2 Preparation

Agartha

Another planet in another universe. Humanity never could be satisfied, a fact that's held true since ancient times.

In the 20th century humans realized that one day Earth would run out of resources and become incapable of sustaining life. However, on September 10, 2008, the Large Hadron Collider fired for the first time. When the particles in the experiment collided it ripped open a portal to a planet in another universe. This planet was vastly different from Earth, this planet was called Agartha.

The world governments met and decided to research Agartha in secret.

There was a lot to learn, the universe Agartha was in had completely different universal laws of nature. Over the next 500 years, a task force overseen by the world's governments managed to gain a basic understanding of Agartha. However, many sacrifices were made and many obstacles made progress exceedingly slow.

Their greatest obstacle was that no matter what they did or how they tweaked the portal everyone that went through would end up in a random location on Agartha. This was unavoidable and made functioning as a team almost impossible, which slowed down progress the most.

Snapping out of my reverie I gathered myself. I adjusted as best I could to suddenly arriving in my past.

I stood up and said to Mike , "Let me get ready."

My first instinct was to go see my brother, but I remembered that it was too late. The government had already separated everyone based on age in preparation for the migration to Agartha.

Since you would end up in a random location when you go through the portal the world's governments decided to send everyone through in batches based on their age. 26-30 would go first since this was when most people are at their peak. Followed by 31-35, 21-25, 36-40, 41-45, 16-20, 46-50, 51 and higher, and finally 15 and younger. The world's governments decided this was the best way to give everyone a better chance of survival. If the elderly or young went in too early they may not be able to survive against the natives or beasts in the wild. With the better fit and more skilled paving the way and setting up villages the others would at least have a chance to survive.

Mike and I are 18 so we are going in the 16-20 group, but my younger brother Brad is only 14 so he will be in the last group to go 15 and younger. It's been about a month since the first group went to Agartha and now it's our turn to go.

After the first portal was opened they were able to replicate their results and now there is at least one portal in every major city. The food supply was dwindling so the plan to migrate to Agartha was moved forward. The government brought everyone into the major cities, separated us by age, and provided us with our basic amenities.

I began to pack up what little belongings I had with me, my I.D, a picture of me and my brother, a pocket knife Mike had bought me years back, and a watch that didn't work anymore.

The watch had been my fathers. He gave it to me the day he and my mother disappeared. As he was leaving our home he looked back at me, took off his watch, and said, "Son, I want you to have this and remember to always watch over Brad for us."

We never saw them again. We were moved to an orphanage until I could make enough to support myself and Brad. Mike would always help us out when we were struggling, buying us groceries if we couldn't make ends meet.

As I was putting my things into a small knapsack that I attached to my belt Mike said, "Man I can't wait to find out what Agartha is like. I definitely can't wait to use the Archaic System. They say some of the advance teams already have incredible powers because of it."

"Haha, I'm sure we will get a chance to find out."

I wanted to tell him about just how harsh life on Agartha could be, but I didn't think he'd believe that I had come back from the future and I didn't want to say something that would affect his decisions.

In the last timeline, Mike and I were able to meet up just three months after entering Agartha and I didn't want to say anything that would jeopardize that.

I just had to keep my secrets to myself and use them to make myself powerful enough to protect those I cared about.

After I was ready, we left the small room. It was really just half of a cargo container with a bed and nightstand in it. I could see hundreds of people milling about in the huge warehouse as Mike and Iheaded towards where the portal was.

It was about an hour walk and we passed thousands of people on our way to queue up. The time period to migrate for 16-20 year-olds lasts roughly two weeks and you can go at any time within that time frame. So while there was always a line to enter the portal it was never absurdly long.

The portal was located in an old sports stadium. The place was pretty run down, no one had played the sport in over 250 years due to the extensive injuries involved. For some reason, the city had never torn down the stadium, something about it being a piece of history. We arrived at the stadium and got in line at the entrance.

When we got to the front there was a large man in a black coat who said, "Identification please."

Mike and I pulled out our I.D cards, "Hmm, Troy Williams and Michael Durbin both 18. You may proceed."

His stoic monotone voice revealed his boredom. He glanced at us and said, "Make sure to go to the armory first to get your care packages."

"Thank you." We responded.

We walked towards the armory following the signs in the stadium. While walking next to me Mike said, "Have you thought about what kind of weapon you will choose?"

In every care package was a liter of water, 10 kilograms of a compact grain-like food, and your choice of weapon. It wasn't much since everyone who migrated received it, but it was better than nothing.

In the last timeline, I had chosen a longsword with fantasies of being a majestic and aloof hero who could decimate his foes with one slash of his blade. However, reality was harsh and after getting to Agartha the longsword was too burdensome for someone with my physique to wield. I ended up abandoning it. This time I wouldn't make such a short-sighted decision.

"I think I'm going to get a kodachi."

Virtually every cold era weapon was available to choose from.

"What's a kodachi?"

"It's essentially a short sword. Longer than a dagger, but lighter and shorter than a sword."

"That sounds perfect for you."

Even though I already knew I figured I'd ask, "What are you going to get?"

"Of course I will get a spear. What other weapon could possibly display all this strength," he patted his bicep.

"Hahaha, of course a spear would be best for you."

Mike smirked and stuck out his chest as we entered the armory.

We could see dozens of people walking around trying out different weapons as headed toward the counter. We got close when we noticed a muscular young man with a crop top haircut and military fatigues at the counter shouting at the attendant, "What do you mean I can't get any firearms? I've been training with guns my whole life. I know what best to defend myself with."

The attendant responded with a firm tone, "I'm sorry but there is no way to produce gunpowder in Agartha so the government has decided it's best you start with one of the weapon options here since that is how you will have to protect yourself in the future."

"Ugghh" grunted the young man quickly turning around appearing very displeased.

He saw me looking at him and barked, "What do you want?" He went to shove my shoulder and step past me. I saw his hand coming so I lightly sidestepped which caused him to miss and lose his balance. Since he was distracted by his anger he couldn't adjust in time and fell to the floor.

After leaping back to his feet he looked at me flames blazing in his eyes and shouted, "You'll pay for that punk!"

He was halfway through swinging at me when Mike stepped up and hooked the man's arm with his, stopping his arm in its tracks. The young mans eyes opened in shock for just a moment as he glared at Mike. Not one to shy from a fight Mike glared back and said, "You sure you want that?"