The First Incursion
The First Incursion, officially known as the Kepler Incident, was the first dimensional incursion to occur on Earth from the use of bridge generation technology. The incident occurred in 2100 at Rosenberg Centre for Dimensional Physics, a Gen 2 bridge laboratory overseen by the Interdimensional Research Treaty Organisation (IRTO) in Berlin. It resulted in over 200 million deaths and the passing of the controversial Dimensional Security Accords that granted unprecedented powers to Raven. It also rendered Berlin uninhabitable and made much of Germany's civil infrastructure non-functional. The incursion had a major impact on society and popular culture. 1 in 10 people after the incident knew Grey Mold victims.
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| Date | 21 March 2100 |
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| Time | 13:33 CEST (UTC+01:00) |
| Location | Kepler Centre for Dimensional Physics, Tiergarten, Berlin |
| Coordinates | 52°31′05″N 13°21′02″E / 52.518052°N 13.350422°E |
| Type | Dimensional incursion |
| Cause | Bridge laboratory design and operator error |
| Outcome | Passing of the Dimensional Security Accords |
| Deaths |
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| Non-fatal injuries | ~700 million treated for exposure |
| Missing | ~200 million |
| Property damage | |
| Displaced | ~1.2 billion |
| Inquest | The Kepler Inquiry |
| Accused | |
| Trial | Took place between 16 February – 12 March 2101 at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany |
| Verdict |
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Incursion
On 21 March 2100, the First Incursion occurred at the Rosenberg Centre for Dimensional Physics, an IRTO-overseen bridge laboratory in Berlin built and operated by CORE Group, when a technician made a typo in entering coordinates into the targeting system, allowing an organism known as the Grey Mold to enter the dimension. The fungus-like organism began to spread spores all over Earth, which initially alarmed scientists but was downplayed as harmless by authorities. However, the fungus would quickly evolve to consume Earth matter, eating organic material indiscriminately, killing people, as well as destroying crops and livestock, causing widespread famine. Over 200 million people died from exposure to the organism, and several hundred more from starvation. Due to the facility acting as the epicentre for the incursion, the city of Berlin became uninhabitable and much of Germany's civil infrastructure was rendered non-functional.
Earth was narrowly saved from destruction when Raven, working with the secretive Aegis Institute, utilised Precursor technology to rewrite the organism out of existence, preventing any further damage to the planet. Raven was hailed worldwide as a saviour of humanity, while calls were made to strip IRTO of its powers. In the aftermath of the incursion, all major world governments recognised how slimly humanity avoided destruction and drafted the Dimensional Security Accords, which were designed to build Raven into a power capable of defending humanity from exophysical threats.
Investigation
The Kepler Inquiry was an inquiry led by Raven in collaboration with IRTO, the Max Planck Institute for Physics, Interpol, and the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) into the cause of the incursion. The surviving Kepler Centre technicians were detained and questioned about the events that transpired on the day; CORE Group was also issued with a subpoena. The results of the inquiry were presented in a trial that took place at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany over the course of nearly a month, which highlighted the primary factors that led to the incursion: budget cuts at the facility leading to ineffective safety systems, inadequate operator training, severely negligent experimental practices, a lack of regulatory oversight, and crunch caused by corporate sponsors pushing for results in the face of financial losses.
The outcome of the trial cleared the bridge operators of wrongdoing and placed the blame solely on IRTO and CORE. The CORE Group received heavy sanctions, and the corporation was fined nearly €31 trillion in damages. The fines almost caused CORE to collapse, but Raven recognised its retained institutional knowledge of exophysics and struck a deal with it, allowing it to become a contractor developing countermeasures against the very scenario it caused. This deal caused widespread controversy, as many wanted the company shut down for what it caused.
Culture
The First Incursion had a major, multi-generational impact on culture. It also had the effect of making the field of exophysics even more active, as the incursion drew attention to the field from nearly every person on Earth. New generations of people grew up wanting to become bridge engineers and operators, and many joined Raven out of a desire to prevent a similar incident from ever happening again. The idiom "another Kepler" quickly became popular as a way of conveying worst-case scenarios. The accident also drove the production of numerous documentaries and dramatisations, including films, TV shows, and games. Several of these documentaries were implicated in controversy when it was discovered CORE had bribed production companies into downplaying their contributions to the accident.