The elevator door closed in front of me and I was still as I felt the machine vibrate and begin to climb upwards. This mansion was wonderful but it was also so odd. I had amenities like hot tubs, wall-sized T.V.'s, an entire hospital floor as one of the floors, and even saunas in the master bedrooms. It was almost comical really.
"This is fancier than any mansion I've ever seen." I muttered, a silly grin on my face as I thought about that. The elevator was currently taking me to the upper basement, which was apparently a clinic. The machine was only in motion for a few seconds.
When the door opened I found myself staring at a real clinic. Or rather I found myself staring at a small waiting area. There were perhaps twelve seats in this waiting area. There was also a table on which there were numerous games, and toys for children to play with. Behind these chairs was a desk on which sat a phone, and a computer.
For a moment I wondered about how this technology was powered, but I quickly chalked it up to "magic", which would make as much sense as anything else here did. I found the phone to be a curious bit of technology to include here and approached the desk.
It only took me a few seconds to cross the waiting area and reach the device I was intending to examine. I was unsurprised to find a note on the desk that was written in paper the same color as it. I wasn't sure but I suspected that the note was generated as I was approaching the desk. I picked it up and began to read it.
"This phone, just like every other bit of technology in this house, is powered by a mixture of magic and the power of your soul. It's important that you know a few things about it." The note read. When I was done reading more words appeared on the note, replacing the ones that had been on it initially.
"This phone is not the only one that can be found throughout the mansion. Others are generating right now, as a consequence of you gaining followers. Your soul is innately powerful, but members of your kind gain strength and an array of powers as they gain more followers." The note read, informing me of a lot of things all at once. More words began to appear on the note when I was done reading.
"Right now this province is in danger of collapse. Your first objective should be to stabilize and save it. While doing so you'll undoubtedly acquire many followers who accept you as their leader. Their belief in you will increase the power of your soul, because you are, and have always been, a member of an inhuman race whose powers increase as you gain followers. Something not unlike gods, but not quite as limited as they are." The note revealed.
My heart began to beat faster as I read the note. What it was saying was impossible, but also it explained something important. If it was true, which I didn't believe, then it made sense for me to like politics and why I had always wanted to be a politician. That said I shook my head and rejected the note's message outright. But that didn't stop it from continuing to abruptly contain new words.
"Phones are currently appearing all over the mansion. As you grow in power they and a few other pieces of technology from Earth's modern era will begin to appear throughout the mansion and eventually in the province you live in."
"These are pieces of technology that focus on communication and information. Tragically, this will never generate weapons or vehicles. That said, you do have a garage that contains spaces to make new technology by hand and books that can help teach you the ins and outs of making things like guns, and other, more advanced pieces of tech." The note read.
"The garage is one of two auto-generated, as in the mansion came into being possessing it, things that the mansion possesses that is separate from the mansion. The other is a quaint wall that surrounds all of your turf aside from a small opening that lets people walk from your mansion to the ocean." The note read. I waited and watched as more words appeared.
"You yourself grow in strength as you gain followers and defeat enemies. This isn't a video-game or anything, there are no 'levels' or 'systems' but in time you'll notice your strength, senses, and even the seemingly supernatural abilities you possess grow in potency and increase in diversity as you gain followers and defeat enemies." The note told me, switching topics quite quickly.
"The sort of followers you gain and their belief in you affects several things. It's worth noting that right now you are believed in largely as a mythic, divine being of health and healing. This grants you certain... abilities you'll discover for yourself in due time. The powers you should be aware of are often considered a pretty standard suite of abilities such as super strength, super senses, and the ability to fly. There are others, but it wouldn't be that fun if I revealed them all to you right now, would it?" The note read, annoyingly.
I sighed, being irritated at the sass of the note. Even as I sighed though words continued to appear on the note. For once though, I moved while reading. I began to make my way towards the elevator, it was time that I make my grand appearance to the people of this colony.
I reentered the elevator and pressed the button to go to the ground floor of my mansion. As the door shut behind me I continued to read the new words that had just appeared on the note.
"Members of your race are capable of becoming many things. You all are capable of great feats if you put your mind to it and if you are willing to put in the effort. You can become whoever you want to be. Believe in yourself. Become who you are meant to be, Marcos." The note read. And then it stopped. There were no more words on it. Nor did any new ones appear.
When the elevator dinged to alert me that it had reached the ground floor, the note remained unchanging. I didn't sigh this time. I silently left the elevator and studied the area before me.
I was on the ground floor. The ground floor, even at a glance was clearly designed to serve as a place to welcome guests and have fancy events. I could see a massive kitchen, one several sizes bigger than the other small kitchens I had seen, and I could see a number of rooms complete with large tables for dining and for large events. Those rooms were surrounded by large glass walls on all four sides, and somehow, intuitively I knew that if I wanted too I could probably obfuscate the glass with my will.
This floor was somehow larger than the other floors were, in a way that I had no choice but to chalk up to magic. This was one of the clearer instances of magic, as even at a glance this floor was larger on the inside than should have been possible.
I hissed in annoyance, and I began to walk. I could see a door that would lead me out of here, and though it was a fair distance from the elevator I almost immediately reached it. Being fast was useful. And I suspected that speed was one of my superpowers.
When I reached the door, I placed a single hand on it and then chuckled. I didn't open it. Not yet. Opening this door would change everything for me. Because once I opened this door... I would be fully immersed in this world.
"Once I open this door... There is no going back, huh?" I asked myself, well-aware of the answer. Beyond this door laid more opportunity and power than I could have ever wanted. And also greater risks. I could hear them, even here. The people waiting for me. The people who were hopefully just the first people I'd recruit as my followers. They spoke reverentially of me. But they also revealed their fears.
"Do you think the hero can cure poisons?"
"Do you think he can help us defend our homes?"
"What do you think he thinks of jaguars?"
"I hope he can heal the sick..."
"His home is tall. It reminds me of a castle. What do you think it's like, inside?"
"I hope he begins to heal people soon. My daughter twisted her ankle the other day... She could use some healing."
"I wonder what he looks like?"
I knew that there was no going back. I needed time to prepare myself. I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe. As I did I felt a number of smells and tastes fill my head. I could smell the ocean nearby, and the scents of various foods. I could taste the fresh air that beckoned just beyond the door.
"For now... I suppose my only real choice is to accept that my current, seemingly impossible scenario is what it appears to be. I should operate under the assumption that this is a place in need of assistance. In need of leadership. And maybe even that I do have superpowers... I am far faster, taller, and otherwise different from how I was." I muttered.
"This may not be the way I intended to attain my goals but this does give me what I wanted... And more." I said, attempting to push myself into doing what I wanted to do. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. I wanted to become powerful.
I had always wanted power and now that I was an inch away from it... I felt a lot of things. I felt nervous. I felt scared. I felt unprepared. And that last one was the one that stung the most. I knew that I had always wanted power. I was always cravenly ambitious person. However to get power this way was something that blindsided me. I never imagined that some scenario out of a fantasy book could happen in real-life, to a real person.
I needed to steel myself. I needed to focus. I needed courage. And for the first time in my life I needed ambition. I didn't take my hand off of the door though.
"I can do this... I can seize this opportunity. I can become greater than I ever imagined. All I need is something I've never lacked... Ambition." I told myself, as memories flashed through my mind.
I remembered my childhood. I remembered my lower-middle class family in Puerto Rico. I remembered how they worked with me to send me to college, then to medical school. I remembered how I gave them money when I began to become famous. I remembered how I gave them autographed copies of the books I wrote back in Puerto Rico, to sell if they ever needed money.
I remembered my friends. I remembered my home. I remembered my job. And those memories somehow actually helped me. Because I had yet to hear how I could return home, and an intrusive thought warned me that I might never be able to return home. Which meant that the realest reason for me to open this door was for me to begin to make a new life here, in this world.
My heartbeat quickened, but when I had that thought it pushed me. I opened the door and I looked beyond it. What greeted me was a small lawn and a gate made of transparent material, with only one entrance or exit. Beyond the gate was a crowd of people that included the man who had spoken to me earlier; Juniper. I recognized him immediately and I smiled.
He stiffened upon seeing me up close. And I began to walk towards him, deliberately slowing myself down so that I didn't just dash towards him. I was careful with each step, and as I approached the crowd fell silent.
The silence was eerie. It felt heavy. But I didn't let how it bothered me show on my face. Instead I kept a neutral look on my face, with a polite smile curling my lips upwards. When I reached the edge of the lawn I opened the gate and stepped just past it. As I did Juniper looked at me and fell to one knee before me.
"Oh great hero, it is truly a pleasure to see you, and indeed to be in your presence! One of the great honors of my life shall be, forevermore, that you deigned to answer my summons." Juniper said, his voice shattering the silence that had once dominated the area.
"I recognize that in summoning you we have indicated that we are in dire need of your leadership, but it is true that we need you to lead us." The man said, still humbling himself before me. He fell to his knees in supplication, and fell silent.
I was silent for a moment. I wasn't going to speak until I was ready to say my piece. I knew that I had one chance to do this right. I needed to speak thoughtfully and to give a speech that would inspire the crowd gathered here. I could see people of all apparent socioeconomic levels, and as I studied the crowd I carefully examined a number of different things.
I inspected the clothing of various peoples, their size, their width, their height. The people gathered before me were a surprisingly diverse bunch given that the technology I had seen here would suggest that this was perhaps an iron-age group of people. I could see people who appeared to be rich, who appeared to be poor, who had fat bellies and who were dangerously thin. I could see almost visually see inequality.
I allowed my eyes to fall on Juniper's bowed form. I smiled and then spoke.
"Rise, Juniper." I commanded, speaking gently but loudly enough that my voice could be heard throughout the area. The man trembled and looked up, a hopeful look in his eyes. Upon seeing the look of hope in his eyes I knew that the best way for me to make my way through this situation while also maximizing the number of followers I would gain was for me to perform.
Juniper was obviously a man of firm convictions. He had already revealed that he knew that I would be "confused" when I arrived here. If I was assuming that what I had been told about this world was true then it wasn't a mistake for me to come here. It wasn't random either. I was supposed to be here. And in that case... faking it till I made it was the best route for me if I wanted to maximize the number of followers I could gain.
"I am Marcos Mondragon, and Juniper's piety, plus that of you all, have stirred me to action. Your unrelenting faith in me, coupled with your need for a hero, for leadership, have moved me to action." I said, a wry smile on my face as I spoke.
"My memories are currently imperfect, but I remember enough. Juniper, you are a hero whose unyielding belief and powerful magic have brought me here. I shall do as you ask and I shall lead everyone out of danger." I explained. As I spoke and my words reached the ears of the crowd I felt something stir within me. Something powerful. Something ambitious.