Chapter 9

Susan

The pain was excruciating. I could feel the hot bullet as it bore into my abdomen and then an almost euphoric sensation as if a great pressure was being released from my body. I looked down seeing the blood start to pour out of me. I pressed my hands against the wound trying to staunch the flow, but to no avail. I was beginning to feel light-headed, then I blinked, and next, I knew I was seeing Jon hovering over top of me.

I tried to speak but I must have passed out again because then the next sensation of pain hit me and I cried out. I felt something soft press into my back and for a moment I saw Phil. He looked so worried. I had to tell him I am okay, opening my mouth again “Phil…” and then nothing.

A bright flash awoke me and my consciousness felt at peace, I did not have a body. That did not make any sense, I knew I was human and that I had a body, and yet as I moved to try and bring my hands up there was nothing, just the sensation of moving my arms. It was a little strange but that feeling of peace was overwhelmingly strong that I just did not care that I was no longer corporal. I was floating above a sea of clouds, that were high above a blue and green world teeming with life. As I looked down with my so-called sight, on this world there were bright flashes all over, and at each burst of light it brought up huge mushroom-shaped clouds of smoke and debris. I began to feel sorrow, but as soon as this emotion appeared, I started to move away from the world that was now covered with clouds of ash. It was no longer green and alive but grey and dead.

As I moved away I passed by several other empty planets, and as each one passed by I began to move faster and faster. Soon all I could see were blurs of light in the ever-present dark, it was too much for me and I became nauseated that I wanted to close my eyes, but alas I could not as I had no eyelids to speak of. The lights burned brightly as I passed them by. It seemed like forever but eventually, the lights slowed down and came to a stop.

I was in the center of many planets and each one teamed with life. I slowly floated by each one noticing that each planet was connected to the others by iridescence threads of light, and every so often they would pulse brighter and then dim. I began to notice a pattern to the pulses and as I focused more on them I could feel a heartbeat in rhythm with these pulses. It was beautiful, as I drew nearer to a single planet, the heartbeat apparently mine, beat louder and stronger than before.

As a sense of rightness came upon me as I hovered above this new planet, it felt like I had finally come home.

-Welcome traveler to Nexitus here you will experience a new life. I am Hyperion your guide, and I know that you have many questions but first you must complete yourself-

I looked down and saw a female body… my body. It was not quite as I remembered it. First off I was younger than I had been… I think. I would say that it was at least... wait a minute I really should call it mine; my early twenties. Not that this was a bad thing just strange to see “myself” so young again. Secondly, I was completely naked. Well, I guess that would make sense, I had after all died back on that planet… Earth, yes Earth, it was strange, I was dead but, not at the same time. Focus Susan, all that was in the past, I need to focus on the here and now.

As I continued to look at my body I remembered how much I had wanted a larger chest size back on Earth, as well as other things that I wished I had. As I thought about it some more I noticed that my body was slowly changing to what I pictured it to look like. Now, this is cool, I went from an A cup to a C, and they were not the low saggy kind either. They remained seated perfectly perky on my chest, defying gravity so much so that I will never have to wear a bra again. I also got rid of those pesky hair patches that no woman likes to have. The changes continued as my waist became trimer and my hips flared out giving me a more hourglass figure. I looked at my face, I realized I liked my face and did not want to change it too much. I smoothed my complexion and gave a little more arch to my eyebrows, and made my eyes more of a dark grey-blue than just blue. My lips became more of a fuller bow shape and my hair made it longer and thicker. I liked my height at 5ft 6in, just right that I was not too short but short enough that I could be gathered up on my tippy toes and be kissed. I was happy with the choices that I made and I knew that I did not look too different than Phil would still be able to recognize me. Phil… Who was Phil again?

I thought for a bit more about him and as the memories of a man came to me, I began to recognize him… he had been my husband on Earth... and we both worked to come to Nexitus, but as to how I could not remember. I did remember that we worked with another woman named Aira and that she was important to both of us. I could not picture her face but I knew that she was special and that, in a way, I loved her as much as I loved Phil. That was all that I could remember at this time and as I tried to remember more a headache began to form. I refocused on myself, I could think about them later, looking back towards my body I inspected it once more.

I liked how I looked, and did not want to change anything further and as if prompted I zoomed into my new body. I was now looking out of my new eyes down at Nexitus. As I turned my body about getting used to the movements once more, I noticed a small box, like a notification fading in and out of the top right corner of my sight. It was like a notification box that would be back on Earth when I played RPG games. I began to laugh internally, I had my notification display. Somehow the disembodied voice, named Hyperion, I heard once I had arrived at Nexitus, knew that I was laughing at myself.

-Well glad that you find this amusing but can we please act more like an adult here. We still have lots to go through and I don't want to wait around while you keep laughing at yourself.-

Taken aback that Hyperion could still hear me I replied, “Oh, I am sorry, I did not realize that you were still here. I thought I was all alone.”

-Well you're not. I am here to help you but you need to understand that you are going to be super busy today and I would like you to get a move on and not waste too much more of the remaining daylight. So, now if you are happy with your body please select yes on your notification bar-

Not knowing how to do this I asked Hyperion, “How do I select yes?”

Sighing Hyperion replied, -You can raise your arm and press it like a button, or if you would like you can also think yes or no at it. This can be done for any further interactions-

Nodding I looked at the notification again and I thought yes.

You are selecting yes, please note that once you do this it will be permanent until you can afford to undergo further changes. Do you wish to continue?

Again I thought yes.

Name yourself. Note that a name can have effects on others around you, choose carefully.

“Can you give me an example of how a name can affect those around you,” I asked Hyperion?

-Well if you want to go by Jack the Giant Slayer, you won't be very welcome with the giants that one could meet on your travels. If you go by Mary the Holy One people will expect you to act so, and if you don't your reputation will go down. Need I go on?-

“Thank you I have got it.” I began to think hard about what I will go by. As I recalled my returning memories of RPGs from Earth, Phil and I like to use odd names when we played games, like ROUS, or Wabbit. It always made it more entertaining when your notification said ‘You have been slain by Wabbit’.

Laughing at the memory, I decided that I had better stay on the safe side and use my name. Once more I thought Susan.

Well met Susan. Now it's time for you to, Get to Know Yourself.

I began to fall towards nexitus, at first, my feet were down but as I passed through the atmosphere I began to turn and spin uncontrollably. The ground came rushing up towards me, oh boy this is not good, I had better stop soon or this was going to hurt a lot or I’ll just be dead. I started to scream as the ground was only 300ft away. This is it, I closed my eyes, I did not want to see my impact point.

I did not go splat… peeking one eye open, my nose was inches from the ground, and with a slight drop, I hit the ground. “Ooph” the wind was knocked from my lungs. I had landed in a grassy spot that was surrounded by a circle of standing stones, kind of like a Stonehenge. I stood up shakily and looked at my surroundings. Beyond the standing stones were rolling hills covered in grass and field flowers. To the north...humm I have a built encompass, handy, where towering mountains where the peaks were covered in glacial snowcaps. Below the mountains, there was a vast forest and on the closest edge nearest me what looked to be a city next to a glistening river. I looked up to the bluest sky that I could ever recall. I breathed in deeply and smelled the sweet smells that would only belong to a summer day. I was about to close my eyes and enjoy the warmth of the still-rising sun on my back when laughter interrupted my revelry.

-Ha, ha, ha, I sure got you good… ha ha ha, that was the best. Watching you freak out as you're falling... Ooh, that was good! I do commend you though as you did not piss or pass out from fear.-

Quest completed. By overcoming an instinctual fear of falling set by Hyperion your companion, you have gained the following passive ability; Steel Bladder.

Steel Bladder: No matter the situation you will have complete control over your bladder. You'll never have to fear the dreaded tinkle at the end of a sneeze.

-Tee, hee hee, I guess my bet was answered in a way, that is awesomely unexpected. I’ll have to keep an eye on myself. Would not want to give you random quests all the time. Oooh, Wee, this is going to be fun, well I'll let you continue with getting to Know Yourself. When you're ready just leave the standing stones and you will begin. Inside the stones is a safe zone so nothing will attack you while you're here, but once you're out of your free game and you won't be able to re-enter unless you die. If you happen to die no worries you will be remade here, but you will lose experience and will have a death penalty placed upon you for a time. Now is there anything else that I can do for you?-

What a little shit, not only did he let me drop on purpose he also bet that I was going to pass out… making it into a quest that I did not know about, that was just rude. I breathed slowly a couple of times to get a hold of my rising anger and asked him, “So what exactly is this Get to Know Yourself? It said it was a test, or is it more of a challenge?”

-Call it what you want, it is essentially the same. Anything else?- he said cryptically

“Any rules to this test, and what will be the outcome of it?”

-No rules, you can do whatever you want. As for the outcome...you’ll get to know yourself of course.- he laughed again

“Okay.” Looking down at my naked feet to gather my thoughts, wait...my naked feet and the rest of me. I began to laugh at the close call, asking him “Well I could use some clothing, basic provisions, and if at all possible something to defend myself, would be great if you could help me out with that.”

-I was hoping you would have forgotten about being naked. Would have made this test so much more interesting if you had. Also, try not to die, it would look bad on us both if you can't do this without dying. Finally, I am not allowed to help you out any further, the rest you will do on your own, but I’ll be waiting for you once you're done. Toodaloo- Hyperion said leaving.

With that, I felt a slight tingling sensation at the back of my head, and then all over my body. Taking a look at myself I cursed. I should have been more specific on my type of clothing. Apparently, a linen loincloth with a basic cover on top counted as clothing. Tuning to look at my backside, crud, nothing is covering my butt, just a thin strip in the crack. I did, fortunately, have sandals on my feet. I thought, not much of a companion are you Hyperion I am still pretty much naked. Sighing I noticed the pack laying in the grass by my feet, I picked it up.

You have found a worn leather pack. This item is limited in its carrying. Keep an eye out as your stuff will fall out frequently.

Saying that it was a pack was an understatement, it was more like a nap sack that one would be able to tie to their belt when walking. Grumbling, I opened it up.

You have found, a rusted iron knife, day-old bread, and a low-quality water pouch.

I sat down on the grass and laid out each item next to me. I took a closer look at each one, to take stock of what I have.

Water Pouch: This pouch can filter out most things, leaving only a few floaters. Iron Knife: Yep this is a piece of garbage, you're better suited to pick up a large stick and use it as a club than to use this piece of trash. Day Old Bread: The crust is a little dry and will help to restore your stamina.

Frustrated I laid down on my back in the grass as I started to eat the bread. Once I had finished eating I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth from the sun as it was now becoming brighter, having moved above the horizon. I began thinking about everything that has happened so far. I remembered I had gotten shot and died on Earth. Surprisingly, I did not feel upset about dying, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I did not remember anything else about my life that I had on Earth other than the few memories that I had recalled. Turning to my side to be in a more comfortable position, I guess that was not a bad thing. I had at least made it to Nexitus. I wondered if Phil and Aira were going through the same thing that I am, hoping that they did not have a piece of shit for a companion like I did. I was recalling my situation and the crappy luck that I got trash items from him when I got an impromptu notification,

Be clear in your requests. As your words can be interpreted in any way by those that you may be speaking to.

Shit, I had only asked for basic provisions. I guess that what I got could... be considered basic by some. Once again I found myself breathing in and out deeply a few more times to let go of my rising anger only this time at my stupidity. I’ll need to be very specific on how I word things from here on out that way there is no more confusion. I sighed deeply and then pulled my pack under the side of my head to use it as a makeshift pillow. At some point, I had fallen asleep while I listened to the buzzing of the bugs that were flying through the field.