happening down there?" The Director asked. "The sensors are going crazy. Are you finally exploding?""I'm... changing!" The words muffled by the mud.My chest expanded. I felt

"Zero!" The computer screamed.Not only did the world end. It shattered. I felt the blue energy inside me swell like a balloon about to pop."I've got you!" I yelled to the people on my back. "We're dead! We're dead!" The man shrieked. "Shut up and hold on!" I roared.I punched the door. I let the power go. A massive wave of blue electricity ripped out of my skin. It was a bio-electric discharge. It hit the yellow gas and turned it into a wall of flame."My eyes! It burns!" the woman cried. "Keep them shut!" I ordered. "Don't breathe the fire!"The explosion was bigger than anything I had ever felt. The ground under me vanished. The walls turned into scrap metal. "Osric! Report! Osric!" Jax was screaming in my ear."I'm here!" I coughed. "What was that blast?" Kael asked. "The drone feeds just went white!""I burned the gas!" I yelled. "Is the roof still there?""The roof is gone, man!" Jax shouted. "You blew the top right off the lab! I can see you through the smoke!"I looked up. T

"Move faster!" I roared. My voice echoed across the dark surface of the Atlantic.Millions of Drowned workers were swarming in the water. They were hauling the massive, white ribs of dead Leviathans. They were stacking them into a pile that looked like a mountain growing out of the abyss."Osric, the satellite feeds are going nuts!" Jax’s voice crackled in my ear. "The whole world is watching this! They think you're building a tomb!""It’s not a tomb, Jax," I said. "It’s a ladder.""A ladder made of bones?" Kael asked. "Is that even stable?""The System says it is," I replied. "Start the next phase. Bring the heavy skeletons to the center!""You heard the boss!" Jax yelled. "Get those Drowned moving! We need a base that can support a hundred miles of bone!"I watched as the workers stacked the remains. They didn't use cranes. They used their hands and my energy. I stood at the very center, on a small patch of dry rock."The wind is picking up, Osric!" Kael shouted. "We’ve got a Categ