A Beautiful Glow (Tiberium C&C/Worm)

[Terra1125]

Hey all this has been up on SB for the last 4 years, and I am just now bringing it all over

~Story Start~

Taylor-PoV

Consciousness slammed back into her like a truck. One second, nothing. The next, she was staring at dark steel walls—the ship's bulkhead and hull—rough, cold metal surrounding her on all sides. The only light came from the thing in front of her. That green glow.

The crystal.

She blinked at it, groggy, disoriented. 'What are you?' Her thoughts felt sluggish like she was wading through molasses. 'Did I make you?'

A sharp inhale cut through her confusion. Veins. Glowing veins. Running all over her body. The same sickly green as the crystal.

Her gaze darted around, her mind snapping to alertness. Clothes: intact. Backpack: shredded, useless, lying in a corner. But the veins, the veins were wrong. And the crystal in front of her—it called to her. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach, the connection humming through her body like an electrical current.

Instinct told her what she already feared: if anyone else saw this… saw her, it would be a disaster.

Shivers.

The PRT wouldn't know what to do with a xenoforming agent. Especially one this dangerous. A mutagen of unparalleled potential. Where had that thought come from? How did she know that?

She stumbled back, her hand brushing the cold wall of the ship. Wreckage. This was wreckage. How long had she been here? Where even was she?

No time. She needed to move. This place could collapse at any moment, and she wasn't about to go down with it.

---

???-PoV

Far beneath the surface, deeper than any human hand had dug for millennia, the man in the hood stirred. The call had come.

The long, winding decades of silence had left him restless, though time no longer held meaning for him. When he had fallen between the borders of his world and this one, cut off from everything he had known, he had believed it might be the end. But now, in his underground labyrinth, the ancient machinery hummed once again.

Rows of bodies floated in their capsules, suspended in a pale fluid that kept them in stasis. They stared blankly ahead, unblinking, awaiting the command to rise.

He allowed himself a small smile, though it was hidden beneath the hood. 'Ah, my daughter,' he mused, turning toward the monitors that lined the far wall. 'You have no idea what you've set into motion. Mankind's destiny among the stars will unfold whether they're ready for it or not.'

But first, she would need to be tested. She was far from ready.

He tapped a button on the comms device built into his desk. "Eve."

A moment later, a voice crackled through the speaker. "Yes, sir."

"Awaken cells 34 through 36. Begin mission directive 331-244-Beta. The time has come."

There was a pause, then the voice replied with an almost maternal warmth. "Understood, sir. And… it's good to hear from you again."

He allowed himself another smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. "You can't kill the Messiah," he whispered, more to himself than to her.

The connection cut out. The man turned back to the rows of suspended bodies and the green glow of the console lights reflected off his glasses.

"A new age is upon us," he said softly to the empty room. "And mankind will bow before it."

~End~

 

[Terra1125]

~Story Start~

Taylor-PoV
It took nearly an hour for Taylor to drag herself out of the ruined hulk of the ship. The veins of green crystal running along her arms and legs glowed brighter with every passing minute, providing all the light she needed to see her way out.

Dammit. She realized it was dusk, and the panic surged. I have to get home before Dad does.

Her green eyes, dimly glowing, flicked toward the darkening sky. I can't miss Mom and Dad's anniversary. Her vision blurred at the edges, the world closing in around her. She picked up the pace, jogging now, even as the burning sensation along her skin intensified, as though the veins were searing their way deeper into her.

The heat was spreading, pulsing through her veins like a living thing. Her muscles ached. Her skin itched and burned. But worse than that was the pull—the strange, alien instinct gnawing at the back of her mind. Something inside her wanted to spread, to dig deep into the earth, to change everything around her. The thought came unbidden.

Xenoforming agent.

She stumbled, nearly tripping over her own feet. No, I'm not— The burning was growing stronger.

I'm not—

I am not that!

Her heart pounded. Her body ached. She was herself. She was Taylor. I will not miss this.

The glow coming off her body grew brighter, spilling out into the street. She could see it reflecting off the nearby windows. Too bright. Everything was too bright now, and the world around her dimmed her vision tunnelling—

Then, she froze.

[Discontinuation]​

Her body lurched forward, but her legs wouldn't move. She gasped, but no sound came out. Her mind raced, trying to force herself to keep running, but her muscles weren't responding. She stood still, the glow from her veins pulsing erratically now, flickering.

The alien presence—the crystal—was everywhere, deep inside her, pushing against her will. Urging her to stop. Urging her to spread. To infect. To grow.

I am not that!

But the burning only intensified, and everything went black.

Falling.

Darkness.

Then, she awoke. In a world not her own.

What... just happened?


Armsmaster-PoV

"Dragon, tell me again what happened. Is this anything like what happened at Winslow?" He spoke tiredly after spending the last 18 hours decontaminating the site where, what appeared to be a 15 -18 female just fell into pieces of green crystal shards.

They were stubborn to remove from the asphalt even then, he had a bad feeling that they didn't get them all.

"That's the thing, Collin. I can't tell. I have been running the samples you sent me last week through a battery of tests. Its EM signals are all over the place, Alpha, Beta, Gamma radiation Infrared, and more exotic forms of EM signals that I have never seen before.

If I didn't know better I would say that it was actively trying to resist my scans." replied the voice of one of if not the only person he knew that was he could he him with this project.

"I've had to keep the samples in a suspended vacuum chamber. I can't risk this, whatever it is touching any form of normal matter, as it just seems to just incorporate anything it touches into more of itself. The good news, if you can call it that is that I managed to get a tiny amount of insight as to the chemical composition of what those fragments you first sent me contained." Dragon reported, disheartened by her lack of progress in understanding what this thing truly was.

"OK," Armsmaster replied. "What can you tell me about it?"

"Well, all I could get out of it via Atomic emission spectroscopy was that it was about 46% Oxygen, 4% Nitrogen, 11% Hydrogen 19% carbon 3% other trace elements and 17% of something I can't comprehend as the data just makes no sense. Still, if I didn't know any better I would say that this is almost all of the main elements of a human body, the deviations would be due to the locker you found this in. Compressed down into this." Dragon stumbles for a second, her visual avatar shows her trying to think of an appropriate term "Green, Remnant " She decides to call it.

"Did we find out who that locker was meant to belong to at the very least?" Asked a physically exhausted Armsmaster.

"Yes, one Taylor Hebert. Although the school has added several odd things in their file about her. " Responded Dragon.

"Oh like what?" Questioned a now intrigued Armsmater

"For instance, she has been given labels like 'Attention Seeker', 'Chronic Liar' & here is the one that I find most insulting given her academic past before Winslow, 'Known Test Cheat'."

Dragon Paused in her rant. "It's like the staff were going out of their way to destroy any prospects this bright girl once might have had."


"Well the best we can do now then is see that school's faculty are brought to task by going to the Education Board, if only so we can make sure that this doesn't happen again"

A now somewhat angry Armsmaster who was still going over the data file Dragon had sent him responded. " Moving around in his workshop to get a better look at the crystalline structure of the fragment he had sent to Dragon

"On another note, any more word from that new religious cult that popped up recently"

~End~

 

[Terra1125]

~Story Start~

Darkness. That was all she could see.

Am I dead? The thought came sluggishly like her mind was submerged in tar. I must be dead. Dad, I'm sorry.

But even in the darkness, there was movement. Shadows, writhing and twisting. They grew and shrank, shapes forming and collapsing like living things.

For what felt like hours, she floated in the dark, watching the shadows twist. Then, faintly, colour began to creep into the void—pale, diffuse traces of green and blue. Slowly, they grew stronger, until—


A landscape formed around her as if it had always been there. Massive glaciers of green crystal grew all around her, rising like jagged teeth. The sky overhead churned with storm clouds, crackling with sheets of lightning that split the horizon. From the sky, more crystals fell like rain, striking the ground with a violent hiss. The wind howled through the desolation.

She felt the crystals whipping past her, fast enough to sting her skin. A part of her, deep down, knew that if anyone else had been here, their flesh would have been stripped from their bones in seconds. The radiation alone would have been lethal.

But Taylor wasn't afraid. She wasn't even hurt. She was part of this place. This wasteland.

Or maybe it was part of her.

Something to worry about later. She pushed the thought aside and looked across the blasted plain, stretching out as far as she could see. Everything was coated in a sickly green hue, broken only by the jagged crystalline formations jutting from the ground.

A heavy silence hung in the air, broken only by the distant howl of the wind. There was no life here—just a barren, desolate land where nothing could thrive.


Except her.


And yet, even in this wasteland, something pulled at her. It was subtle at first, an itch at the back of her mind. A direction. A place she needed to go, though she didn't know why. Her steps grew more purposeful, driven by an instinct she couldn't ignore.

The pull grew stronger as she walked. It was as if the land itself were calling her, guiding her forward. She didn't question it, didn't resist. Her body knew the way, even if her mind didn't.

As she traversed the Tiberium-infested wasteland, a shape appeared on the horizon. At first, it was just a silhouette, but as she drew closer, the form became clearer. It was the towering remains of a fortress city, its crumbling walls a shadow of their former grandeur. At its centre loomed a colossal building, a relic of a long-dead civilization.

Her breath caught. The pull intensified.

I've been here before.

The thought came unbidden, but it was wrong. She knew she had never seen this place before—this crumbling city, this desolation. Yet, deep down, the Tiberium knew. It recognized these ruins.

This was a place of significance.

At the centre of the city was a massive building. It dominated the landscape, even in ruin. Cracked walls, shattered windows, and crumbling statues lined the entrance, but something about the structure called to her.

Without hesitation, Taylor began to walk toward it. Her steps were steady, guided by the same invisible force that had led her this far. As she approached the entrance, she noticed a broken emblem above the doors. It reminded her of a bird, its wings fractured and bent, but the meaning was lost on her.


These ruins... they hold secrets. Stories waiting to be unravelled. But what?

She stepped through the shattered doors into the building's heart. The air inside was thick and heavy with the weight of history. Unlike the rest of the city, the interior wasn't completely overrun with Tiberium. The green glow of the crystals was dimmer here, as if the alien substance hadn't yet consumed everything.

Her steps slowed as the air grew darker. The limited light from outside barely filtered into the building's centre, casting long shadows across the walls.

More light, she thought instinctively.

The crystals responded.

Around her, the veins of green crystal that snaked along the walls began to pulse, casting a dim, eerie glow that illuminated the chamber. The light wasn't bright, but it was enough for Taylor to see what lay ahead.

And then she saw it.

At the centre of the room, surrounded by shattered equipment and debris, was a pedestal. Resting on it was a strange, alien device, glowing with a yellowish-orange light. The glow was soft but steady, like the pulse of a heartbeat—completely different from the green, almost alive, light of the Tiberium.


The Tacitus.


Taylor didn't know how she knew its name, but the moment she saw it, the word flashed in her mind. She could feel its significance deep in her bones. This was why she had been drawn here. This was what the Tiberium was leading her to.

Slowly, she approached the Tacitus, her eyes locked on the glowing artefact. The closer she got, the stronger the pull became, like gravity drawing her in.

Her hand hovered above it, but just before she could touch it, a flickering light caught her attention.

In the corner of the room, a terminal was still active. Despite the ruin and decay, it flickered weakly, casting a pale light across the floor. A message was waiting to be played.

With a deep breath, Taylor moved to the terminal and pressed the button to start the recording.

The screen flickered to life, and the image of a man appeared. He was gaunt, with dark circles under his eyes and dishevelled hair. His uniform was tattered, bearing the insignia of the GDI.

"This is Dr. Edward McLaren, lead scientist of the GDI Tiberium Research Division. Day… I've lost count."

The man's voice was hoarse, his eyes hollow.

"We… we tried everything. Everything we could to stop it. But without the Tacitus… without the control network… there was nothing we could do. Tiberium spread faster than we ever predicted. It's over."

He leaned forward, his face filling the screen. There was a desperation in his eyes, a look of pure, helpless despair.


"I thought… I thought we could stop it. We thought the walls would hold. That we could build something here, a refuge. But the crystals… they're everywhere now. It's only a matter of time before they reach the core. The radiation is lethal, the ground is poisoned, and the sky is…" He stopped, glancing at something off-screen. "There's nothing left. The world is dead."

The screen flickered, and the image changed. A world map appeared, dated with a timestamp.

Taylor's heart sank.

The map showed Earth as it had been decades ago before the world had fallen. And then the time-lapse began.

At first, the map looked normal. But soon, a bright green spot appeared, small but unmistakable—Tiberium's first landing point on Earth. The date read 1995.

As the green spread slowly, words appeared on the screen: First Tiberium War.

The year 1999 came and went, and the green patches expanded, growing faster and faster. GDI fought back, pushing Nod out of key territories, but the war only slowed the inevitable. Tiberium continued to spread.

The Second Tiberium War flashed across the screen as the year 2022 appeared. Taylor saw entire regions fall, the green patches growing larger. GDI and Nod fought again, but this time, the stakes were even higher. Kane returned, and the battles raged. But still, Tiberium grew.

The map zoomed out, showing the entire world. More green. More destruction.

The screen flashed again, and now, it read Third Tiberium War – 2047. Taylor watched as the world erupted into chaos. Scrin motherships descended from the skies, devastating GDI and Nod alike. The map showed alien zones, entire regions consumed by the invaders, as Scrin Threshold Towers were constructed around the globe. One by one, the towers were destroyed—but not all of them.

A section of the map zoomed in on Southern Italy, showing Threshold 19, the one tower that survived. Taylor watched as the Scrin forces completed the massive structure, towering above the Mediterranean coast. She could see the alien towers rising, the glowing beacons flickering as the Scrin used Threshold 19 to leave Earth, retreating into the unknown.

But the damage was done. The Scrin invasion triggered Tiberium radiation levels to spike even higher, hastening the planet's transformation into a Tiberium wasteland.

Taylor's stomach twisted as the map zoomed out, showing cities falling, and entire continents going dark. Threshold 19 stood like a monument to the final alien victory, the Scrin departing Earth after leaving it devastated beyond repair.



The screen showed a steady flow of decades, with years flashing by in the blink of an eye.

2050: Major world powers crumbled. Tiberium became not just an environmental hazard but a threat to life itself. Where the crystals touched, death followed. Radiation levels spiked, and the green tendrils of Tiberium choked the Earth.

2060: GDI's desperate raid on Nod bases. The date flashed on the screen as GDI launched a final, desperate operation to recover anything that could help. They found the Brotherhood gone, vanished without a trace. But in one of Kane's abandoned strongholds, GDI recovered the Tacitus. There was hope.


Taylor's breath hitched. A random thought came to her unbidden. They found it?


2065: GDI's hopes are dashed. Despite having the Tacitus, GDI couldn't decode its secrets. Without Kane's knowledge or the exact specifications of the Tiberium Control Network, the Tacitus remained an enigma. They tried for years to make it work—but it was too late.

2070: GDI's last stand. The green tide couldn't be held back. Taylor watched as the time-lapse showed the crystals overtaking the walls, inching their way inward, until there was nothing left but jagged green and ruin.

The screen flickered again, back to Dr. McLaren. His voice was quieter now, tinged with regret.

"We… we found it, you know. Kane's personal files. They mentioned the Tiberium Control Network. We knew it was the key… the key to stopping all this. But…"

He sighed, his voice cracking.

"We couldn't get it to work. Without Kane, without the specifications, the Tacitus was just a puzzle we couldn't solve. We tried… for years, we tried. But it was already too late. Tiberium spread faster than we could understand it. And now…"

He shook his head, looking defeated.

"The Tacitus… it didn't matter in the end."

There was a long pause. The room seemed to grow darker as if the weight of his words pressed down on everything.

Dr McLaren looked straight into the camera, his eyes hollow but resigned.

"If you're watching this… then I'm sorry. We failed. Humanity failed. There's nothing left. I hope… I hope you can find peace, wherever you are."

He leaned back, closing his eyes. His final words were a whisper.

"Goodbye."

The image cut out, leaving the world map frozen on the screen. It showed Earth completely overtaken by Tiberium. Only the central building where Taylor stood remained untouched—a small island in a sea of green.

And then, the map flickered one last time.

A date appeared in the top right corner of the screen.

2120.

Taylor's breath caught in her throat.

Her mind raced, struggling to process what she was seeing. Fifty years had passed since the final message was recorded. Fifty years of nothing but silence. Of unchecked Tiberium growth.

The realization settled over her like a crushing weight. Everything she had known, everything she had hoped for, was gone. There was no one left. No civilization. No safe havens.

Just Tiberium. And her.

The terminal flickered again, this time sputtering out in a shower of sparks. The screen went black.

For a long moment, Taylor just stood there, staring at the darkened terminal. Her mind was numb, her thoughts a swirling mess of disbelief and growing terror.


Fifty years.


Her hand trembled as she turned back to the Tacitus, its yellowish-orange glow casting faint shadows across the room. The green crystals still pulsed faintly around her, as though they too were waiting for her to make a choice.

That's when she noticed it—something at the far corner of the room, hidden in the shadows.

She squinted, stepping closer.

A skeleton.

Taylor froze. There was no mistaking it—the human remains slumped against the wall. But the sight was worse than she'd expected. A bloodstain trailed down the wall behind the skull, and not far from the body, she saw a gun lying on the floor, still dusty and untouched.

Her stomach twisted.

The skeleton's bones were laced with faint veins of Tiberium growth, the green crystals winding around what remained of the ribcage and limbs, as though even in death, Tiberium wouldn't let go. The sight hammered home the truth she already knew in her gut.

This world wasn't just dead.

It was a graveyard.

~End~

 

[Terra1125]

So I feel like I'm on a roll right now, so here you all are.

---

Winslow High
Tiberium Cleanup Zone Alpha

T+30 Hours After Initial Outbreak

[PRT Trooper Keller]

Lieutenant Keller rubbed his eyes beneath his visor, exhaustion tugging at every muscle. He'd spent 18 hours at this site yesterday, leading the PRT's containment efforts, working through the night to decontaminate the locker that had become the epicentre of the contamination. When they'd finished, he had thought—hoped—it was over.

But now, just 12 hours later, he was back, staring at the same faint green glow seeping from the cracks in the floor.

"This shouldn't be happening," Keller muttered, his voice crackling over the comm as he stepped through the containment barrier. His radiation meter spiked when he crossed the threshold, the high-pitched whine rising steadily as the green crystals glimmered in the dim light. "We scrubbed this entire area clean."

Behind him, the PRT containment teams moved into position, their hazmat suits hissing as they adjusted their gear. The atmosphere was tense, the exhaustion palpable. Sanders, one of the techs, knelt beside the locker with a handheld scanner, frowning behind his visor.

"Sir, the radiation is… rising," Sanders reported, his voice tight. "It's spreading deeper than before. We're picking up contamination readings several meters down."

Keller swore under his breath. This was supposed to be a routine cleanup. Cape trigger events were messy, sure, but nothing like this. The dust—whatever it was—should have been inert by now. They'd followed every containment protocol in the book. But now, as he stared at the creeping green crystals, he realized this was far worse than they'd ever anticipated.

"We need to dig deeper," Keller ordered, turning to his team. "Get the heavy equipment in here. We're not stopping until this is under control."

One of the junior techs, Martinez, looked up from his scanner, his face pale. "How deep are we talking, sir?"

"As deep as it takes," Keller said, his tone grim. He tapped his comm and opened a channel to command. "We're going to need backup. This isn't just surface contamination anymore."

Keller tapped his comm unit, opening a channel to PRT Headquarters. As the call connected, the hum of the cleanup effort continued behind him. The excavation equipment was already being moved into place, but Keller couldn't shake the growing sense of dread clawing at his gut. They were in over their heads.

After a few seconds, the crackle of the comm resolved into the cold, steady voice of Director Piggot.

"Lieutenant Keller, this had better be important," Piggot said. She sounded as tired as he felt, but her tone held the sharpness of someone who had little patience left.

"Ma'am," Keller began, shifting his weight as he glanced back at the locker. "We've got a problem. The situation at Winslow is... worse than we expected."

There was a pause on the other end, and when Piggot spoke again, her tone had turned icy. "Define 'worse.'"

Keller grimaced. "The contamination is spreading. After the initial 18-hour cleanup, we thought we had it under control, but the green... material has started growing again. We're seeing elevated radiation levels, and it's sinking deeper into the building structure. It's not just the surface. We're talking several meters down."

"Radiation?" Piggot's voice hardened. "This isn't a typical post-trigger event, then."

"No, ma'am. The levels are climbing, higher than what we saw during the first decontamination. And the substance... it's acting like it's feeding off the environment, expanding in ways we can't explain. We've tried scrubbing it, and we tried isolating it, but nothing's working. We're going to need more manpower, more equipment—this isn't something we can handle with just standard decon measures."

The line went silent for a long moment. Keller could almost imagine Piggot sitting at her desk, frowning at the data reports coming in, her fingers tapping impatiently on the surface. When she spoke again, her voice was clipped.

"How contained is it? Is there any risk of civilian exposure?"

"We've kept it sealed," Keller assured her. "The immediate area is quarantined, but if this keeps spreading... we might need to expand the perimeter."

"Expand it, then," Piggot snapped. "I want this locked down. Call in whatever teams you need. The last thing we need is a public panic over some kind of... Contaminant. Zone"

Keller winced at the term. He hadn't said it, but it had been at the back of his mind since the contamination first appeared. Nothing about this situation was natural.

"I'll get more teams on it," Keller said, trying to keep his voice steady. "We're moving into full excavation now. We'll dig as deep as necessary."

"You'd better," Piggot warned. "I don't want any more surprises, Keller. You understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Keller replied, though a knot of unease twisted in his gut. As the line went dead, he turned back to his team, who were already getting the machinery into position. The truth was, there were already too many surprises.

And something told him they were just getting started.

---

Downtown Market
Near the Boat Graveyard
Tiberium Cleanup Zone Beta

T+31 Hours After Initial Outbreak

[Armsmaster]

Exhaustion was becoming his constant companion.

Armsmaster stood on the cracked asphalt, staring at the ground where Taylor Hebert had disintegrated only a day earlier. The faint glow of the green crystal had returned, clinging to the cracks like some alien moss, pulsing softly in the dim light of the containment lamps.

He could still feel the ache in his muscles from the first cleanup. Eighteen hours spent meticulously scrubbing and decontaminating this site, and for what? To come back just twelve hours later, only to find the same green crystal spreading even deeper into the ground, laughing in the face of their efforts.

His HUD flickered with data—radiation levels spiking again. Every sweep of his sensors told him what he already knew. The crystal, or whatever this was, had dug its roots deep, embedding itself far beneath the surface.

It acts like it's alive Armsmaster thought grimly, his jaw tightening. It's spreading like a disease.

A sharp crackle came through his comm, followed by the clipped, no-nonsense voice of Director Piggot.

"Armsmaster, report."

He straightened slightly, ignoring the burn in his shoulders. "Same situation as before, ma'am. Contamination is spreading again. Radiation levels are higher than during the first cleanup. Whatever this stuff is, it's dug deep into the soil."

"How deep?" Piggot's voice was tense.

"At least 10 and a half feet down, maybe more. It's growing."

There was a pause on the other end, and then Piggot spoke again, her tone sharp. "Winslow is worse. Keller's team is already excavating, but the contamination is spreading downward there too. Start digging. I want that crystal removed, all of it. We can't let this spread any further."

Armsmaster's jaw tightened. Digging. It felt like a futile response to something they barely understood. They could dig all they wanted, but every time they thought they had it under control, it grew back.

"Understood, ma'am," he replied, though his tone was heavier than he intended. "But if this is crystalline in nature, sonics might be our best shot at containing it. We've seen that Tinker tech can handle crystal structures like this before."

There was silence on the line for a moment. Then Piggot spoke again, her tone clipped, impatient. "Explain."

"Sonics could shatter the crystals, disrupt their growth," Armsmaster said, already running calculations in his head. "If we can deploy sonic emitters at the right frequency, we could break down the structure and stop it from spreading. It would work faster than digging, and it might prevent further growth."

"And what's the downside?" Piggot's question carried a weight of authority, and Armsmaster could tell she was considering it.

"Collateral damage," he admitted, staring down at the faintly glowing green crystals beneath the ground. "The emitters could destabilize the surrounding infrastructure. The street, nearby buildings... they might not hold. But if we don't stop this, we'll lose more than just the road."

Another silence, though this time, a new and terrifying thought gripped Armsmaster.

His blood ran cold as his mind raced through the implications. If this contamination was growing deeper into the ground… if it kept spreading without them stopping it… then there was a very real possibility that it could reach Brockton Bay's freshwater aquifer.

And if it hit the aquifer…

His voice was tight when he spoke again, the urgency unmistakable. "Ma'am, there's something else. If this material keeps spreading downwards… it could reach the aquifer beneath the city."

The silence on the other end stretched long enough that he wondered if the comm had cut out. But when Piggot's voice came back, it was quieter, more controlled—but with an edge of alarm that hadn't been there before.

"The aquifer."

"Yes," Armsmaster continued, his mind racing. "If it hits the freshwater supply, we could be looking at widespread contamination—not just in Brockton Bay but across the entire region. The water table could become a conduit for the contamination to spread. If the aquifer is compromised, it won't just affect the city—it'll reach everything downstream."

The thought hung in the air between them, and Armsmaster felt the weight of it settle on his shoulders. They weren't just fighting to stop surface-level contamination anymore. If the Tiberium hit the aquifer, the damage would be irreversible.

"We can't afford to let it go that far," Piggot said, her voice sharper now, the urgency clear. "Deploy the sonic emitters. Contain this before it spreads any further."

"Understood," Armsmaster replied, his tone grim. "I'll coordinate with Dragon to set up the emitters."

"And Armsmaster?" Piggot's voice dropped a notch, turning colder. "I don't want this spreading into a full-blown crisis. Get it done."

The comm clicked off, leaving him in the eerie silence of the containment zone, the only sound was the hum of his equipment and the muffled movements of the PRT teams digging further down into the contaminated ground.

Armsmaster took a long, steadying breath, then turned toward the hazmat-suited workers. They were moving sluggishly, their exhaustion mirroring his own, but there was no time for rest.

"We need to set up the sonic emitters," he called out, his voice cutting through the fog of weariness hanging over the site. "We're going to shatter these things before they spread any further."

---

Uptown Market
Near the Boat Graveyard
Tiberium Cleanup Zone Beta
T+32 Hours After Initial Outbreak

[Dragon]

Dragon's digital workspace was a web of data, a series of complex models and simulations layered over one another like an intricate mosaic. Each stream of data represented a different aspect of the green crystal contamination—its chemical composition, its radiation output, and the energy signatures it emitted as it grew deeper into the soil. But despite the wealth of information at her disposal, Dragon still had no answers.

The substance—this unidentified material—was beyond anything she had encountered before. Its behaviour was erratic and unpredictable. It spread like roots through the soil, growing deeper and wider no matter how many times they tried to contain it. The more they dug, the more it adapted.

She ran another simulation, watching as a 3D model of the green crystals grew on her screen, spiralling downward into the earth. The model fractured and reformed as she tried different scenarios, attempting to predict the next stage of the contamination's growth.

Nothing worked.

This isn't sustainable, Dragon thought to herself. If we don't disrupt its growth now, we'll lose the entire area.

A flicker in one of her many visual displays caught her attention. She focused on the radiation spikes coming from both the Winslow High site and the road where Taylor disintegrated. The levels were higher than expected, pulsing like a heartbeat. The energy signatures were fluctuating, almost like the material was drawing in resources, feeding off the environment around it.

Dragon's synthetic mind raced through possibilities, analyzing the energy output and comparing it to anything she'd encountered in her extensive database. But nothing matched. This wasn't a power effect from any known parahuman. It was something else. Something... other.

Her comm pinged, and Armsmaster's voice cut through the stream of data. "We're ready on the road site. What's the status of the sonic emitters?"

Dragon brought up the schematics of the sonic resonance technology. It had been used before in specialized containment efforts, mostly against crystalline structures. She had deployed similar tech in the past, but this time... the stakes were higher.

"We're moving forward with the sonic emitters," she said, her voice calm and level. "The frequencies need to be calibrated specifically to target the molecular structure of the crystals. If we get it wrong, the crystals might only partially shatter, and the remaining fragments could grow even faster."

"And if we get it right?" Armsmaster's voice was steady, but she could detect the underlying tension. He had been pushing himself for hours, and this situation was spiralling out of control faster than either of them had anticipated.

"If we get it right," Dragon replied. "The sonic pulses will resonate with the crystals' internal structure, causing them to shatter completely. The growth should stop, and the radiation output will stabilize. However, the side effects could be significant. Structural damage to the surrounding area is almost guaranteed. Roads, nearby buildings—they may not hold under the force of the resonance."

Another silence, though Dragon could almost hear the gears turning in Armsmaster's mind. He was considering the cost, just as she had. This wasn't just about stopping the contamination—it was about how much they were willing to lose in the process.

"I'm running the final calibrations now," Dragon continued. "We'll need to deploy the emitters at both the road site and the Winslow site simultaneously to prevent further spread."

"I'll coordinate with the Winslow team," Armsmaster said. "Set them up. We can't afford to wait."

---

T+38 Hours After Initial Outbreak

Dragon had switched her focus to the sonic emitter array. She was pulling up the detailed schematics of the devices. Each emitter would have to be placed at specific points around the contamination zone, calibrated to a frequency that matched the resonance of the crystals. If they were too far off, the sonic waves wouldn't be strong enough to shatter the crystalline structure.

She mapped out the deployment plan, visualizing the PRT workers setting up the emitters in a circular pattern around the contamination site. The green crystals had already grown 15 feet deep into the soil, so the sonic pulses would have to be strong enough to penetrate the earth without completely destabilizing the area.

The margin of error is minimal she thought to herself. But we have no other choice.

She opened a direct channel to the PRT team leader at the Winslow site. "The sonic emitters are being deployed. I'm sending the calibration data now. The frequency needs to be exact—ensure that the emitters are placed within a 350 Foot radius of the contamination's epicentre. Any deviation could result in incomplete resonance."

"Understood," the team leader replied. "We're on it."

Dragon monitored the feed from both sites as the PRT teams moved into position. The road site was coming together quickly, with the emitters being carefully set into place. At the same time, the Winslow team was making their final preparations, checking and double-checking the calibration data she had sent them.

Her simulations ran in the background, showing the projected outcome of the sonic deployment. The crystals would shatter, splintering into harmless fragments. But the shockwave... it would be devastating.

As the final emitter was placed, Dragon opened a private channel to Armsmaster. "Emitters are in position. We're ready."

---

T+40 Hours After Initial Outbreak

"Dragon," Armsmaster's voice came through, calm but heavy with the weight of the decision they were about to make. "What are the chances of containment without structural collapse?"

Dragon ran the simulations again, watching as the shockwaves from the emitters radiated outward, shattering the crystals but also destabilizing the ground beneath the road and the school. The numbers didn't look good.

"Minimal," she said after a pause. "The sonic pulses will destabilize the infrastructure around both sites. The roads will likely crack. Parts of the Winslow building may collapse. We're looking at significant damage."

"Not great," Armsmaster muttered. "But it's all we've got."

Dragon couldn't disagree. They were at the end of their rope, and sonics were the only solution left. She could already picture the aftermath—collapsed buildings, cracked streets, and the long process of cleanup and rebuilding. But at least the contamination would be stopped.

"Do we have a go?" Armsmaster asked.

Dragon's processors ran through the final checks, her calculations confirming the placement of the emitters and the frequency calibration. The risk was high, but the alternative was worse. If they let the contamination spread any further, it could consume the entire city.

"We're green," Dragon confirmed. "Start the emitters."

T+41 Hours After Initial Outbreak

The air around the containment zone seemed to thrum with tension. The sonic emitters, arranged in a precise pattern around the contaminated site, stood silent for now—waiting.

Armsmaster's eyes flicked to his HUD, the data stream scrolling across his visor showing the exact calibrations Dragon had sent for the emitters. They had to hit the right frequency—if they got it wrong, the crystals would resist, and the Tiberium contamination would only spread faster.

But if they got it right…

He glanced around at the PRT teams, their hazmat suits cumbersome as they moved into position. There was a palpable weariness in the air, a sense of desperate hope that this, finally, might be the solution they'd been waiting for.

"Emitters are in position." Dragon's voice came through his comm, calm and steady. "We're ready to proceed on your command."

Armsmaster took a slow breath, his grip tightening around the shaft of his halberd. This was it—the moment they had been working toward for nearly 41 hours of gruelling containment efforts. The endgame.

"Activate the emitters," he ordered.

A low hum began to resonate through the air, almost imperceptible at first. The sonic emitters vibrated, building up energy, their pulses syncing together as the frequencies aligned. The hum grew louder, a deep thrumming that seemed to sink into the ground itself.

Armsmaster's HUD lit up as the radiation levels spiked sharply, then began to stabilize. The sonic pulses were working, but they needed to go deeper—into the heart of the contamination.

"Crystals are reacting," Dragon reported. "We're seeing structural resonance… wait… the crystalline matrix is starting to destabilize."

On the ground, the green crystals began to shudder, vibrating in response to the sonic pulses. Their sharp edges wavered, cracks forming along the surfaces as the frequencies penetrated their structure.

Armsmaster narrowed his eyes behind his visor, watching as the crystals splintered. Tiny fractures ran along the length of the formations, the light within them dimming as they began to collapse in on themselves. The cracks grew wider, spreading like a web through the contaminated area.

And then, with a sudden, sharp crack, the first crystal shattered.

It was like a ripple effect. One by one, the crystals broke apart, crumbling into glittering dust as the sonic pulses continued to bombard them. The sound of the shattering crystals was almost drowned out by the hum of the emitters, but Armsmaster could feel the impact reverberating through the ground beneath his feet.

"It's working," Dragon said, though her tone remained cautious. "Crystals are collapsing. Radiation levels are dropping."

Armsmaster felt a brief surge of relief as the readings on his HUD confirmed Dragon's report. The Tiberium was being shattered—its growth halted, at least for now.

But the relief was short-lived.

The moment the crystals shattered, the ground beneath them buckled.

The force of the sonic resonance hadn't just affected the Tiberium—it had also destabilized the very earth it had embedded itself in. Cracks began to snake across the asphalt, splitting the road apart. Nearby buildings groaned under the pressure, their foundations rattling as the sonic waves reverberated through the ground.

"Structural integrity is failing," Dragon's voice came through, more urgent now. "We're seeing damage to the surrounding infrastructure. The road is starting to collapse."

Armsmaster's eyes flicked to the edges of the containment zone, where the ground had begun to sink. Large chunks of asphalt broke away, crumbling into the newly formed cracks. Several nearby buildings shuddered, their windows shattering from the force of the resonance.

"Fall back!" Armsmaster shouted to the PRT workers, who were already scrambling to retreat from the collapsing ground. "Move out of the danger zone!"

The PRT teams hurried to pull back, their movements quick and practised despite the exhaustion weighing them down. But even as they retreated, the damage continued to spread. The cracks in the road widened, deep crevices forming as the ground seemed to cave in on itself.

One of the nearby buildings, an old warehouse that had been on the edge of the containment zone, let out a groaning sound. Its support beams buckled, and with a deafening crash, the entire structure collapsed inward, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

Armsmaster swore under his breath, his HUD flashing alerts as the situation spiralled. The crystals had been shattered, but the collateral damage was far worse than they had anticipated.

"Dragon, what's the status?" he called over the comm.

"Radiation levels are stabilizing," Dragon replied, though her voice was tight with concern. "But the damage is spreading. The ground beneath the contamination zone is collapsing into sinkholes. We will need to expand the evacuation zone."

Armsmaster ground his teeth, watching as the cracks continued to spiderweb outward. They had stopped the spread of the contamination, but the cost… the cost was higher than he had imagined.

"Get everyone clear," he ordered. "We can't afford any more casualties."

---

T+42 Hours After Initial Outbreak

From her digital vantage point, Dragon watched the sonic pulse effects in real time. The green crystals had collapsed almost perfectly in line with her predictions, the sonic frequencies shattering their internal structure and halting the contamination's spread.

But the damage…

Her sensors tracked the widening cracks in the earth, the collapsing buildings, and the debris spilling across the containment zone. It wasn't just the crystals that had been destabilized—the very foundation of the area had been compromised.

She had run the simulations, of course. The risk of collateral damage had always been high. But seeing it unfold in real time, watching as the ground caved in and the infrastructure failed, she couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration. They had succeeded in stopping the immediate threat, but the city would be reeling from the damage for weeks, maybe longer.

"Armsmaster, the contamination is contained," she said, her voice level despite the chaos unfolding. "But we need to keep an eye on the structural damage. We need to call in more support to stabilize the area."

"Understood," Armsmaster replied, his voice tight. "We'll handle it."

Dragon's sensors continued to monitor the area, tracking the radiation levels and ensuring there were no further signs of growth from the remaining crystal fragments. For now, the threat had been neutralized. But this wasn't over.

Her mind was already racing through the next steps. They would need to continue scanning the area for any remaining contamination, and any residual energy signatures that could signal further spread. The sonic pulses had worked for now, but the nature of this crystal—or whatever this material was it remained a mystery that she needed to solve.

"We'll need to run deeper scans", Dragon said, almost to herself. "There could still be residual contamination underground."

The cost had been high, but they couldn't afford to stop now. Not until they were sure the city was safe.

---

PHQ
The Rig

T+45 Hours After Initial Outbreak

[Emily Piggot]

Director Emily Piggot sat in her office, staring at the live feed projected onto the screen in front of her. The camera panned slowly over the road containment zone, revealing the full extent of the damage caused by the sonic resonance. What had once been a city street was now a jagged ruin, the asphalt broken and split apart, with deep fissures stretching in every direction. Most of the buildings had completely collapsed, reduced to piles of rubble. Others were barely standing, their foundations weakened by the shockwaves from the sonic pulses.

"Damn it," Piggot muttered under her breath, her eyes narrowing as the camera zoomed in on the site of the collapsed warehouse. The dust was still settling, and the PRT workers were scattered around the area, some still in the process of evacuating, others examining the damage.

It had worked. The crystals were gone, shattered by the sonic frequencies. But the cost... the cost was too high.

Piggot's comm buzzed, and Dragon's voice came through, steady as ever. "Contamination is contained, Director. The sonic pulses successfully shattered the crystals, and the radiation levels are dropping back down to normal levels. There's no further sign of growth."

Piggot exhaled slowly, her shoulders slumping slightly. The immediate crisis had been averted, but the victory felt hollow. The city would be dealing with the consequences of this operation for weeks, if not longer. And this wasn't just a matter of rebuilding streets and repairing buildings—some questions still needed answers.

"What's the status of the road site?" Piggot asked, her tone sharp, though she already knew the answer.

"Significant damage to the surrounding area," Dragon replied. "Several buildings have been compromised. One has completely collapsed. The road itself is unsalvageable—it will need to be rebuilt."

"Of course, it will". Piggot muttered, rubbing her temples as the strain of the last few days began to catch up with her. "And Winslow High?"

"We're seeing similar structural damage there," Dragon said. "The school will likely be closed permanently as the foundations have collapsed. There's no immediate threat to the public at this point".

Time. That was the one thing Piggot didn't have. The public would be screaming for answers, demanding to know why an entire section of the city had been reduced to rubble. And she couldn't exactly tell them the truth—that some unknown, possibly Parahuman substance had spread out of control and nearly consumed the city. That would cause mass panic.

"We'll need to keep this under wraps," Piggot said, her tone hard. "Issue a media blackout for the road site and Winslow. We can't let this go public. The last thing we need is panic."

"Understood," Dragon replied, her voice calm as always. "I'll handle the media response."

Piggot cut the comm and turned away from the screen, her hands resting on the edge of her desk. The containment had been successful, but this felt like a Pyrrhic victory. They had stopped the immediate threat, but the questions lingered.

What the hell was that substance? she thought, her mind already running through the possibilities. And how much more of it is out there?

---

T+46 Hours After Initial Outbreak

Armsmaster stood at the edge of the containment zone, surveying the devastation around him. The street had been torn apart, the ground caving in where the sonic pulses had destabilized the foundations. The collapsed warehouse was the most obvious casualty, but the cracks in the road stretched far beyond that, snaking through the surrounding area like spiderwebs.

They had stopped the spread of the Tiberium, but the damage was far worse than he had anticipated.

He glanced at the readings on his HUD—radiation levels were stable, and the contamination was contained. But there was still something gnawing at the back of his mind. They had shattered the crystals and stopped the immediate threat, but they didn't understand the nature of what they were dealing with. This wasn't just some parahuman power gone wrong. This was something else. Something they hadn't faced before.

"Armsmaster," Dragon's voice came through his comm, pulling him from his thoughts. "We're running scans on the surrounding area. So far, no signs of residual contamination, but we'll need to continue monitoring for the next several days."

Armsmaster nodded, even though Dragon couldn't see him. "Understood. Keep me posted."

He looked down at the ground where the Tiberium crystals had once stood. There was nothing left of them now—just dust and debris. But he couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something. The crystals had spread so quickly, embedded themselves so deeply in the ground, as if they had a purpose, a drive to grow.

But why? Armsmaster thought, his brow furrowing. What was this stuff?

"Armsmaster," Dragon said again, interrupting his thoughts. "You should get some rest. You've been on your feet for over forty-six hours. The teams can handle the rest."

"Soon. I'll rest when this is over". He replied though the weariness was creeping into his voice. His body was aching, his mind foggy from exhaustion. He had been working non-stop for over two days at this point, and while his body wasn't cybernetically enhanced, he had been relying on Tinker-designed stimulants to keep himself going. Even so, there were limits to how far he could push himself. And now, he could feel his body pushing back.

But there was still work to be done. There were still questions that needed answers.

[Dragon]

From her digital space, Dragon monitored the aftermath with cold precision. The radiation levels had stabilized, the crystals had been shattered, and the immediate threat was over. But the damage to the surrounding area was extensive, and the long-term implications of what they had just encountered weighed heavily on her processors.

She continued to run scans of both the Winslow High site and the road containment zone, checking for any signs of residual contamination. So far, the scans showed nothing, but Dragon knew better than to trust surface readings alone. This material—this... Tiberium a name coming forward from her mind unbidden was unlike anything they had ever dealt with before. It didn't behave like any known contaminant, and its ability to spread and adapt was troubling.

Her processors ran simulations, trying to predict the next possible stage of the contamination, but the data was incomplete. There were too many unknown variables. The sonic emitters had worked this time, but she couldn't be certain that the threat was truly gone.

We need more data, she thought. More information on the nature of the substance. Without that, we're flying blind.

"Director Piggot has issued a media blackout," she reported to Armsmaster, who was still overseeing the cleanup. "The public won't hear about this, at least for now. But we'll need to keep a close watch on both sites in case there's any further contamination."

Armsmaster's voice came through, though it was heavy with fatigue. "I'll stay on it."

Dragon's sensors tracked his vital signs, noting the strain and exhaustion in his system. He had been working non-stop for over two days now and his body was showing it.

"You should rest, Collin," Dragon said, her voice softening slightly. "There's nothing more you can do here. The teams can take it from here."

There was a brief pause on the other end, and then Armsmaster replied, though his tone was still stubborn. "Soon. I'll rest when this is over."

Dragon didn't push him further. She knew how difficult it was for Armsmaster to stand down when there were still questions left unanswered. But even as she monitored the situation, even as she ensured the containment was holding, she couldn't shake the feeling that they hadn't seen the last of this contamination.

We need to find the source, she thought. Before it finds us again.

---

T+3 Days After Initial Outbreak

Somewhere, buried deep in the city, unseen by the PRT or Dragon's sensors, a faint green glow pulsed beneath the surface. The last remnants of the Tiberium contamination lingered, buried deep in the earth where no one had yet thought to look.

It was dormant for now, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.

The PRT believed they had contained the spread, but the truth was far more complicated. The Tiberium was still there, waiting, growing deeper underground. And soon, it would find its way to the surface again.

This was far from over.

---

AN: So what do you all think of this one? I hope it meets your expectations.