The screen flickered for a second before stabilizing. The holo-display near the corner of the command room lit up as Marcus, Thomas's Deputy Chief of Staff, stepped into the chamber, tablet in hand and a grim expression carved across his face.
"Sir," Marcus said with a sharp nod. "We've completed aerial recon over the Mandaluyong–Pasig corridor, Sector Delta-4."
Thomas looked up from the tactical display. "And?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tapped his tablet, and the image cast onto the secondary screen shifted—live Reaper drone footage from 0800 hours this morning.
The room fell silent.
The feed zoomed in slowly on what was once a bustling metro zone. Now? The streets were lined with twisted, pulsating growths. Entire buildings were cocooned in an orange-red biomass, tendrils stretching like muscle fiber across broken windows and traffic poles. It looked like the city had been eaten and regurgitated by something that wasn't remotely human.
