In darkness, slumbering, awareness washed over me in waves. My furthest extremities, Fingers and toes, checked in first then followed down the line. My nose, eyelids, and mouth made themselves known. While twitching my limbs about my eyes also kicked in light detection and I squinted them as well. irises contracted as my eyes then fluttered open. above me I could see an expectant face I had been desperately wishing was a dream.

"Now..." The Investor said as they watched me crawl my way up out of the steel grip of unconsciousness. "Tell me, how are you feeling?"

Between bleary eyed blinks I leveled a look that I'd wager was worlds away from the deadliness that was intended. With the responding expression of mild amusement that was then replaced with the same expression of expectation, I knew that what I'd actually brought to bare was likely more of a groggy petition for just five more minutes. For their part The Investor did actually wait, and although they didn't step back they lifted their head out of my face. Closing my eyes again I rubbed them aggressively. This wasn't just normal sleep I was fighting off like in our earlier conversation. Instantaneous wakefulness was only possible if it was your own mind doing the initiation. Drugs, especially magical, multidimensional ones, had a way of throwing 'normal' out the window. Eventually, and surprisingly quicker than I had anticipated, I felt aware enough to continue. Looking up I saw that quicker than anticipated probably wasn't how Nurse Rachet over there saw it. The excited and expectant look had changed ever so slightly to an antsy, I'm gonna scream if you don't tell me look. "Weeeeellll?" The Investor said again, dipping their head toward me.

"um, I... feel fine. I don't..." With the inventory that started playing through internally the sounding board was sending back resounding "nominal's". Every square inch of my body seemed to be perfectly normal. My hands had already explored the back of my head where it seemed the whole operation was centered. No physical oddity had shown up. Glancing back up I half expected to be interrupted or prodded in some way to go faster. That not only didn't happen, but The investor seemed to be appraising me like a test subject. I didn't even want to try and puzzle out what that meant. Shutting down every external interference as much as possible I looked inward. Tried to intuit my state of being as a whole instead of asking specifics. Proprioception wasn't showing any red flags. Deeper I dived, further closing down to ignore even my own physical body. The drone of my inner monologue faltered and died down as I laser focused on the last part I could think of to have any unexpected changes. Splutters of it would pop back up as my mind seemingly had to continue it's 'captains log'. Odd disjointed phrases like 'it's hard to think of nothing' or images of seemingly random thoughts were also popping up. Again quicker than anticipated I felt... something. Going as far as to say a 'new limb' would be quite the stretch. Calling it a finger or even a clump of muscle would still be boasting. Might have even been a single neuron that was lit up in my psyche like the cliche big red button. Snapping my eyes open before I could do anything stupid I asked "What's that?".

Apparently I'd been too slow to distract myself. Either I, or some part of my brain had instinctually pressed it. Absolutely nothing seemed to happen. Well, other than the strange bladder relieving feeling of something emptying. The feeling was visceral enough to check my pants to confirm I hadn't actually let it go. "Hmmm, Interesting" The Investor stated while taking notes in a clipboard she'd pulled from somewhere. "alright! well, that's all I need for now. Off you go" The last thing I saw was the investor waving their hand. In the square of the town from earlier I found myself horizontal a pace above the ground. Which didn't last long as gravity is not a kind mistress.

Back in the operating room the Investor looked past the bed I'd just disappeared from. Stunned I looked down at the strange duplicate of my body I'd somehow conjured . Undulating mists of darkness greeted my sight. Looking up I saw the investor was also inspecting this new form. "Now..." The Investor said lifting their clipboard as they watched me try to get a grasp on the situation. "Tell me, how are you feeling?"

Groaning and scrambling up off my bruised backside I looked about again. Off hand I didn't see any of the others from earth. Strange as I'd confirmed I was the last to go. Maybe they'd all come and gone. The 'pan dimensional surgery' and recovery could have taken days. The old lady who'd talked to me before was back leaning on the door frame. As before she shoved off and headed my way. This time she had no snarky words or scathing glare for me. In fact she said nothing at all the entire way. Even coming to stand before me where I'd frozen like a deer in the headlights she still said nothing. "What!?" I said, half expecting another blackout or translocation of some kind. Neither of which came. She stood still though her face gained an accusatory glare.

Only after, in my opinion, an excessive number of moments did she finally speak. "Although talk is cheap there's no sense wasting energy on a disrespectful upstart who'll up and leave at the drop of a hat." She paused again bestowing on me another, slightly less, critical look. "If you're quite done with your disappearing act maybe we could find you someplace, and maybe some proper clothing, to rest and regroup". I was finding this new world was increasingly testing my self control. I know I'd been on the run for nearly a year back home with almost no rest and the threat of death around every corner. Somehow the feeling of being led about by a leash the last few hours had brought was already beginning to make me nostalgic for my previous 'freedom'. At the same time looking at this senior I could tell that although their level of power was insignificant in comparison to the Investor I'd been flippant with, there was every indication I would regret taking such a tone with her. It also seemed that I might finally get a moment to myself if I just went along with her suggestion.

"Yes, I believe, or at least I hope, I am done being thrown about" I said as carefully as I could, still worried my tone might have been too carefree. Simply nodding she turned right back to her preferred leaning threshold and lead me inside. Breathing a sigh of relief I followed. This gave me barely enough time to actually process rather than just look at the house and around town. The house in front of me wasn't the best in town, not the worst either. At two stories it was definitely among a minority though. The quality, level of discord between parts and pieces, and the general lack of any indication of technology was screaming medieval to me. Although as I thought about it I'd remembered watching at least a few videos indicating that 500+ year old homes were not uncommon to still be habitated in many parts of earth. And of course there were groups like the Amish to consider. I'd need to get more info to confirm but so far didn't look like the industrial revolution had taken off yet.

Stopping just past the entry the senior turned and waved me in. As I passed she pointed to the stairs to the left. "First room on the left upstairs has a fresh pair of clothes and a washtub to clean up in." She turned to back to me "You could even take a nap if you'd like, may be a while before the rest come back." turning toward what appeared to be the dinning room and kitchen she pointed to a pot on the 'stove?', "there's soup on if you're hungry". She turned back to her post at the door staring into the road. Part of me still wanted to stop her and demand answers. Initially I'd been full of questions, all screaming to be answered right away. The more I thought about a room to myself, without the threat of death, translocation, and constant interruption had started to grow on me though. Even now as I thought it through that's the only thing in existence I wanted. Walking over to the stairs my mood shifted even further. My body began to feel stiff, worn, and empty. I'd effectively been in a perpetual state of fight or flight for what felt like eternity. Surprise filled me as my eyes started to water. I'd never broken down like this before. Always thought I was a tough guy. Surviving through the war for earth had apparently given me extensive trauma. I guess the offer of actual peace was the final straw. All my stress was letting loose. By the time I got upstairs I was nearly crawling. As I shut the door to the room behind me I collapsed on the ground.

My mind roved through emotions like a vagrant with no place to call home. Stopping only briefly on any one. A moment of sadness felt for my lost family and friends. A quick break of happiness for the seemingly safe environment in which I was now hugging myself. Torrents of fear assaulted me at the horrific and violent visions replaying of what'd happened to those I loved. Hatred for those who chose to betray the rest of us for a little power. Melancholy came next, mocking my inability to change any of it. Round again it came. Different variations took the stage, acting out all my hopes, fears and dreams from different angles. Luckily the exhaustion I'd gotten no break from saved me, eventually, from the panic attack. The embrace of darkness took me gently.