Chapter 2: Diamedius city

The intense light and brief weightlessness swiftly came to an end as Noah fumbled onto his side, having lost his bearings. A vast grassy plain spread out in front of him as far as the eye could see, pockets of blue resembling lakes appeared in his peripheral vision. Ok calm down, calm down and think rationally.

Before Noah had the chance to monologue, he noticed something shifting in the distance. A large cityscape gradually came into view as if hidden behind some sort of optical camouflage. Bridge’s formed over the large lakes connecting roads, large skyscrapers breached through the rainbow clouds… “Wait, what the fuck? Did I stumble across the set of a candy advertisement?” As Noah interrupted his own thoughts, he again felt a warmth in his pocket, the same warmth that got him in this very situation. Alert at once, Noah reached into his pocket and tossed out the glowing card as far as he could. However, once the card was about a meter in front of him it stopped, a message appearing in the air above it.

Welcome to the Void Noah Valentine. Please make your way towards the nearest trading city (Diamedius).

Before he was able to retort, the card swiftly moved back into his pocket before a golden light dropped to the floor seeming to point the way to Diamedius city. Before moving, Noah looked around his surroundings and noticed an ominous looking dark purple haze far off in the distance behind him, peaking over the mountains. The sight sent an ominous shiver down his spine as he moved his attention back towards the golden trail.” Well, it’s not like I have any other options at the moment.” Noah grumbled to himself as he walked with relative haste. It can’t be worse than that purple shit behind me.

As Noah made his way towards the city, moving from grassland to paved road, he pulled out the strange card, looking at it incredulously. “Um hello? Ms card? Can you hear me?” Noah asked awkwardly, looking to his sides on reflex to ensure no one is watching him talk to a card.

How may I help you Noah valentine?

“Woah… umm so what can you do?” Noah asked, surprised to even get a response.

I can do plenty of things, such as storing your belongings into your inventory you left behind.

Oh crap that’s right my stuff! Noah panicked, “can I please see my inventory? Are my things inside it?” he asked, feeling a deep sense of anxiety at the thought of losing his precious memories.

Yes Noah Valentine, your personal items were determined during the system scan and can be found inside your inventory

Noah let out a sigh of relief as a screen appeared with a list of all his items. With everything accounted for, he noticed that the old car in the parking lot was also in his inventory, perhaps because some of his items were inside it at the time he was sent to this strange place. After tapping his finger on the icon of the car, a white glow morphs into the shape of the car, gradually fading and revealing the vehicle.

Noah brushed aside the pieces of glass on the seat carefully. During his escape he didn’t get a chance to properly search for keys but after searching he was able to find a spare under the seat. “Sorry for whoever owns this, I’ll return it if I can get back home” Noah grumbled as he turned the engine on and made his way towards the city in the distance.

Roughly half an hour later Noah was stuck in traffic… yes, traffic. However, this wasn’t the normal after school rush. The city’s hazy barrier was apparently still there, creating a distorting effect like heat on a desert road rather than hiding the entire city. “Vehicles” lined up along the road, while some looked similar to normal cars and trucks, others well… were completely alien, from hovering boats made of large mushrooms and moss, to futuristic hover crafts. And what was more surprising was the endless variety of interesting creatures occupying said crafts. One creature looked like a large toad, who was riding a cart tugged along by a hairless ant eater. Or that’s what Noah could only describe them as. Truth be told Noah was less terrified and more worried if he had been drugged and this was all a dream. Maybe this is what it feels like to go into shock?

After a few minutes of waiting, the traffic shrank, and Noah found himself at a sort of checkpoint. An alien which was strikingly similar to a humanoid Brachiosaurus manned a small booth, chewing on leaves from a packet plastered with branding.

“Welcome to Diamedius, are you returning or are you a first-time visitor?” The bored looking dinosaur man asked as he picked his nose. “Umm sorry I don’t know what’s going on, one day I was home and then the next there was a bright light and I found myself on the grass outside the city.” Noah responded, deliberately shortening the story. Finally, the man turned towards Noah, a brief expression of surprise appearing on his face.

“Ah ok, can you hand me your Void card? It’s that rectangular thing that has probably told you to come here, we are supposed to log any new species for the city database.” Noah handed over the card, the Dinosaur placing it into a machine. After a few minutes of talking to someone the dinosaur man turned back to Noah. “Umm please wait, this is above my paygrade, someone from the city government will come and explain everything to you.” The Dinosaur sputtered with a clearly nervous expression on his face. Noah sat in the car as the dinosaur man seemed to be making a call to someone. I wonder if he’s calling immigration? Noah wondered nervously.

A few minutes later, a luxurious and high-tech limousine could be seen driving towards the gate from past the checkpoint, stopping in front of Noah’s car. Noah looked to the Dinosaur for answers, but he just stood up, clearly stressed out at the arrival of whoever was in the limo. Jesus Christ what the hell is going on now? Noah complained as the door opened.

10 minutes earlier:

Mr Morris was working in his office, the pristine city scape spread out from the window behind his penthouse office. Suddenly his void card began to buzz, a high pitch ‘ringtone’ filling his office. “Yes?” Mr Morris responded, his paw tapping the card to answer the call.

“Sir we have received a report from the Northern gate that an unknown species has appeared.” A robotic voice responded

“Oh my how exciting! Can you tell me anything else?” Mr Morris’s face brightened up like a kid on Christmas. “Yes sir, the species bears similarities to the elves of Ms Eva’s world but with round ears. The clothing is dirty, but its quality indicates a fairly advanced society, likely in the information age of development. According to the void card, its name is Noah Valentine.” Interesting, maybe it’s a variety of elf? Well, we haven’t seen a new species for a long time so this may prove to be very profitable. Mr Morris mused to himself as he jumped down off his cushion and onto the floor. “Natasha, please prepare a car for me to meet this new species.”

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

Noah stared at the scene in front of him. While he was yet to freak out at all the weird things that are happening, this situation almost caused the Dam to break. A dog wearing a suit and top hat casually walked out of the limo… on two feet. While he had seen people like the humanoid dinosaur from the gate, this guy looked identical to a white and brown jack Russel.

The only thing anatomically different from man’s best friend was the front paws were more like furry hands. “Hello there young… man? You may call me Mr Morris, I understand you may be confused by what you have seen, but if you would come with me, I may be able to answer your questions.” The dog stated politely, an air of age and intelligence in his voice.

Noah hesitated for a moment before relenting, placing the car back into the card and walking towards the limo ,side by side with the small dog. Well, he seems to be a big shot around here I may as well follow along for now, though I doubt I have a choice...

As the two rode the luxurious limousine along the wide highway towards the almost futuristic looking city, Mr Morris turned to face Noah. “So which question would you like me to answer first?” The dog asked politely. Noah jumped, awoken from his trance as he turned away from the cars window. “Where am I? And can I go home?” He asked nervously, anxiety beginning to creep in now that he had some time to relax. “The answer to your second question is yes, you can come and go between here and your home world whenever you wish.” Mr Morris stated, two paw fingers raised.

“The first question is a bit more complex so I will answer it when we arrive… which will be in a few minutes.” Just as Mr Morris had said, they soon arrived in front of an impossibly tall building, dwarfing buildings like the Burj Khalifa Noah had seen in photos. A brilliant opal like tint on the windows that covered the entirety of the building, the suns’ rays reflecting off the surface giving the building an ethereal glow.

Noah stared in awe as he stepped out of the car, his neck stretching as he attempted to view the whole building up close. “Come now, let us go to my office. Natasha, please prepare some clean clothing for Mr Valentine.” As they entered the building through automatic gates, Noah marvelled again at the interior. Polished marble flooring with supporting pillars decorated with intricate golden patterns. Large pieces of art decorated the lobby with one piece catching Noah’s eye. Huh, cats playing poker. Noah smiled, amused at the similarity between a famous painting from his own world.

Looking out through the lobby, many ‘people’ could be seen walking around, all different species. Another thing that confused Noah was how the space inside seemed to be significantly larger than what should be possible, stretching out like a mall. Having noticed Noah’s confusion Mr Morris began explaining. “Ah yes people who see it for the first time do get confused, the ability to extend space in one’s domain is a purchasable ability, utilising void credits.” Oh, like those things that I spent to heal myself when ‘that man’ almost killed me.

Soon the two entered an elevator, where Mr Morris scanned his void card against a panel on the side, sending the elevator up. A few seconds later, light burst into the elevator causing Noah to turn around. The elevator had turned transparent allowing a full 360-degree view of the brilliant futuristic city. The view expanding as the elevator continued to climb. Noah was so busy staring out the window he forgot to question how he could see outside, considering the elevator shaft was positioned in the centre of the lobby. Mr Morris chuckled at the sight, a warm smile on his expressive canine face. A few minutes later the ride came to an end, the two exiting into a modestly decorated yet comfortable office. A desk with a doggy bed on top of it stood in front of a large semicircular window, the bustling city outside.

“My assistant Natasha has prepared a fresh set of clothing, feel free to clean yourself up in the bathroom next door” Mr Morris gestured to a side room, a short woman with silver hair and wolf ears standing outside. Noah entered to find a beautiful bathroom, its aesthetic mirroring the first-floor lobby. Taking off his shirt, Noah touched his abdomen where just an hour or so ago he was bleeding out from. So much is happening that I can’t keep up. But I’m not in any immediate danger and right now I need information. I can relax later. Although on the surface Noah seemed to be taking his situation rather well, on the inside it was chaos. However, Noah was well versed in supressing his emotions in order to get through tough times, this one wasn’t any different in his eyes.

Emerging from the bathroom in new clothing, a dark red two-piece suit with a black under shirt and black shoes. Noah’s dark blonde hair combed and styled and a tired look in his turquoise eyes. “Oh, you clean up well don’t you? Though you could do with a little more fur.” Mr Morris chuckled, his tail swaying from side to side. “How does it feel?” Noah turned to his side to see the robotic secretary standing there, a smug look on her face, obviously proud of her handywork. “haah, well I must admit it does look nice and this fabric feels incredible, how much do I owe you? Do I pay you in those void credit things?”

Mr Morris tilted his head, Oh this one is rather quick on the uptake isn’t he. “No matter, think of it as a gift and welcoming present to my domain.” Mr Morris waved his paw brushing the matter to the side.

“Come sit down, it’s hard to find seating that suits all species, so most of the time we use those.” Mr Morris gestured to Noahs’ right where a large fluffy bean bag made its presence known. “Sure…” Noah flopped down onto the surprisingly comfortable bag. “It’s filled with a gel from a slime race, it’s very good for naps. That race is undervalued in my opinion” Mr Morris chimed in.

“Anyway, let’s get started shall we. To answer your first question from before, this place is what’s known as the Void.” Mr Morris gestured to the outside with his paws. “The Void, as far as we know, exists as a sort of hub between worlds, a plain of reality separate from your own and which connects your world to others.” Mr Morris pauses to let Noah absorb everything.

“The card you have has many functions including storage, credit account, Translation, communication, navigation and most importantly trading. There are millions of sentient species that exist within the void and each come from different worlds. Some species like to trade technology, others decide to work in businesses here to earn credits to spend on their own. There are many cultures with varying values out there.”

Mr Morris paused again, prompting Noah to ask, “So how did you expand the space of your building? Did you buy the technology from another species?” Mr Morris smiled, happy to see Noah engaging in the conversation. “No, that is a separate system known as Void domains. Every being within the void is allocated a domain where they can upgrade it using the system, spending credits to do so. You can get directions to your domain via your card later. If you look outside every building large and small represents a species domain.”

Huh that’s pretty neat, I’ve always wanted my own house, Noah though to himself.

“Ok so how do you get credits? I mean they have to come from somewhere. Is there a Government that distributes the currency?” Mr Morris chuckled again. “Well sort of, the system acts as a form of Government and it allows one to trade their planets assets on the virtual market. You see this is only one city, Diamedius city. There are many cities, large and small and they’re all far away so direct trading is inefficient. With the void card you can trade your worlds assets to other species, gaining credits based on how much they are valued in the world you sold them too, usually you work out a percentage cut. When you bring in technology from other worlds into your world, you are also rewarded by the system depending on how well they perform in your local economy, with a percentage going to the person you got it from which can be negotiated.” A high pitch noise rung out through the office causing Mr Morris to pause his exposition. He took his card out, placing it against his ear nodding his head to whoever he’s talking to.

“I’m sorry about this, but I have some business to attend to, it will be night soon, so for now please stay in one of the guest suites for the night and tomorrow we can continue where we left off.” Morris stated abruptly. “Oh sure…” Noah nodded his head, rising out of the comfy ‘slime’ bag and following Natasha out of the room.

Mr Morris sat back down, a serious expression on his face. “So, you’re saying the boundary expanded by how much?” His voice sounded serious and yet excited at the same time. Whenever a new species joined the void, the entire realm expands and would continue to do so as worlds advance. As the boundary expands, openings to new worlds form, bringing in new possibilities but also new dangers. “From the last checkpoint it has moved 20cm. The anomaly this time is that the boundary is expanding at a constant rate over time rather than a single chunk. At the current rate, after a standard year the boundary would move by approximately 1.75km.” The voice replied seriously.

Mr Morris sat in silence for a moment. On one hand this was a blessing, as when the void expanded, not only did the system grant bonus functions to citizens like the domain system, but it also allowed new worlds with new resources to join the Void. However not all beyond the boundary was safe.

Usually, species could only visit another world via invitation, however as the void expanded, so did the number of breaches, allowing mutated energy beings known as shades to invade other worlds. Shades, being a semi sentient form of energy, can cause catastrophic damage to civilisations by syphoning off energy from natural phenomenon, leaving planets an empty husk of their former selves. “Well let’s just keep an eye on the situation, I’ll contact the leaders of other cities and discuss the situation with them, I’m sure I’ll get an earful from that perverted old dwarf but that’s just life.” Mr Morris hung up the call with a sigh, rolling onto his side and stretching his four legs out. Well, I suppose it can’t be all fun and games, but things sure are about to get interesting.