A man stood in a dark room, surrounded by computer monitors. The only things on their screens were grey silhouettes, indistinguishable from one another, yet the force they seemed to impose on the room threatened to rob the breath from the man giving his report. Sweat ran down his neck, and the slight tremble in his hands betrayed his nervousness despite the stony mask he wore.
"O5-1, thank you, Doctor. You may leave." With those words, the man turned, still composed, and walked out of the room. But the second the door closed, his shoulders sagged as if the weight of the world had just been lifted off him.
With his absence, the silence seemed to overtake the room.
"O5-2, this is concerning." Those words carried the weight of past memories that seemed to haunt everyone present.
"O5-3, if this means what we think, a parasite has pierced the barrier and attached itself to a host. We could be looking at another level-5 reality incursion."
Those words carried the weight of a threat, and the room fell quiet.
"O5-1, so we are agreed. We will send word out to agents in law enforcement and organized crime to watch for possible hosts, and we will send in a level-5 termination squad."
"O5-5, forgive my interruption, O5-1, but would it not be possible to capture it?"
"O5-4, have you gone mad, or did you forget what happened last time we tried that?"
"O5-5, I did not forget." His hidden anger was clear for all to see. "But the first time we attempted containment, it was at the latter stages of the anomaly's mutation. This time we have an opportunity to capture it, perhaps even before it begins to mutate. We could learn so much, even if we must kill the host later."
Those words seemed to break through the fear that hung over every mention of the parasite, its host, and the dangers that would follow.