Jason

Something flicked over Jason's face. It felt like solid rain drops, only smaller, softer. Just … not liquid. Sand, maybe?

Why would anyone be sprinkling sand on Jason? It was a weekday; he didn't have time between classes to hop over to the coast. Jason brushed his hand across his face, shaking his noggin to help clear the area around his eyes before he opened them. His skin felt dry and the kind of warm that hinted at a sunburn yet to bloom.

When he looked around, Jason saw a craggy rock wall to his right, the sun to his left and slightly behind him at an angle that could be somewhere between the 10 and 11 hour marks on a 12 hour clock. There was a coolness to the air that led him to think morning, but considering the rest of the landscape could be described as opal dust and teal haze he wouldn't be surprised if it were in fact midnight. This place was just surreal.

While he looked around, Jason realized his mouth was dry, his tongue beginning to swell from dehydration. That pierced the dream-like numbness he had been caught up in, and memory rushed in.

The experiment. The voices in his head. All of his senses crossing. The weird voice.

"One way to test that, I guess," he muttered to himself. "[Status]."

*** *** ***

Designation: Jason Jefferson Kline

Species: Human (Traveler)

Titles: Traveler, Specialist

- - -

ACU: 14

BRW: 13

DEX: 11

INT: 13

WIS: 9

CHA: 10

HTH: 13

LCK: 10

- - -

Health Pool: 26/26 (2.1/hour)

Mana Pool: 9/9 (2.6/hour)

Will Pool: 9/9 (2.6/hour)

- - -

Aspects: Gamer (Primary)

Skills: —

Designs: Traveler

*** *** ***

This wasn't a hallucination.

Jason didn't allow himself to more than tense up at that idea. Priority one: water. Priority two: where the sam hell am I?

Looking around, Jason guessed if there was going to be water, it would be nearer the rocks than out in the dust-fine sand. A sense of sureness, of going where he needed to go, quickened his step.

*** *** ***

You have unlocked the Survival skill. +1 WIS, +1 LCK

*** *** ***

And that sounded like a confirmation.

The closer Jason got to the rocks, the stronger a breeze blew over him. As he faced the rocky outcropping, the wind came from his right. It held an odd scent that stirred his thirst, and so Jason headed into the breeze, hoping his body recognized the scent of water on a subconscious level because his conscious mind couldn't make heads nor tails of that thirst-provoking scent.

*** *** ***

Survival Skill +1

*** *** ***

On the bright side, he could probably guess when he was on the wrong track by a stagnation of skill up notices.

*** *** ***

You have unlocked the Logic skill. +1 INT

*** *** ***

Jason had a feeling that was going to get annoying pretty damn fast.

Five minutes later, Jason discovered the source of the scent he was trailing. During the walk, he had unlocked the skills [Physical Training], [Mental Focus], and [Perception], gaining the last when he spotted the narrow passage way half hidden by the fractured nature of the rock. The passage was far from ADA compliant. Jason was going to have to turn his shoulders to fit through it, at least at first. From what he could see, it opened up fairly quickly. The question was, was he really going to duck into a strange cave?

Taking another look at his environment, Jason decided that, why, yes, he was.

*** *** ***

You have entered Dungeon Zone [γ].

*** *** ***

Hot on the heels of that announcement, Lena's voice called out. "Jason? Is that you? Have you seen the others?"

"Lena? Where are you? How are you?" He looked around, but could not pinpoint where her voice came from. It felt almost like the very floors themselves were speakers in some kind of intercom system.

"I'm standing right in front of you. Why-? Oh!"

Jason froze in place for a moment before sweeping his gaze over his new surroundings. Light without an obvious source illuminated a rectangular stone platform about 4 m wide and 6 m long, with water stretching out into a darkness that began maybe 10m from the last visible solid ground. Stone walls so smooth they appeared glass-like rose up in a dome overhead. Jason could make out faint lines in the stone flooring that reminded him of some of the sketches he had seen Lena doodling during game sessions. A walkway extended from the far end of the platform, connecting at right angles with another walkway that joined two other platforms. Or maybe it was another platform and an island? The one to his right looked to be made of stone like the platform he stood upon while the landmass to his left looked more like loamy dirt.

"What the ever-? No, focus. You can hear me, I can hear you, but I can't see you. Do you know where we are? Is the water safe to drink?" Jason continued to search the zone with his gaze. He ignored the notices that his [Perception] skill had gone up 2 points.

Lena's voice trembled. "My hand went right through you. Am I ghost? Wait, we're still hooked up to the telepathy gizmo, right? Maybe this is a glitch."

That got a sardonic snort from Jason. "I knew we shouldn't have all strapped in, but, yeah, the idea of playing through a session like that sounded pretty awesome. But, Lena, this is pretty freaking … weird …." He trailed off as light began to coalesce in front of him, morphing as he watched to match Lena's outline. The light shifted from white to a muted blue glow during the process, and then shades of green and purple lent themselves to the figure of light like highlights and shadows. Jason watched with slack-jawed wonder as the contours of Lena's face took shape.

Lena flexed and twisted to make a thorough inspection of her new body of light. "Huh, that's cool! So, have you seen the others?"

"No," Jason said.

"Well, maybe if I think of them and put in another portal it'll open to where ever they are. I mean, I was wondering what was going on with you when I put up that portal and, bam!, you're here." Lena looked up from her inspection and disappeared. A faint blossom of light that eased up considerably appeared on the other stone platform. Her voice continued to emanate from the floor. "Hm. I can trade some of the water out for the mana to put up an archway here. I think I'll try carving on it to get my focus on the guys. Who do you think I should try for first?"

Jason shook his head, using the physical motion to help him shake off the mental fog.

The skill up notice for Mental Focus annoyed him, helping him to get over the wonder enough to focus on the necessities. "Logically, we should try for Brad first. It's his theories behind the machine."

Lena tipped her head and looked at him. "I'm hearing a 'but' in that."

Jason shrugged. "Rob's my buddy and Candy's your cousin, and whatever the hell happened to us, it hurt like a sonuva. I'm not happy with Brad at the moment."

"It hurt? What do you mean?"

Jason shuddered. "I mean it felt like my brain got ripped apart and put back together again."

"Oh. That sucks. I'm guessing that, in terms of taking care of themselves in the telepathy scene, Brad and Candy are probably better prepared than Rob and Aaron. And Rob's got major big bro complex going on with Aaron. Objections to me trying to reach Aaron first?"

Jason shook his head. "Nope, you're right. Go for it."

The light show that was Lena's present form faded as water poured up from the surrounding body to form an arch 2 m wide and 3 m tall. The color and texture changed to resemble the stone of the platforms and the dome, but it continued to move with fluid grace.

Jason approached with caution despite how captivating he found the sight. He even forgot about the thirst that had driven him to move. He stopped about 4 m back from the stone taking shape, watching as the archway grew to resemble a pair of sapling fruit trees, branches intertwining to form the arch. After a while, he sat down. His sense of time fell away. The fruit on the sculpted trees took on the texture of oranges, and Jason thought they might slowly be taking on the color, too.

Perhaps a minute or ten after he could no longer discern changes occurring to the archway, Lena's body of light faded into focus. She sat next to him, looking both tired and happy. "I need a few minutes to get enough mana back to turn on the portal, then we'll see if this, ahem, bears fruit."

Jason chuckled. "That was Dad-joke bad."

"Yeah. So, how you doin'?"

At the question, Jason remembered his thirst. "Dry. You didn't say before, but is the water here safe to drink?"

Lena shrugged. "I think so. The build menu just lists it as 'water', so I don't know for sure."

"Eh, better to find out sooner rather than later, I guess," Jason said, moving to the edge of the platform. "But what's this about a build menu?"

Lena filled him in on her awakening to this place while he drank. The water had a stale taste to it, but it satisfied his thirst.

"What about you?" Lena asked.

"I got a lot less to talk about than you. Woke up in some pearly dunes with a blue haze in the air, rocks to one side of me, and started walking. Five minutes or so, here I am with you."

Lena frowned and tried to poke him. He felt nothing but disturbed at witnessing her finger disappear into his bicep. "You said-. Okay, that's just creepy. But, anyhow, you said that it felt like you got taken apart and put back together, right? Do you remember anything else?"

Jason shook his head.

"Okay. Oh! That's … convenient?"

"What?" Jason asked.

"I just got an announcement that my dungeon's mana pool increased by 100 and the regen rate went from around point eight a second to one point oh one. I wish I knew why, though." Lena scrunched up her nose.

"You don't look too happy about that," Jason said.

She shrugged. "Everything I make in here has a maintenance cost, and I have to manage the maintenance cost to meet the mana regeneration rate, or else random monsters will start spawning. I don't want to deal with random monsters." She got to her feet and walked over to the archway. "Bright side, the portal here has one of the higher maintenance costs, so turning it on should help sommat." She waved her hand at the empty space within the archway. "So, tada!"

Jason didn't see any changes at first, but then he realized that an effect like heat waves rising off asphalt was taking shape. It started out as only noticeable by the way it made the water appear to dance. Then the rippling currents began reflecting light, the glow brightening until they could see … more of the shimmering dunes, only this time with a thicker, fog-like lavender haze rather than blue.

Lena stepped forward, then just stood in the archway. "Well, sugar-sticks!"

"What's the problem?" Jason asked.

Lena stepped aside. "I can't leave my dungeon." The words sounded calm, but the set of her shoulders warned Jason that Lena was fighting mad at the realization.

"Why?" he asked.

She turned to face him. "It says there are insufficient patterns in zone management to make my body."

Jason opened his mouth, closed it, and stared at Lena, stumped about how to fix this.

Lena pursed her lips and glared at Jason. "Well?"

"I … I don't know what to do," he confessed.

She rolled her eyes. "Go look for Aaron! I can't do it!"

He laughed, more from nerves than self deprecation. "You're right. Okay. I'll be back as soon as-."

Rob's head peeked around the edge of the portal, quickly followed by his whole body bounding through. "Holy fucking hell!" he said, grabbing Jason in a bear hug. "What the fuck, man!? What the fuck!?"

*~*~*

Aaron

After taking a few moments to assess their situation, Aaron realized he would have to be the one prodding his brother along. Rob was too pale, too shocky, and too close to a complete, huddle-in-a-corner-for-a-few-hours breakdown. Taking a page from their mother, Aaron started by reasoning out loud. "Alright. So. We're in the middle of nowhere, dunes type desert, no supplies. I don't smell green things or water. We have wind coming from the direction of the sun. With the wind smelling that dusty, I'm betting we won't find water that way in time to do us any good. Let's walk with the sun at our backs and see what we can find."

Rob nodded and took the lead. That was fine. Aaron had always been better with his words than his fists. If they did run into anything needing an aggressive approach, Rob would not only handle it better, but likely also calm down some after getting a few swings in. He took after his dad like that.

*** *** ***

You have unlocked the [Survival] skill. +1 WIS, +1 LCK

*** *** ***

Aaron hadn't gotten more than two steps in when that stopped him in his tracks. "Did you hear that?"

Rob looked at him, his eyes more rounded. "Hear what?"

"The girl- I guess lady, that just said something about unlocking skills?" Aaron's tone turned more uncertain as he watched his brother start shaking again.

"You're hearing voices in your head?" Rob asked.

Aaron shrugged. "I don't know. I dreamed about being in a video game. Maybe it's just the dream sticking around. Let's forget about it for now."

Rob nodded and they started moving again.

Aaron paid attention to the type of sand they walked upon, picking up a handful to make a better study of it. The particles were fine, giving the sand a fluid texture. While at first the sand appeared to be a mostly uniform white with odd colored glints, Aaron realized that those glints were, in fact, different colored sands. The white came from scratches across the surfaces of the individual particles, while the innate colors of the sand ran through the whole light spectrum.

He looked up, caught Rob eyeing him, and let the sand fall back to the ground.

Aaron brushed his hand down the side of his jeans - only to discover that his jeans felt wrong. They felt like old-school jeans. The fabric was heavy and thick. As he considered that, he noticed the slide of the fabric against his legs. They felt like work pants, like something to wear at a construction site.

Weird. His Spider-Man shirt felt the way he expected, soft from years of washings.

*** *** ***

You have unlocked the [Perception] skill. +1 ACU, +1 WIS

*** *** ***

Aaron twitched at hearing that announcement. It wasn't much, but Rob must have been tuned into him or something.

"You need to sit or something?" he asked. Aaron said, "No. This place is just weirding me out. The faster we leave, the better I'll be."

Rob nodded. They kept walking.

The utter lack of vegetation disturbed Aaron more than the oddness of his jeans. The entirety of Southern California was an irrigated desert. Sand as fine as this stuff may not be common, but the beaches got pretty close on a regular enough basis. Plants grew everywhere. Cacti and other succulents mixed with hardy brush forming habitats for rodents and lizards, snakes, bugs, and the larger creatures that fed on them.

But here? The only tracks Aaron could find where their's and the ones left by the wind, the ripples in the sand.

Aaron got better at ignoring the notices echoing in his mind while they searched for some place safe. He grew thirsty, and blessed whatever confusing fortune they could claim that at least the temperature was pleasant. He tucked his arms in his shirt when thoughts of temperature reminded him of the lack of shade.

Rob had a natural tan thanks to his father's Mexican heritage. Aaron's dad, on the other hand, had bequeathed his nearly albino pale skin tone to Aaron. Their mother and Rob could dance naked at noon while drenched in tanning oil and they just got brown. Aaron and his dad had to watch out for the full moon, lest they turn as bright a red as a cooked lobster.

They approached the apex of the largest dune they could see, in the hopes of finding some landmark to head toward. With a good 6 or 7 meters to go, the sand began running down the dune. Then Aaron heard the unmistakable sound of rock grinding on rock under the hissing of the falling sand. The shifting ground sent both Aaron and Rob sprawling, sliding down the dune in a cloud of disturbed sand.

Rob was already halfway back up the dune by the time Aaron got his arms out of his shirt and his balance back enough to stand.

At the top of the now foreshortened dune, what looked like a covered subway entrance done small and in slate stood revealed.

Aaron watched Rob sidle up to the opening in the structure, peer around into the entrance. Then Rob charged through.

Aaron scrambled to catch up with his brother. He ended up partly crawling and partly climbing the dune. At the entrance, he barely paused, worry for his brother overriding his natural caution.

*** *** ***

You have entered Dungeon Zone [γ].

*** *** ***

Well, they found Jason at least.

*~*~*

Lena

Whatever Rob had been through had very obviously disturbed him. Lena wasn't that great with people, so she felt a tad guilty at being grateful Rob had latched on to Jason and seemed to not notice her at all.

She was just starting to look for Aaron when he bolted through the portal, his features twisted in some fierce expression, his hands curled into fists, and his T-shirt on backward. He dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding running over Rob and Jason, but at the cost of his balance. Aaron sprawled to the side, passing through Lena's body of light, and skidded into the water.

That broke up the hug as both of the older boys - guys? - turned to track the movement and instantly - instinctively? - moved to catch Aaron.

Aaron surfaced, thrashing and sputtering before calming down. He swam back to the platform. Whether he intended it or not, Rob and Jason hoisted him up, back to the solid surface of the stone platform.

Jason had a gleam to his eyes, a laughing joy.

Rob, already freaked out to start with, turned into a helicopter brother. "Where are you hurt? Can you breathe? What the fuck was that?"

Aaron flipped him off. "I'm good. Get out of my face! Water's refreshing. I recommend a dip."

Lena leaned against the archway, watching her friends reunite while trying to figure out what it meant that she had a dungeon she could shape with her thoughts, but no physical body.

Despite being seven months her junior and about six years younger than his brother and Jason, Aaron was the first of the Morgan brothers to calm down and look around. His eyes rounded comically when he spotted Lena. "What happened to you?"

Lena shrugged. "I think my body got traded in for a dungeon. It was pretty cool until I realized I'm a flipping ghost chained to this place. How are you guys faring in this … whatever it is the telepathy machine's put us in?"

Rob followed Aaron's gaze to Lena, paled, and sat down hard. A fine tremor radiated out from his chest.

Mentally cursing herself for screwing up the social stuff yet again, Lena looked in her menus, found the option Jason's presence had opened up, and dumped cotton bolls over Rob as the closest thing she had to a blanket. The fluff part of the bolls - sans seeds - popped into existence and floated down around Rob.

"Sugar Berries!" Lena pseudo-cussed, realizing that wasn't going to help.

Jason asked, "What the hell?"

"He's going into shock and that's the best I can do!" Lena yelled.

Aaron, again, the odd choice for the calm one among them, said, "Jason, try to smush this stuff together, like felt. Lena, good thought and better than nothing. Rob, look at me. Focus on me. We're safe. We are safe. I'm here." He repeated the reassurances, hugging Rob, sharing his warmth despite being soaked to the skin.

Jason piled the raw cotton around them.

Lena retreated, needing to give Rob and Jason and Aaron more space, even if her form was more illusion than substance at the moment. Not only was she hoping that Rob would calm down more without her new freakishness in his face, but Rob's distress changed everything about this telepathy machine weirdness. It wasn't safe, and they didn't know how to get out of this mind-scape.

She moved back to the portal through which Jason had arrived, keeping a touch of her awareness on the guys. She tore down the portal and began building a new one, focused on Candy. Maybe they'd get lucky and she and Brad would be together and they could all escape this weirdness.