And so it begins. For you, anyway - for me it began a little over a year ago. And I've definitely been making progress - at the point of uploading this, I've written close to 100% of the word count of the old version. The main difference is, in the old version, that was spread over 55 complete chapters...in the new one, that's over 22 complete and 17 partial chapters. Yeah, there's a lot to come.

Anyway, quick standard disclaimers: This story will contain scenes of violence, some foul language, some references to mature themes (nothing even close to explicit), and I may use a trigger warning for chapters if certain things get darker. Also probably a fair bit of unrealistic behavior, but it's modern fantasy, just go with it. Also, I of course don't own the concept of Digimon or any canonical mon used in this work, though I will claim ownership of all original characters, conceits, and designs.

Chapter 1: The Broken Barrier

Reynard Kessilik had a deep secret. He had been sent to the reaper…but the reaper had missed his mark.

At sixteen months old came what should have been a tragedy of the worst kind. A sudden leak in a gas line had caused an severe fire to break out in their house. The fire had gutted the entire building, and his elder brother Wally and their babysitter had been freaking out because they hadn't been able to get to the baby's room, the scorching blaze blocking off their access. His parents, Treylor and Minerva, had rushed back from their busy jobs at the hospital on hearing the call, in time to see firefighters working frantically to quench the blaze. It seemed hopeless that anyone inside could have survived.

Yet, somehow, Reyn had defied all reason. The baby was found in a blackened crib, clothes burned to ash but body completely unharmed. It was a miracle that everyone celebrated in the moment, but which raised too many questions in the aftermath. His survival should have been impossible…nothing else in there withstood the blaze.

It would be the first of many strange events involving fire and heat in Reyn's life, and as he grew older, into the fiery-haired teen he was today, a growing number of them were volitional. Fire had started to hold a fascination for him, especially when he discovered that the lack of burning was not a one-off event - in fact, never had he touched a flame or hot object that had harmed him. Quite the contrary, it always seemed to feel good. At least, until someone found out about it and he was outed as a freak and weirdo, which had happened too many times in his life already. By the time they reached the city of Braun almost four years ago, it had been their fifth move, and almost invariably because Reyn's life went to hell in school. Thankfully, the last move seemed to have stuck - Reyn was now old enough to know how to properly hide his peculiarity, even as he was old enough to start resenting people for treating him badly for it. He'd made a few friends there, ones he'd gotten close enough to and who had enough quirks of their own that he'd been able to trust them with most of his secrets. Not just the fire resistance, but the strange dreams he constantly had, with odd creatures that could become larger creatures, and one in particular whose eyes he seemed to see through every time.

But he hid the last one from them. The one he wasn't sure he wanted to tell…that deep down, he wondered if he was meant to die that day, and the reaper was waiting to get his second chance. And he wondered if he would be so lucky the second time around…and if those who were close to him were at risk of being caught in between.

Reynard Kessilik
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 150
Frame: Fairly average build
Hair Color: Red
Hair Style: Modest length, no particular cut
Eye Color: Amber
Clothing Style: Typically wears red and orange and jeans/shorts
Family: Treylor and Minerva Kessilik; older brother (Wallace, 23); younger brother (Cayden, 11); younger sister (Alisin, 10)

—

It had taken Iris Conover a long time to understand why her parents had told her to stay away from electrical outlets.

In fifth grade, they had watched a show on the dangers of electricity and what it could do to someone. It had stunned her to see that, because her own experience had been very different - a shock from an outlet did nothing to her, except give her a nice pleasant fuzzy feeling. Realizing that this was NOT the same way others experienced it was a big turning point for her - somehow, she was different from everyone else. Since then, she had been much more cautious about not letting on how different she was, trying to present as normal. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard - how often did one just chance upon opportunities to shock themselves?

Not that she didn't seek them out on her own time. Or at least, go to places where it was a risk, even if she didn't put herself directly in danger. She loved observing power lines, and asking questions to the workers who were trying to work on them, particularly ones that went down in storms or such. They always seemed so nervous…she felt she would be perfect for that kind of work, she wasn't nervous at all. She didn't fear lightning, either, though she didn't particularly like the rain - she liked it more when she could observe lightning before the rain came, stand outside and watch the flashing in the sky, the bolts zipping through the clouds or towards the ground. She'd never been hit, but she almost wished she would be.

Oh, to be a bird flying through one of those clouds as it surged with such resplendent power…in fact, she'd dreamed that very thing quite a lot. Of course, those dreams had a lot of other weird things in them, too…and from what she'd been hearing, they might not have been hers alone…

Iris Conover
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 120
Frame: Lean and slim
Hair Color: Light brown
Hair Style: Below shoulder length, typically left free-flowing
Eye Color: Hazel
Clothing Style: Typically wears shirts and skirts of softer colors, with a favor towards yellows and pinks and greens
Family: Emil and Heather Conover

—

The deadly force of nature known as the tornado. It was a powerful, dramatic event when one came to be, and terrifying for most. Not for Skylar Jascalt, though. He wished he could be in the middle of one, experiencing the furious power of nature for himself. The closest he'd gotten was a wind tunnel when he was eight, just a little detour on a family excursion that had given him a dose of potent wind, though far less than what nature could have produced. He remembered clicking off the restraints and stepping deeper in, letting the wind pour over him without so much as throwing him off-balance. He'd been admonished by his father, though his mother later said that it had been pretty impressive seeing a young, slight child like him holding his ground.

He'd almost gotten his wish just a couple years ago. They lived in a more rural area, his somewhat large family enjoying the space and relative peace…and then came the storm. It produced a number of massive tornadoes, including one that had demolished their house. Skylar hadn't been able to be there to sate his curiosity, his parents having evacuated them in a rush as the storm started to bear down. But seeing the aftermath had been wild…and had left him feeling almost robbed, though he kept that quiet, knowing that no one else felt the same way.

It wasn't going to happen again any time soon, most likely - they'd moved to Braun, away from Tornado Alley, where storms like that just didn't really happen. A disappointment, but Skylar vowed he'd get there someday, he'd be a stormchaser and track them down himself. Until then, he kept himself occupied with the rest of the sky. The whole atmosphere fascinated him, and he had books upon books upon entire bookshelves all filled with stuff on weather events and atmospheric knowledge. Some said it was an obsession, and Skylar wasn't sure they were that wrong, but what was wrong with being obsessed about something that one could use later in life? It just meant he had his career path all planned out.

For now, though, at least he had his dreams. In those he was definitely flying through the air…though not just on wind. Often it was on wings. And the wild skies weren't the only hectic thing going on in those dreams…

Skylar Jascalt
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 110
Frame: Somewhat scrawny
Hair Color: White
Hair Style: Modest length, neatly trimmed
Eye Color: Blue
Clothing Style: Usually wears blue or green colors; also wears glasses
Family: Marcus and Corrine Jascalt; older sister (Kirsten, 18); younger brother (Benjamin, 5)

—

Some people thought their kids had messy rooms. They might not have thought it was that bad if they could compare it to the room of Isaac Wherrels.

Junk and debris was scattered everywhere. Lots of little metal shavings and pieces were scattered about, presenting a hazard for anyone who stepped on them - seemingly save for Isaac himself. Lots and lots of different tools of various shapes and sizes. Wires, hoses, tubes, and all sorts of other things. And all of it towards one purpose: robots.

Nothing fascinated Isaac like robots. Any kind, really - real robots that were mostly machine, fantasy robots which were basically their own people, the sometimes crude remote-controlled robots that were entered into battle competitions, and everything in between. And he had built a few of his own robots in his young life, having both the impressive brains to pick up on everything needed to do so and the brawn to carry all the materials he needed to make them back to his room. It certainly wasn't light work, but he wasn't a lightweight guy.

There was a lot he could do with this in the future, so he received plenty of encouragement from his parents at this endeavor. But right now Isaac wasn't thinking about that sort of thing, he was thinking about his dream. A dream that he wanted to literally make come true…the robot that invaded his mind so often at night, alive in a way that seemed no different from any person he'd ever met. He'd been obsessively capturing details about it through all its trials, and making notes about them. By now, he had just about a full schematic…and as soon as he knew how, he was going to build that robot. And hopefully with all the mind that it possessed in those dreams, surely that would be his perfect companion…

Isaac Wherrels
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 210
Frame: Tall and slightly broad
Hair Color: Brown
Hair Style: Buzz-cut very short
Eye Color: Green
Clothing Style: Typically wears a lot of gray and white, and khakis with plenty of pockets
Family: Alphonse and Lilith Wherrels; older sister (Ashley, 20)

—

It was his time. That was what Derek Katran would say as he walked the streets at night, in the comfort of the darkness. Not everyone would understand it…they didn't have to.

Of course, it would have been nice if his parents did. They weren't exactly approving of his nighttime excursions. Or his habit of sleeping in the afternoons, rather than at the 'appropriate' time. But Derek didn't sleep well at night - it felt like that darkness was calling to him, demanding his presence. They had given up trying to keep him from going out, since he'd sneak out while they were asleep anyway, but he could tell they were never at ease with it.

He didn't really know why. Some people said it was dangerous…but Derek had never felt in danger. In fact danger seemed to fear HIM. He'd encountered shady characters who took one look at him and veered away, even if Derek wasn't confronting him. And he didn't think he looked like much of a threat - not exactly small, but tall and gangly usually wasn't that intimidating. But something about him seemed to be unnerving to them…like they knew that he was in his element. And so he walked without fear.

Most of his peers didn't understand him much, either. He sometimes got remarks about being a werewolf or something. All absurd, of course…although, Derek couldn't deny there were times that he felt a bit wolfish. Usually during those dreams, when he even felt like he was walking on four legs, in a canine body. It wasn't him, but there was a feeling that was hard to place about it, it felt very natural, very right…but those weren't things he shared with anyone else, so he just laughed off the werewolf comments. Even if the dreams made him sometimes wonder…

Derek Katran
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 170
Frame: Tall and somewhat gangly
Hair Color: Black
Hair Style: Somewhat long, but short of shoulder length
Eye Color: Gray
Clothing Style: Mostly wears black, sometimes very dark colors
Family: Elliot and Myra Katran

—

Five unique individuals. All from different walks of life. All from different backgrounds. All finding themselves in the same general place at the same time. All somehow having one important thing in common: the bizarre dreams that seemed to take a life of their own. Creatures that they all somehow knew about, even those that hadn't met until very recently in their lives. A blazing reptile emitting torrents of devastating fire at will. A screeching thunderbird raining bolts of raw power onto the ground below. A powerful dragon commanding the very wind itself to lay waste to its foes. A stalwart machine packed to the brim with fantastic weapons that mowed down all in its way. A fearsome wolf that could draw the very darkness itself to lash out and silence its opposition.

They were all aware of this, but there was no explanation for it, so they didn't make a big deal out of it, only keeping it as a shared curiosity. Perhaps they would have, if they had known that it was the prelude to their lives changing forever, thrusting them into the thick of a monumental conflict the likes of which were beyond the possibilities of their imagination…

—

In a place far distant from any of them…far enough to be another world entirely…

The echoes of metal on stone was almost depressing…something which reflected the mood of their maker. It was the only sound within earshot, something which wasn't usual for their central barracks building. Usually there were quite a few digimon around, chattering amongst each other with determination, eagerness, optimism…but few had left their rooms on this day, leaving nothing but a dismal silence.

A catastrophic loss will do that to you.

The knightly figure pushed open the door in front of him, revealing a similar one behind. The supreme commander of the organization Knights Of Liberty, Dynasmon, standing and looking out the window; his mood could only have been equally dismal. "Gallantmon…much as I would wish not to hear it, please, give me the harsh news."

Gallantmon sighed. It was on him to do this…he was one of Dynasmon's lieutenants, very actively involved in a lot of the business af the top of the KOL. Moments like this made him regret the position. "It could not be worse, sir. The entire Elite Force is…gone, more or less. 25% casualty rate, most of the rest captured. Crusadermon was badly wounded, barely survived…she's been taken to Pomezly in hopes that she can be saved and brought back to fighting form. I have no idea what happened to the Zetta Unit, they were engaging these new generals of Emperius one moment and the next they just…disappeared. I don't think they were killed, there was no signal of their data in the air nor any signature where they were, but I fear the worst."

Dynasmon pounded a fist against the wall. "Damnation…how? How could this have happened? It was only last year that we took out Craniummon, I thought that they were in disarray…but they've come back harder than ever. And to take down our Elite Force like that…I thought we were prepared!"

"The numbers out there…they were unlike anything we were prepared for. I don't know what Emperius has been doing, but they sucked in more mons than I could count. I don't know where they all came from, we've been reaching out to everyone we can think of and I thought most of them were on our side…" Gallantmon shook his head. "Did they bring them in from somewhere else? We still haven't found their new base, maybe they established one in Southern Tetraquaz and have been recruiting the combatants down there…"

"I wish I had the answer to that. Right now, I have nothing…it's not a good feeling. How can I bring confidence to those who remain when I don't have it myself? We've too many personnel who are too green, they aren't ready for the strongest Emperius has to offer…certainly not if our Elite Force couldn't handle it. We need more help…Gallantmon, we're going to have to make major entreaties, we need to try to connect to other groups. We're not in good enough shape to do it alone anymore."

"That could be tough, sir."

"It will be. With less to offer them, I have no doubt they'll be resistant. But we have to try."

"I guess…I'm still trying to process it all. I wish I could wake up and find out this was just a bad dream."

"Don't we all." Both knights whirled around at the sudden voice. Coming towards them down the hall was a cadre of five small digimon, all of which wore deathly dark expressions.

"Zetta Unit!" Gallantmon's voice had its first bit of positivity in ages. "You survived! Thank the ancients, as bad as it's been, you're survival alone gives us a chance!"

"I'd hold off on joy at this reunion if I were you." The first one, a red-scaled reptilian creature, did not look nearly as upbeat. "We might've survived, but it's not gonna amount to much."

"What? How can that be?" asked Dynasmon. "You're some of our strongest and most capable warriors…"

"I wish that was still the case," said a yellow-feathered avian creature with a deep sigh. "You ever seen anything like this before?" She held up her wing, showing a white mark clearly visible on it. The others also showed their own, each one of them marked with a different symbol somewhere on a forelimb.

"Those marks…they look like…" Gallantmon wracked his brain. "I've seen those on Sealing Stones. But I've never seen one ON a digimon before."

"Such an occurrence apparently is an insurmountable calamity." The speaker was a slightly larger canid digimon with a shape reminiscent of a German Shepherd, but much darker in color, with eyes and fur giving off an impression of a starry sky. "The occurrence of these disabling indices was peri-incident to out most proximal melee. Our conflagration with the new generals of Emperius was waylaid by this most insidious technique."

"It was awful!" declared a blue-scaled draconic creature with a devastated tone that was even worse in his young-sounding voice. "It felt like my body was disabsolvaluated! And then suddenly I was totally overwhambirated!"

"I see getting to the point is never easy when I'm not speaking," rounded off the last, a mechanical carnosaurian digimon, as he folded his arms and growled. "To cut to the chase…it's not an ability seal. It's an EVOLUTION seal. It knocked us down to Rookie in an instant, and these marks appeared when we tried to retake our forms. I've never even heard of this sort of thing, and it's not in any of the data banks I could access, much less any way to deal with it. To put it simply: we're fucked."

"Double damnation…" Dynasmon rubbed his head, feeling the quick plunge from a tiny bit of hope to deeper depths of despair. "I thought we might have some little bit of chance with your help, but in this state…we don't know when or even if you'll be back to fighting shape any time soon, and there's no doubt Emperius would want to make sure we can't find a solution easily. Or take you out if we get close. There's no help for it…I hate to do this to people who have meant so much to us, but we can't put you in unnecessary danger-"

"Save the walking papers," snapped the lizard. "Like hell I'm going to let them make me useless. Not when it matters this much. There's still something we can do."

"I…don't mean to underestimate Zetta Unit," said Gallantmon slowly. "But what can you do? At least 80% of their forces are Champion or higher, and you're…not ideally equipped to handle them."

"Right. But that doesn't mean we can't do ANYTHING. Just maybe not here."

"What?!" Dynasmon fairly shouted. "You can't be suggesting-! I couldn't possibly allow that!"

"What other options are there?" the robotic one countered. "We know Emperius has been gunning for the organic plane! And we know that they're not far away from being able to realize that dream! You heard that absurd Declaration of Purification, they wouldn't be making that if they didn't think they could make it a reality! They have to be warned…why not send a bunch of crippled Rookies that are ultimately expendable?"

"Now see here-"

"Dynasmon, please," sighed the electric bird. "I know you don't want to think of us that way, but truth is truth. If we can't evolve, we've lost most of what makes us useful in battle. This is basically our only chance to be really useful at this point. And if we're being real, the five of us are probably the best suited for something like this anyway, for reasons you're already aware."

"You…those dreams…you don't know that they reflect the true state of that world, even if you have been dreaming up humans."

"And we haven't had any chance to parlay with them," added Gallantmon. "They have no idea what we are…they're much more likely to react with hostility than anything else."

"Then it's a good thing that you've got five of us with some kind of means of hiding our presence, at least a little bit," hissed the lizard. "There's gotta be SOMEONE over there who'll listen to us. And we don't know what they can do against our kind, but surely any sort of warning is better than being ambushed!"

"I cannot express anything insufficient of complete concurrence with this endeavor," chimed in the canine. "Our opportunities to obstruct Emperius are dwindling with distressing celerity. The organics' blissful ignorance is imminently to be shattered irregardless of our intervention."

"What he said, whatever that was!" the dragon yapped fiercely. "I still want to be useful! I don't want to let anything bad happen to them if I can help it!"

Neither of the knights seemed eager to allow it…but there were few arguments to be made beyond 'because I said so,' and they knew that their fiercest stalwarts weren't going to let that deter them, disabled or not. "…Very well. I suppose you'd find your way to make that happen even if we said no…" Dynasmon let out a sigh. "Still…I can't help but feel like I'm sending you on a suicide mission. We haven't figured out how to make it so you can come back, nor any means of communicating between the planes…you'll be completely on your own, with perhaps no hope of returning for good."

"Whatever happens, happens," the red lizard said boldly. "But at least we'll be in charge of our own destiny. And I trust the Kaiser…I know he's trying to find a way to make his introduction over there. At the very least, he'll make it happen at some point, and I'll be there ready to meet him when he does."

"No one can fault your determination," acceded Gallantmon resignedly. "Commander…I'll bring them over to the PTM. We'll discuss how to proceed here after that, but at least there's one thing we can do to try to pull something out of this mess."

"All right. Zetta Unit…may all the fortune of the ancients be with you. And I hope that you survive long enough to see it pay off."

—

The group soon found themselves in a small, dark, isolated room in the R&D building on the KOL compound. It was hard to look at the five small digimon and say they were prepared, but they didn't bother saying goodbyes or gathering anything up - most people didn't know their fates anyway, and there was no bringing anything but themselves on this ride.

Gallantmon switched on the light, revealing the machine. It was not a thing of visual beauty - nothing more than a slightly raised pedestal in between a quartet of strange pillars, with a control console standing on the left side. The Planar Transfer Module…it's functional, but only at its most basic. It doesn't have much of any of the things we wanted it to before we actually used it…a return mechanism, a targeting mechanism, a means of connecting with those who crossed…we've come a long way since it started, but now all that development might stop. Granted, part of the reason development had been spotty was because of the risk if Emperius got their hands on it, or even on the plans for it. But perhaps they should have tried, if something like this was going to happen…

Knowledge of the organic world in parallel to theirs was only at its most rudimentary. It was known that the organic world existed, and that it was populated by sentient creatures called humans…beyond that, information was extremely limited. The Kaiser of Tetraquaz had a very strong interest in establishing connection with that world, though, and had been working on getting more information and the means to get there…at least, until the war in the south half of the continent had forced him to divert resources towards that purpose and hold off on interworld diplomacy. The KOL had been working on their own version, in the hopes that they could use it in an emergency…there was a reason Emperius had designs on that world, and it was one they could make use of in the most dire of straits as well. But theirs was not to be a mission of invasion, but one of hopeful cooperation…they were trying to establish a means of communication before they actually did any transfers, something that had been stymying them. Now, it seemed, they were out of time to take that ideal option.

It was clear as the five stepped on the pedestal that they were not to be dissuaded…but also not entirely at ease. And small wonder, to Gallantmon, considering they were headed into a great unknown, with no support and no guarantees of survival or return. Even for their hardiest warriors, that had to be daunting, especially with their power arrested the way it was. But perhaps that would work to their advantage…they had to be less threatening in those forms, and would probably have an easier time of stealth than most of their options. All things that would have to help them achieve something over there…but there were no guarantees, and Gallantmon knew that it was entirely possible that they might not even survive the transfer. Too many unknowns…he could only hope for the best.

"I'm powering things up now. If you're going to change your minds, it's now or never."

"No way." "We're in this." "Not a chance!" "No turning back." "Never."

"I thought as much." A few more button presses, and the machine was whirring to life. "Zetta Unit…I don't know what I can say that hasn't been said already. You were part of what made the Knights Of Liberty what it has been…I only pray that your positive influence carries over to this new world. If we never see each other again…know that it has been an honor to fight alongside you."

"…The same to you, Gallantmon." The light was growing, the transfer was about to start. "We won't fail. I promise."

And then there was a bright flash, lingering for several seconds…and then it died away, and Gallantmon uncovered his eyes to see emptiness where the five had once stood. He slumped back against the wall, trying to will himself to feel anything positive about this…it all seemed to hopeless, this was a moon shot of the worst kind, and the odds that he had sent them to a messy end seemed all too overbearing.

But if anyone can do it…it's Zetta Unit. Their spirits burn as bright as any I've seen…and sometimes it seems like they have guardians watching over them. I sure hope that those guardians know how to find them now…

—

11:32 PM in Braun, on Friday, April 4th. Skylar had made sure to make a note about it after the fact…before that, it had just been a moment that wasn't expected to be important.

Perhaps it wasn't unusual that he had been the first to notice something was off. It was by coincidence that it had happened - he wasn't trying to detect anything, just taking an atmospheric report. There had been a storm the previous day, and he was trying to identify any pattern he could use to better predict the timing and severity of storms that might come later. In hopes that maybe one of them would be more interesting than the norm…

Dammit. How many more years until I can go after tornadoes again? Three more until graduation, gotta get my driver's license, gotta get my own car, stormchaser equipment…ugh. Well, at least I'm learning things in the interim.

He set himself at the window, adjusting some of his equipment. Not complicated stuff, temperature and pressure sensors, humidity sensors, all to supplement his own intuition. It was useful stuff he'd gotten for his last birthday from Reyn…though, he was pretty sure it was made by Isaac. Something that did not sit too well with him, he did not like Isaac, especially after the incident about a year and a half ago, but a gift was a gift, and while he didn't like Isaac, he had to respect that he was a whiz with machines. This sort of thing seemed outside his usual, he was more of a robot type of person, but he was also generally good with machines…better than Skylar was, for sure.

It was as he was making the adjustment that he looked out and noticed it. There was something unusual in the sky…even though it was dark out, he could see it in the wavering of the stars. Curious, he moved the equipment and leaned just a bit out the window to get a closer look. …What in the world? I've never seen anything like that before. It's like a patch of the sky is just…warping or something. Could it be a wind phenomenon? But…it doesn't feel like it to me, I usually can feel that kind of stuff…

He tried wiping his glasses just in case that was what was causing it, but it was still there when he put them back on. In fact, the wavering started to get a little sharper, enough that it was distorting the starlight pretty severely. And then, without warning, a gigantic light flash erupted in the sky, making Skylar yelp and throw himself back into his room. The whole room lit up like daylight for several seconds, with a loud low hum and rumble accompanying it…and then, just as suddenly as it had started, it ended. Shakily, Skylar picked himself up and ran to the window again, but the phenomenon seemed to have disappeared. He couldn't tell if anything was different in the sky from normal, but at least at the moment he could confirm the main event seemed to have ended…

There was only one thing for it…he hurried to his computer and started to document everything he had seen, exactly when and where it had happened, and any details he could remember about other atmospheric conditions. And then it was off to the internet to do research and see what else other people might have seen. He didn't know what had happened, and that was something that Skylar couldn't stand - if it was in the sky, he was determined that he should understand it.

—

Derek didn't know what time it was, but he was out in the dark anyway, so it was only natural he would see it as well.

He was walking through Errest Park, a place he liked to spend time in thanks to its lack of artificial light. It let him enjoy the darkness properly, unlike the well-lit streets through most of the city. Of course, he had to go through those most nights, so it wasn't like he could totally get away from such things, but there were points which were more relatively untouched. Not like out in the wilderness, though - the city always had some light pollution that allayed the darkness just a little bit, while out in nowhere, you could see the night sky for what it really was.

Still, at 15 and unlikely to convince his parents to let him get driving tests any time soon, he made do.

He was actually laying back and enjoying a view of the sky when something twigged his peripheral vision. He leaned up and looked forward a bit, his eyes spotting it probably better than anyone else's could. At first he thought it was something going on in the stars, but a more focused look dismissed that - it was something much closer in the sky, though he couldn't figure out what. In all his night walks, he'd never seen anything remotely like this before.

Something…is not right. It's like…space itself is twisting out there. But that makes no sense, space doesn't do that.

The hairs on the back of his neck started to raise suddenly…Derek didn't know what it was, but it served as an appropriate warning to him. He averted his gaze just in time to avoid being blinded by the brilliant flash. He could have sworn a breeze was kicked up that he could feel flowing over him, not fiercely strong but decidedly unnatural. And then…nothing. Derek dared to look, but the sky was back to normal. No anomaly, no light, nothing but the innocent stars twinkling overhead.

He knew better than to trust it. SOMETHING had happened…but he didn't know what. And despite his usual lack of fear at his night wanderings, he decided maybe it was not a good idea to try to find out.

—

Reyn wasn't usually out and about at this hour. But the midnight release of a movie he'd been hyped to see was something that could get him out there. Thankfully, it was a Friday, so he didn't need to rise early for school, though he did have to cut a deal with his parents. Not a problem…except for one little thing.

"It's gonna be a great movie, babe, you'll love it." And that one little thing was Wallace. Eight years older than he was, with much shorter brown hair, and a frame that was the well-built kind of stocky and tall that you would see in a sports star (which he had been, but currently was definitely not), and not exactly Reyn's favorite person in the world. And the feeling was mutual…Wallace and he had always had a tense relationship, not least in part because of how often they'd moved around and how often that was because of Reyn. It wasn't outright hate, but they weren't very buddy-buddy. Unfortunately for Reyn, they did have some overlap in movie taste, and Wallace had come to the same showing…which would have been fine, except he decided, in all his brilliance, to bring his new girlfriend. For him it turned the whole thing into a date, and that was the last thing Reyn wanted a part of.

"Uh, yeah…I guess." And of course, said girlfriend (Ileene, Reyn thought her name was - Wallace went through them like tissue paper, usually not of his own volition, so he sometimes mixed up the names) had no interest in the movie. Why she had even agreed was beyond Reyn, but he really wished she hadn't, because now Wallace was going to be spending much more time trying to put the moves on her, and most likely being a general distraction. He was trying to look anywhere else but at the two of them, killing time as they waited in line for the ticket booth to get to them.

It was because of that that he noticed some people pointing and whispering. His eyes followed where they went, and that was when he saw the fuzziness in the night sky. It wasn't super clear because of all the lights nearby, but clear enough that it wasn't mistaken for something normal. It definitely had his attention, he'd hung around Skylar enough to have heard a lot about different things that could happen in the sky, but this didn't match any of them.

"Oh wow…what's that?" Ileene had picked up on it too. "Renny, you ever seen anything like that?"

"PLEASE don't call me Renny," groaned Reyn.

"It's nothing, babe, don't worry about it." Wallace tried tor bring her attention back to him, unsuccessfully. "Probably just some wind or something."

"I really don't think-AH!" The flash came to them without warning, making them have to quickly look away. They were far enough that they didn't feel anything from it, only experienced the brightness and the low rumble. And soon enough, those too were gone, leaving nothing that anyone else could see…but there was a lot of talk about it in the line, now, clearly having taken over the chatter about the movie.

"Jeez…that was scary…"

"Don't worry, hun, I'll hold you…" Wallace put his arms around Ileene, though she didn't seem to be reciprocating. Reyn turned away again, shaking his head a little…this seemed like another doomed relationship to him, but he wasn't going to say anything about it. He was just going to try to enjoy his movie…but whatever had been in the sky was going to be on his mind. At least he had someone to talk to about it later…

—

"Dammit! Dammit dammit dammit!" Isaac was cursing up a storm. Something extremely unusual and he'd missed it!

Well, not entirely, he'd noticed the bright flash - how could he not, when it lit up his room like the sun had exploded? But by the time he'd been able to get to the window, the light had disappeared, as had the sound. And even when he did get there, his window was pretty well shaded by trees, so he wouldn't have had a good view anyway.

"Of all the times…wait! The camera!" He hurried to his computer, typing furiously. He'd put a camera on the roof last year, so he could test out some drone flight stuff without having to be leaning out the window all the time. It was pointed more upwards, so he hoped that it could have caught what he had missed. The feed kept continuous video, which was only overwritten every so often, certainly it wouldn't have been so soon after…

But Isaac's face fell when he finally accessed it. The image was not good…he could see something fuzzy out there, but it was too far away to make out any details. And then there was the blinding flash of light, but he already knew that had happened, and it revealed nothing further than what he already could have suspected. He let out an annoyed sigh…it seemed like the camera hadn't helped much.

Just as he was about to close out, though, he noticed something…though he wasn't sure what it was. Looking hard at some still frames, he thought he could see something falling into the trees. The resolution was far from good enough to make out any features, but he was sure there was something there.

Could it have been some kind of botched missile test? There's been a few instances of that causing some weird sky phenomena before…maybe Iris's or Derek's parents would know something about it. Hm, and Derek would probably have been out there, maybe he saw more. I'll have to get in touch with him, maybe he was lucky enough to see the debris.

He shook his head, taking some notes to help with the inquiry. It took a lot to get his mind off of robots, especially at this time of night, but perhaps he'd found the thing that did it.

—

Iris had also missed the event, but that was because she had been asleep. She hadn't felt well that evening, and had turned in early to try to sleep it off. She didn't see what had happened…but had perhaps seen far more than she realized.

It was another one of THOSE dreams. They had been somewhat disturbing lately…she had woken up feeling a sense of distress. Something unfortunate had been happening to the bird in her dreams, she wasn't all entirely sure what it was but she had the sense that it was in trouble. The last few days had had them frantically trying to avoid danger, but tonight's was more benign…her and the other dream creatures inside buildings, doing something that she couldn't quite figure out. She recognized the others, ones that she'd seen many times before…ones that seemed oddly consistent with the ones the others dreamed about.

It was all very strange to her, but dreams were weird.

There had been a bright flash at the end, though…something that had jarred her awake. She'd sat up quickly, feeling sweaty, heart racing. She didn't know what had happened, but it certainly hadn't been pleasant…before she could settle down, though, her room lit up brightly, making her cry out. She ducked down under the covers, trying to get refuge from the brightness…thankfully it didn't last long, and things got dark again. Shaking, she rose up again, and got out of bed and went to the window. She couldn't see anything out there, but that didn't really reassure her.

"Iris?" The door opened, and her mother Heather looked in. "Are you all right?"

"I'm, uh, fine…I was just startled. What WAS that?"

"I have no clue! It was like the entire sky lit up! Your father's making a bunch of phone calls, I think he's trying to see if anyone at the office knows what it was." True to that, Iris could hear some of her father's voice, indistinct but undoubtedly agitated. "Do you want to come downstairs?"

"No…no, thanks, I should try to get back to sleep…"

"All right, well, let us know if you change your mind. Sweet dreams, Iris." The door shut again, and Iris went back to her bed, trying to settle herself down. Deep breaths, calming breaths, but it was hard to get those images out of her mind…or the strange, undefinable feeling of something being off, somehow. She wasn't sure what or how, but something wasn't the way it had been when she went to bed. She hoped it was her imagination…

…but something, some little voice in the back of her head, was certain it wasn't. And it was sometimes uncanny how often that little voice had been right in the past…

Anything outside the long lines is author's notes, for if I feel there's anything I want to add.

I decided to combine the old prologue and chapter 1 for the remaster, since I was going to put them up together anyway. I felt like it sets the stage a bit better to introduce the main players together. It increases the length a bit, but this is already the shortest completed chapter, so yeah, I think it'll be fine.

The character profiles were something I was debating whether I wanted to put in or not - they are a bit clinical just put like that. But I want to be able to provide an impression of physical appearance, and it's been brought to my attention that that's not particularly one of the strengths of my writing (though I've made an effort to do so more effectively with at least my novel creatures - canon mons you can use existing images to reference them, at least). So I think I'd rather make sure these characters in particular come through clearly, as we'll be spending a lot of time with them. For the partner mons, the second chapter will give a more robust description which flows in a little more naturally.