Hell's First Cracks takes place in an alternate universe, where a continent spanning supercity, known as 'The Sidewinder Supercity', has spread across the entirety of the Americas and their immediate surrounding waters. The world has become hyper industrial, the planet is molded to human will, and the Earth has become mostly locked in, the atmosphere filled with a swarm of satellites, unmanned stations, and swirling debris. However, life moves on, humanity persists no matter what, and the future continues to be promising.
But there are rumors of something deep, dark, and terrifying deep within Sidewinder's bowels. Whispered talk and hushed mentions of another world that is slowly attempting to enter our own. There are hints and flecks of it at every corner, and every day the sky tints the smallest bit more red.
They say that Hell's opened up.
Our world has begun to crack open, they say.
Long in the future of an alternate universe, the world has split in two. The eastern and western hemispheres have isolated themselves from each other, and things have tried their best to stagnate. The Americas became allies, then partners, then the same thing. They joined together into a supercity known as 'The Sidewinder Supercity', and assimilated the surrounding waters and locales until everything was under the same banner. They acted as though they were gearing up for war, but instead... they just didn't. Like nothing had ever happened, life just went back to normal.
It was a tough adjustment for a lot of people. The sudden snap away from wartime efforts induced a confused whiplash on the populace, confused and concerned about the sudden change in demeanor. But peace was far better than war, and with resources and attention turned elsewhere, the public quickly forgot as life was (somewhat forcefully) returned to normal.
But now, decades and decades later, evidence begins to pop up that it was never normal to begin with. It soon became obvious that the sky was slowly tinting red with each day and each year has the world's temperature ticking upwards. The world is on a slow downward spiral to the end, and its source is mysterious and logically absent to even the most dedicated of public researchers.
To go along with these strange changes, whispers of the occult have become far more pervading in modern day. Mentions of strange beings lurking in the shadows of alleyways, derelict buildings and abandoned basements make strange sounds, and sewers tint themselves colors never before seen. Those especially superstitious say that the world is fragmenting, and that beings from another dimension have begun invading ours.
And with mystery comes The Powers That Be. Those who are interested by nothing more than conflict have begun to surface in the world once more, and spread their tendrils through Sidewinder. Their agents slip through the shadows above, just as monsters skulk through the shadows below. What The Powers want, nobody knows, but one thing is for sure.
Harbingers have begun to reach out, and Contracts are being signed as we speak.