The stranger beamed at me excitedly. He was clearly very proud of his choice in me as he waited for my response. But honestly, the only thing that came out of my mouth as I stood there dumbfounded was, "... Huh?"
Was he serious? Bursting into flames was certainly cool and all, but now he just sounded like he was crazy. Or maybe he was doping? He had been grinning this whole exchange. Nobody was ever that happy. "S-sir. Sir God, or guide, or guardian. Whatever you call yourself. Are you okay? I think you might've hit your head. What you're saying makes no sense. A demigod? I mean. You obviously burst into flames earlier. There's no doubting that anymore. But... deities are things of myth and legend." I looked on the doping smiling fire man in hopes he might've been punking me.
I thought that this must all be some elaborate setup. A joke. The man responded with a bit of sarcasm as he answered me, "Yeah, Kid. And in your Era, the Era I pulled you from, that's all they were. But back about two hundred years ago some crazy things went down, and now we exist. Of course, none of us are legitimate Deities. That's mostly a job title. But we can do some pretty amazing things. So will you, once you get a handle on your new gifts." The stranger began to dig around the underside of the checkout station, looking for something. Meanwhile, my poor brain was still trying to absorb all this. I spoke up, hoping to glean some clarity, "Gifts?"
The man peeked above the counter briefly in response to my inquiry, "Yeah! Gifts. We can't tell you what they are, of course, But they'll stem from a skill or passion in your previous life. My guess? You played a lot of RPGs, you probably liked Sci-Fi, maybe fantasy? Your power will probably be a big deal. They don't give us the full scoop in the briefings, you know. Just the general details about someone."
Speaking up, feeling slightly annoyed at being watched my whole life like it was some kind of sport, I said, "Yeah... both. Are you saying that I'll have powers over imagination?" It only made sense. That's all those things were. My only passion, really.
The man popped up after shuffling around some more and lifted with himself an oversized circular flat disk. He grew serious all of a sudden, though that smile looked restrained. He clearly wasn't used to the change. "Okay, pupil of mine. All jokes and questions aside, I'll need you to pay attention to me for a moment. For real." Uh oh. I looked at the man as he spoke again, suppressing any further questions until his words had passed. Why was he so serious all of a sudden?
The stranger spoke again as he lifted the massive disk before my eyes, making sure to emphasize it in what he was about say, "This is a teleportation pad that links us to the central square of New Babylon. The city was built in honor of the man who changed everything for us about a hundred years ago, and that's where you're going." I must've been giving him a pretty weird look because the man said, "What? Did you think you were going to walk all the way there? That'd be futile. There's a dimensional barrier separating the outside world from us. You'd never find it. The city can only be entered by porter pad. It's no mere coincidence you popped up in this area, Kid. This is prime ground for rebirth. The place is absolutely loaded with RRE."
With my questions just piling up, I decided to start with the obvious. Pointing to a small obscured device that my God had clearly pocketed in his scuffle with the counter, "Okay, well this is evidently not the same world I was living in before, so for now I'll just take your word for it. So here's two more for you. What does RRE stand for, and what's that in your pocket?"
He grinned widely again as his eyes found the object I pointed towards. Placing the disk down in the center of us as he took it out. It looked like some kind of mini TV. He brought it up to my face as he explained its purpose, "This is a holographic com device. You know what that is, Yes?"
I nodded and responded, more familiar than most my age with all things Sci-Fi, "Star Wars, Yeah. What about the abbreviation? What does it have to do with my showing up in a bloody clinic?" I shuddered, thinking back on the scene. Like some kind of horrible start to a horror film. Not the best way to start your day.
Before he even spoke, I knew immediately it was going to be something stupid as he said, "Residual Renco Energy. Renco means Rencarnation Offspring. If you manage to find your way through our fairly confusing city, there's also Renco Corp. That's where you'll want to be at some point. That's also where I'll meet you. I have to hurry things along, now. I have some places to be before we meet up!"
The Godly stranger stuck out his hand. Thankfully, not on fire. He obviously liked to joke. As I took it in the clear gesture, shaking his hand, he introduced himself, "Hahah- I guess I should have said something earlier, but you can call me Thomas. I'm also from your Era. Thomas Torch." We shook, as I pondered his silly name. Torch? His superiors have issues, and not just with names.
Quick as a button, Thomas pushed me onto the disk between us. Speaking and waving with that ever present grin of his, "Off you go! See you in the big City!" Without another word, he turned to the isles as he muttered to himself, "Now what did they send me here for again? Oh right, the- !" My surroundings faded away. Dissolving into lights blindingly illuminating. A rainbow of colors consuming my body, and my vision as I broke down for transportation. Moments later, reappearing in a towering metropolis of white.
It was monstrous. Futuristic white skyscrapers loomed over me wherever I turned. A barrier of some kind blotting out the sky in a blur of hazy purple high above me. Above the seemingly magical construct flew massive cruisers, which I could only guess were meant for interstellar flight. Space Travel. It was wondrous. Massive beasts of metal and technology almost blotting out the sky.
Down on the ground, the streets were clean. Really clean, In fact. I couldn't pick out a single piece of litter, trash or dirt anywhere except in large grey bins that I could only identify as trash cans. They had no flaps. Just a bubble around the lid. I spotted someone walking by as they dropped a scrapped item into the bin, and it immediately incinerated the object under the protective field over the lid. Cool.
As the fire died down in the bin, I began to walk. Making my way through the city. It was weird, but barely anyone walked the clean streets. It started to spook me until I noticed thin tubes traversing the heights of the metropolis. Numerous swiftly moving flashes of light traveled through the tubes in the sky, which I could only assume was similar to how I'd arrived here. Teleportation. Or some form of it.
Knowing I'd have plenty of time to sightsee more, I let my eyes wander before noticing a high rise in the distance that dominated the city. It was huge, and it was labeled in bold black letters that looked slightly faded on the face of the structure. Renco Corporation. They had a slogan below the massive letters that said, "Welcome! To your new home, The future~" Blunt. But it got the point across. Now I just needed to find a directions terminal. If they'd thought up a solution to litter, they must've had one somewhere.
Funny enough, they still had streets. The occasional hover vehicle following a traction system as they glided down the road. They seemed to use a type of magnetism. In the center of every occasional intersection stood a directions box. Dead center in between all cross-walks. Quickly, I made my way over to the nearest one. Keeping an eye our for vehicles so in hopes not to end my new life abruptly. However, it wasn't vehicles I needed to watch out for.
"Oof!" I grunted as I ran smack dab into a young woman who hadn't been paying attention either. A classic scene of bad eyesight ensued as her glasses slipped off her eyes onto the ground. Luckily, they seemed to be resistant to damage as they clattered onto the clean pathway. "Ah! My glasses! O-oh I'm so sorry, I should have-" Without thinking, I reached down and picked up the spectacles for the young lady as she began to search the ground for them. She was a mess. Her sight must've really been bad. I took her hand as I kneeled down and placed the glasses into them as I spoke, not wanting to appear a jackass, "No, I'm sorry. I was in such a hurry to find my way I forgot to watch for people, not just cars."
She spoke again, seeming to almost burst into laughter, "Cars? What're tho- Wait. You're one of those future people. The uh, uhm... the Renco project! Were you reincarnated? Oh my gosh, that's so rare! I've always wanted to be reincarnated. It looks just fascinating! I'm Melanie! What's your name?" Jesus. This girl talked quickly. She looked about 19, with an average bust and a genuine face. Relatively thin, with pale white skin and a blue blouse that matched her short thick white skirt. God, a skirt. It was so unusual to me as I grew up around woman in jeans. She quickly put on her glasses, blinking at me, and I noticed a projection in the lenses as she gazed at me questioningly, "James. James uh... Fantasia. Nice to meet you, Melanie." We shook on it, as she grinned widely. Was everybody in this Era so cheerful?
Melanie spoke with enthusiasm as she gripped my hand tightly, seemingly having more to say, "Hi, James! Welcome to New Babylon. How about I show you around?"