The command center grew silent for a beat.
Marcus exchanged glances with one of the flight controllers, then keyed his mic. "Spectre, abort ground fire. Climb to safe altitude and await further orders."
"Copy, Command," came the reply. "Climbing out. Returning to overwatch pattern."
Thomas turned away from the screens, his jaw tight. He stared at the projected schematic of the Worm's layers, which now had a new anomaly blinking at the breached core. The bio-signature was unfamiliar—erratic, shifting. Alive.
"Get me real-time data on that thing," he barked.
Down in the lab, Dr. Calix was already ahead of him. She stood beside Luis, eyes glued to the new waveform dancing across the biosensor readings. Her face had lost all of its earlier confidence.
"This isn't a regenerative phase," she said slowly. "It's spawning."
Marcus looked up. "Spawning?"
"The Worm isn't dying—it's transitioning."
Thomas didn't flinch. "What's coming out of it?"
