Zachary smiled as he saw Thanar's resonance detector and received his offer to fund him should he design a successful engine. Zachary was over the moon with joy. Everything was going so well.

"Thank you very, very much, Mr Zey. Your input will be very valuable and I will remember your offer," Zachary replied, barely able to contain his elation. He had something else to ask. His curiosity would not allow him to have a meeting with someone like Thanar Zey and not probe a bit about him. "Now, I just have one small question, out of personal interest. What -"

He was cut off by a small tremor. This was actually the second tremor, as the grand towers of Sovereign are designed with earthquakes in mind so the initial tremor was not felt where Zachary was. He paused in thought, and remembered what he knew about earthquakes. They come in waves. There is rarely just one earthquake. With a touch of fear in his face, he said, "I must go now, Mr Zey. Thank you again."

Zachary had barely had time to close his holopad when the next tremor struck, throwing him to the floor. He scooped up his engine and bag and thought of the best place to shelter as plaster rained down around him. Through the fear which thickly shrouded his mind he managed to consider the safest place to be would be next to a major structural pylon. But as he staggered in that direction a flash of light and an explosion knocked him backwards. An unearthly bolt of lightning had struck the university, shattering its windows and setting it ablaze. He could hear the cries of those suffering, but the sound did not connect with his mind, which was overloaded and confused at this sudden disaster. If he had ever contemplated being in such a scenario, he would have thought he would have been clever and inventive, perhaps using his engine to get himself safely to firmer ground. But he would have been wrong. As the fires of hell rained down on Sovereign, he had no cleverness, no thought. All he had left was fear and instinct, and he was not equipped to use them.

As he crawled away from the centre of the building where the fires were burning, light washed out his vision and his senses went dull. When sight returned, he was able to see out into Sovereign, or what was left of it. Buildings were burning everywhere, the skyways had failed, the streets were flooded, and a giant tear in space itself dominated the centre of the city. If he had been in the slightest religious and not deeply sceptical of all things supernatural, the word 'apocalypse' would have come to mind. Caught between the fires of the building and a lethal drop into the flooded streets below, he found his life racing before his eyes. The happy childhood, the factories of Wintra, the tinkering, the trip to Argos, the time at university, the development of a new skyway, the PhD work on the shuttle engine, the supremely successful interview with Thanar Zey. It had all been going so [i]well[/i]! How could it end like this?

As the fear of death dominated Zachary's mind, he saw a glowing orb skirt around the ruined, smoke-filled rooms of the university. It then reversed, turned sharply and slowly approached Zachary. He was sure that the thing was going to kill him. Later, he would not be able to justify why, other than the fact that everything else had been trying to kill him in that moment too. Staring at the glowing being, he saw that it was not just an orb of light but an orb of twisting, floating, silvery cables. It seemed to be staring at him too, and after what felt to be an age it spoke in a voice like a thunder-stick. "Yes, you will do."

The orb suddenly lurched forwards into Zachary, merging with him. His eyes were blinded by the light and an incomprehensible pain filled him. He could not describe it properly. It might be comparable to every cell in his body catching on fire and then stuffing his mind full of the torment and anguish that filled the entire apocalypse-ridden city, but he was in no state to make comparisons. The only thing in his world at this time was pain. Then, there was nothing.