Suddenly the air around you seems to leave. He seems not surprised by your own. "Assumed differently? That's okay, most people do.”

"You didn't tell me because I'm in his body."

"Correct," he says, quieter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. If I did-"

"You would have been magically transported into someone else's body?" He says with a small smile.

"I...wow I wish high school prepared me for this situation."

"High school?"

"Huh, I think I finally stumped the historian," you say.

"I really do apologize for not telling you," he says.

"No, no. It's okay. I understand why you didn't. It must be weird seeing him again, but not as him."

"If I'm being wholly honest with you, that's the main reason why I decided to help you, back when we first met."

"You say that as if we've known each other for a life time."

"It can certainly feel like that sometimes."

"I'll be honest too and say that I've found it easy to connect with you too, and that all means so much in a time like this," you say.

"That is understandable as well. I hope you forgive my needing to protect you, that's something that I feel that was left over from another life entirely."

"It is okay, I've needed it. Practically have to learn how to live again."

"You'll get there," he smiles. It makes you smile back, and it feels good. Just then there's a vibrating sound, Jesse reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tiny device, you assume it to be some kind of communicator based on its circular shape. "Yeah? What's up?" There is a moment of silence. Well, not entirely silence, as the marketplace around you is as bustling as ever, but for all you care about it could be totally absent of any sound.

"Are they okay?" Jesse asks, you see his eyes shift to the left and then to the right. "Okay, okay. We're heading up now. Save us some seats," he says, and then presses a button on the communicator. He turns to you and his once kind face turns serious, "We have to get back to the main chambers. There's trouble."

You straighten up and nod your head as you both return through the marketplace. The hustle and bustle now seeming like a sort of distraction. Once back at the elevator the tension is so thick in the atmosphere that it could constrict you if you breathed too heavy. The two of you seem to be some of the last to enter the room, it is a rectangular room filled to the brim with seats also filled with bodies. The room is raised near the back as your vision focuses to see Cardus and Khap-Ar.

It is the first time you've seen the Lunfilios since your time at the Capitol and you stare wondrously at his almost glowing form. If given an eternity you're sure that you could stare at it and never get bored. It seems to swirl around like a vortex of gelatinous goo.

"Now now, if you would find your seats we have very important matters to discuss. That means you two as well," Cardus calls out over the crowd of aliens. It took quite the amount of time to hit you, but these were aliens to you...or rather you were alien to them. At least you had some sort of Earthly concept to grab onto, even if it is an intergalactic one.

You and Jesse find two seats just behind a pair of Fal' ZäAr. You can hear one of them whispering to the other, "How much are you willing to bet that Khap-Ar's up there to do some more damage control for the Lunfilios?"

"I'd wager that's a pretty safe bet."

"It just irritates me how we're supposed to pretend that what they did never happened. When the Dromedans became a problem we took action."

"It's all political jargon to me. If it were me on that there council I would have done something about them. Exile or something like that."

"You and me both."

"Excuse me, but what are the both of you talking about?" You ask, before realizing that you weren't a part of their conversation.

"Oh?" The one on the left responds. He looks back to you with his grimy purple eyes. "Are you blind to what the Lunfilios have done as well?"

"Now's not the-" Jesse begins.

"The Lunfilios were responsible for the universe's largest slavery movement since the beginning of time," The Fal' ZäAr interrupts.

That's right, you remember now. Andrew spoke of that when you went to speak with him about Earth's destruction. He told you that Khap-Ar's son, Khap-En was the one responsible for the destruction of Earth, masterminding it since at least the early 1900s. It led to the death of nearly all of humanity. Those that weren't killed were enslaved on one of Pluto's moons, Charon. They were only freed when Andrew's best friend and humanity's hero stepped in from out of nowhere apparently and broke up the colony. This seems to be common knowledge here, and yet you've noticed that tensions with the Lunfilios seem to be as high as the day the Earth died. You remember the people you saw before you went to the Capitol, even they seemed to share some disdain for them.

"All right, now that we are all ready," Cardus calls out over the crowd. The Fal' ZäAr quiet themselves, turning to look towards the podium. "We are in an emergency situation, Piscar Okset, Ambassador and High Councilman of the Messian people has been abducted. Our report says that while out scouting a Dromedan attack force ambushed his team and killed the rest of his squadron, leaving him on the brink of death and stealing a wounded Piscar off to parts unknown."

"It's truly quite tragic, you see? Nearly an entire squadron eliminated and its leader stolen away. Our only clue is that they flew northward, but that doesn't give us enough information," Khap-Ar says, shifting into the form of Piscar. "So, our reason for assembling you all here is for a single reason...the rescue of Piscar Okset." The crowd begins murmuring now, and you hear passing complaints and scared sounds. There are few with bravado to boast about their own skills, but mostly you hear hesitation.

"We're not planning on throwing caution to the wind, however, so we're assembling together different rescue teams that will scour different sections of local areas before moving forward. We're not going to force anyone to join up unless we're short. So keep that in mind and also keep in mind all the work that Piscar has done for our society if you decide not to join up," Cardus says.

"For those interested in the job, stand now and make your way towards the front of the room." There are a few who stand up immediately: A tan-skinned Breeton, a Fal' ZäAr who looks more glowing than a peacock, and a Garexian in the front row stand to action. There is a hushed silence as the crowd no longer whines or boasts, but sits quietly, hoping more stand up so that drafting isn't required.

You stand up.

You know you aren't trained for combat. You know that you have no clue what you're doing, but you also know that someone's life is on the line. You cannot sit by idly. Jesse looks shocked, but there is a glimmer of pride as he works his way up to stand beside you. "I must admit, I should have seen that coming," he whispers into your ear.

You can almost see a ghost of a smirk from Cardus all the way from your seat near the back. Some others join in response, there's a Pamen sitting, now standing in the middle of the room, his pitch black body towers over the rest of them around him. Some more stand up and all said of the eighty some people packed in the room approximately thirty are standing.

"Excellent," Cardus says. "We could probably split into six teams of five and start with the north and then branch out from there. The rest of you, you're dismissed."

Those that are sitting now stand and begin shuffling out of the room. You notice that the two Fal' ZäAr that had been sitting in front of you are at the front of the line of those shuffling out. You look over to Jesse and come in close, "Where do you think they'll send us?" You whisper.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"I don't know specifically, but I'm hoping for Potsberro, the Garexian capitol. The place is warmer than here and I've been meaning to get some sun recently," Jesse grins.

"Now," Cardus begins, his voice echoing more throughout the chambers as more people leave. "If you all would like to join up here we can sort into the teams, and maybe you can introduce yourselves to each other if you're not in the know?" Cardus asks. You know the last bit is for you, and you appreciate it.

You both make it to the front. You recognize one face amongst the crowd and it is one you're not keen on remembering.

"I can't believe the Min is Man enough to volunteer," the voice so deep it could only belong to Tomboss rings. He's the Breeton chief of police, so it isn't surprising he's willing to risk entering combat, but the odd thing is that he has the time to go on some mission like this. You would think that a chief would be loaded to the max with work detail.

"Hey TB, nice to see you have the time to help the cause," Jesse says with something you liken to sarcasm.

Luckily for him Tomboss didn't seem to pick up on it—or chose not to. “Grim and Gram are picking up the slack back at the department for me, They're the new deputies considering the las' one got crushed on that attack."

"I'm sorry for your loss," you say.

"Oh, don't be. The guy was two half seconds away from me shoving a block of stone down his throat anyhow. Nothing more than a brat who tried constantly to overstep his own boundaries."

"Ah, I...see," you say..

"Anyway, I actually must thank you. You helped minimize the casualties and in turn minimize the amount of paperwork I have to do."

"Hold one one second, this is the one who saved the council during the attack?" A plump green Psarcian asks.

"Yes, this is the human that saved us during the attack," Pamen says.

"Oh cool!" An Illith, the only one you notice bursts in. "I wanna go with you!"

"No, I call first dibs on the team!" A Garexian growls.

"Okay, okay, let's calm down now," Cardus interrupts. "We're going to have order in this process. Also, it should be obvious that we're going to be splitting up into many different teams, not one super team all hogged around Alex."

"It would surely defeat the purpose of splitting up, don't you think?" Khap-Ar says. “Besides, as one of the organizers, I get to call first dibs on being on a team,” he says, chuckling and morphing into your shape. You stop breathing as you see Roland's body in front of you, but it only lasts the moment.

“You...want to join me? I...I'm not sure I would be of any special help,” you say.

“Ah, but your heroism at the Capitol isn't why I am choosing to join you. You pique my curiosity,” he says, morphing back into his gelatinous body.

“I do?”

“Indeed. What I see in other people isn't there when I see you, your core.”

“What's he talking about?” The Garexian asks.

“What you see in other people?” You ask, ignoring the complaints of the Garexian.

“Lunfilios don't see as we do. They're capable of feeling the waves of sentient creatures,” Jesse explains.

“So like a bat?” You ask, but before you wait for them to ask what a bat is, you explain, “So it's sort of like echolocation?”

“I see you get the idea. Waves are our existence, through them we feel and express who we are. Everyone's waves are a tiny bit different, and that's how we learn to identify others. You are different, moreso than what I expect.”

“How so?”

“Everyone here has a sort of signature in their waves, it's almost like a mark that is a remnant from when your waves came together, when you came into this existence. Yours are marked for a time long passed.”

“So, you know that I'm not from this time? Like, know?”

The crowd is taken aback by this, before you can even begin to sigh an explanation out Cardus begins hushing the crowd. “I should have known that's why you raised your hand back at the Capitol,” Cardus says. “Back when we were voting you seemed so sure of yourself when you vouched to further hear his story.”

“There was something that interested me about you from the moment you entered that room. I knew you weren't from here and weren't really Roland Duschand.”

“If you did, why didn't you speak up about it?” Jesse asks, surprising you. “I mean, I'd forgotten about that completely, and it almost turned out bad.”

“That's simple. Even if Alex here wasn't from our time it didn't make the reason that you stood in that hall disappear. You said that and were ready to accept it. If the rest of the council was ready to hand down judgment I would have agreed. Since so many raised in favor, I chose to act on my own morals and agree there.”

“So you went with the crowd?” Jesse asks.

“I'm sure you know of how my people are thought of Mr. Anderson—the things people say. I'm not in a position to swim against the tides. It is fortunate for you they were in your favor. This doesn't change my appreciation for your actions or my desire to travel with you. Maybe I can find some way to make peace with my decision,” he says, you can almost see a frown swirling around inside his body out of a darker material.

“I don't have a problem with any of you,” The Illith says, “but I know there are a lot of people out there that do.”

“You don't have to make anything up to me, I'm not some hero. I know that sounds self deprecating, but I mean it. I was at the right place at the right time. I'm glad that you were okay, but I want to do something that deserves this treatment. It's like you said, I did what I did, and one action doesn't absolve me of everything.”

The group falls silent.

“So please, if you want to be on my team, do it because you want to help me find Piscar, not so you could work alongside a hero, because I can assure you that you'd be disappointed. I don't even know how to fight,” you say.

After an awkward silence, Khap-Ar moves forward, “Now I know I want to join up with you. Your waves are sincere. You know you aren't the best suited for the job, but won't let that stop you. That's courage, and what I saw in you back then.”

"I don't know what you're talking about with all of this I'm no hero business, but I feel the same, and have come with you this far because of that. I know what you did was wrong, but you've also done right since coming here," Cardus says.

"We agree with them. Do not forget that we are still owed a team up with you," Pamen says.

Jesse shrugs, "I'm just here to see how many Dromedans you blow up.”

You hit him as he springs forth a smile. "Thank you. It means a lot to me what you're saying. I want to be able to live up to these nice things that you're saying. I think I know who I want on my team, if you'll have me," you say.

"Go ahead and pick, we won't be offended," Khap-Ar says.

"Most of us won't," Jesse says.

"Jesse and Pamen, you two are for sure coming along. Khap-Ar, I would like to talk to you more about waves along the way, so I would also like to go with you, and...you," you point to the Illith."

"Me?" She asks in a voice you would only give to a chipmunk.

"Mhm, only if you want. I want to know more about this world and the people who live inside it, and the only way I'm going to do that is interact with as many people as I can.”

“Okay! Yeah, I wanna go. My name's Sen, by the way.”

“It is nice to meet you.” You turn to Cardus, “I think you should lead a second team, since we've already gone on a trip together, and I'm sure whoever is there could also use your leadership," you say.

"You kept me in total suspense there team captain," Jesse says.

"I'm no capt-"

"Ha, I'm just messing with you. You'd need to outpace me to even come close to something as honorable as team captain. But we'll see. Maybe once we're done with this I can get you some training in," Jesse winks.

"Mr. Anderson, I hope you know I'll be taking the role of captain, unless you wish to do this outpacing here to prove you're more capable?” Khap-Ar slides up.

“Uh, I'm good, actually. Feel free,” Jesse droops.

“And for you,” he turns to you, “you can learn along the way. No true way to learn how to fight then to be in a fight. Come on, let's go gear up and find us a route."

“I've been really excited to gear up!” Sen near screams with palpable excitement.

You begin walking away from the rest of the group, a cell separating from its main body.

“Oh?” You ask.

“Everyone who looks to our armed forces always sees their uniforms as these strong and durable things, but I've always loved the design of them. How they change a group of nobodies into a team perfectly coordinated.”

“We would much rather be safe from firepower than be pleasing to the eye,” Pamen says.

“Well it can totally be both!”

Jesse comes close to you, “Honestly, I couldn't care much either way. I certainly didn't expect to be suiting up again anytime in my life.”

“You didn't have to volunteer,” you say.

He looks back up, “Yes I did.”

"We'll probably head up towards Gaos if you want to head up near the deserts of Abu Kheppi," Cardus calls back from the group.

"Why do you get first dibs?" Khap-Ar asks, not turning around.

"Seeing as I'm the one taking the Psarcian, I am going to say that we get first dibs out of any arid areas." Cardus says.

"The Pscarcian has a name, and it is Petsun." he glubbers out. “I agree though. Deserts are far from my style, unless you all want to be carrying around a deflated sack of flesh on your search."

"Fine, fine,” Khap-Ar mutters out like a small child. “Let's go with that, and you," Khap-Ar points a swollen appendage out to a Garexian beside Cardus. "You can lead the third team, Tav. We're going to the outfitters, I'm sure you can figure the rest out amongst yourselves."

The others work themselves into formations of five. You hear names and see faces but little of it actually sticks. If anything, this is a reminder to work slowly at learning. Too much at once is overload, and you might as well learn as much as you can seeing as you're staying in this new world. You might as well make the best of it.

You continue walking.