The Hidden World

“There isn’t a hidden world. That’s the only lesson you need to learn. There are secrets, yes. And some of them are terrible and awful and we do what we can to protect humanity from them. That’s what being in the Border Patrol is about. This isn’t a promotion. I know some of you were told that, but that was a lie. It’s the last lie you’ll get, at least in the Patrol. We deal in truth. There is no pension because no one survives to collect one. Get married, have kids. The payout to families is why people do this: you’ll die, but your family won’t have money troubles for the rest of their lives. I know, I know. Some of you are good. Some of you are the best of your units, departments, organizations, think tanks. It doesn’t matter. You’re not going to survive.

“The world we live in isn’t what people think it is. Or, more accurately, it is. But the world most people know is a volume of a trilogy, say. The second volume contains the world we live in. The rest it’s wisest to not think about too hard. The universe isn’t the safe place people think it is. It’s a safe place compared to the wild places that exist Outside it. Which means a lot of entities try to enter it for one reason or another. There are defences in places. The Cone and the Grave, which acts like some kind of vetting system. Entities that bind Outsiders to help the universe itself. There is even a school that trains Outsiders to fit into various worlds. But there are always creatures that slip through the cracks.

“Some are benign, it must be said. We don’t run into those all that often. The ones we’ll run into want to cause pain, to make beachheads, to make part of the world more like whatever they’re from, or simply do terrible things because they’re alien to our understanding of everything. There are those that stop them. Magicians in cities are the big one, but there are only so many magicians and they die like other people do as well. So we pick up the slack, fill in the gaps, plug the holes in smaller places. You’ll have tech you never dreamt existed, and it won’t be enough. But sometimes we get lucky, or we know enough, or we delay a creature until help arrives. On really good days we kill the Outsiders ourselves.

“We’re the Border Patrol, and we protect the world any way we can. Shortly, Agent Casum will come in and explain some of what we’ve had to do. You may have to nuke towns. And, fair warning, that’s the about middling on the scale of things we’ve had to do. There will never be parades, almost no one outside the Patrol will know what you do. There isn’t a hidden world, but we help keep the reality of our world from everyone else. You’ve probably heard of the Black Chamber: they consider us hardcore.

“One day at a time. One war at the time. You’ll save the world, if you’re lucky. If you’re even luckier, you might be called jaysome. And no, I’m not explaining that. If you meet Jay, you’ve earned it. After you watch Casum’s videos, you can request other duties. Or even to be returned to your old life. depending. Beyond that, you’re Patrol through and through. If you last five years, there’s a plaque. The Patrol has been protecting the world in one form or another since 1673.

“Only five people have survived to have plaques. One of them was possibly sane. Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

“There isn’t a hidden world. That’s the only lesson you need to learn. There are secrets, yes. And some of them are terrible and awful and we do what we can to protect humanity from them. That’s what being in the Border Patrol is about. This isn’t a promotion. I know some of you were told that, but that was a lie. It’s the last lie you’ll get, at least in the Patrol. We deal in truth. There is no pension because no one survives to collect one. Get married, have kids. The payout to families is why people do this: you’ll die, but your family won’t have money troubles for the rest of their lives. I know, I know. Some of you are good. Some of you are the best of your units, departments, organizations, think tanks. It doesn’t matter. You’re not going to survive.

“The world we live in isn’t what people think it is. Or, more accurately, it is. But the world most people know is a volume of a trilogy, say. The second volume contains the world we live in. The rest it’s wisest to not think about too hard. The universe isn’t the safe place people think it is. It’s a safe place compared to the wild places that exist Outside it. Which means a lot of entities try to enter it for one reason or another. There are defences in places. The Cone and the Grave, which acts like some kind of vetting system. Entities that bind Outsiders to help the universe itself. There is even a school that trains Outsiders to fit into various worlds. But there are always creatures that slip through the cracks.

“Some are benign, it must be said. We don’t run into those all that often. The ones we’ll run into want to cause pain, to make beachheads, to make part of the world more like whatever they’re from, or simply do terrible things because they’re alien to our understanding of everything. There are those that stop them. Magicians in cities are the big one, but there are only so many magicians and they die like other people do as well. So we pick up the slack, fill in the gaps, plug the holes in smaller places. You’ll have tech you never dreamt existed, and it won’t be enough. But sometimes we get lucky, or we know enough, or we delay a creature until help arrives. On really good days we kill the Outsiders ourselves.

“We’re the Border Patrol, and we protect the world any way we can. Shortly, Agent Casum will come in and explain some of what we’ve had to do. You may have to nuke towns. And, fair warning, that’s the about middling on the scale of things we’ve had to do. There will never be parades, almost no one outside the Patrol will know what you do. There isn’t a hidden world, but we help keep the reality of our world from everyone else. You’ve probably heard of the Black Chamber: they consider us hardcore.

“One day at a time. One war at the time. You’ll save the world, if you’re lucky. If you’re even luckier, you might be called jaysome. And no, I’m not explaining that. If you meet Jay, you’ve earned it. After you watch Casum’s videos, you can request other duties. Or even to be returned to your old life. depending. Beyond that, you’re Patrol through and through. If you last five years, there’s a plaque. The Patrol has been protecting the world in one form or another since 1673.

“Only five people have survived to have plaques. One of them was possibly sane. Good luck. You’re going to need it.”