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Dawn broke like a silver veil over the fractured city.
For a brief moment, the world seemed calm. The evacuation camp was almost entirely vacant. Only the last armored trucks were preparing to depart with the mid-ranking Sifs and the wounded.
Atop a remnant building, which once housed one of the war command centers, Mei, Dan, Stella, and Fenra sat around a metal table, surrounded by holographic screens, mugs of hot tea, and a few hand-scribbled notebooks.
— Okay, answer this for me — Dan said, pushing a sheet of paper toward Mei. — If the tree's spiritual heat is turning into an inverse energy, why do the sensors still react as if it's life?
— Because it is life. Just not in a form we recognize — Stella replied, taking the paper and pointing with her fingertip. — This here is an inverted birth cycle. The tree isn't dying… it's generating. But something… contaminated.
— Like a corrupted womb — said Fenra, typing rapidly on her console. — Or perhaps a parasite that has taken over the tree's system.
— Vegetal possession? — Dan let out a laugh. — Now I've heard everything.
Mei, her gaze distant, was doodling in the corner of the report—a circle, and inside it, the form of a woman with roots sprouting from her back.
She was quiet. But watching.
— And you, Mei? What do you think? — Stella asked.
Mei looked at the doodles, then raised her golden eyes. The morning light made them shine in an almost mystical way.
— I think the tree… is choosing what to keep alive.
Before they could continue, an alert sounded on Fenra's communicator.
Three quick beeps. A red priority code.
Fenra answered immediately, projecting the face of Dr. Elise Monnard in the air—sweaty, worried, a mask poorly fitted on her face.
— Forgive the interruption, but you need to come here. Now.
— What happened? — asked Mei, already rising from her chair.
Elise swallowed hard, her eyes wide.
— It's Bubble Thirty-Four. We've detected a humanoid form in a fetal state. Fully developed… and alive.
Silence fell like a rock.
Dan stood up slowly. Stella held her breath.
— A fetus? — said Fenra. — What do you mean?
— Sending the data now — Elise replied. — But I'll tell you this: the pulse has started. It's… growing. The energy inside is familiar… powerful… and ancient.
— We're on our way — said Mei, already walking toward the post's elevator.
She cast one last look at the doodles on her sheet.
That figure… now it made sense.
What I saw when I was trapped in that dimension.
I killed her, didn't I?...
Vernasha...
And whatever was in that bubble…
Should never have been conceived.
The group reached Bubble Thirty-Four in under four minutes.
The field was surrounded by energy containment towers and scanning mirrors. Heavy humidity hung over the purple vegetation, which slowly curved toward the central bubble—a black sphere, suspended three meters above the ground, pulsing with a greyish glow and a low sound, like a distant breath.
This bubble was larger than the others.
And more… alive.
Elise Monnard waited for them with two armed, pale researchers, their medical clothes smudged with dirt and sweat.
— It started pulsing just before sunrise — Elise said, running alongside Fenra as the group approached. — We used density sensors, spiritual spectrums, and ultrasounds. The interior has a humanoid silhouette. In a fetal position. With a bone structure and heartbeats. It's already... fully formed.
Mei walked in front, her eyes fixed on the dark cocoon. She felt the vibration in the ground, a faint echo rising through her legs. As if the very earth were waking up.
Dan narrowed his eyes.
— Do you have an image of the silhouette?
Elise nodded and projected the hologram. The image was distorted, grainy, but clear enough. The form inside the bubble had its arms crossed over its chest, long hair floating, and a thick membrane enveloping the body.
— That… looks human. But the energy isn't — Stella whispered.
— It's familiar — said Fenra, frowning. — But displaced. As if it were born here… yet doesn't belong.
Mei moved closer to the bubble. The structure did not react to her presence. It merely pulsed—slow, rhythmic, constant.
She squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to feel something… an emotion, a memory. But what came from it was emptiness. Absolute silence. Like a heart that learned to beat in the dark, far from any light.
— What about the rest of the vegetation? — Dan asked. — These roots are growing faster and faster.
— We haven't been able to contain the spread — Elise replied. — The leaves are communicating with each other. When we touch one, another responds from across the plain.
— This is no longer vegetation — said Stella. — It's a nervous system.
Tekio approached with Aisha and Akira, who had arrived with the second group. They carried equipment, their eyes watchful.
— Any news? — asked Tekio, lightly touching Mei's shoulder.
— Yes — Mei replied, without taking her eyes off the bubble. — We have something… being gestated here.
— That's not possible… — Akira said in a low tone. — Something with that energy… shouldn't exist.
— But it does — Fenra stated, categorically.
And then, everything stopped.
One of the soldiers surrounding the bubble ran to Elise, pale.
— Ma'am! We've just lost contact with the Core of the Tree of Life.
Everyone turned immediately.
— What do you mean, lost contact? — said Fenra, already activating her tablet.
— There were no automatic alerts — the soldier replied, trembling. — It was… immediate. The cameras went down. The sensors too. Everything stopped.
— Show the last recordings — Mei ordered, her voice low and firm.
Elise activated the panel. A flickering hologram began to display the final images. First, the main corridor of the Tree's chamber, where specialists and soldiers were working. Then… a sudden power drop. A sharp sound. A feminine presence appeared in the corner of the image—shrouded in white and shadows, her hair floating as if the air around her had stopped.
One second.
The image cut out.
The monitor went dark.
Silence.
— What… was that? — Stella murmured.
— Something came out from inside the Tree — Elise whispered. — But we don't know how. Or when. We only know that… it killed everyone inside in less than four seconds.
Fenra raised her eyes slowly.
— And that wasn't a random attack. She knew where the panels were. She knew how to erase everything without triggering the alarms. She knew exactly what she was doing.
The silence was palpable.
Mei narrowed her eyes, her fists clenched.
— We split up.
She turned to the others, her golden eyes gleaming like blades.
— Fenra, Dan, Stella: you stay with me. We'll maintain control here and understand what this bubble is trying to generate.
— And us? — asked Tekio.
— Tekio, Aisha, Akira… go to the Tree of Life. Enter carefully. Record everything. Find out who… or what came out of there. And if you think you can't handle it — she looked deep into Tekio's eyes — do not engage. Just come back alive.
— Understood — Akira said firmly.
— We'll move quickly — Aisha added.
Tekio nodded. But before leaving, he looked one last time at the bubble. His eyes glowed, and for an instant… he felt it.
An echo.
A name buried in his soul.
But he said nothing.
The trio departed in silence.
Meanwhile, at the center of the purple vegetation, Bubble Thirty-Four pulsed.
Stronger.
And in the depths of the sacred trunk… something lurked.
To be continued...