Eli nodded to Angela, and with a final wave of her hand, the rope disappeared into small sparks of light, which then floated away and vanished. I stared for a second, trying to see if the rope had somehow activated some sort of camouflage system, but I was starting to think something beyond tech was part of the disappearing act.

  “Don’t you try anything!” said Angela, “While the others seem to believe you, I don’t trust how you seemed to have easily bypassed Seth’s lie detection skill!”

  “Calm down, Angela.” Eli replied, “While her story may seem slightly far-fetched, anyone who would be able to bypass both Lie Detection and Identify, and have a genuine Teltech item would be someone who could have easily broken out of the ropes and easily escaped.”

  Eli turned towards me. “Do what you have to do with your beacon, but be quick. We only have…” He looked at his watch, “…45 minutes until the portal back closes. I want to be back by the portal at least 15 minutes before the rift closes. Along with the 20 minutes to get back, I’ll give you 10 minutes to finish whatever you need to do with the beacon.”

  I nodded and quickly started setting up the mapping beacon. It was a strange, rectangular object with a cylinder protruding out of the top, along with a screen and several buttons. Included with it was a small booklet outlining instructions on setting up and operating it.

  I started to set up the beacon. It was rather simple, only requiring basic inputs such as pointing it upwards and making sure there wasn’t anything blocking directly above it.

  “What kind of data are you collecting?” asked Eli, crouching slightly to examine it. “I can’t see a reason to collect mapping information this way.”

  “It's a special kind of mapping beacon,” I replied, “it not only maps the area, but also measures air quality and precipitation, and detects background radiation levels. It's meant to detect whether an area can be settled safely.”

  Any further questions were interrupted by a loud beep originating from the beacon. A countdown appeared on the screen.

  I quickly backed away from the beacon as it started to vibrate slightly. The beacon let out a loud hiss as the top cylinder fired off into the sky, propelled by a bright blue flame-emitting thruster on the bottom of the beacon. It flew higher and higher before becoming too small to see, disappearing into the vast blue sky.

  “How long will it stay up there?” asked the dark-haired girl.

  “Only around six minutes,” I reply, “And I don’t think I’ve caught your name yet.”

  “We should do introductions!” Eli interjects, “You can go first, Song!”

  “Well… As Eli said, I’m Song, the healer and buffer of the group. I make sure that everybody is safe while we are on expeditions!”

  She seemed to be a nice enough girl, although I could sense a faint steel in the way she carried herself. I’d seen that look before. She wouldn’t hesitate to fight and kill to save those she cared about.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “I’ll go next! I'm Eli, a swordsman and the leader of the group. I specialize in close-range engagements and can see the whole battlefield using my Innate Trait!”

  Innate trait? He seemed to emphasize it, as if it were something extremely important. Maybe it was a variation on these “skills” that they were talking about as well? Other than that, his introduction seemed rather normal. He had a constant energy surrounding him, as if he couldn’t stand to sit on the sidelines.

  “I’m Seth,” Said the one whose face was obscured in shadows, still speaking in a completely monotone voice, “I’m the assassin and range of the group. I specialize in using a bow to cripple enemies and strike weak points.”

  His flat delivery made me think of some of the assassination specialist mercenaries I had met before. They often acted similarly while on a job, distancing themselves from their work. After all, it took a special kind of psycho to be able to kill people with a smile on their face.

  “Angela. I’m the mage. I use magic to create an opening for the others.”

  Her short introduction, along with her flat tone, conveyed annoyance. Whether at me, or at some other aspect of this situation, I couldn’t tell.

  Finally, it was my turn to introduce myself.

  “I'm Arid, a mercenary. I mainly specialize in stealth and gun-for-hire type jobs.”

  “A mercenary?” asked Eli, “How did you find yourself in a rift? I thought you guys avoided them?”

  “What even is a rift?” I replied, slightly confused by the repeated term

  “You don’t know what a rift is? How did you even get in here?”

  “I told you. I got here through a portal.”

  “…Oh. I forgot”

  “…”

  I stare at him in slight disbelief. Was this really the person who they had decided was their leader?

  “A rift is a tear in reality, leading to what is believed to be an alternate world.” Angela interrupted, getting slightly annoyed at Eli, “We Hunters are tasked with entering the rifts, clearing them of any hostiles, and seeing if there is any useful technology or resources that can be recovered!”

  “Angela, you don’t have to explain it to her like she’s 10,” Eli replied.

  “Isn’t it pretty obvious she isn’t from around here? Other than the severe lack of general knowledge, she apparently is working for Teltech, has some crazy mapping drone, and has some obvious augmentations to her body!” She waved her hands towards me. “Your arms and face aren’t supposed to have seams!”

  I looked down at my arm, then at the rest of the group. The slightly visible seams where different sections of the arms connected, which I had grown used to, were clearly not present on any of the others.

  Eli froze, and a thoughtful expression took over his face.

  “Wait…so that's why you seemed so confused about Skills! Hmmm…no knowledge about rifts…says she’s also from Dresidon…I got it! You must be an Alien!”

  Angela immediately smacks him on his head with her staff.

  “She’s clearly not! How would an alien even get here through a rift?”

  “But she got here through a portal! Maybe she took it from her mothership…”

  I sighed and exchanged a look with the other two. They also appeared to be exasperated by this conversation. At least I could tell Song was. It was impossible to tell what Seth was looking at or the expression on his face when it was cloaked in those shadows.

  “Don’t bother trying to break them up,” The healer said, “When they get like this, it's normally best to wait a few minutes for them to get it out of their system.”

  “Affirmative. It is more efficient to wait.”

  This group really was a handful.