The air in the laboratory was thick, heavy with the sharp sting of antiseptic and the acrid scent of burnt wiring. The Advisor paced the length of the room, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he focused his visor on General Leah.
"What did you see?" he asked, his voice low and laced with urgency.
Leah winced, a sharp intake of breath escaping her as she shifted her weight. "I saw a Titan. But it doesn't look like an ordinary Titan. It's modern—advanced—like the way Dr. Xenon builds her war machines."
The Advisor felt a cold pit open in his stomach. "That fool brought us another Calamity?"
Leah shook her head, her expression grim. "N-no, Advisor. It has the size, but I don't think it's a Calamity entity. It's Dr. Xenon's masterpiece. Her best creation."
The Advisor let out a shaky breath that rattled in his helmet. "So, not only are we dealing with the Eradicator Mark 2 and a war outside our atmosphere... we're also dealing with this new 'Predator' she made." He looked at Leah firmly, his voice regaining its steel. "Go heal yourself properly. Call Doctor Giovanni while I talk to Dr. Hana about the new Behemoth."
Deep within the GDA's engineering workshop, Dr. Hana was a blur of motion. She scribbled furiously on a large sketchpad, her eyes darting across a messy spread of blueprints. "Aha!" she exclaimed, pausing only to lick her dry lips before downing a bottle of water in one go.
The door hissed open, making her jump. She spun around to find the Advisor standing in the doorway. "Hey! Advisor! I have a new project for you. I call it War Machine Prime! I know our previous models malfunctioned, but I promise you, this one will work!"
The Advisor stared at the sketches of the towering, bipedal mech, its design aggressive and sleek. "Are you sure? Our last war machine turned on our own civilians. We need to involve Forge Industry this time, Hana. We can't do this alone."
Hana's eyes brightened with a manic spark. "Thanks for agreeing! Well, you practically didn't, but I'll take it. I just hope the Forge Industry guys can handle my genius, hehe."
While Hana dreamed of steel, the atmosphere in the medical wing was far more tense. Dr. Giovanni finished wrapping the last of the bandages around Leah's mangled arm. "This wound will take at least a week to heal, Leah."
"Alright. I'm off," Leah said, already pushing herself off the table.
"Wait, wait!" Giovanni cried, reaching for a stainless-steel tray. "You haven't taken the antidote!"
Leah blinked, pausing near the exit. "What antidote?"
Giovanni held up a long, wicked-looking needle filled with a glowing, sapphire-blue fluid. "It's an anti-pain serum! It lasts for an hour, but it'll keep you functional."
Leah's eyes widened, her face turning paler than it had been during the Titan attack. She backed away toward the door, her hands up. "Get that thing the hell away from me!"
Later, back in the silence of his private lab, the Advisor stood alone, the weight of his decisions pressing down on him. The path they had taken felt narrower than ever. Suddenly, the shadows in the corner of the room began to swirl and thicken, turning into a localized storm of darkness. Tenebris Marcam manifested from the void, his voice uncharacteristically panicked.
"Advisor! Give us reinforcements! We need casualties!"
The Advisor froze, his blood running cold. "For what?"
"The Relic Army is losing to the Awakened Army," Tenebris said, his glowing eyes flickering wildly like a dying flame. "We can't take out the 'Vile Wretched' himself..."
"Why the hell did you guys engage a sub-faction of the Calamity?!" the Advisor shouted, his fear turning into rage.
"No time for questions! We need to stop the Vile Engineer at his march! He wants revenge on humanity for harming the Calamity energy..." Tenebris paused, his head tilting as his eyes narrowed, scanning the laboratory air. "Wait... didn't I tell you to stop using Calamity energy?!"
The Advisor took a sharp step back, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. "We aren't using it."
Tenebris Marcam squinted, his shadow-form undulating and twisting with suspicion. "Something doesn't feel right. I can smell it..."