Ground Zero went dark for three seconds.
Three seconds was all it took for panic to spread.
Emergency lights flickered violently across the city while reconstruction sectors lost power one after another. Transport rails screeched to a halt high above the streets as civilians looked around in confusion and fear.
Then came the scream.
Raw.
Terrified.
Resonance carried it farther than sound should have allowed.
Inside the command chamber, Aren staggered backward again clutching their chest.
"It's close…"
Kael was already pulling up emergency feeds.
"Sector Twelve residential district," he said sharply. "Awakening detected inside a civilian shelter."
The holographic screens shifted instantly.
A crowded underground shelter appeared onscreen.
People were running.
Some crying.
Some trying to force emergency doors shut.
And at the center of the chaos—
A young man stood trembling violently while crimson-black resonance spiraled around his body.
Not normal resonance.
Corrupted.
The room froze.
Juvy's expression darkened immediately.
"That's not possible."
But everyone felt it.
The resonance surrounding the awakening resembled the Vessel's pulse.
Cold.
Starving.
The young man screamed again as fragments burst across the shelter walls, sending civilians fleeing deeper underground.
Then the screens distorted briefly.
And for half a second—
A silhouette appeared behind him.
Tall.
Thin.
Watching.
The Vessel.
The image vanished instantly afterward.
Cairo felt his heartbeat drop.
"…It's influencing awakenings remotely."
Kael's voice tightened.
"No."
He zoomed into the resonance readings rapidly.
"…It's feeding through them."
The crimson-black resonance spreading around the young man pulsed like veins beneath his skin.
Every terrified scream inside the shelter made it grow stronger.
Fear itself was becoming fuel.
Aren's fragments trembled uneasily.
"The network is changing again."
Maxruell swore quietly under his breath.
"Well that's deeply horrifying."
The shelter cameras showed civilians cornered against emergency exits while security forces hesitated outside the building.
Nobody wanted another public disaster.
Nobody wanted another Collapse.
And that hesitation only worsened the fear inside.
The young man collapsed against the floor clutching his head.
"Get out of my head!"
Another violent pulse erupted through the shelter.
Walls cracked instantly.
Several civilians screamed.
The crimson resonance expanded further.
Juvy moved first.
"We're going."
Cairo immediately followed.
This time nobody tried stopping him.
Because everyone understood the truth now.
If fear isolated awakenings—
The Vessel would reach them first.
Outside, Ground Zero's skyline flashed beneath emergency warning lights as response units rushed toward Sector Twelve.
But below the panic—
Something else spread quietly through the city.
Whispers.
Rumors.
People had started talking about the Vessel already.
Some called it a monster.
Others called it salvation.
And that terrified Kael more than anything else.
Because ideas spread faster than resonance ever could.
By the time Juvy's team reached the shelter perimeter, the district had already descended into chaos.
Civilians crowded evacuation routes.
Security drones hovered overhead uncertainly.
Some people screamed for the awakening to be killed before things worsened.
Others screamed at security forces for abandoning civilians inside.
Fear everywhere.
Perfect conditions.
The shelter entrance suddenly exploded outward.
Crimson-black fragments tore through the corridor like claws as civilians rushed outside in panic.
Then the young man emerged slowly from the smoke.
His eyes glowed faint crimson now.
Not fully conscious.
Not fully himself.
And behind him—
The shadow of the Vessel flickered again.
Watching through him.
Smiling faintly.
Cairo stepped forward instinctively.
The young man immediately recoiled violently.
"Don't come closer!"
The crimson resonance surged again.
Hungry.
Alive.
Aren grabbed Cairo's arm tightly.
"…It's trying to consume him."
Those words chilled everyone nearby.
Because Origin connected.
The Vessel consumed.
The difference between them had never felt clearer.
Then the corrupted awakening lifted his head slowly—
And dozens of crimson-black resonance threads erupted from his body toward the terrified civilians nearby.