My name is not Shelby Crossmin.

That's the name I use, because things knowing your name can be very dangerous. And I think it sounds kind of cool.

I used to be a normal person. Worked a part time job, spent too long on the internet, social anxiety...you know, normal.

Now I'm exactly the same, except I randomly fall between worlds and have to bum my way back to Earth. Because as much as we like to fuss about the state of our world, our government, our environment, our next door neighbor and that one girl who stole my gum back in 5th grade, Earth is our home.

And there are a lot of worse places than Earth.

So everyone, give yourself a hand. If you have not punched a baby seal in the face just because it was crossing the street too slowly, you may be a better person than you give yourself credit for!

So I love this world. It's my home.

Now, I have an ability. It sounds fancy. 'Wow, magic is real! Amazing!' you think.

You think incorrectly. About my ability, at least. Not that magic is real, that's great.

No, apparently I am from a long line of a group called Warders. They wander the ways between worlds. Think of a bridge between planets, and that'll get you close, expect not at all. But it is really really hard to do it well. You can't easily bring stuff between. You can't buy a ferrari from Erths (they sell really cheaply there, the exact same car but the logo is slightly different) and drive across the rainbow bridge to Earth and cruise around. Because Matter matters, and while some people like Warders can cross easily, other things like a freaking car don't.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Think explosions, cell-deletion, and a car deciding that it doesn't exist anymore when you are driving 60mph.

So we can't really swap things. But we can swap information.

Which is were I come in. My family line apparently has a long hallowed tradition of being information carriers. Our magic had huge limitations. Basically we are normal humans beyond our one special trick: We can bring information across the expanse of the universe. We can't bring matter over beyond about a hundred pounds, but we could bring information.

It made my family very rich.

Information is the fifth fundamental force apparently. You have gravity, electromagnetic force, weak force, strong force, and information. While others may be able to bring in gold from distant worlds, my prestigious family could bring books across. When other Warders brought books, the pages would be blank or even combust.

But then Irsa (planet like Earth) invented the internet and wifi. And as long as a few members of the family were at stationed at the router, the information is processed just fine (that's how I'm writing this, by the way, or rather that's how you're seeing this, because I'm not currently on Earth.)

So the one thing that made us rich turned useless (We thought, gosh were we wrong but that's so far in the future that let's leave that aside.) Instead of needing hundreds of expensive Warders ducking into and out of dangerous worlds, you could replace us with that one lazy uncle who sits on the couch all day anyway.

Even in the worlds that hadn't developed (wink wink) wifi yet had secret routers installed. Don't you think the industrial revolution happened pretty quickly and easily? Suspicious...

So yeah for the last 200 years my family just kind of ditched all the danger and settled where they wanted. Which was Earth. My direct family is a branch of a branch of a bump off the log at the foot of the main family, so that's how no one developed the warder talent for the last five generations. That's how the main family forgot we even existed.

Oh, they know I exist now...

So yeah, prior to me falling through the bathroom floor straight to Aminstra, I had no warning about my abilities.

It was a wild journey, and I'm glad to have survived it. Well, I need to go. The guards are coming back and they think my smart phone is a mirror, (I love low tech worlds).

Quick question, before I go: Does anyone know how to defeat a dragon if you are bad at using a magic sword?