“Just what are you?”

It was a question that he himself did not have the answer to.

After all, there were so many unknowns, so many unanswered questions about his current condition that he’d been shoving into the corner of his head since he’d come here.

This world was so completely alien and more fantastic than Earth, yet there were so many similarities between the two that the semblance was uncanny. He’d more or less accepted that the logic of this world was way beyond what he was capable of understanding, but even then, some things simply didn’t make sense.

Things like language. What were the chances that this new world spoke perfect, modern English? Hell, what were the chances that this world spoke English at all? ‘Chalk it up to magic’, he’d told himself.

Then why did people’s lips match up with what they were saying? One would think that magic would simply translate speech, but was it advanced enough to mimic something so complex? He did not ask, for the implications were disturbing.

Why were his memories so difficult to access? They were still there, but were becoming blurry at a rate that made him nervous. Every time that he would reminisce about Earth, the image of his home world would become less and less detailed, even distorted as of late.

You’d think that memories of his family, of his parents and many siblings, whomst he’d once cared deeply for, would compel him to return. This statement still registered as logical to him, yet he didn’t feel the need to do so. He knew very well that this made him a horrible human being, yet he didn’t feel like one in the slightest.

It was difficult to begin thinking of such thoughts, and once he did, he was quick to be distracted from them. Every time, without fail.

Then there was the most glaring question: why was he brought to this world in the first place?

This extended to the other three as well. Sure, Naomi, Glenn, and Erika were exceptional students, and were amazing people even by this world’s standards. They possessed charisma and intelligence that attracted many people back on Earth, thus why they were so popular.

But at the end of the day, they were just kids.

If this world had really wanted to be saved, you’d think that they’d summon someone much more significant. A scientist, a politician, a general, someone that possessed more skill and had more experiences under their belt.

But no, they chose to summon four highschoolers instead. Such a development was so hard to believe and even harder to accept.

This whole situation, all of it, seemed completely unreal.

Which brought him to a single ultimate, and particularly upsetting inquiry.

How much of what he was actually experiencing, re-

“Oi, Malt!”

Jackie was holding his shoulders with whtie knuckles, shaking him back and forth in panicked motions.

Her eyes were wide in evergrowing worry, and her mouth repeated his name over and over, volume increasing with every word.

He yanked himself back into consciousness, placing his hands up to try and calm the woman down.

“Y-yeah? So you were saying?”

The attempt at undermining what had just happened definitely wasn’t working, evident by her still panicked expression.

“Nevermind that, are you alright?”

He pushed her hands off his shoulders as subtly as he could, “Shit, did I like, pass out or something?”

“...no, but you became...distant, for a bit.”

She grabbed the side of his head a little forcefully, prying open his eyelids in an attempt to read the movement and dilation of his irises.

“I’m fine I’m fine, just got lost in my thoughts for a bit.”

She was very obviously not buying into what the was saying. Regardless, she withdrew her hands and sat back down onto her stool.

“I brought up something unnecessary, sorry about that.”

He held his hands in front of him, “No no, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing serious, really.”

He knew very well that she wasn’t going to trust this sentiment, he was just hoping that she would accept it as is and move on.

“...well, let’s leave it at that. Thinking about it logically now, there’s probably something amiss with my methods, not with you specifically.”

She took a quick glance at the little strips of paper that had revealed his results.

“Speaking of which, you’d mentioned an attribute reader before, right? Did you happen to use it?”

“Yep, I can’t really tell you what they were exactly though.”

“No, just the fact that you got anything at all from it means that you do have mana within you, that’s how it works anyway.” She rubbed her chin in between two fingers, nodding in affirmation.

“Guess my paper method isn’t as foolproof as I’d thought.” Whilst her words matched her sentiment, the look in her eyes didn’t.

She shook her head unconsciously, in an attempt to metaphorically wash such troubling thoughts out of her mind. She turned around to a nearby table and slipped on a pair of thin, waxed leather gloves with practiced speed.

“Nevermind that, we need to get to work or we’ll be off schedule.”

She pushed Malt down onto the operating table, working the leather restraints around his wrists in a way that suggested that this wasn’t her first time using this piece of apparatus.

“As long as you’ve some mana inside you, I reckon this’ll work.” Perhaps sneaking a glance at Malt’s unsure expression, she quickly changed her statement.

“Scratch that, I’m sure this’ll work. Probably.”

His brows grew even more scrunched.

With a sigh, she fastened the last strap around his ankle.

“I’ve been doing this for longer than you’ve been alive, kid. I wouldn’t be experim- Er, operating on you if there was a high chance that you’d be seriously harmed.”

A wry chuckle left her lips, “She’d probably, no, definitely kill me if I did.”

Next she brought over a small vial of clear liquid and poured a few drops onto his forearm, spreading it around with her gloved hand. As she did so, her other hand reached for a latched box.

She brought it over and flicked it open, taking from it a long, gnarly looking needle. It was obviously hand made, and although lacking the clean curves found in modern ones, seem to be of roughly the same quality.

She brought it over to his arm, aiming its razor tip adjacent to one of his veins.

The needle paused, and she looked upward once again past her circular eyeglasses.

“I’m pretty sure I already know the answer, but you’re sure about this, right?”

He nodded, his Adams apple unconsciously bobbing.

With consent given, she plunged the needle deep into the vein, drawing a small bead of crimson.

Besides the initial prick, he almost couldn’t feel the needle as it did its job, proof that his earlier assumption had been correct.

Although he didn’t feel much pain, it was clear that the substance being injected into him was affecting him in other, more worrying ways.

Black splotches started to appear on the ceiling, and his breath slowed to a crawl. His body felt oddly at ease, but the alien sensations rippling across his body definitely were still alarming.

“Damn, this is, some real...really stro-...stro-”

Jackie, or at least he assumed that it was Jackie from the voice, let out a hearty laugh.

“You can try talking, but I doubt it’ll work.”

She placed a gentle hand on his forehead. Whilst that was a little calming, the expression on her face definitely wasn’t.

The last thing he saw before drifting off was her ear to ear smile, and excited looking eyes. Something pretty harrowing to see right before passing out, and it definitely didn’t do a ton to calm his nerves.

A faded voice called from the distance.

“Don’t worry kid. You can leave eeeverything to me. I won’t just fix you up, I’ll make sure you come out of this better than ever.”

The last thing he heard was distant chuckling, before his consciousness drifted into oblivion.