"Are you sure about this, Alex?" His mother, Sarah, sat on the edge of her hospital bed, frail but determined. "The apartment-""Is no longer an issue." Alex helped her with her shoes. "Everything's taken care of.""But Mr. Peterson-""Won't be a problem anymore."The door opened, and Eleanor entered with a wheelchair. "The car's waiting.""Mrs. Conway," Mr. Peterson's voice boomed from the hallway. "I believe we have unfinished business."Alex stepped into the doorway, blocking his view. "Not now.""Three months of unpaid rent-""Which was used for my mother's treatment," Alex's voice was dangerously calm. "Treatment she needed because your building's faulty wiring caused the fire.""That's speculation-""No, that's fact." Alex pulled out his phone. "Just like the fact that your building failed its last six safety inspections. Would you like to see the reports?"Peterson's face reddened. "You can't prove-""Actually, I can. Along with the bribes you paid to keep it quiet." Alex smile

"They're hitting us on all fronts." Eleanor's fingers flew across multiple screens in her office. "Tyson's not just attacking the company – he's going for everything."Alex burst through the door. "The board's in chaos. Johnson and Pierce already sold their shares.""To whom?""Shell companies. All leading back to-""Nexus Corporation," Tyson strode in, flanked by security guards. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out, Eleanor?""This is a private office-""Not anymore." He tossed a document onto her desk. "The board called an emergency meeting. You missed it, being so busy with your... special projects."Eleanor scanned the paper, her face paling. "They can't do this.""Sixty percent vote." Tyson smiled. "They just did.""Get out of my office.""Your office?" He laughed. "Check the letterhead, sweetheart. As of ten minutes ago, I'm the new interim CEO of Drake Industries."Alex's implant pulsed with rage. "This is about the transformation program, isn't it?""Among other things."

"It was never about the company." Tyson stood atop Drake Industries, his form shifting between solid and red light. "It was about this moment. This convergence."Alex and Eleanor emerged from the roof access, Luna between them."Then what was the point?" Alex's implant pulsed in sync with the chaos below. "The hostile takeover, the breeding program?""Distractions." Tyson spread his arms. "While we positioned the real pieces."The sky above them rippled with silver and red lights, two armies of transformed humans facing off."You used us," Eleanor stepped forward. "All of us.""No, Eleanor. You used yourself." Tyson's laugh echoed. "Did you think I didn't know about your deal with both sides? Playing silver against red, hoping to save your precious Sarah?""Mom?" Sarah's voice – both child and adult – echoed from everywhere. "What did you do?""I had to," Eleanor's voice cracked. "They said they could save you. Both sides promised-""Both sides lied." Luna's white light flared. "Show

"It's strange being back here," Luna adjusted her uniform, the faint white glow beneath her skin barely visible in the morning sun. "After everything."Alex squeezed her hand as they walked through Drake Academy's gates. "You sure you're ready?""The doctors cleared me. The transformation is stable now.""That's not what I meant."Students stared as they passed, some with their own subtle white glows, others completely normal."Did you ever think we'd be back here?" Luna smiled. "After saving humanity?""Technically, you saved humanity.""We all did." She touched her chest where the light pulsed strongest. "The collective consciousness saved us all."Rebecca appeared beside them, her holographic form now permanently white. "Incoming."Eleanor walked down the hall, no longer the intimidating figure she once was. Her own transformation had softened her somehow."Alex," she called. "A moment?"Luna squeezed his hand. "Go. I'll see you in class."In Eleanor's office, the atmosphere was di

"Look at these," Luna spread holographic files across Alex's dorm room. "Every major terraforming project in the last decade. Moscow. Beijing. Dubai.""All failures," Alex noted."Not failures. Sabotage." Luna's white glow pulsed as she connected to the collective consciousness. "I can see the pattern now. Drake Industries had people inside each project.""That's circumstantial-""Then explain this." She projected another file. "Marcus didn't just get reassigned. He's gone. Completely erased."Alex's throat tightened. "What do you mean erased?""Every trace. Like he never existed." Luna pulled up more files. "Just like these scientists. All working on competing projects. All vanished.""Like my father?""Alex..." Luna hesitated. "There's something else. About your father's lab.""What?""The readings I got before Eleanor's security blocked us out? They weren't just seismic. They were..."A knock at the door made them both jump."Alex?" Eleanor's voice. "We need to talk."Luna's light