South pole Antarctica, December 15th: Temperature 10⁰C

It was the hottest month of the year at the South Pole. The year was 2011. The sun shone relentlessly on the icecap.

It was a very hot day compared to the normal temperature. The ice shelf was at its breaking point. The ancient outcrop of solid ice was almost half a kilometre thick.

After several hundred years, a tiny hairline crack began to take form on its surface, caused by a multi-ton rock falling on one of its vulnerable edges. The number of cracks starts to multiply. A few days later, the millennium-old glacier could take it no more.

It fell into the sea with a titanic crash that was audible from hundreds of kilometres away, as the two giants met. The shock waves of the huge block collapsing into the sea sent mini tsunamis scurrying in all directions. It killed aquatic creatures by the hundreds. The waves and ripples dissipated almost 50 km away. The sea, like a triumphant monster, ate up half of the iceberg.

After some time, The Antarctic Convergence Current swept up and carried the broken iceberg northwards where it met the warmer ocean current in the South Pacific.

As it moved further, the iceberg began to melt.

One month later, as more ice thawed, a batch of seven huge two-metre-long eggs was revealed embedded in the heart of the iceberg. They had been trapped and laid frozen deep in the ice for the past 190 million years since the Jurassic Period. For all those millions of years, they have been preserved perfectly in the ice. Now their hatching process could continue....

Another month later, one of the eggs cracked, and out came a hideous creature unlike any other.

It was a dinosaur.

The hatchling made its way out of the egg entombing it, scanning its surroundings. It swiped its terrible claws and roared its terrible roars, breaking off giant chunks of ice with single movements.

The 8-metre long creature scanned the horizon of the warm Pacific Ocean and lashed forwards with its powerful tail towards the north.

As it swished forward, its memory began to process its contents, even as it sent sonic waves into the ocean to discover its whereabouts. It just didn't feel at home.

But then it realised that it was thinking. Like humans.

It finally screeched as it discovered its origins.

Their skeletons had never been found, as they had evolved into the modern Komodo dragon. But they hadn't originated on earth...

It thrashed its tail and disappeared underwater.

China, Sept 12th, 2012. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.

International conference, Presentation by

Prof Chang Lin, Department of Geology and Climatology

"There has been a tremendous burst of energy from the sun for the past few months. The readings of the instrument were off the scales and the charts are showing very unusual readings. The violent bursts of coronal mass ejections are creating havoc in our atmosphere. The climatic conditions have also gone haywire.

The ultraviolet radiation and infrared radiation levels are way beyond their normal level.

Carbon dioxide output for the last six months was also at its highest level. 600 ppm were produced, the highest in human history.

We expected 3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to be released this year. Added to this is the methane gas level released from the farming of animals for food.

The negative impact of methane gas is 23 times worse than carbon dioxide. We are expecting our activities to produce 15 billion metric tons this year.

This has very serious consequences. Global warming is at an all-time high. The impact of this is seen and felt all over the world in the climatic changes taking place.

The ice caps at the south pole have lost 3 trillion tons of ice for the past 25 years. It has produced a 1 cm rise in the sea level. It may seem small but the impact and significance will be huge.

The scientific community and the world leaders need to seriously work together to find a solution to this problem. We cannot afford to wait much longer. Our earth has reached its tipping point and we are heading towards disaster. We need to put a stop to and check the progress of global warming!

We need to speak out and take action now. The government cannot afford to put economic priority above that of the fragile ecosystems of the world!"

England, Sept 20th 2012. University of Cambridge. Faculty of Zoology

Lecture by Professor Peter Anderson (Herpetologist)

".........The adult chameleon is about 6 inches long. Its body is reddish-brown. It has a row of pointed scales projecting from its spine towards its back. The rest of its body is covered with thorny scales giving it an armoured appearance. Every time I observe a specimen it reminds me of the reptilian dinosaur that roamed the earth more than 100 million years ago. Any questions, guys?"

"Prof, what is special about the chameleon eyes?" asked a student.

"The anatomical features in the eyes enable it to rotate its eyes to a high degree.

The eyes are located on the opposite side of its head providing a view in all directions. It has a monocular vision with each eye moving and functioning independently. It's like us moving both our arms independently of each other."

"Prof, what are the features that enable them to survive well despite them being so slow?"

"Their hooded head enables them to collect water in the form of dew. The coloured hood also attracts and impresses mates. The swivelling eyes pinpoint fast-moving prey. Its colour-changing skin helps it to blend with the surroundings and camouflage it from predators.

Its extrudable, blunt, sticky tongue can latch onto its prey and retract it back into its mouth. It's a great hunter and can hide well."

"Sir, Is there any latest development in chameleon research?"

''Yes, there is. I don't want to tell you this. It's still classified.'' Kruger then frowned. "I can tell you something else. But you must promise never to tell anyone else."

A hush immediately fell over the room. You could drop a needle a mile away and hear it.

"An egg about the size of an oil drum was discovered floating in the English channel. MRI and CT scans revealed a dead reptilian foetus that resembles a chameleon. It has massive jaws with rows of sharp teeth. The claws on its feet are almost 10cm. The ears are well developed. Normal chameleons can hear a sound frequency of 200Hz to 600Hz. We believe this one has a hearing range of 1Hz to 500,000Hz. We also suspect it to be from the Jurassic Period from about 250 million yrs ago. We estimate the adults to grow up to 30 feet long. It can also emit sound waves. Tentatively we are going to call it a Chamesaurus."

Absolute silence filled the room. It then exploded with noise.

South pole. 25th Sept 2012. McMurdo Scientific Base. Temp -30⁰C

Professor McEnroe

Professor McEnroe was a scientist who researched all types of species of aquatic life. His favourite pastime was to go fishing and see what he could find. He experimented with different bait: live worms, the wriggly rubber worms you see at fishing stores, raw chickens, small sardines, shrimp, and even live unshelled crabs.

He used a specially adapted electric ice saw to cut a hole of about 60 cm in diameter to cast his line. He cast his line into the hole using a piece of barbecued meat. He didn't have to wait long. He felt a strong tug at the line. A huge, ominous dark shadow appeared below the ice. It grew bigger and it seriously scared the scientist. He felt a jerk and was thrown backwards as the huge object bumped into the ice.

The ice cracked but did not break. He backed away from the hole and thought to himself, " It's probably just a sperm whale, very strange though for whales to be here at this time of the year. Whatever it is, I don't think anything is going to get at me from that small hole". In fact, things were more unusual than he thought. He still felt quite safe. He slowly reeled in his fishing line.

Suddenly, a big long dark sticky tongue shot out from the hole. It wrapped itself around the poor scientist.

"Arghhh!"

Then all was quiet.

A group of people at a nearby cafe heard the scream and came out to investigate.

They saw the lower torso of a person stuck in the hole. They dragged him out and discovered the upper torso was gone. Everybody stepped back in horror at the gruesome sight.

There was blood everywhere and the water in the hole was tinged red.

Suddenly, the tongue appeared again. It tried to seize the guy nearest to the hole but he was a step too far. Everybody ran helter-skelter in all directions. Now the scientists at McMurdo scientific base knew they had a serious problem at hand.

India. 26th Sept. 2012, New Delhi.

The mayor of New Delhi held a press conference.

''Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am here to make an important announcement about the rats in our city. Did you notice that the rats that roamed the streets of our beloved city had disappeared? They had ruled in the crevices, dustbins, sewage canals, and even in the houses of New Delhi. They have created major havoc by spreading diseases and putting great strain on our healthcare system. All these had been solved and cleared up. Our hard-working team of city council workers had been trying their best to clean up this huge city. We have put in a new system to access our workers. Now we rule the rats."

''Yes, wonderful...Good job!" Everybody chorused. They clapped their hands. The assembled citizens, reporters, and journalists were very happy. They had noticed the vast difference in the number of rats that thronged their houses and the bustling city, especially at night. The mayor was exceptionally pleased with the positive response shown by the people.

However, a reporter from the BBC India network raised his hand.

''Yes, my good man. What do you want to know?'' The mayor asked politely, with an enthusiastic feeling still inside her body.

''Do you know that since last week it was reported that 40 school children had been snatched from the streets of New Delhi? It was stated that they were on their way to school in broad daylight. Nobody had come up with a clue as to their whereabouts or what had happened to them. The police had repeatedly stated they are looking into this and until today there is no apparent response from them."

"Hundreds of pets like dogs and cats had also gone missing. Perhaps the council workers had been working too hard so much that they had cleaned up all these poor souls as well? We want answers to all these problems. Can you please tell us what happened?"

The mayor was left speechless. He stood with his jaw slack as the reporters began to file out of the room. His good mood had popped.

San Diego, USA, 29th Sept 2012. 1 am local time

A man was lying on his bed.

He was worried about his beloved wife and couldn't sleep. He had lived in this house near the coast for the past 29 years. The dog had kept barking incessantly and it disturbed him. He couldn't sleep.

Finally, he was completely fed up. He got up off the bed and peeked out through the window. He gazed at the waves moving towards the shoreline. Everything was calm and peaceful. But he was a little worried that there might be an intruder on his property. His dog had never barked like this before. He cautiously crept downstairs. He opened the front door slightly.

A blast of cold air hit his face which shocked him a bit. His wide eyes darted around nervously. Nothing, everything was quiet. It was fine down here. He calmed his dog and looked at the picture of his missing wife on the piano near the door. Earlier in the day, she was on her way to the market and she never came back. He sat down on his sofa and thought about what had happened today. Suddenly he heard his dog howling and whimpering loudly. He went out to check if the dog was okay. He opened the door and looked out. There was nothing but a large patch of very fresh-looking blood pooled on the doorstep.

''Arggghhhhhhh!!'' he screamed. "What is this?''

Then he remembered his child, sleeping in the room upstairs. He rushed up the stairs that never seemed to end, swallowing his footsteps and forcing him to run faster. When he got to the room he threw open the door. He froze. He saw something that he would never forget for the rest of his life. A large tongue had slithered, snake-like in through the window. It had latched onto his only child's head and was lifting the baby towards the window.

He tore the cupboard open, grabbing an AK-45 hanging on studs. By then, the tongue and his child had disappeared. Looking out of the window, he saw a silhouette against the inky darkness. He fired several rounds before remembering that his baby was there. He could only watch in despair as the silhouette disappeared into the night. He howled in anguish into the unhearing starry and moonless night.

Los Angeles. 4th Oct. 2 am local time, Hather pub cafe.

John and Steven were two men who really liked to drink. They were twin brothers. The apartment they shared was littered with beer cans and shattered wine glasses that they didn't bother to clean up.

Today, they had been drinking heavily at the pub. They drank till they became tipsy. They wobbled from side to side and their vision became blurry.

They had bumped into workers a couple of times and spilled more than a few glasses of drinks and wine. They had been a nuisance at the pub since they had walked in that wintry afternoon. The cleaners and workers were furious because they had extra work to do. So they threw them out of the pub. John and Steven had a very hard time keeping their balance. They continued singing and shouting at the top of their voices.

''Let's go back to our homes and have more drinks,'' John suggested, drunk. He didn't look like he could manage another drop of wine, whisky or beer: he looked more like a March Hare and an inflated balloon combined.

''Yessss!! I am going to drink till the cows fly over the moon...till my ugly fat wife comes back to me and I fart on her... haa..haa..haa,'' Steven replied, hardly thinking about what he was saying at all.

''Where did you say was your home?'' John asked.

''Anthony Derville village,'' Steven answered.

''It's a nice place! The village is full of flowers! You're very lucky to live there, Steven. People call it the Village of the Rich."

"Nah...I'm not rich. Only my tummy is rich in beer..hee..hee..."

As they chattered away, they bumped into John's car, which startled them.

'' What in the world is this?'' Look at it. Is this a giant cucumber or a hobby horse?" John asked.

"It's your car, idiot."

''Yes, it is," replied John with a nervous edge to his voice.

They were just about to open the door to the car when they saw a light inside the dark, wooded area.

''What is that?'' John asked.

''Nothing but the pub,'' Steven replied.

''No! the pub couldn't be in the forest!'' John shouted.

He dropped the car keys on the roof and stumbled through the thick snow towards the light. "We gotta find out what that is. And if it is the pub, haa...haa....haa... to you. Let's have another drink there,'' Steven said. John followed slightly reluctantly. The pub music could still be heard clearly. As the two of them neared the light, they came upon the most bizarre scene they had ever seen.

A large chameleon-like animal was nodding its head madly as if in a trance. Its head was bobbing up and down, swaying from side to side. Both its eyes were madly swivelling in all directions independently. Its body was moving and swaying. Its four feet with huge talons was tapping to the tune of the disco music. The strangest thing of all is the colour of the animal. It kept on changing from one colour to another colour to the beat of the music. Steven held on to John's arm tightly. They stared at the scene in front of them with disbelief. Every bit of drunkenness in them had evaporated and they were both suddenly very, very scared.

The animal was huge, almost forty feet long. It was also ugly and looked extremely dangerous. The long talons were something you didn't want to mess with. Then the unexpected happened. The music ground to an absolute halt.

The swaying stopped, the bobbing stopped and the animal's eyes stopped their mad rolling and focused on them.

" Run for your life!" yelled Steven.

Before they could even move a toe, a menacing dark tongue flickered out and latched onto Steven's legs. It lifted him high into the air and he disappeared into the depths of the animal's mouth.

John did not wait to find out what had happened to his brother. He darted the fastest sprint he could muster and crossed the twenty metres to the car in ten seconds flat. He grabbed the car keys on the roof and got in, the car skidding madly across the ice, heading for the nearest road. The chameleon lizard ran after the car.

In a single leap, the chameleon landed on the moving car. John screamed with terror as the chameleon crushed part of the roof, shattering one of the side windows in the process.

John lost control, the car spinning into a nearby lamppost. The car turned turtle on its back. The chameleon lizard pounced on it with a terrible, alien scream.

Later, a passing local on a snowmobile would discover the car and call the police. There was completely no evidence as to why the car was covered with deep claw marks, and why was the crushed and assumably inescapable car empty except for a single, bloody finger on the driver's seat.

1st October 2011, Japan, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, 7 months after the disaster

Workers in radiation suits were walking around the wrecked and destroyed remains of the power plant, carefully monitoring reading. They checked radiation levels and regulated them. The world thought that nothing could have been worse than the Fukushima nuclear disaster that happened on this very spot.

A mound of earth shifted suddenly. The workers didn't react, thinking it was a normal occurrence, perhaps caused by a crane being used on the other side of the plant. But it turned out it wasn't normal after all...

A giant outline burst through the soil like some kind of screaming, clawing , living missile. It landed on a helpless worker, who was viciously consumed, the less said the better. The other workers ran for their lives. Blocks of TNT meant to get through the remaining rubble of the destroyed power plant were ignited and thrown at the creature to no effect. Earth and trees flew out of the way as the now-flaming creature bore on the fleeing workers. Many of the workers wearing bulky apparatus were eaten as the monster caught up with them.

The workers dived into a half-destroyed reactor building, sealing the airlock behind them. They felt safer. But not for long...

The wall behind them crumbled as the creature leapt forward through the gaping hole in the wall. The airlock clattered to the ground, crumpled and torn. It let out a scream as it sighted the crowd in front of it, and pounced.

New York City, USA. 5th October, 11 pm.

Mary Jane, CNN reporting

"It has been established that there were major disappearances involving adults, kids, and animals in five countries...the US, China, India, UK, and Indonesia. So far the number of missing persons reported is 194 in the US, 211 in China, 314 in India, 367 in the UK, and 321 in Indonesia, the most notable being the strange creature attack at the destroyed and decommissioned Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant just four days ago. This happened within 2 weeks. The number of unaccounted animals or creatures involved is unknown. What we know is something is preying on these victims. All those that have disappeared had not been found right up to this moment. The authorities of these countries involved believe that it is related to the yet-to-be-identified egg that was discovered in the English Channel on Sept 16th. There were also eyewitness accounts of people being attacked by strange chameleon lizards. Right now we have two people here who can shed more light on the latest development of these terrifying incidents. On my right is Jeremy Withers, the Chief of Police who is coordinating the search and rescue. This is Prof John Kruger, a Herpetologist from Cambridge University."

"Tell us, Chief, what are the latest developments in the international operation to nab the animal that had been terrorizing the people in five different countries?"

"From the various reports that we have received from the countries involved, it is believed that this yet-to-be-identified creatures is a kind of dinosaur. The animals are huge. Eyewitnesses and CT, MRI, and X-ray scans from the ISS ,NASA Telezoom 1 satellite, and the CSS confirm that they are 30 to 40 feet long, weighing in at around 18000 kg. Day-to-day images from the Mars Global Surveyor also lead to this conclusion. We also believe that the missing persons reported in these countries are related to this dinosaur. We have many witnesses who claimed to have seen the creature. Some of them describe its tongue and two witnesses have seen the animal with their own eyes. From their description, we believe they are the same type of life form. It is quite a problem to search out these creatures because they simply disappeared after every episode of attack. The sheer size of the creature may force us to use heavy weapons to bring them down. We need to be careful with that so as not to hurt any civilians. We need to know how to get the creature into the open before we can neutralise it."

Mary Jane turned to the professor. "What is your expert opinion on this, Prof? I believe your team was the first group that studied the dinosaur egg found in the English channel several months ago. Can you give us some feedback on your latest findings?"

"Thanks. I have just attended a scientific conference about this serious problem. On August 20th, some fishermen hauled up a massive egg in their nets. It was almost 2m across. Upon investigation, we discovered that it was an egg of a reptilian creature. We believe it to be from the Jurassic period of about 200 million years ago. We also deduce that the eggs were released due to the massive glacier melting in the South Pole. Exactly how many eggs were released is unconfirmed. What we do know is the hatchlings are growing and developing at a speed beyond our imagination and are terrorizing the population in five different countries.

Based on the feedback that multiple police reports made, we theorize that it is a meat-eater. Based on the number of missing people and animals lost we concluded it has a massive appetite. We advise people to stay indoors if possible, especially at night. All doors should be locked and latched.

Our findings also showed the creature loves music and will go into a trancelike state when exposed to loud hard rock music. It may also be attracted to radiation as little as 0.2 Gy, as we concluded with the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant attack and new findings. Maybe we can utilize this weakness of the creature to catch or eliminate it.

We will come out with a plan and systemize a way to deal with this problem. This might involve building a barricade off the affected areas to either limit where the creature can go, or keep it out. The latter would be the preferable option, of course. We will be giving instructions to the authorities in the various countries involved by tomorrow at the latest. Thank you."

"Thank you for taking the time to be with us in this interview. The whole world is bewildered with this problem and looks forward with anticipation to dealing with this problem soon."

China. 15th October 2012, 10 pm (local time) Yundang lake, Xiamen

Technicians have fixed amplifiers and DVDs to several huge speakers around 100m from the shoreline of Yundang lake. That was the location the latest attack took place on a family. They had been snatched from their car on a road along the Yundang shoreline. The wreckage of the car was found by other people who happened to be on the road later.

A little further away army soldiers were waiting with a practically endless supply of Stinger 40mm tranquiliser darts with 2mm needles. The rock song 'A Piece of Red Cloth' by Cui Jian was playing. The action team didn't have to wait long.

Two minutes into the song, they noticed bright flashes appearing from below the waterline. Then the creature appeared. Its massive form towered over them. It walked slowly towards the speakers in a trance. Its head was bobbing and swaying. Its eyes were rolling in all directions and its body was emitting bright lights of all colours. It was a beautiful sight to behold and many in the crowd almost forgot the dangers ahead of them. Suddenly, the music halted. The creature ground to a halt in its tracks and charged straight at the crowd. The soldiers were ready. They fired the tranquilisers at the creature. It stopped charging momentarily, continued charging for another 20 meters or so, and slumped forward.

The eyes stopped rolling and the personnel moved quickly to use chains to tie it up. Three cranes were used to hoist it onto a long trailer. It was sent to a zoo where a special smooth-walled pit had been constructed to house it. The pit was surrounded by special electric fences charged up to 20 million amps to ensure the creature would not escape.

India. 16th October 2012. Astaranga Sea beach, New Delhi. 10 pm (local time)

Taking the cue from the success of the Chinese, the Iran military forces cleared the beach of people and set up a 1-meter long block of ninety-eight per cent refined pure uranium in the middle of the beach. The creature was out precisely half a minute after the uranium was out from behind its shielding. A missile launcher that was buried in the sand nearby fired twenty missiles at it. The missiles were equipped with the most powerful non-nuclear warheads in the Iran military. The creature flew backwards upon impact and then lay still. It was hastily taken to a secret location for examination.

The US, Indonesian, and UK authorities did the same. The creatures were lured out with music and killed with high-powered rifles. Tissue samples were collected for further studies. The UK and US had plans to use them for future biodefenses.

The world rejoiced in the success of the extermination of the beasts. They knew that they were prepared for any other attacks.

1 week later

Meanwhile, another egg that had been unaccounted for had drifted into the Aconcagua river estuary in central Chile. The high tide of the river had carried it inland into an isolated area. It had hatched a few months ago and had been preying on the animals there. It grew and developed fast. It was later joined by the other Chemasaurus that had attacked the scientist at McMurdo Scientific base in the South Pole. Instincts must have brought them together. Upon maturity, they had mated and the female had laid a batch of 10 eggs.

One warm night, frenzied noises emitted from inside the eggs. One by one the tough thick shells were ripped apart and 10 very healthy Chemosaurus babies tore their way out. They were hungry and searched the horizon with wild, greedy eyes.