Girl Talk

Chapter 25

I should have gotten back to work after I was done talking to Mina and Andrea, but I couldn’t. For the first time in a while, I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. Not sure what to do I opened my interface but didn’t go to the usual tabs. Instead, I went to the one labeled with my name. I hadn’t checked it in a while, but I didn’t expect to find anything new.

Talking with Mina had reminded me of how little I knew about myself and the oddity of my origin. When I was talking to the hounds or Elim it was easy not to think about where I’d come from. We hadn’t known each other for all that long. So not talking about it made it impossible for them to find out things I didn’t want them to know. Not that I’d put that much thought into it. I’d gone with a ‘let's get on with it’ approach since arriving.

42, Dungeon Master, title Mistress, Alignment Chaotic Neutral. All the familiar facts were simple, and it took a second for the deviation to sink in. I did a double-take at my alignment. I had to wonder if I was hallucinating and it would change to Chaotic Evil if I looked long enough. It didn’t and looking through my event log I couldn’t find anything to indicate when it had happened.

At some point, it had changed, and I had no idea why. The only thing that stood out was when I had swallowed the fragments of the boon. It had resulted in a change to my store in the form of communication items, but I hadn’t seen anything else.

To be fair, I hadn’t been looking. I’d assumed there would a recording in the event log if anything serious happened. Confused I started digging through my interface looking for differences. It took me half an hour to finish looking through most of my dungeon functions. Only communications remained.

I should have looked there first, but I used it frequently and hadn’t noticed anything. I found a new feature after a little looking, the option to conduct video calls. An interesting new thing to play with, but one that would have to wait. Digging around more I almost gave up but decided to check my contacts list a second time.

Nothing in it surprised me so I turned to my friend’s options. Wanting to experiment I sent an invitation to Erica, Elim’s mother. I’d tried before and it hadn’t let me. This time I received a notice that it was pending her approval. I wanted to bug Elim to tell her to accept. I had to remind myself that it was dark, and he'd be asleep.

“Good morning 42!” Mina was the first one up in the morning and called me while Andria slept.

“Good morning,” I answered, curious about what she wanted first thing.

“So…uhm…can we talk a bit? About things,” Mina said, and I blinked.

“You should wait for Andria,” I said. I didn't want to make things more awkward by double-dealing.

“Right, and I will. Only, this is something she won’t understand,” Mina said. It was astonishing how she managed to agree with me and void that agreement in under twelve words.

“Okay,” I said, reluctant but decided to just bring up any points she raised later if needed.

“Thanks! So, this world is weird, like really weird. They don’t have any adventurers’ guilds and the churches are like… cookie cutter? I’d say like McPhee’s Chicken, but I don’t think you have that,” Mina said. She turned introspective as she considered what I assumed were possible crossover brands.

“So, the churches are set up in an unnaturally similar fashion?” I asked in hopes of getting her mind off chicken and back on her point.

“Exactly. Even across different religions and outside of Stromholt. It's super not right. I mean, the designs should change outside of stuff like which god the statues are for. I mean, the number of windows and everything was the same,” Mina said, and I found myself nodding. That would be weird and irritate the shit out of me, but I wasn’t certain if why it happened was unusual.

“It’s not impossible for simple designs to be similar like that. Were the decorations alike? That’s where you should see a fair amount of difference based on craftsmen and funds,” I said. I wasn't up on architecture enough to offer something more solid. My understanding of the subject amounted to random trivia. Knowing what a flying buttress, four column types, but nothing substantial. I couldn't tell you what time periods they were used in or how most elements fit together.

“Yeah, that’s the thing. They were pretty much the same and really inappropriate in some places. Like cherubs without anyone knowing what a cherub is. They even have a central church with a pope in a polytheistic society. It's strange,” Mina said, and I was nodding along in agreement again.

“A pope and cherubs? It sounds like someone from a different world got involved,” I said unhappily. The world itself had its own gods and aesthetics. I could understand wanting familiar things or playing around to customize existing things. Outright copy-pasting felt wrong to me though.

Then again, I didn’t have strong feelings about my old world. Homesickness might have been a very real problem for others. Someone who felt that way might want to remake this one to match theirs.

“Right? But then you have none of the stuff you’d expect like an adventure’s guild and penicillin. It feels uneven to me,” Mina continued. I could see why she hadn’t thought Andrea would understand.

Putting aside understanding there was also the issue of comfort. How our worlds had influenced hers might have been unpleasant to hear. Even if she accepted summoned Hero’s as a concept that didn't mean she'd like all the repercussions.

“It might be that those things were introduced but didn’t survive for some reason. It wouldn’t be weird for some communities to be wiped out or crippled by natural disasters or disease-” I paused. My issue with blue veins and Dr. Satan coming to mind. The guy sounded like a fourteen-year-old douche bag playing outbreak. I'd let that color my view of his threat potential which I realized was a mistake.

Being obnoxious didn’t mean he had no strategic planning ability. I also hadn't been thinking about its wider implication. Other dungeons might have conspired to affect the world around them in subtler ways.

“Okay, but I want an adventure’s guild and cool churches. Like majestic ones with hot priests and cool priestesses,” Mina said despondently. I felt like I was getting a glimpse into her favorite kind of Npc’s.

“I can get behind that, but did you have a specific reason for bringing this up to me? Or is this just a chat?” I asked, wondering how much she had inferred about what I was.

“It’s nice to have someone to talk to who’s similar. I mean, if you can hook me up with a hot glasses oni-san priest, I’d much appreciate it. I’m not expecting it thought,” Mina said then laughed.

“Ah, well…I’ll see what I can do?” I said, knowing what she meant but not having a clue about how to arrange it. Not that I was planning to. I felt a vague curiosity if someone who fit her description even existed.

“If he could look like that skeleton did in the mirror, that would be awesome,” Mina added. I paused, not sure what she meant.

“Like someone in your party?” I asked, thinking she was being weirdly roundabout.

“No, the chevalier. He was super cute until he went all bones,” She clarified, and I felt my orbs flicker. Checking the footage of the raid I found that Henry had shown up in a living form in the mirror before leaving it. That prompted a look at the mirror’s settings.

Ruins of Time

The mirror causes the image of those show within it to appear at their peak. This may be the current age or younger depending on the subject. Over ten seconds the subject then appears to wither.

Alignment

Designated creatures can synchronize with a reflected individual. They copy the subject's movements perfectly and emerge at will. They are not themselves reflected in the mirror.

Looking at the two abilities it seemed that since Henry hadn’t been synced up with a member of the party. That had caused him to show up in the mirror which revealed his living form. Spinning the footage back I froze it on one of the moments as he charged forward. It was odd seeing him fleshy and I didn’t know how to reconcile the living image of him with the skeleton I knew.

“42? Did you fall asleep?” Mina asked playfully and I realized I’d been lost in my own little world.

“Not exactly. I added some breakfast options to the menu. I have some things to take care of but call me back when Andria is up,” I said, my desire to converse with Mina gone.

“Okay!” Mina replied and our conversation ended. My hand went to my lips. Exploring them as I contemplated our discussion. She had food preferences, I didn’t. It was easier to ignore things like the skeletons having favorite colors or textures. I did a lot of design work, so I felt like I had preferences in that respect. I couldn’t say I had a favorite color or a hated one though.

Picking a meal out of my inventory I raised a block of stone to act as a table and set it down. It was a pot pie and I could smell pastry and butter clearly over the more subtle scent of its filling. My mouth didn’t water though my sense of smell was fine. I didn’t feel like I was looking at ‘food’ but something more akin to a fragrant art piece. It was nice, but it didn’t trigger any kind of physiological reaction. I put it away untouched.

Adding a mundane full-length mirror to the wall I examined my mouth visually for the first time. It was definitely the stuff of nightmares, a maw full of carnivorous black teeth. The interior tissue was mostly black. On the ribbed flesh, there were highlights of dark green.

My tongue was dark with hints of color. It seemed normally proportioned until I tried to extend it. Like a little kid, I tried to touch the tip of my nose and didn't have a problem. It was inhuman in design, long and tapering to a thin point.

It was hard to see details like with the rest of my body. Someone else seeing me up close would only get a vague impression of wrongness when I opened my mouth. A suggestion of torn flesh and teeth rather than a clear look.

“I guess I kind of like green?” I muttered to myself as I continued my examination. It was still jarring to be able to talk without engaging my mouth. Not as much as it had been when I first discovered I was still capable of speaking without it though.

My orbs were an attractive color I felt. They were green toward the bottom where the heart of a candle would be. The outer paler edges shifted between blue and green at random. They were lighter but I didn’t dislike the deeper shade of my mouth’s interior. I decided to consider green my favorite color until I felt more strongly about another.

I’d thought I’d enjoy talking to someone from my own world or a world like it. Instead, my experience with Mina had been uncomfortable. She had opinions and preferences on just about everything. I felt limited in comparison. I wasn't able to speak fluently about anything outside of dungeon related matters.

Being a good conversationalist was hardly a priority. Even so, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was more important than I'd treated it.