Bad time to come back, Ted thought to himself, as two more staff members, one stocky human female, one looking like some bear-human hybrid ran into the room. These ones went straight to the man on the floor and started doing what looked like first-aid. Ted hadn’t ever seen first-aid that involved warm green light emitting from the medics’ hands before though.
‘We’re going to have to take him away’ the bear-man said to the woman, who was kneeling next to him with his hand on his head.
‘Confirmed, damage is too severe.’ the woman replied. ‘Take him to the medical building.’ She pointed at one of the armed guards, another human, and the bear-person. The human ran out of the room, returning with a stretcher shortly afterwards. In moments they’d put the body, who Ted now recognised as one of the antagonists from the original fight, onto the stretchers and carried him away.
With the injured human taken away, the stocky healer stood up and addressed the group.
‘What, in the name of the Almighty, happened here?’
There was silence for a second, then a clamour of shouting from both groups started; the Lizard-man group, and the humans. The stocky woman held her hand up.
‘Stop. Stop! Silence, everyone.’ the last words were loud enough to drown everyone out, louder than Ted would have thought possible from the short woman.
‘I should not have asked. It doesn’t matter. What happened here will be reviewed and any actions necessary will be taken. I have an idea of what has occurred, so let me set things straight.
‘You are all here because you are the Authority’s chosen. That means you are all equal under his gaze, and all deserving of your place here. Do not think that that means you cannot lose your place here through poor actions and judgement. I will not hesitate to terminate anyone who will not be a benefit to the Authority’s army, and that includes those who are unable to work with others, whether that be due to race or otherwise.
‘My name is Alyssa, and I am in charge of your Basic Training. I have responsibility for all decisions and judgements made over these next two weeks, including your success and failure. I am already unimpressed. If I see anything like this again, there will be consequences.’
She paused, and her eyes flickered to the left, before returning to focus ahead of her. ‘Your friend will wake up soon. It is dinner time in twenty minutes. Review your information packs, change into your duty clothes, and be ready. Be in the canteen at 1930 hours.’
She looked at the Lizardman stood nearest the blood puddle who was trying his best to look casual. At least, that was what Ted thought he was trying to do, not having yet mastered the facial language of the reptilian beings.
‘You. Come with me.’
She walked out of the doors to the corridors, not bothering to check if the Lizardman was following her. The reptilian seemed to consider disobeying for a second, but changed his mind when the guard, sword still raised, gestured with the sharp end. His tail dropping, he walked out after her.
Everyone in the room meekly made their way back to their beds. Ted went back to his area, opening his chest once again and picking up his clothes. Holding them up, they seemed of good quality and sizing; three pairs of loose fitting trousers, dark green; three t-shirts, dark green; one jumper, dark green; and a range of boxer shorts and socks, all dark green or black, and apparently new. He picked his favourite dark green t-shirt and trouser combination, along with a pair of black boxers and socks for variety, and got changed. Then he sat down on his bed, wondering what to do with himself for the next fifteen minutes. It looked like everyone had been suitably chastised, as the conversation was low to non-existent.
He inspected his neighbour to his right, the side that he had his legs swung out to. The man was looking down at the floor, his head in his hands. Praying?
He was a thin, tall man, with a shaved head and a gaunt face. He looked as stretched as the seminar presenter had looked compressed, and it suddenly occurred to Ted that these may be people from different gravity strengths. Would that explain it? He found this world relatively normal; would this man be finding it crushingly heavy?
‘So what happened there?’ Ted said, keeping his voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry, but loud enough to get the frail man’s attention. The man looked up, gazing at Ted with overly wide blue eyes, a face that looked stretched out.
‘Where?’ the man replied.
‘With the Lizardmen. The blood.’ Ted specified, pointing over to the floor. No one had cleared up the blood yet. ‘I was outside. I’m Theo, by the way.’ he extended his hand for a hand shake.
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‘Jerah.’ the man said, patting Ted’s hand gently with a fist. ‘A pleasure to meet another pilgrim.’
‘Likewise’ Ted said, pulling his hand away, bemused. ‘So what happened?’
‘Well, there was a bit of a debate between the Lizardmen and Peter - Peter being the one in bed - as to who the true chosen of God were. Both doubted that the other had really been chosen, and they started accusing each other of being a test placed by the Lord to see if they were really worthy.’
‘Understandable.’ Ted said.
‘Indeed.’ continued Jerah. ‘There was some theological discussion for a while, but it appeared that the faiths of the Lizardmen and the humans don’t align well; at least, not in a literal sense, of course, if you’re happy to reduce everything to metaphors then it may well mesh much better. Both sides retreated for a short while, but some comments were thrown out here and there that might be considered insulting. The Lizardmen would say the word ‘monkey’ quite loudly and Peter and his group would shout ‘beast’ or ‘snake’ or ‘abomination’, and eventually one of the Lizardmen decided to challenge Peter to combat.’
‘Not something commonly done in my world.’ Ted said. ‘At least, not once you’re over twenty five. I think Peter is from my world.’ he added.
‘In my world believers know that the Lord wishes us to die in combat. Most just choose to interpret that as battling their baser instincts, or on the cancers and illnesses that grow stronger as you age. But the true believers know that the Lord is not satisfied with such meagre sacrifices.’
Ted looked at the rheumy eyed man in surprise. The person in front of him did not look old, but his manner of speaking, his frailty, and his general air gave an impression of someone in his late seventies or eighties.
‘So you died in battle?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes. While there are only a few hundred thousand of the true believers left, my country supports the old, true beliefs, and permits us our final battle. There are stadiums in most cities for the purpose of allowing the believers their death in combat. Two enter, only one leaves.’
‘Holy shit.’ Ted swore, disbelieving. He felt a sudden swat on the side of his head, a tap that shocked him, but came with promise that it could well have been harder.
‘You speak blasphemies in the house of the Lord?’ Jerah said, looking disappointed. Ted realised that Jerah had just slapped him, so fast he’d barely registered the blow. He spluttered for a second, unsure of what to say. If someone had called him out on blasphemy in his world, he’d have laughed in their face. But he probably had to take into account where he was.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I was shocked. So you just walk into an arena and fight another old priest?’ Ted ask, trying to mollify and distract the man.
‘Well, no. By the time we’re in our late age we’re unable to properly fight; it would barely be considered combat!’ Jerah laughed. ‘We use manually controlled mechs, that each Believer sits in and controls. Old fashioned, as intended, with no implants or reflex enhancing drugs. The victor basks in the glory of God and his victory; the loser has the honour of going on to the next world to sit beside the Lord.’
‘That sounds amazing.’ Ted said, filled with envy for a world full of futuristic technology and battling monks. ‘And very, very far from my world.’
‘It is indeed a glorious world.’ Jerah said. ‘But I believe this new world will be full of wonders too. Technology has long been viewed with scepticism in my world; I am pleased to see that it has been denied here. The true power of the world and God’s existence has always been magic, even when academics have tried to explain it as something otherwise.’
Well, Jerah was a true believer it seemed, a proper zealot, Ted thought. He also seemed like a complete badass. Someone well worth keeping on the good side of, even if just to avoid further slaps.
‘So what happened with the Lizardman and Peter?’ he pressed.
‘The Lizardman demanded an apology. Peter refused. The Lizardman stated that his honour had been damaged, something that he could not allow. Peter remarked that beasts had no honour. The Lizardman hit him around the head and then punched him in the stomach. I believe they have some sharp claws, hence the blood. Peter just collapsed. Seconds later the guards came in, and then Alyssa.’ Jerah reported, matter of factly. ‘While I sympathise with Peter in that I too have never seen these beast-men that appear here, in my world too, he would have been asking for trouble. Someone would have demanded their satisfaction.’
‘In my world it’s much more about rhetoric.’ Ted said. ‘And if it goes down to violence then there’s someone recording and everyone tries to sue each other.’
‘I believe that Peter may have been relying on that.’ Jerah said somberly. Ted chuckled.
‘Well, I guess that breaks the ice somewhat, though maybe not positively. Have you spoken to anyone else? Or the Lizardmen?’ Ted asked. Jerah shook his head.
‘I have spoken briefly to a man I incorrectly believed to be from my world.’ Jerah said, pointing to a bed on the other side of the room, where another pale skinned stretched waif sat. ‘He is called Kit. He comes from a primitive world, where they have only just discovered electricity. He also had not seen his death forthcoming, and is understandably overwhelmed. But I have not spoken to anyone else, though I was tempted to speak to the Lizardmen. I believed it might raise tensions, however.’
‘Makes sense.’ Ted agreed. ‘I’m quite keen to speak to the Lizardmen myself though. We’ve basically just met aliens, and no one seems bothered!’
Jerah nodded his agreement. ‘However we’ve all also just died, had the existence of our Lord confirmed, and been thrown into some rather rudimentary accommodation.’ He looked around and sniffed. ‘There’s been a lot to deal with.’
‘It’s been a busy day.’ Ted agreed.