We can now calculate that the first Event was at least two years ago, and at most five years ago. However, desire for consistency preserves the name of "Event Zero", the first time that nematodes visible to the naked eye squirmed out of the ground, wriggled angrily for 4 hours and twelve minutes, and vanished. Event Six made the news, Event Seven was predicted in advance, and by Event Ten animal control was braced for the unknown. The nematodes were getting bigger.

And other animals were showing unusual behavior. Birds, rodents, pygmy kangaroos... the only commonality was that they were young, female, and genetic potpourri. A chicken escaped its pen, destroyed a tractor, and dropped dead at the end of the Event, apparently of sudden asphyxiation. A lion and a rhinoceros battled their way through a town, eventually combining into a single creature, a leathery four-horned cat.

Event Twelve activated a human, Student Maya, who reported feeling physically great, friendly with everyone, and fascinated by the activated animals, which she exterminated with focus and uncharacteristic glee. After Event Thirteen, in which she killed an anaconda-sized nematode, she collapsed, paralyzed. Thanks to extensive surgery to implant auto-prosthetic muscle stims, Magical Girl Maya is now back on the job.