To Blake’s delight, the Stoltar not only helped them harvest more Breshian Broadleaf than they needed, but aided them in retrieving all the other off world materials as well. The last thing Blake expected on an arboreal, low gravity world was vast stores of granite, yet they found a vein capable of easily supplying their short-term needs.

Despite the additional help, they worked through the night and late into the next day before they were finished. Unlike his friends, Blake had yet to sleep. He relied upon Regeneration and now gas station coffee, provided by Kuruk, to keep him awake.

The Stoltar were glad to see them leave.

Once they finished and swam through the golf course’s lake back to the car, they parted ways. However, before Kuruk drove Jason and Owen home, Jason called a Ryde for Blake. Since he would be in public, he left his rifle and weapons behind with them.

After the middle-aged taxi driver arrived, she was presented with a stack of bills. Blake asked her to chauffeur him for the rest of the day. From the way her eyes lit up at the sight of so much cash, Blake knew she was more than happy to drive him around, despite his strange attire.

His personal taxi pulled into the public lot off University Drive and parked. “This is the place,” she announced.

Blake nodded as he sipped his coffee and then winced as the heat burned his tongue.

You know what, what good’s magic if it can’t make life more convenient.

He sat his coffee down and began to weave his hands with the strange motions required to cast a Flame Shield. The driver stared at him through the rearview mirror in disbelief.

“Uh… everything okay back there?” she asked in concern.

“Yeah, it’s just a little good luck ritual I made up,” he lied and continued the spell form.

“Yeah… uh… good luck with admission,” she replied. “Although, you may want to change into a button down shirt. Unless you’re trying to be memorable?”

The spell activated, and he felt the invisible Flame Shield settle around him. Blake retrieved the coffee, and tried a sip once again. When it failed to burn his tongue, he drained the entire twenty-ounce cup.

“Ahhh,” he sighed. “That hits the spot.”

To his amusement, the heat from the coffee was enough to create a faint shimmer in his Flame Shield. He addressed the driver, “Oh, I’m not here to apply. I’m looking for an old friend. The problem is, I don’t know where on campus he is, so it may take a while to track him down. That’s why I need you to wait in the parking lot for me to get back.”

She shrugged in disinterest and turned up the air conditioner. “Whatever. You’re paying.”

Blake exited the vehicle, and basked in the muted heat of the sun. Flame Shield turned the ninety degree heat of late March into wonderful room temperature.

I take it back. Flame Shield might be my favorite spell.

After he finished his stretch, he strode toward the Electrical Engineering building at Arizona State University. The Tempe campus was large, and he knew he was unlikely to stumble randomly across Rajesh.

To his embarrassment, he did not remember his friend’s last name. It was Indian, long, and unpronounceable to him. No matter how often he tried, Rajesh continuously rebuffed his poor pronunciation. Eventually, he gave up. He knew it started with a K, and thought he may recognize it on sight, but that was as close as he could get.

On Invasion day, Rajesh was a grad student in the Electrical Engineering program at ASU, shared an apartment with friends off campus, and worked as a Teacher’s Assistant. Unfortunately, that was all the useful information regarding the past Blake could remember. That, and his appearance.

Blake entered the building and glanced around for guidance. On the far wall near the elevator bank, he saw a directory. The Electrical Engineering department was on the fourth floor, so he pushed the call button and waited for the elevator to arrive.

A professor stared incredulously at Blake’s leather armor as he walked past, but refrained from comment. When the doors opened, he stepped inside and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

A young student, just a year older than Blake, rushed toward him and yelled, “Wait!”

Blake quickly held the doors open with his hand as the young man slipped inside, out of breath.

“Thanks,” the overweight man said before his eyes caught on the leather armor. “That’s freakin’ awesome! Did you make that yourself?”

Blake shook his head and wished he had a change of clothes. He was going to remain silent when it occurred to him that he should be probing everyone on their knowledge of his friend. “Hey, do you know someone named Rajesh? He’s a grad student here.”

“Sorry,” the man replied. “I’m just a freshman, super late for class.”

“Thanks anyway. I figured it was a long shot, but you never know.”

The doors to the third floor opened, and the heavy man rushed out with a parting, “Good luck.”

When Blake arrived at the fourth floor, he ignored the full classrooms and explored the long, tiled hallway. The majority of the office doors which lined each side were closed, however, he stopped at the first open door and poked his head inside.

The older, Asian man inside was focused on his computer, so Blake knocked to get his attention. His eyes briefly flicked up toward Blake and then back to his screen. Then, suddenly, he did a double take and stared openly at the strange attire.

“Can I help you, young man?” he asked in a thick accent.

“Yeah, I’m looking for Rajesh. He’s a grad student and TA here. Have you seen him?”

“Which Rajesh?” the man asked.

“Huh?” Blake was confused. “There’s more than one?” At the man’s nod, Blake replied, “Uh… his last name starts with a ‘K’.”

The professor frowned. “I don’t know that one. What professor does he TA for?”

Blake winced. “Sorry, I don’t know that either.”

The older man’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps you should check with security then,” he said dismissively and returned to his work.

Blake sighed and resumed his journey down the hallway. For the next thirty minutes, he questioned everyone he met. No one knew his friend, and they had no useful advice for how to track him down.

His name was more common than Blake realized.

Eventually, when he began to lose hope, a professor left the elevator in a hurried manner. Blake matched pace with the harried, middle-aged man, and began the conversation as he usually did. “Excuse me, do you happen to know a TA named Rajesh?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Which Rajesh?”

“I’m not sure, his last name starts with a K.”

“Kshetrapal?” he asked as he unlocked his office.

I think that’s it!

“Yeah, that's him,” he grinned, excited that someone knew his friend.

The professor entered his office and dropped his briefcase on the messy desk. “I believe he’s Doctor Gupta’s TA. Why do you ask?”

As the professor relaxed into his chair, Blake said, “I’m trying to track him down, but I don’t have his cell phone number.”

“We can’t give out personal information,” the man warned.

“Oh, that’s fine,” Blake assured him. “I don’t have a cell phone anyway.”

The professor frowned and gave him a curious look. The glance then turned into a full-blown stare when he finally saw Blake’s leather armor. “Then, I don’t really know how to help except to say, talk to Doctor Gupta. Although, he’s not in today, so you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

I don’t have that kind of time.

Blake sighed and rubbed his temples. “Is there a way you can look up when his next class is? Rajesh said he gives lectures all the time.”

“TAs don’t lecture,” the man said, annoyed.

Did Rajesh lie to make himself sound more important?

Blake snorted.

That sounds like Rajesh.

“Can you look it up anyway?” After a moment, where the man continued to stare at him in annoyance, Blake added, “Please?”

“Fine, but after that, you need to leave. I have work to do.”

Blake waited while the man searched the schedule. After a few minutes, the professor announced, “There’s a recitation right now that’s about to end. He’s probably leading it.” Then, he added pointedly, “It's in room 514.”

“Thanks!” Blake gushed and waved goodbye.

Blake took the stairs to the fifth floor and strode through the hallway until he found a small classroom labeled 514. He stretched his neck to peer sideways through the small window set in the door, but was unable to see the front of the room.

However, that did not matter. The moment he heard the TA speak, Blake knew it was his friend.

“Then, if there are no more questions, I have labs to grade,” he said in his thick Indian accent.

After the terse dismissal, the students gathered their belongings and filed out of the room.

“What an asshole,” a student muttered as he left the room.

“Yeah, he didn’t even answer the question. Just told Josh to look it up. I swear, what’s the point of a TA who doesn’t know what they’re talking about? And, even if he did, you can’t understand a word that comes out of his mouth anyway,” another student ranted.

Good ole Rajesh. Making friends wherever he goes.

It had taken Blake quite a while to warm up to Rajesh’s sour attitude. Blake’s initial impression of the aether user followed the student’s comments. The man was self-centered and acted superior. However, after numerous battles where they fought side by side, they developed a friendship, despite their differences.

After the line of students disappeared, Blake slipped inside and softly closed the door. Rajesh sat behind the teacher’s desk, focused on his laptop’s screen. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, with dark skin, short, black hair, and brown eyes. Rajesh was also a little overweight, which surprised Blake, as he had always known the man to be thin.

He looks so young without his beard.

Blake approached the desk with a smile, “How’s it going, Rajesh?”

The TA never looked up. He recited, almost by rote, “I don’t accept late assignments, and if you need notes, ask another student.”

“Damn, no wonder your students hate you.”

Rajesh finally reacted, and anger flared across his face. He opened his mouth to reply, but froze when he saw Blake’s attire. Finally, Rajesh recovered from his surprise and said, “If you are not my student, what do you want? I’m busy.”

Blake extended his hand and said, “I’m Blake.”

Rajesh continued to stare.

“You know, if someone offers their hand, it’s rude not to shake it,” Blake chided playfully. He enjoyed having the upper hand on Rajesh for once.

Rajesh narrowed his eyes. “I am not the rude one. Tell me what you want or leave.”

Blake leaned forward, quicker than Rajesh could react, and grabbed his wrist.

Invite to the Collective.

The TA recoiled in fear and ripped his arm away. Blake let him. The nanomachines had already transferred and began their integration.

“I will call the police,” Rajesh stood in outrage.

“No you won’t,” Blake replied confidently. “I have something to show you. Watch me carefully, and don’t blink.”

When Blake was sure the man’s eyes were on him, he glanced over his shoulder and activated Spatial Step. He utilized the spell’s evolution, and teleported within a desk, two rows back in a seated position.

Rajesh’s eyes widened, and he slumped back into his chair.

“Pretty cool, right?”

“Did you drug me?!”

“No, but I did transfer some nanomachines to you.”

“You… what?” Rajesh said, clearly confused.

“Nanomachines. You know, microscopic little robots?”

“I know what they are, you imbecile!” Rajesh shouted. “That is not how they work.”

“Sure it is,” Blake disagreed. “See, these nanomachines aren’t made by humans. They’re way more advanced than anything we can make.”

Rajesh pointed toward the door. “Get out before I call the police.”

When Blake remained seated, the Indian reached for his phone.

Nope. Can’t have that.

Blake checked his status and saw that Spatial Step was available. He activated the spell and appeared beside his old friend, his hand extended. Faster than Rajesh could react, he ripped the phone out of his hand and held it out of reach.

Fear flashed briefly across his friend's face. However, it was immediately replaced by surprise. Rajesh stared through him in shock as he read the welcome message.

“Welcome to the Collective,” Blake announced. “That’s the interface you’re seeing. When you finish reading the message, you probably want to check out your status. Just think ‘status’ and it’ll open up.”

“What… what is this?”

“I told you, I transferred nanomachines to you.”

“But… is this Professor Teller’s project?” He immediately shook his head. “No, that’s stupid. There’s no way he got this far.” Rajesh looked Blake directly in the eye. “What is going on?”

“Get comfortable,” he advised. “This is going to be a long story.”

For the next half hour, Blake summarized past events. He explained that he came from the future, that they were friends, and detailed his trip back in time.

Rajesh at first was silent, but about ten minutes into Blake’s tale he began to interrupt with questions and challenges. Blake patiently answered each. True to form, his old friend focused more on AI and how the nanomachines worked than the fact that the world would end.

Blake ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Look Rajesh, how many times do I have to tell you? I don’t know how they work. YOU didn’t know how it worked in the future, either,” he reminded the man.

“I have a doubt.”

He rolled his eyes. “Look, it doesn’t matter anyway. Like I said, Invasion day is in a little over three months. At that point, everything that uses electricity stops working.”

“You contradict yourself. Our brains use electricity. Without it, we are dead.”

Blake took a deep breath. He had forgotten how frustrating conversations with Rajesh could be. “Obviously, the AI allows some electricity to function. Look, I’ve told you my story. We need to join up with Montgomery and Jeff, get you all geared up, and start running scenarios so you can earn more nano.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“As I said, no. Your story has too many inconsistencies, it is clearly fiction. I do not know how you came across this technology, but you do not know how it works. It is clearly not yours.”

“Of course I don’t know how it works, it's alien!”

“So you say.”

Blake threw his hands into the air. “This is unbelievable! You can see the interface! You’re just going to stick your head in the sand and hope the world doesn’t end?”

“I will not travel with a crazy person I do not know. And, you contradict yourself. By your own words, the world WILL end.”

“I’m not crazy,” Blake insisted. “I know about your sister, Chandrika. Your dad is a professor in Mumbai, and your mom is constantly bugging you to get married to some Indian girl back home.”

“Are you stalking me?!” Rajesh yelled in outrage.

“No, I’m not stalking you! You told me all of this!”

The door to the small classroom opened and interrupted the exchange. A student walked in and froze at the heated words. She glanced between the two in concern.

“Quickly! Go call the police! This man assaulted me!” Rajesh urged.

What the hell is going on?

The girl quickly turned and fled the room.

Well, shit. This isn’t going well.

Blake turned back to his old friend and tried one last time to persuade him. “Look, Rajesh. This is important. If you don’t come with me, you’ll probably die.”

Rajesh sneered. “If what you say is true, I survived for two years before you ever met me.”

“Do you really want to take that risk?”

“Yes, now I suggest you leave before the police arrive.”