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Chapter One—Rianna

The sun crept over the horizon as Dr. Rianna Goodwin strode briskly across the parking lot of the Dowling Center, her heels clicking against the asphalt. As she approached the front doors, raised voices caught her attention.

A large group of protestors bearing signs reading “Stop the Collider” had gathered, blocking the entrance. They chanted slogans as security guards tried unsuccessfully to herd them back. Her shoulders tightened, lips pressing into a thin line. She had no time for this today.

Aislinn Roming stood at the edge of the crowd, wisps of wavy red hair escaping her braid as she shouted encouragement to the protestors through a bullhorn. Her blue eyes blazed with fervor. Rianna changed course, making a beeline for her opposition’s leader.

“Call them off, Aislinn,” said Rianna heatedly. “This is your last warning.”

She lowered the bullhorn and met her gaze unflinchingly. “I can’t do that in good conscience. You have to listen to me, Dr. Goodwin. The forces you intend to unleash could threaten the very fabric of our universe.”

“I don’t have to listen to anything.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “My research will advance human knowledge, despite your obstruction. Now stand down.”

The two women faced off, oblivious to the press of bodies around them. The air between them seemed alive with electric tension, two unyielding forces about to collide.

Sensing violence was imminent, the security guards moved in, forming a wedge between the scientists and protestors. Rianna tore her glare away from Aislinn, letting the guards firmly guide the woman back.

Aislinn called desperately over her shoulder, “You have to stop this madness before it’s too late.”

Rianna turned away, a wall of stoic determination on her face. She wouldn’t be deterred from her life’s purpose. Not when she was so close to answers that could reshape human understanding.

Squaring her shoulders, she strode through the newly opened path to the doors, ignoring the protestors’ shouted insults. Their ignorance wouldn’t sway her rational mind. She swiped her ID badge forcefully, entering the lobby as Aislinn’s frantic pleas faded behind her.

Today would change everything. No one could stop it now.

The familiar sterile scent of the lobby washed over her as the doors swung shut, muting the tumult outside. She took a deep breath, steadying her scattered nerves. This was her domain, her temple of science and reason. Here, logic reigned supreme.

At the elevators, her mind raced with thoughts of everything that had led up to this moment—the sleepless nights poring over data, the endless calculations, the setbacks and breakthroughs. It had all come down to this day and this test that would validate her life’s work.

The elevator arrived at the control room, the doors whispering open to reveal a hive of activity. Technicians bustled about, engrossed in final checks and preparations. The buzz of tense excitement filled the air.

Rianna stepped out, the click of her heels sharp against the tile floor. She set down her notes with a thump, straightened her pristine white lab coat, and called out crisply, “Status report.”

Her senior technicians responded in rapid succession, voices clipped and focused. Rianna moved briskly about the room, inspecting monitors and settings as they continued their reports. Pressure valves had been primed. Secondary cooling systems were standing by. All diagnostics were green across the board.

Satisfied, she took her place at the central command station overlooking the vast collider chamber below. She allowed herself a deep, steadying breath before keying the microphone. “Commencing supercollider activation in T-minus sixty seconds and counting.” Her voice echoed through the building’s intercoms.

An electric hush fell over the control room, broken only by the low hum of machinery and her team’s controlled breathing. She kept her eyes fixed on the primary monitors as the countdown timer ticked lower, each second feeling weighted and eternal.

This was the culmination of half a decade of sacrifice and tireless work pursuing a dream few dared imagine possible, and now success was so close she could taste it. Her heart thundered against her ribs.

“Three…two…one…” Her thumb nudged the ignition switch forward. “Supercollider activated.”

For a long, breathless moment, all was still and silent save for the growing thrum of power building in the giant collider ring below. Monitors remained dark, turbines not yet kicked into full gear.

Then needles jumped on dials as readings surged. A low vibration shivered through the room. Data spat across screens in hypnotic cascades of numbers and graphs too rapid to track. A distant rumble built until it became a bone-rattling roar.

She held her breath for a second. This was it. The culmination of her life’s passion, and her vision tunneled down to a single monitor displaying the supercollider’s core.

A tiny, swirling dot of darkness blossomed at the center, steadily growing as particles accelerated to near light-speed. It swelled into a ravenous black hole, consuming all matter and light pulled into its grasp. Warning klaxons wailed, but she paid them no mind. This void was expected, and she was sure it was something they could sustain and control.

She watched, enraptured, as the simulated singularity expanded past theoretical diameters. Still, it grew, as if possessing a will of its own. Her brow creased in consternation as a prickle of unease hit her. That couldn’t be right. Her calculations indicated it should have stabilized by now.

Anxiety licked an icy path down her spine. She opened her mouth to shout the emergency shutdown sequence, but before she could form the words, a high-pitched whine pierced the room. It climbed rapidly in intensity until humans could no longer process the audible assault. She clapped her hands over her ears in agony along with her reeling team.

Then, soundlessly, the shrieking void collapsed in upon itself, replaced by something far more terrifying than even her brilliant mind could have conceived. Reality itself tore open before her disbelieving eyes.  A shimmering vortex of energy speared through the collider room, blinding and hypnotic. It was beautiful, pearlescent, and rippling with colors no human eyes could fully comprehend. It was utterly, impossibly wrong.

Her great rational mind shuddered to a halt, unable to accept or process what she was seeing. This couldn’t be real. It defied every natural law upon which the universe was built.

Yet her team stared just as agape at the phenomenon, many collapsing to their knees or shielding their vision against the crawling radiance. No, this was no hallucination or dream. It was a warped reality.

The vortex stabilized, undulating gently. From its center, dark forms slowly took shape, lumbering forth and passing through the viscous light membrane as if stepping through a semi-solid waterfall.

Her eyes widened in horror and disbelief as the forms shambled closer with thunderous footfalls. Monsters. Beasts from the darkest depths of myth made real flesh before her. Giants with curved rams’ horns. Creatures with moldy gray skin, weeping sores, and elongated, crooked limbs, and more beasts for which she had no name.

A cacophony of screams, roars, and unnatural sounds pelted her senses as the tide of monsters continued to spill out from the rippling portal. The abstract theories Rianna had clung to now took monstrous shape before her eyes. She had been so very wrong…

One beast paused, perhaps ten feet away, twitching and scenting the air with flared nostrils. Slowly it turned, fixing glowing lilac eyes that were incongruous with its otherwise rugged appearance upon her. Being pinned by that gaze cut through the haze of chaos and terror.

Those alien eyes pierced Rianna to her core, and she knew with sudden, impossible certainty that it saw her. Truly saw her.

Recognition slammed into Rianna’s mind even before the monster rumbled a single guttural word.

“Mate.”

The beast, an orc, barreled toward her with thundering steps. Her paralysis broke, and she spun on her heel and ran, the pounding footfalls of the monster giving chase echoing down the hallway behind her.

This was no longer her world of logic and reason. This was a realm of nightmares made real, and she had brought it into being.

Her heart beat erratically, her mind a whirl of terror and disbelief. The orc, a tall, broad, and muscular creature with green skin and long green-black hair in braids, followed her. Its lilac eyes had looked into her soul, recognizing something she couldn’t fathom, and it had called her “Mate.”

What did that mean? How could that be?

Behind her, the orc’s heavy footsteps thundered like a monstrous drumbeat. It was gaining, each footfall an ominous echo of her mounting fear. She dared not look back, focusing only on the twisting corridors ahead.

It wasn’t just the orc’s sheer physical presence that terrified her. There was intelligence in those eyes. A purpose. The thing knew what it wanted, and it had chosen her.

“MATE,” it bellowed again, its voice a bone-chilling growl that resonated through Rianna’s very being.

She reached a crossroads of hallways and skidded to a halt, panic clawing at her throat. Which way? Any choice could mean life or death.

There was no time to decide. The orc was too close. Its deep, grunting breaths filled the air with a musky, wild scent like damp earth and primal aggression.

Her body moved on instinct, propelling her down the right-hand passage. Her vision swam, everything a blur except the overpowering need to escape, to flee from the embodiment of raw, untamed power hot on her heels.

Her mind raced, searching for any understanding of the creature pursuing her. Orcs were fictional creatures of fantasy and legend. They weren’t real. They couldn’t be real.

Yet this one was. Its presence was undeniable, its form unlike anything she had ever seen. Its towering frame was corded with muscle, its face a chiseled blend of brute force and strange, inhuman beauty. The braids of its green-black hair swayed with movement, its lilac eyes glowing with a hunger Rianna couldn’t comprehend. Was it male? She felt somehow certain he was.

The absurdity of her thoughts struck her. She was analyzing the creature as if he were a scientific specimen, even as he hunted her with relentless determination. That was a reflection of her life’s obsession with understanding, a drive that had brought her to this nightmarish reality.

The corridor ahead ended abruptly in a dead end that trapped her. Rianna’s breath caught in her throat. No, it couldn’t end like this. There had to be a way out.

She frantically searched for an escape, her eyes landing on a ventilation shaft high on the wall. Without a second thought, she grabbed a nearby cart, scrambling atop it. She reached for the shaft, fingers grasping at the cold metal.

The orc’s roar filled the corridor, a sound of frustration and anger. He had seen her, understood her intent, and was almost upon her.

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