"I used to be afraid of storms," he said quietly. "When I was a child, thunder would send me hiding under blankets. Rain made me anxious." The electricity intensified. "Now I am the storm. I feel the pressure systems shifting across the city, I taste ozone in the air before lightning... I can't remember what it felt like to fear weather, because weather is just an extension of myself now."
He closed his fist and the electricity vanished. "That's what evolution costs. The things that made you human... your fears, your preferences, your fundamental nature, they get overwritten by what you become."
"And you think that's worth it?"
"I think survival is worth it." Kaizer's voice was hard. "I think having the power to protect what matters is worth it, I think being something more than a victim in a world of predators is worth it." He paused. "But that's my choice, you need to make yours."
Spade looked at the document again. Three paths, three different ways to stop being himself.
"If I choose Architect," he said slowly, "what does the training involve?"
"Controlled evolution exercises. Meditation techniques to expand your awareness, structured missions that push your abilities in specific directions... and most importantly---" Kaizer pulled up a final document, "---exposure to other Spider-aspects who've gone down this path, learn from their mistakes."
The document showed profiles of three people
Vincent Van Buren - B-rank Spider-Aspect (Architect Path)
Can create structures spanning entire buildings, threads strong enough to support vehicles.
Psychological profile: Extreme control issues, cannot tolerate chaos or unpredictability.
Status: Active, corporate security specialist.
Arke Hawkins - A-rank Spider-Aspect (Architect Path)
Can manipulate thread at molecular level, create adaptive structures.
Psychological profile: Severe obsessive-compulsive behaviors, views all of life as puzzles to solve.
Status: Restricted, requires psychiatric monitoring.
Unknown - S-rank Spider-Aspect (Architect Path - Theoretical)
Capabilities unknown, theoretical peak evolution.
Psychological profile: Predicted total loss of individual identity, merger with environment.
Status: No confirmed cases.
S-rank. Spade had heard rumors of S-ranks, Blessed who'd evolved so far beyond normal human limitations that they barely qualified as human anymore.
"Arke Hawkins," he said, pointing to the A-rank profile. "She requires psychiatric monitoring?"
"She tried to web her entire apartment building," Kaizer said flatly. "Every surface covered in thread-patterns so complex they gave structural engineers headaches. She said it made her feel safe. The reality was she couldn't tolerate the idea of any space existing without her control."
"And that's where the Architect path leads?"
"If you're not careful." Kaizer's expression softened slightly. "Evolution isn't destiny, it's tendency. With proper training and support, you can maintain your humanity even as your power grows. But you need to be aware of the risks."
Spade sat back, his mind churning through calculations. This wasn't just about getting stronger, it was about choosing what kind of monster to become.
"What about the Mosquito-aspects?" he asked suddenly. "Do they have evolution paths too?"
Kaizer's expression darkened. "Why do you ask?"
"Last night, while I was researching Spider-aspects, I saw news reports. Entire communities disappearing... t-they mentioned swarms."
"You're observant." Kaizer stood and walked to the windows, looking out over the city. "Yes, there are Mosquito-aspects. And yes, they have their own evolution paths. But they're... different."
"Different how?"
"Spider-aspects evolve toward complexity---better webs, more sophisticated traps, enhanced awareness. Mosquito-aspects evolve toward simplicity." He turned back to Spade. "They don't get clever... they get hungry, and numerous."
"Numerous?"
"The ability to convert others." Kaizer's voice was grim. "At higher evolution stages, some Mosquito-aspects develop the capacity to spread their Blessing. They bite someone, inject them with transformed cells, and the victim becomes another Mosquito-aspect. Lower rank, subservient to the original, but still part of the swarm."
Spade felt his stomach tighten. "That's possible? The Blessing can spread?"
"It shouldn't be. The Bureau's research says it's impossible. The Blessing is tied to individual genetic expression, can't be transferred." Kaizer's expression was troubled. "But something is happening in the northern provinces. Survivors showing signs of forced conversion. And at the center of it all, rumors of a Progenitor."
"What's a Progenitor?"
"The source." Kaizer returned to the table and pulled up a classified document marked with red warning symbols. "Every swarm needs a queen, a center, a coordinating intelligence. For Mosquito-aspects, that's the Progenitor, the one who evolved far enough to start converting others instead of just feeding."
The document showed grainy surveillance footage, a figure standing in darkness, too distant to make out features, but surrounded by a cloud of... something.
"How many people has this Progenitor converted?" Spade asked.
"We don't know. The northern provinces have been under communications blackout for three days. Military drones sent to investigate haven't returned, the last transmission from the area mentioned a village called San Miguel."
San Miguel. Spade filed the name away.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked. "I'm D-rank. Whatever's happening up north, it's way beyond my capability to handle."
"Because you need to understand the stakes." Kaizer closed the document. "Spider-aspects and Mosquito-aspects are evolutionary opposites. Spiders hunt alone through traps and calculation. Mosquitoes hunt in swarms, through overwhelming numbers and consumption. If this Progenitor continues growing unchecked, eventually it will spread south, to cities... to places like Manila."
"And you think Spider-aspects will be needed to fight it."
"I think clever hunters will be needed to fight it." Kaizer met his eyes. "Raw power won't stop a swarm. The ability to turn an enemy's strength against them."
Spade looked at the evolution paths again.
Predator
Architect
Unseen
Three ways to become something that could fight monsters.
Three ways to become a monster himself.
"If I agree to the training," he said slowly, "can I stop? If I feel myself changing too much, can I halt the evolution?"
"Yes and no." Kaizer's answer was characteristically direct. "You can stop the training. But evolution doesn't stop completely, once started, your aspect continues developing through use. The training just guides it in specific directions. Without guidance, you'll still evolve unpredictably."
So the choice wasn't whether to change. It was whether to control how he changed.
Spade thought of Hilda's compound eyes. Arke apartment building wrapped in obsessive thread-patterns. The theoretical S-rank who'd lost themselves entirely to their power.
Then he thought of the fifty thousand pesos in his account. The courier bag with its seventeen-kilogram weight, the D-minus classification that marked him as disposable.
"I'll do it," he said.
Kaizer nodded as if he'd expected this answer. "Training begins tomorrow. Meet me at the East Manila Training Facility, six AM. Bring workout clothes and expect to be there all day." He pulled out another credit chip and set it on the table. "Payment for today's briefing. Consider it a signing bonus."
Spade picked up the chip. Another twenty-five thousand pesos.
"One more thing," Kaizer said as Spade stood to leave. "The people you impressed last night---Ego, Hilda, the others. They're small-time operators. But they work for someone bigger. Someone who wanted that evolution serum badly enough to risk intercepting my courier."
"You think they'll try again?"
"I think you're now on their radar as someone who costs them money and reputation." Kaizer's expression was serious. "Be careful. Evolution training will make you stronger, but it takes time. Until then, you're still just a D-rank in a world of predators."
Spade nodded and headed for the door.
"Spade," Kaizer called after him. Spade turned back. "What you did last night, the jump between buildings. That was stupid and reckless and exactly the kind of creative desperation that keeps people like us alive. Don't lose that when you get stronger."
"Lose what?"
"The fear." Kaizer smiled slightly. "Fear keeps you smart. The moment you stop being afraid is the moment you start making fatal mistakes."
Spade left Silverline Tower with seventy-five thousand pesos in his account and a knot of anxiety in his stomach. Evolution training... the chance to become something more than D-rank.
The risk of becoming something less than human.
He took the train back to Tondo, his awareness carefully expanded, feeling for anyone following him. Ego's people would be looking for revenge. Hilda wouldn't forget being outsmarted by someone three ranks below her.
But his awareness detected nothing obvious. Just the normal flow of the city---people rushing, powers manifesting in casual displays, the new world built on the bones of the old.
His phone buzzed, a news alert
PH News: Cagayan Province Under Quarantine - Military Establishes Perimeter
Government officials have declared a state of emergency in Northern Luzon after multiple villages reported missing populations. Department of Blessing Research teams investigating the area encountered hostile Blessed individuals displaying coordinated behavior. The Bureau has classified the situation as a potential Class-A threat. Citizens are advised to report any unusual insect activity to local authorities.
Class-A threat. That was the same classification as Kaizer Ventura.
Spade clicked through to the full article. There were grainy photos of military checkpoints, interviews with refugees fleeing south, and a statement from the Bureau warning about potential Mosquito-aspect activity.
One photo caught his attention, a wall with writing scratched into it. He zoomed in, barely making out the words
The Swarm Calls
His awareness suddenly flared, someone was watching him.
Spade looked up from his phone, scanning the train car. Normal passengers--- a woman reading, a man sleeping, two teenagers arguing over a video game.
But his power insisted... someone was watching.
Then he saw it
A mosquito.
Sitting on the ceiling directly above him. Just one, a single insect that could have been natural, could have been coincidence, could have been nothing at all.
Except it was perfectly, unnaturally still.
Spade's blood ran cold. He stood slowly, moved toward the train car's door as it pulled into his stop. The mosquito didn't follow. It just stayed there, motionless, watching with compound eyes that seemed far too intelligent.
The doors opened. Spade stepped onto the platform and walked quickly toward the exit, his awareness pushed to its absolute limit, feeling for any disturbance, any threat.
Nothing. The mosquito hadn't followed.
But as he climbed the stairs to street level, his phone buzzed one more time. Unknown number.
A photograph taken from inside the train car, showing Spade looking at his phone.
The angle suggested it had been taken from above.
From the ceiling.
From where a mosquito had been sitting.
Spade deleted the image with shaking hands and ran.