"I arrived last night and wanted to tell you, but you hung up and never called me back," Mama Sarfowaa replied with a bit of an accent. "I called you a few hours later, but I was sent directly to voicemail. Did you forget to pay it? Or right, Alisha is the one who pays for our phone plan."
"You know I don't like any noise in the middle of the night, so now, I always put it on do not disturb, and I forgot to call you back," Zane explained.
"Phones can do that? You may have to teach me," Mama Sarfowaa said as she finished removing all the items from the bag. "I brought you some food. It should last you a while."
Zane looked at the food packages: banku, okro soup, fried fish, and shito. His mother was a traveling nurse, meaning she often had assignments at hospitals in other states. But even after traveling for hours to return to New York last night, she still took the time to cook. Zane sighed as she looked at her clothes: "You should take a break." His mother was in her early 50s, the age at which she should be considering retirement. Yet, she still practiced such a demanding job.
"You know me: I don't feel good if I'm not busy," Mama Sarfowaa said. "Oh, before I forget." She removed a necklace from her pocket. "It took me a while to get the right material and conduct the blessing ritual, but I finally created this amulet for you."
Zane held the amulet, and the first thing he noticed was the cool sensation on his palm, followed by a unique smell he couldn't describe. The amulet was made of an unknown black wood, with something carved on both the front and the back. He had recognized them: the Aya and Bese Saka Symbols. As someone who is half Akan, he has seen the Adinkra symbols everywhere since childhood, so he knows them by heart.
The Aya Symbol, which resembles a fern, represents independence, defiance against challenges, perseverance against difficulties, and resourcefulness. Meanwhile, the Bese Saka — which looked like a butterfly wing — is the symbol of abundance, affluence, power, and prosperity.
"I talk to the elders back home, and they say your spiritual tribulation will end soon, so wear this so that when it happens, you can receive all the blessings possible and not miss any opportunity," Mama Sarfowaa said.
Zane sighed. He wished he could believe in all that nonsense. Regardless, he has nothing left to lose anyway, so he slowly placed the amulet around his neck. Mama Sarfowaa nodded in satisfaction. She knew what her son thought about their spiritual practice. She loves and is very proud of him, but if there is one thing she's always been disappointed about, it is how he abandoned their traditions.
"Alright, I have to go, or else I'll be late for my shift," she said. "But honey, remember, you can still move back home until you get back on your feet."
"I know," Zane nodded. She always says these words whenever she visits. After sending her out the door, Zane retrieved his phone to call his sister. The only reason his mother would spend so much time cooking instead of resting was that someone blabbed about his interview and how terrible his situation was. However, as soon as he exited [Do Not Disturb Mode], he received a notification from Cash App about a $300 payment from Alisha Jonhson, with a short message: "I know you're too prideful to ask, but this is for you to get through the week. You can also consider it as an apology for Sarah's behavior."
"You're safe this time," Zane muttered to himself before texting her something else. Although he didn't mean it, he also said he forgave Sarah. After taking care of his hygiene, Zane reheated the food and enjoyed a decent breakfast, the first in a while. During his meal, he received a call from Juan about work at the shop, so he hurried over. Delight overcame him when he saw more than three cars.
"You're here," Julio, a short Hispanic man about the same age as Zane, said.
"Why are you so excited?"
"This is for you," Julio said before secretly slipping Zane a handful of cash.
"For?" Zane asked as he counted—a total of $250.
"Let's just say, the improvement you suggested for my car won me big last night."
"Is that so?" Zane muttered. "I'll keep the money, but if troubles come my way because of you, I'll deny any association."
"You worry too much."
Zane ignored him and started his work. His station was on the back because the man or woman who came for their car service usually stared at him or asked why he was doing such a dirty job with such a handsome face. Although he could have lived off his face card, Zane always disdained to do so; he even refused it when Juan tried to use him as marketing to attract more customers. Finally, when the veil of darkness loomed over the city, Zane left the shop.
'There is hope to make rent this month,' he thought while walking home. However, his smile faded when he sensed the flip-phone in his pocket. A notification from his phone distracted him in time, and immediately afterward, another smile returned on his phone.
He was only looking at an Instagram Post of a middle-aged woman with fewer than 200 followers. The post was of her at a restaurant, holding a glass of champagne, with the caption: "Moving to New York."
"Finally," Zane muttered. His plan has been in motion for years now. First, he became friends with Officer Martinez's son on Xbox Chat and had him download something that granted Zane access to most of the computers in his house. The next step was to use the dirt he gathered on Martinez and have him fired. This process was the most challenging since these cops like to protect their own, but Martinez was used to doing dirty things, meaning he had a lot of skeletons in his closet.
Finally, Zane began to influence the entire family psychologically. Every once in a while, they would receive ads about life in New York and new beginnings. After months of playing chess, Martinez finally succumbed and decided to move from Boston to New York, trying to start a new life. "I'll see if you dare not tell the truth without all the power of a police officer," Zane thought with a sneer.
He returned home in a good mood, now that Operation Bait had been successful. Zane went for his daily run and, after showering, added a few items to his investigation board before checking Weibo. His account was not yet banned, so he sent a few more messages before applying to more jobs. Finally, he rested for the night after reading for a few hours.
Dimension Tower:
A humanoid creature dressed in a two-piece black suit and a long red jacket, with two horns and lizard eyes, walked into a room where a human woman — dressed in a blue magical robe — awaited his arrival. "Lord Drakken," the woman saluted.
"I've cleared all my assignments, so what's the meaning of this assignment?"
"You were ordered by the higher-ups for this mission," Nua calmly explained.
"Higher-up? How high are we talking about?" Drakken asked. Only a few people can bypass his authority and force a mission on him, so depending on the answer, he might be able to get out of this situation.
"Sage Firenz asked for you personally."
Drakken immediately straightened up. "Why didn't you say so sooner? Show me the details." He sat at the table, and with a wave of her hand, Nua manifested a screen with tiny writings. "The dimension is called Earth or Terra, and we've already completed the initial preparations."
Drakken focused on the screen. "A population of nearly 8 billion? Demon Lord Shakurri is about to have a feast."
"Not if you do your job properly."
"Oh, come on, with the bit of time we have, all the suffering I expect to exist in their society, there is no hope for these people. Even I can't make miracles," Drakken shook his head as he continued reviewing the information.
"Hmm? Why is this world so vast? Is this a mistake?"
"No."
"You're kidding me? Such a scale is probably on par with the Abyss Dimension. And at least, the abyss is inhabited, but you're telling me only one planet has life on it?"
"We have verified multiple times, but it appears the uniqueness of this dimension is its enormous size."
Drakken was speechless, especially after reading the part that this world primarily contained matter and dark matter, both considered low-level dimension energy; in other words, a lot of useless things that took up space.
"What is the mana situation?"
"Everything is set up," the woman replied. "We've activated all the leyline nodes and ensured enough mana for the early stage."
"Mana is not leaking, correct?"
"We've used their atmosphere to ensure it remains on the planet."
Drakken nodded before continuing to read. He needed to understand their situation before designing a training plan. As little faith he had in this dimension, he still had a job to do, especially since the Sage asked him to partake in this mission. Regardless of success or failure, Drakken knew he would be rewarded as long as he did his best.
"Hmm? They have a low-level magical civilization?"
"Used to," Nua explained. "From our investigation, a gate from the Astral Plane opened in this world thousands of years ago, releasing a decent amount of mana, to the point of even creating magical leylines. Unfortunately, even before we arrived, most of it had already dissipated. However, the humans in this world did create a brief magical civilization surrounding egregores, with some of its power and legacy having lasted until the present."
"That's something. I'll ask Gufker to join the team."
"He's on his own mission, and the tower can only provide one Great Shaman."
Drakken looked at her. "Is this mission important or not?" Why would the Sage order him to take this mission and not give him the best resources?
"I don't know," Nua shrugged.
"Tell me honestly, did we get anything useful?"
"They gave us the Soul Crest."
"That's more like it," Drakken nodded as he finally had something he could work with. The brief overview of Earth's situation took him only five minutes. Of course, that was not enough for him to understand this world and plan for their survival. So, Drakken tapped the table, and a vast amount of information was directly transmitted into his mind, containing detailed accounts of Earth's history, every culture, religion, language, geography, economy, and sociopolitical issues.
"What an interesting dimension," Drakken uttered. "They are not a purely logical type that rejects all religion and spirituality, as the other science and technology dimensions I've met. More importantly, based on the variety of their arts, architecture, music, and other aspects, creativity and ingenuity are truly ingrained in their society."
"Really? They don't look any different from any other humans in the endless dimension sea."
"That's why you've never successfully saved a targeted dimension," Drakken said casually, which made Nua's face turn red. After learning the type of society this dimension has created, Drakken had some ideas for training these earthlings.
"By the way, who activated the Law of Resistance?"
"There is no confirmation, but rumors have it that it's True God Lurien."
"Him? That would make sense. He hates the Demon Race with a passion, but Heaven does not want to fight the Demon Dimension after the last battle," Drakken stated before sneering. "However, if Shakurri becomes a Demon King, do they think they will have a choice?"
Nua frowned as she glanced at the dangerous glint in his eyes. "I must remind you that our Dimension Tower is a neutral faction, so don't you dare try to lure the Gods to fight the Demon race to save this dimension. Since Lord Lurien chose to remain anonymous, you must respect his choice."
"Are you me? How can you know what I'm thinking?" Drakken calmly said. "Anyway, summon the team."
Numerous light projections appeared in different seats of the table. After everybody saluted Drakken, he immediately started the meeting.
"First order of business, we will immediately start the first shift. However, you need to raise the minimum selection age from 16 to 20, and the maximum from 25 to 30. Secondly, you…"