0655 June 15th, 2020 CE

0627 Sun 45th, 196 AE

Elven Nation

“Mr. President, the Americans have begun their general withdrawal. There are still contingents of American soldiers present for security reasons.”

Afalen smiled a bit. “What is the current state of our military?”

“About 10,000 strong, sir. Armed mostly with small arms. We have a few magipanzers. Barely a company. We have no Air Force or Navy to speak of.”

“I think that's good enough. I’m shrinking the military budget and redirecting the funds to rebuilding efforts. Give me the agriculture minister’s update on the food situation.”

“We just need half of the amount of pre-war farmland to feed our population so we should have more than enough.”

“Good. I’m glad they started running again. What’s next on my agenda for today?”

“Sir, you still have a meeting in the afternoon with the American diplomat to discuss how the Americans wish for how the Elven government should be restructured.”

“Duly noted, Athtar.”

Afalen started looking through a bunch of reports and briefs. Anfalen didn’t know how long it was but a knock soon came on the door which he answered. Saelihn popped her head in. “Anfalen, lunch is about ready. Athtar, join us too. We are having Petren fish cooked with saltnut sauce.”

Walking the hallways of his office/home, Anfalen looked at Saelihn and sighed. “We have a long road ahead of us don’t we, Saelihn.”

“Yes, we do, Anfalen, yes we do.”

Washington D.C.

>>

Ronell turned off the TV and drank a sip of water. “This has got to be the strangest thing a President has ever experienced. Fucking elves.”

Magus Imperium

“This is not true pure magic.”

On his throne, Arstant looked upset at his magi researchers. “Then what is true pure magic? Their ammunition doesn't even consist of metal.”

“But it requires a vehicle to fire from.”

Arstant shook his head. He looked up at the ceiling of his castle while thinking about what kind of crazy idiots he had hired. “We don’t even use magic as ammunition. We use metal for ammunition. I don’t understand what you are trying to do.”

“We are aiming to not even need the vehicle to fire from. Pure and true magic. Have we not told your majesty? This is the true pursuit of our institution. To do away with using anything mechanical and to embrace magic as human’s true future.”

“Our empire accepts both magic and the mechanical and has accepted them both since our founding. I see no reason to embrace only magic.”

“Of course. Of course. We will not persecute those who embrace machines but this will be a magic revolution, your majesty.”

“Do you have anything to show for it then?”

“Of course!”

A few hours later

A testing ground somewhere in the Magus Imperium

The Emperor, multiple magi researchers, and members of the military crowded together on a field and looked towards the sky. A single wyvern flew about.

The wyvern suddenly sped up to incredible speeds. The Emperor widened his eyes in amazement. Then the wyvern then suddenly slowed down to regular speed. One of the magi researchers nodded. “And that is an example of ‘enhancement’ magic we are developing.”

“How fast was that?”

“That should have been about 650 mph. Much faster than an elven jet aircraft.”

“Why did it slow down so fast?”

“Well, this is why we haven’t shown it to you yet. It's not perfect. We will still need to find a way to extend it beyond a few mere seconds. We are making progress.”

Arstant frowned. “But aren’t the Americans much faster and their high speeds can be maintained?”

“Your majesty, I understand that they have amazing mechanical technology but our Empire has had its roots in magic. Our Empire was founded on the basis of protecting users of magic. To switch focus onto just mechanical technology in pursuit of the Americans would be a mistake because we will never see or find out the potential of magical technology.”

0720 June 15th, 2020 CE

Fremont, California

“Luke Fuller!” His mom bellowed from the floor below. “Wake up or you are going to be late for school!”

Luke jolted awake and sat in his bed blinking. He looked at his clock. 8:05. “I’m coming! GImme a sec!”

Rushing downstairs after brushing his teeth and slinging his backpack on his back, his mom greeted him. His golden hair was still wet from the water he splashed on his face. “Your dad is already off to work. It's 7:25. You are going to miss the bus.”

He slid into his seat at the table after setting his backpack down. He choked down a scrambled egg. “Not if I eat fast enough.”

Luke got on to his bus right on time. “Hayden, how you doing?”

Hayden just nodded in response and looked out the window. Luke rolled his eyes and sat right next to Hayden. He put in his earbuds and started to doze off.

A sea of people was in front of him as Luke walked in through the doors that lined the front entrance. Sundale High School. He was going to finally graduate in 9 days and get out of this place. He was supposed to graduate earlier but due to the chaos following “The Transferal”, the start of the school year was pushed back by two weeks which in turn pushed the end date back by the same amount.

As Luke looked through his locker, a voice caught his attention. “Luke.”

Luke greeted the tall figure approaching him. “Jackson!

“What’s up.”

Jackson fist bumped Luke. “Doing good.”

“You ready for the party two weeks from now.”

“Of course.”

“You ain’t chickening out like last party right?”

Luke snorted. “Of course not. It’s the graduation party. Who do you think I am?”

Jackson laughed. “The guy who ditched me last party?”

“Look. I wasn’t feeling that comfortable.”

Jackson placed an arm around Luke’s shoulder. Jackson’s brown hair went down to Luke’s shoulder. “You have to get out of your shell, you know. You are some weird mystery in between an extrovert and introvert. I will show you the way of the extrovert. Trust me, I’m an expert. You may even find a girl or something.”

Luke laughed nervously at that.

Luke stared at Mr. Johnson’s mouth as Mr. Johnson talked about whatever subject he was currently in. He couldn’t quite remember. He really didn’t see the point of class anymore since he already got accepted into Santa Clara University. Then his whole body started shaking. He got out of his stupor just as the teacher shouted. “Get your head down below the desk! Stay under your desk until the shaking stops! Keep a hold of one of the legs of your table!”

Luke dove under his desk and got his hands on one of the legs. As the shaking turned even more violent, he closed his eyes as loud crashes indicated objects falling onto the ground. His hand wrapped around his desk’s leg even firmer. The crashing noise stopped but the shaking wasn’t done. A couple minutes passed by until the shaking stopped. The room became eerily quiet. “Everyone, stay under your desks.”

Luke opened his eyes. The floor was a complete mess. He could see the rest of his classmates under their desks. All seemed to be okay. A few minutes later, his teacher spoke again. “It seems safe enough. You can come out but don’t touch anything that fell, especially the lights.”

Mr. Johnson was still looking around at the damage while Luke and his classmates got ahold of themselves. Earthquakes weren’t uncommon In California but it had been a long time since one occurred. One of his classmates raised their hands. “When can we leave?”

“We are going to wait until directions come from the speaker.”

Feet could be heard out in the hallway. One of his classmates looked back at Mr.Johnson from the door. “Hey, the other classes are leaving.”

“It's been a few minutes, the speaker is probably broken.”

Mr. Johnson looked out of the door. “Alright, we are evacuating to the assembly area outside. Everyone, stay together.”

Luke got into his mom’s car. After everyone assembled in a field and the teachers made sure that everyone was accounted for, school was dismissed for the rest of the day. “Hey mom, is the house fine?”

“Only some things that fell off. Your father is coming back from work.”

“Sweet, I also have no school for the rest of the day.”

Fort Irwin, California

Two soldiers looked around as the shaking subsided. “Huh. That lasted a couple minutes. I think it's a high magnitude earthquake.”

“That didn’t do much damage though.”

“Man, is it just me or are these earthquakes getting more and more frequent.”

“California probably had all of that pent up and is releasing it right now. Like how someone holds in their farts and then lets them all out later.”

“Ew. You really have to be that disgusting?”

“What? It’s an accurate description.”

“You coulda settled for anything else but you just had to settle with a fart analogy.”

“If I don’t make you queasy everyday, then I haven’t done my duty.”

“Goddammit, man”

A knock came on the door. “Tate, Bishop, you two alright?”

Bishop answered. “Yes, staff sergeant. We are fine, well if not for Tate’s analogies.”

0759 June 18th, 2020 CE

San Francisco, California

Officer Andrew Molano rested in his police vehicle. He was still exhausted from helping during the cleanup efforts after the earthquake. It has now been three days since the earthquake and the streets looked quite normal. Somewhat scrambled noises start coming out of his radio.

Andrew put the radio to his mouth. <<<”Go ahead”

“There are reports of multiple strange animals on Baker Beach. Possible 10-91V. Advise 10-0.”

“10-4, will investigate.”>>>