Outside the tall cafeteria windows, the afternoon light had faded into an oppressive gray. Storm clouds hung low, but offered no rain. The air felt thick. Pressurized. Like a deep breath held by the planet itself.
The storm hadn't broken. But it was there.
And humanity was woefully unprepared.
Across the globe, the military academies began to shift. Curricula rewritten. Simulations hardened. Mentorship replaced with brutal trial by fire. They were no longer training students. They were forging weapons.
Pearl Institute's brutality wasn't madness. It was desperation.
A silent arms race against extinction.
At the moment it was relatively peaceful, but it was the quiet before the storm.
The beasts were waiting!
For the world to wear itself down. For its greatest warriors to burn themselves out in meaningless, territorial squabbles. For its leaders to weaken, to fracture.
And then they'd strike. Everywhere all at once.
