Temporal Resonance

The humming in the underground facility, usually a steady thrum of advanced machinery, suddenly spiked. It wasn't a sound, not entirely, but a vibration that seeped into the bones, a resonance that pulled at the very fabric of time. Benjamin gasped, his hand flying to his temple as a dizzying wave washed over him. The sterile, metallic walls of the research lab seemed to shimmer, then dissolve, replaced by a canvas of swirling, impossible colors.

"What in God’s name was that?" Colonel Mitchell’s voice, usually so steady, was laced with alarm. Agent Torres, his face pale, was already reaching for his sidearm, eyes darting around the room as if expecting an invasion.

But Benjamin wasn't focused on them. He was caught in a vortex of memory, a phantom echo of a moment he’d long tried to forget. The air around him grew thick, heavy with the smell of ozone and something wild, something untamed. He saw it again, the impossible storm. Not a storm of rain and wind, but of raw, crackling energy, a maelstrom of sapphire light that had swallowed Project Asteria whole. He felt the sickening lurch, the violent spin as the aircraft clawed against an invisible force.