*2 months later*

As the Sun's brilliant light peeked over the horizon, the denizens within the slums of GQC-6 came to life. Deep in a maze of decrepit buildings and shoddily built roads, a hut stood unsteadily atop a dirt hill. Constructed from nothing but scrap metal, wooden pallets, and hopes and dreams, the hut could hardly be called a home.

Soon enough, the Sun's rays penetrated the building through the numerous gaps in its shell, waking its youngest occupant first.

"WAAAAAHHHHHHH"

Pondus' cries quickly roused his mother from her short slumber. Rushing over to the basket that he was in, she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, hoping to calm him down.

Despite being sleep deprived, malnourished, and completely drained of energy, the mother could not have been happier. Her son was alive! With the whereabouts of her husband and other son unknown, she couldn't bear to lose Pondus. If she had, then she would have quickly followed him.

Finally calming the baby down, the mother got to work making 'breakfast'. She brought out the only pot she owned and set some of the water they had to boil.

After a short while she pulled out a roll of tablets. Rations, if one could even call them that. By dumping them into boiling water they would turn into a nutrient filled glob of "food". This so called food was as hard as a stale biscuit but it let the residents of the slums survive on nothing but water, something the government easily provided along with the rations.

Just as the woman was about to put the tablets in the pot, she froze. Feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, the woman's body was pressed into the ground. She lost grip of the rations as her hand was slammed onto the metal floor with enough force to dent it. Every part of her body felt as if it was being crushed by some invisible force. Mustering all her strength, the woman strained her neck to look at her son who remained unaffected by this mysterious energy. Filled with relief, she stopped resisting the domineering pressure and steeled her mind.

Before she could be crushed like a pancake, a figure appeared in the doorway of her small abode. Struggling to keep her eyes open, all she could see was a blur as the figure approached her rapidly, reaching out a hand. As soon as it made contact, the woman was released from the crushing pressure. It seemed like the mysterious figure was calling out to her, but her hearing had been affected by the phenomena and had yet to return.

"Ka-----. Kace---. KACELIA! Are you okay?"

Slowly gaining her strength back, the woman looked up at her savior. It was the man who had found her after the Sever Spore detonation and helped her get back to the slums.

"Jin?! Why are you here?! You only come every 3 days. "

The man's face grew into a portrait of confusion as he thought about her words.

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"Uh... yea...I know. I came here on Monday and now its Thursday. Its a good thing I showed up a little early today huh? You got hit pretty hard it looks like."

This time, it was Kacelia's turn to consider the man's words. She didn't have the heart to tell Jin that he had in fact paid her and her son a visit only the day prior. Instead, she was just happy he showed up when he did.

"Thank you Jin, and..... yes, its getting worse. I'm not really sure what's happening but this strange crushing effect is only getting stronger. I don't think I'll be able to endure the pressure if it continues to get worse. Any new developments in the city?"

Jin had spent a lot of time both in the city's interior and slums as he worked to make sure that the young mother had what she needed to at least care for her child. As a result, he seen many things....many unnatural things in the past couple months. He relayed his findings.

"The good news is that you aren't the only one to experience that strange crushing pressure. Millions of people are also experiencing the same thing or at least some other otherworldly force. For some, they've been saying that they 'lose time' and are always late or unable to remember events that even the people standing next to them seem to remember perfectly. Others grow green like the light of the Sever Spore and are flooded with intense pain for seemingly no reason, sometimes sending them straight into shock.

There are many other cases but these ones seem to be the most common, and no one, not even the government appears to have a clue about what exactly is causing them. All we know is that the touch of certain individuals can immediately alleviate one's symptoms."

Kacelia took in Jin's words. Clearly everyone was feeling the "anomalous effects" that the Interlopers described would occur when interacting with sever energy. Pointing at her son, she had only one question.

"Has anyone been brought back from the dead like my son? I know what I saw, and you were there too."

Looking at the subject of the woman's question, Jin momentarily paused before carefully picking his next words.

"Has anyone experienced resurrection like Pondus over there? Most definitely not. However what's interesting is that some people are completely unaffected by these anomalous symptoms, almost as if they were never in the blast radius for a Sever Spore. And trust me when I say everyone was close to at least one...

Even more strange, many of these people who claim to be unaffected have also started saying that they feel the best they ever have in their entire lives, even recovering from old injuries. Regardless, I think your son is a unique case and you should keep his second chance on this world a secret. Unless of course you want him to end up on a government dissection table"

"HEY! You-"

Just as Kacelia was about to give Jin an earful for such a crude remark, she stopped. The man had fallen flat on his butt and was crawling backwards as he pointed at her baby, a look of terror painted upon his face.

"Kacelia. L-L-Look at your son!"

Seeing a faint glow in her periphery, Kacelia turned to Pondus, only to see him wreathed in green light. The boy began crying fiercely, throwing both his arms in the air as he floated out of his basket. Taken over by motherly instinct, Kacelia reached out to comfort Pondus but was immediately met with the sensation of burning flesh. Faced with immense heat, the woman reeled back.

'That's....strange. I thought sever energy wasn't supposed to cause physical damage?'

Kacelia didn't even have time to gather her thoughts as the green light around her son began to condense, creating a sphere around him. With each passing second, the orb was growing brighter, completing obscuring Pondus from view.

Fearing for his life, Jin darted out of the home while quickly shouting behind him. "KACELIA, you have to get out of there NOW!"

Completely ignoring his warning, the woman stood in place helplessly as the hut was being crushed around her. She cried out for her child.

"PONDUS! PO-"

Her words were cut short by a bright light akin to that of a Sever Spore's detonation, only this one wasn't merely a flash of light.