The Monarch command center buzzes with activity. Screens glow with Titan signatures, while the hum of machines fills the air. Since the loss of key figures, Monarch has grown into something new—more open, more determined. The research tables are cluttered with coffee-stained reports, Titan sketches, and Hollow Earth maps. The team moves like clockwork, each member absorbed in their role.

Dr. Ilene Andrews reviews seismic charts, while Jia sits close by, sketching Kong with quiet focus.

Dr. Nathan Lind flips through Hollow Earth readings, muttering calculations under his breath.

Dr. Ling (Chen) walks over to Andrews, holding a worn binder.

Chen: “The legends always spoke of balance. For centuries, humans feared the Titans, but some cultures worshipped them. They saw them as guardians, not destroyers.”

Andrews: nodding, adjusting her glasses “And now it’s our job to prove those myths weren’t just stories. The Hollow Earth could be the key to understanding them all.”

Dr. Rick Stanton sits slouched in a chair, typing halfheartedly at his terminal. He glances over at Sam Coleman, who’s buried in paperwork.

Stanton: sighs “You ever feel like we’re just accountants for monsters? Track this Titan, monitor that one—next thing you know, we’ll be doing their taxes.”

Sam: without looking up “At least they don’t file complaints. Unlike Congress.”

Stanton: grins, leaning back “Yeah, but try explaining a 300-foot lizard as a ‘natural disaster deduction.’”

Madison Russell rolls her eyes at the exchange, though a small smirk slips through as she pulls new Titan activity logs onto her screen.

Dr. Mark Russell stands near the observation deck, silent, his gaze fixed on the sonar ping of a familiar shape moving through the ocean’s depths.