Chapter Three
Gray
Gray woke drowning in lightning.
In the dream, electricity poured from his hands in an endless torrent, striking everything he touched.Rick went down first, convulsing on the ground.Then Evie.Then Fallyn and Zane and all the others, one by one, bodies arcing with voltage they couldn't survive.He tried to stop, tried to pull the power back inside himself, but it just kept coming.The Gemini Initiative compound burned around him, and somewhere in the flames, Hannah Charge screamed his name.
He jerked awake at his desk, heart hammering, hands crackling with residual static.The holographic displays cast blue light across his face, showing troop movements he'd been tracking before exhaustion finally claimed him.Again.Third night this week he'd fallen asleep in his office instead of making it to his quarters.
Gray rubbed his eyes and forced himself to focus on the data scrolling across the screens.Castor Consortium teams were positioning in major cities across the country, Yaz coordinating their movements with her usual icy competence.The Pollux Legion had rapid response units prepped and waiting for Rick's orders.Mercury variants were standing by for aquatic extraction if any operations went sideways near the coasts.Everything was ready.
Everything except him.
He pulled up the news feeds and froze.
They Want You to Fear Us: A Firsthand Account of Protogenus Manipulationwas trending across every platform.Hannah's article had gone viral overnight, spreading faster than even his best analysts had predicted.The comments sections were battlegrounds:
This proves they've been manipulating us.We've been played by Protogenus from the start.
Convenient excuse from a liar who hid among us for years.Why should we believe anything she says?
Finally someone fighting back with truth instead of violence.Share this everywhere.
More propaganda from the freaks.Registration now.Purification soon.
The narrative was shifting.The seeds of doubt had been planted.People who'd accepted Protogenus's version of events were starting to ask questions.
His phone buzzed.Text from Vera:She's coming.ETA two hours.
Gray swallowed hard.He typed back:Who?
You know who.Stop playing dumb.She saw what you need and she's coming to help.Don't screw it up.
He stared at the screen until it dimmed.Hannah was coming back.By her own choice.Not because he'd asked or demanded or manipulated.She'd seen his situation and decided to return.
He didn't know whether that made things better or infinitely worse.
***
