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Chapter 9 - Chapter 8: Ripples on the veins of Earth

Frank woke before dawn, gasping like he'd surfaced from deep water. His room felt off—air too heavy, silence too sharp.

Jessica flickered to life beside him, her usual smirk missing. "You felt that, didn't you?"

He rubbed his temples. "Yeah… like the air just blinked."

"Not just the air," she said, scanning a glowing data stream that spiraled around her. "Energy signatures worldwide just spiked. Minor now, but consistent. It's starting."

"Starting what?"

Jessica hesitated. "World correction."

Frank frowned. "English, Jess."

She turned, expression serious. "When fragments stir, they don't just wake you. They wake everything connected to your essence. This world's energy was dormant—your reincarnation's keeping it stable. But now? It's adapting."

Outside, thunder rolled though the sky was clear.

Frank stood by the window. In the street below, a stray cat hissed and bolted as a trash can rattled on its own. Somewhere far off, he heard a faint roar—too deep, too primal for any city sound.

Jessica's screen flooded with alerts.

> Beast Vitality Index: +7%

Human Mutation Probability: 0.04% and rising.

Frank whispered, "People are changing?"

"Not yet," Jessica said, voice low. "But soon, the rules will start breaking. Strength will spread. Evolution's contagious once triggered."

He turned to her, eyes narrowing. "Can we stop it?"

Jessica looked away. "Stop it? No. But we can prepare."

She manifested a faint map behind her, glowing with pulses of red and blue—energy nodes blooming like stars across continents.

"These are awakening points," she said. "Random at first. But once your fragments start crossing worlds, they'll anchor themselves here."

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Frank's chest tightened. "So the chaos from them bleeds into Earth."

"Exactly."

They stood in silence. A faint tremor shook the windowpane. Frank watched the horizon—nothing yet visible, but the air carried that strange, humming tension before a storm.

Jessica looked at him, softer now. "This isn't just about finding your fragments anymore, Frank. The world's evolving with you. And evolution doesn't wait for permission."

He half-laughed, half-exhaled. "Great. So no pressure."

Jessica smirked faintly, trying to hide worry. "Oh, there's pressure. You're just pretending you don't feel it."

He shot her a glance. "And you're pretending you're not scared."

She blinked, caught off guard. For a moment, the air between them felt human.

Then she straightened. "First rule of survival, Winchester: never let the world know you're shaking."

Outside, dawn broke in uneasy colors—sky too bright, shadows too long. Somewhere far away, a bird let out a cry that didn't belong to any known species.

And deep beneath the surface, the pulse of the planet shifted again—one slow, invisible heartbeat closer to awakening.

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