Deep beneath the bustling streets of Shanghai, in a command center that did not officially exist, the world was being rendered in streams of data. A woman named Mei Lin, her face illuminated by the cool blue light of a holographic display, watched the data flow. Her uniform was a simple, severe black, marked only with the silver insignia of the Ministry of State Security's newly formed Abnormal Phenomena Division. On the screen before her, a map of China flickered with dozens of red alerts, each one representing an incident logged in the seventy-two hours since the "Crimson Rain."
Most were low-level: reports of aggressive animals, impossible plant growth, minor infrastructure damage. They were anomalies, but manageable ones. Then there was the file her analyst had flagged, forwarded from a local police precinct. A rabid dog attack. A broken dojo door. A single witness report of a "spark."
Alone, it was nothing. But cross-referenced with the satellite data, it was everything.
"The energy spike was localized and lasted 0.8 seconds," a technician reported from his console. "The signature is unlike anything we have on file, but it matches the theoretical models for bio-kinetic energy conversion. It's a positive."
Mei Lin zoomed in on the subject's file. Lin Feng. Thirty-one years old. Former member of the "Dragon's Fang" special forces unit. Honorably discharged after a mission went sideways. Currently a civilian martial arts instructor. A highly trained operative with a dormant psychological trauma trigger. He was the perfect storm of discipline and volatility.
"He hasn't replicated the event?" she asked, her voice calm and measured.
"No, Director. Our long-range surveillance shows no further energy readings. He appears confused, perhaps even frustrated. He's trying to understand what happened."
"Good," Mei Lin said, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. "Keep him under Tier-Two observation. No contact. I want to see how he adapts on his own. We need to know what we are dealing with before we collect these... assets." She looked at the map, at the growing number of red dots. "Find me more like him."
Jack Wilson had turned his ruined lab into a sanctuary of discovery. He had managed to siphon a trickle of power from Specimen 734, channeling it through a jury-rigged capacitor into his personal tablet. The crystal was a key, and he was beginning to learn how to turn it. The energy it held wasn't just raw power; it was intelligent, programmable. He could feel its flow, could almost coax it with thought alone.
He was so engrossed in his work, mapping the crystal's energy pathways, that the sharp, metallic rap on the sealed lab door made him jolt, nearly dropping the precious specimen.
"Dr. Wilson?" a familiar, bland voice called from the other side. "This is Agent Coulson. We'd like a word."
Jack's blood ran cold. The men in suits. He had expected a hazmat team, a security lockdown, perhaps even a lawsuit for destroying millions in government-funded equipment. He unlocked the door to find two men, the same ones who had delivered the crystal, standing impassively in the hallway. They didn't even glance at the devastation behind him. Their eyes were fixed on him.
"Impressive," the lead agent said, his lips curling into what might have been a smile. "You not only survived a full-spectrum energy release, your biological markers are... optimal. Far better than the other subjects."
"Other subjects?" Jack asked, his mind racing.
"The event in your lab was not isolated. Similar, smaller energy releases have been detected globally. You, Dr. Wilson, are the first person to have been at the epicenter of a major one and not only survive, but... improve." The agent stepped inside, his polished shoe crunching on shattered glass. "Your work here is done. We're launching a new initiative. Project Aegis. Unlimited funding, access to all our data, and a chance to study this phenomenon on a scale you can't even imagine. We think this is the next stage of human evolution, Doctor. And we want you to help us control it."
The offer hung in the air, a perfect, irresistible piece of bait. It wasn't a request. Jack knew a command when he heard one.
As he packed his essential data and the inert crystal under their watchful eyes, a news report played on a small screen in the agents' vehicle, the audio muted. The images flashed by in a silent, ominous montage:
A chaotic scene at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza, where soldiers were holding back a crowd from a strange, shimmering light.
Grainy satellite footage of a section of the Amazon rainforest, now a deep, unnatural shade of green, expanding at a visible rate.
A breaking news banner from Tokyo, with headlines about the complete shutdown of the city's subway system due to an "unprecedented and aggressive" infestation of vermin.
Jack looked from the screen to the black stone in his hands. It was happening everywhere. And he was no longer just a scientist observing the storm. He was being handed a seat in its very eye.