The scribe scratches his head. “So, what do we do with him? My section is full up. In fact, I think the entire precinct’s budget for newly awakened is spent.”

George nods, “I guess we’ll have to scan him and see if there are any civilian positions available. People who are accidentally awakened tend to have some decent innates so we might even get to keep him.”

The two continued to talk but I wasn’t around to listen in. Once a decision was made, the scribe activated something and I faded out.

And guess what? For what seemed like the first in forever, I woke up without a bright light in my eyes. Mind you, pure darkness isn’t exactly a step up, but at the time I was willing to take what I could get. The biggest change was that I could move again. Not much as I was stuck in a tight cylinder but any control was welcome.

So there I was squirming in a tight dark space just because I could when a hatch irised open at about waist height. Of course I tried to poke at the gently glowing alcove but there was some kind of field blocking me

Then I heard what sounded like the scribe. “After I finish speaking, the force field will power down. At that point, if you want you may of your own free will touch the glowing rune in the alcove. If you choose to do so, you will experience a feeling similar to a light shock and you will be registered as awakened.

“It will also reveal your potential. Let me repeat. We are not forcing you to touch the rune and doing so will not in any way indebted yourself to us or force our will upon you. You will be given 24 hours to make your decision starting now.”

And with that, the force field vanished under my fingers. So, I shoved my hand right in there and poked that rune. Yes, they gave me 24 hours to decide. Sure, they went on about it being my choice. But I wasn’t raised an idiot.

That was a false choice and everyone knew it. Clearly, something involved required it to be my decision. But is it really a choice if given the option between doing it or being stuck in this tube with no assurance of my safety afterwards?

Then any attempts at thought fade away as the “light” shock isn’t quite as advertised. While it truly isn’t that powerful, there is one big difference. The shock didn’t move through my body, it lingered. The feeling saturated my body and for like, the third or fourth time, I lost consciousness.

First thoughts when I came to? ‘Oh hey, guess it’s back to having lights in my eyes.’ Because of course they’re shining one of those doctor light things in my face. I guess to be fair it meant some semblance of care.

A semblance that quickly crumbles. Apparently, the output of whatever test they did has to be read by the one being tested. So they shove the paper in my face, giving just a moment to read it before they grab it back to analyze.

There was an absolute ton of information on that sheet. So while I might be a quick reader I only managed to pick up a few things. Psionic, talent in flux, and most troubling “Extreme Threat”. Seeing that I was half expecting to die right there.

As luck would have it though, even with magic, my world was still one of laws and rules. Though, as Ann informed me after I was handed off to her, I’m not in the best of positions. Apparently, my roll of the dice came up with a result even more hated than vampires.

Not being psionic mind you. Everything with a nervous system is to some extent. Rather, it was the “talent in flux” bit. Because while everyone is psionic, those with enough ability in it have what they have. Even unawakened, this will shine through with the classic example of the guy who can predict the weather.

That’s why they are called talents. You have your talent and no matter how weak or strong it is, that’s it. Being in flux doesn’t mean my talent hasn’t settled. It means it can grow and change in unpredictable ways.

See, no matter how strong of a weather sense someone has, that is all they can do. The highest level of weather sense can’t change the weather even if they can predict what it will be like for the next hundred years.

That is where magic would come in. A talent to predict the weather is a massive boost to anyone practicing weather magic. So even powerful talents are seen as supportive and in no way necessary. Especially when so few people have any measurable talent.

That isn’t a path I can take. When I asked why, Ann explained, “what if you are trying to cast a spell to start a fireplace only for my talent to shift and overcharge the spell into a fireball?”

Ann then shrugged, “If that was all, though, it would not cause such a fuss. The real danger is in passive effects. A talent for fire becomes a fire aura that burns everything within a mile radius.

“While aura talents aren’t rare, the dangerous ones tend to solve themselves. After all, the ability to manifest fire does mean protection from fire or suffocation when the fire burns all the oxygen.”

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Then we stood there silently for a bit before I realized I could actually ask questions now. “So, what happens to me?”

Ann sighs, “You get to suffer the same punishment as that speciest Harold. In fact, the only reason we have free time at the moment is they are pushing his judgement through.

“Heh, he probably thought he was going to have a decade to try and escape lockup. Your talent wrecked his plans something fierce. See, your destination is Solomon’s Labyrinth. And before you ask, it is unrelated to Solomon. People just like invoking his name for style points.

“Besides, that is the modern name for it. Far as anyone can tell, it is a naturally occurring chain of shattered dimensions. No one knows how old it is except that the connection point likely existed here since before the solar system did.”

To me that honestly just sounded like a fun time. So of course I asked why going there was a punishment.

Ann laughed, “So does every civilization when they first find it. Problem is you can’t go back. We haven’t managed to scry too far down the chain but the one constant is once you go to a lower dimension you can’t rise up again.

“Oh, and if that wasn’t fun enough, our entrance isn’t the only one. We don’t know if the other entrances are in this dimension or another but other beings show up in the place.”

I nodded, “So why are they rushing that guy’s punishment through?”

Ann shrugged, “The entrance can only be opened for free once a century and if someone wants to open it more often, it costs an arm and a leg. The council generally likes to let it ride a bit in case something comes up so we still had another decade and change before the next opening. But you happen to be one of those “somethings” that come up.”

After that, I questioned her a good bit about what to expect but she wasn’t too much help. While she knew that the area around our world’s entrance was under control by those stuck over there, that wasn’t going to help much. Criminals and threats are pushed out and they have a couple people over there strong enough to enforce the rules.

And before I knew it a soft chime signaled the start of my last moments on Earth. Though it wasn’t going to be a quick process. Apparently, the entrance is in Antarctica. A place that even with magic isn’t the easiest to reach.

Despite that danger, the trip was boring. Just a long plane flight all the way to our destination. Even though the plane was thrown around like crazy, they had magic up to dampen all the nonsense. If it wasn’t for my fellow passengers, the trip would have been the quietest flight I had ever been on.

With Ann and Harold along, things were anything but quiet. To say Harold was pissed off about his speedy trial would be an understatement. But no amount of complaints was turning the plane around and we were soon landing at what looked like a cross between an archeology site, a war zone, and a high-tech city.

In a huge swath along an arc following a mountain range, there were ending fields of destruction. It was as if years ago someone carpet bombed the area. Yet still there were odd buildings standing among the wreckage, with multicolor smoke still rising despite all the damage being many years old by now.

Despite this damage, there was still a small section of what must have been an absolutely massive city of stone in the past. Though the entire area is cordoned off with barriers and such. A number of people and things are crawling over the ruins even now as they try to learn even an iota more about the past.

At the center of this area, all the ancient buildings have been demolished and in their place stands skyscrapers. Though the older examples in the area appear to be made from wood and stone instead of steel and glass. Quite an odd look.

Though the skyscrapers fell away near the middle as short buildings more reminiscent of bunkers took over. But the very center was taken up by a dome of metal that seemed to shift in color when I wasn’t looking at it.

Then we landed, and the sound cancelation dropped. Boy, did I wish it hadn’t. The sound of the winds and maybe other things scratched at our ears and brains. It was quite annoying though Harold seemed overly affected by it.

Ann just laughed, “If you think this is bad, you should hear what it is like outside the city shield. Madness is only the beginning for the weak willed out there.”

Luckily for Harold we didn’t stay out there long as a group of people in gray robes came out to collect us. Soon we were ushered into the building nearest the airfield. But we didn’t stay there long as it soon became apparent that the entire city was connected by underground tunnels.

So it was only a quick subway ride before we ended up in the outskirts of the bunker area. From there, we had to surface again as there weren’t any direct connections within that area.

Into the oldest looking bunker we went and Harold was split off from me and Ann. Then the waiting started. While they were in a rush to get us out here, the opening of the portal apparently took a bit of time. This ended up being a good thing for me as it gave me some more time with Ann.

And of course she started with the bad news. “You are Fucked. Harold is going to blame you and the people over there won’t care if he kills you once they kick you both out. And he is going to try and kill you. There is no doubt in my mind and the only reason he was not yelling death threats at you on the plane ride over is he probably does not want you to run.

“Now, I do not care if you live or die. I do feel a little bad about your situation but that doesn’t change anything. Finding you is like finding an active nuke. However, that does not mean I am against helping you.

“Specifically, I know someone on the other side. They can not, and more to the point, would not help a human stay even a second longer in the city they have over there. What they will do is make sure you leave from the opposite side of the city from Harold.

“If we take into account his movement magic that gives you three to five days to prepare. During that time, you are going to have to force out some kind of talent to deal with him.”