The two made their way down a metal corridor, their footsteps echoing on the walls. They’d stopped by the cafeteria to get something to calm their nerves after the ambush from one of King Reggie’s guards and the consequent firefight. Kai clutched his porcelain mug of hot chocolate close to his chest, letting its warmth melt away at the tension he still felt. Artyom held an empty cup to his side while attempting to lick the milk moustache from his clean-shaven face.

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t know where to even begin asking questions,” said Kai, having considerably calmed down. “I mean, what’s with all of that terminology you were throwing around like “Gilded” and “Fairytale”, why did the people in that room have guns but you only brought spears, and what even is this Defense League?”

“Defense Force,” corrected Artyom. “The Advocacy League is the parent organization, the Defense Force is who we give the pointy sticks to. And it’s surprising you asked that last question but begged me to join anyway.”

Kai gave him a somewhat annoyed glare. “I already answered that. And speaking of me joining, why are you just letting me walk around this place with just you? What if I just ran right now and started breaking anything I found? Or tried to sucker punch you when you were looking away?”

“Try it,” replied Artyom.

For a second, Kai actually considered doing so, or at least what the outcome of doing so would be. He balled his right hand into a fist and tightened the muscles in his arm to see if Artyom would flinch, but instead a wave of nausea and confusion ran through him, forcing him to uncurl his hand.

“That’s why,” said Artyom. “But besides that, I’ve gotten good at getting a read of people, and you seem like a good kid. We just need to iron out some of your kinks.”

Kai took a labored breath to calm himself down, but was able to push the feeling off of him.

“See, you were even able to recover from my disorientation aura in a few seconds! Most people take minutes to get over that.”

“Thanks, I guess. You have to keep a calm head where I’m from or else you’ll end up dead.”

“And that’s one of the kinks I was talking about. I mean, I admire your inner strength, but seriously dude. Nobody should have to go through whatever made you that way. It can be destructive to more innocent Worlds if combined with great power, or so I’m told.”

“Uh, thanks again I guess,” was all Kai could manage. So about my other questions?

“Oh that’s right! Sorry for getting distracted,” apologized Artyom. “So first why we operated the way we did back there. Of all of the Worlds we interact with and have borrowed from, not every one of them is fantasy. We don’t want to accidentally leave any ideas behind for the locals of a medieval society that’ll teach them to blow themselves up. That doesn’t mean we take any risks either, as you saw from our specialty armor and weapons. Heatscar spiders are from a completely different world, which can be pretty inhospitable at times with its insane climates. I mentioned earlier that their silk has amazing properties, so we’ve set up a little spider silk farm in their home dimension and used the output to weave the armor we used today. We wanted to introduce them to our on-base farms, but half of our members threatened to riot if we even considered bringing magical spiders aboard!”

Kai let out a little laugh at that. But he would probably freak out if his sister wanted to bring home a pet tarantula, so he could sympathize.

“Where was I?” continued Artyom. “That’s right, operations. We had several spies positioned through the kingdom and that World to gather intel, and we were able to find out the types of magic available there, as well as what kind of defenses that stupid King employs. All blunt weapons and fire spells, so this armor was perfect!”

“But didn’t his guards have swords?” asked Kai.

“Yeah, but they were so dull, they were practically metal sticks!” laughed Artyom. The duo walked past an open doorway to a room full of men and women in bleached white lab coats and goggles overlooking a diagram on a table covered with runes that Kai recognized as being very similar to the ones in the ritual circle that summoned him. There were some metal instruments hanging above the diagram that looked like it was measuring something.

“Hey guys!” shouted Artyom at the supposed scientists. “Mission was a success and we’ve got a new member!”

The scientists all waved back. “Is he going to be joining us?” asked one of them.

“Probably not, he’s still in high school. And he seems to be the more adventurous sort,” replied Artyom.

“Damn Defense Force and your priority recruitment,” started one of the other scientists in a joking tone. “Why can’t we get first pick for once?”

“Because almost everyone joins the other departments! For most people, one adventure is enough for a lifetime, so this is to make up for it. But don’t worry, we found something that’ll cheer you all up. A runic summoning circle with only level 5 degradation!”

All of the scientists perked up at the news. “Keep bribing us like that and we won’t hold your priority recruitment against you!” joked the first scientist.

The duo continued down the halls, turning at various intersections and sometimes consulting signage on where to go next.

“I’ve lived here for years, but I can never seem to remember where anything is,” said Artyom. “But that’s what happens when I don’t actually spend much time living here. I’m usually on some kind of mission or another. Looks like we’re almost to our destination, that’s where I’ll drop you off for your orientation. I’m sure Frederik has already called ahead to let them know you’re coming.”

“That’s great, but you still haven’t told me about all of that terminology you were using back then. Like something to do with different Worlds?” asked Kai.

“I’m going to be honest, you’ll get a better picture of everything at orientation. They even have these colorful posters that spell everything out for you! Most of my descriptions would be downright miserable, and I might even bring up Carnicula.” Artyom shivered at that last word, pronounced like carni-cool-uh instead of sounding it out like a synonym for vampiric clown. “Hot tip, don’t ask about Carnicula until you’ve been here a while, and especially don’t ask any veterans.”

“You can’t expect me to not ask after that,” replied Kai.

“Oh no, I should’ve thought of that before implanting the idea in your head! Also, don’t ask about idea implantation either. Anyway, it looks like we’re here!”

The two arrived at a door to a large, colorful room. The walls were a nice tan color and lined with colorful posters. Fluorescent bulbs lit up the room in a bright light, reminiscent of classrooms. Inside were several people, some of them talking to each other and others silently reading from books or tablets. They all turned over to look at Artyom and Kai as they entered the room.

“Hi everyone, here’s our newest recruit, Kai Freeman!” said Artyom, introducing Kai for the third time. “Hannah, I’ll hand him over to you now. Make sure he calls you Ms. Neal, since he’s still in high school, or so he says.”

“Thanks Artyom, I’ll make sure to take good care of him,” replied one of the people in the room. She was in her late 20s or early 30s and had brown hair, but despite her apparent youth she gave off a strong air of authority, making Kai almost snap to attention when she faced him.

“Welcome to TOAL, Kai. My name is Hannah Neal, but you can call me Ms. Neal. That’s non-negotiable.” Kai nodded in response. “I’m in charge of bringing new recruits up to speed with the organization, and helping them find their place. There are lots of departments, and neither of us know enough to find the best one for you yet.”

“It’s going to be the defense force,” interrupted Artyom. “But before that, it’ll be therapy.”

“I think Kai and I will be the judge of that,” replied Hannah. “Even if I deem it best you visit one of our on-site therapists, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Even Artyom here’s visited them on plenty of occasions, especially with the type of work he does.”

“And especially after Carnicula!” added Artyom. Several of the people in the room, especially those who were grizzled and scarred, glared at Artyom. “And that would be my cue! See you later, Kai! I probably have another mission waiting for me.”

“See you later, Artyom,” said Kai. “And… Thanks again for bringing me here. This place is already better than where I came from.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Artyom, facing back towards Kai. “And as I said, therapy. It’ll do you good.” Artyom made his way to his own destiny.