Summoning America

Chapter 4: Delegation Elation

——

New York, New York

Yagou and the rest of the Qua Toynian delegation looked out the windows, marveling at the glittering spires that rose into the sky. Several ships sailed around below, some were civilian vessels that finally received authorization to resume their activities, while others were massive warships, patrolling the coasts.

"Ambassador, how high do those towers reach?" Matara asked.

"The highest one," he said, pointing toward the One World Trade Center, "is about 1,800 feet. Just over half a kilometer."

The Qua Toynian's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, almost sticking to the window's glass. "What?!" They collectively gasped.

"The tallest building in our old world had a height of over 2,700 feet. Half a mile, almost a full kilometer, stretching into the clouds."

The number provided by Anders was so mind-boggling, that the Qua Toynian's had difficulty imagining it. To provide visual context, Anders looked up a picture of the Burj Khalifa on his phone. He selected a picture where the building was aligned beside other towers for a comparison of height.

"By the heavens! How powerful is that nation?"

"Well, they weren't ranked very high in terms of military strength, but they were very, very rich. I wanted to go there someday, but it looks like we can't." Anders shrugged. "Anyway, if you look down there at that open plot, where those yellow tower-looking things — cranes — are located, that's where we'll be building a new tower, over a kilometer in length. Olympus Tower, and we've got another one planned on the West Coast: Everest Tower."

Anders concluded his explanation, allowing the delegation to continue gawking at the skyscrapers. Seeing their surprise and wonder cultivated a proud feeling of patriotism in his heart. Then, eyeing the warships below, he thought of something to ask. "Sir Yagou, I was wondering: do you know anything about sea monsters?"

Yagou shook his head. "Only from legends. We have heard that such beasts existed in the oceans to the Far East, but none of us ever dared to venture there. The last accounts of exploration were from several decades ago, by someone from the Parpaldian Empire. He explored the seas upon which your country is now situated, and disappeared after sending one last mana communication. 'Why are there so many Krakens?!' He yelled. I apologize for not having more information, but you may be able to learn more from our libraries."

Anders nodded, looking out to sea.

——

Washington D.C.

President Lee buried his head in his arm, sighing loudly. "Ugggh..." he groaned.

Looking over a report, he analyzed the state of the economy. Without imports from China, manufactured goods steadily became more expensive. Company heads have already sent him numerous messages, clamoring about the lack of resources to work with and a loss of overseas assets. A few new islands sprung up near the coasts of the United States, materialized alongside overseas bases and fleets.

Why would every single military asset be transferred, but not anything else? Surely whatever power did this also had the capacity to summon overseas factories and any U.S. citizens stuck elsewhere, right? President Lee groaned once more. At least the health dynamics of this planet were generous: unlike the first encounter between Europe and the Americas on Earth, the first encounter between the transferred Terrans and the denizens of this planet bore no ill circumstances. This was a peculiar surprise, that no such transference of disease occurred between the natives and the people sent to greet them. Preliminary scans aboard a hospital ship also resulted in almost no differences in genetic makeup, with new species being the exception. Even then, the elves had a striking genetic similarity to humans. Perhaps these elves lived thousands of years and were eternally youthful, much like generic fantasy elves?