Chapter 448: The Ghost of Maine

The teleportation circle had dropped Luke straight back into Maine. He found himself inside a government controlled facility. The world now operated in two halves: the Modern Society, still governed the old fashioned way, and the New World, ruled by the nobility, the strongest people on Earth. And since those same nobles had ended every major war in the past, they held influence over both societies.

“Do you want us to call your home?” asked the government agent walking beside him. His name was Joffrey.

“No,” Luke replied. “I don’t even remember anyone’s phone number.”

Agent Joffrey chuckled. “We’re the government. We can find that kind of information.”

“I’d rather tell my family in person.”

They continued down the hallway. Luke felt strangely out of place surrounded by people in business suits. This was the SIA’s field office for Maine.

“System Intelligence Agency,” Luke murmured, reading the name on one of the walls as they walked.

“We’re the rebranded CIA,” Joffrey explained. “No more wars, no more terrorists… but new problems came up. Instead of gun runners and drug cartels, we deal with system users who turn to crime. So aside from managing travel between the Modern World and the New World…”

They stepped into a small room.

“…we also maintain order within the United States against any dangerous individual with a system. That’s why everyone who accepts the system is registered. Makes monitoring a lot easier,” he added. “And yes, all of us here have systems as well.”

Luke thought of Eleanor. Her father probably worked for this agency.

The room resembled an interrogation chamber. Luke sat at a metal table. The agent tapped his bracelet and pulled out a stack of papers, an item storage device. Then he grabbed a tablet resting on a wall mounted dock.

A tablet. An actual tablet.

Luke stared, almost smiling. He hadn’t seen one in ages. He found himself lingering on the glow of the security feeds, not because they mattered, but because they felt familiar.

“Luke, your file says you just came out of a tutorial and were accidentally transported to the New World,” the agent said, scrolling through the data.

“And I ended up way farther from home than intended,” Luke replied.

“That’s an understatement,” the man said. “Good thing teleportation was invented.”

He continued reading… and suddenly froze.

“Rank E?” he blurted out.

His eyes flicked up. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“You’re way too young to have reached that kind of power.” Joffrey scrolled again, still processing. “No one you’ve seen in this building is Rank E. Only special agents who hunt system criminals.”

“Seriously?” Luke asked.

The man locked the tablet and set it aside. “I’m not a field agent. I stay at a desk. I haven’t even gotten past level three in my class.”

Luke almost didn’t believe him at first, but the man’s expression didn’t lie.

“And you,” Joffrey muttered, “you’re at least level sixty in class… at nineteen. You’re basically a one man army.”

The man studied Luke for a moment, then asked, “How would you feel about joining the SIA?”

“What?” Luke blinked, caught completely off guard.

The man picked up his tablet and tapped a few times. A photo appeared: a young woman in light medieval armor, a sword in hand. Short red hair, freckles, and the American flag stitched onto her outfit.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“This is America’s Hero, Serena,” he explained. “She’s probably a little older than you. She works with the SIA as well.”

Luke took the tablet. Promotional lines splashed across the screen: Come explore the New World with America.

“In the old days, the CIA recruited from universities,” Joffrey said. “We just updated the model. Instead of scooping up talented tech students, we recruit talented system users. Serena is one of the rare people in the world with the Hero class.”

Luke set the tablet back on the table. “Right now, I just want to go home,” he said, careful not to sound rude.

“You’ll have plenty of years to decide. You’re going to live a lot longer than me,” Joffrey replied with a soft laugh. “But I had to try. If those New World factions are recruiting left and right, we’re not going to fall behind.”