Everything changed on August 12th, 2025.
An intelligent satellite, ECLIPSE, designed to save humanity, destroys it instead. ECLIPSE, standing for Earth Climate Limiter, International Project, Satellite Enabled, was built by government officials to...
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INSTANTLY, ROXY WAS BLINDED.
The moment she stepped out of the elevator, the mist closed in, spreading over the thirteenth floor like a blanket—heavy, suffocating, all-consuming. She could only hear a cloudy whisper; the boys' voices had faded. She squinted and reached forward with her arms, somewhat aimlessly.
—And almost screamed as she bumped into something.
In the fleeting second she had taken to realize it was a person, she had tackled the figure to the ground. They rolled a few steps, a mess of entangled limbs, before Roxy came out on top and wrapped her arms around the person's neck.
"Oh, dear—"
A golden light beamed down on her. Startled by the luminescence, Roxy looked up, only to be dazzled—if not temporarily blinded—by the source.
It was like a spotlight from heaven.
The mist parted, shuffling away from the light. She still couldn't see more than three feet ahead of her, but below her, the figure was no longer hidden. Roxy stiffened:
She had her arms wrapped around Adrian Floquet's throat.
As if on cue, he burst out laughing. Roxy loosened her grip in surprise and backed away, keeping her eyes on him as he got up.
"Well then," Adrian breathed, "—wasn't expecting that."
Roxy stared at him. "You—" She cut off as he straightened, his gaze focusing on something behind her.
"What's going on?"
Rowan and Griffin walked up behind Roxy, flanking her on each side. She turned to look at them and couldn't help but smile.
The engineer dusted off his pants. "Now that you're all here. Let's go inside, shall we?" He spun around and disappeared into another wall of mist. The trio stood and looked at each other—hesitating.
"You okay, Roxy?" Rowan was surveying her as Griffin bit his lip, saying nothing. "What happened?"
"I just ran into him," Roxy murmured. "I'm okay."
Adrian's voice rang back. "What's the hold-up?"
The trio shared one last look. Feeling like they had no other choice, they followed him, coming to a stop at the wall of mist Adrian had disappeared into. Rowan motioned with his hand, waving it close to the wall. "Do you just—"
His hand slipped through. "Guess so," he shrugged. "Come on." With that, he stepped into the wall, vanishing.
Griffin nodded at Roxy. "You go first," he said. "Just to make sure."
