Dr. Niall Renton:
"You name things like my eight-year-old daughter." Elara continued documenting their findings, her fingers moving over the tablet like professional skaters on ice.

"Hey, Sprouty deserves a proper introduction into the world." Niall grinned, crouching next to the tiny plant. "If this little guy can survive, There is hope for us too."

She finally glanced at him. "You are way too excited about this."

Niall sighed dramatically. "How many lemons did you eat as a kid to be this sour?"

"You make it sound like life is all that sweet."

"Because it is!"

"If that were true, we wouldn't be out here terraforming other planets."

Niall exhaled, running a hand through his unkempt hair. "Fair. But can't you just admit this is good news?"

Elara tapped the rim of the planter. "It is good news. It's just... fragile."

Niall opened his mouth to argue, but something in her expression stopped him. She wasn't just talking about the plant. He wanted to tell her everything would be fine—hell, that was usually his job. But for once, he wasn't sure he believed it.

Their entire existence—hell, their whole mission—was just as delicate as this tiny sprout. They were the first team to establish any kind of success, but it wasn't just about plants. If something could grow, it meant oxygen, food, and a future. If they failed...

Failure wasn't an option.

"Hey, did you mess with any data on seismic activity?" Elara's voice was sharp, edged with something he didn't like.

"No, why?" Niall immediately looked up at her.

Elara bit her lip, her brow furrowing. "The results from last week... are all gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone, disappeared, vanished, whoopsie-daisy, bye-bye." The annoyance in her voice was obvious.

Niall stood up, frowning. "An entire week's worth of data just vanished?"

"Yes Niall, want me to say it in French? Les résultats sont partis."

He scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe Mira messed with it?"

Elara shot him a glare. "Dr. Patel wouldn't do that."

"I mean, maybe it was an accident?" He shrugged. "Could've happened to any of us."

Her eyes narrowed. "So, did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Accidentally delete the data."

"I swear, it wasn't me."

Elara lifted her chin slightly. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Niall stiffened. "Elara – " He threw his hands, exasperated. "It wasn't me."

Before she could push further, a deep rumble vibrated through the floor. The overhead lights flickered, casting the lab into brief darkness before stabilizing again.

Elara's breath hitched. Her fingers tightened around the tablet. "Shit," she whispered.

Niall's stomach knotted. "What?"

Before she could answer, the alarm blared – a low, droning sound that sent a chill down his spine.

Niall and Elara locked eyes.

For a moment neither of them moved.

Niall hesitated, glancing at the tiny green sprout. Against all odds, the little guy was still standing—fragile, but alive. Maybe that meant there was still hope for them too... or maybe he was just grasping at straws.

Another tremor—stronger. The floor beneath him lurched like a ship caught in a storm, and for a split second, his stomach did that awful weightless drop—like missing a stair in the dark.

Elara snapped her fingers in front of his face, snapping him out of it. She nodded to the door, signaling him to move.

Niall tore his gaze away from the sprout. It was stupid to feel attached to a plant, right? But if it could survive, maybe— Nope. Not the time. He forced himself to follow Elara's lead.

His heart pounded as they sprinted through the narrow corridor, their footsteps echoing against the metal walls. The alarms kept blaring a constant reminder that something was wrong.

"What in lemon-sake is happening?" Niall asked, dodging a low-hanging pipe as they ran.

Elara didn't slow down. "Something's triggering tectonic shifts beneath us. But that shouldn't be possible—not here."

"Yeah, well, neither was growing plants in that soil and look where we are."

A violent tremor threw them both off balance. Niall slammed into the wall, cursing under his breath. The lights flickered again, and for a split second, total darkness swallowed them. Then, emergency red lights bathed the corridor in an eerie glow.

Elara pushed off the wall, gripping the tablet against her chest as she steadied herself. "We need to get to Command."

Niall groaned, rubbing his shoulder where he'd hit the metal. "And do what? Ask nicely for the ground to stop shaking?"

She shot him a glare. "If this gets worse, we need to know if evac is on the table."

Another tremor rattled the corridor. This one was sharper, more like a jolt than a roll. Niall's stomach twisted. "That didn't feel natural."

Elara didn't reply, but the way her jaw tightened told him she agreed.

A voice crackled over their comms, rough with static. "—lara, Nai—... hear me?"

"Mira?" Elara pressed a finger to her earpiece. "We're here. What's happening?"

"Command's in chaos," Mira's voice came through, clearer this time. "Whatever's causing these tremors—it's deep. Readings are off the charts. And—" A burst of static. "—not natural."

Niall and Elara exchanged a look.

Elara pressed forward. "Define 'not natural.'"

"There's something... extraterrestrial."

Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.

Then, another quake—this one violent.
A deafening crack echoed through the corridor.
The floor split open.

Elara barely stopped in time. Niall grabbed her arm, yanking her back as a chunk of the ceiling groaned and collapsed right where she would have stepped.

"Okay, nope, I hate that," Niall breathed.

Elara exhaled sharply, shaking him off. "We have to reroute."

Niall glanced at the broken floor, then at the trembling walls. "Or, and hear me out—what if we just left? Took a car, waved goodbye, and pretended this mission never happened?"

Elara shot him a withering look. "Sure, let's just hop in a car and drive away from the global seismic event. That'll end well."

Niall threw up his hands. "Hey, desperate times. And I don't know about you, but 'something extraterrestrial' sounds like a great excuse to be somewhere else."

Another tremor. A distant boom, low and guttural, like the Earth itself was growling. The red emergency lights flickered.

Mira's voice crackled back over the comms. "Guys—power's failing across the base. We're losing connection to Command." A sharp inhale. "And it's not just here."

Elara and Niall both froze.

Not just here? His stomach tightened. That made it worse. A lot worse. Local disasters, they could handle. A planetary one? No one had trained them for that.

"What do you mean 'not just here'?" Elara asked carefully.

Mira's breathing was fast. "Something's hitting the grid. Communications are dropping globally. Satellites, even the ISS just went dark."

Niall's stomach dropped. "Wait. All satellites?"

Another pause. Then: "Everything. GPS, internet, military systems—gone. It's like... an EMP, but bigger. And the tremors started at the same time."

Elara's grip tightened around her tablet. She didn't look at Niall, but he could see the muscle in her jaw twitch.

"Shit," she muttered.

A chilling realization settled over them.

This wasn't natural. This wasn't random.

This was something else.

Then, for the first time since the alarms started, the tremors stopped. The ground went still. The low groaning in the walls quieted. The lights flickered one last time before they completely stopped working. There is a faint click, a soft mechanical hum in the background, and then...

Silence.

The silence was worse than the alarms. At least when the world was shaking, it felt alive. But now? Now it was just... waiting

Chapter word count: 1186
Novella word count: 1186