‘I’m fine.’ Her own voice sounded distorted, slowed, as if what she perceived internally was happening much faster than the outside world. ‘He’s coming around. I think.’ But she was now sure; the discordance faded, the rasping on her soul gone. From here, it was all up to the sleeper himself.

Nina let go of the key. The snap back to reality this time left her dazed, her mind reluctant to leave the unseen world. There she had power, could shape and control what happened; here, she belatedly remembered as she turned, she was a prisoner. The Chinese scientists and soldiers were still watching her intently. Eddie and Macy’s concern became relief as they saw she was unharmed.

‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘That was, uh . . . a hell of a thing.’

‘What happened?’ asked Hui. ‘Did you manage to alter the qi forces?’

‘I think so, yeah. He should start to . . .’ She trailed off as she saw the crystalline tendrils slowly shrink, retracting and being absorbed into the translucent slab on which the Nephilim lay. The crystal itself changed colour, taking on an eerie turquoise hue.

More of the giant’s body was gradually revealed. The aeons motionless inside the coffin had not diminished him; his muscles were still sharply defined, a lean but powerful frame. She watched as the thin creepers withered to nothingness. ‘Okay, I’ve never seen anything like that before – and I’ve seen a lot of weird things.’

‘Is he awake?’ demanded Wu.

Hui checked readings on a laptop. ‘I do not know if he is awake – but he is definitely alive. Look!’ She turned the machine.

It displayed a thermographic feed of the isolation room, heat sources in lurid false colour against a dark background. Nina herself was an inverse silhouette of hot orange and yellow and white – but behind her, a new form took shape, shimmering blobs of purple and blue spreading to create a supine humanoid shape. The colours shifted, greens and reds appearing as the body grew warmer.

One of the scientists called out in excitement. ‘He has a heartbeat,’ Hui reported breathlessly. ‘Slow – but it is getting faster!’

Nina again regarded the figure inside the sarcophagus. He had still not moved, but his pale grey skin had taken on a warmer tone at his extremities. ‘Is the air definitely safe?’ she asked. Wu confirmed it was. ‘Okay, I’m taking off the mask.’

‘No, wait,’ said Hui. ‘It will affect our readings of—’

‘Sorry, but I’ve had enough of being the gimp.’ She unzipped and tugged away the covering hood before fumbling with the gas mask’s buckles. The inner seal came free from her face with a wet pop. Her skin suddenly felt cool where she had been sweating beneath the enclosing rubber. She took in a long, unfiltered breath. Relief; she didn’t drop dead on the spot.