The voice Alistair heard sounded weak and strained, as if the very act of speaking was a draining process. His mind reeled as he had not actually expected to meet anyone anytime soon, at the very least not while he remained trapped in this ominous place.

  “Is someone there?” He called out hesitantly yet firmly hoping to get a response, but also afraid of one at the same time.

  “Who are you?” the same weak distorted voice repeated. Its distorted voice reminded him of a corrupted Siri he once heard on his friend Niles phone.

  Rising to his feet, he couldn’t stop from grimacing at the pain that moving produced from agitating his side. His gut wanted him to treat whoever he was hearing as a possible hostile, but even in the dark he could tell the wound was bad. He pushed back the part of him that screamed to trust his training and resolved himself to take whatever help he could get, even if it was from some odd, disembodied voice.

  “My name is Alistair; Alistair Grant and I apologize if I am not supposed to be here.” He called out, doing his best to look around the new room he was in, but it was even darker than the last one with none of those weird but welcome glowing mushrooms “To be honest, I’m not sure where here is.” he added while inching his way over in hopefully the right direction all while keeping his senses peeled for any sign of a trap or danger. There were a few moments of tense silence where the soft shuffle of his bare feet on the stone was the only sound he could hear being made.

  “You are in the scribe sector of the Geishik research facility, Mr. Grant” The voice eventually said to him, its speech changing in pitch constantly as it seemed to adjust to speaking in real time. However, there was a hint of pride and professionalism that the weakness and adjustment couldn’t cover for. “Tell me Mr. Grant, how did you get into that room?” it asked the curiosity heavy in its tone.

  By now Alistair had made his way far enough into the room he could make out a faint pulsing blue light ahead of him. While similar to the glow given off by the weird mushrooms, this was more of a greyish blue light and was pulsing regularly, almost like a heartbeat. He was not exactly pleased with making that connection but could only shake his head. With nothing else to go off, he adjusted his trajectory to head straight for the source of that pulsing light.

  “I climbed up into it from the room I woke up in” Alistair answered the voice, seeing no reason to lie and hoping to keep the person talking so he could perhaps find the source.

  “That should not be possible, Mr. Grant” the voice responded, its confusion evident in its tone.

  That last response allowed Alistair to see that the pattern of the pulsing lights had changed to pulse in time with the voice whenever it spoke. It took but a few more moments to find the source and he was fairly surprised to see a large glass-like orb resting on a complicated pedestal. The pedestal it sat on was odd as it gave the impression it was just a thick bundle of twisted cables all braided to take the shape of a pedestal. Each of the cables branched out onto the floor and spread out in every direction becoming smaller and more separated the farther out they went.

  The orb itself looked about the same size as a basketball and if Alistair wasn’t mistaken, appeared to be as smooth as a bowling ball. The entire thing was covered by shifting lines of light that made weird symbols that constantly moved and snaked around the surface in an unknown pattern. While the voice wasn’t speaking, those lines of symbols shifted almost lazily in a constant motion around the surface. Whenever it did speak, Alistair saw all the lines moved and jumped around erratically in time with the syllables of the words it spoke.

  As strange as the orb and its twisting cable like pedestal was, the contraption behind the two, just barely outside of the light the orb produced was even weirder. The only way he could describe something like it was an alien pod that would fit right at home in one of the many sci-fi movies he had watched. Alistair even noted that cables of an unknown design, yet similar to the ones that made up the pedestal, were attached to nearly every possible inch at the top and the bottom . Figuring he could ask questions about it once he was no longer bleeding out, he turned his attention back to the glowing talking orb.

  “Are you talking through this glass ball?” he asked and instantly realized how stupid that sounded once he spoke it out loud.

  There was a pause before the orb responded, “You awoke in one of the holding chambers?” the orb asked, more to itself than to Alistair and seemingly ignoring his own question. “Nothing has been held in those since the collapse, Mr. Grant” Its tone sounding more astonished than anything else, nearly pushing past its apparent exhaustion.

  “What collapse?” Alistair asked on a whim, only to frown when the orb seemed to ignore the question.

  “May I ask you some questions to confirm a theory, Mr. Grant?” the voice asked, not even attempting to hide its curiosity, but Alistair could tell something else was hidden in its tone that he wasn’t sure if it was concerning or not.

  “I have my own questions I would like answered,” Alistair replied, trying to not get irritated at the situation and taking a moment to breathe and think, “How about this, a question for an answer. We take turns asking questions and we agree to answer as honestly as we are capable of” He explained to the weird talking orb, all too aware of how crazy this entire scene would look to an outsider.

  “Those are acceptable terms” the orb answered after a moment of silence, “To show good faith, I will answer your earlier question. It would be more accurate, as well as simpler to say that I am the orb or at least it is where my spirit is located” The orb explained only to create more questions that Alistair wanted an answer too. What did it mean by its spirit was in the orb? Was he trapped in some weird purgatory hell where disembodied voices get trapped in crystal balls? As much as he wanted answers to those questions, he had more important ones to ask, when it was his turn.

  “How exactly did you wake up in that holding chamber?” the orb asked, breaking Alistair out of his train of thought.

  “Doubt you will believe me, but I don't know” he shrugged figuring there was not much for him to lose by being completely honest with this orb “I got ready for bed last night, or at least I think it was last night, anyways, I fell asleep fairly quick from how busy I was during the day, but instead of waking up to my alarm in the morning and still in very expensive bed, I woke up in a weird stone room completely naked and hairless.”

  Alistair watched the orb as best as he could wondering if perhaps there was anything he could gauge off of it as it seemingly hummed in contemplation, but soon gave up. Believing his answer was more than sufficient, he asked his next question, “What do you mean you are the orb?” He mentally slapped himself upon asking it as he had just told himself there were more important things to know at the moment, not to mention he doubted the orb even knew the answer.

  “My previous body was no longer fit for duty” The orb began to explain, the answer coming faster than Alistair expected it to “In order to save my spirit and allow me the honor of continuing to serve in my duties, my spirit was transferred to this security orb so that I may become the guardian will of this facility.”

  Alistair was beginning to doubt he was receiving anything beneficial from this line of question as so far all he had gained was more confusion. The more answers he was given, the more questions he had. As he waited for the orbs’ next question, he was contemplating the next one he would ask. His train of thought was beginning to shift back into a more militaristic approach as he started to imagine the kinds of questions he would have when occupying enemy territory.

  “Were there signs of intense heat surrounding where you awoke?” asked the orb, completely catching Alistair by surprise and based on its tone, he guessed it already knew the answer.

  His eyes narrowed in suspicion as alarm bells rang inside his head. How did this orb know about the signs of heat? A few options passed through his mind, such as whoever was controlling this orb was involved with him being here or perhaps, they know where here is. However as much as he felt distrusting of this voice, or orb, or whatever it was, it had the information he needed.

  “It did,” Alistair answered slowly after taking a few moments to collect his thoughts. “The stone around where I had woken up looked melted. It was one of the first things that clued me in that me being here wasn’t normal considering it was still warm, yet I was fine.”

  The orb answered with an almost static sigh, but didn’t speak to which Alistair did, “You know what happened to me” He stated almost accusingly. “Why am I here, what happened?!”

  Alistair stepped closer to the orb as his voice grew in volume, heat building up in his chest as some anger began to rise. Part of him wanted to grab the glowing thing and shake answers out of it but the tensing of his muscles around his chest and stomach sent a flare of pain from his side.

  “Ease your mind for I have your answers.” The orb spoke in a reassuring tone despite its broken-up speech. “You were the victim of an Aether veil reconstitution”

  Alistair’s anger completely faded away as he stared at the orb blankly. “Uh, what?”

  “An Aether Veil Reconstitution is when the veil between reality and entropy becomes thin and unstable to such a degree the two realms become tangled and mix together.” The Orb began “This tangle is resolved by the energies involved imploding throughout the affected area. This implosion, or as some scholars liked to describe it as a 4th dimensional supernova of Aether, creates enough force that it separates the two realms. This results in a vacuum of power and energy, the likes that nothing short of the Primordial's themselves could survive, but that vacuum allows the two realms to refill it and therefore reform the veil.”

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  Alistair stared dumbfounded unsure on what to feel or even think at the explanation. Yet he couldn’t help but feel like what the orb just described sounded oddly familiar, like he has heard something like that before. He let his memories unfold in order to try to figure it out, and it wasn’t long before he had his answer. One of the men that was part of his unit during his vastly extended deployment had been one of those nerdy types that joined for the assistance in college. He had a particular interest in space and Alistair believed he recalled some things he talked about.

  “So, like when matter and antimatter touch?” he asked hoping for some clarification

  “I am unfamiliar with that term” the orb responded, “To continue, when one of these events takes place, everything within the area is entirely annihilated, however when something with a living soul is within, the spirit is saved by Sol and brought here, to the prime world and granted a new body by Obyn.”

  “Wait, my body was annihilated?!” Alistair asked in astonishment mixed with worry as he glanced down at his hand “Are you saying I died?”

  “In a manner of speaking no, but also yes. Your spirit had been separated from your body due to physical destruction, however your spirit was collected by Sol instead of being claimed by Sha, allowing you to be restored. You are now what we have called in the past, a Reborn Traveler.”

  Alistair reeled at the fact he had died, and not by normal means either. If this orb was correct, he had died from the universe literally collapsing on itself around him. However, if he had to be honest, he wasn’t freaking out as much as one would expect from that sort of news. The pain in his side was all too real for him to think he was still dead and in hell or something. Not to mention with everything that he had done in his life, the risks he had taken, it was nothing short of a miracle he had lived for as long as he has.

  Taking a few moments to reassure himself that he wasn’t dead, and just overall collecting his thoughts, he focused on a few parts of the orbs' explanation. The only issue was that even those small sections only created more questions, and he had to figure out which ones to ask now. Some of the topics that he needed answers to involved where exactly he was, and even though the orb had said something about a facility, it had also mentioned something called the Prime world or whatever that meant. Secondly, the orb had mentioned three separate names, Sol, Obyn, and Sha, people who were directly involved with everything that had happened recently.

  “When you said I was brought to this Prime world, does that mean I am no longer on Earth?” He asked unsure of what he wanted the answer to be

  “Am I correct to assume that Earth is what your people have named your home world?” the orb asked to which Alistair nodded. “It is as you said, you are no longer on Earth, you are on Primus, the original world.”

  Alistair had to let out a long breath at the confirmation and take a moment to figure out how he felt about that. On one hand he did still have family back home, his mother was still around as well as his sister who had just started college. The idea of never being able to see them again sent a pang of sadness in his chest, a grimace crossing his features. On the other hand however, despite the major downside, he was in an entirely new world, something that a countless number of stories have described as the perfect second chance.

  “Do you wish to see yourself return to your home world?” the orb asked, catching him off guard.

  He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again and thought about the question in earnest. Of course there was his mother and sister at home, two people he no doubt would want to see again. There were also his friends, and while that list wasn’t too terribly long, they were still people who would enjoy to see again. But, this was an entirely new world to him that contained a literal world's worth of new sights and experiences. Yes he would like to go home at some point, he had no doubt within a few days his family and friends would start to worry about him when he didn’t respond to any messages or answer any calls. But that was all something he could apologies for later when he returns from a fantasy world and a completely healed body.

  Nodding to himself first, he looked back up to the orb and gave it his answer, “Yes I would like to return, but for right now, I want to see this new world. I want to experience everything I can here that is new whether that would be riding on a strange animal, talking to an entirely different species or even learning new history. My life for the past few years was nothing but a struggle. Now I can actually move and walk around without needing to hold onto a wall or cane, that is something I want to take full advantage of and explore what I can.”

  “That is admirable” The orb hummed in satisfaction, “I imagine I would choose a similar path if presented with the same situation.”

  A thought struck Alistair, “I can just take you with me” he declared, a noise that could only be described as surprise coming from the orb. “By the way this place looks like you have been down here awhile, yeah? Surely the world has changed in all that time, so just like me you will get to see something entirely new”

  “I…I am not sure” the orb hesitated, “I have been here for…a very long time, young Alistair Grant. So long that the systems used to keep track of time ceased to function some time ago. I have long since given up any hope of leaving” the orb paused for a long moment, “I am hesitant to gain any source of hope on escape in fear it will not succeed. If that were to happen, all I could do would be to beg for death.”

  Alistair paused at that statement as he processed the words the orb had spoken. For one he had no doubt it was telling the truth about being stuck down here for a while if he were to take in consideration how ancient the place looked. However, when it came to the hope of escaping, he knew that was both true but also a lie to itself. This was unfortunately not the first time he had dealt with an individual who had been a prisoner, and definitely not the first one who believed they held no chance for escape. If he wanted to gain the assistance of whatever this was, he needed to convince it to put forth the effort, to regain its will to will. If he couldn't, they would both die down here.

  “How long have you been down here?” He asked in a more authoritative tone while straightening his posture.

  The orb was silent for a long moment, “My chronometer ceased to function 4398 years after the collapse. My best estimates put that somewhere from 1500 to 3000 years ago.”

  Alistair nearly stumbled and fell at hearing those numbers but managed to maintain his composure and nodded at the orb. With the numbers that big, perhaps his plan had a higher chance of working.

  “In all those years, what do you think are the chances your people are still around?” he asked mentally flinching at how harsh the question was but pushing on.

  “Unlikely” the orb responded in a soft voice after a brief pause

  “What are the chances you are what remains of your people, what remains of their memory, their legacy, their knowledge?” he asked rapid fire, his voice climbing in intensity. If he understood what the orb had said earlier about continuing its service when its body failed, that meant there was a chance it was a soldier. He knew how to talk to soldiers.

  “The chances that I am what remains, are high” It said starting to sound annoyed, “I don't understand the point of such questions”

  “What are the chances that something, whether it be a new empire or some simple villages and towns, popped up and are out there now, even if they are not directly your people?” He continued brushing aside its statement.

  Once again it was silent for a long moment, as if doing some mental math. “Chances of civilizations manifesting from the ashes of mine…is more than likely” it reluctantly admitted

  “Then why are you so willing to give up?” he demanded, perhaps a little harsher than intended but he knew this was the direction he needed to take this conversation.

  “I must ask the point of all this” it said frustrated

  “Why are you willing to give up?” Alistair repeated, “If you are what remains, if you alone hold the bulk of your people’s knowledge, then why are you willing to give up and let it all fade away? Why are you willing to let the memory of your people die out when you alone can be what keeps them alive?”

  There was a long pause, a tense silence as the orb gently pulsed in a soft steady rhythm. Sensing that he was on the edge of the breakthrough Alistair kept going, “There is nothing selfish about wanting to live, about wanting to survive and carry out your own legacy, I am a perfect example. I want to live; I want to get out of this hole in the ground and explore and see this new world. But we both know deep down that I will probably die soon on my own. We also both know that you will die soon, on your own. We both want to live, want to carry on, me so I can see the wonders this world has to offer, you so the memory of your people can live on. The only way that can happen is if we work together.”

  As he spoke, the orb had begun to pulse faster and faster, the intensity only growing the longer he spoke. He knew what he was saying was affecting the orb in some way, and he could only hope it was for the better. All at once, everything stopped, the light grew dim, the pulsing faded to normal, and the orb spoke up sounding more alive than ever.

  “You are correct Alistair Grant” It said, its tone full of vigor and enthusiasm, “If I wish to see my people live on, I must push forward. I must strive to live, and I will need your help in doing so”

  Alistair couldn’t keep the grin from his face but had to catch himself when he stumbled, his head feeling woozy and light. He immediately knew what was happening and grimaced as he looked down to see the dark stain down his side had grown. He was running out of time, if there was something here that could keep him from bleeding out, he needed it soon.

  “It good that you are feeling better, but we need to hurry with whatever it is we can do” he said through deep breathes, “I don't have much longer before I bleed out”

  “Understood Mr. Grant. Fortunately, there is something here I believe will work to save us both.” The orb answered before there was a small hum of power and a few lights lit up on the large alien pod looking thing.

  “Please tell them that's some kind of recovery pod or something” he said with a raised eyebrow

  “No Mr. Grant, this is, was, the pride and joy of section lead Darius Rykker. He was a specialist in both runic and summoning magic and built this prototype as the culmination of his work” The orb said in obvious respect

  “Did you say prototype?”

  “The S.R.H.B, or Summoners Runic Housing Beacon, was designed with the intention of allowing a summoner to house summoned beings within their very souls in the form of the S.M.H, the Summoners Mobius Helix.”

  Alistair was already lost but decided it was best to just let the magical talking spirit orb explain how the alien pod let someone put other magical beings inside someone's soul. On second thought maybe he should start asking some questions but the Orb kept going.

  “If we utilize the S.R.H.B, it should allow you to draw me out of my current vessel to be housed within you and in theory, become a summon Mr. Grant”

  “In theory?” he asked skeptically

  “This was still a prototype even at the peak of my civilizations research Mr. Grant.” Came the almost condescending reply.

  “Fair enough” he sighed then turned to face the pod, “Lets fucking do this”