I awoke in a white room. The nightmare still lingered on my thoughts. It had felt real. My dreams usually faded into half-remembered mist upon waking, but this was as if my true memories had been altered. That day had been one of my happiest memories.

I rubbed at my eyes and tried to sit up and take stock of my new surroundings. Both my arms were restricted with white cloth. I pulled against them but made no progress. I looked around the room for a tool, something with an edge.

Wherever I was, it was at least free of giant arachnids. Despite my captivity, this was an obvious improvement. The clinical setting, however, made me slightly warry. I might have been out of the proverbial spider’s nest and into the mad scientist’s laboratory.

The walls were white and seemed to be made from ceramic tiles. The material was subtly textured, as if each square tile was made from thousands of tiny, interlocking hexagons. The walls had a polished gloss, amplifying the glare of the powerful florescent lights that hung overhead.

My bed seemed no different than any you would find in a hospital. A tube connected me to an IV and countless cables ran from my arms and chest to various monitors that beeped and displayed readings in an unknown language.

“You’re awake.” The voice was synthetic and monotone, more like a computer assistant than a person.

A man, or at least it was similar to a man, was standing in an open door. Several more of the creatures stood on the other side of a glass window that had been reinforced with a grid of metal wires. They were giants, almost all of them at least eight feet tall. The speaker was the shortest, perhaps not even breaking seven feet.

The speaker looked at me and turned its head from side to side. Its pupils were slit, like a cat’s, with yellow irises. It wore a solid-red jumpsuit, with a golden eagle above three chevrons on each shoulder. Black plates, made from the same glossy material as the walls, armored the creature’s arms and chest. The short sword on the its belt seemed at odds with the massive rifle strapped to its back.

The most striking feature, however, was the creature’s skin. It was a deep crimson, only slightly darker than his uniform. The silent watchers standing behind the glass had skin in various shades of brown, red, and green. Their faces were covered in small raised bumps that gave it a thick, stony appearance. If these guys had invaded earth, then I didn’t think we had a chance.

“Forgive the translator,” said the alien in the red uniform. “I have not yet had the time to assimilate to the native languages. I understand that this planet has many cultures and dialects, diverse as they are beautiful. I am fascinated. I am afraid, however, that I will not have the time to appreciate them until our mission is accomplished.”

He reached out his hand and cut the cloth straps with a single, clawed finger. “I am sorry for the restraints, as well. Your doctors feared you might hurt yourself. I am told you were quite animated in your sleep. My medics informed me that you were given sedatives, so please be careful as you get up.”

I messaged my arms and looked up at my captor. Rescuer? He smiled with a mouth full of rows of razor sharp teeth.

“Who are you,” I asked. “What is this place?”

As I spoke I could see the creature’s eyes track from right to left. It seemed to be reading from an invisible display.

“My full name is Sebbit’Task Orvilio Xern, Vanguard of the Hegemony, Captain of Her Majesty’s Peacekeepers. I have been tasked with the containment of eldritch lifeforms in this zone. My secondary mission is the assimilation of the native population into the Hegemony and its related systems.”

He stopped and gave me a stern look, eyebrows lowered and making direct eye contact. “My soldiers call me Captain Xern, or Sir. You may call Sebbit.”

The alien smiled and held out his hand in a surprisingly human gesture, “May I know you as well?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Uh … Sure,” I replied.

I shook the offered hand, his palm was massive, and his fingers were nearly twice as long as mine and ended in sharp, curved talons. He smiled and held my hand for longer than I was comfortable with.

The creature terrified me, and despite no longer being bound I was still surrounded by what could only be described as alien soldiers. Invading alien soldiers. I would have preferred little green men, or even spiders. Well … maybe not spiders.

“My name is Augustus Finn,” I said, “but please just call me Finn. And, uh, well I seem to be between galactic conquests.” He heard my reply and simply nodded, denying my attempt to probe his intentions.

“A pleasure, to be sure, Mr. Finn.” Even through the artificial voice, he came across as overly proper and by the book.

“Now, if I could address my reason for speaking with you today.” He paused and looked at me, making sure he had my attention before continuing.

“Wait,” I said. “Can you please just tell me what happened? Where am I? I thought I was dead. Did you guys save me from that spider thing?” My words stumbled over each other until my questions were a jumbled word salad.

“We saved you, Mr. Finn. My soldiers were tasked with containing creatures leaking from the recently created containment center, or dungeons as the adventurers like to call them. We —”

“Wait,” I interrupted. “That was a dungeon? As in monsters and levels and all that?”

“Like I said, Mr. Finn, it was a containment center. I do not want to repeat myself so please listen. The worst of the threats are quarantined from the general population and placed in these areas for processing. Any more question?”

“Um … no?”

“Very well,” he nodded. “The reports I read indicate that one of the quarantined creatures, a high level one I might add, chased you right into our arms. You should consider yourself a lucky man.”

“That’s right,” I added. “I was trying to escape, but she caught me. She impaled me. I thought I was dead, so please give my thanks to your men.”

“Women,” Sebbit said.

“What?”

“You said ‘men.’ Over seventy percent of my command is women, Mr. Finn. Males of my species rarely serve in combat duties. We tend to be smaller, and more suited to administrative tasks. Like interrogating natives, for instance.”

“Well, sure,” I said, “please thank the ladies ... uh, soldiers? Anyone who saved me. I really do appreciate it.”

I felt his distaste as he looked down at me. “We will leave the subject of nobility open for now. It is best that we get back to the debriefing.”

“I need to know how you appeared where you did, Mr. Finn. You shouldn’t have been able to enter the dungeon at all, let alone enter such an advanced area. Not at all, and certainly not at your … level.”

“I’m not really sure,” I shrugged. “I just kinda woke up there. I was really hoping you could fill me in.”

We spent the next several hours going everything that had happened since I woke up underground. And then … we went over it once more, in excruciating detail. Sebbit would occasionally ask questions to clarify some point, but he mostly just let me speak. He never took any notes, but I imagine it would have been easy for him to record the entire conversation if he needed to.

“Wait,” I said, “we’ve been at this for hours. I need to get up, move, you know?”

“Of course,” the alien nodded his head, “I will have an escort prepared for you, very few areas will be restricted but you cannot leave the encampment. It’s not safe.”

“Sure, just more thing … can you tell me how long I was out for?”

“Well, Mr. Finn, if you mean unconscious, then you were under my care for nearly forty-six hours. It has been five days since the Initialization, the events that led up to our being here.”

“Five days … shit. I need to leave, I …”

“There is a group of humans within a day’s march, and you will be allowed to leave. Before we discuss that, there is one thing I must know. Your story seems … odd, but you have been honest with me so far. Please continue to be candid.”

“Of course,” I said.

“Mr. Finn. I must know, did you look into the eye? Has it spoken to you?”

“Wha …,” I said. “You mean with the spider? I mean sure, she had enough of them.”

“No, that is not what I meant.” He sighed and sat down on the hospital bed, “This creature spawns madness in everything it touches, Mr. Finn. Do you understand?”

“You mean …” I paused. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“I thought you might,” Sebbit nodded. “That creature was an Old One, a truly ancient being known as Kyr’Teleth, the Crimson Hunter of the Void. He sometimes devours entire planets and … sometimes he does not. Always, he leaves behind destruction.”

Sebbit reached out and grasped my shoulder, before continuing, “He takes on many forms, but the most common is an all-seeing eye burning in the sky. Most importantly, strange things tend to happen to those whom survive his gaze. He infects minds. Consumes them. Making eye contact is especially dangerous.”

“Is Cthulhu out there, too?” I asked in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t joke about these things, Mr. Finn. There are many great evils and Old Ones roaming the universe. Universes. But please answer the question, Mr. Finn. Did you make eye contact?”

I met Sebbit’s eyes, mere inches from my own. He watched me with an unblinking gaze, waiting for my answer.

“No,” I said.