You are Summoned

Chapter 288. Repaying a Friend.

“Why don’t you use one of your electric motors for the car. It seems these internal combustion engines are less efficient. Of course, running it on the driver’s mana would be the best option, but you can’t exactly do that yet,” Fitzfazzle asked Corporal Ellis as he moved the driver’s seat into a position that would fit him.

“Sacrilege! Dude, Ford already tried to name some lame SUV a Mustang, but if they tried to do away with the traditional V8, we’d probably riot. An electric car is fast, but it’s an appliance, a soulless creation that’s for soccer moms and sad people. Jacobs, go grab your car and bring it here,” Ellis said with passion, he really was into cars.

I received a text that Lopez and his team were going to be there in a just a few minutes. It’d been nearly an hour, and both Ellis and Fitzfazzle showed no signs of slowing down as they examined the corporal’s car. A few minutes later, Private Jacobs pulled in with a small Nissan electric vehicle, pulling it silently next to the Mustang. Fitzfazzle jumped out of the Mustang and began going over the electric car.

“This is a rather minimalist design, and I can see both some advantages and disadvantages over the liquid oil powered Mustang,” Fitzfazzle said, stroking his beard as he looked at both cars.

“Remember, to a lot of us, a car isn’t just a practical purchase, there’s an emotional component as well. You’re a man, er, gnome who knows his way around machines, tell me, if you had to drive one each day, which would you prefer? Jacobs, rev that electric baby up,” Ellis said, moving around to each vehicle and pointing at them like a lawyer in a TV courtroom.

The electric car wasn’t exactly made to rev, so it just made a little whining noise then beeped angrily at Jacobs as he abused the accelerator a bit too much. Shaking his head, Ellis walked Fitzfazzle over to the Mustang and had him start the car and rev the motor. The V8 in the car gave a satisfying growl at startup, and when he revved it, the engine, the exhaust roared.

“I see your point. I think this electric car is more practical in many ways, but I’d rather that any MESS I created had an exhaust note like the Mustang. I’ll have to see what I can do about that when I get home,” Fitzfazzle said. My fears of giant gnomish mechs doing burnouts and crashing into the crowd at a cars and coffee were forgotten as a trio of black SUVs holding Lopez’ people pulled into the hangar.

Lopez and a couple of men and women in suits who were obviously agents of some type got out first. Then, a flood of people in both casual wear and lab coats scrambled out, each excitedly trying to introduce themselves to Fitzfazzle at the same time. Seeing the deer in headlights look plastered on Fitzfazzle’s face, Lopez took charge.

“All right everyone, settle down for a minute. You’ll all get some time to talk to Fitzfazzle, for now, we need to get this dog and pony show organized,” the crowd of scientists, engineers, and who knew what else, seemed to deflate and take a step back. I figured that Lopez had laid down some harsh ground rules for them if they wanted the chance to interact with an alien that had access to technology they’d never imagined could exist.

“First off, Fitzfazzle, I’m agent Lopez and it’s a pleasure to meet you in person. I work with Rico here on Earth, and he’s told me a lot of good things about you and your people. I know your time here is limited, and you probably want to spend at least some of it with your friend, but our world is facing a crisis. When we integrate into the system, everything will change, and we want to do all we can to save as many lives as we can.

“Fitzfazzle, would you be willing to help us for at least some of the time you’re here?” Lopez asked.

“Agent Lopez, without Rico, my people would have likely been killed, consumed, or converted into undead. We owe him our lives and if my working with your people will help to save lives in your world, I’m glad to be off assistance,” Fitzfazzle said much to Lopez’s relief. The gnome then chuckled a bit before continuing.

“Ha, I think I might enjoy the conversations as much as your people will. I do want to spend at least some time with Rico, though, can we work that into the schedule? He’s promised to bring me somewhere to eat something called a taco,” Fitzfazzle said.

“We’d be glad to cut you loose as much as possible to hang out with your friend. For now, we’d like to at least get some initial work done. We’ve cleared a building on the base here for us to work out of, and we’ll also get some time at the nearby universities and a couple of other places we can sneak you inside.

“Please don’t be offended that we’re hiding you. Rico probably already explained this, but the presence of your people was something only hinted at in our works of fantasy and legend. For now, we’d like to keep any uproar to a minimum as we try to prepare and save as many lives as we can,” Lopez said, handing Fitzfazzle a smart phone.

“What’s this?” Fitzfazzle said, nearly dropping the phone when the screen came to life at his touch.

“It’s the main communication device in our world. Rico, and probably everyone else on the planet has one. I’ve pre-loaded my number, Rico’s, and even a few emergency contacts into it if we somehow become separated. Lillian here will show you how to use it while we head over to the meeting room we’ve created,” Lopez explained.

“Rico, are you sure it’s okay for me to leave,” Fitzfazzle asked. He seemed excited, but also a bit concerned over all the attention.

“Lopez and his people have always treated me well. Just call me when you’re done and I’ll take you out for tacos and beer,” I assured him.

The agents and scientists loaded Fitzfazzle’s gear into the back of one of the SUVs and then they all piled back inside with Fitzfazzle riding shotgun in the lead vehicle. Corporal Ellis gave Fitzfazzle a big thumbs up when the gnome asked the driver of the SUV if his vehicle had a proper V8, or a lame electric motor.

“That’s a cool dude, I hope we can hang out again later. I was even going to offer him to let him test drive my car,” Ellis lamented as the trio of SUVs pulled away. Remembering something, I quickly sent a text to Lopez, reminding him to look at my reports and ask Fitzfazzle about the gun I’d used on the goblin train.

“That counts as your break, people. We still have Rico’s summons to hunt down, and some additional training drills for the whole team,” Major Finley ordered. The platoon, minus a squad that was sent to help with security at the building where Fitzfazzle was working, returned to their drills.

I also took some time in between skirmishes to go over the latest foes that I’d faced, and we brainstormed on how I could have improved my performance. The things I’d already learned from my time with the military had paid dividends in my recent summonings and arena challenge, so I wanted to absorb as much new information as I could.

Finley also had me integrate more with the soldiers as we stalked my minions throughout the hangar complex. From what the major said, it was becoming clear that our military wasn’t going to be able to handle everything on their own, so we needed to learn how to integrate people with system powers into the ranks quickly.

During a break, I sent an email to Marie, confirming that they had the apartment next to mine set up for Fitzfazzle if he was staying nearby. A guard rotation between the agents and some of the summoned beings in Refuge would keep an eye on any threats that might pop up. I figured that Fitzfazzle could handle himself, but he was inexperienced when it came to combat in a mana-starved world.

True to his word, Lopez broke up their meeting around dinner time, and I took Fitzfazzle out for tacos at the hole in the wall place that Julio had picked when Melvin came to Earth for the first time. We weren’t exactly low profile with armed security following us around, so I had to settle on takeout from the taco shop’s drive through and eating in my apartment along with Marie, Julio, and Janette.

Fitzfazzle was just about to fall asleep at the table when we all called it a night. My gnomish friend was excited to start over again tomorrow and was particularly looking forward to a flight on the helicopter and one of the transport planes. The apartment next to mine wasn’t exactly luxurious, but it was comfortable and Fitzfazzle didn’t seem to have any problems getting settled in.

I laughed to myself after getting into bed. My life had become rather insane, but I was loving it despite the craziness. I had friends, both here at home, and in other worlds. Even better, I now had a job that could help make a difference for our planet’s future. It was so much better than my life a few months ago working as an insurance adjuster in a soul-draining office.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, the sounds of gunfire boomed in the parking lot below my apartment, followed quickly by screams of pain.