The red pulse on the map blinked again.
Norman, Oklahoma.
Anika stared at it, unmoving. The pulse glowed brighter with each beat. She leaned closer, fingertips hovering above the touchscreen. With a light brush, the map expanded outward, displaying a stream of live data.
Elevated cortisol levels. Localized power surge.
Her eyes narrowed. A perfect match to the Z-Gene.
"They've activated," she whispered.
The energy was fresh panicked, radiant, and deeply wounded. And whoever it was, they weren't just lighting up, they were calling out.
Anika stood, the chair creaking softly behind her as she moved to the far wall. She typed in a six-digit code on the concealed vault, hearing the magnetic locks click open. From within, she pulled out two rings: one of polished Tiger's Eye, the other shimmering with flecks of golden Pyrite. She slipped them onto her fingers with practiced intention, whispering a quiet blessing beneath her breath.
"Clarity. Strength. No fear."
She walked the hall and glanced into the bedrooms Brevin and Jor'Danna were in. Both were sleeping, wrapped in the fragile safety of exhaustion.
They needed rest. Time. Peace.
Anika knew she couldn't take them into another storm. Not yet.
She moved through the room like a shadow, gathering her bag and coat. Before leaving, she scribbled a note on a notepad and slid her credit card beneath it on the counter:
"Got an intense signature reading in Oklahoma. I'll be back soon. Use the card for clothes, gear, anything you need. Stay safe. Stay low. —Dr. Anika."
She stared at the message for a moment, then nodded to herself.
At the door, she whispered, more to the universe than to anyone inside:
"Alright, Oklahoma. I'm coming."
Back in Denver, the wind cut through the alleyway like a whisper from the past.
The Obsidian Echo stood at the edge of the scene, her tactical team fanned out behind her in a loose formation, weapons ready, eyes alert. The site where Obsidian Reaper had met unexpected resistance still hummed with faint, unnatural energy like a wound in the air that hadn't fully healed.
Echo pulled her hood down.
Her long blonde hair caught in the wind, flicking across the jagged scar that slashed from her left brow down through her cheek. One eye was icy blue. The other glowed a dull volcanic red, constantly shifting like embers behind glass.
She crouched low to the cracked pavement.
Her fingers brushed the cold ground, and she inhaled sharply through her nose.
Then a rush.
Ghost-like fragments shimmered into view. Distorted silhouettes flickered across the alley like burned images on old film. Brevin's outline sprinted toward a parked vehicle. Two female forms appeared, one leaping into action, the other shielding with her body. The car peeled off in a blur of echoing tires.
A past playback faint and fractured, but there.
"They were here," Echo muttered, rising to her feet.
She followed the echo trail with long, silent strides, her eyes locked ahead as the spectral car curved toward a run-down motel in the distance.
Inside Room 44, Echo stopped.
She stepped in and placed her palm flat on the worn carpet.
Another pulse hit her.
Suddenly, translucent figments of the past began to animate around her. Anika sat in the window, talking to Jor'Danna and Brevin. Their voices were warped and watery, like echoes traveling through a broken radio.
"Where are we going?" Past-Brevin asked, his words swirling in distorted air.
Anika answered, but her words were muffled. A soft shimmer of static shimmered around her mouth, like an intentional interference.
Echo's face twisted in frustration.
The vision rippled. Broke.
Suddenly agony. Echo stumbled back, clutching the side of her head.
"Aghhh!" she gasped through clenched teeth, veins flaring along her temple.
Her human memory fragile and fractured struggled against the embedded control of her Obsidian enhancements. The duality inside her short-circuited whenever she hit barriers like this. Memories she shouldn't access. Truths she wasn't meant to see.
One of the soldiers stepped forward. "Ma'am, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Echo hissed, eyes snapping toward him like a blade unsheathed.
The vision was gone. But the trail was not.
"They went to the airport," she growled, standing tall again. "I saw them head toward Terminal B."
Minutes later, the team arrived at Denver International Airport. Echo walked briskly through the near empty terminal, ignoring curious stares as she dropped to one knee and pressed her hand against the polished floor.
Flash.
The image flickered to life three silhouettes moving toward a gate. Their outlines glimmered in residual energy. Past-Anika glanced over her shoulder. Brevin followed close behind. Jor'Danna leaned heavily on his arm.
The terminal sign above them read:
"Tennessee Departed: 6:44AM."
Echo smirked, her scar tightening as she stood.
"Gotcha," she whispered.
She turned toward her team, the red eye pulsing.
"Tell the boss. I found them."
She turned away, the red glow of her eye fading beneath her hood.
"Roger that," one soldier confirmed, already on the comms.
Echo stared at the terminal sign once more, the faint residue of Anika's energy still whispering in the air.
You can run, doctor, but the past always catches up.
General Cory Pitman stood alone in his office...
The lights dimmed to a dull amber glow. The walls were lined with digital maps, data feeds, and surveillance stills. On the main screen, Anika's face remained frozen in grayscale from the Denver motel footage her eyes fierce, her expression unreadable.
He hadn't moved in several minutes.
A sharp chime broke the silence.
He tapped the command panel on his desk. "Go ahead."
Echo's voice came through.
"Target confirmed sir. Anika and the other two departed Denver International. Destination: Tennessee."
"Tennessee?" Cory repeated under his breath, lips curling into a dry smirk.
"Thank you, Echo. You can head back now," he said, dismissing her.
Moments later, a distress call buzzed through.
"Go ahead," Cory said, his tone shifting, edged with concern.
"General, we've got a situation. High energy spike registered in Oklahoma earlier today. One of our assassins was sent to verify."
"And?"
"We lost contact.
"Then get out there and find him!" Cory barked.
"We already did, sir. He's dead. And the energy signal, it's off the charts."
Cory slammed his hand on the desk, rattling the glass beside him.
Cory leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing.
"Dead?" he echoed. No surprise. Just confirmation.
A slow breath left his nose as he rose, moving to the bar cart.
"Deploy Echo." He poured a glass of gin, not looking back. "No delays this time. I want her found."
"Yes, sir." The line went dead.
The silence of the room felt heavier than before.
He picked up the phone and called his assistants.
"Hello General sir?"
"It's time," he muttered. "No more half-trained assassins. I want a full Obsidian tactical group assembled immediately."
"But General sir, they're still undergoing—"
"NOW!" Cory demanded.
"Yes sir..." the line disconnected.
Sirens howled behind them as an SUV screeched past, racing toward the Kappa house.
Zuri's hands stayed steady on the wheel, but her jaw clenched tight. Beside her, Sabrina stared down at her trembling hands still faintly glowing under the haze of passing streetlights.
Zuri made a sharp turn into Sabrina's parents' neighborhood, tires squealing as she sped toward the house. They pulled into the driveway, and Zuri jumped out, yanking the passenger door open.
"Mr. Monroe!" she shouted, dragging a dazed Sabrina toward the porch.
Lieutenant Colonel Monroe opened the door in his pajamas, eyes narrowing in confusion and concern.
"What happened?"
"We were attacked!" Zuri yelled, her voice shaking. "Some guy just opened fire at the party, he killed injured people, and Gina's dead. Then Sabrina, she—"
Sabrina grabbed Zuri's hand."
Zuri caught herself mid-sentence and nodded.
"...It was chaos. We barely got out."
Monroe looked between the two girls, his jaw tightening. He reached for his phone.
"Get inside," he said.
The door shut behind them with a heavy thud.
Sabrina's mom came running downstairs.
"What's going on? Oh my god!" She gasped when she saw them. "Is that blood?"
She rushed to grab a towel, but Sabrina raised a hand.
"It's not mine. It's Gina's," she said, voice cracking as tears welled.
Her mom froze. "What do you mean? Is she hurt?"
"She's dead," Zuri said softly.
The room went still.
Then Sabrina's mother dropped the towel and pulled both girls into a shaking embrace, sobbing into their shoulders.
Across the room, Monroe turned on the TV.
"Breaking news..." the reporter said, "...a violent attack at an off campus party has left two dead and six injured. The deceased include the suspected attacker and University of Oklahoma student Gina Hartwell."
Monroe's phone buzzed in his hand. A classified line.
"General, sir," he answered.
"There's been a Code Red," Cory said bluntly.
"Code Red?" Monroe straightened, voice tight.
"They detected one of the Z gene individuals there in Oklahoma. One of our assassin's were taken down. I'm putting you on it." Cory informed him.
"Whoever it was must have been here in Norman. My daughter and her friend just returned home shaken up from a party. They said they were attacked at the party. Some were injured and one of her friends are dead. It's on the news as we speak." The lieutenant whispered.
"Tend to your daughter. I'll get a crew on the ground ASAP." Cory said.
"Roger. Thank you sir."
Upstairs...
Zuri sat cross-legged on the edge of Sabrina's bed, eyes distant.
"I love you," she whispered, "but WHAT the fuck was that back there?"
Sabrina sat against the headboard, still in shock. "I... I don't know. I didn't even know I could do that."
"You were like Sue Storm meets Spider-fuckin'-Gwen!" Zuri hissed, voice half in awe, half in panic. "Throwin' up shields and stuff, and hold up, the gym? My ankle? That was you?!"
Sabrina nodded faintly. "I can't explain it. It's like... it just happened."
"How are you feeling?" Zuri asked calmly.
"Numb. Gina...he just... he just shot her. Right in front of me. I can't get Gina's face out of my head. Her eyes were still open."
"I felt something like this surge. I didn't even think. I just reacted."Her voice cracked as she broke into tears.
Zuri slid closer, her voice softening. "What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know. I'm scared. I'm confused."
Sabrina's breathing quickened, hyperventilating erratically as panic set in.
Zuri jumped forward and grabbed her hands. "Hey, hey look at me. Breathe with me."
Together, they inhaled and exhaled in sync. After a few beats, Sabrina's shoulders relaxed.
"You're okay," Zuri whispered. "We just need to breathe. Shower. Rest. We'll figure it out tomorrow."
Sabrina gave a slow nod, eyes glassy. "Okay."
But even as the quiet returned, she felt it again something humming low inside her chest, like her body hadn't fully powered down.
________
The plane cruised silently through the velvet-black sky, city lights below twinkling like constellations scattered across the earth.
Anika sat alone by the window, her reflection barely visible against the glass. Her fingers gently traced the edge of her Pyrite ring, grounding herself in its subtle vibration.
Something was off. She could feel it in her chest. A subtle pressure, like static clinging to her ribs.
Her gaze had been unfocused, drifting somewhere between meditation and anticipation until the screen in front of her lit up with a red banner.
BREAKING NEWS — LIVE COVERAGE FROM NORMAN, OKLAHOMA.
The words snapped her back.
She reached forward and tapped the volume up.
A young anchor appeared, visibly shaken.
"We are following breaking news out of Norman, Oklahoma tonight where a violent shooting has occurred at an off campus university party. Authorities confirm multiple injuries and two fatalities."
Anika leaned forward, heart racing.
The screen cut to shaky phone footage: students screaming, glass breaking, bodies scattering. Flashing red and blue lights bathed the chaos in siren stained color.
"One of the victims has been identified as University of Oklahoma student Gina Hartwell. The other believed to be the shooter. Witnesses say the attack was sudden... and strange."
Anika pressed her hand lightly to her chest, trying to calm the instinctual thrum vibrating beneath her skin.
The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning our descent into Oklahoma City. Estimated arrival in ten minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts."
Anika didn't move.
She watched the news screen in silence, the chaos replaying in a loop. Sirens. Screams. Energy. Death.
Outside the window, the lights of Oklahoma grew larger and closer. The feeling in her chest only intensifying.
The Oklahoma night was still. The road ahead stretched quiet and dark, broken only by the occasional streetlamp and the muted roar of tires on asphalt.
Anika sat in the passenger seat of a silver sedan, her eyes fixed ahead but her mind racing.
Her driver, a local woman in her late 20s with loc'd hair, and a soft southern twang had her phone wedged between her shoulder and cheek.
"Girl, I'm tellin' you, the whole thing's blowin' up already," she said, half-laughing, half-nervous. "The news crews are still out there."
Anika glanced at her from the corner of her eye.
The woman chuckled. "No, like deadass. My homegirl was there. People are saying this girl was doing some kinda super human marvel character bullshit. You saw it? Wait! Send it to me!"
A ding echoed from her phone.
"Got it." She tapped the screen, putting the video on speaker. It began to play through the car's Bluetooth.
The car filled with muffled screams, rapid gunshots, and then clear as day, a sudden whoosh of energy. Light exploded outward on the screen. A golden forcefield flared out of the young woman's hand around a group of students, protecting them.
Anika leaned forward, watching every detail.
She fought viciously against the assassin similar to the ones that came after Jor'Danna.
The young woman on the screen was shaking scared, but that energy? It was real. Unfiltered. Raw.
The driver barked out a laugh.
"Yeah, nooo. That's so fake. Ain't no way that's real. Look at those effects, this is a TikTok VFX. These kids always playin'."
Anika didn't laugh.
Instead, her voice sharpened slightly. "Do you know who she is? The girl in the video."
The driver tilted her head, watching the screen again as it replayed in the loop.
"Oh yeah. I think that's Sabrina Monroe. She's one of the gymnasts at that university. Everybody knows her. She hella smart like, top of her program or something. I think her dad's military, actually."
Anika's heart thudded.
Monroe. She sat back, absorbing the name.
"Thank you," Anika said calmly, her voice lined with something deeper. Older.
The driver chuckled, still glued to the screen. "Man, this has to be edited though. Right? Like, shields? Come on."
Anika turned her gaze out the window as they entered the city of Norman.
The sedan pulled into the lot of an extended stay hotel just off the main highway. Inside the room, Anika set her bag down and moved to the small table by the window. She lit a single white candle, letting the flame settle her nerves. She pulled her rings off slowly and placed them on a folded cloth, whispering a quiet mantra of stillness.
The city was quiet now, but morning was coming.
And with it, a new Starseed would have to face the truth.