It was a cold day on the morning of May 2nd, 1942. The US, eager to win the Second World War, had begun work on the Manhattan Project, the scientific assembly which would give birth to the Atom Bomb. However, America was attempting to cover its bases. Within a military base in Nevada a sister project was nearing completion. Unlike the Manhattan Project, which was worked on by several scientists, this project involved only one - Doktor Serlaut von Poisonator.

Von Poisonator was experimenting with a new pseudo-substance named Neoplasma. The concoction, formed from phone booths and Northern Irish sports cars, had powerful chronological effects. It was hoped that by infusing it with a bomb, the area affected would be trapped in a constant state of explosion.

In his laboratory, Dr von Poisonater was giving his latest invention a final check. The K.R.O.N.O.S. bomb (Killing Really Obnoxious Numbers Of Schmucks) would be his greatest work yet.

German scientists were not uncommon in American labs at the time, given how Germany was treating its people, but von Poisonater made those around him somewhat nervous. His only trait more evident than his scientific genius was his giddy excitability, and the man was completely lacking an "indoor voice". Still, he was the best, which is why the K.R.O.N.O.S. bomb had reached this stage of R&D so quickly.

In a few minutes, a small version of the bomb was to be fired at Death Valley, seeing as there were no geologists on the panel to decide where the bomb was to be tested, and geologists are the only people who care about Death Valley.

Seeing as the device was fully ready to be fired, von Poisonater entered some co-ordinates into a nearby console, giggled, and went to the viewing platform.

Various military officials had gathered to watch the launch on a platform suspended high in the air. Dr von Poisonater took his place among them, stifling chuckles.

As soon as the bomb was launched, it was clear something was wrong. The bomb was sent hurtling in the wrong direction. The truth was that von Poisonater had set the bomb to strike the White House. The military might not found out immediately, and von Poisonater might have had the time to escape, had he not burst into maniacal laughter and screams of "Dummkopfen!" One astute security guard put two and two together and promptly shot von Poisonater, sending the scientist tumbling off the platform.

It was far too late for the military to act. The White House would have been permanently obliterated had it not been for one thing - Dr von Poisonater's incompetence. While a genius in regards to science, von Poisonater was an idiot in almost every other field - pertinently, navigation. As such, while he believed the K.R.O.N.O.S. bomb was set to strike the nation's capital, it was in fact headed for a small town in Alabama.

A town called Maycomb, the home of Link Deas.


Maycomb was in every respect an unremarkable town. It was a place where nothing progressed, no-one innovated, and there was no motivation for anyone to visit, or even pass through it. While the town held interest in some residents - mysterious shut-in Arthur Radley, orphaned Mayella Ewell and the bevy of siblings she was responsible for, the town's moral visionary Atticus Finch - to an outsider they were interchangeable with the supposedly interesting characters of the next town over.

There was one man among these names who would hold a greater importance - the owner of the general store and several cotton fields, Link Deas. As an economic pillar of the town, Link employed a large number of people both black and white, and treated each and every one with respect. A man of thirty-seven years, Link wore a wide-brimmed hat and a long brown duster coat when walking outside. He was sharp, honest, of decent moral fibre - and he was about to experience quite a change.

Link was walking through the streets of Maycomb. He had just visited Atticus Finch, a long time friend of his. Atticus' wife had died about fifteen years ago, and with his two children out of town, - Jeremy "Jem" Finch in college and Jean Louise "Scout" Finch visiting him for the weekend - Atticus had seemed quite lonesome.

It was an average day in Maycomb, the residents going about their business in no real hurry. The town was as slow-moving as it always was. The only development of note in the town since the Robinson case six years earlier was a brief increase in crime, during which the sheriff, Heck Tate, advised Link to purchase a revolver. The main perpetrators were caught, and the crime wave abated, but Link found that he enjoyed keeping the fire-arm on his person. One might think that having a revolver in your pocket when walking a short distance to visit a friend may seem a tad paranoid, but as it happened it was very fortuitous that Link had the gun at that moment.

Link saw a twinkle in the summer sky, and pulled his hat lower so that he could see it better. Whatever it was, it seemed to be metallic, and very fast-moving.

"Maybe it's a plane," thought Link to himself. Maycomb had been almost completely unaffected by the world war, but the residents did know that America was testing various new weapons.

He looked away and continued walking back to store. However, his eyes wandering back to the same point in the sky, and Link noted that the object had become much larger. In fact, it was hard to shake the feeling that the machine was aiming itself for Maycomb.

Link banished such thoughts from his head. "There's no way anything important is flying towards Maycomb," he thought. "What's it gonna do, land in the town square?"

At that moment, the object landed in the town square. Perhaps "land" is not the best word to use; "crash" would be more applicable, or maybe "slam". There are a number of words which could describe how the object came to reach the ground, but only one for what it did immediately afterwards.

It exploded.

Purple matter shot out of the wreckage at all angles, even going into the ground. It moved strangely, slightly out of sync with the psychics of the world around it. It was expanding like foam, at a disturbingly fast rate.

Link could hear screaming, and before he knew what was happening the matter had almost reached him. At a loss as to what to do, Link performed the first action he thought of, and putting as much weight into it as possible, punched the matter.

Then things began to get strange.