The council of New Mayhall was convened to discuss how they would move forward after facing acts of aggression from the Freedom City and the city of Roslin. As many of the councilors had relatives or children involved with the attack, the measure of importance placed on it had been increased.

“We should move as soon as possible and burn that hobble of a city to the ground!”

“And what of Roslin? They are allies of the Freedom City and another enemy we have to worry about.”

“What of it? They violated the terms of our non-aggression pact a long time ago by assisting those Freedom City abnormals in escaping. I’m surprised we overlooked it until now.”

“We didn’t overlook it,” Commander Wakefield spoke in a calm voice. “We retaliated by attacking a supply convoy.”

“Oh, that was clearly a very effective way of dealing with them,” Someone replied sarcastically.

“Enough.” A man spoke, a single word from him commanded the entire room into a silent state.

He was Governor Malcolm Burke, a man with a dignified bearing and a head of grey hair. His body had a surprisingly athletic build for a man his age. Even though he wore a suit, it was clear he used to practice some form of martial arts as his hands were rough with experience. His eyes still seemed to be as sharp as they were from his youth as he calmly surveyed the room.

“I didn’t call you all here to plan for a counterattack.”

His words were shocking as everyone seemed to feel that the next logical step was to attack their enemies.

“...We have received a message from Eden Hall. They request we cease all hostilities in light of a discovery they have made.”

“Sir, we’ve all heard of Eden Hall’s accomplishments, but they have no right to interfere. They stay on the other side of the continent so what goes on here does not concern them!” A very riled up Councilor made his opinion known.

A few raised their voices in agreement but didn’t push for an aggressive mood out of respect for Governor Burke.

“I understand what you are all saying, but there is no harm in finding out what has caused Eden Hall to step forward at this time. We received a video file a few moments ago and they urged us to watch it. After that, we can come to a decision about our next move.” Governor Burke nodded to his most trusted advisor, Eugene Price, who took hold of a terminal and began projecting a video onto a large screen.

No one in the room expected much out of it, perhaps some display of technological advancement meant to dissuade aggressive acts, but they all turned their eyes to watch nonetheless.

“Hello, before the tests begin, I’ll start by introducing Subject Zero.” A researcher in a white lab coat who stood behind observation glass pointed to what looked to be an Abnormal due to the freakish amount of muscle on its body alone.

“Are they doing human testing?” A councilor asked with shock.

“Quiet,” Governor Burke responded.

“We will start by increasing the heat in the room by a few degrees for the next few days and observe the effects.” The researcher and a few of his colleagues began to manipulate a few dials and switches. From there, nothing much happened.

The Abnormal, other than being fed regularly, didn’t make a single sound. He simply stared at any who entered the room with strange eyes. The camera zoomed in a little and the features of the Abnormal immediately became clearer. To say he was a human was, difficult. His eyes held a bright orange tint and his facial structure was too wide and rigid to be something found on a normal person.

Nothing much happened until the “Abnormal” suddenly began to contort while letting out low growls. His body shifted as his limbs began to swell and grow and his skin lost its pale pigment and turned to a greyish color.

“That isn’t an Abnormal...It’s a...Corrupted?” A Councillor just barely muttered.

“What you see now is the true form of Subject Zero. This is not a human, but a Corrupted mimicking a human form. We captured this Corrupted years ago, and have been experimenting with it every since when it's physiology changed and it suddenly took on a human form. Up until now, it hadn’t shown the ability to change further.”

“Impossible!” Someone shouted at the screen.

“...Quiet!” Governor Burke was no exception to the shock but felt like it was important to pay attention to every word.

“You may find that to be shocking, but what’s far more disturbing is what caused this transformation. During the Starfall event, strange mutations took hold in a large portion of the human population, it unfortunate to say that the same has occurred with the Corrupted. Except it is far worse than you could ever imagine. The Corrupted have the capability to adapt to certain environmental stressors.”

As if to demonstrate the point of the researcher, the footage advanced by a few days and the hairless Corrupted had began to grow fur as the room clearly became colder judging by the frost gathering on the observation window.

“For the most part, Abnormals have static traits, they can be trained to increase the effectiveness and range of use, but they cannot be forcefully changed or altered. The Corrupted circumvent that idea, if pushed into a state of extreme stress, they may rapidly evolve to counter the cause of it. As of now, we estimate that one out of every fifty Corrupted has the ability to become a Variant. When paired with their high rate of reproduction and the short time it takes for them to mature, that is by no means a small number.”

More demonstrations took place with Subject Zero, replicating various environmental conditions, using a variety of weapons to elicit a defensive response, injecting strange fluids that caused the Corrupted to cry out in pain. The footage went on for a while before it abruptly skipped and the location was changed.

In some large facility, a researcher spoke while the background behind him was completely obscured.

“We have taken to calling the Corrupted who can evolve, Variant Corrupted. And there is one important fact you must keep in mind. We have captured many Corrupted and forced an evolution, but for the most part, they can only evolve once or twice. That means Subject Zero, is a special case as you will come to see.”

As the researcher finished speaking, a spotlight turned on and a huge creature was revealed behind him. It stood four meters tall and barely resembled a Corrupted.

It’s torso remained humanoid, like all Corrupted, but its lower body was a large thorax with insect-like legs protruding from its sides. It’s skin was covered in a layer of dark chitin and thick mandibles covered it’s monstrous face where needle-shaped teeth protruded. It’s two bright orange bulbous eyes blinked slowly, seemingly in a daze. It’s claws were long and thin, but kept a razor sharp edge while it’s hands were protected in a dark shell layer like most of its body.

“We’ve taken to labelling the Corrupted by the nature of their mutation. Those capable of camouflage are called Stalkers, they are very agile but have less durability than normal Corrupted. Those who have increased muscle mass are known as Brutes and are less intelligent but far more destructive. There are also Poisonous Corrupted which can spread noxious spores, Corrupted leaders that seem to be far more intelligent and well-rounded while being able to command others. And finally, there is the Corrupted you see before me. As it is the only one we’ve discovered, we’ve taken to calling it the Cataclysm Variant, Queen Zero. As you may know, Corrupted are capable of taking on any necessary role to ensure breeding. Among those, there is usually a Queen that can exert some control over the hordes. This Cataclysm Variant is a Queen and it is incredibly dangerous.”

The researcher approached the Queen who stared at him with glazed eyes, indicating she was sedated.

“As this unique variant is too valuable to dispose of, we will continue to study it with the hope of finding a weakness hidden within it. If we can unearth the secrets of Corrupted biology then there will be hope of destroying them completely. Everyday, we pump copious amounts of sedatives into this Queen, increasing the amount each day which is why she is currently in a relaxed state. Should she ever escape, this entire facility can be sealed behind thick steel doors that should keep her locked in no matter what.”

Just as the researcher was about to continue, Queen Zero, suddenly jolted as her eyes flashed with a unmistakable bloodthirst.

“MEAT!” A rough, barely intelligible growl, emerged from her mouth.

“W-What?!” The researcher looked at her with pure shock. “S-She just spoke! She just spoke! Did you get a recording of-”

“FOOLISH MEAT!” The Queen hissed out a series venomous insults.

“You can speak our language?! How are you able to understand us?! What is that you want?! What is your purpose?!” As a security team flooded in the room and the restraints around the Queen were electrified, she uttered a laugh.

“NOT...LONG...NOW...MEAT!” She spat a garbled and skin-crawling laugh as her mouth curled upward, exposing a mouth full of vicious teeth.

“Not long until what?! What do you mean by that?!” The researcher asked as he was dragged away.

“Triple the dosage, no- quadruple it! Don’t let that fucking thing wake up! And for Anton’s sake, increase the voltage!” The captain of the security team barked out orders before he approached the camera. “And cut the footage! All research personnel have to evacuate the lab until the situation is contained!”

Before the video ended, the Queen began emitting a monstrous and high-pitched scream that caused the blood to curdle.

The screen went black and the council room went dead silent. The video progressively shocked the viewers until the very end which stunned everyone in a period of confusion.

Governor Burke reached for a glass of water with trembling hands, picking it up and drinking the entire thing before licking his lips.

“Commander Wakefield,” He spoke in a low voice.

“...Yes, Sir?” Commander Wakefield answered after some of his senses returned.

“You once proposed a city-wide evacuation plan, right?”

“Y-Yes, Sir.” Even the usually calm Commander Wakefield couldn’t keep his wits about him.

“We will move to carry it out. You have my personal approval to use whatever resources necessary. It has to be completed within the year, do you understand?” Governor Burke spoke with urgency.

“Yes, I’ll begin work on it immediately.” Commander Wakefield replied.

He had plans he wanted to enact in order to gain complete control over Visette Thales, but those were all up in the air now. The Councilors who once opposed him were now eager for the evacuation plan to be put into motion.

That left Commander Wakefield in a complicated spot as he was already in the middle establishing himself in a place where Visette would lose more by eliminating him, at least, that’s what he thought. Without knowing the truth about Visette’s psionics, he could only assume he was the one with the upper hand. Though none of that concerned him at the moment in light of the Corrupted known as the Cataclysm Variant. There was no telling how old that footage was so who knew if it had grown even more.

“Now, Eden Hall has made plans to contact all cities within the coming days, but until then, this information is to be kept under guard no matter what. If we expose it prematurely, this city may very descend into chaos. Anyone who spreads what was shared here will be treated just like our former councilor, William Locke.”

After the Governor gave his warning, the council was dismissed but a heavy mood still followed those who learned of the information, one that couldn’t be shaken so easily.