Volume I - Episode 28 Where: New York City, USA When: E-Day, 12:28 am EDT Times Square was swarming with activity. The Theatre District had virtually been a ghost town earlier in the evening, with most tourists staying in their hotel rooms to watch the Presidential press conference. They were still glued to their TV's at 9pm when the world lost contact with Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. Two hours later, the same fate befell Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. But by then the streets of Times Square were already choked with people. They had begun filing out of their hotel rooms at almost exactly 10:31pm Eastern Daylight Time. That was the moment Rio de Janeiro had gone dark. The "Mystery in the East" had officially crossed the Atlantic and landed on America's shores. A writhing mass of people filled Broadway between 42nd Street and 47th. Some wandered aimlessly. Some took photos. Some gazed inexplicably skyward. Many gathered to pray. But all shared a common certainty: the world was coming to an end. Heavily-armed police patrolled the crowd, redirecting traffic and keeping an eye out for trouble-makers. But with over a hundred thousand scared tousists crammed into an area of five city blocks, the police were hopelessly outnumbered. Mostly the police just talked to people, gauging the crowd and trying to keep everybody calm. Some even posed for photographs. A silent wave of relief passed over the crowd when midnight passed without incident. There was even a small, half-hearted chant of "USA! USA!". But it didn't take long for the speculations to begin circulating. "It's Daylight Saving. Maybe it will happen at 1am?" "Maybe it doesn't care about time zones?" And most disturbingly of all: "Maybe it's already happened?" The crowd pulsed and throbbed, restless, torn between relief and anxiety. Were they safe? Were they doomed? Was...whatever it was...still coming for them? Would it hurt? Parents hugged their children. Boys snuck their girlfriends into Central Park to enjoy nature and each others' warmth for what they suspected would be the very last time. Cell phones rang constantly with demands for news and offers of comfort. Men told their parents for the final time how much they loved them. Like moths to a flame, people had flocked to Manhattan to watch the world die. * * * Vanessa Cain stood under the iconic Toshiba billboard, handing out leaflets. The cause was WONY - the Witches of New York - a secretive lobby group of nearly 200 witches and warlocks pushing for the ethical and fair treatment of spellcasters across the nation. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the key social issue had been women's suffrage. In the 1960's, it was civil rights. In the 90's, it was gays in the military. At the turn of the millennium, it was spellcasters. As far as spokespeople went, Vanessa was a PR consultant's wet dream: naturally beautiful, immaculately presented, articulate and charming. She was a regular on TV shows and radio stations across the country, calling the issues, debating the points, pointing out facts...but always careful never to actually admit that she was a witch herself. That was an admission that would have led to intensely close scrutiny, and ultimately prison time if she was ever caught actually practising the craft. "Don't ask, don't tell" was a policy every spellcaster in the U.S. lived by - just one of the many issues WONY sought to rectify. For the time being, and with witch incarcerations on the rise, it was a policy Vanessa didn't intend to breach any time soon. [CONTINUED IN FIRST COMMENT BELOW]