The walk itself had been surprisingly short, even more so than when they had initially left the interrogation and exile room. The pattern of this place confused her senses though, each door was similar yet slightly different with no signs or words describing which each room was.
As she walked, the wooden floor softened under her own feet or the high-quality alcohol was entering her bloodstream was affecting her own judgement. She was more. relaxed at least.
The food had been fresh and hot and filled her stomach and despite the outburst from the short-haired blonde woman called Bonnie and the nervous wreck calling himself Direk expressing his own clear psychological fears it had been nice to eat in the company of other humans.
Mike stopped in front of a door, much the same as all the others. Carissa had been certain they had walked all of five metres of less before stopping but the passageway was different in a way. Not familiar to her. The wooden ceiling above her head and floor below her feet bare and plain.
âOne of my little tricks.â said Mike as he pushed open the door to reveal a well-lit room with a single bed, glowing organic style bulb on the ceiling and a wooden chest next to it.
A smaller enclosed area held a stand-up shower and toilet. A basic type of room, but she had been raised on a house boat and was used to the smaller space.
âAll yours, a wooden space of her own, donât worry, the mattress and pillow are sponge and the sheets are freshly produced. We destroy them each day and grow new ones. Also, got your own shower and toilet, small though but it should suffice. The door locks from the inside and either I or the others enter only in an extreme emergency.â said Mike.
Carissa stayed by the doorway as she listened to him talk further. Sheâd go in on her terms once he stepped away, she would give him a measure of trust but they they remained near absolute strangers to her. Any sane person would have bolted into the room and screamed their heart out and Carissa was contemplating the same when Mike spoke to her.
âDonât want any more conversation? I donât blame you, if I met someone from my variant world, depending on their economic level theyâd have a few choice words for me. I was a genetic clone servant made by a corporation for them to boss around or worse, act as their bodyguard. Here, in this place weâre all in danger but it also brings us a type of freedom of our own.â said Mike as he leaned back on the opposite wall from the open door.
âI would prefer to be left alone if possible but more information is always welcome until we go our separate ways.â said Carissa.
She had one foot inside the door and the other outside so she could make sure the door opened and closed under her own control and not others. The day had been tiring enough on her body and mind.
âThis place is technically owned by me but also according to the whims of the gods. Weâve suffered raids before even though weâre only a small community and the structure is constantly altering itself and rearranging. Youâve had enough conversation, unless youâd like to talk directly to Chas. Sherry would prefer to be matched with you personally but she needs to take care of the other candidate at the moment. All of this, is part of the makeshift tutorial we can come up with.â said Mike.
âAnd Iâve told you I want to be left alone. If I had a weapon for self-protection, it would be a different matter. Youâre expecting me to go into a room and not be able to keep myself safe in case breaks in or drops me into the water.â said Carissa.
âConcentrate on your messages. You should be receiving one any second. Time inside this little community of ours tend to flow a little faster than most new players are aware of. The item I gave you will keep you safe in an emergency but check your own messages and check the chest by the bed. A bit of paranoia is healthy here, too much and youâll be scared to leave your room. I wonât move an inch from this spot. Here, my hands are up.â said Mike.
Holding both hands in front of him he leaned back against the wooden wall, a sad smile on his face told Carissa he had done this before with other Player Candidates.
âDonât move.â she muttered as she focused her attention on the Ocean Gateway System messages.
Player Candidate: Carissa Acqua
-Classless
-First Goal Achieved! Survive for 7 hours.
-Bonus Goal Achieved! Find other Player Candidates and Survive as a group for 7 hours
-Reward Accessible in Nearest Storage Area: Random Basic combat weapon, fishing line, Bonus Goal: Removed due to strict limits on Player Candidate.
No personal messages directed towards her again. She wasnât overly surprised, given how the man had been talking about hallucinations in the dining area.
âGood, youâve passed the first hurdle. No, I canât read your messages but Iâve been through these enough times to guess what yo-â. Mike stopped mid-sentence, his face frowning as his eyes flickered and he received his own message.
âIâve beenâ¦instructed you need to check out the box in your room as itâs filled with a few more items which you were cheated out of. Please donât ask for more details. Iâm here to do my job and keep this micro-community secure. Be out for breakfast, Iâll be outside waiting when youâre dressed and ready to go.â said Mike.
âWait!â said Carissa, her voice hurried.
âLady, Iâve had an extremely exhausting day and Iâm an old man. Answers, questions, conflict, how about you let me go my room which is next to yours and we call it a night? Get a decent sleep and breakfast, I need to go and brief Sherry and Chas before my work is done.â said Mike.
âOne last question. Please.â Urged Carissa.
âYes, the toilet works and the shower is fresh. A change of clothes is provided in the storage next to your bed. I donât choose them, Chas does. If you want to remove your suit and I highly recommend you donât, you can get changed. Or wear them on top of the suit, it should fit to the skin. Iâm out of here, good night. Close your own door.â said Mike as he stumbled through the corridor in the opposite direction they had arrived.
Carissa watched him leave, still keeping one foot wedged inside the door as she grabbed the handle and closed it from the front before opening it again. She tried this several times and when only when she was certain the door wouldnât lock behind her easily did, she step inside.
The inner part of the door held a bolt which slid straight across and a personal lock which she clicked shut. The metal was similar to the material inside the community dining area. The bolt of refined polished bone. Strong enough to be hard to break through but Carissa had watched Mike alter the wood using his bare hands.
The room itself was a place to sleep but not a place of safety, Mike had told her repeatedly there was no safe place here. His lesson was kept. Once she had secured the door Carissa willed the suit to peel back further until she was entirely by herself in the room. The only item remaining on her body was the small statue hanging around her wrist.
The suit itself came off her skin and folded itself into a rectangular shape. Useful for transportation at least but given the protection she offered Carissa wouldnât have traded it for anything else.
As she held it between her bare hands, flakes of it brushed off and drifted to the floor of her bedroom. The loss was barely apparent but it showed her the outfit provided for this game would eventually dissolve. Similar to her own personal fungus designed suit she would have worn in her Last Refuge. The gods wouldnât provide an essential resource for players without an expiry date.
Carissa would truly appreciate the bathroom as long as it had a decent mirror. Her scars were healing but she was still beautiful, transformed and in a true state of becoming the object of her dreams.
She would use this time wisely to work out how the messages from the Ocean Gateway System worked, there had to be a far more efficient way of processing messages than have a physical limitation. If she had to fight or be in an emergency situation it could be critical to avoid the situation where words obscured her vision or pain affected her mind, no matter how small.
âAnyone here?â she called aloud. Mike had told her he would be next door but the walls could have been thin enough for conversation or another means of listening to her.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Instead, the small wooden statue which she had been gifted vibrated and when she touched it an impression came into her mind. The system at work again but this time identifying item, the same as previously but with additional information.
Player Candidate: Carissa Acqua
Tool Received from High Level Player: Mark 1 KZ
-Second-Life Statuette
-Will absorb significant physical/mental damage.
-Single Usage only.
-Self-Destruction Upon Usage.
-Item cannot be transferred or sold to other players.
-Secondary Use Detected: Physical Health Monitor
This statue detects the physical health of the owner and provides feedback to the maker within a limited distance.
âAnother type of health monitor. Makes sense heâs taking care of new players.â said Carissa aloud. For several seconds, she was tempted to break it, to avoid being another form of tracking before she left it hanging around her wrist.
Heading over to the shower and toilet area she stood inside to find more familiar metal inside. The door again was lockable and she closed it, finding a clean sponge towel and a wooden container filled with a type of body wash and turned it on, the flow of water flowing over her body and washing away her frustrations and anger.
The water was burning hot on her skin and she lost track of how long she stood in the shower for. Her fingers ran across the scars on her abdomen and body, she had performed surgery on herself and all in vain up to this point.
Sheâd tried her best to ignore her own lack of technological abilities but any regret of her lacking power over her own type of hydrokinesis was a waste of time. Her body failed to respond to the most basic of physical reactions and she wasnât even aware of how much sheâd been reduced.
Still, sheâd began her life as a normal human and through training and self-discipline sheâd improve.
All she needed was a decent workshop and sufficient tools and materials depending on the technological level of this flooded planet. A future project which Carissa mentally stored away, the constant exposure to the water failed to wrinkle her skin.
She shoved her immediate plans put aside as the initial deluge from the shower began to slow to a trickle and finally end. Grabbing a towel Carissa touched the shower handle and it began to flow when she touched it and swiftly ended when she removed her touch.
Interesting.
A type of training.
Carissa was used to the water, far more than most people usually were. Having been born onto a house boat she had learned to swim in the oceans of her world far before she had been able to even take her first steps.
Water for her was second nature. And with the practical abilities of the suit when she wore it to provide a flow of enough air while being submerged, the restriction was there a strict usable limit.
Ignoring the shower towel hanging up Carissa walked out, water dripping off her long red-brown hair and onto the wooden floor. Her priority was the folded rectangular grey skin suit which had given her so much protection. She could check the wooden storage chest for any useful materials. Items could be lost, taken or traded but the suit was a highly valued piece of equipment. Weapons of bone and t-shirts could wait.
Focusing her attention as she eld it in her hands she drew on the same ache in her brain which signalled the Ocean Gateway System. This was part of her, or it been installed as a piece of software within her physical form.
All she had to wasâ¦take control. In the same way her implants and genetic alterations had caused her so much pain initially, this would be the same. She would harness the power and make it her own.
Mike had mentioned Demi gods, humans transformed by Ocean Gods into new forms. Her dream, usurped by insanity, by a game. An activity played for amusement.
âDreams turned reality. He said dreams turned reality. I make my own reality. I MAKE MY OWN REALITY!â she cried out.
The suit. She needed to pay attention to the suit, not her own hopes and dreams. If this failed, sheâd need the towel and the shower. Pain was something to either recover from or work through. Not to be accepted.
âGive me the details of the suit. I want details of the suit, capabilities, usage, how long it can last. Give mesetails.â she said.
As the water on her skin slowly evaporated, she shivered from the excess steam from the shower as it cooled her room.
Her eyes ached, the pain in her brain lessened as a message appeared in her immediate vision.
Carissa fought through, trying to make her own vision adapt to the message. She needed it either non-visual or have a smaller range of interaction.
Player Candidate 5428119402
-Carissa. No Cheating. Keep the Suit.
A personal message with her name. A reaction, the message left her vision and her eyes watered as she gripped the Grey Suit tighter with both hands, her fingernails digging deeper into the material with little effect.
âI need details of the suit. Give me the suit.â she spoke to herself.
Player Candidate 5428119402 Carissa Acqua
-Warning: Due to Illegal Usage of the Ocean Gateway Entry System Player Candidate will be punished.
-Warning: Due to Illegal Usage Player Candidate will be punished.
Warning: Ocean Gateway grant-
Warning: Due to Illegal Usage Player Candidate will be punished.
Temporary physical penalty enabled.
Warning: Further attempts to coopt Ocean Gateway System authority will receive further punishment.
Warning: A Drowned Goddess is paying direct attention to the punishment.
Carissa. Stop. Stop. Rest. Chest. Open. Sorry.
Pain. Immense pain struck her head in waves, each one hitting harder than the previously one causing Carissa to collapse. Unable to control her own physical movements her body twitched and trashed about before she was able to gain control of her own emotions.
A smell came into her nose. An acrid smell, she had lost control and urinated over herself and the wooden floor of her bedroom. Lying on her side she curled up involuntarily, tears in her eyes and a taste of copper in her mouth as her sharpened teeth found purchase on her own tongue.
Tears fell from her eyes, stress and pain filled her body and she opened her mouth to scream before finding her voice was gone, taken away, air rapidly leaving her lungs before she was released.
Carissa had experienced discomfort before and the pain was an experience for her as opposed to a punishment but she found the lack of physical control humiliating.
Her clenched palms open as she forced her hands onto the floor, face still inhaling the smell of her own urine as her body had lost total control and crawled into the shower.
Even if gods were responsible for this, Carissa would find them, find them and punish them eventually. She had experienced despair and sadness but hate, true hate filled her veins now.
She wasnât a toy for their amusement. Gripping the walls of the shower, Carissa grabbed the handle and activated it with a touch. Once the hot water fell on her skin and she was becoming steady enough to stand Carissa took the shower towel.
If they wanted restrictions on her after removing so much of her hard-earned abilities she would adapt. She would train herself to view the system messages and make sure her body refused to respond physically. The wooden storage chest could wait until she had finished an initial round of self-training.
Once the towel was fully soaked, she wrapped it around her face, leaving enough air for her nose and a tiny gap for her mouth to gasp enough air under the flood of water. The sensation reminded her of her time inside isolation chambers in her youth.
Positioning both of her hands and feet to avoid collapsing again she focused herself on the previous messages from the Ocean Gateway System.
Slowly teaching herself under pressure and lack of oxygen with hot water blasting from the shower to alter the messages so they no longer appeared in her vision but her mindâs eye.
The last apology from the final message meant little but Carissa gleamed one meaning from it.
Carissa held value in the eyes of a higher being. One of the Ocean Gods had an eye on her personally.