He shakes his head. "Not exactly. What is it?"

"The Protectorate and the PRT are organizations dedicated to providing funding and structure to parahumans, and to oppose people who would perform illicit activities, particularly other parahumans who would use their powers to do so. They also organize and coordinate the battles against the Endbringers, and serve as the body that deals with everything parahuman-related that's not under the scope of any other branches of government, as well as some things that are but would best be handled by people focused on that."

"Can you explain the Endbringers, please? I didn't quite catch what exactly they are."

"There is much speculation on their nature, but for our purposes they are giant monsters who coordinate to periodically attack various population centers around the world. There are three of them, and you can look them up on the internet if you like, but the main idea is that their appearance means death, destruction, and mayhem."

"Thank you for explaining. They don't sound like good news."

"They're not," she agrees. "A problem we're not quite used to dealing with, however, is you. Are you familiar with the term Case 53?"

"I've heard it used... something about unusual-looking people with no memories?"

"Correct. Which is ostensibly not your case. For one, you did not speak the local language. Furthermore, you have quite a few memories of the place you're from. So the priority, here, would be taking you back there."

"I find myself in agreement..."

"The problem is that we do not actually possess the ability to send people to other worlds."

"Troublesome," he says, nodding.

"Therefore, we do still find ourselves faced with a problem," she repeats. "Now that you can communicate, we're able to actually get your thoughts on the matter."

"Well, what are the options here?"

"As of right now, you do not yet officially exist. We will need more information to create an identity, and the protocols in place for Case 53s should be enough to cover you. A question of significant importance is how old you are."

"I turned seventeen a week ago."

"In that case you are considered under age, and will need a legal guardian until you turn eighteen. Your options are either going into foster care or joining the Wards program as a member of the Protectorate. In foster care the government would find someone to take you in and provide for you. If you joined the team, the Protectorate would be your legal guardian, you would have free housing, a monthly allowance to spend on whatever your saw fit, as well as some money deposited into a trust fund, to become available one you turned eighteen."

"Joining the Protectorate sounds like a worthy option."

"I am glad you think so," she says, not sounding it. "I'm supposed to give you a day to consider your options, however, so I will need to ask you about it again tomorrow. In the meantime, here I have two forms which I would like you to look at. You should fill out the first one, to create your identity; the second one contains information about joining the team, and you should only fill that one out after having made sure your choice's final."

He nods thoughtfully.

She gives him the aforementioned forms and sends him on his way.

The one he's supposed to fill out has fields for stuff like full name, date of birth, place of birth, parents, etc. Most of it is marked as optional, since Case 53s tend not to remember these details.

His full name is Ashras Kevarsin and, with the help of a computer, he calculates that his equivalent date of birth is October tenth, 1986. He leaves all the family parts blank. And the place of birth. And most other things, actually.

"Hello, Dauntless."

"Hello, yourself," he says, somewhat surprised.

"I learned English! Congratulate me."