Eli quickly gave up on finding pants, and instead cut up a sheet to form a basic toga for Gabri instead. The little pixie seemed pleased with the garment, and wore it proudly. They talked as they worked on establishing a wardrobe for the spirit, and Gabri’s picture of the status on Earth had the little spirit most excited.
“Oh, so it’s like that!” the spirit exclaimed when Eli explained how they had seen the object in orbit of Earth a few days ago, followed by the raining of meteorites which had knocked the witnesses unconscious, a phenomena which was now spreading.
Eli didn’t have much time to explain after that, as once the spirit was dressed, it began constructing a new ritual out of table salt on the counter. It used the wind itself to shape the lines, and within moments the ritual was complete.
“What are you doing?” Eli asked the toga-wearing pixie.
“Trying to talk to whoever is in charge,” Gabri answered. “I’m guessing that since there’s an interventional ship in the heavens of this world, that means that the antithesis is coming. We need to figure out how long we have.”
“Okay,” Eli said. “And you can do that with table salt?”
“Yes! It’s most convenient that you have such high-purity salt available. With this and a bit of quartz I could—oh never mind. I keep forgetting that you’re only a level one human. No need to blow you up quite yet.”
“There’s no need to blow me up ever,” Eli said sternly. “This ritual isn’t going to explode, is it?”
“No, it’s just going to—”
Before the spirit could finish explaining, a face appeared above the salt. “Who requests contact? I wasn’t expecting anyone to know how to—oh. Hello. I see that the fae have already found their way to earth. Might I inquire which court you belong to, and how you come to be in service to one of these humans?”
Gabri made an Eeep sound, covering his mouth in surprise as he turned to the hovering head nearby. He suddenly looked like someone who was overly aware of what they were doing with their hands while simultaneously not knowing what to do with their hands. He fumbled for words for a moment before speaking.
“I have secrets and promises to keep, oh great Titan Erandius,” Gabri answered. “But one of those promises is to support this young man in any way that I can! I must do my earnest best! Yes I must! Three times I have said that I support this young man. And that is why I have put him in contact with you.”
“I see,” the floating head said. It was the face of a young man, with lines that looked like tattoos of a Maori warrior upon him. Those lines held runes of power, Eli realized, and he swallowed as he wondered how strong this being was. “What is your name, young man?”
“I am Eli Mathews,” Eli answered. “I sort of have an idea what is going on. The Antithesis is coming, and you’re here to prepare us to fight back? Is that right?”
“Indeed,” the Titan said.
“What would have happened had you not come?” Eli inquired.
“Then when the Antithesis arrived, it would have found this world unprepared and slaughtered everyone,” Erandius said. “The weapons of your military might have put but a dent on the first waves of the enemy. Without a system to counter the remainder of the wave, your masses would have been swept up into the Antithesis. So much death. You require warriors and tactics which are beyond what is available to you without a system and the presence of great warriors. And scholars and mages, of course.”
“What is the Antithesis?” Eli asked.
“To say that it is only one thing is a great disservice,” Erandius answered, “For everything that it conquers becomes a part of it and it becomes stronger. Every world which falls to the Antithesis becomes the fodder for the next world that it attempts to conquer. Ultimately, the goal for Earth is not to defeat the Antithesis, but to make the Antithesis decide that it is not worth the price to swallow this planet into its hoard. I do not know how many waves it will take, but we have shown time and again that driving it away is possible. That is the hope of Earth, young Eli. To drive away this threat.”
“And how likely is that to happen?” Eli asked.
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Erandius made a noncommittal expression. “I will do all I can to provide your kind with the tools to prepare you for the confrontation. I shall myself hold off the threats which would annihilate your world in an instant with mine own body. Never once think that your kind faces this enemy alone, little human, for I, Erandius, am here. I shall not break before the Earth does, that I promise.”
“But if we break, then you’ll retreat and recover,” Eli said, nodding as he understood.
“It is my duty to survive and live to face the Antithesis once more,” Erandius confirmed. “But I assure you that I shall not retreat while hope yet remains. For when all the demons and evils were released from the jar, yet there was hope.”
“Okay,” Eli said. “So here’s a question for you. Why are you having this conversation with me, a fifteen year old nobody, instead of the president of the United States or someone who can actually do something about preparing the world to face this threat?”
Erandius made another noncommittal expression. “The power of your old world is fleeting. Once the system finishes spreading throughout the human population, Eli, I expect your society will swiftly break down. Especially once the Dungeons open.”
Eli blinked. “Okay, what’s this about Dungeons?”
“You have three days,” Erandius said. “I suggest you find a party, perhaps form a guild, and prepare to delve. I wish you luck. But I have spent enough time on you, young Eli Mathews. Good luck, I wish you a long life and many progeny.”
Abruptly the head vanished from above the salt circle, and that was it.
“Three days! More time to prepare than I thought!” Gabri exclaimed. “Come Master, let’s get to work.”
~~~~~~~~~
Eli took his mother’s credit card and her car. He wasn’t technically supposed to be driving on his own yet, but he had his learner’s permit and was counting on not getting caught. One minor crime versus establishing the basis for the future of the survival of humanity? Yeah, he was going to drive himself.
The first thing he did was go to buy himself a new cell phone. He was lucky that the store was open, and doubly lucky that the clerk on duty knew him and his mother and had no problem trading in his fried, busted phone for a new model. As soon as that was finished uploading his information and updating, he began to make phone calls.
School was out for the day, but that didn’t mean that the teenagers of his small city were being good kids and waiting for classes to start up again. No, there were six dozen different parties that he was able to find, and he quietly made an appearance at each of them.
He was patient zero, he realized quietly to himself. The government was right. But instead of bringing a plague, he brought the system. He could feel it, the moment that it hopped from his body into someone else, but nobody seemed to notice as he mingled his way awkwardly through social situations that he’d never particularly enjoyed navigating before.
After he had infected as many people as he thought he could get away with from school, he went to the mall and bought a few things, including a pair of hiking boots, new jeans, a leather jacket, and a baseball bat.
Gabri had discorporated himself while Eli was busy playing Patient Zero, but the spirit was able to continue commenting on things despite not having a physical body.
After the mall, Eli went to the place he was looking forward to the most; his teacher’s house. The one who had helped him set up the Astronomy Club, which was also the unofficial meeting place for that organization. He’d have set that up first, but it took everyone a while to agree to a time. They had their own lives, after all, and it wasn’t like he could just explain over the phone that “Hey, I’ve discovered that there’s an existential threat to life on earth coming our way, but we’re getting magic to fight it,” over the phone.
However, since he had a phone now, he was able to check on the news again. He found that the government lockdown extended to the news media as well. The mentions of the mothership in orbit and the falling of the obelisks was completely censored, and all focus was upon the sudden outbreak of an ‘unknown disease’ which caused unexplained unconsciousness.
He ignored it, and checked in on the astronomy website, where he once again had a message from the webmaster, who addressed him as “Runekeeper.”
“So, I’m pretty certain that you’re one of the ones who know the truth,” the message read. “My cousin is one of the guys who’s in government custody. I can’t get the truth out of the hospital where he’s being held, but I know he’s awake now. He woke up about the same time that you did, actually. Look, I know you’re just a kid who likes Astronomy, but something is going on. If you want to share what you know, here’s my personal contact information. It should be safe for you to contact me, I’m using several cutouts. If they’re monitoring me closely enough to catch us, then we’re already screwed.”
The webmaster signed off. After a few moments of consideration, Eli made a phone call.