The Five Evolution

『"...in attendance."』

Amara was beginning to suspect this loop room was designed to frustrate people. Every surface carried the same smooth white finish as the arena, giving no sense of direction or distance.

Naturally, Raj took that as a challenge. He sprinted through another doorway, and three seconds later, he stumbled out of one behind Amara.

He stopped, blinked twice, and pointed accusingly at the room itself. "I’m not giving up or losing to a fucking room!"

No one responded.

Hiro lay flat on his back in the center of the room, both arms stretched out as he stared at the white ceiling. His breathing had steadied, but every so often, he winced when he shifted.

Without looking away from the ceiling, he said, "give it a rest."

Raj turned toward him. "What number am I on?"

Hiro lifted two fingers lazily. "Seventy-eight? Eighty? I’ve lost count."

Raj folded his arms. "Maybe the eighty-third time’s the charm." He disappeared through another doorway. A beat later, he emerged from one beside Ethan. "Or maybe not."

Amara paced the room with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Every few steps, she glanced toward the ceiling, jaw clenched.

The Council. The simulation. Hiro hitting the ground. Her pulse still hadn’t settled.

"You’re wearing a groove into the floor," Ethan observed. "Maybe you should chill out?"

She shot him a look sharp enough to cut steel, and he raised both hands immediately.

Sophia, seated nearby with her back against the wall, snorted. "Whoa. Bad idea, man."

Ethan visibly swallowed as Amara held his gaze for another second before some of the tension left her shoulders. He was right. Pacing wasn’t helping.

With a sigh, she walked over and dropped down beside him. Not saying a word, she swung her legs across his lap and leaned back against the wall.

Ethan reached for one of her boots and she narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"You’ve been on your feet all day." He slipped the boot off carefully, then the other. Before she could protest further, his thumbs pressed into the arch of her foot.

Amara’s eyes widened slightly as the tension in her shoulders loosened. "Don’t stop."

A small smile tugged at Sophia’s mouth.

Just then, Raj emerged from another doorway in time to witness it. "Aw," he said. "That’s disgusting."

Amara didn’t even dignify him with a response as Ethan’s hands continued their slow work. "Feeling better?" he asked quietly.

She exhaled through her nose. "A little."

That earned her one of his rare smiles.

Across the room, Hiro placed one arm over his eyes, his usual humor absent. "That thing..." he said quietly. "I really thought that was it for me."

The room fell silent, and Sophia’s expression hardened. "When he grabbed you..." she looked away. "...we were all just worried."

Hiro turned his head toward her. She was staring at the floor, arms wrapped around her knees.

He managed a weak grin. "Besides, getting flattened by an overpowered psycho simulation isn’t even in my top five worst experiences."

Raj emerged from another doorway. "What ranks number one?"

Hiro answered immediately. "That time Sophia made me watch three hours of conspiracy videos about how pigeons are government surveillance drones."

Sophia looked offended. "They’re not surveillance drones."

Everyone stared at her.

She rolled her eyes. "They’re psychic surveillance drones. Completely different."

Raj barked out a laugh, and Amara felt herself smile. With that, the heaviness in the room eased, if only a little.

Then Raj glanced toward another door. "Eighty-seventh time’s the charm." He jogged through it, but no looping effect occurred.

A second passed and Raj’s voice echoed from somewhere beyond the doorway. "Guys?"

Everyone sat upright instantly. At that point, Ethan’s expression sharpened just before the room erupted with blaring red alarms.

Raj leaned back through the doorway, eyes wide. "Guys! I’m outside!"

Ethan rose to his feet immediately. His gaze swept over the room. "I thought so," he said.

Amara stood beside him, sliding her boots back on. "What?"

He looked toward the open doorway. "The loop is gone." His voice turned serious. "Something’s wrong."

***

COUNCIL WAR ROOM

Seventeen Minutes Earlier...

The Council War Room existed in its own vast pocket within the pocket dimension. A space so heavily warded that even psychics couldn’t penetrate its walls.

Twelve Directors sat around a circular table that floated. At its center, holographic displays showing threat assessments, resource allocation charts, and the faces of missing Anchors.

The debate had been raging for ten minutes straight.

"They’ve taken two Anchors!" Director Konstantin Mikhail’s fist slammed against the table with enough force to make the holographic displays flicker. "Two confirmed abductions."

Director Arthur leaned back. "Let’s not forget there’s also two more missing with no evidence of what happened to them."

"My point exactly," Konstantin said. "If Daniel is correct, and the Apostles are systematically hunting Anchors, we need a coalition response. NOW."

"Coalition against ghosts?" Another Director, Shēn Sìn, voiced skeptically. "For all we know, the missing Anchors went rogue. Defected. Or simply decided Institute life wasn’t for them."

"Four Anchors disappearing within six weeks?" Director Okoye Baffa’s voice rose above the argument, silencing the debate for a moment. "That’s not a coincidence, Shēn."

Mikhail gestured at the holographic displays showing the missing Anchors’ last known locations. "This is why we are losing, because we refuse to acknowledge the enemy."

"The enemy," Director Yuri Shirogane said, "is not the only threat we face. The Malices are still out there. And there’s a chance the rifts cannot be contained."

She stood, moving to the holographic display showing the Five’s demonstration footage. "Whose child has to die next before we realize this is a fruitless endeavor?"

Yuri—" Director Hale began.

"Don’t." She turned on him, her grief and fury focused like a laser. "Don’t tell me about potential. Don’t tell me about unprecedented growth rates. I’ve heard it before."

"They exist for a reason!" Hale’s fist hit the table, matching Mikhail’s earlier intensity. "And whether we like it or not, their potential will always exceed the average Awakener."

"Potential," Yuri shot back. "Potential means nothing if they die before reaching it. We’ve invested resources in potential before. Why should this attempt be any different?"

"Because they’re already different." Okoye pointed out, taking the pragmatic approach she was known for. "Hale has a point. Their survival rate is unprecedented."

She looked around the table, meeting each Director’s eyes. "The question isn’t whether they’re impressive. They are. The question is: do we commit full Institute support, or do we—"

"Hedge our bets and focus on improving Institute tech and research instead," Konstantin completed.

"Well, I have nothing against them." Arthur waved his arm casually. "They did help my branch in procuring a Gorgon."

Konstantin stood. "Once again, I propose an immediate temporary coalition. We will coordinate our intelligence and establish protection details for every known Anchor in our network."

"And the Five?" Hale asked.

Konstantin stroked his chin. "Maybe they’re deserving of our full support, not because we believe they’ll succeed, but because we need every weapon we have against what’s coming."

"Seconded," Okoye said.

Hale folded his arms and nodded in agreement.

"Konstantin!" Yuri slammed her palm against the floating table. Then she sighed, composing herself. "Fine. Let us put it to a vote."

Director Shēn Sìn raised his hand. "I want it noted that I believe this is premature. We’re committing resources based on incomplete intelligence and emotional investment in—"

The air shifted in a way that put everyone on high alert. There was no sound, just a fundamental wrongness that made every Awakener in the room tense instinctively.

The wards flickered. And then something tore.

Space split open in the center of the War Room as dimensions folded incorrectly. Through the tear, four figures stepped out one after the other, all in white cloaks, each one styled differently.

The Collector had his hood over the face, and his cloak draped down like ceremonial robes.

Behind him, Michael Trevor had his cloak cinched like a belt around his waist with his Spirit Weapon already strapped across his back.

Director Hale’s breath caught as soon as he saw him. The young man looked exactly like Ethan would in five years.

"Yoo-hoo." Babydoll stepped through, pale-skinned with sapphire hair. A lip ring adorned her lower lip, black eyeliner rimmed her pink eyes, and she wore her cloak like a jacket.

Finally, a tall man with a mask over half his face. His cloak reached all the way to his toes. He was the most physically imposing in the room, carrying a thin black folder under one arm.

"Hello," the Collector said.

Immediately, alarms began blaring throughout the Convergence as twelve Directors and their guards erupted into action simultaneously.

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