The core worlds were burning. Glowing markings had spread across skin, sex drives had spiked hard enough to disrupt work shifts, and empathic links let strangers feel each other's fear and lust in crowded streets.
On New Terra Prime and half a dozen other heavy population centers, protests started with signs and chants.
They ended with smashed windows and fires. Purity sleeper agents moved through the crowds, whispering that the changes were corruption, that integration meant slavery.
Elara watched the reports from the command ship. She gave the order without hesitation. Contain the violence with targeted strikes. Follow up immediately with public merging ceremonies to show what the new reality actually delivered.
Harlan and Sabrina dropped into the worst zone on New Terra Prime. Their dropship hit the ground outside the central plaza where ten thousand people had gathered.
