In the middle of a wide, sandy plain, the burning wreckage of a Dassault Rafale fighter burns and smolders. A little over a mile away lies the remains of its pilot, equally blackened, equally charred, but not equally destroyed. A cinder of life still burns in its machine mind as it tries desperately to repair some of its systems. The lone runner sees the black outline of the body and veers wildly, coming to a skidding halt not far from the smoking remains. He approaches the body slowly, examining it closely as he does so. He is cautious despite the stupendous impact the body has suffered, aware of what the battered hulk was once capable of.

Stepping gingerly up to the blackened shape, the redeemed Lord Mantil of the Hamprect Empire kicks it over and scans for signs of life. A part of the wreckage that was Agent Jean-Paul Merard’s mind stares back at him and recognizes him, trying desperately to compute some tactical option. Their black eyes connect for a moment and Shahim smiles bitterly. After a pause filled with all the tension of retribution, Shahim’s left eye rolls back into his head, and a lethal array of needle-thin spines emerge from its socket. Agent Jean-Paul experiences a last moment of despair before the laser cuts into his head to cleanse his machine body of life. Within a few moments, the white-hot syringe finally smites the Agent’s infectious presence on Earth, and Lord Mantil turns and walks away.

Epilogue

As the planet reverberates in the aftermath of the attacks, its effects spread across the globe.

In America, a cloud of radioactive dust from the explosions at King’s Bay washes up the Georgia coast. Born on the wings of the northern Atlantic trades, the cloud carries death and mutation to the scattering population. Amid the millions fleeing its silent lethality, a scarred and battered Lana Wilson drives west into the heartlands of America to heal and recover. She needs shelter, she needs time. But her machine body’s convalescence will also give her time to focus her fury, forcing it to fester and boil inside her. Her rage is tumultuous, her thirst for vengeance palpable. She wishes death to the world, but for now her enmity is focused on three individuals: Neal Danielson, Madeline Cavanagh, and her former ally John Hunt.