I did it, I finally started in politics today. August 7th, 2008, will be a day that I, Neal Cassland, will reference in my memoirs 40 years from now. I was responsible for my grandfather’s social media accounts as his newest legislative aide. It was a Friday, and after quickly creating Facebook and Twitter profiles, I got up to head out. My job wouldn’t officially begin until next week, and the weekend beckoned. “Grandfather. Thank you again for this opportunity. My friends and I will be down at the cabin until late Sunday. Then I should be back at your house to get some sleep before the official start on Monday.”
“Sounds good, my boy! I doubt anything earth-shattering will happen before Monday. I will be at the house this weekend, though I do have a ton of day plans on Saturday and Sunday.”
“That sounds normal for you, Grandpa. Have fun golfing and flirting with all the widows at the club!”
“You know me far too well. You need to find a few lady friends to flirt with. Your mother is gonna set you up with arranged dates and an eventual arranged marriage if you don’t start lookin’ yourself.”
“Please don’t remind me, Grandpa. Mom found a wife for my older brother, and that was a massive project. Fortunately, I have two sisters and a cousin, who have all her focus at the moment. All the young ladies here in the capital working as aides or lobbyists should easily fill my dance card.”
“Smart boy. Now get out of here. Go camping and fishing with your friends. Next week, you need to make this old man look internet savvy to the rest of the state: clearly an uphill battle.”
It didn’t take me long to get down the road and close to the cabin. I was enjoying the drive out there, winding along the ever-shrinking number of lanes. I pulled off the road as I approached the gate. Two other SUVs were here. I have no idea why the group came in three separate vehicles, each of which could have held all 6 of us.
I got out of my car and spotted all five of them by the gate. Billy, our game master for the Dungeons and Dragons session tonight, was standing there next to Chris, the soccer stud. These two were my oldest friends, and a study in contrasts. Billy was a combination of caustic and talkative, while Chris was smooth and well spoken. We had met back in middle school when Billy was in the midst of getting the crap beaten out of him by a group of kids for tripping over one of them in gym class. Chris and I both stepped into it; the result was that all three of us got our asses kicked. That bonding experience carried us through the rest of middle school and into high school. We each found our own niche at that point. I had debate, mathletes, and future business leaders clubs. Billy found himself in the marching band and had several friends there. Chris split his time between Soccer in the fall, Baseball in the spring, gaming with us when available, and girls year-round. We all ended up at the University of Missouri, MIZZOU for those that know, and were now all recently graduated.
Joe was looking at the nearest maple tree that flanked the gate. We met him in our freshman year here when he ended up as Billy's roommate. He was the opposite of Billy, but in an entirely different way than Chris. He was quiet, and he enjoyed nature. He liked to be outside, just for the sake of it. He had even completed a degree in Botany, and would move on to graduate school in the fall. Despite his love of the outdoors, he enjoyed gaming with us, so long as he got to play a nature-oriented character. The four of us had been together throughout our entire college lives, and looked forward to more days together as adults.
Slightly apart from the rest were Frank and Nora, the only couple amongst us. Frank was a massive black wall of muscle that we were glad to have with us at all times. He was funny, he tolerated Billy, and he enjoyed gaming as something very different than his ROTC experiences. He also helped to deter problems from all the people Billy invariably pissed off at the various parties; MIZZOU was a bit of a party school, and Billy was a bit mean at times. Nora was the best of us. I had met her at a party early last school year. She was insanely smart, beautiful in her tiny package, and fun to be around. While I had a tiny crush on her initially, she made it very clear I wasn't her type. That honor fell to Frank. They made a good couple, though my mother had admonished more than once that I should have tried harder to win her over. Nora already had a doctorate and had made apps for the recently launched iPhone. She was back in school with a doctorate in computer science already, and just wanted the relaxing experience of college, which she never had when she was younger.
I started with, "Sorry, I’m late. First round at the cabin is on me.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
They all grinned back at me. Frank, Chris, and Joe all replied in unison, “It always was, Neal.”
Nora chimed in with her subtle Mexican accent, “You've set us up good this weekend. We haven’t been to the cabin for months. I'm guessing I need to have my mom thank your grandfather again.”
Billy and Chris raised eyebrows, “Thank him?”
“Not like that. You boys are all closet perverts. I swear there is a reason I’ve only gone on dates with Frank. He seems to be the least perverse of the five of you. My mother makes authentic Mexican dishes for Neal's grandfather often. It is her way of saying thank you. Neal's grandfather also likes to think of my parents as the much-needed religious Hispanic vote that Republicans always want more of. He also likes that I am a self-made young woman. I have overheard him at least at two parties last summer; he was touting me as the future entrepreneur.”
All of us, except Frank, showed absolutely no shame on our faces at the implied innuendo. Nora probably had a point about us being closeted perverts.
We headed into the cabin that was definitely not a cabin. It was more like a mansion in the woods. The main garage was detached with massive storage above it. It could hold four cars safely as well. Then we stepped inside to a front entrance area that immediately spilled to a massive kitchen to our right and a stairway to the upstairs on our left. The upstairs had 6 rooms, which we would all be using. As we all stepped past the stairs and kitchen, we ended up with a massive open room that was a combination of a dining room and a living room. We had no reason to head downstairs to the basement, so everyone settled into their rooms.
-----------------------------------------------------
The night proceeded well, and we got through most of Billy’s prepared material. Fortunately, it doesn’t take more than 7 hours to frame the Hobgoblin Mafia for crimes against elven refugees. We did need to hide our involvement from Chris’s ill-timed use of fireballs in refugee camps. I swear, half the time he forgets that it is a 20-foot radius spell. That is 40 feet across, and ramshackle speed-built buildings aren’t exactly designed for durability. Alas, we shall have to handle any additional fallout from that at the next session.
We laughed and joked with each other, but eventually people split off to their bedrooms. Frank and Nora were the first to head off. The strong black man and the toned Latina made their way to the master bedroom upstairs. Everyone was thankful for thick wood walls that dampened sound. Chris went off to bed next, the fireballing Asian jokester walked off mumbling the joys of use magic device.
I found myself around the sunken fire pit out on the back porch with Billy and Joe. Billy mentioned, “Good idea not to have any cell service out here. I needed to decompress. Been doing so much work online, getting my updated resume out there to additional firms for when my internship ends. They only hire one of the 25 interns. I needed a break.”
“Yeah. I was a little worried about how old Grandpa is getting, but he should be fine for the weekend. Besides, a weekend away from screens and the internet is important. I am going to be online 24-7 as soon as I start things up Monday morning.” They talked about their plans for the next few months for a bit, but soon, Billy headed off to bed.
“I should probably head to bed, too,” Joe finally spoke up. His tan skin reflected darkly from the campfire. “We should go fishing in the morning.” Before I could respond, he too headed off to bed.
I ended up falling asleep well after midnight in the comfiest lawn chair next to the fire pit. I let the flames die down to embers, as it shouldn’t spread from that secure rock-lined firepit.
I was hit with a pounding headache and tried opening my eyes. Dominating my vision was a giant red exclamation point. I squinted and blinked, but the image didn’t go away. Beyond it, I could see the light of predawn, just before the sun cracks over the horizon. After freaking out at the exclamation point for far too long, I tried to touch the space in front of me. It disappeared only to be replaced with slowly scrolling text.
WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!
You, along with all other citizens of Earth, have been force-integrated into the Multiverse. This is due to the unlawful and highly illegal Abyssal invasion of Terra. Portals are now in half the time zones of the planet. They cover what is locally referred to as the Eastern Hemisphere. Those portals from the Abyss shall continue to spread every hour into additional time zones until they exist in all time zones. Because of the invasion, mana has seeped across the planet, and as of 15 minutes ago, it finally reached everywhere on Earth.
What this means for you and all citizens of Earth is that you have been integrated into the Multiversal Mana Integration System. This method is the best method to acclimate you to the additional mana not only on your planet, but inside your body. All humans on Earth have been scanned and assigned a class based on their career, hobbies, or overriding personal identity. Some exceptions have been made in extreme cases. Your statistics have been normalized and synchronized to the system. Most humans have statistics in a range of 1 to 10. There are some outliers, but they are few and far between. After the initial touch option to remove the warning, all access to the system will be set to mental for all people. Just think about your status, and you will be able to see it. All fields in your status have additional details if you mentally select them. Explore these new options, as this gives you the best chance to fight back against the unlawful invasion of your planet by the denizens of the Abyss.
"What The Fuck!"
Do you want to see everyone's class details
