[5 hours earlier - Washington D.C. - The Office of the President of the United States]

"Mr. President, you can’t expect Congress to go along with this. I understand you ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility, but too many Americans rely on Social Security to put food on the table, and our elderly citizens vote!" The congressman repeated his argument for what felt like the hundredth time. He knew it wouldn’t do any good, but his job was to represent his constituents' interests.

Benjamin King had only been sworn into office last January; it was his first term, and he’d been President of the United States for less than a year. "I understand that, George, but this country can't—" The loud sound of a door slamming open interrupted the President’s rebuttal. Two of his senior Secret Service agents and the Vice President rushed into the room, escorting a woman who appeared to be blind. A pink silk sash covered her eyes, wrapped around her long black hair, and tied in a bow behind her head. She wore a black outfit, though Ben couldn’t tell if it was a dress or robes. The moment he saw who the men were escorting, Ben's demeanor changed. The relaxed expression fell from his face, replaced by a look of tension that betrayed the anxiety rising in his chest.

“I’m going to have to ask you to step outside, George. I need to handle this.” Benjamin stood, politely waving the congressman out. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. This conversation isn’t over, though, Ben—we need an answer soon!" George insisted as an agent led him out and securely locked the door behind him.

The Vice President was a short, stocky, balding man named Henry. A nice enough person, but Ben had picked him as a running mate partly because Henry was unremarkable—someone who wouldn’t overshadow him. “What’s going on, Henry? Is that who I think it is?” Ben gestured at the blindfolded woman, signaling the agents to bring her closer.

“I’ll let her explain. But it’s bad. Really bad,” Henry replied breathlessly; Ben couldn’t tell if he was actually out of breath or just scared.

“H-Hello…” The young woman’s name was Alexandria. She appeared to be in her early twenties and was one of the U.S. government’s best-kept secrets. Billions in taxpayer money had gone into programs exploring the limits of human abilities. Motivated by competition with Russia, the U.S. had funded dozens of similar projects—most of which failed. The top-secret projects weren’t nearly as glamorous as civilians liked to imagine. But not all failed. Alexandria had come from one such program, which combined science with occult practices to try to awaken psychic abilities. The catch? The subject had to be female—and blind.

The program was terminated 15 years ago when a scientist went rogue, turned whistleblower, and provided proof to an independent journalist that a government-funded program was surgically removing the eyes of infant girls. You can imagine news like that would not have gone over well with the public. It was an absolute disgrace, and what happened next was the last straw. The man in charge of the CIA at the time was a real old-school psychopath, and he didn’t hesitate to order the cold-blooded murders of both the whistleblower and the independent journalist. The two men were found dead in their sleep, and the story had been killed along with them. Unfortunately, the public would never discover the truth, but somehow, at least, the truth spread within the highest echelons of government itself. When rival factions within the government found out what the CIA had done, both the murders and the inhumane experiments on children, it nearly led to a second civil war. The branches of the armed forces took a stand against the intelligence agencies. Hundreds of servicemen and women died in the covert internecine skirmishes that followed. With the threat of full-scale war looming, the intelligence agencies came to the negotiation table, and a truce was brokered. The programs would immediately be closed down, the director of the CIA would be replaced, and everyone would go about their business like nothing had happened. It was in the best interest of the United States that the public never find out what had occurred.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Now, on paper, Alexandria worked directly for the Executive Office of the United States. It was through Alexandria's scrying ability that the government had first learned the horrifying truth: Earth was not alone, and this universe was locked in a titanic struggle for survival against another dimension, one filled with brutality, chaos, and magic... a terrifying place called the Abyss.

Thankfully, Earth was protected by a mysterious figure Alexandria often glimpsed—a powerful being standing before a floating palace, warding off terrifying entities attempting to enter our world from the Abyss. As long as he stood guard, humanity was safe. Alexandria had been tasked with the mission of trying to communicate with this otherworldly being. Any information they could gain, even from a casual conversation, would be of the utmost value. Unfortunately, her attempts had always been met with silence—until now...

Alexandria’s normally smooth, youthful voice trembled. "He… he finally spoke to me, Sir." The fear in her voice was obvious.

Those few words sent a jolt through Ben’s body. He clenched his fists, barely containing his anticipation. “Well, that sounds like good news, right? What did he say?”

"H-he said... f-forgive me." Taking a deep breath, she forced her body to calm down just enough to get the words out properly. "He said to tell my people an Abyssal Titan has found our world. He cannot hope to match the creature's power, but he might be able to wound it enough that it would be forced to retreat." She continued in a solemn tone, "But to do that... would cost his life."

"Abyssal Titan..." Ben whispered as all lingering traces of confidence drained from his face. "But... he said he can chase it away, right? So it’s going to be OK!"

Henry stepped forward, his face twisted in an angry grimace. He threw the paperwork he was holding to the ground. "Our protector is about to be killed! Who is going to protect us now? Thousands of those Abyss creatures will cross into our world every day!" he shouted, spittle flying from his mouth onto Ben’s face. "Who is going to deal with those nightmare creatures… you?!"

"I..." Ben was in shock. While Henry responded to his own fear by lashing out in anger, Ben’s response was to freeze.

The Secret Service agents stepped forward, holding Henry back, giving the President a chance to breathe and collect his thoughts.

"OK… OK… how much time do we have? We have to do something, declare a state of emergency; people need to get to safe pla—" Ben was cut off when the sunlight dimmed unnaturally fast, as if a giant hand had covered the sun.

Ben looked toward the window, but before he could understand what was happening, a vision entered his mind. He saw a man garbed in ancient clothing standing before an impossibly ornate crystal palace, and he also saw the terrifying shadowy entity that was approaching.