When my parents arrived at the restaurant, Robert and I were already seated at a table. There was a nearly palpable sense of bittersweetness when my parents finally sat down after hugging me and awkwardly shaking Robert’s hand.
This would be our last dinner together before I moved out on my own. Not only that, neither of my parents particularly agreed with the life choices I was making – particularly not my decision to go to a newly opened, unaccredited university that was really only recognized by Atlas Inc, the company behind the school.
Thankfully, they seemed to have given up on convincing me to attend a traditional school where I could get the full college experience.
“So, you go by Robert? Not Bobby or Bob or Rob?” my dad asked after we ordered drinks.
“Or Bert?” Mom chimed in.
I rolled my eyes as Robert answered the question seriously, informing them that he did, indeed, go by Robert and not any of the variant nicknames. My parents asked that he call them James and Avery, forgoing the typical forced formality my dad sometimes pulled with boys who picked me up for dates.
Based on their smirks, it was obvious neither of them believed my denials about our non-existent relationship. I could only shake my head.
It would be nice to tell them everything, it really would. But at this point…I literally couldn’t. Now that I had real magic and could prove what I was saying was true, the system-enforced NDA ensured I didn’t share anything about the upcoming reintegration. I liked to think I was an honest person, so being forced to essentially lie made it difficult for me to spend as much time with my parents as I would like.
“So, how did you two meet?” Dad asked, focusing his question on Robert, likely to see if he gave a different answer than the one I provided when I first mentioned spending time with a ‘friend’ in St. Louis.
I bit back a groan. Hopefully, my dad wasn’t going to go all out investigator on my alien friend. At least he only suspected the guy of secretly dating his daughter…
“At work. I work for Atlas Inc, and Emie comes by monthly as part of her beta testing stuff.”
It was close enough.
“Hey, Dad, let’s not interrogate my friend before dinner is even on the table, please?” I pleaded. I knew it was hard for my dad not to dig when he found something interesting, but I was hoping he’d curb the impulse given the circumstances.
With an exaggerated sigh, he agreed, though I could tell he fully intended to continue asking questions.
The conversation shifted to general topics, mostly centering on our planned road trip to Florida and that Robert planned to fly back to Missouri as soon as we arrived. My parents found the plan odd – which I could understand given their lack of information. His decision to ride along would have likely made more sense if they knew we would be delving on the way there.
“You know I would have gone with you if you hadn’t already made plans,” Mom said with a slight pout. “I don’t want your friend to think I was going to make you drive all the way there by yourself.”
I looked at Robert. “She would have gone with me, except I told her we were doing a road trip, and it would have been weird for her to ride along,” I said deadpan.
“I believe you,” he said solemnly as my parents made noises of protest.
I appreciated his effort, but I knew he could feel the sad tension building as dinner came closer to an end. When the plates had been cleared and the check paid, I stood and hugged my parents once again, holding them for a few seconds longer than usual.
“I’ll be fine. You taught me well. I’ve already got a good job, so that’s better than many graduates, right?” I said with a forced smile. “Besides, Justin will be just a few minutes away, and I’ll see you guys in the Junction every weekend. We’ll probably see more of each other now that I’m moving out.”
We knew I was lying, at least about the last part. But it was a nice lie, so nobody called me out. They walked me to my Aegis – the small, primarily electric hybrid car they’d given me on my sixteenth birthday. The self-driving function was the best feature, aside from the nearly non-existent need for fuel. As long as the sun was shining, I had no need for gas.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I looked at the sky, noting there was likely an hour or so of daylight left. Although the car had an additional battery to store excess solar energy, I’d probably still have to stop and charge at some point on the way to Nashville – our destination for the evening. Thankfully, the car’s AI would automatically find a charging station if needed.
After another round of hugs and a few tears, Robert and I climbed into the small car and I set the destination for the Atlas office in Nashville.
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“Your parents seem really nice. It’s obvious they love you,” Robert said a few minutes after we pulled away from the restaurant.
“Yeah, they’re great. I just wish I could explain my choices better. Not being honest makes it hard…I hate lying, even by omission,” I said while I stared at the rapidly moving landscape around us.
We settled into silence as the miles passed, occasionally breaking into short conversations about topics of interest. I showed my alien friend some of the enchantments I’d made, as well as some of the jewelry pieces and other enchantment bases I’d imbued but hadn’t added runes to.
Aside from the quick bathroom break I needed to take a half hour after leaving St. Louis, we only had to stop once during the trip. Though the batteries were rated as ‘quick charging,’ it still took fifteen minutes for them to fill enough for us to make it the rest of the way there.
After we pulled into the enclosed parking lot, Robert did something on the access tablet to unlock the building for us, and we made our way up the stairs and into what he called the ‘Delver’s Bunkroom.’ Though he’d explained the setup on the way there, I was still surprised at how open the space was. The term ‘bunkroom’ seemed misleading, given the lack of actual bunks. In fact, it reminded me of the sleeping rooms in the Korean bathhouses I’d visited with my mom while living overseas.
Minus the ugly outfits we had to wear.
Too tired to give it much thought, I grabbed a sleeping mat and carried it to the wall farthest from the other people in the room. Only three people were present, though five mats were already laid out. Considering they had bedding over them, it was unlikely they were set out in advance for our arrival.
After setting my sleeping bag and pillow on the mat, I crawled inside and settled in. Not bothering with my haptic suit, I donned my DIVE headgear and accessed my VPS before triggering the forced sleep function, welcoming the end to the emotional day.
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“Who were those people in the bunkroom with us?” I asked as I followed Robert down a set of stairs a few hours later. Unlike me, he’d opted to sleep without the aid of the DIVE headgear, though he likely didn’t need nearly as much sleep as I did since he was already Tier Two. The others, I’d noticed, had been wearing more advanced versions of the manatech, similar to what I’d seen after leaving Earth.
“Adventurers, mostly. The Alliance hired several Tier Two teams to maintain Atlas’ rifts on Earth. They mostly travel around and adjust the rifts that…need adjusting,” he added awkwardly. “They don’t have much to do right now, but as ambient mana levels increase, they’ll get pretty busy. I expect most of them will be well into Tier Three by the time the portals open.”
“How can a few parties delve all the rifts enough to keep them from growing? I thought it took a lot…” I trailed off uncertainly.
“It does, especially at low tiers if the ambient mana is higher than the rift’s tier, though that isn’t the case here. The teams hired by the Alliance have mana stabilizers that can either drain enough mana to force a rift to lose strength – or even tiers – or infuse collected mana to bolster a rift. The teams will use the artifacts to manipulate the rifts they delve, depending on the needs,” he said.
“I hope they are increasing this one. It would be nice to gain a bit more mana per delve.”
When we reached the door leading to the rift, Robert unlocked it with his mana, surprising the guard stationed within.
“You should have us on your list already,” Robert told the guard after providing our names. Though the higher-tiered guard was likely capable of identifying us, doing so – at least openly – was sometimes frowned upon within the Alliance. It had been explained to me after I left Earth in the other timeline, though the reason behind the social faux pas wasn’t very clear.
Once the unarmored guard verified our authorization through his tablet, he relaxed. It seemed not wearing armor was common for guards of these low-tier rifts, though it certainly wasn’t the norm anywhere I’d seen off-planet.
“Is the rift getting adjusted?” I asked since I’d noticed the adventurers were gone when I woke earlier. Their mats had been cleaned and stacked by the door with the rest of the supply, and no hint of their former presence was noticeable.
“No, the delving parties are just assessing everything for now,” he replied. “No changes are scheduled for another five months to a year.”
I was tempted to ask whether that was Atlantis Standard Time or Earth Time, but I decided against it. Besides, given the man’s background, it was almost certainly the former.
Before entering, we verified our information about the rift – an environment-based resource rift. More specifically, it was a mountainous environment that provided some alchemical plants and ore in addition to the mana cores and meat that could be harvested. There were a few dangerous mobs, mostly creatures like foxes and bobcats, though they were called something else. The boss was something I’d never heard of before, though the guard insisted a mundane version of the creature was present on Earth.
I’d have to check after the delve since the description he gave us didn’t sound familiar.
From what we understood, a decent variety of elements should be represented. However, Metal, Earth, and Air would likely be most prominent.
“Ready to go?” my guardian asked as I finished equipping my armor.
“Absolutely. I’m definitely ready for something new,” I replied with a grin before following the Nature Mage into the MT1 rift.