Welcome to Exquisite Corpse 2019-1

Here we are for another Exquisite Corpse, the first of 2019. The proud and brave Steemians who joined this storytelling adventure include:

Such is the lineup with @blockurator kicking it off and @sarez pulling up the rear to close out the story. As a reminder, here are the rules:

The first leg, setting up the situation, will be no longer than 1,500 words.
Each writer should give a short introduction before writing their piece of the story and tag @gardengnomepubs.
Each writer will pick up where the last left off and write up to 1,000 words to continue the story. You can take the story any direction you want, but don't violate what has already been done in previous legs of the story.
Tag your post #exquisite-corpse. It does not have to be the first tag.
Tag each of the other writer paricipants somewhere in your post.
Add the Speculative Fiction Writers of Steemit footer to the bottom of your post. Be sure to include artist attribution.
Each writer has seven days from the previous writer's publication date to publish their part of the story. If you can do it sooner, please do.