The Story

Sleep is no longer needed. A small chip implanted in one's cerebral cortex performs all the observed functions of sleep without requiring physical rest. While the adoption of this technology varies around the world, it is mandatory in the Federal Republic of Vanalia as a means to boost its struggling post-war economy.

In such a world, there are those who still want to sleep; some are rebelious, others are curious, but most just enjoy the otherworldly experience. A thriving black market exists for sleeping pills that circumvents the chip and allow a few hours of sleep. A dealer of said 'drugs' gets his hands on a sample of a newly discovered and reportedly untested drug. The sample is inadvertently taken by the dealer's teenage daughter, who subsequently falls into a state of deep sleep. Having tried everything he could to wake his daughter up without any success, the dealer decides to trace the origin of the new drug in hopes of finding a way to reverse its effects.

Elsewhere in Vanalia, in an underground dungeon owned by the government, a young man is being interrogated by his cruel jailors. They want to know how he got to the Forbidden Zone, what business he had there, and where he found the new sleeping drug. Directly above the young man's cell, the leader of the Vanalian army is leading a coup d'etat against the elected president, and a terrorist group of Hotmog-worshipping cultists is staging a series of massive explosions. Meanwhile, a prominent crime boss is assassinated, and the gangs of the city fight to fill the void. A detective who is rumored to be a vampire is also involved; she believes that the assassination is part of a much bigger conspiracy.

Vanalia as we know it is about to change, and what happens in Vanalia ripples throughout the entire world.