“Fuck, what a weird dream.” I sat up groggily and stretched - or at least I tried to. Two shackles had bound my arms to the wall and had prevented them from moving in any direction other than being spread in front of me.
My heart sank as the realization came to me that none of what I experienced had been a hallucination or a dream. What the fuck am I supposed to do now. I don’t even know where I am, let alone the language here. I would have surveyed the surrounding area, but what seemed to be sliding steel door was blocking my entire view.
Alright, think. If they wanted me dead they would have killed me while I was unconscious. That means they’re either trying to sacrifice me for something or their society upholds basic human rights. I realized this was just my brain reaching at straws, but I needed every bit of mental stability I could get right now.
Reigning in my nerves, I looked around the cell for the first time. The floor was made of some kind of alloy or metal, and was producing a steady stream of warmth into the cell. The walls were the same violet as the young woman’s room and made of the same velvet-like material. Lastly, there was glass paneling in the roof of the cell, allowing the sun’s rays to pour in above me.
“As cells go, I guess this isn’t the worst.” I muttered.
“Whil, thael.” A deep voice boomed in front of me and I snapped my head in that direction, and saw the cell door slide open, revealing a heavy set yet handsome man. I was 6 feet tall, but he must’ve been at least 7 with thick, muscular arms that showed through the military ensemble he had chosen to wear that day.
Still freaked out by the fact I didn’t understand a single word, I think I might’ve broken a bit. Acting far more confident and indifferent than I had any right to, I said, “Hey… I know this might seem weird since you probably don’t understand me, but does anyone speak English around here?”
The guard took in a sharp breath and said, “Sioniks!” Startled that the word sounded so familiar, I watched in horror as the man produced a small, fingernail-sized square from his pocket and started walking towards me.
All my false bravado melted and I started screaming at the man. “Stop! Don’t come closer, please!” I was practically tearing up when he put the device on my head, and a familiar noise entered my brain.
BRAIN CHIP OF THE SYSTEM DETECTED. INTEGRATING… PSIONIC LATENCY DETECTED. INTEGRATING… CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE SYSTEM.
“What the fuck is the system?”
“You sure got a mouth on you lad. I can tell you about the system.” I looked around for the source of the sound, but saw no one in my cell save for the burly man in front of me.
“Did you just speak to me?”
“That I did lad. Still, I was shocked you were psionic. We could understand you the entire time you know. Hard to know you didn’t understand us with how you responded to the soldiers orders earlier.”
Thinking back, I remembered kneeling when they pointed to the ground with their weapons earlier. “I’m pretty sure when someone waves a gun at you and points to the ground, that’s a universal language.”
The large man cracked a smile and patted me on the back. “That’s the spirit lad! Now, all I need to do is ask you some questions so we can clear some things up. Sound good?”
“Sure.” I smiled back. Regardless of whether this was a ruse or not, this was my only lifeline wherever I was. I cocked my head. I wonder why I'm not more freaked out than I am? I mean, I have literally no fucking clue where I am right now. And besides that…
“I’d love to answer your questions, but could you do me a favor first?” The large man frowned.
He rubbed his chin before answering. “Asking for favors in your situation… that’s pretty bold of you lad. However, I will not dismiss your request without hearing it first. Ask away.” I smiled up at him
“Great! Is there any chance you could back up or undo my shackles? It’s really disconcerting to talk in the general direction and height of a human crotch.” The man’s eyes widened and he backed up from me before chucking to himself.
“I suppose that would be disconcerting, wouldn’t it.” Taking a seat himself in front of me, he still towered above my head, but this way we were more face-to-face-ish.
“Thanks. Please ask away.” The man smiled at me.
“Then I will do so, thanks. First, let’s start off with your name. Who are you?” I thought long and hard for a moment, trying to discern if there was any deeper meaning before giving up on that line of thought as it required too much brain power that I was low on at the moment.
“My name is Joshua Cole. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America. Nice to meet you.”
The man looked me up and down before sighing. “So you’re another Fallen. I’m sorry for you, lad.”
Staring into blank space, I asked what I felt immediately was a very dumb question. “Uhh, Sir, what’s a Fallen?”
“Of course you wouldn’t know.” He said, rubbing his temples. “You see, to get into that I’d have to explain the laws of this world first. Is that alright?” I nodded my head, prompting the man to continue.
“Every so often, this world, Ethia, gets residents from other folds of reality. These people are called, ‘Fallen’, because they literally fell out of their planes of existence and into ours. Are you following me so far?”
I nodded my head and he continued. “As it turns out, we have people from your world here as well. So even though i have no speck of knowledge as to where Boston, or Massachusetts are, I’ve heard of America before.”
“So you’re suggesting that I fell out of my own reality and into yours? How the fuck is that even possible!?” I struggled against my bonds, and the man took a cautious step back.
“Language lad! Starlords above, control yourself.” I didn’t even have it in me to rally against his anger and went limp as soon as the wave of fear washed over me.
“Is there any way to get back to my dimension?” The man gave me a sad look and shook his head.
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“I’m sorry lad. For as much as we know about the process, opening up a dimensional rift is a stupid thing to do. They’re usually unstable, and could claim a wide area at any moment. No self-respecting scientist or philanthropist would ever put money into a project that could blow up in their faces.”
My heart sank at the news, and it took all I could to not scream at the man in front of me. “Where am I?” I finally managed to get out after a long pause.
“You’re in the Redleaf Palace, of course!” The man’s grin faltered, “Ah, before I go any farther, it would be in your best interest to know the differences in this world compared to yours. First off, it would behoove you to think of this world as an alternate reality. The general structure of the continents themselves are the same, as well as boundaries you can think of.”
I stared at the man, mostly because there was nothing else to look at in the silent dungeon. “Let me guess, you got this information from another one of the Fallen?”
The man had a frown on his face. “I think you’re misunderstanding something lad. The Fallen are a valuable source of knowledge for us. Never have any Fallen been treated inhumanely under the Kingdom’s watch.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. There’s a saying in my world that, ‘a bit of healthy skepticism never hurt anyone.’ I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it?”
“Nope, never heard it before.”
I smirked. “Well, at least I know you’re not lying. I made that one up myself.” The man stared incredulously at me for a moment before regaining his grin.
“You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that boy.” He stuck out his hand. “The name’s Bruce. Nice to meet ya!” I stared at the hand, and Bruce awkwardly retracted it as he realized both of mine were incapable of moving from the wall.
“Sentiment noted and appreciated.” I said, the man’s enthusiasm drawing out the first glimpse of amusement I'd had since falling into the world of Ethia. “Can you explain the world’s structure to me a bit? You’d mentioned a kingdom I believe?”
Bruce snapped his fingers and his eyes widened. “Oh yeah. Sorry lad, got a bit distracted there. We’re currently in Redleaf Palace, where the monarchy of the Metron Kingdom lives. The Metron Kingdom is a collective of the three countries that you would call ‘North America.’ In fact,” Bruce shook his head and chuckled, “you fell right into the bedroom of the princess.”
I felt the security I had become accustomed to while talking to Bruce instantly peel away, revealing terror underneath. “She doesn’t want my head or anything, right?”
Bruce laughed, “Starlords no, of course not. Our princess may be violent and prone to throwing a fit or two when things don’t go her way, but for the most part she is a kind and mature person. In fact, she felt bad that you were knocked out by the royal guard.”
It seems not all people in power are rotten in this world at least. A smile came over my face as he moved on to his next topic. “On the subject of your life in this world, we can offer you two paths allowed by the system.”
“The system?” I had completely forgotten about the metal chip on my temple in only a few minutes, which worried me slightly.
“The system is the governing AI that oversees the world’s politics, and steps in to mediate whenever a conflict arises. Allegedly, there were some people who tried to stop the sentient AI from coming into being, but failed. Turns out that the world had improved for the better, with no more needless bloodshed.”
After Bruce said his piece, I had to ask, “Are there no more wars then?”
Bruce laughed and nearly doubled over. “I said no more needless bloodshed, not any bloodshed at all. Which brings us to your paths. The first would be a special kind of soldier. Due to the nature of the job, I can’t tell you anything other than you’d be directly working with the palace. The second, is a town worker. You’d be given a plot of land and some finances in order to start a business that’s beneficial to the Kingdom.”
All of a sudden I felt nauseous. I had been in this world less than a day (I assumed i hadn’t been out for that long), and I was already being forced to make a life-altering decision.
With a bit of a struggle, I managed to get out, “Do- do you mind if I think on it?” Bruce had a look of concern on his face and nodded.
“Of course lad, I just wanted to tell you what they were. Nothing more and nothing less. On the other hand, Joshua, it’ll take a few days for the order to come down the chain to release you, but I can guarantee you’ll be out of here by the end of the week. I’ll hear your decision then.”
“Okay. I’ll decide by then.” Bruce nodded and a knock came from the cell door, which opened without warning. A woman about my height was standing there, clad in a tight fitting black latex uniform that accentuated her curves under a pair of denim shorts and an unbuttoned biker jacket. Her long, black hair was shaved on one side and cascaded over her left shoulder. I looked her up and down and had one thought: thicc.
My mood brightened a bit, but then immediately dampened again as I realized that my mind had to go to such lengths to retain even a bit of the feeling of normalcy I had before. Ironic considering my wish earlier in the morning.
The woman brought in a tray of good smelling objects I could only assume was food, and turned to face me. “Pr-”, Bruce got out before she coughed to silence him.
“I can introduce myself, thank you Bruce.” The attractive woman turned to face me. “My name is Priya. I will be attending your cell as caretaker for the extent of your time here. I hope to get along well with you.
Exhausted beyond belief, I could only nod at her as a response. Her eyes widened as she looked at my arms. “Bruce you gorilla, why haven’t you unshackled him yet!? Didn’t you get the princess’s message from the private group?” Bruce looked nervous as Priya finally released me, and I slumped against the wall.
“Listen, I had to treat him like a threat at first, as per procedure. I just got so into the conversation that I forgot to undo them.” That last part was accompanied by a blush, but Priya just exhaled harshly.
“You buffoon. Get out of the cell and let…” she trailed off, and Bruce whispered something in her ear. “Let Joshua eat his food in peace.”
Bruce exited as she finished, but not before waving goodbye to me first. Priya knelt down, and if today were any other day I had no doubt that I'd be greedily taking in her body with my sight, but as things were I just stayed sitting against the cell wall.
“Eat up.” She smiled at me, showing a pair of perfectly straight teeth, but long upper canines. “I’m sure it’ll taste good, it’s from the royal chefs after all.”
I didn’t respond to her, causing Priya’s smile to falter somewhat. After a moment of silence, she left the cell and locked the door behind her.
Feeling drained, I crawled over to the food and unwrapped a square object, only to find a hamburger inside. How novel, square hamburgers. I took a bite and tears began to well up. Was this supposed to be my new life? I sighed. Somehow this reminds me of that song from Godzilla.
---
The woman who went by Priya felt bad for the boy, but there was nothing to be done. The king had been extremely furious when he learned where Joshua had fallen to, and was letting his blind rage take control of his decision making.
‘If I’m going to try to make this work-’ She was about to head up the stairs when her thoughts were interrupted by Joshua mumbling in his cell, so she decided to return outside his door to hear him better. Priya’s heart danced with nerves, wondering if they had been incorrect and the man was a spy, trying to contact his homeland.
Finally reaching the cell, she heard, “Hmm, no, I think the tune was more falsetto. Oh well, fuck it. I guess I’ll have to settle for my high contratenor.”
Priya was curious. Was he talking to himself, or was this some weird code that he used?
“If I die~ in this world~ who will know~ something of me~? I am lost~ no-one knows~ there’s no trace~ of my yearning~.” He started singing, and what’s more, it sounded beautiful! Priya was on edge because of Joshua’s singing, but even more so because of the emotion in his voice, and what the lyrics seemed to mean to the man.
Suddenly, the singing stopped and the cell went quiet. What followed was a loud and guttural cry of pain, that eventually turned into screaming sobs and died down into mournful whimpers. Priya’s heart quaked at the sound, and tears welled up in her own eyes. She quickly retreated back down the hallway, looking to give Joshua all the privacy he needed.