InterGalaxia (On Hold)

1.6

Edris laughed until tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. Clutching his stomach, his voice slightly raspy from the laughter, he looked at Lei Yang. "Fair enough, Mr Yang". Lei Yang grimaced and huffed out breath from the corner of his mouth, the strand of hair that fell on his forehead blew up slightly. "It's Mr Lei, my first name is Yang. Where I'm from, we address people with their last names before their first. Why so, I'm not too sure but I suppose it's a sign of respect to our ancestors, emphasising that your family is your identity before your individual self. At least, that's what my mother used to say" he rambled, refusing to make eye contact with the man. Edris smiled, continuing to stare at Lei Yang. "So, in that case, I am Sawyer Edris?" he questioned. Lei Yang nodded his head, paused and then shook it. "No, when it comes to foreigners, we address them the Western way, first name before surname" he clarified. "Alright Mr.Lei, I'd like to continue our conversation but I best be returning to my party. I shall talk to you later, okay?" Edris ran a hand through his hair so that he could straighten it out. Lei Yang nodded and left the office after Edris, watching him lock it up and head down the hallway.

 Choosing now to take his leave, Lei Yang waited for the elevator at the opposite end of the hallway compared to Edris. Edris was confused about why he couldn't hear Lei Yang's footsteps behind him, thinking the man was as light as a swallow, but it turns out that he wasn't even behind him when he turned back to check. Using his thumb and forefinger to rub his bottom lip, Edris put the issue to the back of his mind, thinking of visiting the man at a later date to make sure he keeps his mouth shut about the scene he walked into before. Lei Yang watched as the elevator doors shut before finally panicking. 

"Chihong, Chihong, can you hear me?" Lei Yang asked trying to reach out to the System through the communication bridge which was still there, only the bridge had another connection through the middle of it that veered of course towards an unknown place that he couldn't see. That bridge was silver in colour, much different to the gold of the bridges in his mind. [Zhen can hear you], finally came a response from the quiet orb. Lei Yang sighed in relief. "What happened? Why did you get sucked into Edris Sawyer's head?" he questioned quickly, highly confused. [Zhen has some idea but Zhen isn't authorised to tell you. For now, you'll just have Pipsqueak to accompany you. If you have pressing questions concerning Zhen's new Host, you can contact Zhen but Zhen can't tell you everything. Zhen will only help you when Zhen feels you need it. Now go away, Zhen is setting up communication with Zhen's new Host] Chihong broke the communication off before Lei Yang can say anymore. Lei Yang was exasperated, he stomped his foot. 

Zhen this, Zhen that, Chihong is not an Emperor, at best he's just an upgraded version of Siri! "Xiao Gou; looks like we're gonna have to try harder to make sure Edris Sawyer is Lei Yang's friend, if not for the plot line but for the fact that Chihong is stuck inside him. I may find him annoying but he still is my System, no matter how much of tsundere, role-playing child Emperor he is!" Lei Yang threw his fist into his cupped hand, emphasising his loyalty to his old System. [Xiao Gou agrees. But Host, Chihong isn't a child, he's at least five millenniums old, taking into his considering his rank. He could be even older] Xiao Gou pointed out. Lei Yang swallowed with difficulty but hummed in reply, choosing not to say anything more. Meanwhile, Edris had a terrible headache and excused himself from the party to go to the bathroom. Standing at the sink and looking at his sweaty appearance in the mirror, Edris tried to focus his attention on seeing straight.

 [Zhen is here to let you know that you have been selected as my new Host. Zhen's old Host called Zhen Chihong so you will call Zhen that], a haughty androgynous voice resounded in his brain. Edris narrowed his eyes but decided not to question the voice, chalking its appearance up to an auditory hallucination. "Okay," he spoke out loud. His vision darkened and his body fell as if it was liquid; as if he didn't have bones to support himself. In the darkness, a crimson red orb was floating around aimlessly before touching his hand. A whimsical silver bridge was formed with two segments. One segment seemed to be floating towards the orb before disappearing and another leading into the distance, the end never seen. Edris stood up from his lying position, finally regaining feeling in his body. [Zhen has opened a communication link to Zhen's superiors, you have to talk to them to understand what's happening] the orb flickered with crimson light every word it spoke before a giant semi-transparent red screen appeared out of nowhere. A beige and burgundy office was displayed on the screen, with a visual of a magnificent throne behind a desk. Edris blinked and when he focused his eyes again, a short balding man with phoenix eyes and half-moon glasses was seated on the throne. Elbows lent on the desktop and hands clasped together, as if he was always there, the man snapped his fingers and a scroll on the desk unfurled itself, showing it's blank contents. The man held up the scroll so its contents were not seen by Edris but the man's raised brow made him curious as to what he had seen on the apparently blank parchment. Putting the parchment down so it could roll itself up again, the man turned to look at Edris. 

"Well Edris Sawyer, haven't you fallen. Oh well, not that you'd understand what I'm talking about. But now I understand why that person was equipped with two Systems. Anyway, point is, I need you to sign some documents and attend some training classes for me. System, if you will" the man addressed Chihong. With a snort of disdain, Chihong's orb flashed three times before a scroll and feather pen and ink plot arrived next to Edris' feet. Brow cocked, Edris picked up the scroll and unfurled it, reading the contract thoroughly. Grunting, Edris rolled up the contract. "Why me?" he asked a valid question. The man hummed and sat further into the throne, getting comfortable. "Normally this would be just for souls with lingering attachment to their past selves but your situation is quite... special. We have to make a concession to you, the reasons being are not within your current authority to know. For now, sign the contract and take the lessons" the man explained vaguely, not alluding to any of the information he wanted to know. 

During his talk, a tea set appeared out of thin air, the man pausing to sip the tea in his cup that floated around his hand. Edris continued to stare down the man. The man sipped his tea and turned to look at the man not doing as he asked him to. "Oh, and if you don't sign the contract, I'll be forced to put a bounty on your head, making all nearby mercenaries be forced to detain you and have our special clean-up squad obliterate your soul, as it would be very dangerous to keep a non-contractual soul such as yourself around in this world any longer. I see the painstaking effort you went into making sure that we can't discover your soul until this strange occurrence happened but believe me, you won't be able to escape this time" the man growled threateningly at the end of his spiel. 

Edris looked at him for a minute straight before signing the contract. The man on screen clapped his hands together in delight. "Excellent, let's get you to classes right away!". Edris watched at the screen shattered like broken glass before the shards started swirling mid-air like a whirlpool. There was a suction force in the middle of the whirlpool and it sucked up Edris' soul body. Edris' real body in the bathroom disappeared in an instant as well, much to the surprise and worry of his co-workers.