‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 16

THE GATHERING OF MINDS
The assembly hall buzzed with desperate hope as hundreds of survivors—doctors, engineers, even a nun clutching lithium-laced rosary beads—crowded together. Their faces were gaunt, but their eyes burned with determination.

John stood at the podium, the holographic display flickering behind him. “We’ve identified three critical fronts,” he announced.

The Magnetic Storm Theory: Jani, the biologist, pointed to seismic charts. “This wasn’t just an attack—it was a harvesting pulse.* Something strip-mined our planet’s magnetic field, causing the collapse.”*

The Eluzacid Enigma: Chemical analyst Jennifer held up a vial of black sludge. “It’s not just acid. Scans show self-replicating nanites targeting specific DNA markers—ones engineered into humans.”

The Ascension Phenomenon: Mike zoomed in on footage of the dissolving bodies. “The ‘dust’ isn’t vanishing—it’s being collected.* Satellite remnants show it funneling into the ship’s underbelly.”*

A hand shot up—the nun, Sister Miriam. “And the voices? The… singing?”

The room chilled.

Eva, unnoticed until now, whispered: “They’re counting down.”

THE LAB’S DISCOVERY
In the lab, Jennifer’s hands trembled as she isolated a strand of Eluzacid. The microscope revealed the horror:

Tiny, writhing machines—each shaped like a double helix, burrowing into human cells.

“They’re not killing us,” she realized. “They’re reprogramming us. The dust is… data.* Our genetic code being* uploaded.”

Jani cursed. “For what?”

Then the lights died.

The emergency glow revealed the truth: The Eluzacid in containment had learned. It pulsed in perfect sync with…

Eva’s humming.

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS
Mike’s console beeped wildly. The fractured satellite feed now displayed:

47:00:00

46:59:59

46:59:58

“It’s not a clock,” Ocean realized. “It’s a feeding schedule.”

John grabbed my arm. “We need to reach the other enclaves. Now.”

But as we turned to leave, the nun’s rosary melted, the beads forming a perfect map of tunnels beneath Newlife—ones not on any blueprint.

And at the center, pulsing like a heartbeat:

Eva’s name.

• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 19
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 18
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 17
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 16
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 15
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 14
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 13
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 12
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 11
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 10
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 9
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 8
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 7
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 6
• “Kill Everything That Moves” – Part 5
• ‘Kill Everything That Moves’ Part 4
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 3
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 2
• Kill Everything That Moves – Part 1