Chapter one.

Fires, plane crashes, car pile-ups, destruction and chaos. This is the definition of the world at the present moment. While incidents like these are often everyday occurences, now, there is no good to be seen. No smilling faces, no happy or heroic stories on the news. There is sadness everywhere. Has the end of the world come?... Yes, and this is just the begining.

“Bob Brasden is live on the scene with some breaking news at a local elemtary school. Bob, can you tell us what is going on?..” “Yes Jean, the scene at this local elementary school is equally horrific and mysterious, something out of the twighlight zone. Today at 1:37pm on the playground of Hilary Clinton elementary, the children of Ms. Stevenson’s kindergarten class went missing. She said the kids had just had their lunch and were enjoying recess when the sky darkened and it looked as if a storm was about to pass through. She was getting ready to gather the children back inside when there was a loud clap of thunder and a flash of lightning and then the most shocking thing occured.. The children had vanished. As you can see, the playground is now barren, with only their clothes and sneakers, as a reminder that they were here. We haven’t spoken to the other teachers and faculty, the parents are being called, they all seem to be in a frenzy...Uh, wait, I -- I’m receiving new reports of missing children.. all over the city! Westbrook county, Popperfield county, Draden, lipschick, Canden - Now I’m being led to believe this is not all children, just very young children between the ages of 0 to about 10 years old...Some are saying that this could be a result of some sort or invasion or abuction...”

Washington, D.C

September

World Crisis HQ

A white man with grey hair, in a military commanders uniform, is sitting at a very large, round table with other important looking people, men and women, who are all restless and at a lost for words. A man in a blue button-down shirt and loosened tie jumps up to speak.

“We have to figure out what’s happening here! If we don’t come up with an explanation and soon, people are gonna go crazy and things will get much worse than they are now and all of civilization will be lost…”

A brown woman in a pencil skirt and sleevless top interrupts.

“We can’t just make up something, we have no idea what’s happening! This is effecting us too! My kids are gone! My mom is missing! My sister was lost in a plane crash! My wife is all that I have left and the world deserves to know the truth!..”

A young man jumps up from behind a computer, where a projecter screen is lit and speaks out into the madness.

“The world can’t handle the truth! Do you really think we can tell them what we really think happened?! That would cause riots in the streets of every major city, wars with other countries - we can’t afford a world castastrophe this big! Civilization will never come back from it..” He points at a large map on the screen where there are red flashing dots. “No, what we must do is give the people a pacifier! It has worked for perilous events in the past, we do it every time there’s a war or outbreak. We have to keep the people calm!..”

Everywhere around the world, people are being effected and are looking for an explanation. All major governments of the world are gathering to discuss options and answers. What answers will they give? What explains a catastrophe this big? There is one explanation, but no one will hear it.