After the impression of travel, Todd found himself riding down a street of a magnificent city. Every building towered high above his head, and the cab crossed multiple bridges spanning rail lines and canals. “Mish-mash” wouldn’t even begin to cover the range of architectural styles on display. Towering glass spires would be situated directly next to neoclassical edifices whose pillars rose high into the clouds.
The most curious thing about the city, though, was the people who inhabited it. As Todd saw them out the window of the cab, they came across as almost completely nondescript. Even though he was looking right at them, Todd couldn’t come up with any way to describe any of the pedestrians. The best he could do was “Has hair” or “Is wearing clothes”.
At last, Mr. Pendleton (Physics 101: The Music of the Spheres) brought the cab into a grand plaza. After wheeling around the obelisk in its center, Todd and the officer stepped out of the cab to find themselves at the foot of the Cleveland Tower City Center, its high-rise edifice stretching up above him.
Todd followed the officer as he trotted up the steps. Inside the building he found the mall he’d last visited a few years ago, but the shops were all closed except for the food court and a mattress store. The mall itself was also almost entirely deserted, except for a few staff members in the restaurants and store and a few people milling about. One of them was Mr. Wen, who lived across the hall from Todd, and he was about to ask him what he was doing here when the officer urged him on.
“No time for gawking, lad. We’ve got to get you to the President.” The two of them strode quickly across the central hall, and in just a few seconds Todd found himself on the other side of the mall and at the entrance to one of the neighboring hotels.
“Hang on,” he had the presence of mind to ask before any more time could be skipped. “Where am I? What exactly is going on?”
“Simply put, my boy, we’re in the Capital, and there’s a war on.”
“War between who?”
“He’ll explain.” Todd was going to say he wanted the answers now, but then he realized the elevator they were suddenly in had arrived at the top floor. The doors opened and he found himself in a hallway with thick blue carpet and golden wallpaper, decorated with busts of himself. He had no time to dwell on this, though, as the officer strode purposefully towards a door at the far end of the hall, and he was compelled to follow. He knocked, and the door opened.
Inside was a pair of knights in shining armor. They were standing on either side of a chair in front of a giant picture window displaying the streets of the Capital. In the chair itself was a man who looked very much like Danny Glover in a suit.
“Mr. President,” said the officer, standing at attention and snapping off a salute after closing the door behind him. “We’ve found him.”
“Well done, Major Hartswell,” said the man, using the voice of Todd’s grandfather rather than that of Danny Glover. This was Todd’s first real hint. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what exactly is going on, Mr. Phillips. I’ll put it as simply as I can. I’m the President of Alliance of the Superego, and we need your help.”
“Alliance of the what? Look, I don’t know about any of that, and I have a doctor’s appointment in an hour, so if we could just-“ It was at that point Todd received his second hint, and the only other one he’d need. He glanced at the clock next to the double bed opposite the President to see how much time he had left before his appointment, then looked again. The digital clock read 19:82. He looked out the window behind the President and saw a clock tower situated directly behind him on which both hands were spinning erratically. It finally dawned on Todd.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” The President nodded.
“That you are, my boy. And I’m afraid this is a particularly important one. As of two hours ago, the Alliance has found itself at war with the Empire of Id. We’ve tried multiple times to get ahold of one of their officials with the big red phone, but there’s been no response, and their embassy is abandoned. We’ve maintained a tenuous peace with them for years, but there was never any indication they were planning to attack. We’ve been able to keep each other in check for quite some time. But now hostilities have broken out, and no one wants to admit it, but we’re losing. Somehow, they’ve found something that’s let them turn the tide.”
“And where do I come in?”
“You’re the Champion of Ego, Todd. If there’s anyone who can decide the outcome of this conflict, it’s you.”
Todd was about to ask what exactly that meant when the air raid siren sounded.
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