The walk itself had been surprisingly short, even more so than when they had initially left the interrogation and exile room. The pattern of this place confused her senses though, each door was similar yet slightly different with no signs or words describing which each room was.
As she walked, the wooden floor softened under her own feet, that or the high-quality alcohol that was entering her bloodstream was affecting her own judgement. She was more. relaxed at least.
The food had been fresh and hot and filled her stomach and despite the outburst from the short-haired blonde woman called Bonnie and the nervous wreck calling himself Direk expressing his own clear psychological fears it had been nice to eat in the company of other humans.
Suddenly, Mike stopped in front of a door, much the same as all the others. Carissa had been certain that they had walked all of five metres of less before stopping but the passageway was different in a way. Not familiar to her. The wooden ceiling above her head and floor below her feet bare and plain.
‘It’s one of my little tricks if you’re wondering’ said Mike as he pushed open the door to reveal a well-lit room with a single bed, glowing organic style bulb on the ceiling and a wooden chest next to it.
A smaller enclosed area held a stand-up shower and toilet from what Carissa could see. A basic type of room, but she had been raised on a house boat and was used to the smaller space.
‘All yours, a wooden space of her own, don’t worry, the mattress and pillow are sponge and the sheets are freshly produced. We destroy them each day and grow new ones. Also, got your own shower and toilet, small though but it should suffice. The door locks from the inside and either I or the others enter only in an extreme emergency.’ said Mike.
Carissa stayed by the doorway as she listened to him talk further. She’d go in on her terms once he stepped away rather than risk being locked inside against her will.
‘Don’t want any more conversation? I don’t blame you, if I met someone from Earth, depending on their economic level they’d have a few choice words for me. Think I was a genetic servant for them to boss around or worse, act as their bodyguard. Here, in this place we’re all in danger but it also brings us a type of freedom of our own. Do you understand that?’ said Mike as he leaned back on the opposite wall from the open door.
‘I would prefer to be left alone if possible but more information is always welcome until we go our separate ways.’ said Carissa.
She had one foot inside the door and the other outside so she could make sure that the door opened and closed under her own control and not others. The day had been tiring enough on her body and mind already.
‘I’ll give you a breakdown, this place is technically owned by me but also according to the whims of the gods. We’ve suffered raids before even though we’re only a small community and the structure is constantly altering itself and rearranging. I think you’ve had enough conversation, unless you’d like to talk directly to Chas and Sherry, I think would prefer to be matched with you personally but she needs to take care of that other candidate at the moment. All of this, is part of the makeshift tutorial that we can come up with.’ said Mike.
‘And I’ve just told you that I want to be left alone. If I had a weapon for self-protection, it would be a different matter. You’re expecting me to go into a room and not be able to keep myself safe in case someone decides to break in or drops me into the water. That isn’t a bedroom, more of a trap.’ said Carissa.
‘Concentrate on your messages. You should be receiving one any second. Time inside this little community of ours tend to flow a little faster than most new players are aware of. The item I gave you will keep you safe in an emergency but check your own messages and check that chest by the bed. A bit of paranoia is healthy here, too much and you’ll be scared to leave your room. I won’t move an inch from this spot. Here, my hands are up.’ said Mike.
Holding both hands in front of him he leaned back against the wooden wall, a sad smile on his face told Carissa that he had done this before with other candidates he guessed. How many, she’d never know unless he told her.
‘Don’t move.’ she muttered as she focused her attention on the Ocean Gateway system messages.
[Player-Candidate Designate: Carissa
-(Classless)
-First Goal Achieved! Survive for 7 hours.
-Bonus Goal Achieved! Find other Starter Candidates and Survive as a group for 7 hours
-Reward Accessible in Nearest Storage Area: Random Basic bone-based weapon, fishing line, Bonus Goal: Removed due to strict limits on Player Candidate.]
No personal messages directed towards her again. Not that she was overly surprised, given how the man had been talking about hallucinations in that dining area she was aware that humans always tried to find connections even when none in fact existed.
‘Good, you’ve passed the first hurdle. No, I can’t read your messages but I’ve been through these enough times to guess what yo-’. Mike stopped mid-sentence, his face frowning as his eyes flickered and he received his own message.
‘Fine. I’ve been…instructed that you need to check out the box in your room as it’s filled with a few more items which you were cheated out of. Apparently. Please don’t ask for more details. I’m here to do my job and keep this micro-community secure. See you for breakfast, I’ll be outside waiting when you’re dressed and ready to go.’ said Mike.
‘Wait!’ said Carissa, her voice hurried.
‘Lady, I’ve had an extremely exhausting day and I’m an old man. I’d like to take my hands down if you feel secure. Answers, questions, conflict, how about you let me go my room which is next to yours and we call it a night? Get a decent sleep and then breakfast, I need to go and brief Sherry and Chas before my work is done.’ said Mike.
‘One last question. Please.’ Urged Carissa.
‘Yes, the toilet works and the shower is fresh. A change of clothes is provided in the storage next to your bed. I don’t choose them, Chas does. If you want to remove your suit and I highly recommend you don’t, then you can get changed. Or just wear them on top of the suit, it should fit to the skin from what I remember. I’m out of here, good night. Close your own door.’ said Mike as he stumbled off down the corridor in the opposite direction they had arrived.
Carissa watched him leave, still keeping one foot wedged inside the door as she grabbed the handle and closed it from the front before opening it again. She tried this several times and when only when she was certain that the door wouldn’t lock behind her easily did, she step inside.
The inner part of the door held a bolt that slid straight down across and a personal lock which she clicked shut. The metal that it was made off was similar to the same as she had seen in the community dining area. The bolt made of refined bone. Strong enough to be hard to break through but Carissa had watched Mike alter the wood using his bare hands.
The room itself was a place to sleep but not a place of safety, Mike had told her repeatedly that there was no safe place here. His lesson was kept. Once she had secured the door Carissa willed the suit to peel back further until she was entirely naked by herself in the room. The only item remaining on her body was the small statue hanging around her wrist.
The suit itself came off her skin and folded itself into a rectangular shape. Useful for transportation at least but given the protection she offered Carissa wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. Not that she had been offered anything and Mike and his two friends showed little interest in the capabilities of it.
As she held it between her bare hands, flakes of it brushed off and drifted down to the floor of her bedroom. The loss was barely apparent but it showed her that according to wear and tear the outfit provided for this game would eventually break down. It made sense to her that the gods wouldn’t provide an essential resource for players without an expiry date.
Carissa would truly appreciate the bathroom as long as it had a decent mirror. Her scars were healing but she was still beautiful, transformed and in a true state of becoming the object of her dreams.
She would use this time wisely to work out how the messages from the Ocean Gateway worked, there had to be a far more efficient way of processing messages than have a physical limitation. If she had to fight or be in an emergency situation then it could be critical to avoid that situation where words obscured her vision or pain affected her mind, no matter how small.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
‘Anyone here?’ she called aloud. Mike had told her that he would be next door but the walls could have been thin enough for conversation or another means of listening to her.
Instead, the small wooden statue which she had been gifted vibrated and when she touched it an impression came into her mind. The system at work again but this time identifying item, the same as previously but with additional information.
[Candidate Designate: Carissa.
Tool Received from Player: Mike
-Second-Life Statuette
-Will absorb significant physical/mental damage.
-Single Usage only.
-Self-Destruction Upon Usage.
-Item cannot be transferred or sold to other players.
-Secondary Use Detected: Physical Health Monitor
This statue detects the physical health of the owner and provides feedback to the maker within a limited distance.]
‘Another type of health monitor. Makes sense given that he’s taking care of new players.’ said Carissa aloud. For several seconds, she was tempted to break it, just to avoid being another form of tracking before she sighed and left it hanging around her wrist.
Heading over to the shower and toilet area she stood inside to find more familiar looking metal inside. The door again was lockable and she closed it, finding a clean sponge towel and a wooden container filled with a type of body wash and turned it on, the flow of water flowing over her naked body and washing away her frustrations and anger.
The water was burning hot on her skin and she lost track of how long she stood in the shower for. Her fingers ran across the scars on her abdomen and body, remembering how she had performed surgery on herself and all in vain up to this point.
She’d tried her best to ignore her own lack of ability but any thought of her own type of hydro kinesis was a waste of time. Her body failed to respond to the most basic of physical reactions and she wasn’t even aware of how much she’d been reduced.
Still, she’d began her life as a normal human and through training and self-discipline she’d improve.
All she needed was a decent workshop and sufficient tools and materials depending on the technological level of this flooded planet. A future project which Carissa mentally stored away, the flow of the water beginning to wrinkle her skin.
All thoughts of her immediate plans put aside as the initial deluge from the slower began to slow to a trickle and finally end. Grabbing a towel Carissa touched the shower handle and it began to flow when she touched it and swiftly ended when she removed her touch.
Interesting.
A type of training.
Carissa was used to the water, far more than most people usually were. Having been born onto a house boat she had learned to swim in the oceans of her world far before she had been able to even take her first steps.
Water for her was almost second nature. And with the practical abilities of the suit when she wore it to provide a flow of enough air while being submerged, the downside was that she didn’t know how much usage it would have left.
Ignoring the shower towel hanging up Carissa walked out naked, water dripping off her long red-brown hair and onto the wooden floor. Her priority was the folded rectangular grey skin suit which had given her so much protection, then she could check the wooden chest for any useful materials. Items could be lost, taken or traded but the suit was an overlooked and highly valued piece of equipment. Weapons of bone and t-shirts could wait.
Focusing her attention as she eld it in her hands she drew on the same ache in her brain which signalled the Ocean Gateway System. This was part of her, or it been installed as a piece of software within her physical form.
All she had to was…take control. In the same way that her implants and genetic alterations had caused her so much pain initially, this would be the same. She would harness the power and make it her own.
Mike had mentioned demi-gods, humans transformed by ocean gods into new forms. Her dream, usurped by insanity, by a game. An activity played for amusement.
Murmuring to herself while holding the suit, Carissa didn’t notice the tears that fell from her eyes.
‘Dreams turned reality. He said dreams turned reality. I make my own reality. I MAKE MY OWN REALITY!’ she cried out.
The suit. She needed to pay attention to the suit, not her own hopes and dreams. If this failed, she’d need the towel and the shower. Pain was something to either recover from or work through. Not to be accepted.
‘Give me the details of the suit. I want details of the suit, capabilities, usage, how long it has before it breaks down. Give me details.’ she said.
As the water on her naked skin slowly evaporated, she shivered slightly, the steam inside the room from the shower cooling down her environment.
Her eyes ached, the pain lessened somewhat as a message appeared in her immediate vision.
Carissa fought through, trying to make her own vision adapt to the message. She needed it either non-visual or have a smaller range so she could see past it.
[Player-Candidate Number 5428119402
-Carissa. No Cheating. Keep the Suit.]
A personal message with her name. A reaction, the message left her vision and her eyes watered as she gripped the grey suit tighter with both hands, her fingernails digging deeper into the material with little effect.
‘I need details of the suit. Give me the suit.’ she spoke to herself.
[Player-Candidate Number 5428119402 Carissa
-Warning: Due to Illegal Usage of the Ocean Gateway Entry System Candidate will be punished.
-Warning: Due to Illegal Usage of the Ocean Gateway Entry System Candidate will be punished.
Warning: Ocean Gateway grante-
Warning: Due to Illegal Usage of the Ocean Gateway Entry System Candidate will be punished.
Temporary physical penalty enabled.
Warning: Further attempts to coopt Ocean Gateway System authority will receive further punishment.
Warning: A Drowned Goddess is paying direct attention to the punishment.
Carissa. Stop. Stop. Rest. Chest. Open. Sorry.]
Pain. Immense pain struck her head in waves, each one hitting harder than the previously one causing Carissa to fall down to the floor. Unable to control her own physical movements her body twitched and trashed about before she was able to gain control of her own emotions.
A smell came into her nose. An acrid smell, she had lost control and urinated over herself and the wooden floor of her bedroom. Lying on her side she curled up involuntarily, tears in her eyes and a taste of copper in her mouth as her sharpened teeth found purchase on her own tongue.
Tears fell from her eyes, stress and pain filled her body and she opened her mouth to scream before finding that her voice was gone, taken away, air rapidly leaving her lungs before she was released.
Carissa had experienced discomfort before and the pain was an experience for her as opposed to a punishment but she found the lack of physical control humiliating.
Her clenched palms open as she forced her hands onto the floor, face still inhaling the smell of her own urine as her body had lost total control and crawled into the shower.
Even if gods were responsible for this, Carissa would find them, find them and punish them eventually. She had known despair before and sadness but hate, true hate filled her veins now.
She wasn’t a toy for their amusement. Gripping the walls of the shower, Carissa grabbed the handle and activated it with a touch. Once the hot water fell on her skin and she was becoming steady enough to stand Carissa took the shower towel.
If they wanted restrictions on her after removing so much of her hard-earned abilities then she would adapt. She would train herself to see through the system messages and make sure her body refused to respond physically. The wooden storage chest could wait a little longer.
Once the towel was fully soaked, she wrapped it around her face, leaving enough air for her nose and a tiny gap for her mouth to gasp enough air under the flood of water. The sensation reminded her of her time inside isolation chambers in her youth.
Positioning both of her hands and feet to avoid collapsing again she focused herself on the previous messages from the Ocean Gateway System.
Slowly teaching herself under pressure and lack of oxygen with hot water blasting from the shower to alter the messages so they no longer appeared in her vision but her mind’s eye.
The last apology from the final message meant little but Carissa gleamed one meaning from it.
Carissa held value in the eyes of a higher being. One of the Ocean Gods had an eye on her personally.