23 parts Ongoing On the isolated, tidally locked planet of Venn, a fragile colony survives between fire and frost: a scorched wasteland on one side, a frozen wilderness on the other, and a narrow strip of life clinging to the middle - the Verge. Beneath the surface, the planet's power flows through massive rootlines - a semi-organic energy network left behind by something ancient and non-human.
Seventeen-year-old Calidae Crey was never supposed to matter. He's a neurodivergent rootline engineer - observant, withdrawn, always chasing patterns no one else sees. But something happened to him in the labs seven years ago. Something dangerous. Something still not fully understood.
Now the rootlines are surging again.
Now the past is waking up.
And the truth is catching up to him.
Cal isn't alone. There's a restless tinkerer with grease under his nails and loyalty in his bones. A scrappy girl who won't let anyone she loves be taken without a fight. And a young survivor of a special ops mission that went horribly wrong, who carries his scars along with a deep, unspoken love for Cal's sister - who has gone missing.
Together, they'll face a world shaped by extremes and forged by alien hands.
A slow-burn sci-fi thriller about found family, trauma, survival, and the secrets that won't stay buried forever.
The world is cracking open. And one boy is the epicenter.
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⚠️ Content warning: This story contains descriptions of injury, medical trauma, and emotional distress. These elements are handled with care, but some scenes may be intense. Please proceed thoughtfully. Nothing gratuitous, sexual, or explicit.
