Atlas stood in the command chamber, hands planted on the central interface. The Weave stretched out before him as a shifting holographic lattice, threads pulsing with fresh damage. The lattice disruption had done its job, but the backlash hit harder than expected. Echo blooms were erupting everywhere.
"Report," he said.
Clara's voice came through the comms, tight with strain. "Twenty-seven confirmed blooms. Sector 9 is growing new thread clusters—faster healing, but the structures are unstable. Sector 22 has time dilation pockets.
People inside are aging differently. Some are using it to push their abilities further. Others... aren't coming out."
Atlas watched the display. A bloom in Sector 7 bloomed into view: crystalline growths pushing through ruined districts, beautiful in their jagged way, but already devouring nearby resource nodes.
One moment they sparkled with raw power. The next, they twisted into something that looked ready to consume everything around them.
