Unreason

The sky was still crimson, just like it had been three years ago.

I stood in the middle of the street, the barrel of the gun in my hand trembling — but I wasn’t foolish enough to pull the trigger. The thing in front of me looked like a massive eye. It had planted its jointed legs on the asphalt, staring at me, silent. Then it tilted its head slightly, as if to say, “calm down.”

“Iris,” I said, lowering my gun. “Scaring people again?”

It didn’t answer, of course — it couldn’t. But that glimmer at the center of its eye flickered for a moment — I think it was laughing. In its own way.

I’m Kyle Kenneth. A former police officer. And this, by now, is just another normal morning for me.

I don’t quite remember how long ago it was, but it was a long time ago. Back when everything was still normal, before the world turned to hell.

Humanity was chasing an enormous invention: the Hive Mind. Humankind would be able to act as a single consciousness. An invention that would put an end to things like coordination, messaging, and calling — an unbelievable leap in how we communicated. It would push humanity one step further. We were on our way to becoming a superior civilization.

But it didn’t go the way it was supposed to.

First the volunteers, then everyone, had a chip implanted in their brain, one by one. It worked perfectly. Speaking out loud had become primitive. You could send your thoughts to anyone instantly, like sending a message — learn their location, even feel what they were feeling.

So what happened?

A virus.

People called it the Vandal Virus.

The virus infected the chip. It didn’t harm the people it infected — no, it did something far more terrifying. It brought the creatures from people’s nightmares into the real world.

People gave these creatures a name too: Mindborn.

The Mindborn unleashed pure terror across the world. Humanoid but not human, giant insects, flying men, beings resembling angels or demons.

In South America, a Mindborn nicknamed “The Eternal Burning Man” was busy razing the forests, while East Asia faced an invasion of a massive, pale-skinned, man-eating humanoid. On Cirit Island, a colossal machine went on a rampage; and in Russia, they say a pack of yetis has been sighted. Probably true.

Governments fell one after another, unable to hold their ground against creatures born from nightmares. Even the United States — the country that once thought itself untouchable — wasn’t spared. Washington fell silent. No president, no chain of command, nothing left but scattered units trying to remember what order used to feel like. If even the U.S. government could collapse, that tells you everything about how far things had gone.

Our lives were turned upside down, practically dragged into hell.

Im trying to survive,with my friend İris

Speaking of Iris — she’s a Mindborn too. But not hostile, for some reason. She’s a massive eye, with jointed legs as well. She might look frightening at first, but she’s a gentle creature, don’t worry. She’s playful.

I think she came out of my own nightmares. I still haven’t figured out why she doesn’t attack me. Maybe I never will.

But for now, that’s not a question that keeps me up at night.

Maybe it should.