May 4, 1639

En Route to Washington D.C.

Yagou stretched his legs. “Oh my!” He exclaimed as the plane buckled, soaring into the air. The sensation was quite unlike the feeling of being pulled into the sky upon the back of a wyvern. Plane flight had much more rumbling than wyvern flight, but the seats were much more elegant and comfortable. In addition, the plane had a pressurized cabin, so Yagou felt more like he was on a boat rather than something that could fly.

After the initial takeoff, the rumbling subsided and the plane remained relatively steady, only encountering a few patches of turbulence here and there. Indulging in the luxuries of being able to drink and relax upon a flying object, Yagou felt like a king. He pondered the wealth these Americans had; how much money could they possibly have in order to build such elegant flying machines? Even the Holy Mirishial Empire couldn’t match up to these aircraft, he thought. Caught on the topic of aircraft, he remembered what he had seen earlier.

“Say, Ambassador Anders, those iron dragons we saw… would it be possible for us to purchase one?” He asked.

Ambassador Anders let out a soft chuckle. “Sorry, but they’re not for sale anymore.”

“Anymore? Did we miss the opportunity?” Yagou was aghast, a million simulations running through his head.

Anders set his glass of wine down. “Ah, not like that. We used to sell weapons to our allies back on Earth, but we decided to cancel such opportunities on this world. Technological Outflow Prevention Act. Besides, it is extremely hard to pilot one and you’d need a very extensive education and training regiment. This simply isn’t available on this planet, except for in the United States.”

“I see… How about any other types of agreements? Trade? Mutual defense?”

Anders looked up. “Hmm, trade is something we really need. What resources does your nation specialize in?”

Yagou smiled. This was his chance to shine. “Mister Ambassador, Qua Toyne is a special nation blessed by the goddess of the land! Our land is always fertile, and can grow anything. We are so abundant in food production, that it is the core of our economy: we trade food to other nations for everything we need.”

“Hmm… we don’t really need food,” Anders said, prompting Yagou to lower his head. “But! We might be in need of that fertile land. You say that your land can sustain crop production of any type?”

Yagou nodded.

“Then, we can work out a deal where we import climate-dependent crops such as coffee beans and pineapples, and grow them in Qua Toyne. In exchange, we can set up the infrastructure necessary to ship these items back to the US. We can also open up your region for investment from our companies… in this way we might be able to circumvent the Outflow Act a bit.”

Yagou lit up, and so did Matara, who was seated nearby. Yagou’s imagination ran wild with the prospect of horseless carriages and exquisite flying crafts all over Qua Toyne. “And… defense?” He pushed.

“Hmm, I don’t know about that one. You’re going to have to ask the President.”

Once more, Yagou hung his head.

“Although, if I were to guess, we’d probably have some sort of interest in protecting our future assets in Qua Toyne. Furthermore, it would be detrimental to our national economy if we lost our only trading partner in this new world.” Anders watched as Yagou seemed to breathe out a heavy sigh of relief. “Of course, we might be more inclined to help if there was greater incentive, such as magical knowledge, perhaps?”

Yagou smiled. “Yes, certainly! We would be glad to share our magical knowledge and provide access to our libraries.”

“Great! Well, that pretty much settles things, then. We will elaborate on these primary topics once we reach the White House. Oh, by the way, in a couple hours we’re gonna be making a short detour: we’re flying by New York City before landing at D.C.”

——

New York, New York

Yagou and the rest of the Qua Toynian delegation looked out the windows, marveling at the glittering spires that rose into the sky. Several ships sailed around below, some were civilian vessels that finally received authorization to resume their activities, while others were massive warships, patrolling the coasts.

“Ambassador, how high do those towers reach?” Matara asked.

“The highest one,” he said, pointing toward the One World Trade Center, “is about 1,800 feet. Just over half a kilometer.”

The Qua Toynian’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, almost sticking to the window’s glass. “What?!” They collectively gasped.

“The tallest building in our old world had a height of over 2,700 feet. Half a mile, almost a full kilometer, stretching into the clouds.”

The number provided by Anders was so mind-boggling, that the Qua Toynian’s had difficulty imagining it. To provide visual context, Anders looked up a picture of the Burj Khalifa on his phone. He selected a picture where the building was aligned beside other towers for a comparison of height.

“By the heavens! How powerful is that nation?”

“Well, they weren’t ranked very high in terms of military strength, but they were very, very rich. I wanted to go there someday, but it looks like we can’t.” Anders shrugged. “Anyway, if you look down there at that open plot, where those yellow tower-looking things — cranes — are located, that’s where we’ll be building a new tower, over a kilometer in length. Olympus Tower, and we’ve got another one planned on the West Coast: Everest Tower.”

Anders concluded his explanation, allowing the delegation to continue gawking at the skyscrapers. Seeing their surprise and wonder cultivated a proud feeling of patriotism in his heart. Then, eyeing the warships below, he thought of something to ask. “Sir Yagou, I was wondering: do you know anything about sea monsters?”

Yagou shook his head. “Only from legends. We have heard that such beasts existed in the oceans to the Far East, but none of us ever dared to venture there. The last accounts of exploration were from several decades ago, by someone from the Parpaldian Empire. He explored the seas upon which your country is now situated, and disappeared after sending one last mana communication. ‘Why are there so many Krakens?!’ He yelled. I apologize for not having more information, but you may be able to learn more from our libraries.”

Anders nodded, looking out to sea.

——

Washington D.C.

President Lee buried his head in his arm, sighing loudly. “Ugggh…” he groaned.

Looking over a report, he analyzed the state of the economy. Without imports from China, manufactured goods steadily became more expensive. Company heads have already sent him numerous messages, clamoring about the lack of resources to work with and a loss of overseas assets. A few new islands sprung up near the coasts of the United States, materialized alongside overseas bases and fleets.

Why would every single military asset be transferred, but not anything else? Surely whatever power did this also had the capacity to summon overseas factories and any U.S. citizens stuck elsewhere, right? President Lee groaned once more. At least the health dynamics of this planet were generous: unlike the first encounter between Europe and the Americas on Earth, the first encounter between the transferred Terrans and the denizens of this planet bore no ill circumstances. This was a peculiar surprise, that no such transference of disease occurred between the natives and the people sent to greet them. Preliminary scans aboard a hospital ship also resulted in almost no differences in genetic makeup, with new species being the exception. Even then, the elves had a striking genetic similarity to humans. Perhaps these elves lived thousands of years and were eternally youthful, much like generic fantasy elves?

President Lee’s contemplations were cut short. Someone knocked on the open door. “Mister President?”

President Lee looked up. “Oh, Steven. Please tell me the stimulus bill went through.”

“It just passed. Your approval ratings have gone up 2%, but this is still lower than your peak before the transfer.”

“I see. Damnit, how are we supposed to fix the economy? Johnson must’ve been some sort of psychic, after that stunt he pulled a few years ago…”

“Mister President, I assure you your predecessor was no psychic. Even with the factories he reactivated and the manufacturing jobs he brought back, it still won’t be enough to satisfy the shortages of goods, primarily electronic components.”

“Please tell me we’ve got good news from the surveys…”

“That, we do have Mister President.”

Lee immediately shot up from his seat. “Continue,” he said, leaning forward.

“The Principality of Qua Toyne has remarkably fertile land, capable of producing virtually any type of food. We expect no shortages in exotic foodstuffs such as coffee beans and peppers. Furthermore, we anticipate growth in our culinary sector due to the appearance of new types of food, although they’ll need to be FDA approved first.”

President Lee nodded. “Okay, that’s good news. Is there more?”

“Yes. The Kingdom of Quila, south of Qua Toyne, has a lot of barren fields filled with what the locals have deemed as ‘burning water’ or ‘black water’. We have also identified several constructs that resemble oil wells.”

“Oil wells? I thought the civilizations here were still in like, the medieval era?”

“Some of them are, but we’ve already detected traces of chemical pollutants from some of the landmasses far west. In particular, there are two landmasses to the west which produce a lot of chemical and light pollution, as identified by our satellites. Further investigation discovered the presence of warships similar to the World War 2 era.”

“That is… interesting. Have our satellites take a closer look next time they pass by that area. And about those oil wells… have we established relations with this country yet?”

“No. Ambassador Reiker is scheduled to return shortly after the meeting with Ambassador Anders and the delegates from Qua Toyne. Judging from their notes and reports so far, it seems like they’ll be willing to grant full mining rights to their oil fields in exchange for food, infrastructural development, and protection.”

Lee nodded. “Oh, that’s good. Very good. No more weasels in OPEC upcharging oil prices, and we have a way to maintain our fuel supplies for the time being. And… what about the mountain range that’s in between Qua Toyne and Quila?”

“We are unsure of their composition as of yet; we will need to send in survey teams to determine that. However, it looks like they might contain some valuable ores: rare metals to be exact.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “This… if that’s true, that could solve our electronic problems! We need to establish relations with Qua Toyne and Quila immediately!”

“You’re in luck, sir. Ambassador Anders will be arriving at the front door in just under ten minutes.”

“Alright. Good. Anything else?”

“Just a few minor details. Dr. Pollan will be sending you a few maps of the planet, Ambassador Hendricks will soon be arriving at the Kingdom of Louria, and we’ve successfully killed several Krakens near New York.”

“Krakens?? Excuse me?”

“Ah, apologies Mister President. The Coast Guard discovered these entities a few hours ago. The Navy was alerted and the Krakens were easily dispatched by anti-ship missiles from ships belonging to the Second Fleet.”

“Goodness. Harvest the remains and study them. I’ve been told that this world has much deeper oceans…” Lee shivered. “I can’t imagine what horrors could be lurking out in that blue expanse. Say, we should reactivate some of our battleships while we’re working on the mothballed fleets.”

“That will be a very expensive endeavor, sir. Our anti-ship missiles were already enough to take care of the sea monsters.”

“The Krakens may have been easy targets, but we don’t know what else could be out there. It also looks like we’ll be needing to expand our fleet, based on how big this world is.”

“Very well, sir. I will inform the Chief of Naval Operations. I don’t expect things to go very smoothly, though.”

Lee shrugged. “Eh, that’s fine. Oh, and one more thing: how did my announcement go? The internet should be back up in most cities. What are people saying?”

Steven flipped through his notepad. “Uh, most people seem to be confused for now. A lot of them are grateful that the storm magically disappeared. We have a few new groups rising to prominence: conspiracy theorists who don’t believe that we have been transferred to a new planet and religious orators who have begun to preach various beliefs.”

“I see. Well, I couldn’t believe the circumstances myself… If those conspiracy folks don’t believe me, just send them to Qua Toyne or something once we figure out our trade agreements. As for the religious groups, they might present an issue, especially those warning of end times. Monitor the situation closely and inform me of anything unusual. Oh, and speaking of information, have Director Klein see me after my meeting.” President Lee adjusted his tie and gathered several documents.

“Good idea, Mister President.” Steven left the Oval Office. As he exited the doors, Steven waved at somebody to the right before leaving to continue his assignments.

Soon after, Ambassador Anders and a group of anachronistically dressed men entered the room. President Lee easily identified the men as the Qua Toynian delegates, raising an eyebrow in fascination at their pointed ears.

“Mister President,” Ambassador Anders greeted him.

President Lee stood up. “Welcome back Ambassador. And you folks must be the delegates from the Principality of Qua Toyne. I’m President Thomas Lee. Welcome to the United States of America!”

The delegates bowed, one stepping forward to address him. “Thank you for your endless hospitality, President Lee.”

After exchanging pleasantries, President Lee led the delegation to a conference room, where his cabinet was already present. Taking their seats, the Qua Toynian delegates felt their hearts pounding in nervousness and anticipation.

“The first topic we’ll be discussing is trade,” Anders began.

President Lee spoke. “On Earth, we used to import exotic foods from all over the planet, which could be grown only in certain environments.” He handed a list to Yagou. “For starters, we are interested in importing about 40 million tons of these food products.”

Yagou read through the list. Some items were familiar to him, such as pineapples and coffee beans, since Ambassador Anders mentioned them during the flight. Other items were much more alien to him, such as durians, lychee, dragonfruit, and certain peppers. “Uh, I don’t know what most of the items on this list are, but I can guarantee that the blessed lands of Qua Toyne can produce and provide 40 million tons of these items.” Yagou raised a hand. “However! We do not have the capability to transport such massive amounts of food.”

President Lee looked at the Secretary of Commerce. “Don’t worry about that. We can provide the necessary infrastructural modifications, from the development of a railroad system to the expansion of your ports. You may also view our agricultural machines and we can discuss corporate investment later on.”

Yagou smiled. “Your generosity knows no bounds,” he bowed his head slightly.

“The second topic of today is cultural exchange,” Anders announced.

“After a brief health screening to safeguard against any unknown pathogens from both sides, and after setting up the appropriate regulatory bodies, we will open up tourism and merchant trade. Most items sold in the United States will become available to any Qua Toynians wishing to purchase, although certain core technologies will of course be withheld.”

Yagou nodded. “Yes, that is reasonable.”

“Furthermore, we are interested in an exchange of knowledge; magic is something we would like to learn about.”

“Hmm… we are willing to divulge any acquired knowledge on the topic of magic, in exchange for a defense treaty.”

President Lee folded his hands. “Mister Hill, any thoughts?”

The Secretary of Defense stood up. As a black man, he somewhat surprised the Qua Toynians. “I believe that the analysis of magic is a top priority for national security, and the establishment of a defense treaty to both secure this knowledge and protect our trade is beneficial.”

President Lee nodded. “Okay,” he turned to Yagou. “We are willing to negotiate a defense treaty, but we will need access to some of your land and ports in order to establish bases. Is that okay?”

Yagou contemplated this. If the US decided to backstab them, having bases already inside Qua Toyne could be devastating. However, this doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, he reasoned. The U.S. fleet he saw at Maihark could be deployed quickly, regardless if the United States had a naval base in Qua Toyne. With their iron dragons, Qua Toyne could not put up a fight either way. Therefore, he concluded, there was nothing to lose by allowing the United States to establish bases in Qua Toyne. “Yes. You have permission to establish bases in Qua Toyne, but I must discuss specifications with my nation’s leaders first.”

Inwardly, Yagou was overjoyed. The presence of American bases would essentially guarantee their safety from Lourian conquest. He sighed in relief as the meeting drew to a close.