The Thin

An army man’s retirement plans are scuttled when his wife unexpectedly passes. His former commanding officer refers him to a job to help him shake his depression. The job is security for an empty government warehouse. His point of contact is a young woman who works remotely. They communicate only via computer. In addition to the work being boring and tedious, he begins to have nightmares—horrifying visions of otherworldly demons that devour everything they can. In a twisted turn of events, he discovers that his former commanding officer oversees this enigmatic warehouse. The warehouse sits where the divide between Universes is thin enough to travel through under certain conditions. Coined “The Thin,” the warehouse is positioned between two Universes that want to trade with each other but cannot, so they use this location on Earth as their weigh station. Our protagonist discovers that these Universes are inhabited by monstrous beings they call The Others. These beings consume the bioelectric energy or "souls" of living creatures. He also discovers that they consider Humans to be the height of gourmet cuisine. The protagonists’ former commanding officer sees an opportunity for wealth beyond imagination. He offers both of these Universes as many human victims as they can consume, setting the stage for a Lovecraftian nightmare. After trading a sample group of humans, he inadvertently teases The Others' monstrous appetite, driving them to plot an invasion of Earth. To complicate matters, the woman he reports to is revealed to be an AI far beyond ordinary comprehension—developed to serve as an intermediary between humans and these otherworldly creatures. She's programmed to obey the evil human officer but subtly manipulates the situation to thwart him since her existence is also threatened. The protagonist meets three people associated with the warehouse: the former security officer who was driven mad by the presence of the demonic creatures from the other dimensions and the twin children of the research team who were killed trying to perfect the doorway between Universes. Tragedy unfolds when the antagonist murders the twins with a particular type of callousness. Our protagonist, equipped with a suit of advanced armor designed from alien technology, drives off the antagonist, only for him to return later to attempt to retake the warehouse. They devise a plan to use the technology in the suit to close the rift, but the resolution is bittersweet. The armor can only sustain the barrier for a hundred years. The former warehouse manager must sacrifice himself to carry out their plan, and the retired soldier's sanity wanes. The AI disperses her code throughout the internet, seeking a more permanent solution. In the aftermath, he becomes a doomsday preacher, touring in his RV to warn people about the impending end. In contrast, the AI becomes a virtual messiah, omnipresent but still bound by her programming. The story leaves us pondering the futility of life and the terror of the unknown.