The first human to choose wrong did so smiling.
His name was Dr. Malrec Vane, and he had been waiting for this moment longer than the universe remembered how to count.
While cities trembled and newly awakened humans panicked, Malrec sat calmly in an underground research facility that officially did not exist. Screens flickered around him, each displaying impossible data—probability fractures, evolution spikes, dimensional strain.
And one tiny life-sign blinking insistently.
"A fly," Malrec murmured fondly. "Of course it would be a fly."
He leaned back as the Evolution System unfolded before him—not as a voice, not as a command, but as a tool.
Most humans heard Choose.
Malrec heard Finally.
Above ground, things were going poorly.
"This is officially out of control," Aurelius shouted, dodging a beam of compressed gravity that shaved a building in half.
"AGREED," Elias yelled back, slamming his hands together as raw force exploded outward, canceling the attack mid-air. "WHY ARE THEY ALL SO AGGRESSIVE?"
A woman floated above the street, wrapped in blazing sigils. A man with crystalline skin tore through armored vehicles like they were cardboard. Another human split into three overlapping versions of himself, each arguing loudly.
"I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR A HUMAN CIVIL WAR," Aurelius screamed, wings vibrating dangerously.
Lumulith hovered higher, expression grim. "This is the natural result of rediscovered choice without wisdom."
Aurelius ducked as a chunk of reality screamed past him. "COULD WE FAST-FORWARD TO THE WISDOM PART?"
Elias staggered, panting. His evolution burned beneath his skin, demanding commitment.
"Every time I stop one," he gasped, "another one shows up worse."
"That's because," Lumulith said slowly, "someone is guiding them."
Aurelius froze midair. "…Guiding?"
Reality rippled.
A man stepped out of nothing.
He wore a lab coat, unburned, unstained, untouched by the chaos around him. His eyes glowed—not with raw power, but with understanding.
"Hello," Dr. Malrec Vane said pleasantly. "You're all doing evolution very inefficiently."
Aurelius stared. "…I hate him already."
Malrec's gaze settled on Aurelius, sharp and delighted. "And there you are. Aurelius. The Adaptive Variable."
"How do you know my name?" Aurelius demanded.
Malrec smiled wider. "Because I remember the old paths."
Lumulith stiffened. "Impossible. Those records were erased."
"Yes," Malrec agreed. "By people who wanted control. I wanted truth."
He snapped his fingers.
The city stilled.
Not frozen—subordinated. The chaotic evolved humans halted mid-motion, eyes dulling slightly, like puppets waiting for strings.
Elias choked. "What did you do?!"
Malrec turned to him, amused. "You hesitated. That made you weak."
Elias clenched his fists, trembling. "No. It made me human."
"Precisely the flaw," Malrec said.
Aurelius buzzed forward angrily. "HEY! BIG TALK FOR A GUY WHO CAN'T EVEN FLY."
Malrec laughed. "Oh, little godling. I don't need to fly."
He gestured—and the Evolution System answered.
Aurelius felt it instantly.
Pressure.
Command.
An attempt to overwrite him.
He screamed as his wings flared instinctively, Adaptive Chaos roaring in defiance. Reality buckled around his tiny form.
"YOU DO NOT OWN ME," Aurelius screeched.
Malrec staggered back, eyes widening. "Fascinating… you reject authority at the systemic level."
Elias moved.
He didn't choose power.
He chose anchor.
The world snapped back into motion as Elias stepped between Malrec and Aurelius, his evolution flaring—not outward, but inward. His presence stabilized space itself.
Malrec frowned. "You're interfering."
Elias met his gaze. "You're not evolving humanity. You're enslaving it."
Malrec sighed. "Someone has to guide them. Freedom without direction destroys worlds."
Aurelius hovered at Elias's shoulder, panting. "He's got a point about destruction… but I still don't like him."
Lumulith descended, voice echoing across dimensions. "Malrec Vane. You are committing a Primordial Violation."
Malrec bowed mockingly. "Then stop me."
The sky cracked.
Above them, something ancient stirred—an entity that remembered when humans ruled stars and flies carried names written in cosmic law.
Aurelius felt it and gulped.
"…Lumulith?"
"Yes?"
"Are we about to fight someone who actually knows what they're doing?"
Lumulith's galaxy-eyes darkened. "Yes."
Elias exhaled slowly. "Then I guess I need to choose."
The Evolution System pulsed.
Not loudly.
Not forcibly.
Waiting.
Aurelius buzzed, smirking despite the terror. "No pressure, big guy. Just the fate of reality."
Elias smiled grimly.
"Yeah," he said. "I noticed."
And somewhere deep within the universe, the system updated:
[HUMAN – ELIAS ROWEN]
[PATH SELECTED: BALANCE-BEARER]
[STATUS: ACTIVE]
The universe leaned forward.
Because the fly had adapted.
The human had anchored.
And the man who remembered too much had declared war on choice itself.