The Ares Tragedy: Cover-Ups and Lives Upended

By Reed Hayes

ARLINGTON, VA - Recently leaked classified documents and insider interviews paint a sobering picture of the government's secret handling of the catastrophic portal event that devastated the town of Ares last month.

The official story is that a freak meteor strike leveled the town, no survivors. But according to a military source, at least 4 teens did miraculously survive with unexplained abilities, seemingly drawn from an RPG skill tree.

"Mitch could smash through walls, Astor controlled minds - it was terrifying but also incredible," said Tom Striges, father of survivor Mitch S. "They have these powers now, but they're still just kids."

Parents confirm armed forces took their children into custody for secretive "medical study" - which some call imprisonment.

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"We just want our son Booker home safe," said Grace W., mother of another survivor. "Whatever they say he can do, he would never hurt anyone."

So what did happen in Ares? According to a leaked recon report, the destroyed town was Ground Zero for an interdimensional portal, its inhabitants slaughtered by nightmarish creatures - not a meteor.

And rather than seal off the portal when it first opened, the same report says the military sent an ill-fated team directly into its dangerous energies - sacrificing those men to hide the portal's existence. Only 2 of the 12-man Alpha team returned alive.

"Our brave soldiers had no idea what horrors awaited," said General Frank Arters, leading portal containment efforts, speaking against his superiors' wishes. "Too many good lives lost, and for what?"

Meanwhile, a proposal working through Congress would allow private companies to conduct their own expeditions into active portals - worrying ethics watchdogs.

"Profit cannot come before safety and the greater good," said Janine Clarke of Public Citizen nonprofit group. "We barely understand these portals, yet lobbyists want to throw lives at them for personal gain."

The picture that emerges is one of a government disoriented and overmatched by supernatural events, resulting in rash choices, obfuscation, and lives disrupted or destroyed.

The public deserves to know the uncensored truth of what transpired in Ares. And those survivors struggling to understand frightening new abilities deserve our compassion, not exploitation.

Until government and citizens work openly together, the true toll of the portal crisis will only keep mounting.