The apartment was quiet. Grandma was in the living room, watching a soap opera where a woman was slapping a man for buying the wrong brand of milk.

  In the bedroom, Ben sat at his desk, the bright light of his soldering lamp illuminating the mangled remains of the spy drone Vala had crushed. It was 6:30 PM.

  [COOLDOWN: 00 HOURS 30 MINUTES REMAINING.]

  Ben rubbed his chest. The dull ache was being replaced by a low, rhythmic thrumming, like a drum beating slowly under his skin. The Grey tape was starting to vibrate.

  "It is almost time," Vala said, standing behind him with her arms crossed. "The Artifact wakes."

  "I know," Ben muttered. "It feels like I drank ten espressos."

  He poked the drone with a screwdriver. "Vala, this isn't alien tech. It's a 'Buzz-Wing Model 4'. You can buy these at the electronics store for fifty bucks. Kids use them to race in the park."

  He used tweezers to pull out a glob of black, tar-like substance that had been soldered onto the drone’s circuit board. "But this black stuff... it’s bypassing the CPU. It hijacked the drone’s camera and sent the feed somewhere else."

  "Where?" Vala asked.

  "I don't know," Ben sighed, pushing his magnifying glass away. "But it means the enemy isn't beaming things down from a spaceship. They're here. In the city. Buying cheap electronics and hacking them."

  He looked at the drone. It was a terrifying thought. The monsters weren't just mindless beasts; they were scavengers.

  [SCENE BREAK: The Living Room - 7:00 PM]

  Thirty minutes later. Ben walked into the living room to check on Grandma. The thrumming in his chest was getting stronger. "Hey, Grams. How's the show?"

  "Oh, terrible," Grandma said, not looking away from the TV. "He cheated on her with her evil twin. Can you believe it?"

  She looked up at Ben. "You look flushed, Benny. Are you getting sick?"

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Just... tired," Ben said, leaning against the wall for support. "Long day at the shop."

  "Well, sit down. Your friend Val is making dinner."

  Ben froze. "She's what?"

  "She insisted. Said it was a traditional 'Crimson' recipe."

  Smoke billowed from the kitchen. Ben sprinted.

  He found Vala standing over the stove. She wasn't using a spatula. She was using her dagger to stir a pot of boiling water. "I am preparing the sustenance," Vala announced proudly. "Boiled Protein."

  Ben looked in the pot. It was... hot dogs. Whole. Still in the plastic wrapper. "Vala!" Ben turned off the stove. "You have to take the plastic off first!"

  "The shell preserves the flavor," Vala argued.

  "It preserves the cancer!" Ben grabbed the pot. "Okay, kitchen is closed. I'm making toast."

  As he reached for the bread, a sudden jolt hit him. It wasn't pain. It was a surge of pure, chaotic energy. It felt like sticking a fork in a socket, but pleasant.

  [SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE.] [CHAOS ENGINE ONLINE.]

  Ben gasped, dropping the loaf of bread. Beneath his shirt, under the layers of duct tape, the dull Grey light exploded into a vibrant, pulsing Violet.

  The hum was audible now—a low, electric purr. Grandma turned from the TV. "Benny? Is your phone vibrating?"

  "Yeah!" Ben yelled, clutching his chest. "Just a text! Spam! Gotta go!"

  He grabbed Vala and dragged her back into the bedroom, slamming the door.

  [SCENE BREAK: The Bedroom]

  Ben leaned against the door, breathing hard. The Violet light was shining through his shirt, through the tape, casting purple shadows on the walls. "It's back," Ben whispered. "It's online."

  Vala’s eyes lit up. She drew her sword. "The weapon is primed. We should test it. Roll, Carrier. Let us see what form comes next."

  "No!" Ben pushed away from the door. "I am not rolling! The last time I rolled, I destroyed a warehouse! I live in an apartment building, Vala! If I roll a dragon, I kill everyone on the fourth floor!"

  "You must master the Chaos," Vala stepped forward. "If the Hive attacks tonight, you cannot be afraid of your own power."

  "I'm not afraid," Ben lied. He looked at the glowing Violet spot on his chest. "I just... I want to control it."

  BEEP.

  The sound came from the desk. Ben and Vala turned. The crushed drone. It wasn't dead. A tiny red LED light on the circuit board had just blinked on.

  BEEP. BEEP.

  "Is that a bomb?" Vala asked, raising her shield.

  Ben rushed to the desk. He grabbed the magnifying glass. "No," Ben’s face went pale. "It's a transmitter. It just reactivated."

  "Why?"

  Ben looked at his chest. The Violet light was pulsing. He looked at the drone. The red light was blinking in perfect sync with his heart.

  "The Artifact," Ben realized. "When it was Grey, it was silent. Now that it's Violet... it's broadcasting again." He looked at Vala with wide eyes. "I just turned on the GPS for every monster in the city."

  SCREECH. A sound from the alleyway below. Distant, but getting closer.

  Ben grabbed his denim jacket. "We can't stay here," Ben said, zipping the jacket up to his chin. "We have to run. Again."

  Vala smiled, flipping her sword. "I was getting bored of hot dogs anyway."

  [TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 9]