Analysis

The Black Hawk thundered low over the skeletal skyline of Ortigas.

From above, the city no longer looked like a city. It looked like something a god had bled on. The once-familiar geometry of towers and intersections was now a writhing sculpture of orange and crimson veins. Biomass stretched from rooftop to rooftop like parasitic webs. The largest Bloom Nest, visible even from five kilometers out, loomed like a tumor in the heart of the business district.

Inside the bird, Phillip adjusted his AVF Mk II visor, toggling through filters until thermal and biochemical overlays came online. The other members of Shadow Team sat silent and focused. Ghost was seated beside him, arms crossed over his carbine, visor already locked in.

"Five minutes out," the pilot called over comms.

Phillip keyed his mic. "Copy. Drop us on the rooftop of Robinsons Summit Tower. It's the highest vantage with minimal vine coverage."