1. First Contact

The night was quiet. Spinning packets of data twinkled in the solid blackness above.
What lights remained around the town were dim, spreading long dark shadows across the street. These provided perfect hiding spots for the small figure making it's way towards the structure that marked the town's center.
A large domed building stood in the middle of a round clearing. The single guard on duty was leaning against the doorway. He yawned widely revealing his fangs and stretched his clawed hands skyward in an attempt to loosen his stiff limbs.
This single moment of inattention caused him to miss the shadowy form that sped past him and made it's way to the back window.
A single extended claw made short work of the lock. Moving quietly on padded feet, the interloper walked along the corridor before coming to a pair of double doors with the notice "Keep Out" printed across them.
After dealing with this lock, the intruder proceeded into the room. Ahead stood a pair of metal poles about ten feet apart, with a computer station to the left of them.
A few taps on the keyboard caused the poles to light up with glittering blue energy. A wall of light sprung up between them.
The figure stood in front of the poles hesitated for a moment, until the sound of running footsteps sounded from the hallway.
Throwing uncertainty aside, the little creature jumped into the light.

Kichijoji, West Tokyo, Japan

6:00 am Japan Standard Time

An alarm clock let out a gentle chirping sound. It had only gone on for a few seconds before a finger tapped the Off button.
Shinyu Shirogane hadn't slept again. This latest bout of insomnia seemed like it wasn't going away any time soon. He lay on his futon, looking at the ceiling for a moment; trying to dredge up some enthusiasm for the day ahead. Failing that, he got up and went about his morning routine.
After washing up in the small bathroom attached to his room, he pulled on some faded jeans and a long sleeved white shirt. He pulled his chin-length brown hair into a short ponytail and checked himself in the mirror. The shadows under his eyes didn't look any bigger than usual, so hopefully Arisu wouldn't fuss. Besides, most sixteen year olds looked tired, even after a full night's sleep.
As he turned away, a scratching sound came from his bedroom door. Sliding it open, he looked down to see a ginger cat sitting neatly in the hallway.
A small smile on his lips; Shinyu knelt down and scratched behind the cat's ears.
"Morning, Mamoru. See off many intruders last night?"
Mamoru responded with a purr and rubbed his head against Shinyu's hand.
Shinyu stepped back and gestured to his futon.
"Your bed awaits. I kept it warm for you."
Mamoru padded in and curled up on the foot of the futon. As Shinyu slid the door shut behind him, the cat let out a yawn and closed his eyes.
Just as he was drifting off to sleep, a buzzing noise filled the air. His ears pricked up and he opened his eyes to see a bright blue light emitting from the PC in the corner of Shinyu's room.
Mamoru stood up and arched his back as the light seemed to condense in the center of the room. Out of it stepped a creature he had never seen before. It resembled a cat but was bigger and stood on two legs. It looked around the room before focusing it's attention on him.
"Hi there. I'm Tigremon. You must be Shinyu."
Letting out a screech, Mamoru attacked.

-

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

7:00 am Indian Standard Time

The blaring alarm clock woke Kartik Babu with a start. He scrambled to hit the Off button; succeeding on his third try.
He sat up for a while, rubbing his eyes and letting his brain finish waking, before noticing the open laptop on the edge of his bed. It was still displaying the website he'd been looking at when he'd fallen asleep.
Just then, his bedroom door began to open.
Kartik almost fell out of bed grabbing the laptop and closing it before his mother poked her head in.
"Time to get up, beta." She smiled at him. "Breakfast's almost ready."
"Be down soon, Maa." Kartik put on what he hoped was an innocent grin until his mother closed the door again.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he slipped his laptop under his pillow before grabbing some clothes from his wardrobe and heading for the bathroom.
The empty bedroom lay in silence for a minute, before a buzzing sound began to eminate from under Kartik's pillow. His laptop flipped open, unleashing a blue light.
With a clacking sound, a pair of hooves hit the floor. Their owner looked around the room before opening the door and venturing into the hallway.
Kartik ran a comb through his short black hair. Leaning towards the mirror, he inspected his chin. Still no sign of any facial hair. He let out a sigh. He was fifteen, though his face still held some of the roundness of a younger boy. A lot of his schoolmates jokingly said he must've been skipped ahead a few years. Sometimes he wished puberty would hurry up already.
Stepping back, he smooved down his green linen shirt and light brown trousers. He opened the bathroom door - and saw a small bipedal bovine standing in front of him.
The creature looked up at him with a friendly smile.
"Hello. I'm Tarumon. Are you Kartik?"
Kartik felt lightheaded. The next thing he knew; he was lying on the bathroom floor with the creature leaning over him.
"Is that a 'no'?"

-

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

10:00 am Eastern Standard Time

Charlie Laurent's alarm clock could be heard throughout the whole house, but it still took two minutes for the noise to permeate her sleeping brain.
With a tired groan she sat up, pushed some of her shaggy blonde hair out of her face, hit the Off button - and promptly turned over to go back to sleep. Fifteen year olds needed their rest after all.
She didn't notice the buzzing noise from the tablet computer on her desk, or see the bright blue light fill up her room.
After the light faded, something moved across her bedroom floor on four pairs off legs. It crawled up the side of her bed and crouched beside her still form.
A single limb stretched out towards the sleeping girl. It wavered for a moment and then gave her a gentle poke.
"Um, e-excuse me?" It poked her again. "Excuse me? I-Is your name Charlie?"
A snore was the only reply.
As the creature sat on the bed, wondering what to do now; the bedroom door swung open and a young woman with the same blonde hair as Charlie walked in.
"Charlie, are you ever planning to get up? Just because it's Sunday doesn't mean - "
The words died on her lips as she saw what was on her sister's bed.
Looking back at her was a huge gray spider.
The arachnid stared at her for a second and then raised one of it's limbs in greeting.
"Oh, h-hello. M-My name's Kumo-"
Before the creature could finish it's introduction, the woman let out an ear-splitting scream.
The spider was so startled it started screaming too.
This noise woke Charlie who, upon seeing what was on her bed, began screaming as well.

-

Back in the room with the poles and computer; a message appeared on the screen.
CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE
A figure stood before the computer with tightened fists.
"I'm going to kill her."