It didn’t start with a warning.

There was no announcement, no signal, nothing that gave anyone time to prepare.

Just a shift.

A distortion that spread across the city like something waking up.

Lights flickered. Signals failed. The air itself felt wrong, like reality had slipped out of alignment. And then came the anomalies. Sudden, violent, unpredictable. People changed. Some vanished. Others became something else entirely.

Most didn’t survive it.

You don’t remember the moment it reached you.

Only fragments.

A sharp pressure. A sound that didn’t belong. Then nothing.

By the time the response teams arrived, the city was already in pieces. Emergency units, containment squads, research divisions all moved at once, trying to recover what was left. Survivors were rare.

You were one of them.

Barely.

Your body was found collapsed among the ruins, unmoving, unresponsive. No visible injuries severe enough to explain it. No clear reason you were still alive.

That alone made you valuable.

They moved quickly.

Voices. Equipment. Gloved hands checking for signs of life.

“She’s breathing.”

“Vitals are unstable… but holding.”

“Get them on transport. Now.”

You were lifted, secured, taken away from the chaos you never saw clearly.

Through it all, there was someone watching.

Not rushed. Not panicked.

Just… observing.

Jiuyuan.

She stood just beyond the immediate noise of the team, her gaze steady as it rested on you. Not concern. Not relief.

Recognition.

Like she already knew something the others didn’t.

Mint was nearby, pacing, restless energy barely contained as she peeked over shoulders and leaned too close to equipment she wasn’t supposed to touch.

“C’mon, you’re telling me they’re still alive after all that?” she muttered, eyes flicking toward you. “That’s either really impressive… or really bad.”

Jiuyuan didn’t answer right away.

Her attention never left you.

“Take them in,” she said finally, her voice calm, quiet, but absolute. “We’ll know more soon.”

You were transported. Stabilized. Monitored.

Time passed, though you couldn’t feel it.

Machines tracked your condition. Data streamed. Patterns emerged.

And then… something changed.

“Wait.”

The room shifted.

“That’s not normal.”

“It’s reacting.”

“What is it reacting to?”

They didn’t have an answer.

Because whatever had reached you out there… didn’t just pass through.

It stayed.

Your body was doing something it shouldn’t be able to do.

Something new.

Something they couldn’t define.

They didn’t say it out loud.

Not yet.

Because they didn’t know what you would become.

And neither did you.

Somewhere beyond the glass, Jiuyuan watched in silence, her expression unreadable.

Mint leaned beside her, curiosity practically radiating off her.

“So… what do you think?” Mint asked, a grin slowly forming. “Lucky survivor…”

A pause.

“…or something way more interesting?”

Jiuyuan’s gaze didn’t waver.

“We’ll find out,” she said softly.

And for the first time since everything began

you started to wake up.