The first thing my sleep-addled mind noticed as it woke up was that everything was blurry. Everything also seemed to echo oddly. Nothing like how my room did. Now that I thought about it, the place was also much too dark to be my room.
“Good Morning,” my AI called from speakers near my head. Their volume coupled with the suddenness had me jumping up in an effort to get away and see where I was. My head smacked into a solid piece of something. It couldn’t be metal, it was transparent. Yet it couldn’t be glass either. It didn’t sound right when I hit it.
Almost the same moment that I realized that I had hit a piece of techniglass with my head, I knew that I was no longer in the game. Though, I was still in the damn pod. The realization had me practically growling at my AI, “Shouldn’t this damn thing open when I get logged out?”
“When the system booted you for an update to the pods it deemed that all sleeping participants should have their pods stay closed for safety reasons.”
Cool, so instead we would all wake up feeling trapped. Great idea. Might as well get all my physical stuff done while I had a chance. As I pressed the button, I asked the question that was nagging me. “What kind of updates were performed?”
“The change log provided lists several technical and connection-related changes as well as the activation of some latent systems.”
The cool air of my room sent goosebumps down my arms and legs. “What systems?”
“One second,” it said. Likely it was looking up the relevant information. “According to some speculation online as well as some information has to do with some systems that have been in testing for quite a while. Systems that are installed in every pod and were just waiting for testing to be finished. Systems that have been tested and currently are being used by members of the military.”
That was not good. There are very few times that the military would get involved in testing something unless it directly helped them in some way. “What military?”
“As far as I can tell, nearly every military in the world has had at least one person participating. The only exceptions being some of the more anti-technological groups and nations.”
With the war that was going on, there was no reason for any nation to help a rival nation's company develop technology, even if it was a gaming company. As I stepped into the shower, I asked the simple question, “Why?”
“Unknown.”
“Speculate.”
“The company has made it clear that it is not on either side of the war. In fact, it has gone out of its way to make sure that both sides receive equal treatment and equipment. Equipment that is built in said nation if not an impartial third party country.” While that was smart of the company, I didn’t want to know how expensive it was to hold such a policy.
As I blindly started to wash my body, I nearly missed it. If I hadn’t been living with it for over ten years, I would have. My belly fat had disappeared. Now, I wasn’t fat or anything. Only the rich were able to get fat as they didn’t have to walk or ride the train to get around town. Still, given the crappy over-processed food and junk I could afford left my body with things it processed oddly. Storing it in fat cells rather than burning it.
“Umm,” My mind blanked as I tried to figure out how to ask the AI about the change. Hell, what would I ask it? “What happened to my fat?”
“You have been taking in the minimum nutrients recommended by the pods systems at this time. Coupled with the extra brain activity of accelerated time, your body is burning up all the stores of fat it has access to.” The AI spoke in a way that made it seem like this answer was both obvious and explained everything. It didn’t. At all.
“And these muscles I can feel?” I probed as my fingers felt the start of some muscle definition.
“According to the pod manual, muscle growth is a side effect of pod use.” The sound of a page flipping came over the bathroom speakers. It had me stopping to think back on just how freely the AI was acting. It didn’t seem to notice as it continued, “This stems from the fact that the brain is still trying to send the signal for said muscles to move. Even with the hardware preventing such movements, it will not be able to completely negate them.”
That sounded both plausible and cool, though it did beg the question about why they didn’t promote this feature. Of course, I asked my AI about that and it responded, “The lack of information about this feature is likely due to the subtlety and inconsistency of it. Not everyone’s experience will be the same.”
“So I got lucky?” One hand turned off the shower as the other ran down the subtle lines of muscles. Muscles that I had been unable to form in high school no matter how hard I tried. And I had tried. Anything to make my body more masculine in an effort to get this girl I had a crush on to like me. Yeah, I did not want to even think about the shit I had tried with that goal in mind.
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“Surprisingly, yes. Now, the update to the pod’s systems are done. Would you like to jump back into the game?”
Grabbing one of the towels on the shower rod, I made my way to the kitchen as I responded, “Sure, but let me grab something to eat first.” One metallic-tasting, thick as hell, soup later, I slid into my pod and pressed the button. Curious to see if the update would change anything or not.
Between one blink and the next, the modern world disappeared. Replaced with the wood and glass. Light from the sun outside streamed past me. Long since having risen from the looks of it. Standing up, I found nothing different. No odd screens, no notifications, no odd feedback, no extra sensations. Well, none that wasn’t there before the update.
“What changed?”
“From what I can tell, nothing that you would notice.”
Shrugging, I left the room. I was hungry but I had yet to go shopping for more ingredients. Something I would have to do soon. But first I needed to replace my torn and tattered clothes. Maybe something with pants this time.
As I made my way out of the stairwell and toward the hallway leading to the guild quartermaster, a horde of wolf-whistles and hooting filled the air. A few people even called out for someone to come see them for a good time. At nearly the same moment, a series of loud slaps, thumps, and cracking of something wooden filled the room.
Surprised, I looked around to find a large majority of the men face down on their tables or splayed out on the floor. Some of their chairs were moved away from them while others were missing legs. One of the women near me snarled as she tossed a robe in my direction. “Men.” That was all she said. Given the amount of venom in her tone, I hoped to hell that she was talking about someone other than me. “You shouldn’t give them something to ogle or they might take advantage of it.”
“She probably wants them to do something. Why else would she be waltzing around in such tattered clothing.” One of her table mates sneered.
I had to close my eyes to keep from snapping at her. None of them seemed to realize a few things. Yet I had the feeling that if I told them, I would come to regret it. Hands pulling the robe on and using it to cover myself, I said the only thing I could given the situation, “Thanks.”
“You should probably wear something less…destroyed.” The third and last girl at their table said as she put down her cup.
“This was the only thing I had to wear. I was heading to see if the guild quartermaster had something else for me to wear.” I said before muttering, “Hopefully he has some pants this time.” The rest of the room returned to their previous loud chatter, though I did notice that more than one pair of eyes were keeping track of me. I expected the girls to do the same now that I had told them. To my shock, the three girls looked at me in complete horror. “What?” Had I said something wrong? Was there something behind me or on my face?
Just as I was about to run off, the girl that had sneered at me abruptly stood up. Grabbing me and pulling me into a tight hug. Her head coming to rest on mine without a sign of strain. “Oh, you poor thing. You must be new to the game.” I wanted to fight against her hold but something about it felt nice. Soothing something inside me that was in pain. Something that had been hurting for years. Not that I would have ever admitted to myself, let alone anyone else, that I was in pain.
I mentally froze as two parts of myself fought. On one hand, I wanted to stay in her embrace and comfort. The other part was telling me to get away. To refuse the pain. To deny its existence and hide it from anyone else.
The girls either didn’t know or care about my internal struggle. One of the others reached up, pulling at one of the tattered pieces of my shirt. The one thread holding it up broke without much effort. “These look like they were caused by small claws and teeth. Bunnies?”
“So it was your first solo hunt then?”
“How would you know that it was a solo hunt?” I asked, curious as to how they had figured out so much without me saying anything.
“Because you don’t look like a tank and there is no one else here helping you. Most parties stick together even in town. Easier to take any on-the-spot quests that way.” That made a bit of sense. What’s more, the question had managed to break the stalemate I had found myself in.
Gently pushing on her chest, I thanked her. “I got it from here. How much do I owe you for the robe?”
While she let me get an arm's length away, she didn’t release me. Her hands held onto my shoulder as she studied me. “When was the last time you had a girl’s day? You know, a day of hanging with a friend or two and just relax.”
Umm, never. Ok, not never. There was that one time that a girl had invited me to come join her friends in doing some things as a group. While I had thought that it was a bit weird to have more than just the two of us together, I had thought it was a date. Yeah, no.
Turned out they thought I was a girl the whole time and that I was in need of some girlfriends and girl time. After that disaster, they never talked to me again. Though, the spa was nice. It was the last one left in town and, as such, was able to keep afloat without having to charge stupid prices for everything. Not that I ever went there again, nope.
So, maybe I would stretch the truth a bit. “Maybe a couple of years ago, but that’s fine. I am more of a gamer anyway. I don’t need any of that. Thank you though.”
“Nope.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Yeah, not getting away from this.” God damned it. What was with some girls and making decisions like this for me?
Fuck it. I had tried to be nice but it was time to straight up say it. Time to play the one card I knew would work. “And if I tell you that I am a guy?”
That took the three of them back for a second. Each giving my body a once over before the one holding me spoke up. “I don’t see it.”
A bit exasperated at her, I rolled my eyes, “I got the parts and everything.”
“So.” One of the other two said while her counterpart nodded. “You wouldn’t be the first girl in a guy's body.”
“And if I am a guy in a guy's body?” I shot back, getting a bit annoyed at their insistence.
The hands gripping my shoulders lifted. With them in front of her, she said, “How about this, at least let us help get you some new clothes.” Before I could protest that I didn’t need help, she pushed on. “We can at least show you a few stores that carry some clothes. All of it will be better and cheaper than the crap the guild carries.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. It wasn’t like I had much to lose. Maybe they would have some pants. Running and fighting in a skirt sucked. If I ever had to do it, it would be too soon. Plus it would give me time to think of some way to pay them back for insisting on forcing me into this. Question was, what did I have access to that would be both annoying yet not harmful?