Chapter 11: Faultlines

The city looked normal from above.

That was the lie.

Anthony sat on the edge of a rooftop, staring down at Abuja's skyline. Traffic crawled. Drones hovered. Shopkeepers shouted under patched canopies, and kids chased each other barefoot down broken alleys.

But below the surface—beneath the heat and noise—was a hum. Not from machines.

From people.

He could feel it now.

The resonance.

It wasn't words or thoughts—it was pressure, vibration, emotion carried in the invisible threads that stitched the world together. Since the Beacon had activated and connected him to Emmy, it hadn't stopped.

He was no longer just seeing energy.

He was inside it.

Confidence emerged from the stairwell behind him, holding a tablet. Chi-Chi followed, her braids tied back, kinetic sparks dancing at her fingertips as if her nervous system was constantly reheating.

"We intercepted another Sigma broadcast," Confidence said grimly. "They've escalated."

Anthony raised an eyebrow. "What now?"

She handed over the tablet.

Live footage filled the screen.

TOKYO:

Streets flooded with light. Not sunlight—pure Pulse-radiation shaped into creatures. Transparent giants. Serpent-like constructs weaving through skyscrapers. Seigun forces fired desperately as Shibuya collapsed into glittering data fragments.

CAPE TOWN:

"Entire districts swallowed by glowing fog," a news anchor sobbed on-screen, face smeared with soot. "Gone. Just gone."

SEOUL:

A satellite feed showed what looked like writhing circuitry spreading from the Blue House's foundations—glowing with Pulse-light and reshaping matter like liquid code.

Anthony's fingers clenched around the tablet.

"This isn't random," he said. "These attacks—they're echoes."

"Of what?" Chi-Chi asked.

He turned to her. "The Beacons waking up."

Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed. "So it's not just Abuja. Every major city with a hidden Beacon node is starting to shake."

"More than shake." Confidence zoomed in on a still frame: a flash of one of the creatures in Tokyo. Its eyes glowed Vanta-Blue.

"They're not just creatures," she said. "They're responses. Like antibodies. Or maybe... scouts."

Anthony stood. "Responses to what?"

Chi-Chi was already scanning. "To us. Variants. Or maybe just the awakened ones like you and Emmy. The Beacons are alive, Tony. Intelligent."

"They're trying to accelerate evolution," Anthony said. "And culling the unworthy."

Confidence nodded slowly. "And now the E.E.A. is copying them."

---

Later that day, they moved to a safehouse near Utako.

Ken paced, jaw locked, after watching the latest E.E.A. announcement.

"We call it Project Threshold," a sleek officer said on the holoscreen. "A new phase in Pulse containment and national security. All citizens will undergo enhanced scanning. All unregistered abilities will be neutralized for the good of humanity."

The screen flickered.

A second face took over.

Commander Idara.

Her pale eyes and static-touched voice filled the room.

"Ascension belongs to the disciplined," she said. "To the loyal. To the strong. To the selected. Not the wild. Not the unmeasured."

Doris flinched. Ken punched the wall.

"She's coming for Emmy."

Anthony looked toward the hallway, where Emmanuella lay on a mattress, her skin glowing faintly. Her breathing had stabilized, but her mind was still deep in the network—linked to others like her.

"She already has," Anthony said softly. "They've tagged her Tier A now. She's not invisible anymore."

Chi-Chi pulled up more intel.

"They're deploying mobile labs. Brain-mapping. DNA harvesting. They're not just scanning—they're harvesting."

Confidence threw her tablet down. "They're building a Tier Army."

"No," Anthony said.

Everyone turned.

He stepped into the light. His skin was darker around the edges—energy pulsing under the surface like nebulae under skin. His voice felt heavier now, more solid. When he spoke, it wasn't a suggestion.

"They're not building an army," he said. "They're stacking the deck. Making sure only their chosen Variants survive the next phase."

Ken swallowed. "So what do we do?"

Anthony's eyes burned with faint Vanta static.

"We show them what happens when a ghost steps through the door they locked."

---

That night, Anthony stood on the rooftop again.

The stars above looked wrong.

Some twinkled in odd patterns. One—above the northern horizon—was moving. Not like a satellite.

More like an eye repositioning.

> BEACON NETWORK ACTIVE

> GLOBAL PULSE NODES SYNCHRONIZED

> INITIATING PHASE THREE

His bones ached with the signal.

He dropped to his knees, sweat beading along his brow. The serpent inside him writhed—not in pain, but in anticipation.

"I see you," he whispered to the sky.

From inside the building, Emmy gasped and sat up, breathing hard.

"Tony—" she whispered. "They're not just watching anymore."

Her eyes glowed. Not just golden. Vanta-glow ringed with violet.

"They're choosing now.