Score! I had searched through the items from the two attackers, and finally found a mutation item. It was the grapnel from the tank guy.

Would you like to learn the mutation Harpoon Spears? This will replace your mutation Bone Spears

Fuck. Yes.

As I accept the mutation, I feel my arms swell. My spears pop out, and reveal new backward hooked spines that retract at my will. I aim one forward and stretch a new sense that's bloomed in the muscle of my forearm. The spike shoots out at ridiculous speed, propelled by a dense strand of sinew. The spear makes it a good distance before reaching the end of its tether, perhaps 20 feet. When it got to the end, a sharp pull from me brings it slamming back into my wrist socket. Ow.

Well, that was easily the coolest shit that had happened since I got here.

Despite everything, I am starting to enjoy myself a bit. Sure, the stakes are absurdly high, but that fight had been one of the most amazing things that I had ever experienced. For the first time in... I have no idea, I feel empowered. Hell, maybe it's because the stakes are so high.

Even though I'm physically dead, I have never felt so alive.

I'm about to pull up my talent interface to spend those points when I get a new prompt in my face.

Serindipitous has invited you to join her group.

I don't even hesitate to accept it. It's not like I've had a surplus of help since I've gotten here.

Serendipitous: Hey, its Erin. I'm coming your way with scales on

Jonah: Scales? As in fish scales?

Erin: Yup! I always wanted to be a little mermaid - though I'd hoped for a little more Ariel and a little less Jaws

Jonah: Hey, at this point I'd ask for C'thulu for help

Erin: "That is not dead, which can eternal lie" kind of sums up your life right now, huh?

A girl who quotes books - I might be in love already. Not that it would take much at this point, because it's such a relief just to talk to another human being. After so long, I'd begun to feel more like a creature than a human.

Her location is now visible through a transparent marker, though I see nothing there but empty ocean. Her name seems to slowly increase in size as I watch, likely indicating distance.

Jonah: Honestly, if people would just stop trying to kill me, I think I would enjoy it a lot more.

Erin: I could see that. This swimming feels *so* cool. Trust me, I've driven all the vehicles, and none of them compare.

We lapse into silence, and she messages again.

Erin: I've been thinking about why they did this.

Jonah: Me too

Erin: Almost all the mer- content is end-game. The merfolk are separate from the main game code entirely. They're adaptable, unpredictable, and no two encounters follow the same script.

Erin: There's a system-generated quest to kill you, repeatedly. This same system is touted to deliver endless content with minimal work by the developers. The same system that is supposedly controlling you, right now.

Jonah: Do you think they're all people? People like me?

Erin: The math doesn't add up. From the sound of things, your mind is one server platform. We have dozens of servers, not thousands. I've seen screenshots with way more merfolk than that.

Erin: I've heard the infrastructure guys talking system specs before. Each server is extraordinarily powerful compared to anything they've seen. The fact that we've needed more is a sign of how popular we've gotten lately.

I thought about being one of those others. Dying over, and over, and over, and over, and over, with no rescue. Would they remember their first life? Would it even seem real?

Erin: I think it's just the faction leaders. I think if we can get you to them, they'll be able to help protect you. The trouble is, they're hard to find.

Jonah: Can't blame them for that

Erin: Definitely not.

Erin: It does make our search harder though. If other players find them though, we'll know about it. Big raids are scheduled each time, since they relocate quickly after they're attacked.

Jonah: So, I'm just endgame content then?

At this point I realize she's nearly here. A dot under her name zips into a full figure in no time. Wow, she's really fast.

"You aren't endgame content to me," she says, banking her momentum in a graceful spiral around me. "You're a person, and you deserve better than this."

She orients herself upright to tread water in front of me, and I get my first good look.

Whoever created her character model went all-out on the whole sexual dimorphism thing. Everywhere that I'm blocky and blunt, she is angular and streamlined. Everywhere that a human girl could have muscle tone has been sharpened to a razor edge, but she still has curves in the right places. Graceful, powerful and alluring - those sexist pig designers have really outdone themselves.

Her chest is actually covered by a diamond-shaped carapace, which I realize with a sudden shock is actually just part of her body. Neither of us are actually wearing clothes. The irises of her eyes are reptillian slits filled with stars, and they aren't meeting mine. They're looking a bit lower.

Oh boy.

I whirl around, even as I hear her laugh and say, "Well obviously you don't have anything in your pockets, so I guess you are glad to see me."

"Believe it or not, that hasn't happened before," I say, as I wait for embarrassment to take care of the problem. "I guess I should be glad to know that still works though."

"Do you know for sure?" she asks teasingly. I feel my cheeks flush more. This was not how I'd expected this encounter to go.

"Somehow it slipped my mind," I answer. "Between all the pain and death and stuff." It comes out harsher than I expect. I turn back just in time to see her wince.

"Sorry, that came out wrong," I say, even as she says, "Crap, I was being insensitive."

I extend my hand, "Truce?"

She takes it, "Truce."

Her clawed nails gently scratch my palm from the contact, not unpleasantly. Her touch gives me tingles.

Tingles remind me of...

"I wonder where that guy's cattle prod ended up?" I ask myself out loud.

Her eyes widen comically, "his what-?"