Chapter 2 – Synchronization Probability: 43%
Darkness didn't come all at once.
It seeped in slowly, like a curtain being drawn over reality one thin layer at a time.
The lab vanished.
Arin felt no floor beneath his feet, yet he did not fall. Instead, when his senses returned, he found himself standing on something that looked like cracked land suspended in a grey, endless void.
Fragments of continents drifted in the distance. Massive pieces of sky hung broken above him, stitched together by faint, trembling lines of light — as if the planet itself had been repaired too many times… and had finally given up.
This wasn't a dream.
It was too structured. Too consistent.
In front of him, the familiar translucent interface hovered, sharper now.
[Terra Interface: Active]
[Planetary Stability: 21%]
[Previous Guardian: Status — Deceased]
[Global Seal: Active]
Then the line that made everything real:
[Mission 001: Synchronize with the Core]
[Estimated Survival Probability: 43%]
Arin exhaled slightly.
"Not zero," he muttered. "Acceptable."
He raised his hand, not touching the interface, but directing his intention toward it.
The response was immediate.
[Candidate Inquiry Detected]
[Synchronization is mandatory to establish stable link]
[Declining will result in disconnection]
[Planetary Stability will continue to degrade]
Around him, a faint pulsing ran through the broken ground.
Slow. Weak.
A heartbeat struggling to continue.
He understood.
This world was not a vision.
It was Earth, as it felt itself.
"…You're worse off than the reports say," he said quietly.
Another pulse.
A little stronger.
"If I go through with this, it won't be painless, will it?"
A pause.
Then:
[No]
He almost smiled.
"Good. I'd hate for this to be simple."
He straightened.
"Proceed with synchronization."
---
The world reacted.
Pain didn't explode.
Instead, it rushed into him in waves — controlled, precise, intelligent.
It felt as though millions of invisible threads were being threaded into his nerves, his bloodstream, his spine. Every cell resisted, then adapted, then opened.
Information flooded him:
– Roots pushing through dry soil
– Oceans pressed down by unseen weight
– Magnetic fields distorted by something unnatural
– A vast net of foreign energy wrapped around the planet
The Seal.
He felt it for the first time.
It was not made for Earth.
It was put on Earth.
[Synchronization: 12% … 21% … 31%]
His knees hit the fractured ground.
He forced his breathing to remain steady.
In. Two. Three. Four.
Out. Two. Three. Four.
The same technique he once used to survive anxiety attack after anxiety attack.
Now he used it to survive the connection of a planet.
Veins of dim, bluish light spread beneath him like circuitry activating.
[Synchronization: 47%]
"That's higher than predicted," he whispered through clenched teeth.
The sky cracked wider.
Light — not sunlight, something deeper — poured into his body.
Every nerve neuron lit up like it was being rewritten.
[Assessing Candidate…]
[Cognitive Stability — Stable]
[Pain Tolerance — High]
[Adaptability — Exceptional]
[Physical Structure — Weak]
A slight pause.
Then:
[Minimal Enhancement Required]
The energy around him changed shape.
Instead of tearing through him, it wrapped, stabilized, strengthened.
Bones hardened slightly.
Muscles tightened, recalibrated.
Every sensation felt familiar… but refined.
[Synchronization: 79% … 92% … 100%]
The world stopped trembling.
Silence returned.
A single line now hovered before him:
[Synchronization Complete]
[Terra Link Established — 1%]
[Guardian Candidate Status: Confirmed]
He slowly stood again.
The broken land beneath his feet seemed… less broken now.
A small area around him looked more complete, more real.
"You're using me as a stabilizing point," he said quietly.
[Correct]
"And the more I synchronize… the stronger Earth becomes."
[Correct]
"And the more attention that will attract from whoever sealed you."
There was a longer silence this time.
Then, a single word appeared:
[Yes]
Arin looked up at the cracked sky.
"So if they notice…"
The answer came without hesitation.
[Extinction-Level Response Likely]
He nodded slowly.
"…Understood."
The interface shifted again.
[Calibration in progress]
[Biological Enhancement: Minor regeneration increase]
[Neurological Processing: Improved]
[Physical Symptoms: Minimal]
[Recommended Action: Maintain concealment]
The world faded.
---
He was back in the lab.
No time had passed.
The fossil still sat in its container.
The hum of the overhead lights sounded exactly the same.
But his body felt… different.
More "connected."
He turned his head slowly, half-expecting something to be wrong.
Everything looked normal.
Good.
He picked up a small metal blade from the tray and lightly cut his thumb.
Blood surfaced.
Red. Normal.
One second later, the cut began to close.
Not instantly.
But faster than it should have.
He watched, expression empty.
"…So this is the first change."
[Minimal Regeneration Confirmed]
He covered the spot with a glove again.
No one could see.
No one ever does.
From the faint overlay in his vision, one final message flickered:
[Guardian Candidate Directive:]
Remain Invisible. Survive. Evolve.
A corner of his mouth moved — the smallest smile he had allowed himself in years.
"That part I already know how to do."
He looked once more at the fossil.
The dead spine of a forgotten Guardian.
Except…
It wasn't dead.
It had just been waiting.
And now, through him…
Earth had taken its first silent breath.