The Soul Keeper

Inspector John seemed more confused than anything, but he was kind enough put aside his tablet and lean back. "Tell me." He said with a firm tone.

I clenched my fists. How could I explain it to him in a way that would make sense?

"I…" I glanced at my hands. "I was tall. Much taller than I am now. Taller than you, even. I was nimble and fast, strong and…" I shook my head with a sigh.

"Your body was different." Inspector John spoke.

I nodded. "Yes, and now everything feels off because of it." I looked at him, my eyes wide. "Even the way I see feels wrong!" I made a vague gesture. "Everything is blurry compared to how I saw before."

Inspector John raised his eyebrows. "How do you mean?"

I shook my head. "It's not going to make any sense to you." I said with a sigh. 

"Why don't you try explaining it to me first?" Inspector John asked. "Give me an example."

I shrugged. "I could see in the dark?" I said with a grin. "I could feel my surroundings, I would know you were coming here before you even stepped foot in the building." I glanced at him. "Did it make any sense now?"

Inspector John hesitated. "Well… No." His shoulders dropped. 

"Why are you so worried?" I asked as I thought popped into my mind. He shot me a surprised glance. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "Well… All you needed to do was to have me sign those papers, right? Why do you even care about anything more?" 

He furrowed his brows. "I see a troubled young man here, Kai. Someone clearly battling his own demons. Why should I not care?" He lightly squeezed my shoulders. "I don't know what you went through in OTHERWORLD's game but remember that life isn't just battles."

I sighed. He wasn't wrong, life truly wasn't just battles, not for most people at least. Unfortunately, though, it was and always had been so for me. 

"Wait." I said as another thought suddenly popped into my mind, unprompted. "What the hell? How do you not know what I've been through?" I looked him dead in the eye. "I spent an entire week retelling everything in as much detail as possible!" I cried out.

John's eyes widened. "I… uh…" He mumbled, scrambling to find something to say.

"Didn't you read what the other agents gave you?" I asked with disbelief in my voice.

"No, no that's not it." He shook his head with dropped shoulders. "They haven't finished fact-checking and compiling what you said, so I haven't even gotten a glance at your story."

I opened my mouth, then closed it in disbelief.

"Bureaucracy, you know…" Inspector John mumbled. "The larger the organisation, the slower things happen."

I couldn't help it as I laughed. I hoped he didn't take it personally, then smiled. "It doesn't get any larger than the United Nations. I mean, we're talking about the planet's government here."

John nodded. "Well, yeah." He sighed. "So, I really don't know what you went through except for what you told me and Veronica personally." He glanced at his watch. "I do regret this, but I'm running out of time." He said apologetically. 

"It's fine, I have to sign those, right?" 

He nodded as he gave me the stack of documents he just took out of the binder. "I'll give you the copies so you can read them in detail, but the gist of the situation is this: By signing these, you're agreeing to aid The United Nations in the investigation into OTHERWORLD, PORTAL and all related incidents in any and all possible ways." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"That means coming to trials as witnesses, allowing further medical inspection if deemed necessary and all other forms of cooperation." 

I furrowed my brows. "That's… Quite a high order. Why is this so… how should I put it…" I mumbled. Was binding the right word?

"The order came from the top. The very top." He pressed every word. "I'm hoping it's just for formality's sake, but…"

"I understand." I said with a sigh. The United Nations was covering all of their bases. They probably considered people trapped in OTHERWORLD's game as unstable, and they wanted to have a legal means to keep us in check. "It's fine. What else?"

"In return," Inspector John continued with a sigh. "All PORTAL and OTHERWORLD related medical costs, travel costs, housing and security will be handled by the United Nations' relevant divisions."

I nodded. "Alright." I said with a sigh. "I don't think not signing this even a choice."

John shot me an apologetic glance. "Well… Let's just say things wouldn't go very smoothly." He said with a hesitant tone. 

"I thought as much." I said with a sigh. "Alright, I'll sign them." 

He seemed somewhat surprised, but he gave me a pen regardless. "Here you go." 

Some time later, Inspector John left with his newly signed documents. He seemed no happier than I was. And I was quite unhappy. 

As I signed them, I hadn't neglected reading over them, though not in too much detail. To say I disliked the terms was an understatement. The documents were as binding as any document could get. It gave them plenty of authority over me, and from what I could see, there was no time limitation. Theoretically, I could be called upon to testify or something fifty years from now.

Once he left, I sighed and looked out the window. I did feel somewhat on edge because of the documents I had signed. Knowing my luck, this was probably going to plague my life for a while. 

"Damn it." I whispered. What would have happened if I hadn't signed them? From Inspector John's words, I could hazard a guess, and it was by no means a pleasant guess.

No one wanted to get on the United Nations' wrong side. They controlled the world – their word was the law. 

I hugged my knees. Why did this situation feel so familiar?