LAST EDIT: 04.03.2019.

     Todor Corpus hated jam with a passion. It was not a dislike he was born with, on the contrary. As a child, he adored the fruity dessert a bit too much. But that changed in the seven years he was forced to work in the jam factory. It wasn't the work Todor wanted to do, he had a dream job once and world wide web still existed. But the world changed around Todor and it wasn't the type of change that happens gradually over time.His world changed overnight.

     Seven years ago Todor was returning home after work one Friday night. He had a job he loved and enjoyed. Co-owner of a game studio that was working on a title that will reinvigorate the MMO genre. As a cherry on top, he had the entire weekend to level up a new character in the latest expansion of old time favorite game. He called it 'scouting the competition' but deep down, he was just excited to play the game.

     First signs that something was wrong showed on the horizon as he squinted through a windshield. Violet lighting started flashing in the distance, their thunderous roar assaulting Todor's ears a few seconds later. He slowed his vintage Renault Four to the crawl, gawking at the bizarre sight. But after ten minutes nothing more happened, so he brought the engine to life and drove on. After a short ride, he turned into his driveway still unnerved by the unusual weather.

     Just as the rumble of the engine died the purple fog surrounded him. It came from nowhere bringing with it a hum that forced Todor to clamp his palms on to his ears with all his might. The car started to vibrate as if it would fall apart any moment and a strong mixture of smells spread inside of the vehicle. Todor tried to ignore the odors but soon was overwhelmed by them. At first, he couldn't distinguish what they were but as the unreal moment stretched on he started to recognize them. There were three different smells that somehow intermingled but managed to stay distinctive. The faint smell you could coming from a bag of ice or when going to an ice rink. The second one was the coppery smell of a penny or fresh blood. The third one was the sharp smell of ozone after a thunderstorm. Before Todor could find the source of the intermingling fragrances both the hum and the fog disappeared as if they were never there. Todor was left breathless and shaking, clutching the steering wheel and staring at his house. It was still there, and the yard together with a part of the street was still standing, but the entire neighborhood changed. And as it turned out so did the entire world.

     Years passed after that event. The phenomenon that came to be known as "The Knitting of the Realms." The change was so big, so profound that Todor refused to believe it. He turned inward, ignoring the world full of new wonders and held firmly to the things he lost. Like the Internet.

     "Nothing of use here either," he announced to the empty room, flinging a book across the table. An orange tomcat that sat on a cupboard looked at him and blinked once.

     "I don't think I can find the way, Mihos," Todor told the cat. The feline just yawned at him. "I don't think I can bring the Internet back on my own."

     The cat was not originally his. It belonged to his neighbor, an old lady that baked cookies which tasted like dirt. But that was before the change. When the Knitting happened the pet was in his yard and it transitioned together with his entire home and yard. The enterprising tomcat found himself without a master so he took a liking to Todor.

     But as much as the world changed some things were all the same. He had to work for the living. Todor glanced at the large clock above the fireplace. It was almost time for his shift. He groaned inwardly at the reminder. Letting out a huge sigh he grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV.

     Screen lit up and an attractive woman in her early twenties held a microphone in front of a pale man who wore a white suit with a black tie. The man grinned at something the interviewer said, flashing two unnaturally large fangs to the camera.

     "Mary, that is a good question. Why do I waste my time giving food to the poor? Because someone has to," the man said, which made Todor grimace. It was one thing to accept that he was in the new unknown world, and other to accept vampires are part of it.

     "So you are saying it's pure altruism on your part, Mister Breeze?" Mary, the interviewer, cooed.

     "I wouldn't say that. Look at a Sea Pit for instance. We can't describe it by any other word but a slum. If those poor people come out and start disturbing the work of more well-off citizens, all of us will be in trouble."

     "So you heard it, folks. Well known vampire lord and patron of many businesses in the city spends his fortune to keep you safe and fill the bellies of unfortunates. Stay tuned next for an in-depth analyses of a new sickness that made experts worry. A new sleeping plague or just fearmongering? Don't change the channel and find out."

     Todor snorted and turned off the TV. Vampire benefactors and sleeping sickness. What a time to be alive, he thought to himself before glancing at the clock again.

     "Alright Mihos, let me feed you." He walked into the kitchen as the cat jumped after him.

     He missed the Internet. The longer he got accustomed to this new world, the more he missed it. Eventually it became this mythical entity in his mind. It was The Internet!

     Sure, there was a local network. Seven cities on the coast known as Albinion were connected. The Knitting of the Realms transported his house to the southern outskirts of the largest of the seven cities, Moriganhold. But that network was just a connection to the libraries and educational facilities like universities. It was nothing like the global phenomena that was the World Wide Web. He looked for magical alternatives, as magic was something that apparently existed now but had no luck either. Humans couldn't use magic, and the magical objects that could be used by mundanes were almost always illegal to own.

      Well, the word 'illegal' changed in meaning now since there were no laws or law enforcers in the city, Todor thought as he glanced at the cupboard Mihos was sitting on a minute ago. Under the floorboards beneath the piece of furniture, Todor had hidden mind-link stone. A magical artifact that when put on the head of intelligent being would connect their mind with a plane of existence beyond Todor's understanding. Sadly that wasn't The Internet alternative Todor wanted. It was a great and useful tool but with the stone he had, he could connect only with people who had similar stones made from same bolder. Which means around four thousand users in Albinion area. Plus, he could get in trouble if someone found out he had it.

     He gave the food to Mihos who purred happily while chomping down on his tuna. Todor smiled at the furry creature. My only constant companion, Todor thought. The cat stopped eating and looked at him, then swung his tail once and continued his feast.

     Todor sighed and left the cat exiting the house. His Renault Four still worked although it was harder and harder for him to keep it running. Newer cars that incorporated materials made with magic were ever more present and were much easier to care for. But Todor didn't want to scrap the car. His mother gave him that old crappy thing and Todor thought that as long as he made those wheels spin, his memories of the Old World would live on. Memories of his mother and father and all the people that he will never see again.

     When the world changed almost all people transferred right away. But some got held up in whatever nefarious way showing years, decades even centuries later. He sadly got relocated three hundred years later. All the people he knew, all the things he loved. Gone. And I miss The Internet the most, pathetic, he thought ruefully entering his car.

     The old Renault drove him to his job. With every meter, Todor's heart sunk a bit more. The eight hours of drudgery hurt him on the mental and emotional level. The jam factory he was employed at was the only work he could get. How would a history major graduate find a job in the world that considered history only the time before the realms separated and after they merged again? The time his World existed everyone considers just a footnote. Hell, even if the Knitting hadn't happen and he wanted to work as a historian he would probably have a hard time finding the job as well. Now, it was impossible. He clenched the steering wheel harder.

     He tried to park the car in his reserved space but big Auridilion was already parked there. He looked at the new and shiny car and tried to clench the steering wheel even harder. He backed up and drove to a smaller area not far from there where parking was legal. Problem was that he needed five more minutes to walk back.

     The clerk at the entrance smirked when he saw him.

     "Late for work again, Teddy?"

     "Some jerk parked in my place, again," he responded half-heartedly. It doesn't matter it was someone else's fault, you should have come here earlier, he heard his manager saying in his head.

     "Yeah, yeah. One more and your pay will be docked," the clerk said more seriously. Mordin, that was his name, Todor remembered sliding his employee card through the reader. The display showed he was seven minutes late. Damn it.

     "I know Mordin, give me a break," he said through clenched teeth.

     "Ok, ok. Just making sure you know the consequences."

     Todor swallowed the replay and hurried up to the changing room. He grabbed a white coat from the locker and the hat and gloves from the dispenser. He didn't change his shoes for a company approved model but he was in a hurry to get to his post. Luckily the production hadn't started yet so he let out a sigh of relief.

     The first four hours went as every day. He would press a button, the jam would drip into jars, he would press the button again and the jars would get closed, the third time the line would move and a new batch of jars would appear in front him. And the cycle would start again.

     "I hate jam," he said under his breath when the last batch was finished.

     "I rather like it. The plum one," the feminine voice responded right behind him.

     He jumped away from the source of the voice, turning around a moment later. There stood a girl with few blonde curls managing to get away under the hair net everyone was required to wear. Irrindonila was her name and she was an elf. Another addition to which Todor had to get used to. Although many Anadori considered the human term elf to be a slur. But Irry wasn't like most of her kind and she liked it.

     "Shut it elf. I am really not in the mood for your jokes," he said a lot less harshly than his words suggested it. She was a friend of sorts. When he was looking for a black market she helped him. It was there he bought mind-link stone. She never asked him why he looked for a black market and Todor was really glad for that small mercy. So he was usually cordial with Irry. But something today just made him be on edge.

     "Oh, if I waited for you to be in the mood all my good jokes would go to waste," she said with a grin. He couldn't help it, he grinned back.

     "I am sorry Irry. It has been seven long years and this entire world still looks like a nightmare to me," he said truthfully.

     "It must be hard. I can't imagine it. My grandfather fought in the war after the Knitting you know," Irry said pulling him towards the cafeteria.

     That spiked his interest. Todor was fascinated by ages long gone. He even practiced HEMA for five years before his MMO addiction took hold of him. And he did major in history after all. For seven years I was looking for a way to bring back the internet and at that time I could have studied the history of this new world. He thought sourly.

     Irry glanced at him when they sat in the corner with plates of food in front of them.

     "What? You look like you just swallowed a frog," she said stuffing a large chunk of pork into her mouth.

     "Funny, in most mythologies of The Old World elves were vegetarians," he responded by following her example and taking a bite out of a chicken leg.

     "What is a vegetarian?" Irry asked with a half-chewed food still in her mouth.

     "People who only eat plants," he explained with a smirk.

     "Why? What is wrong with them?" Irry asked and after a second continued. "Oh don't change the subject! What is wrong? Did I said something insensitive again?"

     "It was something you said but it wasn't insensitive at all. You mentioned the Post-Knitting War."

     "Yeah, they call it The Three Banners war. A bit of a bombastic name for a historical event. So what with it?"

     "Well, I know very little about the history I missed. I was shut in my little pipe dream of getting the internet back. And I actually majored in history. So it's a matter of professional pride here."

     Irry looked at him blankly.

     "I went to college and graduated with history being my area of expertise."

     "Oh. Right. But you only knew about the things that happened after the Sundering."

     Todor sighed trying to stay calm. It's not her fault, it's this entire world!

     "Yeah. So, what did your grandfather said about that war?"

     "Well, he is one of the old school Anadori. He slept for thousands of years waiting for realms to merge again so he can wage war upon Morgothlites. I remember him saying: 'We thought when realms merge again and the world becomes as it should be, we would continue our fight against hated Morgs. But we were foolish. We forgot the mistakes we made. Those damn apelings, the hybrids. We made them into our tools, our slaves, but they went out and cut the world into three realms. And even though they can't use magic anymore they made the war costly. They fought both us and the Morgs and they held their ground. I can talk down on them for being soulless but they know their war.' I always thought that funny. Prim Anadori general respecting soulless apelings."

     "You know I am one of those soulless apelings, don't you?" Todor said trying not to laugh. Irry could be so clueless and Todor thought that was part of her charm.

     "Oh, sorry I didn't mean anything by it."

     "Don't worry. I will grab a book from the library on my way back. It was about time I start exploring this world instead of moping around for things I can't have back," Todor said standing up.

     "So does that mean you are quitting your obsession with bringing back that techno-arcane spiderweb you always talk about?" Irry asked from her chair.

     "Oh no, I am just broadening my research area," Todor said withconviction. Somehow he found something to do that will not bring him down. Sothe remaining four hours at work didn't felt sosoul-crushing.