As Alex Miller stirred from dreamless sleep, they found themselves turned into a monstrous form of human. As they instinctively lifted their four arms to shield themselves from the afternoon sun overhead, they saw them plated in a dark brown chitin. Their chest was sharply angled and moved awkwardly, yet was silently scraped against the dirt as they rose blearily. Their two legs were steady, even as their awareness struggled to comprehend the magnitude of their change. Even through their six compound eyes, they struggled to take it all in.
I have no idea what has happened to me, but I hope I'm not dreaming thought Alex. And it was no dream; No matter how much they tried to pinch themselves, with fingers ending in razor sharp blades, did they wakeup. Nor would they ever.
Alex turned to their surroundings. No longer was there the comforting prison of their room; No longer did their posters and computer surround them. The copse of a forest greeted them to their right, shade and trees and chirruping life welcoming them. The ground was even, with no especially thick areas of trees or gnarled, tripping roots to snag them. Behind them were rolling meadows, with greenery and bushes as far as they could see. A clear-blue lake shimmered to their right, still enough to show Alex's monstrous and beautiful face despite the pleasant breeze flowing over them. Alex experimentally flexed their new limbs. Chelicerae next to their mouth wriggled, their new arms flexed and turned. All beautiful in their strangeness.
Why then, was Alex unhappy? Alex had everything they had ever wanted. Their beautiful face, with dull red compound eyes arranged like a smile and chelicerae dancing in the wind was testament to their change. Their arms were many, and their skin improved and made into a hard, impenetrable plating. They still had opposable thumbs, for goodness's sake! Their transformation was already beyond their wildest dreams.
Alex had an idea of why this happened, of course. They spent several years reading and dreaming, imagining that their life would change, whisked away to some other world and given the opportunity laden with danger they knew they deserved, that they could be isekai'd to a new life.
But now that they were here? To witness a world away from home, where they would have no chance for comfort, where they would win only via their wits and drive?
They were pathetic. They did not deserve this opportunity, not now of all times.
They wer-
A grumbling stomach snapped Alex out of their self defeating reverie.
They were hungry, and hunger knew no righteousness.
First things first; What can I eat, and what makes me sick? I would hate to get the runs and be eaten by some level one mob.
Was Alex capable of getting diarrhea? They would find out soon, as they wandered to one of many bushes dotting the green plain.
This bush bore fruits as blue as the ocean, and as big as their fist. The skin was mottled and ridged with thin black lines.
Cautiously, Alex extended a hand towards the bush, and pulled. No creatures leaped out from the bush, no magical acid melted their hand.
Alex bit into the fruit and immediately spat it out. The skin tasted like orange peels left in the sun.
Alex tried again, this time cutting open the skin and getting to the softer, cerulean core.
It tasted of sweet strawberries, mixed in with the zest of apples imported from luxury groves. But the only things these fruits cost was a bit of force pulling them from the branch, and the time taken to savour them.
And possibly Alex's life.
Alex waited, using their heartbeats to measure out thirty minutes of time.
They weren't dead, and were still quite hungry.
So they ate,
and ate,
and ate.
They ate like a human, with teeth (or something close to that) grinding up their food, chelicerae guiding food into their mouth. They produced a tremendous amount of saliva, far more than they had ever experienced, but they felt no panic as it happened beyond their initial surprise.
The good news was that Alex was not granted death by their over-eating.
The bad news was that they wished for death, with how bloated their stomach had become.
Staggering to a green hill taller than the rest, with enough bushes to hide themselves from predators, they collapsed.
They tried their best to keep themselves awake, staring at the setting sun and thinking of delightful new foods to eat and monsters to slay, but slipped into unconsciousness. Their sleep was fitful, tossing about on dirt far harder than the mattresses they were accustomed to. Their troubles could have been avoided with a moment of restraint.
Alex loved it. They had felt more in a day than they had in several years. Their failures were their own, and so would their successes. They felt that they could take on anything, and still felt that as someone rapped their knuckles over their head.
Alex opened their eyes, alert and unsteady. A simian face looked over them, with arms as thick as Alex's head bouncing off their head and examining them.
Should I stay still, or make a run for it? Alex weighed their options.
The ape towered over them, and was likely much, much stronger than them. Even if Alex was faster than them, they only had this body for a day and was unprepared for sudden life and death sprints. Besides, the monkey had ample opportunity to bite out their throat or bash them with a rock whilst Alex was sleeping, and was being fairly cordial, all things considered. Alex decided to stay still, keeping eye contact with the gorilla creature in case they changed in attitude.
The gorilla then started screeching.
Despite Alex's years of idle research and decades of reading, they had never heard a raging animal before. The gorilla barked as much as it snarled, it's arms going thump-thump as they beat the ground and it's chest. Alex was perpetually wracked with doubt over their capabilities, and did not like betting. They spent their life cowering, trying to avoid the dice of fate whenever they could. But Alex never said no to a potential change in attitude, and they were willing to wager that the gorilla did not much like them, as they scrambled on all sixes to get some distance from the screaming half-ton beast. Idly, Alex recalled half a dozen news reports they read about gorilla mauling tourists who looked them in the eyes for too long, or who played with their food, or who annoyed them too much, or who screamed too loudly, or who existed too closely when the gorilla had a bad day.
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I'm in a middle of a fruit circle, right? The gorilla feels threatened by me taking their food, and by looking them in the eye. If I back off, they aren't going to maul me rationalized Alex desperately. In truth, Alex had no idea.
Backing away, Alex was certain to keep their eyes to the ground as they backed away from the gorilla, who was now barking at them and watching them, but not pursuing them.
Alex found it of more interest to watch the gorilla out of their peripheral vision, than to check their footing as they walked backwards and slipped over a fallen, rotten fruit, tumbling down the hill to land ignominiously at the muddy bottom. The gorilla creature watched, and if it could chuckle at the misfortune of others, then it did with a single snort.
Getting up dazed and confused for the third time this day, Alex was not in the best of moods. They found a hill very far away from any fruits or vegetables with a very uncomfortable rock perch, and waited for the morning to come. As the sun peaked out from the earth, Alex prayed to whoever was listening for a better tomorrow.
Someone answered their prayers, and they said "no".
The next day, Alex saw several gorilla creatures. Their skin was black, bordering on a deep purple with white stripes. Thankfully, this time they were not in Alex's face, but merely fifty to two hundred feet away at all times. They were looking at Alex, circling two or three at a time but never approaching. When Alex traveled away, they followed. When Alex dared to approach, they backed away, always seeking a place where they could watch.
Alex could live with this, if they didn't cut of their food supply. Alex made the mistake of approaching a blue fruit-bush to eat. and received the threatening howls of the gorillas circling them in return. Alex retreated from the bush and to the safety of the clearing, where the gorillas would watch them in "peace".
The gorillas get angry at me when I take any fruits and they think it's all theirs. Jerks. And thenceforth, Alex did not call them Gorillas but Jerkrillas, for their behavior was that of an ass.
These jerkrillas are constantly watching me and stopping me from eating. It's already noon and I haven't eaten one bite. Alex had plenty to drink from the lake, but nothing to fill their starving belly. Alex did not see the jerkrillas eat any food, although they did witness several smaller jerkrillas gather fruits in their arms and disappear into the forest. Sometimes, these smaller creatures hissed at Alex, before disappearing between the hills and going into the forest canopy. Growing frustrated at not knowing what they were doing, Alex had an idea.
The jerkrillas got angry at me when they saw me eat food. If I go fast enough through the forest and gobble down some fruits, I should be able to avoid their sight and wrath.
There were definitely risks involved, but starvation was a bigger threat than the six foot mountains of meat circling our unlikely protagonist.
Setting off to the edge of the forest, Alex looked for a thicket dense enough to hide themselves from the jerkillas, and flat enough to run in. They were no longer unsteady on their new, springing legs, but they were not a long distance runner in their previous life, if walking to the fridge can be considered running at all. Several minutes passed until they could find an ideal angle with a bush, jerkillas always following. Finally, they saw an opportunity and ran with it, startling the animals behind them and gaining a precious few seconds.
Dashing through the thicket, they stumbled twice, but managed to get to the delicious fruit. They managed to shove two fruits in their mouth while frantically looking around before they saw the first jerkilla arriving ten feet away, and backed away before they could start their intimidation. The jerkilla glared at them, trying to discern if there was any trickery before growing bored and backing away to their usual distance.
Alex expected to choke with the amount of food in their mouth and almost spit out their bounty, but restrained themselves when they remembered the fierce gazes resting upon them. While they were chewing, their mouth filled with so much saliva they feared they would vomit, but the solidity of the fruits and their unpleasant peels turned to liquid in seconds. Startled, Alex swallowed, and found the mixture bittersweet. Their saliva dissolved the fruits like pure acid.
How did I do that? Asked Alex. A perfectly clear picture of the fruit entered their mind, showing them the layers of the fruit and its strange seeds at the center. Acid washed over the image, melting the fruits as the binding proteins were dissolved and washed away into a bright yellow-green goop.
I know my chemistry, but I can't just look at the atoms and figure all of that out by myself. Is this magic? Alex suspected that this was important somehow, but was more concerned with the more immediate fact that they could gobble down fruits without the risk of asphyxiation or getting strangled by wild animals.
Alex repeated their trick multiple times, but the jerkillas quickly caught on. As clever as Alex was, the jerkillas were still intelligent, and quite faster than them to boot. They wised up by the third time, and easily kept pace with Alex while they dodged through the thickening forest. It was only via a lucky break and misjudged opening that Alex managed to escape the adults at the fourth try, and Alex grabbed one fruit to see a Jerkilla half the size of the adults looking at them upside down, hanging from a branch with their feet alone. Alex scrambled backwards and prepared to run, but the primate did not yell or beat it's chest. It merely looked lazily at Alex, scratched it's side, and chucked a small animal at them at high speeds. They managed to duck out of the way of the furry projectile, gripping the fruit all the while. Shoving the fruit in their mouth, Alex scrambled to check the yipping animal and see if it was okay.
The animal was a fox, if a fox had six legs and a bright orange coat with black stripes running down its back. It's front four legs were bent at painful looking angles, and it was whining as its' hind legs kicked the air. It's breath was ragged as it turned to look at Alex, and red blood seeped from its' mouth. Alex wanted to help them, but what could they do? Here was alien life bleeding out in the middle of the forest, and they didn't even have a rag with which to staunch their bleeding, if that would even help.
What can I do? All I have is my mind and my hands. Alex's hand tapered to sharp points, and were much better suited to ending lives than helping them. But then again, might that be what the situation calls for?
If I can't save them from death, can I at least save them from pain? Alex considered taking the foxes' life. They knew how, as predatory instincts bubbled up inside them and told them how exactly to use their claws. Some part of Alex was reluctant, not wanting to be the judge of life and death. Another, stronger part was hunger incarnate, and wanted the creature's delicious flesh.
Eat the fox, save both of you. Make their flesh yours whispered the hunger.
Alex accepted this logic, and cradled the foxes head in their hands. The fox was still, black eyes darting about for an escape from the creature towering over them. Alex stroked the foxes head, exploring their skeletal structure and the life that would be cut short.
Alex made a noise.
"Relax, noble beast. I offer you rest eternal."
The fox turned to look at the giant, as they worked to sooth the dying creature. Stroking the fur of the fox with one hand, Alex lashed out and struck the creature's left and brain with a another, puncturing both in an instant. They had no chance to scream.
The beast lay still. For a moment, so did the world.
And then Alex feasted on their remains.
The average adult human needs 2,000 calories in a given day to survive. Ten pounds of fox is about 5,700 calories, and somewhat less if you eat the fox raw, cracking open bones to slurp down their marrow without napkins or fire or civilization or anything except incessant devouring hunger.
The average adult human feels guilt or disgust when they do unclean actions, such as not cleaning up after themselves or coating themselves in the blood of animals. The average bug-person, as far as Alex was concerned, was far beyond such things. What they were concerned with was the several hundred pound animals who were watching them, and who could make them origami in seconds. But the jerkillas didn't care about his brutality just now. They weren't even looking at him, but the fruits which he worked so hard to get. They didn't care for meat or morality. Only fruits were their food, apparently. Only their day to day meals concerned them, and that was a perspective Alex found liberating.
To feast upon the still warm heart of his prey, to have the meat dissolve in his mouth, was a newly discovered ecstasy.
But he did not like it, even as his belly was filled and he retreated into the grassy hills to sleep and think.
I feasted, and it was by the whims of another. If that jerkilla did not abuse that animal, if I did not get lucky in that clearing then I wouldn't have eaten today. I lived only by the whims of another, and I hoped to escape that here in this world. My will shall be done, and it will be by my will that I live and die.
Today, I was a gatherer.
Tomorrow, I will be a hunter.
And so they went to sleep, curled against the evening grass on a hill overlooking their newfound home.