January 31st, 2000: Multiple portals begin to appear and then sometimes vanish all over Earth, clustered roughly around major population centers. At first dubbed “Slides,” they appear to be two-dimensional views of other worlds, no matter what angle they’re approached from. The Slides vary in width from a few feet across to the size of a modest city block, and show scenes ranging from near-Earth ecology, to horrific hellworlds, to what can only be described as recognizable, mythical places. Every Slide, no matter what is viewed through it, seems frozen in time.
February 2nd, 2000: The rate of Slides manifesting and disappearing seems to stabilize, with news media estimating and arguing that anywhere from one to ten thousand exist across the planet. The last remaining records seem to indicate that the general attitude toward the Slides was wary, curious, and strangely optimistic. At approximately 3:00 PM GMT, all electronic devices cease to function and a small percentage of the global population immediately suffers from sudden and quickly fatal seizures. Millions, possibly billions die, but information is spotty at best.
Three minutes later, every living person sixteen years of age and above has the same collective experience: a new, sixth sense is forcibly injected into their awareness, a holographic field entirely outside one’s field of vision but constantly in focus, written in an alien language that is somehow as familiar as their mother tongue. The field reads:
February 6th, 2000: Utilizing the networking capabilities and supernatural abilities granted by [Infra], a large portion of the remaining [Human] population organize along three ideologies, later codified into [Paths]. Unintegrated minors, people unwilling or unsuited for combat, and those willing to defend them form [Redoubts] in areas less affected by [Slides], hoping to keep out of the way. What remains of governments, from local to international, consolidate their police forces, armies, and anyone else willing to join into [Orders] and prepare to combat whatever comes from the looming portals. Lastly, anyone too far away or unsuited to join a major defense, but still determined to combat the threat of invaders, becomes what’s quickly known as [Adventurers].
The [Slides] open fully and it is disastrous. At least one in three major cities are overrun. [Human] ability to gauge the threat of individual [Slides] is found to be woefully incompetent. Some heavily defended portals only discharge friendly beings, some nothing. Innocuous [Slides] left for [Adventurers] to clean up erupt into violent, aggressive packs of invading monsters. The fighting continues nonstop for three days until the next message from [Infra]:
March 17th, 2000: The first recorded [Source] to be successfully raided, [Parisian Catacombs], is claimed by a combination of [Orders] working to retake Paris. The rewards provided by [Infra] bolster their efforts to secure the city, but the mechanism to close active [Slides] is still unknown.
March 29th, 2000: A lone [Adventurer] somehow irreparably damages the [Below Niagara Falls Source] and then closes the three nearby [Slides]. The process used for both acts appears to be reproducible, and involves shattering the [Fount] at the heart of the [Source] into [Shards].
December 31st, 2000: [Infra] reports the population of [Earth] has stopped declining just above two billion [Humans].
February 6th, 2001: A year to the day after full integration, the first [Human] reaches [Level 100] and unlocks [Ascendancy]. Large swathes of unclaimed land begin to undergo [Essence] mutations usually only seen inside [Sources].
April 10th, 2001: Groups of [Adventurers] join with the [New South Wales Redoubt] and create [Earth]’s first [Guild].
June 18th, 2001: Multiple [Orders] disband and form the [System Polity Grand Order – SysPol], dedicated to preserving and cultivating the largest [Sources] while still obtaining sufficient [Shards] to close [Slides].
October 12th, 2001: [SysPol] grows exponentially after sharing the trick to obtaining [Shards] nondestructively, absorbing multiple [Orders] across the planet.
July 6th, 2003: A South American [Guild] claims the [Hidden Jungle Temple Source], unlocking [Transcendency] and breaking the [Level 300] limit. [SysPol] and the [Manassas Redoubt Guild] close the [Slides] in Washington, D.C. and proceed to clear most of the North American east coast.
May 25th, 2007: The [Sublime] barrier at [Level 600] is broken somewhere in China. Chinese [Orders] and [Guilds] remain secretive about it, but rumors of a [Tamed Source] run rampant.
October 25th, 2007. [SysPol]’s [Sublimed] members close the largest remaining hostile [Slides] in Tokyo, Mexico City, and Sao Paulo. There is no general [Infra] broadcast.
December 1st, 2009: While monster invasions from hidden [Slides] continue to occur, the lack of major threats allow formerly walled and secluded [Redoubts] to open up, most contracting [SysPol] to provide protection. A roaming [Ascendant Adventurer] closes a [Slide] menacing a small Siberian [Redoubt], gaining a unique [Achievement] [Not the First, but the Last] and [Infra] updates once more:
February 9th, 2012: On the former deadline for [Earth]’s exclusion from [Infra], [Overlord Crushes-Valiant] opens the first [Earth Advancement and Assessment Festival], a month-long fair in his own [Personal Source] to encourage [Human] progression toward [Full Member] status.
