'Place one foot in front of the other, repeat... '

A song came to mind, though I couldn't remember where it was from. My own brain was an alien place full of hidden treasures, and probably garbage.

Now that I could see, I did feel more confident moving forward as quickly as I could. My long legs ate up the distance to the buildings rapidly, as a walk turned to a jog and then I was running.

Something in that simple act brought me joy.

While I currently had no basis for comparison, some deeper place in my mind noted that I was very fast.

The field of grass ended and concrete began, I didn't enjoy how that felt on my bare feet.

Soon, I was standing in front of the giant building, marveling at it's size. A truly massive edifice of concrete and what I was certain was steel. MB: Treeside was amazing and intimidating.

A series of steps lead up to an entryway. I was temped to enter right away, but I figured I should look at the other buildings first to see if there was one more likely to have the information I needed.

To my left, the building ended up brushing against the wall that surrounded this enclosed world. To my right, there was a road and another low laying building of some kind. I went right.

The roadway was a four lane affair, marked out in a way that feel very wrong, even if I could say why just yet.

The new building was maybe two to three stories tall. Covering as much area as Treeside. Large dark glass windows covered the side facing the road and several doors were half way to the next block. I moved closer looking up at the sign that read Value Tree.

I suspected a theme was forming. Yet no where did I see any trees.

Nor could I determine what this building was for from its exterior.

I let out a sigh. Oh that felt good. It was like a pressure release.

'Deep controlled breaths... '

Another one of those elusive thoughts.

As I approached the building, I could see a somewhat blurry reflection of myself in the windows.

That wasn't me...

I was purple. Why the fuck was I purple?

No, don't panic, breathe.

Maybe it was the light? I mean blue light might do some odd things to my skin tone, right?

Of course, that didn't explain the extra long well muscled limbs, or the ridiculously oversized ears coming to very sharp points.

I was some kind of Elf?

'Fucking Elves... ' A tone of derision, contempt.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

What? Where did that come from?

Also, I was pretty sure my eye weren't glowing green orbs before.

Even my currently shaggy hair was a light shade of green.

Maybe my new eyes just saw colors differently? (AN: while this would almost certainly be the case, I think we'll just assume elven eyes see more color and more accurately, rather than see base colors differently.)

What was going on?

It took longer than I'm prepared to admit to calm down.

After all, I still had no clue what I did look like before. I just knew this wasn't it.

Nothing I could do about it now. I hated that feeling, that powerlessness. Not being in control, it really was upsetting.

Again a deep bass growl tore itself free from my throat. I had to unclench my hands. Also I now realized I had very sharp nails somewhere between a human's and actual claws.

The blood oozing from my self inflicted wounds was a odd shade of purple. Darker than my skin tone. That probably was the light.

Wasn't blue light supposed to be bad from your eyes? Eh, well maybe it was, but it was the only light available right now.

Wanting to take my mind off my transformation for now I opened the doors into the building. A blast of negative air pressure hit me gently as I walked through.

It was a massive store. Groceries to my immediate left, more general goods to my immediate right. I could see furniture and appliances off in the distance.

It felt normal, but also creepy.

No checkout stations.

The lack of people also added to the eeriness.

I looked at the food nearby, odd vegetables and fruits. Fresh and ready to be eaten, don't ask me how I knew, I just did.

I was particularly drawn to the silver apples. I walked over. There was a sign.

Asmurithan Apples.

2 for 10 Eddies

2 for 1 Task Points

1 for 1 Company Point

I reached for an apple. But a blue energy field stopped my hand.

A mechanical voice said, "No funds available, please obtain funds to purchase goods."

How do I do that?

Something about Eddies seemed vaguely familiar, but I drew a blank on Task points.

Company Points though those pissed me off.

I almost struck the energy field again to vent my rage, but I had a feeling that open hostility was a bad idea.

So I backed out of the store.

I followed the road down to the corner. I had noticed something strange about the intersection for a while. No traffic lights.

Right smack in the middle of the intersection was a pillar. It was overgrown with lovely Jasmine vines. Also there was a screen hanging about chest height, I could see a blinking prompt from the corner.

I admit my curiosity got the better of me.

Wary I step over to the screen, it read...

Initialize Connection?

Y/N

For some reason that felt like a source of answers.

There was no keyboard.

"Yes." At this point I wasn't surprised that my voice didn't seem to be right.

The Branch on my left forearm squeezed hard.

A new screen popped up, but this one was in my head.

[ Connection to the Great Tree Network Reestablished ]

[ Welcome back Ryan. ]

A shock went down my spine.

"Ryan."

That was my name. MY NAME!

A flood of memories pounded into my brain. There was pain, there might have been lots of screaming and yelling and cursing.

With one simple act my life had been returned to me, at least most of it. I could still feel gaps here and there, but I knew who I had been now.

Though I still didn't know why I was here. Or where here was.

"Where am I?"

[ The Hub, your Hub. ]

[ The Hub is a reflection of your inner world. Here all your achievements and failures are lain bare. ]

"Doesn't look like much so far."

[ There was a lack of memory to draw from, the realm will slowly come to reflect your new recollections. ]

"Can I leave?"

[ There are gates to the east and west. The western gate is for incoming and the eastern gate is for outgoing. ]

"Where does the eastern gate let out?

[ Night City, specifically by the club known as The Afterlife. ]

That was wrong. What was Nigh... more memories ripped their way free of whatever had been blocking them.

All the events of the last few months rolled into me.

I thought I had woken up angry. That was nothing compared to the searing, aching thing growing inside me now.

They had taken everything from me.

Why?

No, it didn't matter. Why they did it was irrelevant.

They had done it, now...

{THEY MUST PAY!}

The Hub shook with my wrath.

Now what did I have to work with?