“Yeah, that sounds about right, more or less,” Sheila opined, looking at Kai with gleaming eyes. “Though there is a bit of miscellanea you missed, but it doesn’t matter too much!”

“Is it normal for people to forget everything about the day they show up here?” asked Kai, as he looked at her worriedly. “Because it really feels like it shouldn’t be.”

“That’s the funny thing,” the rainbow-haired woman dramatically sighed. “It shouldn’t be, but here we are. Even our best doctors and healers can’t find anything wrong with newcomers.”

“I mean, I doubt they would. It’s all up here, isn’t it?” asked Kai, pointing at his head. “And there isn’t exactly much you can do except take an MRI and do a before and after.”

“You’d be surprised, Kai!” exclaimed Sheila, lighting up again. “We’ve gotten pretty far by mixing modern medicine from Earth with magical healing! Our trauma teams can put just about anyone together as long as most of the pieces are still in place, and even in the worst case scenario, it’s still a 50-50!”

Trauma team, trauma team? Trauma team! Kai held his head as the phrase triggered even more memories to flood back into his mind.

“Well Kai, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” exclaimed Artyom as he stood in King Reginald’s pindrop silent throne room. “Let’s head back to headquarters and I’ll give you the grand tour.”

Before either of them could take more than a single step towards the closest swirling portal, a tense feminine voice spoke up from above them. “Wait! Your magic, it was beyond anything I’ve ever seen! Please, let me join you as well!”

The two turned around to see a woman in blue flowing robes, the court mage, quickly descend the staircase towards them. Several of TOAL’s own soldiers readied to attack, but Artyom held out his hand to signal them to hold.

“What?!” shouted King Reginald. “Today I’ve been insulted more than I have in my entire life, but treason is where I draw the line!”

Artyom passed judging eyes over her pleading face, and then to Reggie who was now as red as a tomato. Even Kai had to admit that it was amusing to witness such an expression on the king as he wrestled with the magical spear still pinning him to his throne.

After a brief chuckle at the sight, Artyom gave his answer. “Eh… no.”

The court mage’s eyes turned fearful. “But surely you could use more help with your league?” she began to plead. The teen saw mortal fear gripping her tightly as she tossed away whatever pride she held. “I’ve graduated at the top of my class at the mage’s guild, been on numerous raids against our enemy, and I’m the top magic user in the entire kingdom!”

“That education isn’t any good if half of what they taught you is of no use. Unlike on Earth, a fancy diploma alone isn’t going to cut it. Besides, the call was for Earthers, since you know, the organization is for helping other people from Earth?”

The court mage’s expression fell even further, into one of utter despair. If only…

“Actually, the R&D team could use her,” interrupted Abhi in a distracted tone. “We haven’t fully documented all of the magic available in this world yet, and she could help with that. Not to mention whatever insider knowledge she has on the region that could help us find the other Earthers.”

“Whatever, you can take her with you. But keep her magic nullified, I don’t trust her or anyone else in this place,” replied Artyom with a sneer, followed by a glare at Reggie and the surrendered guards.

“Wait, other Earthers?” asked Kai.

“Oh yeah, you and the others here got lucky,” replied Artyom with a scowl. “Apparently, Reggie’s rival actually beat him to the punch and summoned his own little army a week ago.”

“And by the time we found out about it, they were already deployed to the front lines,” lamented Abhi. “That was before they escaped and went on the run, so now we have to find them wherever they might be hiding in this god forsaken place.”

“I see,” said Kai, trailing on. So it did seem that there was someone who had the guts to make a run for it. Completely unlike him.

Oblivious to the conversation, the court mage quickly rushed over to Abhi, ready to throw herself at his feet in gratitude. But instead, he simply asked her to walk slowly and soon began to make casual chit-chat with the robed woman.

“Right, so as I was saying, how about if we take a tour of headquarters?” asked Artyom, getting back to the young man in front of him.

“But what about the other kids from Earth?” asked Kai.

“I might be multi-disciplined, but we’ve got better trackers than me already trying to sniff them out. So unless they need a military general or a support specialist, I won’t be of much help. So come on, there’s a whole new world that awaits you just through the portal!” He held out his hands and shook his fingers as if imaginary sparkles were being shot out of them.

Kai couldn’t help but chuckle in response, and with his concerns sufficiently placated, he followed the strange man through the swirling hole in space.

On the other side of the tear was a small, dull metallic room. A complete contrast from the ostentatious chamber they’d just come from. The only particularly noteworthy details were several lines and footprints marked on the ground in yellow paint, and an alcove filled with several soldiers in heavy body armor and assault rifles aimed at the two…

Kai flinched and froze in place as he stared at the firing squad. He would’ve dived behind cover, but the soldiers were positioned such that there would be no hiding from their lines of sight. Kai reigned in his fear long enough to turn around and make a break for the portal, but was stopped by a strong arm.

“Woah, hold on there, Kai!” said Artyom in a calming tone while barely holding the boy in place, the way one would soothe a bucking horse. “These folks are friendly!”

“Hello, Artyom,” replied the lead soldier in a thick German accent, his gun still aimed at the duo. “And I see we have a guest! Please walk to the yellow square and face forward.”

“Just a hello?” pouted Artyom. “Aww Frederik, you’re too friendly. Hello to you too!”

“We can have smalltalk after you are both confirmed to be who you say you are,” replied Frederik in a total deadpan. “In the meantime, please step up to the yellow squares.”

“Alright, fine,” sighed Artyom before walking up to the first of the specified markings. “Sorry about him, Kai. Apparently life here at TOAL proved to be too exciting for Frederik compared to where he was first sent, so he has to balance it out with the ever-boring portal security detail. Seriously, nobody unauthorized ever comes through here, so it’s mostly just him standing around and asking us agents the same questions over and over again.”

“Wait, first sent?” asked the young man with a confused look. “What do you mean by that?”

“Right, you’re a rare case,” replied Artyom. “Most of us were also dragged from our homes back on Earth through a portal to fight some kind of vaguely terrible evil. Though unlike you, we had to go on whatever quest we were summoned for, whether it was legitimate or a ruse. Like with what Reggie back there set up for you all.”

“So I missed out on the adventure, huh?” asked Kai with a sigh, his lips falling into a frown.

“You missed out what would’ve been the worst years of your life, if that’s what you’re asking,” replied the half-asian man with a playfully lecturing glare. “But you’re not the only one, take Frederik here! Despite being an adventurer, he was always stuck on army bases assigned guard duty or organizing supplies instead of doing any actual adventuring! That’s why all he does now also happens to be guard duty.”

The soldier scoffed in reply, but Kai could see an upward curve of his lips and teeth beneath his long, fuzzy moustache.

Kai showed a small smile himself as he slowly followed Artyom’s lead and took his place in a marked square next to his savior’s.

“My name is Artyom Choi, Captain of the Terran Defense Force of TOAL and member of the Executive Council.” As the scarred man completed his statement, a light to the side of the room flashed green, and a hidden nozzle sprayed him with an odorous liquid dispersed into a fine mist.

“Uh…”

“Simply state your name and where you are from, the truth spell will determine the veracity of your statement,” Frederick helpfully stated. “Just please don’t lie, it will make all of our lives less pleasant.”

“In that case, I’m Kai Freeman, from New Jersey. Uh, on Earth. I’m a senior at Walkerman highschool and showed up in a portal a few minutes ago. Also I had some school pizza for lunch, or at least what my school calls pizza, it’s the farthest thing from it, honestly. I mean, the cardboard crust and plastic cheese-”

“Woah there, Kai!” exclaimed Artyom. “You don’t have to go into that much detail! Just your name and where you’re from is enough.”

“Oh, sorry!” He apologized. “Uh, my name is Kai Freeman and I’m from-”

The light lit up green while the young man was still mid-sentence. While that didn’t stop his repeat performance, the consequent spray of liquid from a second nozzle getting into his mouth did.

“Blech, wlaah, ugh! What the hell is this stuff?!” Kai wretched as he tried to spit as much of it out as he could.

“Disinfectant,” replied Frederik matter of factly. “To make sure we don’t bring any germs from anywhere we’re deployed. Sure, it won’t do anything if you’re already sick, but it’s just a precautionary measure. Gives our doctors less work.”

“And there’s the Frederik I know!” chuckled Artyom as he regarded the soldier as if he were a long-time friend. Probably because he was.

“Of course! I simply didn’t want to waste my time on an imposter! So it looks like our visitor is from Earth, no? Where else would he be from if you were treating him so well.”

“That’s right!” replied Artyom. “Fresh from the portal, in fact, as he said. He didn’t want to go back to Earth, so he’s going to be our guest for the foreseeable future. Hoping we can find him a new home on some Fairytale World or maybe even here?”

“Really, now? In that case Kai, I welcome you to TOAL and the multiverse at large,” said Frederik with a smiling yet somber nod. “Whatever life you lived back home, I guarantee that before long you’ll consider it downright boring compared to what we have in store for you here.”

“Uh, thanks,” replied Kai with a curt head bob of his own.

“No worries,” chuckled the soldier. “Before long, I bet you’re going to want my position as well! Here, let me open the door.”

With a press of a button, the metal gate in front of the duo quickly slid open, revealing a corridor covered in white plaster and fluorescent lights.

“Now we can finally begin that tour in earnest,” started Artyom.

Before he could continue the sentence, the group was interrupted by a shout coming from behind them. The two turned around to see a man in chainmail armor bleeding from his left arm. The newcomer’s right hand held a half-rusted sword pointed at the duo while his eyes screamed his hateful intentions.

“For King Reginald!!!” the bleeding man shouted before charging, sword raised in front of him. He didn’t make it two steps.

“Open fire!” shouted Frederik as soon as the battlecry left the anachronistic soldier’s lips. The German man and his compatriots were on the intruder in a heartbeat, showering him with a rain of explosive screams.

Lead pierced the man’s pot metal armor, leaving pink holes in the front and red stains oozing out the back. After 3 seconds of sustained fire, the intruder was dead. His eyes and lips remained open with the same rage he had in life, now sharing space with his dripping blood.

“Huh, guess I spoke too soon,” mumbled Artyom as he eased himself out of the shock of the ambush and subsequent firefight. “Sorry you had to see that, Kai. Now let’s… Kai? Where'd you go?”