Beep.

  Beep.

  Beep.

  He blinked his eyes open at the blinking noises and frowned, wondering what in the world could make such a noise. The man felt stiff, but the bed he was lying on was the most comfortable thing he had ever been in. His upper body was elevated a little with his pelvis lower and his knees raised up a little. He went to move, to adjust a little.

  “Nu-uh, no moving, sir. It’s terrible for you to move right now, no?” a female voice came from over him.

  He blinked and looked up, tried to lift a hand, and realized there were tubes everywhere. A sharp pinch from the inside of his elbow stopped him, and he looked to find a tube poked inside of his arm with a clear liquid running through it. He breathed in deeply and then twitched his nose. There were even tubes up his nostrils. He glared up at the woman. He could smell the ultra-clean room he was in.

  The room smelled like an alchemist’s workshop. Stripped clean of anything that would ruin their potions. Polished metal and smells he hadn’t smelled before. This place didn’t smell as though there had ever been life here.

  “What… what’s going on?” he choked out. His mouth and lips were dry all the way down his throat. It felt as if he hadn’t spoken in years.

  “Easy, sir, we found you in the street after a terrible accident. We think a car might have hit you. You’ve been in a coma for quite some time,” the woman put a hand on his chest to try to calm him, and he stared up at her. She wore loose-fitting pants and a shirt of a deep purple color and had a badge clipped to a shirt pocket that read ‘Alvarez.’ How nice for Heavenly messengers to have their names on their clothing.

  That’s when it all came back to him. He didn’t know what a car was, but he knew he had been crashed into. Not by whatever a car was but by a damn ox! He was gored by an ox! What was he doing here? Was this the Heavens? Judging from the tanned woman’s beauty, it was possible. She was tanned, but different from the people from the Empire, darker. Thicker eyebrows that were still perfectly shaped.

  She leaned down and looked into his eyes. Hers were deep brown, and her thick lips frowned as she inspected him. “Sir, do you know your name?”

  She had a peculiar accent, he realized. Not from Illian but from south of there? He wasn’t sure it wasn’t something he had heard before. She sounded almost musical when she talked and had a different sort of rhythm. He eyed her and thought about what had happened to him and then glared.

  “Ox,” he said simply.

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Ox?”

  If this were the Heavens, he may as well honor the one that sent him here, so he nodded.

  “Alright, Mr. Ox, do you know what year it is?” She asked and watched his eyes still.

  He thought it over and then said confidently. “The year 237 in the Age of Sasuke.”

  Now, both of her eyebrows lifted. “Alright then, do you know where you are?”

  “Judging by the angel by my side, I’d guess the Heavens.”

  She blushed and then stood and turned away from him to look towards a bright glowing screen that was on a small wheeled cart behind her. He squinted and tried to look at the screen and could hear tapping away on something as a line on the screen moved as letters appeared to the clicking noise.

  Mental health evaluation requested. The patient doesn’t know his own name, year, or where he is.

  He sighed. “I know my name. Maybe you go by a different calendar, but at my home, the date and everything else is correct.”

  She turned around. “And you’re sure your name is Mr. Ox?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Rokuro Ox, the Red Fang. The Toll of the Pass and Ghost of the Switchback!”

  She narrowed her eyes at his tangent and then turned back to her screen. Rotating around, she prevented him from watching what she typed. She clicked and clacked on whatever was on the cart for a few more moments before she looked over at him. “So, Mr. Ox. Would you like some water? That’s all I’m allowed to give you to drink for the time being.”

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  Rokuro’s eyes went wide, and he nodded. “Yes, please.”

  She nodded and grabbed her cart. “Alright, I’ll be back with a cup shortly. I’ll let the doctor know you’ve finally woken up as well.”

  Rokuro watched her walk away before he turned to look around the room he was in finally. Everything was so different from anything he had ever seen. He was in a weird bed, up high in an oddly comfortable position. The screen beeped and had lines going up and down all over it. There were numbers too and a picture of what looked like a hollowed-out man with some funny shapes in his chest.

  “What sort of magic is this?” His eyes went wide and were full of wonder when a loud thawping noise came from outside. His cultivator ears picked up on it, and the sound almost deafened him as the beast came flying overhead.

  The cultivator was close enough to the window that if he leaned on one side of the bed, he could peer out to the sky and see the odd shape. It looked like a box with a tail and had blades circling above it quickly. “What sort of weird dragon…”

  “Ah, Mr. Ox, I’m told? It’s good to see you awake.”

  Rokuro turned and saw a tall elderly man walk into his room. The man wore interesting inner robes and something that hung around his neck and down his chest. That was all under a peculiar white robe he wore that was too short for him. It was too pressed as well, it didn’t flow like a cultivator’s robe was supposed to.

  He was tall and thin, with gray hair and a beard. He looked old, but Rokuro could see a lot of knowledge and life behind his eyes. The doctor was someone who would probably do this job until he died. The passion to help people drove him.

  They had a strange way of dressing in the heavens. The inner clothing was white and blue striped, with light brown pants. Rokuro couldn’t help but stare and then panic. How was he supposed to greet or address this man? “Heavenly representative, thank you for your care after I was struck by that ox. My benefactor for sending me to the Heavens.”

  The doctor stopped mid-step and then stared at his patient with raised eyebrows. He finally grinned and pointed a finger at Rokuro. “Nurse Alvarez told me you were quite a flatterer.”

  Rokuro just stared at him as he grabbed a chair that was leaning against the wall and then dragged it over so the old doctor could sit next to the bed. His eyes never left the bandits. Rokuro found he had kind eyes, which was to be expected of a Heavenly agent, he supposed.

  “She also told me you’re having some trouble with knowing who you are, and when and where you are,” he said and got serious.

  Rokuro frowned and shook his head. “No, I am Rokuro from the Kurogane Valley in the Sasuke Empire.”

  “Not Mr. Ox?” the doctor asked. He seemed not to let the incredulous names the injured man in his hospital bed phase him.

  Rokuro smirked and shook his head. “No. I wanted to pay homage to the creature that brought me here, to the Heavens. It was a divine spirit beast, an ox that must have the power of the gods.”

  “I see,” the doctor said and leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms against his chest.

  Silence hung between the pair as Rokuro just wasn’t sure what to say and the doctor just thought everything over.

  “So, you’re saying an ox struck you and sent you to a hospital?”

  Rokuro looked at him and cocked his brow. He didn’t know what a hospital was. Surely it was something important, though. Hooked up to him with all the tubes and wires, he could only guess they were giving him a heavenly aura. Where would he fit in here, he wondered? It took him a moment, but eventually he nodded his head.

  The doctor once more nodded his head. “There might be some cow farms outside of the city, somewhere. I don’t know how they’d strike you down on the California State One but…”

  He trailed off and shrugged. “Anything is possible, I guess.”

  Now it was Rokuro’s turn to look confused. California? State? He narrowed his eyes at the doctor. “I’m sorry, sir, this one does not know these names. Forgiveness, please.”

  The doctor gave him a blank look. “Do you remember anything before you came here?”

  “Yes, of course. I was…” Rokuro went wide-eyed and looked at the man. Surely he shouldn’t just admit that he was a bandit and was in the middle of robbing the wrong man and got his just desserts. How would this Heavenly agent take that?

  The doctor just stared at him and waited for an answer. “I’m not the police; you can tell me. No matter what you were doing, just tell me so I can help you.”

  Rokuro hesitated for another moment before he gulped. If this man was from the Heavens he would know anyway, right? “I was in the middle of robbing someone with a wagon with my gang. They defended, and we lost. I woke up here in the heavens.”

  The doctor nodded along as if this was all perfectly normal. “What did you do before you were a bandit?”

  Rokuro was taken a bit back as he thought it over. It was a lifetime ago. “A farmer.”

  The doctor nodded his head once more and then stood up. “Well, this is all good to know. I’ll be back later when I have more questions, and we’ll try to figure out your story. Until then, just get some rest, Mr. Ox, hm?”

  Rokuro nodded and leaned back. “Yes, senior.”

  The doctor sighed and left the room unsure of what to do.

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