The first of the “attacks” started on the fifteenth of May, 2034.

Los Angeles. One moment, nothing new. Next, this… [i]colossal[/i], glowing red, humanoid-looking thing materializes out of nowhere in the Downtown area and starts wrecking [i]all[/i] the shit. I mean, that thing is straight up [i]rampant[/i], like- hold up.

[sub]What? I-I’m sorry, what? No? Serious time now? Okay, okay…[/sub]

Yes, uh, anyway, the issue was handled after a considerable amount of [i]conventional firepower[/i] was employed. We were lucky the thing was susceptible to bullets and tank rounds. It got taken down sometime afternoon, government swept it off the streets and that was it.

However, during the latter half of the battle, reports started ringing in about equally strange events occurring not too far away in the country. Folks at Zion National Park claimed there was a “new addition” to the local habitat there. Some kind of… well, [i]beast[/i] is a pretty simple way to put it. Big thing, ragged black fur, quills like battering rams, and glowing red eyes that left [i]quite[/i] the prolonged trail. It didn’t attack anyone who didn’t get close to it, but it went ham on the wildlife around it. Additional forces were dispatched to confront the beast and, thankfully, it was also proven to be susceptible to heavy ordinance.

Then came the incident at Hoover Dam right at the same time. A, uh… [i]sludge monster[/i], crept out of the internal systems and quickly infested the whole plant, promptly shutting down operations and killing half the work force… via giant, [i]myriad[/i] needles. Now, [i]that one[/i] took a while to get rid of [i]completely[/i]. Guns weren’t an option this time so, troops had to employ a nearly [i]constant[/i] stream of flames to keep up with the… [i]abomination’s[/i] speedy rate of growth. They managed to whittle it down after a few days, grabbed a few samples of the thing to study. Every part they burned left behind this big, metal skeleton lying on the floor. Nasty stuff.

Sadly, it didn’t stop there. More attacks, just like these three, began popping up in an outward, radial pattern from the starting points in the southwestern US. Following into June, there were nearly a dozen total incidents in the country, and not even a week later… they began popping up along the rest of the Americas and the opposing coasts of Europe and Asia. Needless to say, panic was [i]widespread[/i]. Still is, actually. Armies and governments worldwide are handling the situation, keeping populated areas protected at all times. Whenever something shows up, it eventually gets taken down.

But the thing everyone wants to know is… why is all of this happening? Well to answer that… we’ve got to look at a [i]slightly less[/i] publicly known issue.

A few days after the first attack in LA, there began a slow rise of people experiencing… [i]strange[/i] dreams. [i]Linked[/i] dreams. The cases were few and far between but, they all followed the same formula. Folks began dreaming of themselves in odd, unfamiliar, otherworldly places. They were always one of three instances. A red city. A foggy wilderness. And a dark, underground labyrinth. There, they say beings and creatures not unlike the ones popping up all over the globe. What’s more, they felt… like they were really there, and not just dreaming. [i]Incredibly[/i] lucid. But the most important thing? They [i]changed[/i]. In their dreams, these people developed powers like you see in comics. Some of them [i]transformed[/i] into mythical creatures. And the rest, well… they were [i]outfitted[/i] with mechanical augmentations. It was, by all definitions, a phenomenon.

Then… these people started disappearing.

Just as soon as they were realizing what was happening to them. Just as soon as they were getting more and more attuned to their dreams, spending the longest of times in them. They just… up and vanished in the night. But that’s not even the strangest part – [i]no one[/i] seems to be any the wiser about the ordeal. Someone experiences these same dreams, disappears one morning, and life just… goes on. Folks are more worried about staying safe from “invaders”, anyway. What’s a few missing persons to worry about?

That right there is pretty much where the [i]basic[/i] story ends. But if you want to know more…

You have to be one of the dreamers.

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