Chapter 4: The Mission

"Are you alright? You gave us quite a scare earlier" Mr. Trebor said.

Mr. Trebor was the current deputy director of the UIA. He was the man in grey who took Kante prisoner moments ago. He was the same man who raised and trained Bonclyde and he remains, to this day, her boss.

"I'm ok sir, that was really nothing," Bonclyde replied.

"You should have brought him straight to me" said Mr.Trebor.

"I'm sorry sir, but I didn't think it was necessary to bother you with someone who isn't important," Bonclyde replied.

Bonclyde was surprised that her boss, who hadn't shown up at the facility for weeks, suddenly showed up on that day to apprehend Kante. She wondered why he had to bring many armed agents just to bring Kante in. She struggled with the realization that the memories she had lost are not all pleasant and everything is not what it seems. What she had believed and what she now remembers are in conflict and she doesn't know what to make of it but as she becomes more sure of her memories, the way forward for her becomes obscured in her mind.

"What do you know about him?" Mr.Trebor asked.

"Not much, I haven't done a background check sir. He says he's an explorer from Samballa in an African country."

"And how did he get here without a portal?" Mr. Trebor asked.

"I don't know sir" replied Bonclyde.

"You are a wizardess and you're telling me you couldn't find out anything magically?"

"I tried sir, it didn't work instead I saw…" Bonclyde paused, withholding the news about her memories.

"Saw what?" Mr.Trebor asked

"Nothing sir, I saw nothing at all, just black emptiness" Bonclyde answered.

Just then an agent walked in, holding a file, filled with documents, in his hands. 

"Here is what you asked for sir" said the agent as he handed the file to Mr.Trebor.

Mr.Trebor took the file and thanked the agent. He looked at it for some seconds and handed it to Bonclyde asking her to tell him it's contents. Bonclyde went over the documents for a while before telling Mr.Trebor what it says.

"His name is Kante Avah, he was born and raised in Samballa by his mother Gwin Avah. He has no siblings or any other family. He studied at Harvard University and  the University of Massachusetts. He has a degree in History and a Ph.D in Anthropology. He worked as a Lecturer in the University of Massachusetts and later as an Archaeologist for the British Museum before he began his Journey around the world making discoveries for his Journal 'Eureka' "

"There's no mention of his father?" Mr.Trebor asked.

"Gwin Avah was a single mother sir" Bonclyde replied.

Mr.Trebor looked at her and said: "Was?"

"She died about a year ago, Kante returned to Samballa upon her death"

Bonclyde had noticed Mr.Trebor was a little shocked when she had mentioned Gwin and now she could see he was keenly interested when he stared at her.

"Get every information you can on Gwin Avah, her parents and anyone related to her and report back to me" Mr.Trebor ordered.

"Yes sir" Bonclyde said and left. She was expecting such an order already because of the amount of interest Mr.Trebor had shown in Kante. She didn't know why he was so interested but she had theories on the reason. She looked at Kante, sitting in the interrogation room, where they had kept him. He looked as though he could see her through the window film. The glass had been coated with a material that prevents those inside from viewing the outside. Bonclyde looked at Mr.Trebor as he stared at Kante curiously. He had been staring like that the whole time, even when they talked. With one last glance at Kante she walked away to carry out her orders.

Mr.Trebor entered the interrogation room to talk to Kante. Kante had gotten weary of waiting for someone to tell him why he was arrested.

"I had to wait an eternity, before someone decides to speak to me and tell me what the f*ck is going on?" Kante yelled.

"Apologies mr. Avah, it wasn't my intention to keep you waiting but all protocols had to be observed." Mr.Trebor replied.

"So are you going to explain to me why I'm here?" Kante asked.

"You are here because I brought you here. You are an alien trespassing in my land, my world, so if you don't mind, I will do the asking of questions from now on and you need only reply". Mr.Trebor answered. "Agent Percival has told me about you. You've refused to say how you found out about our world and how you travelled here"

"I told her I do not know how I got here. I am still trying to understand what's going on myself. I never knew anything about this world before, so how will I know how to travel here?" Kante said.

"Yes I know you've said that, but I'm afraid I do not believe you. I'm sure you've rehearsed that story well; you even convinced agent Percival, but I can smell a lie. You reek of fear, and it means only one thing;  that you're lying" said mr. Trebor.

Kante could feel his legs shaking. His heart was beating faster and he's palms were sweaty. He tried to keep his cool. "I reek of fear? Of course I'm scared. I'm in a whole new dimension far from my own world, where magic is real and deadly creatures exist, without the slightest Idea how I got here. Upon arrival I was pushed through a portal and was questioned by a witch who tried to get into my head and later was apprehended by armed men like a criminal, so, yeah, I'm scared to death." 

"Wizardess! Bonclyde is a Wizardess, not a Witch" mr.Trebor said.

It was one of the few times he called her by her first name, without any titles. He thought for a while and said:

"I'm sorry mr. Avah for the way you were brought in here. You must understand the protection of this world is my duty. A stranger infiltrating our defenses somehow and entering our world is a matter of national security. Nevertheless, I will not detain you any further. You are free to go but as you know I cannot let you out of our sight. We will be in touch but for now you will be shown out of the facility".

"When am I to return to my world?" Kante asked.

"I'm sorry I can't let you return mr. Avah. not anytime soon, atleast". Mr.Trebor said as he walked out of the room.

Kante was led out of the facility by a female agent, who introduced herself as a Verdillac, going by the codename: Lightning. Kante was curious to know what a Verdillac was so he asked her and she explained that Verdillacs are like vampires, only stronger and faster but unlike vampires they do not possess telepathic abilities and do not have a thirst for blood. Lightning was the fastest known Verdilac, therefore she was the fastest being in the world, hence, her codename. She had accomplished many great speed related feats and was famous as Lightning but her real Identity was kept anonymous. People only heard about Lightning and what she's done but no one knew what she looked like. Apart from her colleagues at the agency, only a few others have seen her in action as Lightning, but she's always too fast for most to catch her face. She rarely makes contact with others besides her colleagues, when she does, she uses made up Identities. She brought Kante to a hotel, owned by a wealthy Gnome, and got him a room on the second floor. The hotel was not so big but the interiors were well decorated. It was just like those on earth. Kante's room was clean and well furnished; everything sparkled as though they were new.

Lightning told Kante that after arriving in the mirror world, some creaches adopted the practices of humans and followed their footsteps in some ways, especially, technologically. The gnomes and goblins were the foremost of those creaches. Gnomes are highly intelligent, dwarf beings. They are skilled craftsmen, capable of making almost anything. They are keen observers and fast learners. Goblins on the other hand are greedy and crafty creatures, skilled in stealth. The goblins coveted what the humans had and they convinced the gnomes to study the human technology and use it in their world too. The gnomes liked the idea of acquiring knowledge from the humans, so they agreed. Together the goblins and gnomes brought technology to the mirror world. The goblins would procure the necessary materials from the humans while the gnomes put them to work. That was how they built the facility and other buildings like the hotel where Kante was now staying. Not all creaches welcomed the idea though, even some gnomes and goblins didn't like it. They preferred to do things their own way without anything human. Due to this, the use of human technology was limited in the mirror world. The UIA were the only ones who actively used the technology of the humans. They used it to the full in every way. UIA owned facilities are different from the rest of the mirror world. They are basically like the human world. In their defense, the UIA follow the humans, so as to be more powerful, should they strike again. Apart from the UIA facilities, Most provinces in the alpha region and a few in theta also actively use human technology. The rest of the world is entirely different from earth.

"You'll be staying here for now, you are not allowed to leave the hotel till I say you can," Lightning said. 

"Where is here, exactly?" Kante asked.

"Where you'll be staying, as I said" Lightning replied coldly, "The best hotel in Asley's bay. From tomorrow you'll be schooled and taught everything you need to know about our world. For now you can rest and I'll see you tomorrow"

"Wait, how do I get food and…" Kante was speaking but was interrupted by Lightning who said: "Don't worry about all that, it has been taken care of" and walked out.

Meanwhile, Bonclyde was on her way to earth. She had gotten no useful information on Kante's mother from any of the servers of earth's intelligence agencies.

The UIA had access to almost all the data on the databases of the intelligence agencies on earth. How they got that access only a select few knew. Bonclyde had searched everywhere on the servers and database for Gwin Avah but found nothing except that she's Kante's mother and where she lived. She realized it was because the country where they lived, took no records and  had no database for its citizens yet. She now embarks on a journey to earth, to where Kante lived to investigate and get more information. She heads to the station in Asley's bay which she would use to travel to earth.

As she got closer to the station, she remembered her previous journeys to earth. It's been so long since she last travelled. She liked earth a lot. Sometimes, she secretly wishes she lived there, though she wouldn't because she had no love for humans. She knew they were good, nice and kind from what she'd seen but she hated them for what they did to the creaches. She reached the station and the traveller there let her through and showed her to the portal. Normally anyone wanting to use a portal would need to show I.D and a travel permit, signed by an authorized UIA official. But Bonclyde was known by most Travellers, so she showed no I.D. 

"Where to, agent?" the traveller asked.

"Earth, the city of Samballa" Bonclyde replied.

The traveller pointed to the portal that leads to earth and Bonclyde walked to it. She stretched her arm through the portal and it sucked her in. She felt like liquid, passing through a tube. She could never get used to that feeling. 

In a moment she arrived on earth. She landed in a forest in Samballa, where no one could see her. She found her way to the street by following the sound of vehicles. As she got closer she heard voices, the sound got louder with each step she took. She soon came upon a street, filled with people, on foot and in vehicles. The street was close to a market and it was really noisy. It was crowded with people, traders and customers, going to and from the market, some carrying goods. She took a deep breath and sighed. The scenery was different from what she expected. It was different from the other places she's been to on earth. In her head she could hear her own voice say: "welcome to africa". She sighed again and moved through the street, headed for Kante's Hometown.