It spread across the Earth like an increasing static. First GPS and cellphone signals were lost. Radios were unable to generate FM or AM bands. Military units, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, soon found that they were unable to talk to each other. The static in the air grew stronger with each passing moment, until entire power stations went offline. Vehicles with expensive electronic ignitions ground to a halt, unable to start or move. Within minutes the static grew stronger yet, until all electronics refused to cooperate. Cellphones fried and turned off for the last time. A laptop in Portland caught fire on a woman’s bed and started a fire. 

Still the static was not done. It grew stronger and stronger, unseen and unheard by humanity. Even older cars, relying primarily on mechanical means of propulsion, began to fail. Oil pumps in Texas ceased turning. Police officers in Portland, issuing an arrest for a drug dealer in the blackout, opened fire on the man when he turned on them with a knife. Their weapons refused to operate. Two police officers were the first to be a statistic for the setting back of the technological watch.

Yet, high up in the Cascade Mountains, it was difficult to know what Hell was being unleashed on the city below. Torsten, walking around to the front of his cabin, was more interested in the ‘lost’ woman who was banging on his door. She stood in front of a cabin that, indeed, had been built decades ago by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. It was originally used to give Park Rangers respite when storms grew too strong on their patrols. It was now his home. He hadn't been inside when she called him, having been trying to figure out what was going down below them. He raised a free hand in greeting. [i]” Hei! Voinko auttaa sinua?”[/i]

The Finn grinned for a moment, shaking his hand, “So sorry. It is a habit. Can I help you?” He tried to correct himself. The poor thing looked frightened out of her mind. He looked down the dirt road that led to his house. Had she walked from the road to his cabin? What was she doing out this way? He walked up on to the porch, setting his archaic rifle down next to the door frame. “Can I get you something to drink? Tea? Coffee?”