Lowwater didn't wait for drills. It made its own.
By the fourth day, Evan had bruises from jaw to ankle, Cairn's lessons still living in his bones. The depot yard had been patched again, pipes humming in his rhythm even when he wasn't there. Registry wanted another controlled test at dawn. Aelira had orders, scribes had slates, volunteers had carts ready to build walls on command.
And then the sky broke first.
Not dawn. Not yet. Just a sound like iron teeth dragging across stone. The Towers rang late, bells fumbling, as if they'd been woken up by something they didn't recognize. Windows cracked down the Slums. Rails shook without trains. The hum of Evan's lanes stumbled like they'd tripped on their own feet.
The panel hit his eyes before he'd finished breathing.
[SURGE DETECTED] Classification: Unscheduled anomaly manifestation. Epicenter: Foundry-Spine junction. Threat Level: HIGH (multi-form). Directive: Immediate containment. Registry reserves in transit (ETA: 14 minutes). ). Captain Ghost: Solo response required.
He was already moving.
Storm crawled violet-white along his ribs, bandages burning off. The depot roof blurred over his head. Pipes hammered three–two–three like a warning and a prayer. By the time Cairn shouted his name, Evan was six streets gone.
The Foundry-Spine junction wasn't a plaza anymore. It was a wound.
Stone bent inward, cobbles folding like they'd been too tired to stay flat. A hole opened at the center, black and wet, rimmed with glowing veins. From it crawled shapes like scaffolds half-melted, rebar given mouths, ladders that wanted teeth. Metal screamed. Sparks bled. The anomaly dragged a workshop's worth of junk into itself and vomited it back out as monsters.
[Combat Engaged: HOLLOWFRAME] Type: Industrial aberration (collective) Trait: Constructs flesh from surrounding metal; adaptive growth. Threat: Extreme (district-scale collapse possible)
Dozens of frames shambled on legs made of rivets. Arms ended in hooks, drills, hammers. Heads weren't heads, just cages of scrap rattling with nothing inside. Each step shook rails out of place.
Evan didn't stop running.
[Lane Override] — ENGAGED Domains Synced: Hook Street + Slums + Foundry Stability: 34% (stable)Overflow: 25%
The lanes roared alive under his feet. Ovens in Hook Street thumped heat down pipes. Slums children banged metal until it sang. Foundry rails screamed iron songs. All of it braided into his ribs, anchoring his storm.
"Let's break the new toys," Evan said, voice more lightning than throat.
First Hollowframe lunged with a drill the size of a lamppost. Evan blurred sideways.
[Echo Step] — Engaged (Count: 7, Duration: 2.8s).
Seven ghosts sprinted with him, each dragging rhythm. Frames turned drills and hooks into Echos, splitting their weight. The real Evan slid between rivet legs, arcs compressed tight.
[Vector Compression] — 21%.Force redirect: SUCCESS.
He slammed palm to frame's knee. The drill that should've pierced his chest tore sideways into another frame's cage instead. Sparks exploded, fire catching.
Hollowframes destroyed: 2.HP: 100% → 92% (abrasions).Conduction strain: +8%.
"Ugly," Evan spat.
Frames kept birthing. More metal peeled off walls, bent into bodies. Fifteen. Twenty. More.
Warning: Growth rate — accelerating.
Evan stomped. Thunderstep cracked cobbles, shockwave rolling frames onto their sides. He blurred across three at once, cleaving arms, legs, cages. Violet arcs turned scaffolds into rain.
[Vector Cleave] — Active. Radius: 24m.Damage: Severe.Hollowframes destroyed: 5.
Still more crawled out.
Stability faltered.
Domain sync: 34% → 27%.Overflow: 25% → 29%.
Pipes rattled too fast, too thin. Evan forced his storm through them. Sweat poured down his back. His storm buzzed near-white.
"Don't break," he hissed.
He split nine Echoes. Neural strain screamed.
[Echo Step] — OVERCLOCK. Count: 9 (max). Duration: 3.3s.Neural strain: 76%. Risk: Seizure.
Nine versions of him scattered across the junction. Two sprinted high, baiting drills. Three hammered knees. Four took corners and shoved rhythm into alleys. The city itself bent. Frames lost balance, pulled apart by rhythm that wasn't theirs.
Evan dove into the largest, a frame three stories tall stitched from cranes.
[Vector Compression] — 21% cap. Redirecting mass.
He shoved arcs into its spine. Lightning detonated out its chest. The crane collapsed into molten scrap, screaming like iron dragged across teeth.
Hollowframe Prime destroyed. Spawn rate reduced.Overflow surge: +12%. (29% → 41%).
Evan staggered, ribs screaming, head buzzing. The panel flared red.
Warning: Overflow approaching threshold. Neural collapse possible.Advisory: Terminate engagement.
"Shut up," Evan growled, blood down his teeth. "I'm not done."
He thunderstepped again.
HP: 92% → 74% (internal damage).Stability: 27% → 31%.Overflow: 41% → 44%.
Frames kept coming, but slower now. Arcs crawled up their cages and burned them hollow. Volunteers arrived late, poles and carts smashing stragglers. Cairn's yellow storm finally hit the junction, iron arcs cleaving through survivors.
But Evan was already finishing it.
He dragged all three Domains into a single note. The ground shook like lungs finding their voice. Rails screamed harmony. Pipes banged war drums.
Multi-Domain Override — MAX STABILITY (52%).Overflow: 44% → 49%.
He sprinted the circle, every corner of the junction. Violet arcs painted walls. When he slammed both hands into the cobbles, the lanes themselves cleaved upward.
Stone broke. Rails split. Hollowframes shattered under the city's own refusal to host them.
The surge died in sparks and ash.
The panel filled his sight.
[Anomaly Surge: HOLLOWFRAME] — ELIMINATED. Reward: Major XP + Industrial Residue (Moderate). Level Up: 19 → 21.Speed: 1,316 → 1,362.Overflow: 49% (threshold near).Quest Progress — Forge the Storm:
Speed ≥ 1,500 (Current: 1,362)
Overflow ≥ 50% (Current: 49%)
Stabilize 3 Domains simultaneously (2/3 trials complete)
New Passive:Forge Pressure — All Echoes +0.3s duration when within Domain sync.
Evan dropped to his knees. Blood poured from his nose. His storm screamed, arcs near-white.
Ash fell.
Not from the frames. Not from the fires. From nowhere.
Gray motes drifted across his arms, clinging to wounds. They burned cold. His storm recoiled, hissing higher like it was staring at something it couldn't name.
The panel glitched.
[System Alert] — Divine Residue Detected. Source: UNKNOWN. Probability: 79% [Divine-class Anomaly]. Advisory: Do not engage.
Evan wiped blood with his sleeve, smearing ash across his jaw. He stared at the motes until his eyes hurt.
"Do not engage," he whispered. His smile was teeth and defiance. "Yeah. Sure. Tell that to the street."
The pipes rattled three–two–three, louder than ever. Volunteers banged back. Cairn stared at the ash and didn't spit iron this time. Aelira's slate trembled in her grip.
The city had survived. But the storm knew something worse was watching.