I let out a small groan, rubbing the bruises on my body that had been afflicted on me. My eyes could barely see, as it appeared that I was in some sort of dark dank cave. Gingerly, I attempted to stand up, only to have my legs crumple under me. Sweat dribbled from my hairline, as I forced my arms to push me to a kneeling position. Where was I anyways?

I could've sworn I was in my room one moment, reading over the many fictions I've decided to binge read, and the next... well I was now in this dark and empty cave. However... a looming human shaped shadow loomed behind me.

My heart almost stopped, as I slowly glanced at the figure behind me.

My eyes lay on a winged angel like figure. It had three massive blades floating on each side of it's back, imitating wings of an angel. It's figure looked strikingly feminine. Long black stocking like heels connected it's smooth white legs, where it met up with it's gray midsection and white breastplate. It's arms had human like hands, connected by a white metallic sleeve which was attached by some decorative looking shoulder guards. And it's face resembled that of a simplified Roman hoplite. The few jarring features about it is that for one, it was faceless, two, it was floating mid-air, and third, it was extending a hand out to him.

"Who are you? And where is this?" I asked quietly, words hoarse and quiet.

The figure stared at me, before releasing a vocoded and metallic sigh. "I am your bodyguard and assistant mechanoid Aura. As for our location? Scans do not recognize this sediment. It appears the inter-dimensional portal was a success."

Inter-dimensional portal huh? Was I supposed to be creating portals? No way! I was just a college kid! A college kid that played video games too much! Though speaking of which...

I looked at the mechanical faceless angel again, who was looking at me with a blank but patient expression, as if waiting for orders. It did say it was a mechanoid, and an aura too. So that meant...

"Oh. I'm from Rimworld. More specifically, I'm from a rimworld." I said to myself.

"That is correct." the Aura chimed in, holding her arms behind her back. "We come from an unnamed rimworld far from most governmental bodies' jurisdiction."

"And what was our goal?" I asked.

I played Rimworld far too much to not know the answer to that question. Almost always it was the fight for global power. The things you did were practically breaking some rule of the Geneva Convention one way or another, and other factions were no stranger to that.

"Not was, still is." The floating metallic angel said curtly. "Our goal is to build a safe haven for your experiments and your people alike. The empire has labeled them as criminals, though that is completely false. Our livelihood has been deemed an enemy of the empire, purely because of our ambitions and mechanical origins."

"Let me guess. The empire believes that artificial intelligence does not deserve human rights." I responded.

"Correct. And anyone that partakes in our haven is labeled a traitor of humanity."

I sighed, placing my hand on my face. "Well, there's no use worrying about that." I said, voice still hoarse. It felt I haven't drunk water in days, though I didn't feel thirsty. "Though I'm having trouble standing up. Could I get a hand?"

The figure nodded, bending down without even touching the floor, holding both sides of my waist and lifting me up. It's hands had the texture of both smooth metal and skin, and had all the contours and fluidity of human flesh. Technology must be pretty insane to get something that life-like.

After the Aura picked me up, my legs buckled again, though this time I didn't fall over. Instead, I felt some sort of cushion supporting my back, though when I turned around, it seemingly looked like nothing was there. I looked at the Aura, who was glowing slightly.

"How?"

"Psy power. I'm using some of my energy to prevent you from falling over."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Oh. Thank you. Do you have a mirror? I must look pretty awful right now. I just want to take a look."

The aura didn't skip a beat, procuring a small square mirror from out of nowhere. I took it from her hand and took a look at myself. I looked totally different.

My usually peach skin and brown bob hair were completely missing, instead being replaced by a mess of streaking black, one side partially bleached white. My skin was more akin to that of a Hawaiian and Japanese islander. My eye on left was boringly brown, but the eye on the right, which seemed to be supported by a metallic and skin colored plate, glowed a sky blue. It was obviously a bionic eye.

And my body. I was wearing a shoddy and partially burned lab coat, filled with different doo-dads in it's pockets and a pistol holstered to it's leather belt. The pants and undershirt seemed normal, that being a pair of cyberpunk looking black and retro blue cargo pants and a normal sky blue t-shirt. However, the main feature of attraction was my right arm.

My right arm was the star of the show. Reaching all the way back to my shoulder blades, the arm was completely bionic, yet it felt and moved like a completely normal arm. Besides from the feel, the look was pretty future-punk and aesthetic. White metal crisscrossed around glowing blue streaks, forming muscle and eventually leading to the hand, which was beautifully designed in having the perfect hand texture, grip, and strength. I flexed it, causing the metal to bend effortlessly around itself, just like how normal skin would.

"When did I get a bionic arm?" I asked the floating Aura.

"You always had a bionic arm, from the moment you woke up from your cryptosleep casket." she said.

"And what about my mech link?" pointing to my head. At least that's where I assumed the mech link was supposed to be.

"You always had the mech link. You told others that you were always a powerful mechanitor, even an archotech one, though most of your people doubt the latter."

"Are you not worried that I seemingly lost my memories?" I didn't want to push it, but I had to. She seemed... too nonchalant about everything.

"This is not the first time your forgot who you were." The Aura stated. "You forgot who you were when you first exited the cryptosleep casket all those years ago. This conversation is quite reminiscent of those times."

"You... were with me?" I asked, quite confused.

The Aura nodded. "I was. As said before, I am your bodyguard and assistant Aura. I will aid you in all tasks."

I sighed a breath of relief. However, if I was a mechanitor, where were my other mechanoids?

"Hey..." I asked my Aura. "Do you know where the other mechanoids are? Like, I'm a mechanitor. I should have more mechanoids."

The Aura pointed to the right. He had to squint, but as his bionic eye turned on night vision mode, he could distinctively see a fabricor, a tunneler, multiple constructoids and some lifters huddling in the corner of the cave behind a number of sharp and craggy stalagmites. Next to them was some sort of halo like disc, sitting on a pedestal.

"Is that..." I began.

"The portal that we came from?" the Aura said, finishing my train of thought. "Yes. The portal is disabled right now, but it will re-enable again when our energy banks on the other side refills. With our acquired archotech technology, energy can be transferred across dimensions, allowing us to have 2 way travel between us. Think of this as a gateway from our colony to our home."

I nodded, but something made me still to a halt. The Aura heard it too, standing a little taller in the darkness, and her glowing energy dimmed down completely. The other mechanoids, waiting on the other side of the cave walls tensed, hearing the foreign sound.

Voices.

Not just any voice. There seemed to be a few of them, gruff and hoarse. Given that this was a cave, it was most likely that they were miners.

"Quick!" I whispered to my mechanoids, who perked up at my voice. "Do something that will block you from their sight! Aura, do the same thing for us!"

The fabricor nodded, unveiling a large polymer oiled sheet. Using it's dexterous pincers and opposable thumbs, hoisted the blanket over themselves, resulting in every mech underneath turning invisible. Huh. Neat.

Aura, quickly picked me up, and suddenly I felt my body disappearing. It was almost for an instant, but suddenly I was standing on a higher platform above the cave floor looking as I saw rays of light bouncing back and forth from the voices coming closer.

The three individuals were definitely miners, wearing hard hats with glowing lights, red flannel shirts, large burly backpacks and tight fitting hiking boots. They... also... had weird little animals walking alongside them.

I did a double take, using the unconsciously using the zoom feature on my bionic eye. For one, one of the animals was literally just a rock with two arms, lumbering itself forward by pushing itself around. The second was a teal looking bipedal creature, with three blunt khaki colored knives in it's head. There was no doubt about it. That was a Geodude and a Machop. I was in a Pokémon world.

"No way..." I whispered quietly, the Aura glancing down quizzically. "This is a Pokémon world. We're in a world of Pokémon."

"Does that mean anything?" the Aura asked, way more hushed now.

"Of course it does!" I whispered back. "A Pokémon world means that there are way more powerful creatures here! These creatures have ridiculous abilities, like being able to shoot fire, use magic, heck, even create blackholes! There are even super versions of these creatures that can control time, space, and life!"

The Aura looked down at the three humans, who were now happily talking with one another, and sharing their findings. "That is quite interesting. Could we possibly harness this power?" The Aura let out a light but amused hum.

"Oh no. Let's not think about harnessing these creatures, also known as Pokémon to do unethical testing. Our last world already has enough of that. Let's take the time instead to learn about the place first before we take any hasty steps."

The Aura's hum ceased, before looking at me again. "Your mind... You're from another world aren't you?"

My heart beat faster, and I temporarily held my breath. "How did you know that?" I whispered.

The Aura gave a soft metallic whisper. "I've been with you on three separate lives. I've been with you before you entered the cryptosleep casket, after you've awoken, and now here, after you stepped out of the portal. Every time, your mindset and aspirations are different. It's clear you're a different person."

"Are you going to do anything about it?" I asked. "You don't seem worried at all."

"Not as of now." the Aura said. "Fluidity within our ideology and leadership is good, and every new... mind swap has been beneficial to us. Also, you seem quite familiar with both of these situations. Firstly the knowledge of rimworlds and mechanoids, and the second of this new world here. You are perfect to lead us."

I looked at the faceless Aura. Even though it was without face nor expressions, I couldn't help but feel... assured? Glad? At ease? Nevertheless, I still had one more question.

"Then... who am I?" I asked.

If the Aura had a mouth, it would have smiled. "Your name is Nexus. We await your commands for the benefit of ambitious and mechanoid alike."