Prologue
There are things that some people should never see. There are some places where the average individual should never set foot. There are experiences that once had, become memories forever burned onto the inside of a person's eyelid, eternally haunting the darkness as one would try to close their eyes and sleep.
A reasonable person would tell themselves that what they had just been a part of could not possibly be real. One could surmise that a sane individual would be able to decipher between the worlds of reality and illusion. It could even be said that a normal person could never have experienced the circumstances that have befallen the victim of perpetual agony that reality would seem to have become.
Was the end really worth the means that had been used to pursue it? Would the catch ultimately make the chase worthwhile, or would everything end up being in vain? There have been major strides toward bringing the world together in these past couple of years. How could reality, or whatever this was, have fallen into disarray in such a short amount of time? More importantly, could the pieces of the puzzle that was existence ever be put back together correctly?
As Joseph slowly made his way down the narrow back alley, many of these thoughts raced through his already clouded mind. He couldn't help it; he felt as if everything that has happened so far had somehow been a terrible nightmare from which he could not seem to work. He could see the end of the alleyway up ahead. It seemed the only way to progress further would be the rusty, green-tinted metal door to his left. Reaching for the handle, he once again closed his eyes and tried to wake from this dream gone terribly wrong. Clenching the pistol in his right hand, he opened the door, remembering the events that had preceded this moment...