Page 32 of The Brotherhood

The cocky American strolled into view. “As you can see, we have impossible readouts outside ofno life detected.We move on tono signs of traumathen get to the problematic stuff.No signs of organ failure.Followed bybiological processes at zero functionality—and yet—no decomposition.The drone reported three errors. Cause of death unknown, biological decay not detected, and entity does not match standard corpse profile. It’s as if they’remissingbut there.”

“What do you mean?” Sinrik wondered.

“Show him the images,” Volkan muttered.

A second later, an image of a middle-aged man sitting in an alley next to a brick wall filled the screen. Sinrik tensed and leaned closer, his gaze instantly drawn to his eyes. Or lack of them. The lids were half open as if he’d died with his gazeon something, only there was nothing under the eyelids. His stomach tightened as he leaned closer. “Zoom in to his eyes,” Sinrik muttered.

As if reading his mind, Colton zoomed into the eyes and Sinrik tensed. “What thefuckis that?” he muttered in perplexed disgust.

Volkan pointed to whatever was twitching where his eyes once were. “Extraocular muscles that control eye movement.”

Sinrik couldn’t keep from pointing out the obvious. “But there are no eyes.”

“Exactly,” Colton said. “They’re adjusting as if his eyes are still there. And this—” he zoomed in on a thin, pulsing strand “—is his optic nerve stump. It’s still sending signals. Still processing light.”

Sinrik stared at the highlighted tissue. “That’s not possible.”

Volkan said, “Precisely.”

Colton held a remote at the images and they disappeared. “Judging by the seizure speeds of his twitching muscles,” he went on, “he seems to still be in a frantic search for something. His body doesn’t seem to know his eyes are missing. Or maybe he’s searching for his eyes,” he finished, sounding like he was tired of obsessing over the oxymoron.

Sinrik couldn’t stop staring at the repulsion. “How many did you find like this?”

“Only one, so far,” Colton said.

Silence settled as his mind processed the impossible data again at a relentless pace attempting to restructure the problem. Phantom limb syndrome. The brain refusing to acknowledge a loss. But that required a connection—feedback from the missing limb. There were no eyes left to send anything back. Misfiring nerves? Spontaneous contractions? Except this wasn’t random, it was rhythmic. A brainstem malfunction?

He released a slow breath, shaking his head as he flexed his fingers against the table. This was wrong on many levels. What the hell did this?

“You and your army are on the ground,” Nexus said. “If something unnatural is moving beneath the surface, we need confirmation from firsthand observation.”

“And as usual, report any anomalies,” Oblivion murmured.

Anomalies. He had a couple. Like those three individuals on his soldier’s body cam he’d just watched doing things no human could possibly do. Had to be similar robotics to his Riftborn. Which meant somebody else shared equal footing with him, something he couldn’t have.

It was something Beth could answer once he found a way to ask without disturbing the rest of the story attached—namely the person who literally ate shrapnel from an RPG hit. “I’ll look into it,” he said. “Send the coordinates to my operations relay. I’ll dispatch my Riftborn to bring the body in for a full medical evaluation.”

A flicker of something passed between the Pillars—approval? Concern? It was difficult to tell with them. Volkan inclined his head slightly. “We will continue monitoring for further anomalies. If more emerge, we will update you.”

Oblivion spoke then, voice patient as ever. “If these deaths are being orchestrated by a force working against you, then you must ask yourself—who has the power to do so at such a scale, and why have they waited until now?”

Sinrik said nothing. Because the timing waswrong. This should have started immediately after his collapse of the U.S., notnow, when everything was beginning to settle into its natural fallen order.

The question remained:What had changed?

He nodded once, a silent dismissal. The screen darkened as the transmission ended and the weight of the conversation lingered in the dim glow of his office.

Time to make some calls.

****

The corridor leading back to his quarters was quiet, save for the hum of Ever-Fallen’s automated systems running in the background. The Riftborn stationed along the halls barely acknowledged his presence as he moved past them.

The discussion with the Velkratos Order lingered in his mind along with the other anomaly. Beth. The moment the thought of her surfaced, something within him tightened. She was big trouble. And she wasn’t just any anomaly, she washisanomaly.

He had known it from the moment he touched her, from the moment hergiftwrapped itself around him like invisible chains, making him react in ways he couldn’t justify. Making himmove.The trouble was how interested he was in exploring it along with the irrational urge to never be free of it.

Now, with the looming presence of an unknown force at work, it was impossible to ignore the timing. Was she connected to it? Or was she something entirely different?

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