The holographic screen displaying the shivering, half-naked human army vanished as Rudy dismissed the feed with a casual wave of his hand. Alice was still giggling, leaning comfortably against his shoulder while the custom-made sun bathed the courtyard in perfect, golden warmth.
Before Rudy could pour her another glass of orange juice, the vibrant blue sky above the Orcelona Keep abruptly shifted. It did not turn black with apocalyptic dread or red with hellish fury. Instead, the sky transformed into a dull, monotonous shade of corporate beige.
A perfectly rectangular dimensional portal slid open with the quiet, depressing sound of a filing cabinet drawer.
Three impossibly tall, thin entities drifted out of the beige rift. They possessed slate-grey skin and wore identical, meticulously pressed grey suits. Each entity carried a thick, glowing clipboard.
