Liam pulled on his jacket, the familiar weight grounding him as he stepped out of his cramped apartment. The air felt heavier, charged with something unfamiliar — a strange electric tension that crawled across his skin.
The normally quiet residential street of Osaka was eerily subdued. A few neighbors peered cautiously from behind curtains; others hurried past, eyes fixed on their phones or the cracked sky above.
The massive fissure still hovered overhead, a three-kilometer-long tear glowing faintly, its edges shimmering with that unworldly ARC energy. Liam's breath hitched as he walked beneath it, the hum from the crack vibrating through the ground.
At a corner shop, a small crowd gathered around a television mounted inside. The reporter's voice was tense but controlled:
*"Breaking news: Authorities confirm eight colossal space cracks have appeared simultaneously across the globe. The locations are confirmed as Los Angeles, the Amazon rainforest, the Sahara Desert, Tokyo, Egypt, Spain, the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica."*
The screen showed a global map marked with glowing red lines slashing across continents and oceans.
*"In addition to these major fractures, hundreds of smaller cracks have been detected randomly across multiple regions. Scientists warn the world to brace for continued instability. Military forces worldwide are mobilizing to contain the situation."*
Liam's gaze drifted upward, then to the people around him — faces etched with fear, disbelief, and disbelief. Mothers clutched children. Soldiers marched in formation nearby, their weapons drawn but unsure.
He pulled his phone out and scrolled through dozens of news alerts. Reports of strange radiation spikes, mutated animals attacking towns, and rising casualties filled the headlines.
A low rumble shook the street. From a distance, Liam could see flickers of blue and orange light dancing across the surface of the crack — like fire trapped behind glass.
He swallowed hard.
This was no ordinary disaster. It was something beyond comprehension — something that would rewrite the rules of the world.
And Liam Perez knew he couldn't just watch from the sidelines anymore.
He tightened his grip on his phone and set off deeper into the city — to find answers, to find his place in a world tearing itself apart.
Liam's steps quickened as he approached a small convenience store near the edge of the residential district. People were already crowding inside and around it, grabbing water bottles, canned food, batteries — anything that might help in the uncertain days ahead.
He joined the queue, trying to remain calm as the tension around him thickened. Murmurs of panic rippled through the crowd.
*"Have you heard? They say the cracks are tearing the earth apart."*
*"The government can't control it. Martial law might be declared."*
*"I saw a dog mutate — it was huge, teeth like knives."*
Liam kept his eyes forward, mind racing. He filled his basket with essentials — instant noodles, bottled water, first aid supplies, a flashlight. His fingers trembled slightly as he scanned the shelves, the hum of the crack still buzzing faintly in his ears.
Suddenly, the lights flickered again and then went out, plunging the store into a tense darkness. Panic erupted instantly.
"Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!" a voice shouted, but it was drowned by the sounds of shouts and footsteps.
Liam turned to see a group of men pushing their way through the crowd, grabbing whatever they could. The calm orderly line dissolved into chaos as some people began fighting over supplies.
He took a deep breath and pushed through the crowd toward the exit, the cold night air hitting his face as he stepped outside.
The streets were becoming unruly. Farther down the road, Liam could see groups of people clashing — civilians and riot police exchanging blows. Fires burned in dumpsters, and smoke curled into the night sky, mixing with the eerie glow of the crack above.
Liam's heart pounded. He knew the fragile order wouldn't last long.
He moved quickly, eyes alert for danger. Somewhere in the distance, a scream pierced the night — not human, something different, something monstrous.
The world was breaking apart.
And so was humanity.
---
Liam tightened the straps of his backpack and cut through a side alley to avoid the growing riot on the main road. The muffled shouts and sounds of smashing glass echoed behind him, replaced by a strange, unnatural quiet.
He paused beside a rusted chain-link fence, catching his breath.
Then he heard it — a low, wet growl.
Not a dog. Not anything normal.
He turned slowly.
At the far end of the alley, in the shadow beneath a flickering streetlamp, a shape emerged. Its body was bloated, muscular, grotesquely warped. Tufts of matted fur clung to slick, pulsating flesh. Its eyes glowed faintly blue, like molten ice. Its snout was twisted and elongated — vaguely canine, but wrong in every way.
It was a dog... once.
Liam took an involuntary step back.
The creature snarled, saliva sizzling as it hit the ground. It crouched low, preparing to lunge.
Liam's mind raced. He dropped his bag and yanked a metal pipe from beside a trash bin. His grip was unsteady, but his stance reflexively shifted — low, balanced. Arnis training from college kicked in like muscle memory.
The beast charged.
He swung the pipe with all his strength, the impact jarring his arms. The creature yelped but didn't stop. It slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Its breath was hot, putrid, suffused with ARC energy.
Liam rolled and thrust the pipe into the creature's mouth just as it tried to bite. He kicked wildly, adrenaline surging.
Then — a lucky strike.
He grabbed a broken shard of glass from the ground and stabbed it into the creature's eye.
It shrieked and stumbled back, crashing into a pile of crates. Liam didn't hesitate. He swung the pipe again, again, and again — until the thing stopped moving.
Blood pooled beneath it, glowing faintly blue.
Liam stood over it, chest heaving, hands shaking.
And then it hit him — a strange warmth spreading through his limbs, like static rising under his skin. His headache vanished. His vision sharpened. His grip steadied.
ARC energy.
It was entering him through the kill.
He stumbled back, horrified.
It felt good.
Too good.
Liam staggered away from the mutated corpse, the bent metal pipe still clenched in his hand. His breath came in short, ragged bursts, not from exhaustion — but from something else.
His heart pounded with unnatural force. His muscles trembled, not from fear, but from saturation — as if something heavy and alien had settled inside his veins.
The silence of the alley closed in on him.
I just killed something.
He dropped the pipe with a clatter and stumbled to the nearest wall, hands bracing against the cold concrete. His reflection caught in a cracked window — blood-smeared, wide-eyed, shaking. The fluorescent gleam in his pupils wasn't there before. It shimmered faintly, like a spark beneath the surface.
He wanted to vomit. But nothing came out.
It attacked me. It wasn't human.
No — it was a dog. It used to be a dog.
A lump formed in his throat. His knees buckled and he slid down the wall, hugging his arms around himself. The high from the fight—the rush, the power—had felt good. Too good.
That scared him more than the monster.
This energy… it's doing something to me.
He sat there for minutes—maybe longer—until the distant wail of police sirens snapped him out of it. He looked down at his hands. The trembling was gone.
He was calm.
Too calm.
He pushed himself to his feet and checked his reflection again. His eyes were sharper. His fatigue was gone. His arms felt... stronger. No bruises. No cuts. Just residual blood that wasn't his.
Then he noticed something else.
He could hear more. Distant whispers—low murmurs from blocks away. Every rustle of the wind. Every scuff of rubber soles on pavement. The world had become clearer. Crisper. Like tuning a static-filled radio into a perfect signal.
The ARC energy. It's rewiring me.
But at what cost?
He picked up his bag, wiped his hands on his jacket, and walked out of the alley with a strange new focus.
He didn't know what he was becoming.
But this was only the beginning.