CNN NEWSROOM - ATLANTA, GEORGIA:

  "And that's the weather forecast for the eastern seaboard. Expect those unusual storm patterns to continue through the weekend." The meteorologist smiled tightly as the camera switched back to the anchor desk.

  "Thanks, Jim. Unusual is right," said anchor Melissa Smith, shuffling her papers. "We've been seeing record-breaking weather events across six continents this month alone. Up next: astronomers report increased solar activity that some experts are calling 'unprecedented.' But first, these messages."

  As the commercial break began, Melissa turned to her co-anchor. "You see that email from Dr. Ramirez at JPL?"

  Mark shook his head. "No, what'd it say?"

  "Something about weird gravitational readings. She's pitching it as a segment, but the producers won't touch it." Melissa lowered her voice. "Said it was too speculative."

  "Probably for the best," Mark replied, checking his reflection. "Last thing we need is another doomsday theory trending on social media."

  UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO OBSERVATORY:

  Professor Hiro Mizuki rubbed his eyes, squinting at the data scrolling across his monitor. His calculations weren't matching the observed stellar positions. The variances were minute—mere fractions of a degree—but in astronomical terms, they were significant.

  "Chelsea-san," he called to his graduate exchange student. "Would you verify these readings again?"

  The young woman nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose as she examined the figures. "I've already triple-checked, Professor. The anomaly persists."

  "Perhaps our equipment—"

  "Already performed maintenance protocols yesterday," she interrupted respectfully. "And the Leipzig Observatory reports similar findings in their latest bulletin."

  Professor Mizuki leaned back in his chair, considering the implications. "Draft a paper. Something conservative. 'Observed Gravitational Anomalies in the Outer Solar System.' We'll submit it to the Journal of Astrophysics."

  "Should we mention the directional nature of the anomaly?" Chelsea asked.

  The professor hesitated. "No. Not yet. Let's gather more data first."

  KENNEDY ESTATE - PRIVATE OBSERVATORY, MASSACHUSETTS:

  Augustus Kennedy watched the live feed from his family's private observatory, a glass of scotch balanced in his manicured hand. Behind him, three technicians monitored sophisticated equipment that would put most university facilities to shame.

  "How long?" he asked simply.

  "Unknown as of this minute," replied the lead technician.

  “UNKNOWN?! Jesus fucking Christ on the cross what do you mean unknown!?” Augustus put down his scotch with a slam. "And the Council?"

  "No official communication. The standard protocols remain in effect."

  "Ah fuck." Augustus took a measured sip. "They've initiated the Reset without informing the families."

  No one responded. They didn't need to.

  "Prepare evacuation protocols for all primary facilities," he ordered. "Transfer processing operations to deep sites. I want our Asia-Pacific bunkers fully operational within a month."

  "Sir, that's practically imposs—"

  "I do not give a FLYING FUCK, Ronald! The game has changed," Augustus cut him off. "The Council moved without consulting us. We adapt accordingly, NOW!" He finished his scotch in one swallow. "And get me a Rothschild on the secure line."

  NAVAJO NATION - ARIZONA:

  Grandmother Yanaha sat outside her home as the sun dipped behind the mesas, painting the desert in gold and crimson. Her wrinkled hands moved steadily, weaving a complex pattern that had come to her in dreams three nights running.

  Her great-grandson approached, sitting cross-legged beside her. "That's different," he observed, studying the unfamiliar design taking shape beneath her fingers.

  "The sky is changing," she said simply, not looking up from her work. "The Old Ones spoke of this. The great serpent returns."

  The young man, studying astrophysics at Arizona State, felt a chill despite the evening warmth. The other day, his professor had mentioned unusual perturbations in the outer planets' orbits.

  "What does it mean, Grandmother?"

  Her weathered face remained impassive, but her fingers increased their pace. "It means prepare. The world will tremble before it steadies."

  SYSTEM ZONE - CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK CITY:

  Maya Zhao ducked as the fireball scorched the air where her head had been moments before. The yello Social Zone had unexpectedly transitioned to a black Coagulate Zone halfway through, catching everyone off guard.

  "Focus!" her teammate Derek shouted as he deflected another attack with his hastily constructed shield. "We need to reach the Phoenix Gate!"

  Maya nodded, channeling energy through her hands as she'd learned in previous zones. Her ORT3 abilities had been barely sufficient; in this black zone, she felt drastically underpowered.

  "Something's wrong," she called back. "This shouldn't be happening. Zones don't change categories mid-game!"

  An older woman with graying hair materialized beside them. "The System is destabilizing," she stated calmly, effortlessly creating a barrier that blocked the next attack. "The rules are changing."

  "Why??" Derek gasped, clutching a bleeding arm.

  The woman's expression remained neutral. "Because they're afraid." With a gesture, she cleared a path toward the Phoenix Gate. "Go. Complete this zone. Then get to high ground."

  "High ground? What does that mean?" Maya asked.

  But the woman had already disappeared, moving with impossible speed toward another group of struggling players.

  NOAA RESEARCH VESSEL - PACIFIC OCEAN:

  Dr. Lisa Rodriguez stared at the readouts, her coffee gone cold beside her keyboard. The ocean's temperature had increased another 0.2 degrees overnight—a statistically impossible jump in such a short timeframe.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Malfunction?" suggested her colleague, noticing her expression.

  "We've replaced the equipment twice," she replied. "And the Japanese research vessel two-hundred miles south reports similar findings."

  She pulled up the global dashboard, examining temperature readings from monitoring stations worldwide. Red indicators were starting to dominate the display.

  "It's not just here," she murmured. "It's everywhere. The oceans are warming, but not from the surface down as you'd expect with climate change. These readings suggest... from the bottom up."

  "Geothermal activity?" her colleague proposed.

  "Across every ocean simultaneously?" She shook her head. "That would require a planetary-scale event."

  LUCID DREAM - SUBURBAN CHICAGO:

  Sixteen-year-old Joey Finnagan realized he was dreaming when the sky turned inside out. One moment he'd been riding his skateboard down his street; the next, the blue expanse above had folded like paper, revealing a darkness filled with watching eyes.

  Unlike his usual lucid dreams, he couldn't control this one. The watching presence felt... ancient. Real.

  You see us approaching, tiny fragment, whispered a voice that wasn't a voice. Sooner than expected.

  "Who are you?" Joey managed to ask, his dream-self rooted to the spot.

  The correction. The reset. The necessary end that precedes rebirth.

  The street beneath him began to ripple like water, houses dissolving into abstract shapes.

  Tell the Sun we come. Tell him the Symphony nears its apex.

  Joey jolted awake, sweat-soaked and gasping. By morning, he'd convinced himself it was just a nightmare, though he couldn't explain why he'd written "THE ELDER GODS ARE COMING" on his bedroom wall in the middle of the night.

  AMATEUR ASTRONOMER'S FORUM - ONLINE:

  AllIsOne92: Anyone else notice the discrepancy in Jupiter's position last night? About 0.03° off from predicted coordinates.

  Constellation999: Measurement error. Recalibrate your equipment.

  DeepDeepDiver: I've noticed it too. Been tracking for a few days. Consistent deviation, gradually increasing.

  NoNotThere42: Work in progress at Harvard suggests a gravitational anomaly. Nothing to worry about—likely an uncatalogued trans-Neptunian object.

  Harmonic_Man78: It's Nibiru! The ancient Sumerians predicted this! The rogue planet returns to cleanse Earth!

  [Harmonic_Man78 has been muted for 24 hours by moderator]

  ModDonQuixoteBased: Let's keep this scientific, folks. Post your observational data with equipment details. No speculation without evidence.

  DeepDeepDiver: [Uploads data file] Neptune and Uranus showing similar deviations. Whatever it is, it's affecting multiple outer planets consistently.

  Vegapunkist0: Has anyone else noticed the increased aurora activity? I'm in Montana and we had northern lights last night. That's... weird.

  EMERGENCY ROOM - BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA:

  Dr. Martinez logged the fifth case of unexplained seizures in his twelve-hour shift, concern deepening the lines around his eyes. All five patients reported the same symptoms: intense headaches followed by visions of a "dark planet" and overwhelming dread.

  "Another one?" asked the charge nurse, noticing his expression.

  "Si. Same as the others. No history of epilepsy, no drugs, passed their physical."

  "Mass hysteria?" she suggested.

  "Perhaps." He closed the file. "But these patients had no contact with each other. They live in different districts, different socioeconomic backgrounds." He hesitated. "And my sister-in-law called this morning. My nephew had similar symptoms in Santiago."

  The charge nurse crossed herself. "Something in the water maybe?"

  "Santiago is 1100 kilometers away," he reminded her.

  His phone buzzed with a message from a colleague in Montevideo, Uruguay. Same cases appearing here. What's happening?

  RADIO TELESCOPE ARRAY - ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE:

  Dr. Sofia Luiz bolted upright in her chair as the signal registered again. For the third consecutive night, the array had picked up anomalous radio emissions from the same sector of space—a region that should contain nothing of significance.

  "Confirmation," her assistant announced, eyes fixed on his monitor. "Same frequency, same directionality, increasing amplitude."

  "Is anyone else picking this up?" she demanded, already typing furiously.

  "ALMA detected traces last night but classified it as probable interference. Green Bank is running focused scans at our request."

  Dr. Luiz entered final commands, initiating their most sensitive detection protocols. "This isn't random noise or interference. The pattern has mathematical precision."

  Her assistant hesitated. "Are we talking about... a signal? As in—"

  "I don't know what we're talking about," she interrupted sharply. "But whatever it is, it's getting closer."

  WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM - WASHINGTON, D.C.:

  "So tell me again, the whole thing," President Trump said, drumming his fingers on the polished table. "I want the best summary, the most beautiful summary you can give me."

  The National Security Advisor shifted in her seat. "Mr. President, we're tracking multiple anomalies. The outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune—they're showing orbital deviations. We've detected unusual seismic activity globally, but deep, very deep. Atmospheric disturbances are increasing. And our intelligence indicates that certain influential families—"

  "The really rich ones, right?" Trump interrupted. "The ones with the big, beautiful buildings?"

  "Yes, sir. The Kennedys, the Rothschilds, several others. They're quietly relocating assets to secure locations."

  "Smart. Very smart." Trump nodded approvingly. "I know these people. Tremendous business sense. If they're moving, something's happening. So NASA, what's your take? And don't give me the fake news version."

  The NASA Administrator cleared his throat. "Well sir, our official position is that we're investigating a large trans-Neptunian object—"

  "English, please. Regular people English."

  "A... big thing beyond Neptune that might be affecting the other planets. But unofficially..." He glanced nervously around the table. "All calculations point to an object on a direct path to Earth. Not orbiting, but heading straight toward us."

  "Straight at us? Like a cosmic hole-in-one?" Trump leaned forward, laughing at himself. "I know space. I've always had a natural understanding of space. I love space."

  "Yes, Mr. President. Directly toward Earth."

  The room fell silent.

  "When?" Trump demanded. "I need a timeframe. And it better be the most accurate timeframe. And it better not bump my golf time. I love my golf time. It’s the best sport really. Will this whole thing ruin my golfing for the next month?"

  "… Based on current data, It is unknown, sir." The Administrator gestured vaguely.

  "You need more data, I get it." Trump waved dismissively. "So what do we do? I want options. Options that will benefit America. Only those options."

  The Defense Secretary straightened. "Sir, we recommend maintaining current alert levels to avoid public panic. No announcements yet. We should accelerate Project Deep Shelter—"

  "The bunker thing. I remember. Good project. Very good project. Very costly. But nothing more tariffs won’t cover."

  "Yes, sir. We suggest expanding civilian capacity by 200%."

  “No no, we need to have space for Elon, and Mark, and Jeff, and all those very great, incredibly great rich men and their families first.” Trump's expression grew serious, a rare shift in his demeanor. "But if this space thing is as big as you think it is? What then?"

  The room grew uncomfortably quiet.

  "Then God help us all, Mr. President," the NASA Administrator finally said. "Nothing we have—not our biggest rockets, not our most powerful nukes—nothing in our arsenal would be enough to stop an object of that size on a collision course."

  Trump leaned back, uncharacteristically somber. "So what you're telling me is, we might be facing the biggest disaster in American history. Maybe world history. And there's nothing we can do about it?"

  "That's... the situation, sir."

  "Huh." Trump stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Get me the head of Space Force on the phone. And someone, would you please call Elon. Get him here immediately." He raised his finger and perched his lips. "Also I’m still golfing today, so let's get ready to move out after those phone calls people!"

  SYSTEM ZONE - TOKYO, JAPAN:

  Nineteen-year-old Kenji Endou staggered out of the red Physical Zone, blood streaming from a cut above his eye. He'd survived—barely—and earned three Death Points for his effort. His ORT2 status felt barely adequate these days, with zones increasing in difficulty faster than he could level up.

  “What? No Oversoul? Reina...”

  A notification chimed on his system device: Unusual Zone activity detected in your area. Caution advised.

  Kenji frowned. He'd never seen that message before. As he watched, a new zone descended several blocks away—black as midnight and pulsing with ominous energy. A Coagulate Zone, but the Roman numeral floating above it wasn't I through V.

  It was VI.

  Impossible. The System had five ORT levels, not six.

  His device chimed again: WARNING: Unauthorized Zone detected. System protocols compromised. Evacuate area immediately.

  Around him, other players were receiving the same notification, confusion and fear spreading through the crowd. An older man in ORT4 gear approached the zone cautiously, scanning it with advanced equipment.

  "It's not registering as a standard System construct," he called back. "It's something else."

  Curiosity overcoming caution, Kenji moved closer. The zone's surface rippled like oil on water, and through the inky darkness, he glimpsed something that turned his blood cold—rows of amber eyes watching from within, ancient and patient.

  His device emitted a high-pitched whine and shut down completely. All around, similar devices failed simultaneously.

  "Run," someone shouted from behind him. "The System isn't controlling that zone!"

  MOUNTAIN COMPOUND - CASCADE MOUNTAINS:

  Maron Black lowered his binoculars, his weathered face impassive as he surveyed the night sky from his observation post. Beside him, Eleanor Rath made notes in her journal, her handwriting precise despite the cold.

  "You see it too," he stated rather than asked.

  "Yes," she confirmed simply. "The stars are shifting. Subtly, but consistently."

  Maron grunted. "Not subtle enough. Solaris noticed last night."

  "He would." Eleanor closed her journal.

  In the distance, flashes of blue and red light briefly illuminated the training grounds where Solaris and Akira were engaged in night exercises. The Sovereigns’ power had grown exponentially since their arrival just a couple days prior.

  Maron nodded once, military precision in the gesture. "I'll adjust training schedules. Double defensive preparations."

  "And the remaining Sovereigns?"

  "Not sure, but they better hurry their asses."

  Solaris stood on the training ground, his practice momentarily paused as he stared at the night sky, his integrated eyes reflecting the starlight of a sky that was soon going to be changed forever.