The trio all instinctively jumped up upon hearing the knocking. All of them hesitated, and sweat began to drip down their faces.
A terrible feeling was felt in their stomach, and it was as if time slowed for them.
All of the potentially suspicious moments from when they were captured to now flashed through their heads.
Even Xavier, who had thought that there was no need to be so sneaky in their room, suddenly was regretting his actions.
"What if he figured us out?" Was a question that repeatedly appeared in each of their heads.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knocking sound continued, this time it was three knocks.
"No. It's not possible. He has no real evidence. Unless he has cameras…" Xavier sighed and relaxed his fists.
He smiled and looked back at Aria and Emilia, for which both had their eyebrows curled up in worry.
"I'm going to open the door. Don't be so scared!"
Even though his footsteps felt heavy, he went to open the door. As he did, Aria instinctively turned the volume of the TV down.
As the door slid open, a tall, well built figure with pink hair appeared. It was Vael Deinhart.
His hands were in his pockets, and he looked very relaxed.
"Hmmmm. Their auras suddenly turned so dim. They're afraid, anxious, and confused. Why?" Vael thought to himself.
"Can I come in?" He asked. Xavier nodded in response.
"I have something for all three of you." He said with a soft tone as he walked near the TV.
"What is it?" Aria asked, trying to suppress her emotions. Emilia had her left hand hanging down, and her right arm holding it, as if she had her mind on something.
Suddenly, the man began to pull something out of his pockets. Instinctively, the trio's hearts dropped for a split second.
Vael took his hands out and opened his palms.
There were three, silver pieces of metal that looked like watches.
They were immigrant bands.
In an instant, Aria, Xavier and Emilia had a deep breath of relief in their hearts, despite not knowing what the metal even was. However, they still had intense emotions of fear, anxiety, confusion and frustration.
"These are immigrant bands. They contain everything—your ID, your balance, your status in the country, your religion…they were supposed to have your portrait also, but I never got a picture of you guys. It's blank for now, but when we take the pictures, I'll update it at the Bureau." Vael had a soft, almost radiant smile as he described doing this for them.
"I even color coded the bands. Aria is white, Xavier is green and Emilia is black." Vael said while closing the fist which had the bands.
The trio's emotions suddenly became much less intense. They were now experiencing some more positive emotions, and it felt as if a heavy weight was being lifted off of their hearts. However, it was not fully lifted.
"How were you able to do this for us?" Aria asked, her voice shaking slightly.
"It's a simple process. Well, normally you three would have to come with me, but since Xavier was sleeping and you and Emilia were watching a movie, I decided to go by myself. Heh, I had some connections, so I was able to go through with that."
Vael had a slightly smug smile on his face as he said that. He then cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Well, all three of you have jobs now. You should be starting next Tuesday. You can look at them on your bands. If you want to change your jobs, please tell me."
None of them responded. In fact, they just kept staring at Vael, unsure of what to say.
Despite Vael being able to see their emotional states, their shocked faces and their pained eyes told him enough.
They were relieved that Vael didn't know about the news—yet. They were happy that Vael was doing this for them. By this action, they even began to trust him more, seeing that he was being truthful.
But the lingering thoughts of their family and friends being detained or even worse, dying, held their brains captive—not allowing them to focus on the positive currently. And for Xavier and especially Aria, the thought of Astra being caught up in such a fate struck their mental states like a hammer.
"What's wrong? Did anything happen?" Unable to see much change in their emotional states, Vael finally decided to ask what's wrong.
Xavier suddenly flinched slightly, as if someone was going to hit him.
"Uh, n-no. We just saw what happened on the news, that's all."
"What happened?" Vael asked.
Aria turned the volume up. She hesitated as she did so, but she couldn't be suspicious.
As she did, Vael heard the situation that was going on in the news. He put his hand on his chin and quickly realized what was going on.
He too had a look of shock on his face.
"Is that what's going on? A bunch of humans who claim to be from another Earth came to our Earth? I can see why Xavier, Emilia and Aria were scared. This is unprecedented! It makes no sense!"
"Who would do this, and why? The gods must have allowed this to happen, as something done on this scale is impossible for anyone below or even on the level of a Saint. Such action would definitely be noticed by the gods…was it a mysterious God? Is…"
"Is the time of 'that event' approaching? There's no other explanation for this."
The trio looked at Vael with a raised eyebrow seeing such a shocked reaction. They expected him to be more hostile, but he seemed to be as confused as they were.
"It makes sense, since it's a bunch of us suddenly coming to your planet…" Aria thought to herself as she stared at Vael's shocked expression. Xavier and Emilia were momentarily thoughtless.
After a while, Vael composed himself.
"I can see why you guys were scared. It's likely that certain organizations and cults might even try to increase their activity because of the government resources being held up. Don't worry, this shouldn't affect you too much. And if something happens, I'll protect you three."
"Why? Why is he doing this for us…we're strangers basically. Taking his food and being in his house…!" Aria thought to herself.
"Why…" Emilia muttered softly. Xavier and Aria didn't hear it, but Vael did.
He chuckled softly.
"It's like I said."
"I want to battle against unfairness. I want to do everything I can to prevent bad circumstances from happening. I've done this before to many other people, and even started my own centers for disadvantaged people."
"You three just happened to be in my backyard." He let out a shrug and smiled.
"I wish I could do more, but there's only so much a powerless person like me can do."
Upon saying this, he saw that the emotions of Aria and Xavier lighten up considerably. Even though they still had intense negative emotions plaguing them, Vael's words struck their hearts deeply. It was to the point where he could've seen gratitude, a bright yellow emotion, begin to light up in their bodies.
However, it struck the hearts of Aria and Xavier differently.
"I don't know why, but I feel a little nostalgic…" Aria thought to herself.
"I wonder. I wonder if he would still think of us like this if he knew we weren't on this planet…" Xavier thought, his eyebrows creasing slightly.
While they were grateful, they were still doubtful.
Ironically, they did not trust him as much as Vael trusted them.
But Xavier and Aria were coming to terms with the fact that Vael was caring for them.
"I'm going to get dinner. Is there anything you guys want?" He asked. "I'll also place the bands on the living room table."
"…You can choose." Xavier said.
"I have to use the bathroom." Emilia said suddenly. She said this with a nonchalant look on her face. She walked past Xavier and Vael and went inside of the bathroom.
Aria's mouth widened slightly. Not out of shock, but out of worry, especially considering how Emilia had felt the entire time being on this planet.
"She's still worried…" Vael thought to himself as Emilia walked into the bathroom, her steps feeling heavy as she tried to come to terms with the possibility of the second departure of her family and friends.
She steps into the bathroom and locks the door.
This was her personal bathroom, and it was quite large. This was the same for the other bathroom's in the house, and this was considered an upper middle class bathroom.
The shower walls were made of adaptive nanoglass, shifting between opaque and transparent with a thought, which can reveal picturesque scenes. The floor was composed of liquid metal tiles that adjusted temperature and texture to match the user's comfort, giving an almost weightless sensation when stepped on. The mirror that was positioned above the sink was a hologram that interacted with the user. It was capable of analyzing biometrics and displaying holographic text for skincare or other forms of personal grooming. The shower system was just as advanced, with there being no shower head but instead there was multiple openings for water to come through, cleaning the body efficiently. The toilet system was fully automated and completely self sustainable. She could've also customized it to her liking, but she didn't do that yet.
Emilia looked around and sighed.
This bathroom was so advanced compared to what she's used to; and having technology that all of humanity—the humanity she knows—could only have dreamed of.
And it was this same technology that reminded her that nothing was going to be the same anymore.
She looked at the mirror. She saw herself. Black hair, black eyes, Caucasian skin and a soft face.
"So, there's a chance my family is gone, my friends are gone, everyone is gone…and I'm living with strangers. I'm supposed to get used to this. I thought that in the shows that I watched these things would be easy to get over. This is so much harder."
She thinks about the time where she would play little board games with her sister Rosa afterschool, when their mom came to school late to pick them up.
She thinks about the time when her dad used to hug her and come up with excuses as to why he's not able to afford something, knowing full well that their family was not rich enough.
She thinks about the times where she would play video games with her friends at their houses, forgetting about tomorrow.
She thinks about the time when she was excited to graduate, excited to go out into the world, but more excited to be free from the stress of school.
She thinks about the time where she was complaining to her friends at the bar about how she failed a job interview, but was still praised by her friends for seeing the positive side of things.
She thinks about the time where the last message she saw from her sister was: "Stay safe, okay?"
"There is a chance everyone I know is dead…" She tries to compose herself but she ends up holding her head with both of her hands, looking down at the sink, appearing emotionless.
Suddenly, something strange welled up within her.
Suddenly, she began to smile.
"Haha…This is perfect. This just means that with the help of Vael, I'll be able to get stronger and finally save them. This is perfect. They're not dead."
She looked up, and saw that she was smiling. Her eyes were black, but they got a little darker.
The lighting was dimmed, and it seemed to get a little dimmer.
In the mirror, she saw a face that shocked even herself, if only slightly.
…
In the living room.
Vael was about to leave, and Xavier and Aria were tinkering with their bands. They were also thinking if there should be any change to their respective plans. They had decided that not much would change. They did not have enough information.
On the bands, they saw all of the relevant information that Vael talked about. And with these bands, they were actually people in the system. These set of actions made them understand Vael's affection for them even more.
"Mister, how will we get stronger?" Xavier was on the couch next to Aria, and he asked as Vael was about to exit through the door.
Vael thought for a few seconds and said, "Don't worry about such things right now. I know you feel like with the situation going on, being stronger is a good way to have a sense of security. After all, you can't rely on me all the time."
"But for now, staying low and being alert is the best way to stay safe. Especially when cults may ramp up their activities. And some of them are sneaky too, you don't want to worship a mysterious God accidentally."
"So, was the organization you were a part of worshipping a God?" Aria asked.
"Yes. The God of Sentience. Like I said before, you should only end up worshipping those six Gods. If you want to join a similar organization, it has to revolve around one of them. This is for a very important reason."
"If you don't do so, one of three things can happen. One, you can be successful in becoming stronger, however a lack of experience or too much influx in power can cause your body to overload itself, causing you to either go insane, or in the worst cases, explode, or become a monster."
"Two, you can be successful in becoming stronger, but since it was done by a mysterious existence, you were unknowingly corrupted. This is because these existences oppose the main Gods of the dimensions, and want to take their place by siphoning power from worshippers—which is what happens if one is corrupted with the power of a mysterious God."
"Third, and very rarely, you can become more powerful with neither of these consequences. Though, this is only for really powerful people who have massive innate talent or potential."
Upon hearing this, Xavier and Aria felt a little scared. This world has a lot of hidden dangers in it!
"There is a possibility that maybe one of the mysterious Gods brought us here like the news said. We still don't know how that happened, or why, and I doubt someone benevolent would do that." Aria crossed her arms as sweat began to form on her forehead.
Xavier kept listening.
"So it's best to join an organization of the six Gods. But, like I said, don't worry about that right now." Vael smiled. "It's pretty hard to get in one with a recommendation, and that usually includes great physical skills and strategic ability. The problem is, at the level you two are at, you don't have any of those qualifications…" He said with a frown.
Xavier and Aria suddenly felt really discouraged. They thought it would've been a little easier to join an organization once they knew about Ethereon!
"Is it possible to cheat the system and use Ethereon to get qualifications? No, they'd track me…" Aria thought.
"In that case, we'd have to go through some training. I don't mind it. Especially considering the fact that Dr. Sera may not have had the safest journey here…" Xavier thought as he frowned.
"So, can we go through some training classes?" Xavier asked.
Vael smirked and said, "No need. I'll train you guys soon." He then promptly left the house.
This shocked both Xavier and Aria!
"What's with the switch up…?" Aria muttered to herself.
"Well, he never said that he wouldn't let us become stronger at all…" Xavier clarified what Vael said in his head.
…
A few minutes later, Aria and Xavier return to their rooms.
Emilia was lying on the bed, using her phone which she had just set up. She was looking at the news on her phone.
Strangely, she had a slight smile on her face.
"Emilia, here's your band. You can tinker with it however you'd like." Aria said while holding her hand, which was containing the band, to Emilia.
"You can place it in my drawer." Emilia responded, continuing to look at her phone. "By the way, aren't you guys sad about the news?" She asked.
"Yeah. It's still on my mind, actually. I've been trying to think of ways to contact my family and friends, but it's kind of impossible in such a big world. Even using the internet. And with the government doing that search…" Xavier sighed.
"Well, we know for sure that all we have is each other right? We just have to keep moving forward. I'm not religious, but I pray to the God of Sentience…I think…I pray to 'Him' that he allows our family and friends to be safe." Aria said, her words coming out a little slowly as if she didn't fully believe what she was saying.
Xavier looked at Aria and was shocked. "You've adapted to everything a little quickly. It's only been a day."
"Yeah. I guess I have…" Aria replied softly.
Xavier turned to Emilia. "I almost forgot. Vael is going to-"
Emilia cut him off, as she knew what she was going to say.
She smiled and said, "I know. We're going to have to get stronger, right? But let's not worry about that right now!"
"Let's have some fun first. After all, we're on a much better Earth!"
…
After receiving the news, Astra headed to 22 Somnara Street immediately. She had decided that it was completely safe for her.
As long as no one was transported randomly in public, or in a dangerous area, and they were able to adapt well and find an ID before this hunt for 'unidentified humans', they were completely safe. There was no real way for the government to find them, even with supernatural means in this advanced world, unless they're able to read minds. And judging by the news reports, that's not likely at all.
"This confirms that the governments of the world don't know about the holograms either, meaning they don't know this was a cosmic event. This also confirms that the rest of the humans here but me did not know exactly how they were transported. It is possible that some or even most could have lost memories due to shock, but not a single one of the reports tell me that the humans from the previous Earth knew how they were transported. They just claim that they were randomly shoved into this world in an instant." Astra thought in English as she boarded a personal train, which costed her about 5 Orin.
She got off and immediately followed the directions Kayla told her and went to the electronics store. It looked futuristic, with the classic Luna architecture.
"I'm getting such Cyberpunk vibes from this…" As Astra thought in English, she went inside with the automated doors closing before her.
Immediately, Astra took in all of the sensory details inside of the large electronics store.
Surprisingly, she noticed that not a single person was talking about the incident about the people from the previous Earth arriving despite the fact that it affected the entire world.
"They don't seem to care? I doubt that they haven't heard about it…I mean, maybe it's because of the fact that they're in an electronics store. But still, it doesn't seem to make sense. Perhaps they had an initial shock reaction, but once they realized it didn't affect them, they put it in the back of their heads?"
"Right. Thinking about it from their perspectives, all of it will be dealt with by the Dominions and the military. It doesn't affect them, so they don't care…" Suddenly, Astra thought about Xavier, Aria, her mother and the rest of the people from the previous Earth, and any possible places they could've been.
She did nothing but sigh inwardly and decided to focus on the matter in front of her.
Her golden eyes scanned across the room, however they looked a little heavier, if only for a moment.
She saw that there were multiple phones on display, almost ignoring the people occupying the room. Each of the phones were holographic and could've changed their shape for a variety of uses, such as using them to turn into a holographic AI assistant.
She thought long and hard about the specifications, the quality, the price, the lifetime of each phone, and the efficiency of using one. All of this ran through Astra's mind as she examined the minute details of each phone.
She asked employees and even other customers about which one they would choose. They all gave her a variety of options.
After thinking long and hard, Astra ended up buying the cheapest phone. It was 35 Veylars.
…
Back in her room, Astra didn't bother to set up her room or even open the suitcases. This made her room a little messy.
She immediately went to set up the phone, which was extremely easy to do, and connected to the internet.
Luckily, Kayla—who wasn't home currently—had the wifi password on the clothes rack near the front door.
As Astra was about to search on the internet, a strange, white and blue light appeared in the corner of her eye.
Astra instinctively looked in its direction, and saw that it was gone.
She was hallucinating again!