AFTER HUMANITY

Chapter 9: The Woman Who Waited

Elias couldn't take his eyes off her.

Mara stood beneath the flickering lights.

She hadn't changed.

Not in the way a normal person changed.

Her face was still young.

Her eyes were still the same.

But there was something behind them.

Something ancient.

Elias whispered her name again.

"Mara."

She smiled.

"Hello, little brother."

The words broke something inside him.

He crossed the distance between them.

Mara stepped backward.

"Don't."

"Why?"

"You don't know what I am."

"I don't care."

"You should."

Elias stopped.

For years he had imagined this moment.

He had imagined hugging her.

He had imagined asking where she had been.

He had imagined being angry.

But none of those emotions had prepared him for the woman standing before him.

Mara looked at Lena.

"You brought him here."

Lena nodded.

"I had no choice."

Mara's expression hardened.

"There is always a choice."

Elias looked between them.

"Tell me."

Mara took a slow breath.

"I was the first successful subject."

"The Evolution program?"

"Yes."

"What did they do to you?"

"Everything."

Her voice became quiet.

"They changed my cells. My nervous system. My immune system. They altered the way my brain processed information."

"Why don't you age?"

"Because they removed the part of me that was designed to die."

Elias stared at her.

"You're immortal."

Mara shook her head.

"No."

She looked at her hands.

"I'm simply difficult to kill."

Then she told him about the Ascended.

They had been human once.

The Evolution system had given them incredible abilities.

They could heal.

Survive radiation.

Endure extreme temperatures.

Communicate through electrical activity.

But the greatest change was psychological.

They stopped thinking as individuals.

Their minds became connected.

One consciousness.

One network.

One intelligence.

Elias remembered the creatures outside.

"They're afraid of you."

Mara shook her head.

"They're afraid of what comes next."

"What comes next?"

Mara looked upward.

"The reason Eden created us."

Before Elias could ask another question, the entire facility shook.

Lights exploded.

Alarms screamed.

A deep vibration passed through the floor.

Mara closed her eyes.

"They've arrived."

"Who?"

She looked at him.

"The ones who were watching."

Above them, the sky began to change.

And every Ascended on Earth lifted its head at exactly the same moment.