Global Evolution: I Became A Zombie!

What?

The screen looked like the most basic screen he had seen countless times. It wasn't like one of those private messages from the Collective, yet it had a personal touch to it.

He looked around, but none of the humans had such a screen before them. Without a doubt, someone was talking directly to him!

Who are you?

[We don't have time for idle chat. Let's leave it for when we meet in person.]

[For now, it's crucial that you listen to what I have to say. Or else nothing, even that phantom zone of yours, will protect you from death.]

As much as Blaze wanted to learn more about this mysterious person, he was more concerned with his survival. Besides, as the person told him, they'd meet face-to-face sometime, so he could ask all his questions then.

[To survive, you first need to get rid of the Observers. They would be patrolling your planet from low orbit.]

Wait… the collective is here? On Earth?

[Technically, yes. They were more like survivors of other planets that met the same end as your planet will. But that's not important.]

[You must eliminate them as soon as possible. It would be ideal if you got prepared within a week, as you call it. I can share their real-time location with you when you're ready.]

[You must take over their craft and keep all of them alive. That's absolutely necessary.]

[Any deaths would alert the Collective about the mishap, and they'll come down on you hard. Nothing would survive in that event.]

[I suggest you tame some avian creatures, or create some, as you see fit. I will contact you again once you're done.]

"It's all a bit—"

[Save it for later. Do as you're told, or die.]

"Why should I do it?"

[Are you a fool? Ending transmission.]

The screen disappeared, leaving Blaze equally baffled and intrigued. It seemed someone had found him interesting, and judging by their haste, they didn't belong to the Collective, or at least were working without its knowledge.

"Could it be that this savior of mine is behind my glitchy system?" Blaze mumbled to himself.

If anything, the conversation put him at ease. Although he didn't like taking orders from a faceless extraterrestrial creature, he wouldn't mind siding with them to protect himself and his little kingdom if possible.

"Alright, let's catch some birds, shall we?"

***

With time, the natural consequences of the flare began showing throughout the world. Primarily, the devastating consequences of neglecting nuclear structures.

There were 417 functional nuclear power reactors around the globe when the disaster struck. When the flare hit, the reactors underwent automatic shutdown, but it only delayed the inevitable.

Without humans and power to operate, the cooling began to fail within a week. Now, it had been three months since then. Proper containment procedures were never enacted, leading to unprecedented contamination.

In this way, hundreds of exclusion zones were naturally created across the globe. Humans didn't dare enter these zones. The zombies and mutants that did ventured inside didn't live long.

The radiation shredded their DNA and essential proteins contained within, just like with humans. Their flesh rotted faster, and they crumbled.

Well, most of them.

Evolution's a strange thing. It gave unique mutations to what radiation couldn't kill. Instead of feeding on flesh for survival, these zombies, mutants, and even plants evolved to consume the only thing around them: radiation.

They became extremophiles.

They became creatures who flourished in extreme environments where most failed to survive.

These extremophile creatures had one striking resemblance. They all had a charred appearance, with streaks of glowing radiation embedded in them.

The charred appearance came from the melanin they used to harvest radiation. The radiation was then converted into usable chemical energy. This energy flowed through their bodies in the form of 'luminescent' light.

They were the most dangerous species on the planet. Just being around one could trigger death for every biological being.

Yet, they weren't safe.

Something was hunting them.

Something that didn't belong to their world.

"A failed species. What did the higher-ups ever see in this world? My planet lasted an entire cycle before collapse. Yet they cleansed it."

"Mine lasted for 1.000003 cycles, so shut up and keep collecting samples."

The unnatural humanoid creatures kept bickering among themselves. One of them had a face longer than the broadest shoulder in humanity's history. The other had a face the size of a peanut.

The first was a Droquarian. They didn't have any extraordinary abilities other than their resistance to radiation.

It was a given since they lived on a planet called Droquar, which was constantly bombarded with radiation from its host star. That was until they were assimilated into the Collective.

The second alien belonged to an insectoid species called Kevarnids. They were also called Exolithians since they lived on literal space rocks scattered across the asteroid belt in a distant solar system in the Norma arm of the Milky Way.

They didn't have immunity to radiation, but were next to impossible to infect through the usual means since their exoskeleton was covered in Lonsdaleite, one of the strongest materials in the observable galaxy.

But other than that, the two species had little use.

Hence, following their assimilation into the Collective, these species were the first ones to be deployed as Observers.

Their primary job was to act as a relay point between the true collective and the target planet. They were the ones responsible for starting the 'evolution' and then observing it till the end.

The gaslighting Blaze did months ago? Yeah, these two were the recipients of that. They got demoted for that, since the higher-ups weren't interested in him.

That's how the two aliens went from being the Shipmaster and his aide to grunts doing the cheap work on the planet's surface.

They held a grudge against Blaze and were overjoyed upon learning of his death. But that didn't mean they got their positions back. They'd have to grind all the way up the career ladder for that.

Other than the two, the rest were essentially the acting gods of a lower-grade civilization.

They observed the ongoing changes on the planet, recorded them, and reported them to the Collective. If they find something significant, they are tasked with retrieving samples for further study.

The extremophiles had piqued the higher-ups' interest, so they were busy collecting the samples.

Suddenly, an announcement was made to them.

[The fate of Earth has been decided. All collection procedures are to cease immediately.]

The aliens sighed in relief before heading to their concealed ship. They were happy it was time to leave the miserable planet that had brought them nothing but bad luck.