I wake up some time later wondering when I went to sleep. A quick stretch and I'm actually in a familiar room. Or am I? I look for my position relative to a closed door and open windows. Wait. Screened windows. I thought they were unblocked before? Ah, well.
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 15290/17425]
I quickly scurry up and I check the ceiling near the wall and find the divot and scratches I made. Yep. Same room. Master's face, I never figured out how to get down.
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 15310/17425]
Oh, not again, not again, not again, not again!
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 15330/17425]
How embarrassing. I'd never understood the videos of animals getting stuck in trees. Stupid beast. Just go back down the way you came! It's not that simple...
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 15350/17425]
I understand now that the claws on those creatures didn't work both ways. They couldn't just step down and the claws would work. They probably had to step up first to release the claws, but that just pushed them higher up.
My problem is similar. I can stick to the wall, but I only know how to move forward. This isn't just a motivational thought. I really don't know how to wriggle backwards. Sounds simple enough though.
I should just raise my butt, right? And stretch lower before anchoring my head. But the idea of blindly probing at the ground, and anything waiting below, is terrifying. It just is. But couldn't I just try to turn around?
The idea of staring down from a height that could splat me and end this spoiled life...
I've never been ambitious. I was happy with my job stocking shelves and doing odd jobs in the store. It was easy. It paid well, then I'd go home and play Trust in the Falling Stars.
In Trust my best character was the betrayed love interest of an ambitious boss's child who gave up trying to have a normal life to try to attain a better status. In the end they realize that all they wanted was the power to live a quiet life. I'd been supporting them, doing what they needed, becoming their greatest weapon and most trusted companion.
Then they found someone who was already leading a quiet life without all the politics and intrigue in a place no one could remember. They thought that sounded nice and left everything behind. They'd left me behind.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
My character, knowing nothing else and having nothing else, becomes the right hand of the boss's right hand. The game starts with a detective style espionage mystery where I have to find out why one of the bars/clubs the higher placed members of the organization frequented suddenly had no one to staff it.
You end up finding out that there was a package filled with a crystalline power source that someone had attempted to steal. The box was worth millions in a world where a few hundred could set you up for a few years of comfortable living. Then you had to figure out how it got there, why no one stole it and the whole thing turns out to be a simple situation that escalated out of control with people either fearing the box had a bomb, a poisonous material that spread like a virus, or just wanted to distance themselves from the whole thing. It was very silly. But not as silly as my current predicament.
To think I'd go from my mundane life to trying to be a diplomat, assassin, researcher, weapons developer, and matchmaker but I couldn't climb down a wall. I had no fear in the game, just a will to see things through. What's stopping me now?
When I'd leapt before I was secure in the knowledge that I was more bouncy ball than anything else. When did that change? When did I start fearing losing this life? I was afraid of experiencing burning alive, being eaten alive, and starving. But those weren't threats any more. Did I like this new life better than my own? Or was this just a better game than Trust?
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 15550/17425]
I've got legs now, what happens if I jump?
[Leap Successful]
[Karma Granted: 250]
[Current Karma: 15800/17425]
Apparently I just backflip and land on the floor. Ugh... How embarrassing. Spent all that time freaking out over nothing. Weird how Trust used to be the only thing I really thought about and I'd somehow forgotten all about it. Even remembering it I'm still more interested in what's going to happen next here than I am in trying to level up my marksmanship or relationship manager skills.
How secure are those screens?
I scurry over to a window, completely disregarding my earlier nostalgia. I'm here now. I opt out of climbing and try to just jump onto the window edge.
[Leap Successful]
[Karma Granted: 250]
[Current Karma: 16050/17425]
Nailed it! Now what's this all about? It looks like a frame molded to perfectly fit the window. It's held in place with pressure instead of actual anchors. Unless there's magic involved?
A little test nibble and the screen doesn't move. It feels kinda like cotton candy... Today's just a nostalgia trip. I eat the screen, opening up the window and a couple of branches are now within reach.
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 16070/17425]
[Fine Woven Mesh Consumed]
[Karma Granted: 100]
[Current Karma: 16170/17425]
I mark that I'm actually not on a ground floor then start clearing out the other window screen. The edge of the screen doesn't bend at all, somehow staying in place and managing to hold the mesh in place perfectly. I only have to concentrate on climbing around the edge of the window, eating the edges of the screen, and then just slurping the center up.
[Climb Successful]
[Karma Granted: 20]
[Current Karma: 16190/17425]
[Fine Woven Mesh Consumed]
[Karma Granted: 100]
[Current Karma: 16290/17425]
Not very filling, but neither is cotton candy. Was fun though. Windows now clear I try to decide how to dispose of any silk I produce. Okay. So I'll just eat the leaves until I get full and hope that I've got some natural instincts that help me tack the stuff around the branch. Hopefully without me trying to enshroud myself.
Sounds like a plan!