FBI Headquarters / En Route to Innsmouth
'This is really… urgent.'
Andre Carmel, an elite FBI agent and Shuichi Akai's most trusted partner, observed the atmosphere within the Bureau with a grave expression.
Urgent. Very urgent. It was as if everyone had received a doomsday order from the highest-ranking superiors—all available personnel, arrive in Innsmouth as quickly as possible, and seal off the town entirely.
Andre was no exception. Alongside Mark—a dreadlocked, veteran black agent—he had been ordered to immediately put aside all current tasks to focus every ounce of their efforts on besieging the isolated coastal town.
'What the hell is going on…?' Andre thought, grabbing his tactical gear.
Even Mark, who was famous for his carefree nature, had completely toned down his usual jokes, feeling a vague, oppressive unease. This kind of massive, large-scale military operation hadn't been seen on domestic soil in a very long time. Even the Black Organization, which they've been closely pursuing for years, had never possessed the sheer terror factor to put the entire Federal Bureau into such a precarious, panicked state.
The two men exchanged tense glances as they prepared to move out. They both saw the naked seriousness in each other's eyes.
'Friend…' Mark thought, swallowing hard. 'The entire FBI is being mobilized. This is no joke...'
Moreover, as they rushed out to the motor pool, they even saw heavily armed SWAT units and state police officers rallying among the federal agents. This was deadly serious...
Andre pulled Mark into their tactical SUV.
"GO! GO!! Target: Innsmouth!"
"Third squad ready! Awaiting orders!"
"Heavy fire support requested, please sign off!"
Hearing the frantic radio chatter, Shuichi Akai, who was already on-site commanding the vanguard, felt a little relieved by the massive influx of manpower. But thinking of that arrogant monster, Mayor Philip, who had never taken humanity seriously, Akai still carried a deep, cold worry in his heart.
'Hopefully… it's exactly as I predicted,' Akai thought, gripping the hood of his command vehicle. 'The Deep Ones won't directly intervene yet, and it's only the Black Organization causing this immediate trouble.'
He gazed up at the sky. The morning had initially been clearing, but now the winter chill cast a hazy, gloomy hue over the coast. The rapidly dimming sky seemed to be ushering in a torrential new rainy season. It perfectly matched Akai's current mood.
He shook his head, forcefully banishing his existential dread. He didn't know what exactly had gotten into Director Joseph to authorize such a massive force, but sending him this army was a good thing.
'Now…' He took a few deep, heavy breaths, adjusting his frayed emotions. 'It's time…'
The Perimeter of Innsmouth
A strange, dead little town.
Andre, Mark, and their forward squad were among the first reinforcements to arrive at the border of Innsmouth. However, they were still stationed quite far away from the actual town limits. Because Shuichi Akai, the on-site tactical commander, seemed to have some extreme concerns regarding the environment, they chose to "set up camp" several miles away on the coastal highway.
But as Andre stared intently at the town's perimeter through the windshield, his brow furrowed.
Fog.
A thick, unnatural gray mist completely enveloped the entire town of Innsmouth, obscuring everything within its borders.
'Strange…' Andre thought.
The fog was incredibly dense; logically, given the coastal winds, it should have spread and diluted into the surrounding areas. But the fog seemed to possess a sinister mind of its own, remaining perfectly concentrated only within the town's borders. Was it a bizarre magnetic field? Or just freak marine weather?
"Any results from the drones?" Mark asked impatiently over the comms.
Mechanical probes and drones had already been thrown into the mist, but not a single blip of data had returned. It seemed there was indeed some kind of overwhelming magnetic or supernatural field here, rendering all electronic and surveillance tools completely ineffective once they crossed the threshold.
This was incredibly troublesome… because it meant that physically investigating this place would require sacrificing human lives. This was the fatal downside of over-reliance on modern electronic technology.
"We've sent a few brave scouts in on foot, but they haven't come out yet," Andre muttered, his face grim.
He still didn't know what the higher-ups were so wary of. It's just fog, just magnetic interference, he tried to rationalize.
He looked around the perimeter. A densely packed, highly professional strike force had assembled, almost capable of waging a small war. They had formed a massive encirclement, trapping Innsmouth against the churning beach. Either the residents of Innsmouth surrendered, or they would all be driven into the sea to feed the fish!
Andre approached Akai at the command tent and tentatively asked.
"Shuichi, what exactly happened in there? If it's a bio-hazard or a heavily fortified terrorist cell, do we need to…" Andre cautiously gestured with his hands, mimicking an explosion—carpet bombing.
Given the sheer scale of this military operation, something extremely serious must have occurred in Innsmouth to warrant wiping it off the map.
"…No, not for now," Akai replied, his voice deadly serious, his eyes fixed on the fog.
Hearing this, Andre's pupils constricted.
'For now...'
With a nervous gulp, Andre looked back towards the mist-shrouded town, a freezing chill running down his spine.
'Friend…' Andre realized in horror. 'I was just testing the waters. He actually considered it!'
Silence. A deathly, oppressive silence hung over the encampment. The atmosphere was incredibly heavy. Everyone within earshot was terrified by the implication of the words "for now."
Rear Command: Washington D.C.
At the same time, Director Joseph and Sheriff Gray, waiting anxiously for news at the rear command center, watched the perimeter surveillance footage with pale, serious expressions.
Some bureaucrats at the state level had initially thought this was an absurd, costly overreaction and hurriedly tried to notify the Innsmouth local government via landline, but received absolutely no response. The lines were dead.
Some, hoping for the best, had authorized those initial scouts into Innsmouth, but none returned. Not even a radio crackle.
It was as if that place had truly become a greedy, man-eating abyss. Indiscriminate in its pursuit, it sought to quietly devour everything that crossed its borders.
Therefore, no one held any optimistic expectations for Innsmouth anymore. They were simply waiting. Waiting for Innsmouth's reaction.
They could afford to wait. They were entirely unwilling to take the risk of sending the whole army in blind. They had been far too comfortable in their modern offices for too long… The sudden "internal strife" in Innsmouth had caught the entire nation's defense apparatus completely off guard.
And the stifling wait made the atmosphere increasingly oppressive.
The Perimeter of Innsmouth
"They're out! Movement in the fog! They're coming out!" a perimeter agent suddenly shouted excitedly.
This instantly drew Akai's sharp attention.
Out? Was that even possible?
After all, his own visit to this hellish place before it truly erupted had almost cost him his life and soul. Now that this abyss had finally shown its true claws, would it really let these missing scouts go so easily?
'It doesn't make sense…' Akai thought, his instincts screaming.
He grabbed his high-powered binoculars and looked into the gray mist.
Sure enough, several hazy, indistinct human figures appeared, slowly walking out of the fog toward the barricades. However… as the agents watched, their brows furrowed, and a vague, primal unease lingered in their hearts.
Akai found this incredibly strange. On one hand, releasing hostages wasn't the Deep Ones' usual practice. On the other hand… the indistinct figures moved very slowly. Their bodies were severely hunched, swaying unsteadily from side to side like broken marionettes.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh…
Suddenly, the sound of massive waves crashing against the shore rose and fell, carrying perfectly over the miles of asphalt. The muffled, surging sound was easily recognized by even a slightly experienced sailor.
It was undoubtedly the oppressive roar of the deep sea.
As if intimidated by that deep-sea roar, the gloom in the sky deepened drastically. The midday weather seemed poised to plunge directly into the pitch black of night. The cool, crisp, and rotting scent of the tide filled the air, washing over the barricades.
'They've arrived…'
Akai decisively identified the shambling figures in the mist as enemies. His eyes fixed intently on the town, his hand slowly rising in the air, ready to signal the entire army to open fire with a single downward gesture.
'Humans aren't to be trifled with either…' Akai thought fiercely.
The problem was…
Beside him, Mark stood with his mouth agape. He silently tugged at Andre's tactical vest, his trembling finger pointing blankly towards the clearing mist.
Andre turned his binoculars toward the figures. He instantly froze in place, his hands and feet turning ice cold as they gripped his assault rifle. His heart pounded as if struck by a sledgehammer.
As the fog parted, revealing the true, horrific forms of what was shambling toward them, Andre murmured involuntarily, almost groaning in despair.
"God… this isn't real…"
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