ARC Response Command Center – Location Classified
The moment the drone feed from the Pacific anomaly cut to black, everyone in the room went still.
"Signal lost," confirmed one of the technicians, tapping furiously at his keyboard. "We had telemetry. Then… nothing."
On the main screen, the last captured frame hung frozen: a shimmering ripple at the edge of the three-kilometer crack, and behind it — for just an instant — the silhouette of something immense, coiled and serpentine, barely visible in the haze of distortion.
Dr. Mariko Yamada, head of theoretical anomaly research and lead on the international ARC task force, stepped forward. Her eyes were fixed on the screen.
"Rewind the last five seconds," she said.
The playback resumed. Static filled the audio feed, but there was something else beneath it.
A rhythm.
"Filter out the interference. Boost subsonic ranges."
A low hum emerged, layered with pulsing tones — too ordered to be noise.
"It's responding," Mariko muttered.
The others stared at her.
"Responding to what?"
"To the drone," she said, narrowing her eyes. "To us."
Sub-Level Four – Bio-Reactive Containment Lab
Several hours later, in an isolated research lab sealed behind reinforced steel and electromagnetic shielding, scientists examined particles gathered near a minor ARC rupture in the Amazon.
"They're reacting to our bio-signatures," Dr. Malik said, pointing to the shifting molecular structures displayed on a monitor. "Look at this behavior—this isn't chemical or random."
The microscopic fragments, when exposed to human EEG patterns, vibrated in fractal sequences. They changed shape, color, and frequency depending on who stood nearby — as though learning from each new subject.
"It's like they're reading us," Malik whispered.
"No," Dr. Yamada said, standing behind him. "They're mirroring us."
On another screen, synchronized pulses mapped the connections between the eight large cracks and the hundreds of minor ones appearing globally. Together, they formed a living lattice — a grid of energy wrapped around the planet.
"This isn't a spill," she said. "It's a structure. A system."
"What kind of system?" Malik asked.
She answered without turning.
"Terraforming."
Global Broadcast – Filtered Reassurance
By the end of the day, a carefully crafted emergency broadcast played simultaneously across major networks:
"To all citizens,
The recent ARC anomalies, now numbering eight major events and multiple smaller distortions, are being monitored closely.
Current studies indicate the energy emitted is non-lethal and may provide certain beneficial effects to biological life.
Martial law has been enacted in certain regions for public safety. We urge all civilians to remain calm, indoors, and avoid wildlife where possible.
The situation is under control."
The public never heard about reactive particles, intelligent pulses, or the drone that vanished into the unknown.
They weren't told that ARC energy appeared to lessen the effectiveness of modern weapons. Or that animals — some exposed for only days — had begun to mutate violently.
Those details were deemed too dangerous for public knowledge.
Geneva – United ARC Council Chambers
Beneath the neutral soil of Switzerland, twelve world leaders and top scientists sat in a soundproof chamber, faces drawn and pale.
Dr. Yamada presented her findings without embellishment.
"This is not a natural phenomenon. It's deliberate. The cracks are gateways, yes — but they're also instruments of transmission. ARC energy is reshaping Earth's biology, its energy grid, and its neurological baseline."
Someone scoffed. "Are you suggesting it's sentient?"
She tapped her console. The drone's last transmission played again — the pulse, the rhythm, the echo.
"It's not random. It's recursive, mathematical, and context-aware."
The Chinese representative leaned forward. "So it's not just a force. It's a message?"
Yamada nodded. "Or a call. And the world is answering."
A silent pause hung in the air.
The U.S. Defense Secretary broke it. "And how long before people figure this out on their own?"
"Some already are," said the German scientist grimly. "We're seeing ARC-induced neurological spikes in certain individuals — increased aggression, cognitive shifts, some even displaying accelerated healing and strength."
"And the downside?"
Yamada replied, "Mental degradation. Psychosis. In extreme cases… identity breakdown."
"And the upside?"
"We don't know yet."
Behind the Curtain – Mobilization
The truth was quietly weaponized.
Black ops units across the globe began recruiting from urban combat veterans, experimental biowarfare divisions, and intelligence operatives exposed to minor ARC zones.
Satellite networks were recalibrated to track the pulses — now confirmed to surge every twelve hours in unison.
Underground labs in multiple countries began researching the particles — and how to suppress or amplify their effects.
Leaders across the globe agreed on one priority: control the narrative.
Some mutations were to be captured and studied. Others were to be neutralized. Zones were mapped. Surveillance escalated. Dissent was quietly silenced.
The message to the public remained consistent: we are in control.
But they weren't. Not really.
Because something was building beneath the surface — a storm of change that not even the greatest minds could predict or contain.
Elsewhere – The Pulse Continues
Far from labs and government war rooms, the cracks pulsed steadily.
In the heart of the Amazon, trees grew five meters in a week, strangling villages.
In Siberia, wolves the size of horses hunted freely across abandoned roads.
In Tokyo, a small ARC rupture near an elementary school turned house cats into pack-hunters with intelligent, feral coordination.
And everywhere, the energy spread — slow, sure, unseen.
Osaka – A Growing Hum
Back in Osaka, Liam Perez sat in his apartment, unaware of the governments scrambling behind closed doors or the truth buried beneath rehearsed broadcasts.
He lay on the floor, drenched in sweat, the hum in his skull now louder than before. His fingertips tingled when he neared electrical devices. His breath was shallower. Sharper.
And in his dreams, something called to him from within the crack.
He didn't understand the meaning, nor did he want to. Not yet.
But change had already begun.
And unlike the world powers racing to keep pace with the unknown...
Liam had no defenses.
Only instinct.