Abducted

I ran for maybe an hour and exited the tunnel. Considering they had given up 3 metrices in, and I had dug maybe 3 more, I was running at 30mph, as 1 metrix was 5 miles, so 6 was 30 miles. This meant that my physical form was even better than Usain Bolt's, something most Earthlings without powers could only dream of.

I felt my body, checking to see how much I had sweat. I presumed that I would be out of breath, covered in water, as within the euphoria of my speed, I wasn't fully aware of my body. What I found however was nothing short of shocking. There wasn't a drop of sweat on me, nor was there a trace of irregularity in my breathing.

'Okay, that's definitely impossible. I guess the body alteration helps here too.' I realized, a grin on my handsome face. Or I assumed it was handsome, but I hadn't bathed in many, many days. I was probably a defined, grey humanoid with how much dust was on me.

'Let's go to an inn.' I thought.

---

I ran to the city's center for the third time, but this time I didn't know which direction my goal lay. However, I now had another card to play. I could speak the Universal Diction!

I jogged up to the nearest person in the center, the moonlights 1reflecting off of his bald head.

"Sir, could you tell me where I can find an inn with a shower?" I asked in a polite tone.

He turned to me and looked me up and down before responding. "Aye, laddie. You could clearly use one. If you head down that street, then take the 3rd left, you'll find a respectable inn for 1,000 UC a night. They've got showers with bloody good scrubs, so you can get the dirt off ya." He pointed down a road to the east, which meant it was the high-class sector.

"Thank you, sir." I thanked him and headed towards where he pointed. 'Hm, an inn in the high-class area, for 1,000 a night? Suspicious.'

My short jog led me to the inn, 'The Supria's Light'.

'Cool name. Seems familiar,' I thought, searching on my bracelet for reviews on the place. 'Now, did that man lie to me?'

'Named after the third moon in the sky, we here at Supria's Light aim to give you an enjoyable experience... Blah blah, I don't care. This inn is super comfortable, the workers are so nice... blah blah. This inn gave me a great experience, the workers are friendly... blah blah.'

I scrolled through 20 different reviews to make sure, and each of them sounded suspiciously similar.

'Dammit, this is a trap of some kind isn't it.' I was aware that these reviews were most likely made to lure people in, but I really needed a piss and a shower. 'I fucking stink.'

'Should I, should I?' I couldn't make up my mind, so I just walked into the inn. 'Be a dumbass first, then deal with the consequences after.' I thought.

Upon entering, I was greeted by a woman who looked just a bit older than me, maybe 25, who had a wide smile on her face.

"Hello sir, how can I help you today?" She asked.

I walked up to her at the reception before I spoke. "I'll take a room for a night. One with a shower."

"Of course sir. One moment." She turned away to fetch a key, which gave me a moment to look at the design. The inn had wooden-looking pillars and beams, which were probably metal coated in paint as a design, and it had a tavern vibe to it. It reminded me of an 'Adventurer's Guild' in a manga or manhwa. 'Thankfully, my cousins loved to brag to me about what they did all day, and Ben was an avid reader of comics2.'

The room was devoid of people, but it wasn't late enough at night for that to make sense.

However, before I could think further, I was snapped out of it by the woman, as she handed me a fob that could be attached to your bracelet and asked for payment. I tapped my hologram, sending the payment through.

"Thank you for your patronage." She said cheerfully.

I took the key and headed up the stairs by the wall, going to my room.

I held the fob in my left hand and placed it on my right wrist. With a flash of light, I felt pain in my forearm, but a second later it stopped. The light dissipated to reveal that the fob had been absorbed by the bracelet. 'Damn, that's cool.'

I arrived in front of the room that was mine —a notification on my hologram with my room number came up— and swiped my wrist on the handle.

CLICK-

The door opened with a click, swinging wide open by itself, and I stepped inside, marveling as the door closed itself immediately after. 'On Earth, they're on timers I think. Not as cool.'

I looked around the room, reveling in the architecture that could be called medieval on Earth. Of course, here it only looked medieval and was actually all modern, but it was a nice touch.

The room contained a dresser, a closet, a bed, and a desk, and there was a door that led to another room in the corner.

'The bathroom.' I realized with glee. 'Finally.'

---

As I stepped into the shower, I gave my body a good scrub, wiping away all the dust, when it came to me.

"OH! I know this place!" I screamed quietly. 'Yeah, it's a lot later than now, but when Alexander comes to Aver, he sees on the news about a kidnapping ring in an inn called, 'The Supria's Light'. Damn, shower coming in clutch!'

I swiftly exited the shower, unfinished with cleaning myself, but that was the least of my worries.

'Please, activate later... YES!' The news report had said that they used a virus in their fobs to disable bracelets. Since basic, old bracelets didn't have the required protection, New-Worlders were susceptible to being hacked. Luckily for me, the hack hadn't activated yet, so my bracelet was still functional.

I called the local authorities, and within a split second, the call was picked up.

"Hello, what's the emergency?" A feminine voice came from the other end.

"Yes, I'd like to make a report."

---

"So, is he a New-Worlder?" my co-worker with a gruff voice asked.

"Yes, he is. We can hack him." I replied. 'Fuck! What's this guy's name again?'

"Okay then, at 79:00, turn it on." Francis said.

"Of course, Francis." I responded. 'Just a couple more until we get 1 million UC each, and then we can split. I'll save you, sister, just wait!'

I leaned back in my chair, watching the clock tick.

TICK, TOCK- TICK, TOCK-

"Argh, fuck. I'm bored. I say we get his ass now. He's probably UnAwakened still. I spoke with him on the street, and he seemed weaker than me." The gruff one said.

I ignored him, but looked at Francis, to see how he reacted. 

"...Sure. I'm getting bored too, I guess. Do it." He looked at me when he said the last bit, so I activated the virus.

We left the room we were in and trudged up the stairs. There was a slim chance that the New-Worlder was an Awakened, and if he was, with 3 of us there, it would end in an instant. We couldn't have other guests hear a commotion.

click-

His door opened with a soft click, and we tiptoed in.

"Oh, he's asleep." The gruff one said, in a normal voice, which freaked the shit out of Francis and me. We peeked over the guy, our eyes falling on a handsome man asleep with a smirk on his face.

"Darren, shut the fuck up. Don't ever do that again." Francis declared, swatting the back of Darren's neck. 'Right, that was your name.'

"Darren, tie him up." I ordered. For some reason, the guy's smile ticked me off, so I told them to remove it, somehow.

"He's bloody handsome, isn't he?" Darren asked as he tied the guy up.

"Yeah, he is, now hurry up."

---

I listened as 3 people had a conversation in my room, one of them binding my limbs and putting a bag over my head. They hadn't checked to see if I was faking my slumber, overconfidence I assumed, so it was probable that they were not professionals. Threat or not, it was always smart to double-check.

'Whatever, I'll be out of here soon.' I relaxed my mind as I thought back to after the call. 

I had taken a shower and then looked for the tattoos. One thing to note was that tattoos were not common among people, as things like lost limbs were rather common, and tattoos didn't grow back with them.

'These will.'

On my right arm, there was a grey snake that coiled around from my wrist to my shoulder, its head resting on my right pec. The eyes of the beast were wide open, their color shifting back and forth between vibrant emerald and vibrant royal purple. 'The Jörmagundr.'

On my left pec, just a bit further left than where my heart lay, was a phoenix with golden-orange plumage and a single eye showing, that glowed a vibrant, arctic blue. 

The last tattoo, on my back, was a giant, black dragon of Western descent, that looked at you with two, menacing eyes that glowed vibrant scarlet red.

Pulled away from the intricacies of my tattoos, I found my bonds loosening, and the bag being pulled from my head. I was tossed onto a cold floor, which I felt was a good time to 'awaken'.

"Oof!" The air left my lungs with a forceful push, to make sure that I sold being startled awake, and my eyes sprung open.

I found myself in a cell, stone walls made of what I guessed was the stone from a mine similar to the one I was in, ensuring me of its hardness, and metal bars were blocking the path to freedom.

"Stay here, laddie. I'll come see you soon." The man who had told me the way to the inn said.

"Wha-What?" I acted surprised, but I already knew where I was.

In the basement of the inn, rather cliché, was a dungeon, where New-Worlders would be kept, before being shipped off to an auction house and sold as slaves.

The man walked off, leaving me alone in the darkness, where my expression shifted back to calm.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind me, and I found a boy who couldn't have been older than 8.

"Um sir, are you stuck here too? Do you know what's going to happen to us?"

'Fuckers!' That thought pissed me off, but my morales from Earth would do me no good here, so I calmed myself down. 'I'll be immunized soon.'

"Yeah, don't worry. I came here by choice, kinda, and we're going to be okay... Got any food? I haven't eaten since lunch." I reassured the kid before asking a dire question.

"Um, I have some fruit spare." The boy handed me some grape-like fruits, which I happily accepted.

"You got a name?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing, and the kid calm.

"Uh, Nathaniel. You?" He replied, to which I told him my name.

"Sir, could you tell me why nothing's going to happen?" He seemed assured by what I had said, but he took it with a grain of salt. I had provided no evidence, of course.

'Smart kid.'

"First of all, stop calling me sir. I'm 17. And secondly, I called the cops." I whispered the second half to him, and what he heard caused him to perk up immediately.

He hugged me tight, not letting go, and started to convulse.

"Thank you so much, Arthur," He began, "I thought I was going to die or be enslaved. Wait, what about my mother? She should be here too!" His voice quivered, and I could feel my chest getting wet, but I let him cry, patting him on the head.

"She'll be fine, don't worry."