Ben leaned on the white stone entrance to a long disused apartment building, soaking in the early afternoon sunlight, and the warmth of another perfect summer day. He let his mind go blank until a local out on a walk with their dog passed a little too close for comfort on the almost barren sidewalk. Disturbed from his peace, he reflected on his past. A bad habit he recently acquired after finding the perfect place to exercise his unfortunate gift. An angry god must have thought it would be funny to summon him away everyday. His curse was quite persistent. Laughing to himself he wondered if his wallet would give out first or his luck. The laugh caught the attention of a jogger who gave him a passing glance before moving on with their day. Looking around Ben planned his escape routes. The lines at the food stalls were growing which would allow for good concealment if he simply disposed of his hat and jacket quickly enough. A cheap expense considering the payout he would most likely get for his service. An ally just across the road would undoubtedly turn into 2 or three more paths for escape then multiply from there. With a bit of luck crossing the road; a sure avenue of escape. A revolving door into a store was spinning off its hinges as a crowd of smartly dressed individuals piled into a clothing store just about a five second sprint away. Not the best option if he was carrying a big enough bag of cash but with no pursuers a solid choice.
With a sigh Ben closed his eyes and leaned his head back onto the warm bricks. Taking in a deep breath and opening his eyes a smile grew across his face. Hiding in plane sight was the most fun he had seen in his admittedly short career as a circle seller. An old-timey fire escape levitated off the ground above a raised flower bed. A ladder hanging down into the air was just within jumping range if he really tried. Maybe a quick step against the side of the building up to the bottom rung. A perfect escape route. Circle selling was not necessarily illegal but extremely dangerous because it is a cash business.
About 3 years ago a school student was isekai’d for the first time. The family of the student did not believe the school and a conspiracy was formed that the school was selling students. All hell broke loose when a second person was whisked away in a similar fashion only a couple days later in another country. The descriptions of the event matched so perfectly that the conspiracies grew out of control. No one knows who made the connection to anime first but word spread like wildfire. News reported if you saw a large white circle form on the ground around you, you could go to another world. Enthusiasts were offering their life savings for an opportunity to be whisked away to a fantasy world and leave behind their toxic lives. Cashiers to CEOs began disappearing around the world leaving families forever broken, and businesses crumbling. Some people joked that if you were patient enough you could become the president. Governments all around the world tried to keep track of the phenomenon that was christened summoning.
Ben’s curse and blessing was his daily reminder of the changed world in the form of an elaborate white summoning circle. He had figured out a few rules behind the oddity. Firstly he was never summoned when he was asleep or drunk. A few times he had taken a break from the annoyance by having regular beers through the day. More than once he had woken up to simply lay back into his welcoming pillow and fall back asleep. Another rule was that if he was unwilling the circle would simply not work. Disappearing without taking him with. More than a few times Ben had angered people by not being summoned away. Usually “wasting” a circle in front of someone would net him a good chase by well motivated hunters. Ben loved being chased after as well as the accompanying adrenaline rush. A standard sale of a circle would involve some desperate individual usually with a stuffed suitcase, backpack, or tote. The interested party would often beg Ben to be freed from monotony. Ben would collect the money in full then leave the circle at the same time the customer entered. After a few moments the happy customer would disappear along with the light. Then Ben would make a dash with his payout. Usually some cinematic escape with long jumps across building roofs or swimming across a canal. He had once stolen a motorcycle only to crash it a block later into a mailbox. His favorite escapes were the closest calls. The chases where he had been pinned down only to weasel out an air duct or duck into a maintenance door just before it closed. The rush was always worth the risk of being caught and killed for his riches. Ben’s money stashes around the city were so many that he often found his great new hiding spot was already hiding a bag from a previous escape.
A tingling sensation ran down Ben’s neck into his core. The feeling often played prelude to a summoning circle appearing. Game time. He began a few quick stretches while quickly checking his escape routes. Light welled up from nowhere and formed a familiar white ring with etchings of an unknown language around his feet. Almost immediately a yell came from across the street. A local in jeans, tshirt, and a baseball cap with the classic NW logo hefted a swelling backpack onto their shoulders. Running across the road with complete abandon to their own safety stared down Ben. A Nod back to the stranger crossing the road seemed to calm the crazed man. Approaching Ben, the man pulled off his bag and unzipped the top to reveal Green dollar bills crammed into the bag. Leaning over the opening Ben could see large denominations almost spilling out of the zipper. The customer did not beg like most did. Yelling echoed across the street again. Glancing up Ben could see men in black suits talking on a radio while they sprinted down the other side of the busy street. “Give me the bag and its all yours stranger” Ben stated calmly. The ball cap man zipped the bag closed and threw the heavy bag into Ben’s waiting arms. Catching the bag and whipping it over his shoulder in one fluid motion he walked out of the circle and the stranger entered. cheering, and jumping up and down. “ did it. I finally made it. Here I come new life. Fuck all of you! I'm out. I am finally”— silence filled the air. With no ceremony, the stranger along with his supposed salvation blinked out of existence.
Most people having had their fun watching a summoning went back to their lunch lines and commutes. Ben however knew that the fun had just started. Jumping to the flower bed, Ben peered up at the ladder which seemed a lot closer to the ground before. “No way I get the backpack up there. Shit” Ben muttered to himself. Dropping the Bag Ben crouched down then with a quick burst upwards he pushed off the ground, stepped once on the building’s wall, and reached upwards barely latching three fingers on the bottom rung of the ladder. A moment later the ladder began sliding in its frame under Ben's weight. He held his failing grip just long enough for his feet to impact the ground. A shooting feeling as he rolled his ankle on a root in the flower bed flooded his head. The ladder slipped from his hand as his body flinched from the sudden pain. With his other hand he caught the rapidly retreating ladder. The upwards momentum of the ladder slowed as he pulled it down. He grabbed the backpack, and began climbing furiously. He knew that the suits were close and he would need time to pull the ladder up before they made it across the street. After reaching the first landing he spotted a weathered rope. Acting quickly Ben heaved the ladder back up and tied the bottom rung around the rusted railing. It would not last but it might delay just enough for him to sneak away. A quick glance down towards the street showed he had no time to contemplate his next actions. He could not make any mistakes from here on out in this chase. Adrenaline filled his body, a sensation he learned to chase over the last year after his move to New Work. Half way up the ladder to the next landing he took a moment to look away from the repetitive and predictable movements to search for an escape. A building connection or a low roof. Any path away from line of sight. He spotted a window air conditioning unit two levels above him. With any luck the window was not locked in place and he could sneak into the building after removing the obstruction.
A gunshot rang through the city block quickly followed by screams and yelling. Get down, run, not again, and why me echoed behind the tinnitus currently trying to monopolize my hearing. I pulled a rust splinter out of my finger that I picked up on the crumbling railing. Damned city inspectors never cared about old buildings like this. They probably did not want to deal with the mountains of paperwork to condemn a “historic” landmark. Wind pulled at a loose paper ripping it off a nail. The red notice slipped off the front doors to an old brick apartment building, evading the notice of all nearby. Condemned typed in bold letters across the top of the page glinted in the sunlight before landing in the street. With the passing of a car the note slid into the air and blew away.
A second shot ricocheted off something metal and I could feel a jerk from my backpack as it threatened to pull me off the ladder. Not the first time wads of money had saved my life just never from a bullet. The momentary distraction renewed my efforts up the side of the building to the next landing. I heard the familiar sound of the lowest ladder sliding down towards my pursuers, my heart dropped.
I reached onto the next landing pulling myself up as a bullet hissed past my head. An explosion from above split the air around me as splinters of metal and plastic dug into my skin, marring my head, arms, and chest. Jumping for the next ladder and climbing up was agonizing. Every reach for the next rung on the ladder sent pain shooting from that arm through my body. I could stop and assess the damage later. I had felt worse during a chase through a steel plant when sparks caught my arm during a molten metal pouring operation. I had run past at exactly the wrong time. Of course the only place in the plant that did not have people working was dangerous. A lesson I had learned the hard way. The pain lasted over a month as the burns scarred over.
The more immediate threat was below me in tailored black suits wielding some type of firearm. Pushing on through the pain I managed a peek at where the window AC unit turned IED had been, only to see a perfect hole in the wall. A lucky break for me. I reached up again struggling to hold my grip as the rust peeled off the ladder into my hands and blood slicks made my footing falter. Vibrations ran up through the ladder as I saw a suit reach the landing I had just left. I pulled myself up to the next floor onto my stomach to get some more distance. Pushing against the metal grating I heard what could have only been the remaining rounds left in the magazine fired in quick succession into my landing. Some bullets deflected the grating as others slid between the gaps piercing me wholly. I had exposed myself by laying flat and was paying the price. Jolts ran through my torso and then my arm as I peeled myself off the floor. Collapsing in pain, I rolled out of the backpack straps and pushed the bag into the building following through right after.
The building was dark as I fell through the hole into a pitch black room. The backpack I had thrown before me impacted the floor ahead of me. Echoes of soggy wooden boards breaking apart and crumbling away were soon confirmed by my legs catching what must have been the sturdiest floor beam in the building because the remainder of myself passed right through the freshly pulverized floor. The sudden impact had forced me to spin face up just in time to see the light from outside highlight a dark silhouette before another rotted impact below me shattered the emptiness. Darkness enveloped my vision as I felt the next impact on my head.
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I stirred awake. My body felt stiff like I had slept on the floor after binging another sitcom all day on the couch. My eyes felt like they had been cemented shut. I jerked trying to stand up only to cause a shooting pain up my spine. One eye popped open from the unwelcome surprise only to see white as my senses were overwhelmed and my brain overloaded. Right moving is bad. The vision in my one good eye faded from white to shades and shapes after what felt like a lightning strike to my whole body. The outline of my arm laying out in front of me showed how broken my body really was. A bone was definitely pushing through my skin. My memory rushed back in fast forward. White light, a transaction, and suits. The gunshots! Blood pooled from cuts covering my arm and seeped out of my torso through my clothes. A flickering light I would have confused as a candle If it were not for the pure white color shone under my hand as if it were caged by my curled fingers. My vision became clearer. I could make out the shape of a circle no bigger than a penny sputtering in contrast to the grey floor. It seemed as if it were about to die as well bringing my mind back around to the pain in what parts of the limbs I could still feel. Coughing caused another jolt of pain from my chest to shoot through to my head. The world blurred again, losing sight of the familiar light protected by my bloodied hand.
Shouting following the sound of a door crashing to the ground, and stomping woke me up. With the clearing of my vision I saw the pool of blood spread towards the miniature summoning circle on the dust covered floor. I needed a way out. I racked my brain as best as I could while my head swam. I could only see one solution in front of me. Would my blood count as me? Would a circle so small even work? How long did I have before it was gone? I did not know when it first appeared. Hurry blood hurry. As I desperately willed myself to bleed out faster, time fought back and slowed to a crawl. I could feel my wish for blood loss coming true as my awareness began to fade away faster and faster. The light under my hand sputtered, almost completely going away before shining brightly. “Wait” I mouthed soundlessly. Almost, almost there I had to make it to tomorrow, I was not done living yet.
A long blink of my eye revealed my blood pool brush against and then spill over the etchings around the white light. I smiled, gave in, and let the will of whatever god had cursed me win. I would not fight their plans anymore. Praying in my head I wished for a second chance. The world spun in a vortex right in front of me as my consciousness slipped away. A second later the vortex unwound leaving me in a standing position above a dark floor. Looking down I saw red and white blurs on my form where they were not meant to be as I cursed my luck. “Fuck you random deity” I spitefully wheezed past a cough. A whomp of something soft hitting the floor around me sounded off the bright walls before I collapsed under the weight of my broken body onto the floor myself. What could have only been a face came into sight above me as the room tilted over, and just before I was whisked away to the big snooze.
My one good eye opened involuntarily as a jerking feeling pushed me to see my surroundings. I felt a rush of air pass over me. A bright surface with lights flashing by, blurred, and darkened. A sharp pain again forced my eye open to see heads growing out of the wall in a room barely bigger than I was. My vision faded away after something soft was placed across my eyes a moment later. The feeling of sleep overcame me. I was tired after all. Why not rest? I had probably been rushed to a hospital after getting hit by a car.
Light again filled my vision causing me to peek out from under heavy eyelids. Only to see a faint shadow cross over my body through a gauze covering my eyes. A beeping sounded and I fell back into a deep sleep.
Soft rhythmic beats played in the darkness as I tried to pick out a melody. Long tones played in harmony after a moment on top of the rhythm. The unfamiliar hum of what could only be music sounded off. An organ, perhaps a synth sound. I couldn't tell what instrument was playing. Enjoying the music for what it was I relaxed into the plush bed I must have been placed in after the operation. Yes, the car accident.
I opened my eyes and didn't recognize the ceiling. “Shit” I said a little too loudly for a hospital. I don't have ID on me, not after Salt Pond Town. Never would I fold to normal society again after that. I took a closer look at the ceiling. The smooth continuous white roof reflected light from a round ring of gold holding in place a blurry glass. Must be a really nice hospital to have gold lighting fixtures. I felt an itch starting to take hold of my nose. I instinctively went to reach for my face to solve the itch only to feel a band around my arm forcefully hold me in place. I tried my other hand to find it was also bound. I attempted to look down to see my predicament only to have my head be forced back to the pillow by a band that I swear appeared from nowhere. A buzzer sounded followed immediately by hurried footsteps.
Appearing over me, a woman's face and shoulders slid into view from my right . The scale of her body was larger than I could have ever imagined any human being. I must have hit my head really hard. The strangely large woman smiled and receded from my vision. My skin began to burn slowly at first then picking up to a fever pitch. I screamed, feeling myself burn as a choking sensation overtook my scream. The head appeared once more along with a white light flashing over my body. Quick steps followed a set of drawers being opened and the horrifying addition of an electric motor. A few eternities of burning pain later her head appeared again as the band on my head loosened and slipped away back to wherever it had hidden before. Hands bigger than my head lifted my neck just enough to slide something cold under. The clasp sound as the cold collar wrapped around my neck sent shivers down my whole body in slow motion as flashbacks played back my brief stint in the salt flats. The look of confusion took over the giant lady’s face. The burning pain passed and a cool sensation like drinking a lemonade after a run in summer washed over me. My choking scream stopped and I looked up through tears to see her smile return. She spoke to me. I did not understand a single word. Great, I am in a foreign country. I hope I can get back to somewhere that at least speaks English. If I am lucky she will know a bit of English. Guess I will have to try. The need to escape was steadily rising with each inconsistency I spotted. “Do you speak English?” I said hoarsely. My throat betrayed my normal volume and threw off my tone. I may as well have whispered. A tablet was pulled into my vision obscuring the face which I could see was aged. Somehow I felt that she should have more wrinkles. The tablet was moved away and with a couple glances I could only assume were double and triple checks she spoke. “No” she stated clearly. Dooble translate works. I can communicate if she has a translation app like that. “Where am I?” I asked slowly. A look of excitement came across her face as she typed into her translator. “Ommery Station” she stated. I shuttered. A military base was probably a worse situation than a ritzy hospital. “Is this a military base?” I asked. Again with a quick double check of her tablet she said “Yes”.
The yes and no questions were stressing me out. It would take forever to get answers this way. After waiting for me to ask another question for a while she frowned in disappointment and left. “This is so exciting. I would never have dreamed I'd get to be the one making first contact. Oh, Right the commander” Spoke a heavy feminine voice from the direction of the doctors withdraw. Great after I see the commander get here all the big decisions will be made about what to do with me. How to figure out my ability. “Please don't dissect me” I pleaded with the doctor. Rushed steps homed in on my bed. “Could you please say something else?” she asked. “ I don't want to be an experiment for the military” I stated in my hushed voice. “Please let me go” I begged the doctor while looking into her eyes. She hummed to herself. “The language model should not be set into your mind yet. Can you understand me?” The aged doctor asked me. Returning my eye contact the doctor vibrated in place from excitement. “Yeah” I responded. “What did you do to my head?” I asked. I was now even more confused. When did we figure out how to put languages in peoples’ heads? “A simple operation to implant standard into your mind while you slept off the operation” she responded quickly. “You were quite injured when you arrived. I even had trouble keeping you alive.” she stated matter of factly.
“One moment please I need to get a few people here before I have to explain your status to everyone one at a time.” the doctor said as she walked off tapping at her tablet. Right the commander I thought to myself. I really am in a bad situation. I suppose they did save my life and I don't feel injured. A couple wiggles later to check my limbs for feeling sent a relieved feeling through me. Somehow I was truly back in one piece. I must have been in a coma for the entire healing process. Months have probably passed by and the medical bill just keeps getting larger.
I must have made too much noise checking myself out because a moment later the doctor was back from her task of contacting whomever she needed to. Looming over me she asked” Will you stay calm if I remove some of your restraints?” I nodded yes with as much effort as I could muster. She looked confused and went back to her tablet. A brief review of whatever she was looking at and she placed the tablet on my lap undoing the strap on my chest quickly followed by the ones on my arms. When my wrists were finally freed I decided on being cooperative and moved slowly for the tablet as I sat up. I held onto the tablet as something to ground me to reality. The blanket that was covering my upper body slid down to my lap and I felt the cold breeze of the room's temperature control flow over my bare skin. I had not been given a hospital gown it seems. The doctor pushed a button on the bed and raised the back to support me in a sitting position and gently pulled the blanket back up over my shoulders. “Thank you. It is cold in here” I stated quietly. My voice was coming back slowly. “Could I get something to drink please? For my throat.” I asked.
Behind the doctor appeared an equally tall woman dressed in a Dark Blue smooth top made from some kind of durable fabric that laid over a pair of plain black dress pants with one Green Stripe down the outside of both legs. “Commander Redgate, I did not hear you come in.” The doctor stated nervously. “I see you are getting to know our guest quite intimately just one hour after the summoning." Commander Redgate commented towards the doctor. “What happened here human? Speak freely without fear of reprimand. Was she conducting herself in a way unbecoming of a medical professional?” Commander Redgate questioned me. “No, she is fine. The doctor has been a little curious about a couple things but nothing too far.” I quietly stated as clearly as I could. I coughed weakly as the doctor quickly poured a drink from some spout out of a wall and brought it back to me.
“It seems that the operation was a success, Doctor Offsman, Congratulations.” Redgate proclaimed. “Thank you commander. I cannot say that it was an easy operation but half of the credit should go the resilience of the human’s anatomy. I have never seen healing occur so quickly. Even the language set in after only a few minutes.” Doctor Offsman stated. “Doctor please update us both on the situation. Wait, where is summoner Keeps?” Commander Redgate queried. The doctor walked around the curtain to my left and moved it to the side. A couple button presses later and the patient in the bed adjacent to mine stirred awake and sat up. After a moment of looking around she shot over the bed railings landing on the floor in a uniform. The brown and grey camo matched from top to bottom in square patterns. A simple seamless top and basic cargo style pants showed the resilience of the fabric to not be creased even after what must have been a long rest. “Summoner Juniper Keeps Reporting!” a classic Anericam salute was given and returned. Why was everyone so tall, and what countries’ uniform was that? Ben thought to himself. I must have been in one hell of a car crash.
