"Ma'am I'm telling you that's impossible," Joshua calmly explained to the lady sitting in front of him.
"What are you talking about," she snarks, "All I'm asking you to do is to read over these documents!" she argued hitting the documents which she placed on the table.
Looking at the large stack of paper on top of his table, Joshua quickly skimmed the first section.
[ I am writing to you as to inform you that it has come to my attention that you have been infringing on copyrightable material. The misuse of the copyrightable material violates the Copyright Act of 1976, 1 U.S.C §§ 103 et seq ]
(Translated: I see that you have made something that is very similar to my copyrighted material that could be called derivative)
Despite knowing what the document was going to be about, it was much too long for just a glance to tell Joshua everything inside of it.
"Ma'am I would be able to give you all the information you need if you would only give me an appropriate amount of time," Joshua explained to the lady.
"I'm giving you all the time you need! Twenty minutes is more than enough, isn't the customer always right?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am, but-"
"I'll hear nothing more about this!" she suddenly exclaimed before picking up her documents, "I guess I'll just use that new AI app," she remarked.
"Ma'am wait a moment!" Joshua exclaimed as the lady got up, "I can get you a very good deal! One hundred sixty-three dollars per-"
Slam!
The lady closed the door behind her and exited back onto the long street.
"Another gone," Joshua sighed.
Getting up from his seat, Joshua went over to his door and flipped the sign from open to closed. He would have kept it open for a little longer if there were anyone outside his door.
Joshua locked up and proceeded to go to the upstairs part of his building, which happened to be his house.
It was about dinner time, so Joshua moved over to his small kitchen and looked in his fridge for something good to eat.
Three-week-old butter, leftover salad from a few days ago, fresh broccoli? Nope, that was a mold colony he was growing. It was the only thing Joshua was good enough to grow.
He then switched from the fridge to the freezer.
'Oh look at that!'
There was a fourth of a roast chicken he took from Thanksgiving that he had been saving for a few weeks.
Happy that he found something to eat, Joshua took the chicken out of the freezer and threw it into his microwave.
As the chicken spun in the microwave Joshua went over to his cupboards to see if he could find anything else.
All he found were dust bunnies and some old salt and pepper shakers.
'Dang'
Closing the cupboard, Joshua walked over to a small table and began to set it for dinner.
He put out the tablecloth, set down his utensils, and when the chicken was done in the microwave, he took it out and placed it on a plate.
Sitting down, Joshua grasped his hands in prayer, before digging in.
Nothing he did was needed, he didn't need to put down a tablecloth or pray, but it was habit. And Joshua didn't want to break habit.
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After eating he cleaned up, putting up the tablecloth, throwing the utensils back in the sink etc.
Tired from all the work he had done throughout the day, Joshua sat down on his couch.
Except no he didn't because there wasn't a couch, nor was he in his upstairs apartment. He wasn't even on Earth.
"What the-"
Unfortunately, due to Joshua trying to sit on something that wasn't there, he simply fell on the ground.
Very confused at his new surroundings, he got up off his butt and looked around.
Joshua was surrounded by scrolls lined up in several shelfs. They seemed to be organized by color. he could guess that they were also organized by whatever was inside of it, but he hadn't opened it yet.
"Hey!" a man yelled walking past a shelf, "Don't you know how to be quiet?" he questioned.
He had long black hair tied into a bun and brown eyes. The man was wearing a tan undershirt with a white overshirt that hung down below his waist.
The man then looked down at where Joshua was sitting. For a moment the man was still as the cogs in his head began to turn.
Suddenly the man ran away from where he walked from, almost knocking over a few shelfs in the process.
Once more Joshua was left alone.
Getting up Joshua put a hand on his head.
'Am I dreaming?'
Joshua then began to blink rapidly.
'No, did I get drunk, did I break into this guy's place! I can't have a criminal record!'
Looking around, Joshua wanted to find the man and beg him to not press charges for whatever he did.
But before Joshua could find the man, a woman walked out from behind the bookshelves.
"Oh, hello there," she greeted, "I'm sorry about my brother he can be rather harsh to new people," she apologized.
She had long black hair that draped down her head. Her eyes had some kind of eyeshadow placed underneath and her lips had fresh lipstick.
"But I'm sure a strong cultivator like you wasn't too bothered," she stated while getting closer.
(Translated: ?A strong farmer like you wouldn't be bothered?)
"Cultivator?" Joshua asked while grabbing her shoulder and pushing her slightly back confused why she thought he was a farmer
"Don't play coy with me, I know a cultivator when I see one," she said putting her hands together attempting to accentuate her chest.
"I'm not a cultivator though," Joshua insisted.
"Wait are you serious," the girl questioned as her voice dropped a few octaves.
"Yeah, I am," Joshua confirmed.
"Dang it!" he said throwing the padding in his shirt on the ground, "All that make up for NOTHING!" he yelled out.
"Are you ok?" Joshua asked.
"No I'm not ok!" the man yelled, "You made me waste good make up!" he told Joshua.
"I'm sorry?" Joshua apologized.
"You should-" the man began to say, "Wait, was this some kind of test? Did I fail?" he asked as he began to shake.
"I'm not testing anyone!" Joshua assured.
"Oh," the man sighed calming down, "That's, well it's not good but it could be worse, now if you're not a cultivator who are you?" he asked.
"Joshua," he said introducing himself, "I'm a legal adviser, who are you?" Joshua asked.
"Zhiyi," the man introduced, "I'm a librarian, and what's a legal advisor?" he asked.
"I give legal advice and help people with documents they don't understand," Joshua explained.
"Oh, well I got a few documents if you'll give them a look," Zhiyi asked.
"Not right now, can you tell me where I am?" Joshua asked.
"Why you're in Meiliao!" the man explained, "Though it is curious that you showed up here without knowing where here is," he thought.
"Honestly that's a question that I would like-"
"Wait!" Zhiyi interrupted, "Are you an enemy of a cultivator that was discarded here and me helping you has put me and my family in danger!" he yelled out while pointing at Joshua.
(Translated: Did I mess up by helping you?)
"Look, I was in my apartment, then I was here," Joshua explained, "And can you tell me why you think I'm a farmer?" he asked.
"Farmer? No, I thought you were a cultivator," Zhiyi answered.
"What's a cultivator?" Joshua asked.
"You know, the guys who fly, with flying swords, with flying bases on top of mountains," Zhiyi explained.
"Above mountains," Joshua corrected.
"What?" Zhiyi asked.
"You said on top of mountains but described the bases as flying, on top describes the bases as physically on the mountain while saying above doesn't mean that the base is connected to the mountain," Joshua explained.
"Oh come on man."
"It's my job to be nitpicky with language, all I'm doing is showing you how good I am at it."
"So, you really don't know what a cultivator is?" Zhiyi wondered.
"No," Joshua confirmed.
"Weird, where'd you say you're from again?" Zhiyi asked.
"I haven't told you yet, but I'm from New York City," Joshua answered.
"You're from one of the big cities?" Zhiyi exclaimed.
"New York is a large city," Joshua admitted.
"Is this what the big city's think is fashionable?" Zhiyi asked looking at Joshua.
"These are work clothes, I'm not too good at knowing what's fashionable," Joshua admitted.
Joshua was wearing a blue plaid pattern shirt with dark blue paints. Though his shirt wasn't tucked in to his pants due to the workday ending.
"Makes sense," Zhiyi said.
"Well, I think I'm going to go and find my way home," Joshua stated as he started to leave.
"Enjoy your stay while your here!" Zhiyi waved off, "And come back it you need some money, I'll be glad to have some paper put in plain English!" he asked.
"Thank you!" Joshua thanked before stepping out of the store.
'I'll probably get to an airport and see if I can pay using my phone'
Leaving the library, Joshua waked into the busy streets.
The sun was high in the sky and there were many people walking up and down the dirt roads in front of Joshua.
There were several different small shop stands made of sticks and hay.
No matter where Joshua looked, he couldn't see a flicker of electricity anywhere he looked.
Taking out his phone, Joshua turned it on and held it up to the sky. There was no signal.
'What?'