Chapter 10: Asuras

Fleeing the dog attack, Steve speeds into town with the bleeding lion Naga and, despite attention from bystanders, detours into a strip mall veterinary clinic. He coerces two vet techs at gunpoint to help carry Naga inside. Dr. Alsace agrees to treat Naga if Steve releases the civilians and sedates the lion himself. After a brief, violent struggle, Steve injects Naga and she goes under; Alsace begins lifesaving work and staples Steve’s claw wounds.

Erwin arrives with law enforcement, warns Steve of snipers, and convinces him to surrender in exchange for protecting Naga as evidence. Steve shares intelligence on Carolyn’s “family,” David’s danger, and the house at 222 Garrison. Outside, a joint strike begins: helicopters insert a team while Bradleys deploy troops. From a hilltop, Steve and Erwin watch muzzle flashes, screams, and catastrophic losses. David moves impossibly fast, butchering soldiers, emptying Bradleys, and shooting down both helicopters. The neighborhood is wrecked; casualties are severe.

Carolyn suddenly appears at Erwin’s car with a pistol and a healed, alert Naga. She frees Steve, confirms most of her siblings likely died, and notes only David and Margaret remain with her. Predicting David’s broader retaliation, she coolly announces the president is doomed. Moments later, at her signal, the afternoon sun fades to black; stars appear and the temperature drops. She insists on food and information trade.

At Monsieur Taco, Carolyn eats little while Steve drinks and watches live news: fires at the White House, mass casualties, and explosions in DC—clearly David’s work. Carolyn explains fragments of the Library: Father’s ancient conquests, the catalogs (medicine and war foremost), and the stakes of inheriting control of reality. She attributes emerging “reality virus” phenomena to Barry O’Shea but dismisses him as manageable once the sun issue is resolved. She promises answers later and says they must meet David immediately.

Carolyn takes Erwin’s car (leaving his unloaded pistol and magazine nearby), and orders Steve back to Garrison Oaks to rendezvous. She warns that Erwin tried to ambush David and will be killed if they delay. With the sun extinguished, panic and transformations spread, and Carolyn presses forward to settle the Library’s succession.