“Next!” yelled the receptionist. Zellyxer was ready to walk up to her desk before being pulled back by our guide, who promptly started whispering in her ear while pointing fingers at us.
[So, who are you, and what are you doing in my head?] asked Liyah in her own head.
I am Samuel, and I don’t know.
[You don’t know?]
Nope. I just died and got sent here. The speech bubble told me I will get reincarnated.
[You died?]
Yes. You didn’t?
[No. I am very much alive right now,] she replied to the apparent ghost, me, in her head.
Oh. Good for you, I guess. How did you get here?
[I don’t know.]
You don't?
[I don’t. I was just sitting in my room and was suddenly here. How did you die?]
You are awfully calm for a person that got pulled into another dimension. Are you not surprised by being in a strange foreign place, or I don’t know to have a strange voice in your head?
[I don’t know what acting nervous would bring me. But how did you die?]
Shark mauling.
[Shark mauling?]
Yes, horrible I know.
[Shark mauling. Sure]
Ok, but what do you think of the city. You know the one we landed in today. Like the one outside.
[What about it? It looked pretty normal.]
That’s the point. They promised us magic. We came in here by using a tram. There wasn’t even a driver in it. It was completely automatic. I don’t think there were any ticket machines.
[So?]
We drove past huge glass skyscrapers. There were tourists everywhere taking pictures of parks.
[I don’t get your point.]
I thought this world is one of magic. But the only thing I see are huge digital billboards with advertisements for their free health care system. I didn’t see anything magical yet. I feel robbed.
[Of what? Magic? You are an intangible voice in my head.]
No, but I want real magic. Like the adventurous kind. I want to see somebody throw a fireball or maybe the dragon they were speaking of. The real magic, you know. The one that makes impossible things possible.
[Making impossible things possible is impossible Samuel. Even if we cannot comprehend them there are still rules to this world and if you look around, the order is clearly visible.]
I don’t see what you mean.
[Because you are obviously not trying.]
Narrator Level 1
Skill Description gained
Please use it, said the ephemeral blue box that suddenly appears in my conscience.
[What was that voice again?]
Voice? Do you mean the blue box? It just pops up and lets me know of the new things I can do.
[Like what?]
Describe something, I guess.
[Try it out.]
Sure.
With an emotional detachment, I follow Liyah’s gaze as it wandered across the room. The experience was alien to me and maybe that’s what I have become. Just an alien living in her mind as the sensations slowly registered into my own mind. There was a clear disconnect. It was like watching a screen. All the sounds and colors slightly muted. A quiet reminder that I am not in control as this is not my body.
[You ok?]
They call this place the barracks, but it didn’t fit my image of what I had assumed it would look like. We sat together in a waiting room reminiscent of one a doctor might have. There were no signs of any military personnel, except the women in uniform working behind the desk, in the whole facility and I use the word facility loosely. It was just another building in the densely populated city.
One that was sparsely furnished. No art decorated the walls nor were any plants kept. Only a few white foldable chairs we sat on, which had astonishing back support to be fair, kept the entrance from being completely empty. Oh. And a big mirror which is totally not just here for narrative purposes.
[What?]
Her gaze found herself, looking back at herself through the reflection of the mirror. This is the first time I see her and the first thing I noticed was her creased forehead. It reminded me of the worries a grandmother might have, and it stood in stark contrast to her relatively young body. She wore tapered jeans that showed her delicate ankles.
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[????]
Her top was an eggshell belly free turtleneck with a jacket in different pastel colors. She accentuated the look with two small gold chains and different pins on her jacket. One was showing a raised fist while another showed an open archaic book. There were many more little details in her outfit that failed to draw the attention away from her body as she definitely was fit. Slight indications of her abs were showing on her suntanned belly.
[????]
Her breasts strained aga-
[What are you even talking about. You know I can hear everything?]
I was just describing you. What is your issue with that?
[Just don’t talk about my ankles and breasts, please. And I didn’t want you to describe me, anything but me please.]
You looked into the mirror, not my fault. Where was I…
Her eyes are a weird brown tone and her nose is very angular, which carried one of those very round hipster glasses… And her cheekbones are very manly.
[Are you done yet?]
6/10
Now I am.
[Great. Above average.]
“Hey,” yelled the desk woman suddenly, gesturing towards us. “Get over here and register.”
“I am Janine Jumper. I want all of your names, classes, and skills if you unlocked any. Stand in line and every one of you gets his turn. Any question?” asked Jumper.
“Yes. What are classes and skills?” asked Brian, much to the surprise of Zellyxer.
“How do you not know that? That’s elementary!” said Tom.
“I think he asked me, mister?”
“Zellyxer,” answered Zellyxer.
[Was that tag necessary?]
“Mister Zellyxer, I pardon this transgression once because you are not from this world, as I was told, but respect and order is essential etiquette here and the lack thereof will be, after you joining my unit, thoroughly punished,” Jumper said with a smile. “A class is you, and its skills are its means to interact with the absolute truths in this world.”
Liyah took a quick look around to confirm my suspicions that nobody understood what she meant.
“I don’t really understand.” Brian was the first to break.
“You will soon,” answered Jumper. “To know your class is knowing yourself and by that, you can change your world, but for that, you have to first find out what class you have. Just close your sight. Not just your eyes.”
“How?” That was once again Brian. I love that boy.
“I did it,” said Zellyxer with his eyes closed. “My class is Gamer, whatever that means, and I don’t really have any notable skills just my stats here.”
“Interesting,” Janine said, nodding towards Zellyxer. “Usually people have trouble displaying their class for the first time. It shows a strong connection between the image you have of yourself and who you are.”
She said while grabbing a box from under her desk.
“For those that aren’t able to see their class, we have developed a drug that temporarily inhibits your optic nerve or also known as the cranial nerve II. Without the input your retina sends to your brain the subconscious blockage prohibiting you will also fall away, allowing you to see your class,” she said grabbing for a pill bottle before cracking it open. “Who wants to go first?”
[Hell no.]
Nobody is gonna take that voluntarily. Just don’t look into her eyes and we are good.
“You. Come here,” said Jumper pointing behind us. “What is your name?”
“Steve,” said the boy I haven’t ever noticed before.
“Good Steve. Now come here and swallow the pill.”
“Sure,” said Steve before shuffling forwards and taking the medicine from her.
Did you notice him?
[Yeah. He was with us from the beginning.]
Weird.
I watched as Liyah watched Jumper watching Steve as he with his eyes squinted and his nose pinched slowly put the offending object in his mouth. Even after he put the pill in his mouth it took a couple seconds and a sudden *accidental* sound of Jumper as she dropped her box on her table to make Steven swallow the pill. The change was immediate as he stopped squinting his eyes. They were empty.
“What do you see?” Jumper asked.
“A script,” was the answer from Steve.
“What is your class?”
“It is written here that I am Side-Character-C.”
“Do you have any skills?”
“It’s called Comedic Relief.”
Jumper considered the still blinded Steve.
“I don’t get it. Try harder next time,” she said before turning towards Brian. “You are next.”
Brian barely glanced at the stumbling Steve before walking up and immediately swallowing the pill.
Steve fell.
Nobody laughed.
“The drug should wear off in a couple minutes. Just sit still Steve,” Jumper addressed his pitiful state.
“I see a night sky, dark and empty if it wasn’t for some stars,” said Brian, standing straight as he spoke to Jumper as if he could see straight through her.
“What is your class?”
“Lost Boy. That’s what the stars spell out,” he said to Jumper.
“Any skills?”
“No,” came the answer from Brian before he sat down. Jumper took his eyes off him at locked her eyes with mine or rather Liyah’s. Her hand outstretched holding the red pill Liyah took and swallowed.
[Red? It was white. What are you talking about?]
You wouldn’t get it, I thought as my world collapsed into darkness.
I face a polished wall of obsidian. Not just a wall, a cave. A cave closed on all sides as I stand alone in the center. The only source of light is the fire in me. Two cones of light escape my eyes as they bounce on the smooth surface of the walls, reflecting everything but myself as I couldn’t see myself in the obsidian.
The stone wasn’t just opaque and reflecting. It had parts where it was clearer, like glass in a window, showing me something that lies way deeper. At those parts were the engravings. A roman two and the skills I earned Dialogue Tags and Description. I am the Narrator.
I pressed my face against the wall. In the stone hidden were shadows and my eyes reached them. One looked directly at me as its mouth started moving as if it was speaking.
“What do you see?” came the question.
“I am in a temple with a huge stone template,” I hear Liyah’s voice from the stone.
“What is your class?”
“I.”
“I?”
“I as in I.”
“Understood. Any skills?”
“No,”
Liyah said before she sat down and waited for the drug to wear off, as Janine handled the still sniffling girl. The girl only took a short break from her crying fit, discernible by the sound of her swallowing something one just might hope was the pill.
“Maiden in distress,” she said before sniffling again.
“Oh, wow I wouldn’t have seen that one coming!” said Steve before fading back into the background.
“This concludes the interviews for today. Next, I will cross-reference your classes with the information we have kept in the library. You people have finished your duty today. We will meet tomorrow at 0800 sharp outside for your practical assessment. Since none of you have lodgings, this place can accommodate all of you. The room on the right is for the males, the room on the left for the females. You will find bunk beds and uniforms will be provided. Any questions?”
“Yes,” said Zellyxer. “What time is it now?”
“1542,” answered Jumper.
“GMT, I see. I guess we will see each other tomorrow morning. I will log out for now,” said Zellyxer before vanishing in a yellow stream of light.
“Typical foreigner. Any more surprises or questions?” asked Jumper rubbing her temples.
“Yeah, I have a weird voice in my head.” I heard Liyah say raising her arm, earning her a couple more than just concerned look.