Alex was no stranger to video games.

Level up available. Unlock a new power or attribute increase.

Eating away their days in an endless haze, Alex gamed.

You are now: level one Insectum seniori.

It did not matter what their distraction was. They played, they learned, they explored.

What command do you desire, neophyte?

A thousand different worlds, a thousand thousand different bodies, a thousand days spent in front of a beautiful screen.

“Is there a help menu? I want to see a list of commands.”

Alex saved the world. Alex destroyed creation. Alex spent their days farming, meditating, dying in abandoned catacombs.

Here is a list of commands available at your current level:

Hold B to take a life. Press triangle to confess your love. Continue playing to forget about the world outside.

Alex spent much time playing in the fantasies of others, learning all their intricacies. They had spent precious little creating their own worlds, making little inquiries about how they worked.

See available abilities to learn. Look at one’s current stats.

Toggle controls. Toggle overview.

“Toggle overview.”

Orange flashed in Alex’s vision. One tinged diorama of Dextrose.

In games, Alex lived in a different timestream from the rest of the world. Life and death were interchangeable when one had all the timelines in the world.

It did not matter how many times they were burnt to a crisp or hacked limb from limb. Alex simply jumped to a new timeline, got a new body, and continued on. Their every success was built on a mountain of the dead, left unburied in abandoned worlds. Alex felt no guilt about all these deaths, and why should they? They weren’t human, merely creatures made to serve your every whim.

Dextrose was stirring from their peaceful slumber in Alex’s lap, quadrafold mouth flaps moving in insectine imitation of a yawn. Alex scritched Dextrose’s head.

An orange screen appeared to the right of Dextrose, with text rapidly scrolling too fast for Alex to read. The one word they could make out was DRONE. Finally, it came to a stop.

Dextrose. Drone type A under control of: Alex. Possesses hidden art {leaping beast}. Ready to morph in: 5 hours. Critically injured front right dipslomites. Potential for self-awareness and sapience: low.

Low potential for self-awareness? For sapience?

The chipper voice had not changed at all, but now Alex shivered at its coldness.

Bleeding hearts and broken dreams. The song of failure was not the song of Alex. Alex sang a triumphant tune every day of their life, even in the days of hardship and bleakness. When they bothered to challenge the world, they won.

On the little things, at least.

What commands do you give now?

“Toggle controls”.

What controls would you like to change?”

“Show me a list of controls, please”.

That is not available at your level.

“What’s saving my progress bound to?”

Alex always had a cushion in their day to day, in all of their games. Whenever things got uncomfortable, whenever the odds were stacked too much against them, they ran, they reloaded, they hid.

Alex had no idea how they would deal if they couldn’t save their progress, if they couldn’t back-up to a place of safety and plenty.

Saving your progress is not a valid command.

“What about loading a save?”

Loading a save is not a valid command.

Alex swore.

Dextrose chirped.

That is not a valid command.

“Arghh.”

Alex held their head in their upper hands, lower arms cradling Dextrose.

That is not a valid command. Would you like a list of commands available at your level?

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‘No. View stats.”

Alex’s vision flashed, and for a fleeting moment, they saw themselves from outside their body.

Majestic. Tall and fit. Multi-armed and acid-blooded. Capable of both taking life and giving it.

Warning: catastrophic damage to 1 eye. Fracture in lower left arm. Fracture in left leg.

Alex became acutely aware of a weight in their legs and arms, now that the adrenaline of the day had worn off.

Stats:

Level one Insectum Seniori.

+3 strength modifier.

+2 dexterity modifier.

+3 constitution modifier.

+2 intelligence modifier.

-1 wisdom modifier.

-2 charisma modifier.

Information on spirit is not available at your level.

12/16 hp.

Movement: 40ft land, 1 foot burrowing.

Immunities: Acid

Resistances: 5 to slashing and piercing, 3 to poison and cold)

Vulnerabilities: 5 to fire, sonic.

Attacks:

Bite- 1d6 piercing (unarmed, trip)

Clawed hands: 1d4 slashing/bludgeoning (unarmed, nonlethal, finesse)

Spear- 1d6 piercing (monk, 1d8 two-handed, thrown 20 feet,)

Special abilities: Lay egg {Further information is not available at your level.)

Sundering jaws: Gearing up for a fearsome attack, Alex strike with their bite, adding 1d6 precision damage and ignoring 5 points of resistances.)

These stats bore familiarity to Alex. If they remembered correctly, this was almost exactly the system used for Pathfinder 2nd edition, a table top role-playing game. A baseline human had 10 hp, and a +0 modifier in each of their abilities.

Tougher, stronger, smarter than a human.

“I’m as charismatic as a rotting corpse, and have less common sense than an eagle. “

This is not a valid command.

Nothing had changed in Alex’s head. They felt as unsure and as smart the day they lost their family’s fortune. It was only their body that changed.

Alex’s stomach rumbled from their meal of raw flesh. Desire spread through them as they imagined more flesh for them and their brood.

“Maybe my mind changed a bit.”

This is not a valid command.

What were Dextrose’s stats ? Could Dextrose share in Alex’s successes? Could they be an equal to Alex’s intellect, a complement to their desires?

Would Alex want to know?

“Can I view Dextrose’s stats?”

Yes.

Alex’s view flashed again, with Dextrose, curled into an adorable ball, filling their vision. Text scrolled by to fast to read.

“Cancel! Cancel!”

Alex closed their eyes.

Alex could endure any failing of their resolve or intellect.

Alex opened their eyes.

But couldn’t tolerate the lack of others.

There was a faint orange screen tinting their vision.

What command do you desire, neophyte?

“Show me which stats I can increase.”

Strength mod +1.

Dexterity mod +1.

Constitution mod +1.

Intelligence mod +1.

Wisdom is not available at your level.

Charisma is not available at your level.

Spirit is not available at your level.

Alex was strong enough to fend off eagles and pick themselves up from a ledge, smart enough to forge spears from the untamed wilderness, and dextrous enough . Constitution sounded tempting, but near superhuman endurance didn’t protect their eye or their legs. What would it do against a Jerkilla or a swarm of eagles?

“Show available powers.”

Commander clutch: designate drones as commanders, increasing sapience and martial ability scaling with subordinates, additionally granting them the ability to command other drones.

Increased clutch size: Lay more eggs at once. Repeatable.

Regenerative chrysalis (brood) Grants the ability to construct a regenerative chrysalis, healing one disease or damaged/broken organelle per use. Applies to all drones.

Increased drone size: Increase the possible size of drones from small to medium.

Acidic spit (brood): Weaponizing acidic blood, gain a scaling 1d4 acid spit (ranged 20 feet, scaling 1d6 persistent damage). Applies to all drones.

Reactive blood (brood): Increasing the reactivity of blood, deal 2 acid damage per level to non-reach melee attackers.

Alex had no interest in bloody warfare or more broodlings at the moment. All that interested them were commander clutch and regenerative healing.

On one hand, commander clutch would guarantee Dextrose was a companion. But how long would it take for them to understand? Did they even need it?

Dextrose whined. They were adjusting themselves in Alex’s lap, and leaned on their missing legs.

On the other hand..

“I choose {Regenerative Chrysalis}.

Level up completed.

The orange faded from their vision, and all Alex could hear was their breathing and Dextrose’s happy chirping.

Alex expected something. A rush of power, information flooding their mind, something substantial.

Alex became aware of little glands in their mouth swelling up.

Alex squished their newfound glands.

String came out of their mouth.

Dextrose burped, and got string all over Alex’s chest.

As Alex moved their hands to clear the string, they found their arms unable to move, stuck to their chest.

The urge to continue welled up in Alex, as did Alex’s human panic as they struggled in both mind and body.

Eventually, Alex’s panic won, and they cleared themselves of the string.

Exhausted, Alex finally went to sleep, with Dextrose by their side and not a care in the world.

They were awakened by a thump against their head, their legs being grabbed, and their face meeting the wall.