“So the main trick to it all is to think it. Don't worry about gestures or buttons, everything connected straight to your brain, so don't worry about the middle man and just think what you want to do.”

You say that, but you’re the one with a real face. Dave thought back, trying to concentrate.

They were standing in the training area that Barry had opened up for him, a large school gymnasium that sat on the beach next to the man’s office. Inside it was filled with obstacle courses, training dummies and seemingly endless racks of tools and weapons. At that exact moment they were standing in front of a large mirror, which gave Dave his first proper look at what a mockerman normally looked like.

Standing at a little over five feet tall, he found his back for hunched than he thought and could stand up straight to easily be over seven, his skin stretching out over his gaunt body to show that there was little meat on him under the grey hide. His arms and legs, while normal in size overall, didn’t have any elbows or knees, at least not ones in a fixed position, instead bending at random locations as the pieces inside floated around. That seemed be the case with most of his functions, leaving him as little more than a skin bag full of organs and bone. His face was something that could give a person nightmares though, with the skin that loose everywhere else being pulled tight against his skull, leaving his face set in a permanent, terrible grin.

At least it did at the moment, but hopefully that would change soon. Dave was trying to get his abilities to work, ones that he’d need if he wanted to survive beyond the first time someone saw him. But no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn’t get it to work.

“Well, you should just be able to want it to happen. Just picture it and think of it happening to you, that’s how most of them work and this shouldn’t be any different.”

But as hard as he tried, his creepy new face just kept staring back at him in the mirror, a pair of lidless, black eyes looking into him. He’d even tried making poses or gestures just in case it was different, but it just sat there. He wanted to close his eyes and think, but settled for covering them with his arm.

Ok, he thought to himself, maybe I'm over thinking this. It’s not really my face, just something I think is my face, so if I think of my face being a different face already...? He felt a twitch on his forehead, and quickly brought his arm down looking to see what had happened, but it looked exactly the same, except...

“Does that patch look lighter to you?” Barry asked poking his skin curiously.

Dave nodded before trying to go back to what he’d been thinking, visualising being the form he wanted, instead of changing into it.

Slowly, with a speed similar to drying paint, his features shifted, almost as if they were rotting in reverse. Fat and meat pushed their way under the skin, which softened and gained colour, while cartilage cracked and slid into place, ears and nose forming where just pits had been before. His teeth made him feel like he was at the dentist, because while there was no pain, the sensation of them cracking and grinding as they shifted around was hardly pleasant. As he watched he could see his scalp ripple as hair began to grow, twisting and curling until he saw a face he knew better than any other. His own.

Barry clapped. “That’s it! Man that’s weird to watch, when people do it with spells it’s an instant thing, but I guess that’s more of an illusion over the top...”

I’ve got a face again! He mentally shouted in triumph, only to feel it moving again.

“Careful now, it started to slip back, not something you want to do in public.”

Dave calmed himself back down and focused, cleaning it back and watching as muscles writhed under his skin back to the right spot. It was like balancing on a tightrope, concentrate too much and it wouldn’t move, too little and it’d relax back to its default state.

“Good, now, try and extend it to the whole body. No point just having a pretty face on a pile skin.”

That turned out to be easier said than done. It was simpler since he knew the right state of mind to reach, but how often did you really study your own elbow? Eventually he thought he was done, even though he knew a few things were off, but he couldn’t for the life of him tell what they were.

How’s that look? Am I human now? He asked of the programmer who was pointedly looking away.

At his words he made a few gesture on a small board in his hands, causing a robe, little more than a hospital gown, to spring into existence around Daves body.

“I don't know about human exactly, but if you claimed it people wouldn’t think twice.”

Good, then I'm making progress... what should I do about clothes?

“For now, you can keep the robe, and I’ll give you one like it when you respawn. But from what the notes here say, you should be able to shape your body into clothes eventually, though you can’t take them off.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Cool, more camouflage. But its way too slow though to do on the run.

“It’ll get easier.” The programmer said in response to his thoughts. “You’re working with the basic package at the moment, but with practice and experience it’ll be as easy as breathing. But shall we move on to bit that you really care about?”

Smiling with his newly shaped teeth, he closed his eyes for the first time had concentrated on his voice. He knew it better than anyone, spent years training it and both learnt then pushed its limits. It wasn’t just a form he wanted, it was one he needed, and one he could finally get back.

For a moment his throat vibrated, then he turned to Barry.

“Ho-w’s thisss?” The words catching and breaking in his throat.

“Better than your first growls, and I’m sure that-”

Ignoring Barry’s reply, Dave began running himself through his breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups. He’d had throat problems before, illness and over use happened to everyone, the trick was learning to deal with them. Having his throat cut was beyond anything a person could handle, but this? This he understood.

For almost an hour he cycled through the ranges and went over phrases that contained every syllable and sound. Each time it went just a little smoother, the edges less raw and flowing more naturally. It didn’t matter to him that Barry had gotten bored and wandered back to his desk to do some paperwork, all that mattered right now was his voice.

When he was done he walked back over to the office space, noticing as the sand that stuck to his feet simply vanished when he crossed on to the carpet. Seeing his return Barry made a final note on the paper he was looking through before having it vanish in to space.

“So did you make much progress?” he asked.

“I’d like to think so.” Dave said happily. It wasn’t his voice, not yet, but it was at least something he’d be willing to call an echo of it.

“Impressive! I didn’t think you’d be able to get the hang of it that quickly.”

“Quickly?” Dave asked lightly, not really looking for an answer but more for how Barry sounded when he gave it.

“Yeah, I expected you to take a few days to get it to a point where you could at least mumble you’re way through a conversation.”

“Mumble?”

“You know, slurring your words? Are your ears playing up now that your voice is working?”

Dave’s throat twitched. “Just testing something.” He said, in voice that matched Barry’s own.

He frowned. “What’s that voice supposed to be? You still working on yours?”

“It’s yours, or it should be.”

He waved him off. “Doesn’t sound anything like me.”

“People always say that. Can you check with the AI? I want to know if I’m doing this right.”

Tilting his head slightly, the programmer reached out and grabbed a glowing square from the air, before staring at it for a few moments, squinting as he did so. After a moment he threw it away.

“It says its ninety eight percent accurate, but I still think it sounds nothing like me.” He grumbled.

“Nothing like me.” Dave mimicked with a smile on his face. He would have continued, but a faint surge went through him for a moment. Whatever it was, it was something Barry noticed instantly, causing him to bring up another square with a curse.

“ God dammit... can you bring up your information for me? I think I know it already but I need to confirm.”

“How do I...?

“Just think it.” He said motioning him to hurry up

Name: Dave Level: 1

Race: Mockerman Class: Bard (untyped)

Stats: hidden

Skills: Liquid core

Body Shaping - 1

Mockers Voice - 1

Mockers Hunger

Monstrous Nature

New skill unlocked: Mimics ear.

Due to race, this has been converted into Mockers ear.

Increases your ability to pick up languages and impersonate voices. As a mockerman, this also improves your ability to recreate sounds and voices you’ve heard.

“I've got a new skill, was that the-”

Barry cut him off. “Yeah that’s the thing.” He sighed. “It’s my fault. You’re not supposed to get new skills while dead, obviously, but I forgot that while you’ve been doing the tutorial stuff here, it isn’t actually that. I should probably get rid of it.”

“Do you have to?” Dave said, his hand going to his neck as he switched back to his own voice.

Barry hesitated. “I should... but here’s the deal. I’ll let you keep it, and we’ll leave you in true unconsciousness until you respawn, but in exchange we’ll call it even for Sasha dumping you in town. Otherwise I’ll take it from you and we can find something else.”

“No! No... I want to keep it.” He said quickly.

“Right then. Well that’s going to give me another bit of paperwork to deal with, and I've got a meeting soon so we’ll bring this to a close. The next time you die, you’ll be brought somewhere similar to here, and someone will do a more thorough evaluation of your mental health... something I was supposed to do but time got away from me. All make sense?”

“Sure I guess. Are you going to drop me in the street again?”

“Your spawn point is locked to the same city, but I’ll have you come back in a deserted alley somewhere, should give you time to get yourself sorted.”

“Great, then...see you around?”

“Probably not, unless something goes wrong again. Oh, and as a little gift, I’ll give you something else when you go back okay? All right, now I really need to move.”

And as if he’d flicked a switch, their surroundings began to fade and break apart, first the things in the distance then spreading closer, until the ground faded under Daves feet sending him tumbling into darkness.

Only a few moments seemed to pass, then he found himself sitting on hard stone pavers, the sounds and smells of the city assailing his senses. Turning quickly, he breathed a sigh of relief to see that the dingy alley he’d been left in was unoccupied as promised, giving him time to get a grip on himself and make his form more presentable. He was about to try and head to the main street and see if he could actually interact with people this time, and maybe find something to wear other than the robe he’d been given, when he remembered that Barry had said he’d leave him with something else.

Looking around he spotted a surprisingly clean sack made of the same material as the gown lying on the ground near where he’d woken up. Opening it up to see what it as, he dropped it in shock, losing some control over his form in the process.

Rolling out of the sack as it tumbled to the ground, was a human leg.