Adventure of Zay Morales 1

At dawn, the corporate headquarters glows with sleepless blue glass. Inside the conference room, the team stands around a projection of El Ojo del Sol, a golden tear suspended above the Caribbean Sea.

A slender young adult with pale lavender skin, swept-back silver hair, and small translucent ridges along his jaw sits inside a restraint frame. His wrists are ringed with humming null-cuffs.

The projection stutters. Beneath the table, the building's power grid pulses in the same white-gold rhythm as Zay's Riftlight, making every monitor flare like a miniature sunrise.

The null-cuffs unlock with four sharp clicks. The refugee, a young adult mutant man in a charcoal containment jumpsuit with a narrow face and one dark eye ringed in gold, rises as the conference table splits apart, chairs sliding by themselves while a golden fracture widens across the floor and climbs the walls.

Beyond the fracture, something vast shifts behind the light. The room's alarms remain silent, leaving only the low pulse of the Rift and the team's stunned breathing.

Zay plants his feet as the fracture crawls up the glass wall. White-gold Riftlight gathers around his hands, then pours into the crack in a steady, controlled stream.

The fracture's jagged edges slow beneath the radiance. Its glow compresses from a spreading tear into a narrow, trembling seam, while the floor stops shuddering under everyone's feet.

The mutant refugee watches the sealed edges with rigid concentration, gold-ringed eye reflecting the light. Behind him, the vast silhouette withdraws from the narrowed opening.

Around the conference room, the team lowers their defensive stances but does not relax. The projection of El Ojo del Sol steadies above the table, synchronized with Zay's golden pulse.