(Dyn)

  “Of course, right away,” Marlin turo Dyn with a crisp nod. “Your well-armed friend is quite correct; an appoi is unnecessary. I shall attend to this matter.” He flicked his wrist over the tablet, flipping his palm to reveal a new overy. His fingers danced over the s, swiping bad forth as the menus shifted rapidly.

  Dyn watched his gestures and said, “It’s just like an iPad, but made of stone. A stonePad?” Dyn quipped, his eyes lighting up as he finally made the e. “The sPad!”

  Marlin leaoward Charles, whispering spiratorially, “It appears they have already harvested his ears; just dreadful, the poor thing.”

  Dyn’s hand instinctively went to his ear, his fingers brushing it as self-sciousness crept over him.

  “I believe he’s part of an intergactic traffig scheme, preying oral civilizations. This is all very new for him,” Charles said.

  “Pre-astral?” Marlin looked up, pointing to Dyn. “He is not elven?”

  Charles shook his head.

  “Yes, well, that would expin the disfigured ears and poor physical dition.” Marlin exged a knowing nod with Charles.

  Dyn frowned, eyes narrowing. “What’s wrong with my ears?”

  Marlin held out his free hand while tinuing to tap with his other. “Your adventuring lise, please.”

  Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out a regur white card, handing it over to the attendant. Marlin took the card, tapping the er of it on his tablet. He frowned and tapped it again.

  Laying the tablet on the ter, he gave Charles his full attention and said, “My apologies, sir, but it appears that this lise has been suspended.”

  “I’m aware,” Charles said, his voice clipped.

  Marlin’s expression didn’t ge. “Sir, I am afraid I ot give you a proper tract for this.”

  “I’m aware,” he said again, annoyance carrying in his voice.

  Marlin picked the sPad back up and tapped away. After a minute, he said, “The best I do for you is an unraransport tract—”

  Charles cut him off before he could tinue, his voice firm. “We’re not here for me. This man needs your help.”

  “Certainly. May I inquire as to his name?”

  “Dyn,” he answered for himself.

  “Is that a transti on his finger?” Marlin asked Charles, throwing a quick gesture toward the band.

  Charles gave a curt nod. “Yes.”

  “Most excellent. It is essential that he grasps the situation.”

  Dyn rolled his eyes, gesturiweewo of them. “Guys, I’m right here.”

  Marlihe tablet ba the ter, this time giving Dyn his full, undivided attention. He dropped his posh at. “Greetings, Dyn,” the attendant said, louder than necessary, with a gcial ce. Pg his hand over his chest, he said, “My name is Marlin.”

  Dyn looked at Charles, w if this rank. “Why’s he talking like that?” He poio the pretentious elf.

  “I am your advocate for yee registration.” Marlin tinued with his gcially slow expnation. “That means I will argue for, support, and defend your best is.”

  “Are you for real right now?” Dyn asked him.

  Marlin dragged out even the simplest response, nodding. “Yes.”

  “Holy crap,” Dyn said, “Please stop.”

  Marlin looked over at Charles for firmation.

  Charles sighed. “This is why I prefer the day shift…” He turo the attendant. “He’s not deaf or simple. You speak normally.”

  “Fine.” Marlin narrowed his eyes on them both. Resuming his former at, he said, “It is my duty to address any inquiries you may have. I uand that you may have undergone a harrowing ordeal, but I have just a few questions. If you would be so kind? I assure you that this should not take an excessive amount of your time.”

  Dyn crossed his arms. “What happens to me after the refugee registration?”

  “A mender or physi will pick up your trad bee your caseworker.”

  “And then what happens?”

  “Your caseworker will walk you through the seven-step process, getting you ied into society in a healthy and engaging way.”

  “And what will I have to do?”

  “The entire refugee process is modur and pletely optional. You will not have to do anything you do not wish to.”

  “And what about the cost?”

  “Cost?” Marlin stared at him bnkly.

  “Yes,” Dyn said slowly, “how much is this going to e?”

  Marlin’s face twisted in fusion. “I am afraid I do not uand your question.”

  “What will I owe you when I’m doegrating, or whatever?”

  “Nothing, sir. The entire process is optional. Do you still wish tister as a refugee?”

  “It just sounds too good to be true, which usually means it is. Are there any hidden fees?” Dyn asked, narrowing his eyes as if trying to catch Marlin in a lie.

  Marlin shook his head firmly. “I assure you, there are no fees. The League will cover all your food, clothing, lodging, and any occupational training costs.”

  Dyn’s eyes widened. “Wait, yoing to pay for me to go to school?”

  Marlin tilted his head slightly, perplexed by the question. “First, fual education is free. Sed, you should have already pleted it by ye. Does your p not have education?”

  Dyn waved his hand dismissively. “We’ve got education, but the good stuff costs a lot.”

  Marlin’s face sched in genuine fusion. “Oh, Mother, why would there be a barrier to entry to quality education? urpose does l the average intelligence of society serve? Sounds dreadfully barbaric.”

  The more Dyn tried to expin the differences between Mother ons ah, the more obvious it became that Earth only focused on short-term profits at the expense of everything else. Seeing a world that focused on adding value, not purely based on money, blew his fug mind.

  “Lastly, we will ensure any gaps in your fual knowledge are addressed.”

  Dyn picked at his nails, still trying to process this new world. “What about college her education? What if I want to go to wizard school—Sorry, wizard college? Does that t as occupational training?”

  Marlin pursed his lips in thought, then nodded. “That sounds like a guild. You pay them in time and service, and they reward you with experiend proficy; something the League would not dare deprive you of.”

  Dyn raised an eyebrow. “And how long would I have to work for you?”

  “I am afraid you have the arra backwards. We will be the ones w for you. Again, this is all voluntary on your part; you are free to opt out at any time.”

  Dy out a breath, half-ughing. “That sounds great, holy. What do you want to know so we get me registered?”

  Marlin straightened, pig up the tablet again. “By what means did you arrive on Mother ons? Astralship, wate, or other?” Marlin picked up the tablet, waiting for a response.

  Dyn scratched his head, shrugging. “I don’t know…”

  Marlin gnced up from the tablet, one eyebrow arched. “I beg your pardon, could you please crify?”

  “I was walking oh one moment and the I found myself in a room on Mother ons,” Dyn expined, gesturing vaguely with his hands.

  “You transitioned from the ground to inside a room?” Marlied back what he uood. “I apologize. I was inquiring about your arrival to the p, not yress into a building.” He turo Charles and said, “I thought you said he was not simple.”

  Charles, arms crossed, exhaled through his nose. “No, he went from his world to ours.”

  Marlin’s face shifted in uanding. “So that I have properly uood your situation; you meant the sudden dispt was from your world to ours, and not outdoors to indoors.”

  “Correct,” Dyn said.

  Marlin tapped at the s, his face thoughtful. “Hmm.” He tapped a few more boxes.

  Dyn leaned in slightly, ed. “Is that going to be a problem?”

  Marlin shook his head, though his gaze remained fixed oablet. “Not for me,” he mumbled, tapping another box beled ‘Unknown’. The attendant waved a hand, sliding through more forms. “I am preparing three tracts: one for your safe transport to the League of Adventurers, another for the iigation into the circumstances of your arrival, and a third for your iion into society here on Mother ons.”

  Dyn caught Charles nodding off. The rugged elf was so exhausted, he’d fallen asleep on his feet for a moment. He couldn’t imagine being up for that many days.

  Marlin’s voice cut through Dyn’s thoughts. “On to our inquiry. What is the name of your homeworld?"

  ‘He’s going to make me say it,’ Dyn thought. Looking at Charles, then baarlin, he hesitated to answer. ‘And he’s gon wrong.’

  “I uand that your world is pre-astral, but had aten around to christening it with a name before your abdu?” Marlin asked. “That is fine if you did not. It should not be difficult to find your world among our records. It would be challenging to overlook su extraordinary popution.”

  “Yes, I,” Dyn corrected himself, “we before I left.”

  “Outstanding. Inform me when you are ready, sir,” Marlin said, his fingers poised over the sPad, waiting for Dyn’s response.

  Dyn closed his eyes and took a deep breath, remembering what Charles said; mistranstions won’t have sequences. “Earth,” Dyn said.

  Marlin blinked. “Pardon, but I believe I may have misuood you again. Did you say—”

  “Earth,” Dyed quickly. “My p is called Earth.”

  Marlin’s eyebrows raised, having heard him properly the first time. His fingers flew across the overy s.

  “Hmm.” Marlied the same pattern three more times. “This is most unusual.”

  A knot of aightened in Dyn’s stomach. “What’s unusual?” he asked warily.

  Marlin’s face remained calm as he expined, “I assumed a world with such a siderable popution would be doted in our archives. Might it have an alternative name, perhaps?”

  Dyn shook his head and said, “No, not that I’m aware of.”

  “If that is the case, I regret to inform you that we have no record of a Dirt, sir,” Marlin said.

  Dywitched as he groaned inwardly. ‘Goddamnit, they got it wrong.’

  “That’s because I’m not from dirt. I’m from Earth. Ph. E-a-r—”

  “Don’t spell,” Charles and Marlin said in unison.

  Dyn sighed in frustration, gring at the sPad in Marlin’s hand, and thought, ‘Sure, it might be in anuage, but they probably give those things to kids.’ If a child could do it, so could he; Dyn reasoned, holding out his hand, and asked, “May I?”

  “By all means.” Marlihe tablet in Dyn’s hand and poio where the name of the p should go.

  The overy transted easily enough; stant brain tingles and all, but the yout wasn’t intuitive to him. He was clearly looking at a seargine for ps. However, the keyboard remained untransted. He sighed. Charles was right again; he’d have to learn how to read, eventually. After several frowny faces, he felt a hand on his shoulder again.

  “Teological ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of,” Charles said gently. “You’ve nothing to prove here.”

  “We have teology, Charles,” Dyn said, looking at him ftly. “We’ve had puters just like this”—he held up the sPad—“for decades. I use teology every single day of my life.” He poio the tablet with his free hand. “We give these to our kids before they even read or write. Do you remember my phone I keep talking about?”

  Charles gestured somethiween a nod and a shrug.

  “I don’t even need hands; I just say what I want and—” He gave himself an idea. “Does this thing have voice activation, speech to text, or a way I tell it what to do?” he asked, waving the tablet around again.

  Marlin looked at him strangely and said, “Indeed, sir.”

  “Okay, do it.” He pced the tablet on the ter between them.

  Marliantly reached over and tapped on a button in the er. “Whenever you are ready.”

  “puter, search for ph,” Dyn said, enunciating the st word clearly. He watched as the overy dispyed a loading symbol; a snake chasing its tail around a regle.

  It didn’t take long before the overy dispyed the results.

  s found.

  Then it prompted him.

  Would you like to create a new record?

  It gave him two simple options.

  firm. Deny.

  Dyn looked up at Marlin and asked, “Should I?”

  Marling nodded. “The registration requires that you input a homeworld, even if it is transitory.”

  ‘Transitory, that means temporary, right?’ Dyn made the mistake of thinking instead of saying.

  Dyn tapped on firm and Marlin picked up the tablet. “Superb. Let us proceed. What race do your people refer to themselves as?”

  Dyn sighed, finally feeling like they were getting somewhere. “Human.”

  Marlin’s face remained impassive, but the sigh that escaped him said it all. “I would have thought Dirtling.” He shrugged, cheg the records. The pretentious elf’s sigh told Dyn this would be another ry.

  “Wait.” He held up his hand. “Are you telling me I’m the first human you’ve ever met?”

  “No Sir. You are the first human anyone has ever met,” Marlin said.

  Dyn didn’t know how he felt about that information.

  “Just o formality is required,” Marlin said.

  “What’s that?” Dyn asked. He watched as the attendant spuablet around to face him. The outline of a hand repced the overy oonePad.

  “There’s just the small matter of obtaining yal signal,” Marlin said.

  ‘He probably meant signature,’ Dyn thought. He reached out to pce his hand oablet, but Marlin snatched it back before he could.

  “It is important you uand, by pleting this st step, you will finalize yistration with the League of Adventurers. Upon pletion of this st step, I shall assign yee status. Do you have questions before we proceed?”

  Yes, Dyn had many questions, so many questions. In fact, he wao know more about everything the attendant had told him. Normally, he wouldn’t make a fuss and just agree to move along, but he was still dealing with the decisions of Past Dyn and the fine print of the Time orb. This time, he couldn’t allow his btant disregard for binding dotation to get in his way.

  “Yes,” Dyn said.

  Sliding the tablet back to Dyn’s side of the ter, Marlin said, “Excellent, now if you would just pce your—” He stopped himself and looked up, “My apologies, did you say yes?”