Despite the fact that it was an Insectoid body, the feminine shape of the new form was fairly distinct. He hadn't realized when looking at it from the from the outside, but beneath the wings was a torso that more appropriately belonged on a more heavy-set human girl wearing a set of heavy armor, rather than a simple insectoid carapace; whatever lunatic that designed this body had shaped the thorax as if it were a pair of tits inside an armored chest-plate. The wings came down almost like a cloak, covering the body; but now, he was feeling them out. Stretching them. Making short hops inside this grey... test area.

The wings were nice, of course. They let them glide short distances, made them immune to falling damage unless they were stunned; his new body might not be able to move fast overland, but he could, at least, move quickly while... falling? On someone. He was immediately regretting the choice; but he didn't see any sort of option to back out. In fact, all he saw, aside from his own insectoid form, was a glowing screen on one of the otherwise grey, featureless walls.

Name - Choose name Clicksha(Female) Laborer(1) Attributes: Strength 4 Agility 1 Endurance 6 Intellect 3 Will 3 Skills Combat Brawling(1) Drone Direction(1) Non-Combat None Class Abilities Long-Winded(1) Racial Abilities Clicksha Female Racial traits(Endurance, Strength favored stats. Agility weakened stat); Spawn Drones(1) Glide(1) Once you are in the world, this screen will only be available while unconscious or meditating. You have 1(1) point to allocate. Previous play in Shattered World - 3D has earned you 500 gold coins. You may load some, or all, of these coins onto this character, or purchase additional coins at a rate of one credit per 100 gold. Any gold you possess at time of death may similarly be converted back into credits if your body is not looted.

He frowned, looking over the options. This, at least, was familiar. Though... as a Player, in the previous version, he remembered having a Magic and Luck stats. He wasn't sure if these were something that existed in this new world... or if they might only be available to 'Players'.

Regardless... after seeing the broad, feminine shape of his new form.. or should he say -her- new form until this one died... she wished she'd chosen differently. Still. Clicksha were infamously durable. If this worked like the game, points in strength and endurance were simply gave more effect. She could add a single point to whatever she wanted; skill, ability, stat... but the reason she'd chosen this was Drones.

She selected the 'Spawn Drones' trait; and it bumped up to 2, showing a new status window.

Spawn Drones(2) The Clicksha female can control up to (2) active drones at a time. These drones must be hatched from eggs, and if excess drones are hatched, the resulting drones are favorable towards Clicksha in general but cannot be controlled by the user. Burrower Burrower drones are small, durable drones that can carry a significant amount of weight for their size and are adept at digging; or, if need be, burrowing into flesh. Scout Scout drones are the smallest variety of drone; they are capable of flying, very fragile, carrying only minimal weight, and their only form of attack is a mildly venomous sting; Clicksha are immune to scout venom, but this venom is generally only fatal to small animals.

Man. When he'd had... when she'd had... the maxed-out Clicksha in the past, she had a small army of drones, and even a few summoned pet elementals. She'd had scout drones to start, sure. But outgrown them long, long before. She wondered how to actually summon the things... but she could... feel, somehow, that there was a reservoir of eggs... perhaps three or four of them... in her gut.

Was she going to have to.. birth them or something? That wouldn't be a pleasant... Ahh. Her body guided her in it. The 'guy' carapace could be lifted up; and an egg, or a drone, released. She could just think about what sort of drone she wanted; and her body would release the hormones. The egg would hatch. And... she could release it, after it hatched. Or keep it there, protected.

The whole thing was... weird. Having pets that could take hits for you, and a high durability, was a great idea, if you didn't actually have to live with the involved... bodily adjustments.

She shook her head, focusing. She should be spawning any time now. Did she want any of the gold? Hell, why not. She accepted one hundred gold, leaving 400 for her next go-round. No idea what that would buy, but hopefully it would matter. Before the system could choose something random for her, she slapped the 'name' option... and chose Ezra. It'd work, for now.

The timer reached zero, and she braced herself.

Suddenly... she was standing on a rocky surface. A cold, rocky surface, wearing... some sort of long red, robe. There were other people around her...

Oshear, taller and thinner than herself, wearing mostly ordinary pants, shirts, shoes in flamboyant reds and oranges. A couple of them had minor, glowing tattoos on their body; usually on the arm. So they, at least, had some magic.

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

A handful of Mollus; about Ezra's own height, but slim, some male, some female; frankly looking like catgirls wearing ornate clothing, aside from the quills projecting down their backs like a living robe. The clothing all looked... interesting, shaped to wrap around the arms rather than the whole body. The clothing was still in red and oranges; but their fur, for these, was mostly various shades of white, and grey. He was reasonably sure Mollus could come in all sorts of colors, especially with magic.

And finally... just a pair of Levusu. Both bulbous, fat, marshmallow-like creatures; pale white, massive, soft; one of them enormous, at least seven or eight feet tall, while the last was... the smallest creature there. Aside from the scattered Oshear children.

They were standing in the central square of a village; one that looked old, worn; but was otherwise in good shape. A message appeared. Everyone looked in a different direction, but they all focused; clearly, they could all see it.

You have now begun a 72-hour prep time before this village is added as a 'Search and Destroy' objective. Each of you has a mental beacon directing you to your home, and your workplace. This is the village of Lake Tannow; it is the only settlement on this island, and Tannow is the only water source. You may freely explore the island, and should get to know one another; for best results, when the Imperial players arrive, this should seem to be a real village. Some of you have been assigned to families; obviously you should focus most of your awareness on your supposed kin.

There was a tension in the air. Everyone knew that the destiny of this place was destruction. They'd been put here, in this strange world, some of them having never been to this bizarre place before, specifically to be the target of some player's quest objectives.

One of the Mollus; a pretty, tall, lean, grey-furred cat-girl with black stripes, in a long orange dress; raised her hands. "Okay, people. We all know why we're here. We don't know if we're going to have a few days, or a few weeks. But I think, whatever time we have, we should have some fun with it. Supposedly, I'm the mayor of this little village. Well, no supposedly. I'm mayor Shan'rae. Lets all get to our homes. Clean things up. Cook some food. Gather some drinks; I bet there's some alcohol hidden away here all over the place. Then, at sundown, we all get together here with our food, our booze, and have a party. Introduce each other. Take a vote as to whether we want to be one of those villages that make things fast, or one that makes them fight for it."

The crowd mostly nodded. A few of them; especially the four Oshear who wore light leather armor, and had clubs tied at their belts; likely the town guard; seemed a bit irritated by her pronouncement. They started to disperse, checking out the village; casually chatting with those nearby.

As Ezra started walking towards where the mental arrow guided her to be her home, one of the two mushroom-people; seeming like a 4-foot white blob in a giant orange shirt; stepped up alongside. "Hello there! Don't see Clickshan too often among the victims. There a story behind that?"

Ezra chuckled. "I used to play the original game, back before this was all real. Clickshan were my favorite race to play as. I tried most of them out, Rebel, Empire, but I loved the feel of being almost a field commander, with a variety of pets to do most of the work. I'm Ezra."

The village itself was made of two rings of buildings; with a massive stone bluff surrounding most of it... and a lake forming the only empty side. As they approached the lakeshore, they could see a series of neatly carved, round caves, along the bluff. The mushroom chuckled. "That's an odd image. Most of the Clickshan are slaves, I think. The Triakan use them in mining. One of them as a commander... Huh. But yeah, I'm Shawn. Looks like we'll be neighbors." He pointed at one cave; just slightly taller than the bulbous white mass of mushroom.

Of course, beside it was Ezra's own cave; or burrow. Of course, the bug doesn't live in a house. They lived in communal hives, if she recalled, protected by swarms of drones. The one time she'd played a Triakan soldier, she'd gotten the chance to try to invade one. Those places were a pain; swarms of drones everywhere, crawling from the ground, out of the walls, biting into flesh... granted, there she couldn't actually feel the pain, so she just kept going.

How would it work for real, when the invaders actually felt a cat-sized bug chewing its way into their guts?

"Yeah..." He stopped, looking out at the lake. The small island the village was formed on was... apparently a modestly-sized jungle. A lake. The village... and some rocks. That's it. Not much of a place to run and hide; a squad of soldiers could search the entire place in an hour or two.

On the other hand... the lake was beautiful, crystal clear water. Multicolored fish, a veritable rainbow of them. And there was a waterfall, slowly trickling down from above; another island, far, far overhead, must have its own lake slowly draining onto them... creating a real rainbow over the water.

She stared at the scene. The cool, humid air. The water. It all looked, and felt... peaceful. "You know what. This place might be doomed. But the view is amazing."

Shawn nodded. "Yep. Most of these places are, till the Triakan show up. I'm gonna see what sorta goodies they stuffed in here for me. Catch you later, neighbor."

Ezra shook her head, and after a few minutes of watching the scene, she turned into her own cave; ducking her head instinctively despite having enough height to stand fully upright; and walked into her home. Which was... a bit dull. A single, central cave, carved into the rock. A... sink? There was an indention into the wall, through witch water flowed from above; and likely down into the lake. Whatever it was used for, she hadn't seen it in the game.

A single, oversized bed, a dozen feet across... and chambers embedded in the wall filled with... jerky. Fruit. Vegetables. There didn't seem to be a stove, or anything to cook with. She frowned. Did Clickshan cook?

"Hey, Shard. Can you hear me?"

~Of course, Ezekiel. You've still quite a bit of time for me. I'll gladly answer any other questions.~

"...Why the whole 'Search and Destroy' quest? Don't the natives wonder how all these little villages keep popping up, only to end up destroyed?"

~They're trying to drum up more interest. Time in the game runs about ten times as fast as the real world; so some of the players have been involved in this for, to them, centuries. They're getting bored, players are dropping. They're throwing things at the wall to see what gets people back in.~

She blinked. "Oh. You can call me Ezra, by the way, til I get back. What happens if all the players leave?"

~They stop supporting the game. Maybe start a new one. After that... Eternity might pull the plug and abandon this place... or bulldoze it. Starting a brand new world from the big bang down to game-ready would take quite a bit more effort than just completely wiping this world, and building a new one in its place.~

Ezra nodded. "Ahh. I suppose that makes sense. All the 'victims' and 'wenches' and 'wandering monsters' would end up getting new jobs, in other worlds, and this place would become something new." She smiled, as she picked up one of the strange, green fruit. She took a bite; her jaws were... surprisingly powerful. The apple-like fruit was converted into a mass of pulp and juice with ease, and... tasted delicious. Like a grape, almost. She spat seeds out onto the floor. She should work on creating some drones. Hatch however many eggs she could; let some just live here, pick out a couple to control. See how it worked.

~Of course. All of the people who actually live here would be dead, but us terrans in our remote-controlled bodies would be fine. Who cares about the millions of natives?~