Alan Becker stretched, rubbing his tired eyes as he clicked the download button.
The fundraiser for Project SafeNet had been trending all over YouTube, and while Alan wasn't the type to download random programs, this one came highly recommended. Besides, if it really helped with online security, why not?
The file installed instantly.
A new window flashed on his screen.
"Congratulations! Project SafeNet is now active!"
Alan smiled and closed his laptop. He had work to do tomorrow.
He didn't notice the tiny speck of red skittering across his keyboard.
The was free.
The creature, a grotesque spider-like abomination with a dark red body and razor-sharp pincers, crawled through the circuits, searching, calculating. It should have been nothing more than a self-limiting script, a harmless program meant to defend.
But something else was inside it now. Something that was never meant to be there.
It slithered from the digital world into New Lennium City.
Once inside, it changed. The mechanical body melted into flesh. Limbs cracked, stretched, reformed. It stood up. A hunched, twitching stickman-like entity, its body pulsating as if barely holding itself together.
The Mantis was born.
It floated above the empty streets, searching for prey. But the city was still clean. Uninfected. Not for long.
It needed a host.
The Mantis' form shuddered as it reshaped itself, the grotesque stickman melting into the shape of a frail, elderly man. He slumped against a cold brick wall, letting out fake, raspy coughs. His pale, empty eyes scanned the streets.
He didn't have to wait long.
Vivian, the 12-year-old vixen, strutted down the sidewalk. Murphy and Mitzi's worst nightmare. The bratty little bully who spent her days making their lives miserable.
She smirked as she spotted the homeless man huddled in the alleyway. A perfect opportunity to pretend she was a good person—something she could rub in Murphy's face later.
Vivian flipped a gold coin between her fingers.
"Here, old man. Don't spend it all in one place."
The moment her fingers got too close, the Mantis struck.
A flash of red—razor-thin tendrils shot forward, spearing her through both eyes.
She didn't even have time to scream.
Her body convulsed violently, veins turning jet black as something alien tore through her insides. Her fur split open, exposing raw, writhing flesh. Her limbs cracked, stretching unnaturally as her pupils glowed red.
She was no longer Vivian.
She was something far worse.
A bratty, mutated abomination, still holding onto her childish cruelty, but now with an uncontrollable hunger for more.
The First Infected.
The Bratty Mutated Infected Fox.
Her laughter turned to screams.
The infection had begun.
New Lennium City – 10 Minutes Later
The streets were no longer safe.
Vivian moved like a rabid animal, leaping onto bystanders, her claws piercing into their skulls. Every victim she infected rose again, twitching, growling, spreading the virus further.
The city fell apart in minutes.
And above it all, standing atop a flickering streetlamp, The Mantis watched.
Satisfied.
He had done what he came here to do.
And now… he would move on.
As the city burned, and Vivian continued her rampage, The Mantis' form dissolved into the night.
No one knew where he was headed next.
But soon… the world would.
Live Broadcast – New Lennium City
A cat-like news reporter frantically adjusted her microphone.
"This is breaking news! A violent outbreak is occurring in—"
Her voice cut off.
A shadow loomed behind her.
She turned just as five ViraBots lunged forward, their pincers tearing through her throat.
The camera hit the ground. The screen flickered.
And then—
Silence.
What is The Mantis' next move?
You'll find out soon enough.
