Everything was a blur. My head was swimming, my body was sore, and my eyes could hardly focus on anything around me. From what I could tell, I was lying in a plush bed in a well-lit room that smelled distinctly like lavender. I could hardly move my arms and legs, and breathing was becoming more difficult with each passing moment.
"Is this a hospital…? Or did someone take me to their house–"
I was flooded by a wave of unfamiliar scenes. A dinner table. I was eating a meal cooked by someone I loved. I was drinking tea, trying to enjoy the company of a partner. Then, I was on the floor. I was afraid. There was a woman. A madwoman. She chased me through the palace while I crawled away from her. I couldn't get away from her fast enough. She cast a terrifying spell on me. She beat me to a bloody pulp, stopping only once I'd lost consciousness. I woke up to find myself tied to a bed, being experimented on by a stranger. The madwoman was there, watching from a distance. The woman I loved watched it happen. I called out to her, but my mouth couldn't move. My body couldn't move. Fear turned to anger, then to resignation. Then, I could no longer feel at all.
None of these things happened to me. I had no idea who the people in those images were, nor what the context could've possibly been–and yet, I felt them. The anxiety I felt as those scenes played out in my mind filled me with a terror I'd only felt when I learned of Officer North's murder. It was so real. So visceral that if someone told me they had been my memories, I might've believed them.
QɄɆ₴₮ ⱤɆ₵ɆłVɆĐ: ł₦ł₮ł₳ⱠłⱫ₳₮łØ₦
₣łⱠⱠ ł₦ ₮ⱧɆ₴Ɇ ฿Ⱡ₳₦₭₴:
ꛘꛎ𖢑𖤢___
⌾⍧⍧⌰⍴⍲⍑⟟⌾☊___
Ⱥꞩȼēꞥꞩīꝋꞥ Łēꝟēł___
You have ten minutes. Failure is not recommended.
"Jesus Christ!" I panicked, jumping at that pop-up's suddenness. I gathered myself. If I could cry out and jump, then it meant I could move and look around.
Indeed, my vision finally corrected as the pop-up went away. I tested my arms and legs, glad to be able to move as well. Which left me… where? The room I was in matched the architecture of the palace I saw in those visions. The spacious, lavender-scented room had dark laminated wooden floors, latticed circular windows both in front of me and on the far wall to my left. Silk curtains draped my round bed from the impressively high ceilings. Pain shot through my legs as I gingerly stood from the bed. Nothing in this place was familiar. There were lamps, dressers, flower-filled vases, expensive-looking golden jewelry in expensive-looking wooden boxes atop expensive-looking wooden cabinets, and fragrant oils in lavish glass bottles sitting on a table in a partitioned dressing area. I'd never been to this place before!
And yet. It was mine. It was all mine. Just like those visions were in my head, I just… knew this place was mine.
Though glitchy, that pop-up was persistent in the corner of my eye. It wanted to know my name, occupation, and advancement level, right? Might as well get that over with. Maybe then I'd get some answers.
"Uh… Giovanni Kivela, Sanitation Worker, and… um… Working Class…? I'm not sure what that means. You'll have to clarify."
The pop-up updated to fill each slot with the answers I gave. Moments later, a new pop-up appeared showing only a single word: Incorrect.
"Incorrect? What do you mean 'incorrect'? That's who I am!"
Nothing. No answer, no clarification. I threw my hands up. Was this some sort of puzzle, then? Were the answers it wanted somewhere in this room?
"Fine. I'll get your damn answers, but I better get some answers back after this."
Despite my best efforts, I couldn't find anything helpful in this massive room. I tore through each drawer, cabinet, and closet, and found nothing. No identifying documents, nothing about an occupation, and absolutely nothing about an "Ascension Level".
"Does this mean I'm gonna fail? What's gonna happen if I do?"
"Hey, pop-up! Throw me a goddamn bone here!"
"THE RUleR SYStEM" iS iNITIALIZng.
DO NOT PANIC IF IT LOOKS STUCK.
20%...
"If you're still trying to turn on, why the hell would you give me something to do?!"
I threw my hands up as I made for the door to my room. The palace hadn't been empty in those memories. Perhaps there were people here who knew who I was? I walked past the bed, only to stop when I noticed a mirror in the corner of my eye.
The man looked to be the same age as me. His hair was a deep purple, with eyes a slightly lighter shade. He wore white robes with gold accents and an arched golden crown on his head. The man's arms moved when mine did. His mouth moved as mine did. He touched the exact same spots on the mirror I did.
But he wasn't me.
He didn't have a body covered in tattoos. He didn't wear Carhartts and Timberlands with a tank top. His hair wasn't white from poliosis. His eyes weren't blue. The only thing he had that I did was an aggressive face. But I was from Chicago. Everyone had that over there! Same as New York! It was hardly unique. Concern turned to panic as reality started to set in.
That pop-up wouldn't ask me who I was unless I was someone else. I wasn't me anymore. Giovanni Kivela was dead, and now I was possessing the body of some complete stranger.
"Oh fuck… Oh fuck…"
I was panicking now. And as if that wasn't enough…
THis Quest will enD in ThREE MINUTES!!!!!!!
In the event of failure, transport will be immediate.
"Transport?! Where?! You can't just spring that on me!'
All that talk about second chances just to die like this?! Because I couldn't answer three basic questions?! I wouldn't allow it. I left my room only to find myself in a dim, unlit hallway. It had the same laminated floors and white walls as my room, with similar floral fragrances wafting throughout to match. Despite never having been here in my life, I recognized these halls. I knew my way around this palace. I knew where the dining room was, where the kitchen was, where the bathrooms and bathing chambers were, where the other bedrooms were, where my throne room was, and how to get to the vacant courtyard.
"So… I'm some sort of ruler? Emperor? King? Prince?! Powerful person?! Something?!"
ThE inpuT requireS A speCific TITLE.
"Are you fucking serious?!"
To make matters worse, my body was getting weak again. Whatever had happened to the person I possessed, it must've been bad. Those memories danced around in my head as I–
"Hey!" I called out, cutting off my own thoughts.
There was a woman in the distance. She was dressed in black robes with red accents. Her skin was light brown with pearlescent, whitish-lilac hair and similarly colored eyes. Interestingly, from what little I could see of her neck, hands, and ankles, they were absolutely covered in tattoos. It would've been jarring if I hadn't just woken up in someone else's fucking body a few minutes ago.
The woman turned to me, a shocked expression falling on her face. As I inched closer to her, I was surprised to find that I recognized her. This was the woman from my memories. The madwoman. She'd beaten the hell out of me and relished in whatever it was that happened to me following that. But she hadn't done it to me, had she? She'd done it to the person who used to inhabit this body. Fear clenched my heart, though I quickly realized that this wasn't my fear, but the fear of the person who used to inhabit this body.
"Hey, I have a few questions for you. Is that–"
"W-what are… you doing…?"
"Huh?"
The woman froze, visibly terrified.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on. I just–"
"S-stay away from me!" She shouted, stopping my approach with a hand.
This Quest will end in 90 seconds.
In the event of failure, transport will be immediate.
"Shit!"
"Hey, look." I held my hands up. "I'm sorry if I'm freaking you out here, but I really need to–"
"J-just… go back to your room…! Y-you… you should… be in bed…!"
"Please just listen to me!"
These weird, spectral, fairy-looking things floated around us like fireflies. Again, it would've been jaw-dropping, if not for the urgency of the situation… and the things they were saying. The purple little fairies laughed as they screamed out things like "Help me," "I'm sooooo scared," and "Aaaaah!".
"What the fuck are those–... Whatever. Listen, I really need you to answer my questions, okay? I need to know my name, occupation, and Ascension Level. Can you answer that for me, please?"
This Quest will end in 30 seconds.
Transport will be immediate.
"What about 'In case of failure'?!"
"Please, I don't have time. I need you to–"
"Claude! Dai Yuhan!" The girl shouted.
I stepped closer, patience wearing thin. "Goddamn it, will you just listen to me?!"
"I said get away from me!"
Those were the last words she said to me as she reached her palm out to me. As the tattoos on her hand began to glow a faint white, my body felt light. Unnaturally light. So light that if someone so much as tapped me, I would've flown back like a balloon.
And that's exactly what happened! Until gravity remembered I existed and pulled me face-first into the floor. My head was swimming again, and my vision returned to the blurry mess it'd been when I woke up. But of course, I didn't need my vision to be all there to be able to see the pop-ups.
Quest Failed. Awaiting Transport.
As promised, the next pop-up came immediately.
Transportation Confirmed.
Now Entering: The Outer Plane.
As it had when I'd died on Earth, my vision was swallowed by total darkness.