The date was September 13, 2025, another rainy day as usual and Chief Hopper sped through the streets of Washington D.C. with investigator Finn Duke in the passenger seat. They have been asked to meet with the President of the United States personally ever since the fifth incident near the island of Japan after a huge wildfire broke out near a small Japanese village burning the entire forest including the village and killing over 100 people. For the past 25 days incidents had been occurring in certain parts of the world, specifically in Canada, near the beach in California, Mauna Loa Hawaii, the Philippine sea and North Pacific Ocean area, and now in Japan. All these incidents, not including the one in Mauna Loa, had involved the weather in some way.

"Strange don't you think?" Finn finally asked after the silent drive.

"What is?" asked Hopper.

"Why are these incidents happening near Japan and North America and why now of all times?" asked Finn.

"Who knows, weather here's been pretty wonky too," answered Hopper.

"True, true," Finn agreed taking a bite out of his Mcmuffin breakfast.

"Hey is my hash brown cold?" asked Hopper.

"Should be at this point," answered Finn.

"Shit, I knew I should've eaten before we started driving," cursed Hopper.

"It can't be helped, Cornwell has a tight schedule," said Finn.

"Must be hard being President," said Hopper. Finn didn't say anything and neither did Hopper. Fortunately they arrived in front of the white house within minutes. They got out of their car and began walking up the steps to the white house. They were greeted and lead in by government officials that led them to the president's office.

"Chief Austin Hopper and Private Investigator Finn Duke, welcome," said Cornwell. President Bruce Cornwell was just like he was on television. A white man in his 40s wearing a suit and red necktie. He had a bowlcut and his brown eyes sparkled with glee as he greeted the two men.

"It's an honor to meet you person Mr. Cornwell," said Finn shaking his hand.

"As for me," laughed Cornwell. "Ah, Hopper how's the boy doing?"

"Fine, he hasn't had another monster episode in years, practically a grown adult now," answered Hopper.

"Haha, that's what I'd expect from the son of Jim Hopper, that jolly old chap," laughed Cornwell. "And El?"

"21, surprisingly she grew her hair back, to be honest she looks better with it," answered Hopper.

"Ah, young Jane really has grown has she?" asked Cornwell.

"Yes, she's dating Mike Wheeler now," answered Hopper.

"Ooh I bet she'd make a wonderful spouse, you wouldn't mind showing me a picture of her would you?" asked Cornwell. Austin sighed as he pulled out a photo of a young woman with long silky brown hair wearing a yellow jacket denim jeans, a red scarf, and a beret cap that the french normally wear. "Oh my, what a cute young lady she's grown into," laughed Cornwell.

"That's my sister for you," sighed Austin.

"Ahem, I hate to interrupt but can we get to the point?" Finn asked impatiently.

"Ah yes sorry, I seem to have driven us off track," said Cornwell.

"So what was it about the incidents you wanted to talk to us about sir?" asked Finn.

"Well you see, our government has been trying to deal with these incidents because of the concern for the nation, the problem is this, they managed to track the source all the way to Blair Laboratory in Kansas," explained Cornwell.

"Kansas, but that's like in the middle of the U.S.," said Austin.

"That's the problem, the government had contacted Kansas police and asked them to investigate but they have been told that there were no disturbances in Kansas and well the government couldn't send anybody there because nobody wanted to get involved in these cases," said Cornwell.

"So they turned to us?" asked Finn.

"I know this is crazy, but the government needs someone to look into these cases, so please will you?" asked Cornwell. Finn and Austin looked at each other and nodded.

'Alright we'll do it," said Finn.

"Excellent, now I know this is sudden but you'll need to head out starting tomorrow morning," said Cornwell.

"Tomorrow morning!?" asked Austin.

"Yes, oh but of course we won't be asking you to do this for free," said Cornwell.

"How much?" asked Finn.

"Well let's see the government has rented out a five class hotel for you for at least a week plus a 5 course meal during your stay and since you accepted this case, you'll be paid at least, $230,000 for your cooperation," answered Cornwell.

"Hmm not a bad deal if you ask me," said Austin.

"Indeed, but remember you'll only be having fun because the government is paying for it, don't get off track too much alright?" asked Cornwell.

"Yes sir," they both answered in unison.

"Good now you'll need to take this," said Cornwell passing Austin a folder.

"What's this?" asked Finn.

"It's files on the cases, from the Earthquake in Canada all the way to the wildfire in Japan," answered Cornwell. "You might want to hold onto this in case you want to it over,"

"Anything else?" asked Austin flipping through the files.

"That's all, thanks for stopping by gentlemen," said Cornwell. The two were about to head when Cornwell stopped them. "Oh and Austin, do say hi to El for me will you?" Cornwell asked passing him the photo.

"Sure thing Mr. Cornwell," said Austin taking the photo. The three exchanged goodbyes as the government official escorted Austin and Finn back to their car. When they got int Austin quickly ate his breakfast as Finn looked through the files.

"The Earthquake in Canada, the Tornado/ Twister in California, the murders in Mauna Lao Hawaii, the Storm that Sunk the Cargo Ship in the Philippine Sea, and the Wildfire in Japan," read Finn.

"Geez is it just me or is mother nature getting more violent?" asked Austin.

"I think the second one buddy, all of these incidents have occurred within a 5 day span of each other according to reports," answered Finn.

"What did we do to deserve this?" Austin asked munching on his hash brown.

"I don't know but if this lab in Kansas really had some sort of connection with these incidents then I hope I did the right thing cause now I have to cancel my date," said Finn.

"Well tough luck," said Austin.

"Yeah, she was a pretty cute girl too," sighed Finn.

"What's her name?" asked Austin.

"Veronica Cream," answered Finn.

"Cream as in like ice cream?" asked Austin.

"Yeah, something like that," answered Finn.

"How old is she?" asked Austin.

"20," answered Finn.

"Damn, for a 21 year old like you, you sure are lucky to have girls coming for you," said Austin.

"That's not funny, besides she has a younger brother named Cody, I'm sure if he found out I was going out with his sister, he would kill me," said Finn.

"Really," said Austin taking a sip of his expresso. "How old is he?"

"18," answered Finn. Austin quickly poked his head out the window and spit out his expresso.

"18!?" asked Austin.

"Yeah," answered Finn.

"You can't be serious," said Austin.

"You want proof?" asked Finn.

"Hell yeah I do," answered Austin. Finn pulled out his phone and showed Austin a picture of a young male wearing a suit standing next a slightly older woman with blonde hair and a white dress and blue slippers. Both were white and had brown eyes but the boy had black hair unlike the woman. "That's Cody?" asked Austin.

"Yeah, I know he looks like a midget compared to Veronica.

"And I assume that's her next to him," said Austin.

"Yep," answered Finn.

"Damn, she's got a nice face, I wonder if I got a shot with her?" asked Austin.

'Maybe, but we won't be going out with anyone until we solve these cases," said Finn.

"Shit you're right," said Austin. He put his expresso in the cup holder and threw the trash in the McDonald's bag.

"Well let's hit the road, we got a big day tomorrow, let's rest up for the rest of the day," said Finn.

"Agreed," said Austin as he hit the accelerator.

Author's Note

Prologue complete. Well here we are in the future. I wonder why Austin is still driving a car instead of other vehicles. Well that's not important. But what could be the cause of these incidents do you think? Maybe you'll find out if you keep reading.