I stood up and walked away from the chair into the pedestrian traffic, and it blipped out of existence. I turned around several times in my dazed state.

All the buildings were so big. I started to cry. I don't think it was a waste of time in that situation.

Lost and alone and gay and apparently magic now, too.

I mean, I guess I already knew all those things, but it had to be pointed out.

All that could be done was go with the flow of the people. I stepped into a crosswalk when everyone else did and I didn't get into any more accidents. Maybe that time it would have killed me instead of returning me home.

It didn't seem as if these people were going anywhere specifically. They weren't all moving as a whole, but then again, just because they were all out here didn't mean they were all together. They were people.

The mouse hybrid? That was a person. The green-skinned man with very little clothing on? Person. The colorful android? Probably.

"Where am I supposed to go, even?" I asked aloud.

A Statusin flickered to life in front of me and moved with me as I walked.

"You could start off by finding an apartment and registering for citizenship!" a chirpy voice announced, "Both processes are short and simple. There's plenty of space for you here in the Empire."

"I guess?"

An X-shaped hovercraft materialized above me and tractor beamed me up and into it.

"This is an X Flier," it began, "Developed by Dynacorp in Gregorian year 1996 AD. They use the auric force of any nearby organism to fly and power other operations. They have spatially compressed interiors to maintain a thin profile on the outside with a wider usable space on the inside."

It was a room about ten feet in every direction, with the a glass bottom and top, and an entrance at the bottom for the tractor beam.

"We have an apartment just for you, Carlos."

The X Flier zoomed above the city. It was astounding. I could see miles worth of dense skyscrapers. I was traveling in a thick vein of traffic. The sky was a strange lilac color. There were three suns in the sky and also a moon.

I hadn't stopped crying.

"We've arrived at a Newcomer tower," the voice beamed, "As per Empire law, you may only be allotted one residence at any given time. To change your address, you will have to relinquish any previous residence. Check this box to accept the apartment when you are ready."

I was presented with a holographic contract with a small square at the bottom.

The X Flier floated slowly through the floor-to-ceiling window of the building as if it were not even there. I stepped onto the glowing circle and a tractor beam let me out.

Apparently, a whole lot of immigrants came from not yet modernized worlds, so there was a tour that covered the entire apartment. The apartment was big, with an abnormally elevated ceiling. The kitchen was floating above the living room on glass platforms, with floating stairs to get up. The living room included a grounded couch and a floating glass table.

The Statusin prompted me to customize the restroom before I even went in. I stuck to what I knew since there were a whole lot of other alien options.

I was hungry. I cancelled the tour midway and stepped on a levitation platform to take me up to the kitchen. I found out I would have to do a whole lot of studying because I had no idea what anything was.

I'd have to order food from a catalogue and then wait for it to be delivered.

If I wanted to eat, I'd have to have an apartment.

I pressed the square on the contract.

"Your application for citizenship has been sent with your signed contract, please await a response."

-----Ipsiota Anteibos-----

"Subject identified: Carlos Galván. Newcomer Tower 74956, Sector 45, Magai City, Origin Nation,"

I found him.

-----Carlos-----

A smiley face was on my accepted citizenship app. It startled me because I was focused on trying to open the food packet I'd ordered.

"You've been accepted," I'd definitely have to turn down the cheeriness on this thing, "Welcome to the Magai Empire."

A call from Uma came through, so I answered it.

"I see your application went through without any issues, that's great," she wasn't really looking at me, she was shuffling through digital files, "I've spoken to a friend of mine, but I don't have any answers for you regarding how you could get home."

"Oh," I was disappointed but not surprised.

"Do you have any questions? How's the city treating you?"

I have a million questions, I thought, but I asked the one that bothered me the most.

"Why did nobody see what actually happened when I teleported the first time? Why did no one see me leave?"

She thought about it for a second, "There is a Shadowrealm similar to Earth, where the entire population was completely unaware of what was around them. It's called Ramados. It was on the same level of modernization as Earth, with a similar social structure.

Whenever anyone particularly different went there, the locals saw only what their minds could understand. When you came here for the first time, the crowd around you formed their own collective explanation for what happened.

It is known that on Ramados, the Oblivion Effect could be removed by awakening one's aura and mind. It involves softly nudging both of those in the direction of realizing what is actually happening. Sometimes the Observers are behind specific cover-ups. Maybe you—" she paused for a second, "Anything else?"

"Who are the Observers?"

"A small group of people that the public doesn't really know much about. I don't. All we know is that sometimes the Triumvirs thank the Observers for insight," she explained, "That is all I have time for, meet me at the city administrative building tomorrow at noon," she said before flickering away.

Right then, the glass of my apartment shattered. A tall black girl about my age stood looking at me with intense rage. She had moon-grey wings about fifteen feet long in wingspan. Her long dreads blew in the wind that now blew into the apartment.

"You killed my father! Now I'm all alone! I'll make you suffer for what you did!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

She had serious issues. Literally I had not done any of that. I reject that claim.

She lunged at me, wings open, but I countered. Using my newfound telekinesis, I held her in the air for a moment. Her long wings weren't in the range of my powers, so she used them to smack me. I lost my focus and then I panicked. She punched me in the chest, and I had my breath taken away. Then three more times. But, she wasn't touching me, and it didn't seem like she had any powers other than her flight. After seeing that my body was jerking violently, she punched me again, sending me though the shattered window.

I fell past a vein of hovercraft and waited to die on impact with the ground. The wind rushed past my face and my ears. The ground came closer and closer.