The world around me was different. It looked different, smelled different, and felt different. A wide field of grass spread out in every direction. The air was heavy and humid, and the smell of freshly cut grass was almost palpable.

I looked down, and the cookie was still in my hand. Okay, so the hall and the room were real. Then that means whatever grabbed me through the portal is also real. And very likely still around, right?

I looked around and saw nothing but a flat field of grass. I looked up and saw the sun, but it was far larger than it should have been.

“Where am I? I thought this was supposed to be the Soul Nexus, something I’m supposed to climb.” I looked around again, hoping the scenery would change or I would find something I had missed earlier. Sadly, neither happened. “But this is—I don’t know what this is. I don’t know what’s going on. I really wish someone would explain what is going on!”

“Welcome to the Soul Nexus.” I jumped at the high-pitched, robotic, peppy voice behind me.

I spun around in mid-air, still holding onto the cookie. “Who... What are you?”

I wasn’t looking at a person. It looked more like a doll, or a wooden manikin. I don't know if there's a difference.

Its body had a humanoid shape and was made of polished mahogany. Its thin limbs with extremely intricate joints that glowed with soft white light from within. A pair of carved way-too-large eyes stared at me with the same pulsing, soft white light as irises. The rest of its face—a wide smile and flat nose—was a perpetually painted on display of garish makeup. Covering its odd body, it had obviously well-crafted yet strange clothes. It wore a sleek, form-fitting black leather jacket, a silver high-collared shirt, a thin black knee-length skirt with crystals along the hem, and even shiny black knee-high boots with metallic filigree and three-inch heels.

“My name is Glimmer. I am a golem crafted by the Nexus to serve as a point of first contact.” It extended a hand to me. “Nice to meet you.”

I stared at the hand. All the joints looked like ball and socket joints, and they glowed the same color as its eyes. “Uh, I’m Rina.” I shook its hand. Its hand was oddly warm and smooth. “What’s a golem?”

It giggled. That frightened me with how almost lifelike it sounded, yet it carried the artificial buzzing that gave it away. “Oh, silly me. I forgot you humans don’t know about magic and magical beings.” It bounced as it walked next to me. “But… I have to confiscate that contraband before we continue. No illegal substances allowed.” It pointed to the cookie still in my hand.

I reflexively pulled it back as the golem reached for it. “No. I’ll eat it right now.” I can’t let a perfect Snickerdoodle go to waste. Then I stuffed the whole thing in my mouth. “Shee, noh proppom.” I shouldn’t have talked with my mouth full.

The manikin cocked its hips to the side as it placed its fists on them. “Humans, so impulsive. I doubt you’ll make it a day before you do something stupid.”

I was enjoying my cookie until she said those rude things. She doesn’t know me.

I exaggerated my movements as I ate the cookie. It was just as delicious as the first one, but this time I didn’t have any tea to help wash it down. The sugary delight dried my mouth out, and swallowing the dessert became difficult. It took several attempts before I finally got the last bit down. It was still delicious.

I held out my arms. “Happy?”

Glimmer slumped its shoulders, lulled its head back, and groaned. It sounded more like radio static than anything else. “Fine,” it said in a huff. “I guess the contraband has been dealt with.” The golem straightened up and returned to its earlier bubbly attitude. “Those who can reach the summit will have one wish they desire granted. Since its creation, only four have achieved this feat. Will you be lucky number five?” It had perfect posture as it delivered its obligatory welcoming speech. “I sincerely doubt it,” it added in an unusually quiet tone.

I crossed my arms. “It’s a good thing I don’t care what you think then.”

“Well, you can take your free will and leave for all I care!” The golem’s tone and flailing arms didn’t match the painted smile on its face. “To think my body is modeled after your own. It’s disgusting. How can a body be so inefficient while being completely incapable of offense and defense and still exist?”

“How can you hate your own body so much?” I asked.

The glow in the golem’s eyes turned pink, then red. “Because I didn’t ask for this! I was made like this. Just like how I have one job for all eternity. You get to traipse around doing whatever you want, while I have to greet everyone who enters the Soul Nexus.” It stomped its feet as it walked away. “And you humans are one of the worst. Always thinking you’re something special. Every time one of you comes here, you always piss me off! Well, not this time. I’m out of here. Good luck.”

I blinked as Glimmer evaporated into a million tiny lights that slowly winked out. Did I hit a nerve? My stomach made a gurgling sound. I started feeling bloated. Placing my hand on my stomach didn’t help relieve the uncomfortable feeling. What was in those cookies?

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I looked around and saw nothing but a wide, open field of grass. “Okay, now what? How does this all work? I thought I had to climb something. Where is the thing I’m supposed to be climbing?”

My stomach made another sound, which unfortunately added to my discomfort.

“You know what? Right now, I’d settle for the nearest bathroom.” Unfortunately, nobody was around to hear me. I groaned as I started walking. “Might as well just start walking. I’ve got nothing better to do.” I could really do with some civilization right about now.

After about a dozen steps, everything blurred around me, and the discomfort in my gut intensified. Where I was standing in an open field of grass, I was suddenly standing in a desert. And where did this entire town come from?

In front of me was a wall of interlocking panels of an odd metal. As I looked at it, the colors shifted based on my viewing angle. The wall was easily three, maybe four, stories tall, and still, some buildings peaked over so I could see them. They were made of what I could only guess were stone and glass.

I looked up and still saw the two suns, but everything felt dry, hot, and uncomfortable. So I headed towards the only place where shade and possibly a bathroom could be found. Which meant I walked towards the terrifying gate I was trying very hard to ignore, with its equally horrifying guard. The gate was covered in sharp, angular patterns that seemed to glow.

The guard saw me walking and walked towards me on their six legs. The guard was some strange centaur abomination. The lower half looked like a cross between a slug and a lizard. The upper half was even more grotesque. Bulbous flesh wrapped in metal chains with spikes both protruding out and digging into the creature’s flesh undulated with each step it took. One hand held a massive glowing blade, and the other hand looked like a lobster’s claw. To top it all off, the head was more mouth than face, filled with razor-sharp teeth that permitted a permanent line of drool to flow from within.

I turned around and saw an endless expanse of sand that shimmered from the intense heat of the two suns. What was I thinking? Maybe I’ll go somewhere else if I run. Because I do not want to deal with that! It’ll eat me, for sure.

“Don’t run. It’ll only make him mad!” a voice called from behind me as I went to take my first step.

I turned and saw that the horrifying creature had stopped walking towards me. Beside him was a man, or something. Where did he come from? His skin was about as black as you could get. His arms—all four of them—were lean like the rest of him. His face was pretty, and his eyes were orbs of violet. He wore a deep purple trench coat that went to his knees. Underneath his coat was a soft lavender shirt that seemed to flutter with the scorching, dry wind. Each arm was decorated with a silver bracelet with strange gold engravings. His pants weren’t as dark as his skin, but they were very form-fitting. Revealing some details that might make him pretty popular with the ladies. His boots were of a similar shade as his pants and went to his knees. Tiny metal studs covered his boots in uniform lines.

He had one hand resting on the ugly creature, with another held up towards me. “Please, just stay calm, and I can help you.” His voice sounded soft and pleasant to the ears.

I froze. Can I trust him? He did say if I ran, it’d be bad.

“What’s your name?” the four-armed man asked.

“R… Rina.” Can he really help? How is he going to keep that horrible creature from eating me?

To make things worse, I felt a shift in my gut, as it felt like a bubble shifted through my intestines. Oh, no! A loud, obnoxious, and wet-sounding fart seemed to destroy the tension in the air. But what worried me more was how long the fart went on. It sounded like I sat on the world’s largest whoopie cushion.

What? Why?

The bloated feeling in my gut lessened, but didn’t go away. It even felt like my belly went a little flatter, too. Gross.

The man started laughing as the nasty creature sniffed and flinched away from me. “Well, that’s a new one.” He started laughing again. He didn’t stop until he held himself up by placing his four arms on his knees. After he gasped, he straightened out. “Wow. Rina, was it?” I nodded. It was too much for me to move any more than that. “I haven’t laughed that hard since Rollow here got his head stuck in the wall. I’m Layith, by the way.”

The creature Layith had said was Rollow turned and stomped all of his feet as he returned to standing next to the gate. I breathed a slight sigh of relief. It looks like I’m not tasty anymore.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what came over me.” I shrank away from Layith as he walked towards me. “But is there a bathroom I could use?”

Layith smiled. His teeth were blindingly white, but it looked like he didn’t have individual teeth. Does that mean he has only two teeth? “Why? Do you need to check yourself?” He started laughing.

My cheeks burned. It’s not funny, but yes. New rule: never take cookies from strangers. No matter how perfect the cookie is.

Layith stopped in front of me and folded two of his arms as he pointed to me with his third. “How long have you been in the Nexus? A few days?”

My cheeks burned even hotter than the sand I stood on as I looked anywhere but at his very handsome face. “Five minutes, maybe.”

“Oh, wow.” The man cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. The Nexus must really not like you. There is no way a human like you belongs here.”

I took a step back. It’s true, I’m not very strong or have four arms, but... “How can all humans be weak?” Something about what Glimmer said earlier sounds similar to what this guy is saying now.

Layith rubbed his forehead. “And a real newbie at that. Great. Just my luck.” He slumped his shoulders. “I take it you don’t have any shards either?”

Shards? I dug through my pockets and found that I had nothing in them. And now I’m broke too. I take it that these shards are some form of currency. I shrugged.

The man raised his four arms into the air as he turned around. He grumbled something incoherent before dropping his arms and waving for me to follow him. But as I started following, I let out another fart, and it was just as long and disgusting as the first. Layith turned and shook his head as he knocked on the gate.

No more strange cookies!

***

Glimmer returned to its little corner of the Nexus. The small room held crates of small black bands that the Nexus ordered it to hand out. The golem never understood why it needed to hand them out to connect everyone to the Shard System, but that was its job, even if it had to do it with a painted-on smile.

There was the familiar tug that another had entered the Soul Nexus, and Glimmer went to grab another band when it saw there was already one in its pocket.

“I forgot to give the human a system band.” It stomped its foot. The sound reverberated in the small room. “You had one job, Glimmer.” But then it paused for a moment before heading out to meet the newcomer. “Oh well. The human will probably die before it can earn even one shard. So, no harm, no foul.”