No. No no no—
Clara was beside him in an instant, her face pale. "Orion—?"
He couldn't speak. His hands shook.
Because this wasn't supposed to happen.
Not yet.
Not like this.
In their last life, the Substitute didn't directly appear until years into the Integration, when humanity was already on its knees.
But now?
Now it was here on day one.
And it had just erased an entire city without effort.
Elizabeth grabbed his arm, her nails digging into his skin. "Why is it here now?!"
Orion had no answer.
Only a single, paralyzing thought:
it came too early... What's wrong?
The being hovered above the world, its form flickering between human and something else.
"Survive if you can."
Then it vanished.
Clara had never seen Orion like this.
