This is a boring chapter but still a chapter nonetheless. I hope you read through it without blaming me for the non-stop back and forth between Kiefer and Palmer, because that's all this chapter is.

“MnnnMMM!!!!” Palmer struggled and squirmed as Kiefer set foot on a silvery translucent platform. Right as of now, she was experiencing fear like she had never before, staring at the mysterious man who seemed to be able to use magic, or at least some form of technology that is sufficiently advanced beyond her knowledge. Looking down at her body, she was encased in uncountable silvery threads that extended from the man, her limbs and her mouth bound to restrict her. The most terrifying though, was the sheer 300m drop that seemed imminent the moment the man released her binding.

“Calm down.” Kiefer spoke softly as he drew her closer. The titans were already released from their respective mana ropes and were standing next to Kiefer. “I’m going to release you now. Stay still so you don’t fall to your death. Ok?” Kiefer asked, to which Palmer seemed to stop struggling and just nod obediently.

Kiefer slowly released her binding and set her on the glass-like platform that shimmered in the moonlight. Palmer nervously looked at her feet, as if worried that the fragile platform might break under their combined weight. However, all of Kiefer’s actions seemed to suggest that not only was that not going to happen, but that they would be up here for quite some time.

A second shimmering film slowly enveloped the group, forming a perfect sphere. The cold high altitude air seemed to warm up considerably as Kiefer began pulling furniture out from his PD, which only suggested to the already petrified Palmer that they are going to be here long enough to use them. Within moments, a table and 5 chairs were set and Kiefer already had a pot of tea brewing.

“Here, Commander Palmer, enjoy. This is one of the best teas from my world.” Kiefer started the conversation with a bombshell as he sipped on a cup of tea like an English gentleman. The titans were already seated and reaching for their cups as Palmer finally regained her composure. She tiptoed her way to one of the simple wooden chairs and sat down, watching the titans curiously before reaching for one of the teas and sipping it.

“Well look at you, adapting to the situation so quickly. You sure are relaxed, not even checking if the tea was poisoned.” Kiefer jested, putting his cup down to reveal that his tea had not been touched at all. This alarmed Palmer and she hastily spat whatever tea was in her mouth out onto the silver platform.

“Wha.. What do you want!?” Palmer stammered loudly, trying her best to sound authoritative.

“It’s not what I want, but what you want, isn’t it Commander? The poison you drank came from my world, so I assure you, you will not find an antidote here on Earth. That being said, you want the antidote to save your life, and I happened to have one with me. All I ask is your cooperation.” Kiefer explained calmly.

“Kii, what are you saying? Translate it so I can understand too.” Isana pestered.

“Oh, nothing much. I just informed her that the tea was poisoned and that I have the antidote. Don’t worry though, it wasn’t actually poisoned. People like her are used to giving out commands from the top with plenty of authority. I just need her to know that I’m the one in charge here.” Kiefer explained before turning back to face Palmer.

“Sorry about that. My wife just wanted to know what we were saying. So, then I guess I’ll start first. My name is Kiefer, but you already know that. I used to be from Earth, but I died and was transported to another planet called Aioa way back in 2015. I spent over a year on Aioa and finally found a way back to earth. Hence I am here right now. What I want to know is what happened since 2015 after I died. For now, why don’t you call off the search party from your ship? Tell them that you are fine.” Kiefer explained, looking down at the ship with tis alarms blaring and search lights swinging about dizzily. Patrol boats could be seen leaving the ship through the side heading towards the shore.

“This is Palmer to Savior. Call off the search party. I am safe, for now. I am currently located approximately 300m above the Savior.” Palmer reported into the mic on her ear. The moment she cut off the transmission, the searchlights from the Savior seemed to be pointed into the night sky, lighting up the clouds and eventually landing on Kiefer’s platform.

“So, why don’t you start answering my questions soon? You have maybe 2 to 3 hours before you feel the effects of the poison, depending on your metabolic rate.” Kiefer rushed her.

“Right, so assuming I believe what you said about you being sent to another world, where should I start? 2015 was a long time ago. There are files on the Savior that hold more accurate records, but the gist of it is that somewhere in the mid-23rd century, despite combined efforts to reverse climate change, the earth experienced a runaway climate change that quickly escalated into irreversible global destruction.” Palmer paused, watching Kiefer’s reaction.

“It started with just flooding of coastal cities as global temperature continued to rise. It was at this time that officials began the project to expand into space – the “Hope”. However, the project was kept a hush from the majority of the civilian population to avoid raising unrest and chaos. The colony ship itself was built in space, with nearly a hundred rocket launches a week globally under the pretext that NASA might have found a habitable planet and they were pumping resources into studying the planet. Hope took almost a century to build, sucking resources from everywhere.”

“Meanwhile, the climate runaway was snowballing into an avalanche. The melting of the polar ice caps not only raised the sea level, but changed the deep-sea tidal patterns due to the difference in salinity of the water. The reverberation from the new water flow triggered tectonic shifts on the continental scale. Europe was the first to experience the wrath of Mother Nature, with a sinkhole that swallowed the UK overnight and earthquakes that split the continental plate in 2. The mixture of warm tropical waters and cold polar waters led to hurricanes that would wipe a line of destruction across countries, like someone clearing a line of dust with their finger.”

“With coastal cities flooded, people thought that inland homes would be safe, only to be proven wrong by tsunamis that made the Eiffel tower seem like a toy keychain. All in all, global destruction ensued as the last of the chosen humans boarded the space shuttles that took them up to Hope.” (Palmer)

“Hmm.. so we did end up destroying our planet after all. How many people did the colony craft take with it and what were the selection criteria?” Kiefer asked, probing for more details.

“The key criteria were just the usual. Resistance to diseases, no genetic disposition for social, mental or psychological problems, and most importantly, the chosen humans must not be allergic to the chemical they inject for cyrostasis. It was to prevent the formation of water crystals in the subzero temperatures of a cryopod. They also made sure to have enough genetic variety within the chosen population of almost 8 million. Basically, they chose who they thought would best ensure humanity’s continued existence within the stars.” Palmer explained.

“I see.” Kiefer muttered, watching the 6 rotor drone fly past, circling the discussion table just on the borders of the dome shield. Kiefer spied the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon behind the drone that was buzzing noisily. “So how did you come about commanding this ship? And are there other humans living elsewhere? What of the giant wildlife that seems so intent on eating humans?”

“I was born on the fleet, out in the sea. I am the 7th generation to be born in sea. There are other pockets of humans around the world, but I’m unsure of where. They are all living on ships like we are. After the cataclysm that lasted almost 5 years, people decided that living in the sea was the safest since sinkholes and earthquakes became unpredictable and unavoidable. But that was many centuries ago. The world seemed to have stabilized now, but the wildlife has evolved to be vicious on land. It is rumored that since the tectonic shifts, there is more landmass now than before the cataclysm. Oxygen levels have been rising steadily due to the overgrowth of plant life in the now abandoned lands and with no natural selection pressure on humans, we remain the only ones unevolved and unable to adapt as quickly to the new environment. Hence, most humans remain in the sea since it’s safer.” (Palmer)

“Then what about fuel? Don’t your ships run out of fuel if you are constantly living and moving in the sea?” Kiefer questioned.

“Fuel? Our ships are mostly powered by a combination of solar, tidal and nuclear power. As if we wouldn’t learn our lesson with burning fossil fuels after being brought to the brink of extinction.” Palmer scoffed, laughing at the primitive idea of using oil for energy.

“Nuclear power? Aren’t you afraid of a meltdown?” Kiefer asked, wondering how advanced the field of energy research had gotten.

“Meltdown? What are you? Living in the 21st century? Oh wait… yea, well there had been some major improvements in nuclear power and there had been no reported meltdowns since the early 22nd century. The chances of a nuclear meltdown are about 0.00001%. by the 22nd century, almost everything is nuclear powered, with scientists developing new solar cells that derive energy from the radiation byproduct of nuclear power plants to aid in providing ‘clean energy’, not that it worked out great for humanity in the end.”

“I see. Well thank you very much. That was a rather quick discussion wasn’t it?” Kiefer concluded the meeting jovially, clapping his hands together once and standing up, preparing to leave and storing the chair away.

“W-Wait! What about the antidote?!” Palmer asked frantically, half expecting already that Kiefer would leave her to die.

“Oh don’t worry about that. I didn’t actually poison you. I just get a kick out of threatening people with no real threat to support me. It was just to make you more cooperative.” Kiefer chuckled, while Palmer heaved a humungous sigh of relief.

“Then, can I ask you some questions?” Palmer asked in return, this time trying to learn as much as she could of this mysterious man.

Kiefer paused for a while to consider, before taking the Chair back out and sitting down. “Sure, why not?” He replied, smiling gently. The drone had returned back to the Savior while the sun had already fully risen.

“First off, what are you?” palmer asked with great interest.

“I am a human. From Earth. I died in 2015 and was transported to a different planet by an entity I have yet to meet.” Kiefer explained.

“You mean there really is a god out there?” Palmer asked, misunderstanding Kiefer’s explanation.

“No not a god apparently. I’ve spoken to him quite a few times. If anything, he is a tortoise. He is what we would call a Titan, back on Aioa.” (Kiefer)

“Aioa? Is that the name of that planet you were transported to? And what are titans?”

“Yes. The planet I was moved to is called Aioa. Titans are these powerful entities that supposedly were born when the planet was in its early stages of its birth. You could say they are the first sentient beings to walk, or fly on Aioa. There are 9 titans, or rather there were 9 titans, only 8 left now. 3 of whom are sitting right next to me. Isana, Sher and Rashael are all titans.” Kiefer introduced the titans once again, looking at the surprised face of Palmer.

“What of this… ability… that you can perform? Is it really magic?” Palmer kept prodding, to which Kiefer was delighted to satiate her thirst for answers.

“Yes. Aioa is a world that is stuck in the medieval times because of their over-reliance on magic. There is this ‘thing’ called mana, which I’m assuming is a new type of subatomic particle that is used by people who have the affinity for mana. Granted I’m the only one who can use mana in the way you are seeing now, most of the residents of Aioa chant spells or use runes to control and manipulate mana. As you can see, due to their over-reliance on mana, even Titans are useless when there is no mana, like for example, here and now on Earth. They are essentially reduced to normal humans here, unable to control their mana.” (Kiefer)

“And what about you? How come you can still use mana even on earth?” (Palmer)

“That’s because I can store the mana within my body and command the mana particles as I wish. They can have a physical manifestation like the platform and the dome you are in. As I have said before, I am unique.” (Kiefer)

“Actually, Kiefer, can we continue this discussion back on the Savior? I feel uncomfortable being so high up. And that pack of hawks circling us only makes things worse.” Palmer commented nervously, her eyes tracking the 5 eagles’ movements carefully.

“Nah, you don’t have to worry about those hawks. I don’t know since when, but the hawks seem to hunt in flocks now. They have some kind of pack mentality like wolves used to. They won’t attack us as long as I have their alpha hostage.” Kiefer relieved her worries, only to raise even more questions.

“What do you mean their alpha? Do you have their leader locked up somewhere?” Palmer asked, unsure of what Kiefer actually meant.

“This is what I mean.” Kiefer replied, briskly standing up and pulling a Hawk almost as large as he is out of the PD. The hawk had a terrified look in its eyes, similar to how Feir looked when Isana had first caught him and his brother. The wide gleaming brown eyes that were begging Palmer to save it from the monster that was holding it by its neck. It was too terrified to even move, aside from the constant shivering out of pure fear. The circling hawks began squawking loudly at the sight of their leader, seemingly becoming more excited.

“You know, you really break all common sense like it was second nature to you. I’ve been meaning to ask you, but where do you keep all these things? Do you just materialize them out of thin air? And please let the poor thing go already, it’s so pitiful.” (Palmer)

Kiefer sighed, stood up and walked to the edge of the platform, opening a hole in the dome shield. He dragged the immobile hawk by his mana ropes and tossed it out of the dome, where it dropped for a short distance before spreading its wings and swooping back up to its flock. Within seconds after reuniting, the flock dove straight for the forest canopy, trying to get as far away from Kiefer as possible.

“To answer your question, no I do not materialize them. I mean I could, but it takes way too long and it is very cumbersome. What I’m doing is ripping a hole in spacetime using a singularity, then forming a bridge in the ripped hole to another dimension where I can store things indefinitely. Essentially, I’m opening a wormhole to another dimension. That is how I found my way back to Earth too, through a wormhole that I opened by pure luck.” (Kiefer)

“And just how much can you store within this other dimension?” (Palmer)

“It is different for everybody and depends on how much mana you actually have. Right now, I can store about a small mountain.” Kiefer replied, shocking Palmer even more than she already was.

“Wow… okay, now I don’t even know what to ask you next. Like I said, common sense really flies out the window when I talk to you. For now, I’m done asking questions. Would you like to join me for breakfast on the Savior? I will explain to my crew about your circumstances. I take it you will be staying with us for the foreseeable future?” Palmer asked just as her stomach growled at her, beckoning her to put some food into her system.

“Sure. Breakfast sounds nice for now.” Kiefer agreed and dispelled the dome, securing everyone with his mana ropes before descending back to the Savior before he was held at Gunpoint once again by the soldiers onboard.