lunch-Time 2

I really don't know what came over me. Was I that stubborn all the time? I don't know, but insisting on traveling alone in a strange world, a world that even the inhabitants do dare to reveal alone, Emika suggested that two of her men accompany me, as security and also as guards for my safety. I understood that very well. I understand that I will stand out everywhere I go, and I will appear as a stranger. Some will find me suspicious, and some will find me strange. I knew all that, but still insisted on doing it alone.

Before I left the tower, at its front gate, Emika gave me the ID card and, with a smile, said, "I saw from your memory that your world has something similar, but this is not just an identification card, but also what you used to call in your world a credit card." Like in your world, we use currency, so there are around ten thousand KAR in it. It's what we call our currency, although each country has its own currency, but unlike in your world, we accept each other's currency, and it has the same value everywhere. On top of that, it's your car key and fuel also, and I will let your Chip, I mean M, explain the rest of its functions to you, or you can discover it yourself. " She finished her explanation by chuckling, and she said it with a sad face. I wish you would stay longer to get accustomed to everything in this world and the left, but I have to comply with your wish.

I didn't have anything to say, so I nodded my head, and said, "Don't worry, since we can contact each other any time we need, we will be in touch, and also, I assure you that I will come back, and as soon as I get answers, I will inform you immediately." She seemed more worried than I thought she would be. By assuring her that I would come back, I thought it would relive some of the worry for her, but apparently it didn't. 

We were standing in front of the tower gate when she pointed at a corner of the large yard, which in the middle of it was a large road. Nobody was walking on it or driving. At the corner she pointed at was a metel frame like a door farmer but 2.5 meters high (eight feet) and almost 3 meters wide (nine feet) and said, "And remember, wherever you see a similar gate, you can transfer to any location on the planet and you come back here and go back wherever you were after any time you like".

I was looking at a real teleportation gate. In my world, it was a hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. A hypothetical manifested in many fiction books and movies. So what is the need for using cars or even flying if you can use this fine technology? I was thinking that, and like she was reading my mind, she answered me, "it is too expensive for the common people to use it, and no one uses it frequently, only when necessary."

Finally, we said our goodbyes, and I walked down that wide and clean road by myself. The car I had been given was parked outside the main gate, at the huge wall I saw when I first came to this city. Emika told me it could be brought to the front gate of the tower, but I still insisted on taking it from there. Maybe I was worried I would be embarrassed if I was not able to operate it, or maybe I needed the walk and to watch the city. I don't wish anyone made me do that. Yeah, mostly to be honest with myself, I was afraid of embarrassment. And also, the distance didn't look that far from the top of the tower.

After walking for five minutes, I started to see the buildings and other parts of the city. I knew that this same road would take me to the main gate where my car was parked, and I didn't need to do anything in the city yet. So Emika prepared for me everything that I may need for my travels, whether it is food, clothing, camping, or other necessities, so I didn't need to purchase anything from this city, only sight-see. The buildings in the city didn't look much different than any other city on earth. There were buildings with three or four floors, others with ten or more, and all on both sides of the road, with a large side walk for the people. Although the roads are large and can accommodate six lanes if compared to the earth, I still didn't see any cars on the road. I didn't think much about it though. 

The shops, most of them were on the ground floor of the buildings on the road; restaurants, coffee shops, clothing shops; everything was mixed and everywhere I looked, there were only a few people, if not mostly empty. Even though it looked strange to me still, I didn't think much of it, telling myself it was still early morning, the businesses were getting ready, and definitely it was around seven AM, so maybe like on earth, people start working around eight or nine in the morning.

I took about twenty minutes to reach the main gate at the wall. There were many more guards at the gate than when I first arrived. As I approached, I saw more than fifty guards, and when I went outside the gate, there were more than a hundred, so Emika increased the security, which was a good call. As soon as I came out of the gate, one of the guards approached me and said, "I will guide you to where your vehicle is, sir." I nodded and said thanks. I walked toward the guards' house where I saw a large metal gate beside the small gate that they took me through the first time. I wondered if I had seen this gate before but couldn't remember. Maybe I was not paying much attention to my surroundings, considering the situation I was in at that time.

Jennan was having the worst day of her life, absolutely the worst. Worse than a month ago when she lost her job; worse than three weeks ago, when she lost her apartment, and became homeless, thought Jennan; even worse than two weeks ago, when my best friend threw me out. That friend, whom I gave the job she is proud of, that I facilitated the apartment she lives in, so she threw me out of it. You would wonder what could be worse than that. right? Yes, it's even worse than that.

We live in a material world. If you don't have KAR, you are worth nothing. And all this happened a week ago, when I spent my last few credits. If you are wondering how I spent all of my savings in a week, then think again. I wouldn't have been thrown out of my apartment if I had had any savings left. Of course not. I seem to drift from the main subject, which was when all this started. Maybe it started even before I lost my job, but any way, everything that happened to me led to this moment, the moment I lost my life.

So what is the need to figure out when all this started, or even why, as long as I am going to lose my life in any way?

She paused the recording, and took a deep breath. "Continue recording. I have to warn everyone that may encounter that strange add, which was the reason behind me being here in this situation today. That day any had any other options,except to respond to that add.

But desperation makes you do things, normally you wouldn't. I knew, or more accurately, I felt that it was not right. The ad contained a simple message: "

Help wanted.

Serious applicants only.

Assistance with simple experiments

One day only.

Payment 200 credit.

Two hundred credits for only one day. My whole one month's salary was only three hundred credits. When I responded to the add, I was given a direction and a time to be there, and I didn't hesitate, because I needed credits to eat.

As soon as I arrived at the location, I received another message. When I red it I felt goosebumps all over ny body.

You have arrived.

Experiment initiated.

You have 24 hours to complete.

Mission: Survive

Reward: 200 Credits upon completion.

And a portal opened up in front of me, and something or someone pushed me through it.