Noah stood in the center of the market, surrounded by settlers who'd stopped being settlers. Their eyes had gone dark, black veins crawling across exposed skin like invasive roots. They moved wrong—too fluid, too coordinated, like puppets operated by something that understood human movement but didn't quite get the details right.
The boy's mother was pulling her son away, screaming at others to run. Some listened. Most stood frozen, unable to process what they were seeing. Their neighbors, their friends, their family members turned into something else.
Noah's hands flexed at his sides. No sword. No void abilities. Nothing that would erase matter or kill permanently.
Noah's jaw tightened. This felt like Sirius all over again. Compromised civilians, couldn't just kill everyone to solve it. Different method, same nightmare.
[MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED: 23]
[WARNING: HOSTS ARE COMPROMISED CIVILIANS]
[RECOMMENDATION: NON-LETHAL CONTAINMENT ADVISED]
