//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 Burnt in the Morning // Story: Advising Myself // by BioChemicalWolfGear //------------------------------// All I could see was darkness as my cognitive functions were subdued by the machine as it sent data from the outside world and protein solution through the tubes attached to me. My mind was working on simple equations regarding Xen portal technology and protocols regarding Overwatch duties. All per the instructions of the machine I was attached too. As the machine poured more data into my mind, I became aware of the concept of emotion. Moments later, I discovered that I don’t have these emotions. The next thing it gave me was the machine's importance to me. It kept me alive as I began my final stages of “Adverial Ascension” as it called it. I was to lead troops and take information from prisoners to locate bases of operation. The machine sent more protocols regarding the importance of “life support” to an Advisor. If I was separated from it for more than a week, I could die. However, if I used my powers sparingly I could use up less of my protein solution that gives me my mental abilities. If ever I was separated from a nearby life support or none exists; I could synthesize grey matter from mammals to gain protein solution. But the process (which takes place behind an Advisor's face) takes hours and when the protein solution is expended, all mental functions cease in an attempt to save the Advisor’s body for the ongoing process of synthesizing more solution to finish. At first these new facts seemed strange, but then as greater details of my purpose came through, clarity came to me. The machine began to restore my cognitive function and I began to feel my body. My mind reached out to the world and I felt fresh minds nearby. I felt the pull of gravity and the tubes attached to my body. I exercised my mind and tried to assault the nearby life forms but their intelligence was too high for my awaking state. But I was satisfied with my ability to do that simple task of reaching out. The machine continued awakening me, seemingly oblivious to the intrusion of the life forms. As it awoke me the machine sent names to my mind of superiors, administrators, and active employees. Then targets of priority were being downloaded to my— An emergency alarm went off on the machine. It began rapidly restoring my cognitive function to the point where it began to overload my neural inputs. I groaned neurally as my ears began picking up on painful chirping from the machine. I instinctively grabbed onto anything my mind could reach, to try to focus the energy overload away from my body. My focus was obscured and I barely was able to grasp anything, but I sensed the two minds in the room with me and I held onto them. After several seconds the mind numbing pain disappeared and I was able to refocus all my mind's power. A sudden solid line of light appeared in front of me and spread apart. I realized this was because my life support systems were stated as offline and the chamber that held me aloft opened up. After my confusion swiftly ended and the brightness faded into a focused image, I got a new sense of directive to test my abilities to make sure they work to full capacity. I looked in front of me to see four objects that I didn’t recognize. Three of them had minds, but only two were working. The other seemed inanimate but I couldn’t identify it. As the haze disappeared I realized three of the objects were humans. The creatures I was created to help suppress and convert into combine. Upon recognizing their form I grew curious and looked at the one on the right first, then the one on the left, until my eyes landed on one in particular behind them. It took me only milliseconds to recognize his features. Prescription glasses on his face, white skin, green eyes, an orange and black Hazardous Environment suit, short brown hair and a mustache connected to his beard. 'Gordon Freeman' Upon recognition of the dangerous employee, I threw all the entities, excepting the inanimate one, to the farthest wall. I didn’t let them go from my mental grip out of concern for them escaping or harming me. I impassively broke a support beam with the limp one’s body in my attempt to have Gordon Freeman at a safe distance. According to the information the machine gave me of the farmhouse I was located in, there was an Overwatch outpost nearby to defend me if something went wrong; I sent them a message to come to me so I may begin my role as an Advisor. Now to the inanimate object before me. I looked at it momentarily before I let my long light grey tongue slither out of my mouth. I poked the object to realize it was cold and made of iron, rust, and paint. The paint was no longer attached to the object after years of being washed away by rain, but the subtle molecular structures that still remained on it was enough for me to figure this out on my own. I was finished with this object and began testing my mental grip on something strong. I crushed the object that I now knew was a barrel and let plummet to the ground. I watched it fall to the floor before turning my attention to the limp form of a human by a support beam. Using my mind to bring it in front of me I began poking its chest with my tongue and licking slightly to the neck. My tongue gathered enough data by the movement of that scan to show me where the inactive nerves led to the organic source of the humans’ information. I flipped the body around so it was facing away from me and thrust my tongue into the back of its head. Despite it being dead flesh, I got fragments of incomplete information. Disappointed, I tested my abilities on its body and twisted its torso to the breaking point. A satisfying crunch echoed in the farmhouse and I threw the body away. An explosion to my left informed me that the machine was failing, but I sensed it was still pumping solution into me so I remained. My attention was then brought to the subject of my concern, Gordon Freeman. I brought him in front of me with my mental grip and examined him with my optics. I then brought out my long, slithering tongue and raised it up to his face. He tried to struggle and get away from it before realizing it was futile and gave in. I wanted to probe his mind to assess his profile. The data about Gordon Freeman was incomplete and I knew I needed it to finish my library. Thanks to the machine's disablement, I wasn’t able to finish downloading the necessary data about him. So extracting it from the man himself seemed like a good idea. I was about to plunge my tongue into his skull when an explosion came from my right and two metal poles lodged themselves in the side of my face. I began to feel pain but thanks to my neural system not being fully awake, it was somewhat numbed. I threw Freeman down to the ground away from me to keep him from harming me further. But shortly after I did that, I realized it wasn’t him and the machine was on fire. I panicked and called for immediate assistance from the already arriving Overwatch while my body was warning me that I was leaking protein solution. I searched franticly for an exit but when I realized I had no time as the solution was literally pouring out the side of my face, I started tearing apart the roof and waited until there was a hole large enough for me to fly through. I quickly left the farmhouse and headed toward the nearest life support station. As I flew, I passed by another building and Overwatch foot soldiers that moved toward the bar— *BEEP* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ *BEEP*BEEP*BEEP*BEEP* My impossibly loud alarm clock jostled my mind from sleep. I couldn’t think straight for a few moments as I still was in a dream mode while the alarm kept ringing. I didn’t open my eyes as I continued to lay in bed. I was somehow convinced I was an Advisor and I tried to use my mental abilities on the alarm clock. When it stopped beeping I was again convinced I was an Advisor, but it beeped again and I realized it was just the pause between the beeps that I heard. Aggravated, I opened my eyes only to have them close tightly due to how tired I was. My room was dark from the very early morning hour of 6 AM. I needed to be in the car soon so I could drive to work. It’s unlike me to be late, and I’m sure my boss would forgive me if I was late only once in my perfect record. But like I said, it’s unlike me to be late, so I threw my covers over to my left and sat up. I absentmindedly pushed the Snooze button on the alarm clock, but I thought nothing of it since I was still tired and I couldn’t rationalize anything I was doing. Without thinking I stood up and turned to my left to face my open doorway. I walked out of my room and into the hallway. Across from my room was the bathroom, I was about to go in there to take a shower before I realized I needed to make breakfast. A shower could wait; warm water makes me tired anyway. I took a left and went over to the staircase that led down to the first floor. My first step was almost disastrous as my foot slipped down the first step and halted at the one directly below it. I instinctively grabbed the rail and adrenaline shot through me. I was mostly awake after that. With my eyes wide open now, I corrected myself and started walking down the stairs at a normal pace. As I went down the wood beneath my feet creaked under a layer of carpet. I finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and abruptly strode forward into the kitchen without much trouble. As I stepped inside I looked around partially confused. But I looked at the refrigerator and opened it up. I smiled as I took out the bread I stored in there to keep fresh and placed it on the counter behind me. When that was done I took a few eggs from the egg carton and held them in my palm. I closed the refrigerator and my mind went numb as I forgot what I was doing. It felt like a painless pounding in my head and the room suddenly seemed to get brighter. It was as if I stood up too fast. I stood there contemplating the world as my eyelids began to slide down. When my eyes were fully closed I almost fell asleep again, but then suddenly a buzzing reached my ear. *beep*beep*beep* My alarm clock went off again. That snapped me out of my stupor but I remained in a very sleepy state. Without much logic left in my semiconscious mind I place the eggs behind the bread on the counter, so they wouldn’t roll off. I then walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where my fireplace was. For some reason I was convinced that if I started a fire, my alarm clock will stop. I was probably remembering my dream where the machine was on fire and was buzzing from the failure. I remembered the machine actually stopped after it was on fire but that’s the only thing I seemed to think was important. I crouched down in front of the fireplace and looked to my right where the gas nozzle was. I twisted it to the right and I heard the satisfying sound of gas leaving the steel chambers in the fireplace. There was fresh wood in there that wasn’t really needed; it just added style to the fireplace. It took me a moment of sitting there with no idea what to do before I realized the fireplace wasn’t starting alight. It then took me a moment to realize I needed to get a match to set it off before a fire can be made. I stood up and turned around and slowly strode back into the kitchen. The early morning was when my nose was usually either not working, or just stuffy. My bed being next to a vent made warm air blow next to me; sometimes it cleared up my nostrils or just fused them shut with dry snot. Today was the later story and I couldn’t smell the gas coming from the fireplace lingering as far as half way across the room. When I got to my kitchen I forgot about the fireplace as my tiredness did more than made me confused, but downright forgetful. I saw the eggs and bread on the counter and remembered I was making French toast. I then turned on the stove and got a pan out of a cupboard and placed it on the stove. I spun the gas nozzle on the stove, and the little grill the pan rested on lit up. I was momentarily confused as I realized I didn’t have any cinnamon and my alarm was still acting up. I looked around for a solution when I saw the fireplace and I remembered I wanted to turn it on to stop my alarm. My brain was still being stupid as I opened up a drawer to find a few matches sitting at the bottom of many other useless items. I picked it out and started walking out of the kitchen and into the living room again. I neglected to notice that I didn’t even leave the kitchen before I could smell the gas from the fireplace. My feet continued to slap on the tiled kitchen floor and transitioned over to the carpeted floor of the living room. It took me a moment but when I opened up the match box and took out a match, there were enough fumes in the air to kill me if I passed out here. Or at least make my blood toxic. I was breathing in so much gas that I probably turned my body into a pipe bomb without realizing it. I put the match head against the side of the match box and grinded it roughly in the material. The moment I saw the flame grow impossibly bigger I realized my mistake. *BOOOOOOM* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I regained consciousness ever so slowly. The first thing I noticed was that I felt larger than I was used too. My body seemed to slime out in all directions, like I had one hundred pounds of extra goo on it. But I felt oddly comfortable as I lay there on something that was cold and wet. I didn’t think much of it as I seemed to fade back into unconsciousness. But after what felt like ages, a light came to my eye and disrupted my sleep. Then a few tweets of birds. Each tweet seemed hours apart, and between them I tried to fall back asleep. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable as my mind faded in and out between each tweet. Every time the bird made noise I began to feel more awake. Each time I began wake, I discovered more about the weirdness of my body. After a few hundred tweets, I realized that the wind was hitting my face, making it cold. But I don’t remember my face being so large. It also felt like the rest of my body was hidden in a sleeping bag that excluded my face. I felt a thin article of clothing around my body entire body. That article of clothing seemed to cover everything except my head, making me be able to move freely without accidently taking it off. However I then noticed I couldn’t feel my legs. At first, this didn’t worry me, even after I realized I couldn’t feel my arms either. I was still in a tired, dream-like state when these discoveries reached me. That was until I started to wake up more and the whole ordeal reached my brain. I didn’t shoot up or panic like I thought I would. But I tried to open my eyes and I realized I couldn’t. I thought someone captured me and did something to me at first, but then I began to feel something familiar. Just like in my previous dream, I could feel the world around me, but only the minds that inhabit it. If the direction of gravity was any indication of where the ground was, then I could feel something above me. At first the sensation was more interesting before I got distracted by my sides starting to hurt from being pushed against the ground by my new weight. I tried to roll before I realized that my muscles were unresponsive; almost like I didn’t have them on my sides. I began to worry as I still couldn’t see, but I could clearly feel my face was uncovered if the wind was any indication. I then noticed something was covering my left eye and I tried to focus on it. I turned my eyes and the object moved with it. It was then that I noticed that I didn’t have a right eye, but the sensation of two eyes came from the left side of my face. I also felt something on my mouth that I could actually pull up and down. So I lifted it up and I could feel my mouth touched the wind, then I lowered it again as the sensation seemed foreign but interesting. *fuzz* In an instant, my eyes seemed to activate and the world came into view. But for only the briefest moment, I was blinded by the sun. Then as the dark green grass came into focus, I began to panic slightly. In front of me was an image of a dark oak tree forest with a muddy ground and some patches of grass. Bushes with thorns seemed to huddle together behind a particularly large tree in front of me. I couldn’t see more and I tried to lift my head. I was oddly aware that I didn’t have a spine to move my head up. Now I truly began to panic. The feeling of being drained extremely slowly by the energy of my eyes seemed to click something in my head. I felt like if I didn’t do something I’d die. I tried to move my body but nothing responded, I didn’t seem to need to breath either and my panic took a new form as I tried to stand up. My head thrashed and I tried to make a noise with my mouth. I seemed to give off a pained scream in my panic and upon recognition of the noise I froze in place and let my head slump back to the cold ground. “A-am I what I think I am?” I thought ridiculously. “No, I can’t be, I’m still asleep right?” I thought frantically. I shook that idea out of my head as I felt too lucid to be dreaming. For a moment, I just laid there unsure of what was going on. I attempted to make a noise again and I found myself making a guttural growl like the one I remembered in one of the Half Life 2 trailers. For a moment my mind shut down, but then I remembered I was in a forest and there were supposed to be birds chirping. They were gone… but that could mean there’s a predator around or something scared them off. I began to worry for a moment before I mentally face palmed realizing that I probably scared them off. If I yelled as loudly as I did, then it was a no-brainer to figure out that I scared them off. I waited for a sound to come back into focus but I heard none. The treetops however rustled by the wind that seemed to flow through the forest. The leaves were very loud as the wind washed over them. A small gust reached my face and I wondered why it felt so weak. I concluded that the wind was slower under the trees than above them. “Ok… What do I do?” I thought to myself trying to get a good look at my surroundings. “Might as well figure out how to fly.” I thought irritably. I tried lifting my head so I could see more than the thorn bush and the dark tree in front of me. I was able to angle my eye to my left and see the tree tops. I was on my right side and it made it easier to look up. I could feel the restriction of looking too far up as my eyes seemed to look to the sky. I realized I had a thing on my face that seemed to jut out of where my eye really was; but then I realized that I didn’t have an ‘eye’ per-se. The ‘optics’ that were attached to my face were tied into my nerves and it relayed information to my brain. As the pale grey image of an Advisor came to my head, so did its tongue and then the blue optical implant on the left side of its face came to mind. As my optics moved up, I could see more of my surroundings. I still couldn’t see what was behind me, but I saw many treetops that proved to me that I’m in a forest. As I dwelled on it, it began to sink in that I may not be on the Earth I remember. I began to panic as I realized I could very well be inside White Forest where the rebel base is located. If they found me incapacitated here, they’d try to kill me. My new realization that I may be in some other place sprung me to action as I tried to feel around like I did in my dream. The feeling of moving objects with my mind became a priority to me as I looked back down on the ground, to see if I could move anything. I noticed a dirt crusted rock that was in the ground, and immediately tried to rip it out of the earth. I was rewarded with success and my vision blurred as energy seemed to wrap around it. In fact, that rock was basically in front of my face and made me recoil in shock as I was greeted by that strange blur that surrounded it. The rock was pulled out of the ground abruptly and almost shot off into the distance if I didn’t catch it. I then brought it in front of me and pushed it away. I bumped it against the tree on accident before an idea came to mind. I then hit the tree again with the rock as hard as I could. Bark came off and the rock seemed to have lodged itself into the tree. I was momentarily stunned by the amount of energy I was able to push into it. I stared at it dumbfounded; then I snapped out of it and tried to remember what it was like to lift myself off the ground. Surprisingly, I was able to lift myself off the ground with relative ease. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t able to balance myself very well, and I started spinning in a clockwise motion. I began to spin faster, and then I used whatever mental abilities I had to stop myself from doing that and pushed myself the other way. It was a mistake as when I did that, my hovering ability seemed to have shut down to allow my mind powers to take over and I fell to the ground with an undignified thud. I was now lying on my left side, and could see that I was in a small clearing. I realized my ability to hover was from a device on my back; and my ability to use my mind to lift things was a separate ability. So using them both caused a tragic result. I concentrated on where I remember the sensation of being pulled upward originated, and I noticed a contraption on my back was still active. I then concentrated on making that thing lift me up. When I did, it auto balanced my form so I’d be right side up. I realized the mistake when I started it up the first time, I tried to control the movements myself when it should’ve compensated for me. I used a very gentle influence to pick myself off the ground with the machine, and within moments I was hovering six feet off the ground in an upright position. I felt satisfaction with my quick recovery and my swift understanding of my abilities. But now I was looking forward into an endless dark forest with an eerie sense of vulnerability. I felt exposed to anything that wanted to hurt me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind and concentrated on my current situation. After all, this felt too real to be a dream, so I tried to figure out how I would proceed. “Ok I got here by… wait a second…” I recalled the early morning hours of my mind slipping into foolishness. I barely recalled what I did, but when I realized I quite literally detonated my living room along with myself, my mind went blank. “D-did I die?” I thought apprehensively. My current situation was almost forgotten as I pondered my situation. “But wait, I feel fine. Did I actually die? Where am I now? Am I in Hell? Or maybe Purgatory? Am I in Heaven? No my Heaven wouldn’t look like this… but what would Heaven look like to me? Would it be a place that I’ve always wanted to go? Is this some sort of test, or someone’s idea of a sick joke? Ok, probably not a joke, there’s no way someone can do this to me in the real world. Or was I transported to a fantasy world like…” I stopped myself when I felt a faraway presence. “Ugh ok, I need to first figure out where I am. Then act on what happens… also, maybe figure out what I’m supposed to do… yeah, figuring out where I am is a priority.” I looked around and tried to note the forest I found myself in. I looked for a path before looking in the direction of the sensation I felt. Figuring I had nothing else to do, I went toward what I thought was a larger mind than those birds I felt earlier. I could tell it was somewhere on the ground, but it’s exact location was a mystery to me. I flew in its general direction and took note of the bumpy landscape. Whatever lived here must have to deal with weird inclines. I started to float forward silently and very gracefully dodge any thorn bushes and trees with ease. I was silently glad to be able to fly with very little stress. My mind wandered when I began thinking of the possibility that I’m hallucinating, and probably in a coma. If I’m right, then my entire body would have been burnt. Maybe this is why I don’t feel most of my body. I shook away my thoughts when I heard a roar and the sensation of whatever I was approaching seemed to move away from me quickly. I picked up the pace so I was moving at what I assumed could be considered a half sprint. I didn’t want to move too fast because I’d hate the idea of bumping into trees the moment I figured out how to fly. A thought then occurred to me that I could go above the trees and fly over them. But then I’d be exposing myself to the sky; and if this was the Half-Life world, then I’d rather not be noticed by any rebels who have rockets and bullets. I don’t know how strong I am, but if exploded metal can pierce the face of an Advisor like it could in my dream, then bullets would be able to kill me too. Besides, the Advisors seem to never actually do any fighting, so I assumed they weren’t front line units. Maybe generals? I recollected the information in my dream the more I thought about it. They were ‘advisors’ for the Overwatch, and basically called the shots. It was probably why Dr. Breen was talking to one on the big monitor in the citadel before I killed him… Yeah, I'm never going to be up late night’s playing new games again. After playing through the whole Half-Life 2 game on the weekend almost non-stop, it’s no wonder why I remember all of this. “If I wake up, I’ll never play games after ten again…” I paused for a moment and hovered in place. “Will I even wake up?” I thought morbidly. A roar rang out again and I was snapped back out of my stupor. But more so because it was close enough to make me jerk upward and hit the tree branches above me. I heard a swooshing sound below me and I moved swiftly forward over a few thorn bushes to turn around and face the creature that made the sound. I was momentarily shocked when I saw a Chimera of some sort growling angrily at my escape. I didn’t react in panic when I finally saw it. But its shape was weird, and I realized that right below it was a bloody corpse of a deer. It stopped trying to go through the bushes and just growled at me angrily. I was speechless… well it's not like I can say anything. I observed the situation before me looking between the dead deer and the lion Chimera. I noticed a scorpion tail on the back that looked like it was too short to hit anything in front of it. I assumed it was just for show, along with the wings that were spread out in a territorial display to block my path between me and its kill. I backed away slowly, recalling the environment behind me when I previously rushed toward it. I remembered there was nothing behind me so I just backed up enough so I’d be far out of its way. Might as well give this thing its space. I don’t want to be part of a conflict the moment I woke up. It eyed me suspiciously before looking back down at the dead deer and then back to me. It seemed to be sizing me up. It looked back at me and crouched down slightly, preparing for a chase. I thought quickly before I realized I should probably act like a bigger threat to it than that deer. Thinking back to the look of an advisor…which coincidently actually looks like a floating grey bean…I realized I didn’t seem intimidating, and was probably considered prey in its eyes. I reached out with my mind to grab the forest around me. All the bushes and tree tops in my immediate vicinity. Upon that action I heard it roar at me and step forward. I returned the display by growling an Advisor growl and moving the leaves and bushes in time with the growl. The lion hybrid seemed surprised by the movement of the forest and backed up in surprise. I was mesmerized by its emotional expression on its face. I then stopped moving my surroundings and backed up slightly; just to show it I didn’t want a confrontation. It seemed to ponder me for a moment before it did something that actually worried me. It nodded its head and turned around. Its jaws wrapped around the Deer’s chest and it pulled it apart in one stroke. It started dinning on its flesh while I just watched it in a stupor. “It nodded it’s head…NODDED.” I thought incredulously. “C-can it reason? Is it capable of higher brain function?” I thought with a renewed interest. “Wait, hold up a sec.” I thought reevaluating the creature. “That thing doesn’t look like anything in the Half-Life world. Half-Life is based off of the real world, so this thing not being a real creature means there’s no way I’m in the Half-Life world… ok, well now I don’t need to worry about rebels…” I thought relieved. “If nothing in the world knows what I am, or what I should be, then this basically means I have a clean slate.” I pondered with a sense of relief. I was snapped out of my thoughts when a loud crunch came to my attention. The creature seemed to be done with the deer and most of the meat was gone. Many of the bones were broken and even completely cleaned of meat. I was momentarily amazed that this creature with such a big mouth was able to precisely remove the meat from the bones to the point that the remains were white. I then felt disappointed that I missed it. It must have been very impressive to watch it happen so quickly too. All that was left was the head, which the lion thing seemed to ignore. It moved away from the corpse and laid down on its stomach and rolled on its back. It seemed to have a satisfied grin on its face, which again confused me. I thought for only a few moments as I watched it actually rub its belly like it just ate a satisfying meal. I then slowly hovered over to the corpse of the deer and peered at it. I began to recall the information in my dream and the importance of grey matter for my survival. I used my mind to pick up the untouched skull and detached it from the body silently. It floated over to me and I looked into its lifeless eyes. With a slightly sick feeling, I tried to stick out my tongue to poke it. But realized there was something in my way. The flap that covered my mouth rose up as I instinctively used its mechanisms to take it away from obscuring my mouth, and then I stuck out my tongue. I hesitantly touched the back of its head where I knew the skull was easiest to enter. Upon contact with my tongue, I seemed to analyze the intelligence of the creature. It was almost as intelligent as a human, but only with basic memory and understanding. Poor thing was terrified when it died. Its brain was coated in adrenaline pheromones that allowed it to think faster while trying to get away from the lion. I drove my tongue into the back of its skull without a second thought. It was extremely instinctive and I felt the need to do it like my life depended on it. Which it actually was. Surprisingly, after my tongue was inside the skull, the grey matter seemed to be absorbed by my tongue and quickly transferred to a pocket behind my face. I heard a startled rustling over to where the lion thing was laying and I instinctively moved my body to face it. The creature was looking at me with surprise before fading into curiosity. I continued to suck the brain dry and when I was done I dropped the skull to the floor. I never took my eyes off the creature. It seemed defensive and I decided to look away and down at the head I dropped to make it think I wasn’t interested. It worked and it sat back down but still stared at me. I pulled my tongue back into my body and closed the ‘flap’ that covered my mouth. I then looked back at the creature that seemed tense from my actions. It was crouched, but in a more defensive stance than a predatory one. I had a feeling that I wanted to be around it for a little while longer, so I lifted the deer skull and hovered it over to him. He looked at me suspiciously before dropping his guard and just stared at me. I didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment when it did that. I knew it was still hesitant to me so I stood still just taking in its features. Its muddy coat was orange or tan, its bat wings seemed like they were just as much for show as its scorpion tail. It seemed to sit up at over seven feet, but when it was on all fours it was about six feet or so. The length of the creature was a staggering ten feet long, while its buff muscular forelegs and body put it at least four feet wide. I was confused as to how this was an effective predator in a forest like this. But that wasn’t all too hard to figure out when I noticed some pushed down bushes behind it. Its size allows it to flatten forest objects and basically allow it to leap up and down inclines easily. Maybe the wings help it push aside branches. The need for the scorpion tail was still a mystery to me. But considering its trouble with going over thick bushes… or its unwillingness to do that with thorn bushes… made me reconsider my analysis. But then again thorn bushes are damaging to the body. And they weren’t exactly everywhere. Just in large clusters. It stood up and eyed me suspiciously as I remained motionless just staring at it. I realized I made it more nervous by doing that, so I backed up and gave it a court bow in hopes it had enough brain function to understand my meaning. I noticed it relaxing slightly and I started to move away. I heard rustling behind me and looked back. Seeing the creature walk in the opposite direction, no longer interested in me. I turned to face away from it and started floating off into the unknown. As I floated along I could hear distant chirps of birds. I moved toward them in hopes to observe more wildlife and maybe stay away from any dangerous creatures. But that lion thing still remained in my mind. I instinctively flew lower to the ground and stopped. I turned around to where the creature was walking off. I couldn’t sense it anymore, nor could I see it. I used my mind to open up the tree canopy and flew through it into the open sky. When my eyes went over the landscape before me my mind seemed to slow. Before me was a hilly landscape with an imposing forest. The tree tops were surprisingly darkly shaded despite the warm sun beating down on them. In the distance were mountains that rose up to the clouds. The hill side seemed to bustle with flying wildlife and the eerie feeling of the forest left. I realized I could easily fly across the tops of these trees and be able to observe the Chimera I just met without giving it any indication that I was here. I flew off in the direction of our encounter at a good fast pace that didn’t worry me. Without things to dodge, flying was simpler than walking. I looked into the distance and noticed fog covering some of the dark tree tops. I was about to open up the canopy to let myself back through to get a better sense of where the creature went before a glint of something odd flashed across my limited peripherals. I looked back toward one of the most vertical mountains and noticed a white structure in the side of the mountain. I stared at it in confusion and my optics seemed to zoom in for me. It wasn’t surprising when my optics did that, and I took it as a given. When the structure’s size grew, I realized there were white spires on top of it. The more I looked at it, the more I realized it was in the shape of a bowl and somehow installed in the mountain. I was silently in awe of the architecture as it seemed so tranquil. But the moment I saw it, I was certain that I was no longer on earth. If a building was built in the side of a mountain, everyone would know hear about it. It’s like knowing the tallest building in the world, or the Apollo space program. Everyone would know about it at some point, and if I forgot about it and saw it again I’d know what it is. Even when the name escapes you. The Eiffel Tower has nothing on this thing's ingenuity. Building a structure that’s literally hanging off the side of a mountain like that is an achievement you can’t exactly hide from the world. But as I watched I saw activity. The distance between me and this building was too far so I could only barely see it like a blur. But the white on grey cliff contrast was enough to make me notice it. But since the distance was so far, it was slightly foggy, so I missed it the first time I glanced at the mountain. I stared in awe at the spectacle before my thought process began exploding with the possibilities. The Chimera wasn’t a priority anymore. Something intelligent made that structure, something organized, something very skilled and talented. Or many people working on it at once. I even saw a waterfall that confirmed my suspicion that it was actually hanging. “Know what? Fuck Kansas, I’m not on EARTH anymore Todo.” I thought nostalgically. Now it was clear to me that I’m not in a coma. Even if my mind was to build a fantasy world for me to move around in while I was unconscious; it not only wouldn't feel this lucid, but it would have objects I can at least recognize from the real world. I never remembered any castle or whatever hanging off of a cliff with a waterfall. Nor do I know any lion with a scorpion tail and bat wings… actually no, that one makes sense in a way. But still this was too creative for my mind to think up. I refocused my efforts to both discover more about the Chimera, but also figure out what exactly owns this world. I could tell an advanced civilization made that structure, and I want to find out what they were. I looked the other way toward where the lion thing wandered off too. I continued floating over the dark forest while keeping a mental note where the castle thing was. As much as my curiosity panged me to investigate the castle, I wanted to get a feel for the wild first before dealing with civilization. If they didn’t accept me then I need somewhere to go. And befriending a lion might help me stay sane if I’m actively trying to remain on its good side. There’s only so much a human can take without being around something they can talk too. This lion being capable of at least understanding him could mean the difference between going insane or keeping my sanity. Wait hold on… “If that lion thing can use expressions and understand meaning in my posture… and even nodding it’s head… could it be part of the civilization that BUILT that white thing?” I thought quizzically. I now had a new objective. Learn more about the dangerous creature. I rushed off over the dark forest and a few moments later I could feel another presence. It was so similar to the creature I just met that I figured it was. Only there was a lot more creatures around it. I figured they were its pack but I realized they were too different. It was like figuring out the bird was a bird and the Chimera was not a bird. But as I continued toward it I realized there was a surprising lack of life behind me. What exactly caused the life to flee from where I woke up in the first place? As I approached the place where I could feel the Chimera I realized that the many other creatures I thought I felt… was actually just one big one. One really big one. I stopped and looked across the tree tops. The light from the sun seemed to be more welcoming as I approached the area where I felt the presences. The forest behind me that was dark and eerie seemed to disappear as a new kind of forest took its place. The ground was visible here and there, and where I could see the ground was a bog of some sort. I was about to question why this swamp land seemed brighter than the dark forest behind me before I heard a shriek. The shriek came from something very large, and I looked over to my right and saw four heads pop up out of the water and look down at something. I stared at the creature with little surprise because I knew I wasn’t on earth anymore. But I questioned how much the thing had to eat to get that big. Its heads rose up a full twenty feet above the tallest trees, and it roared angrily. Its tan scales were covered in green plant life that came up with it when it left the water. The water itself seemed to run off its scales so fluently that I figured they were water proofed to the point where no water can remain on them. In a moment the creature was completely dry. Its four heads were almost snake-like with wide jaws, but their eyes were on the front of each head like a human, rather than on the side like a snake. Its skulls seemed thick, and its mouths seemed toothless but sharp like a snapping turtle. Its main body seemed lizard like, but thick and buff. The heads connected to the body at four separate points which made me internally smile at the sheer ridiculousness that evolution let this thing go through. But I looked at what it was glaring at and my nonexistent heart stopped. The Chimera was on the ground looking up fearfully at the large creature. The moment I put my eyes on it, it began to back away slowly. Never taking its eyes off the four headed creature. I began moving toward the scene while unnoticed by the four headed monster. I saw one of the heads rear up and shoot down with its mouth open. The Chimera realized it and tried to run but I could tell the head was moving too swiftly. It barely registered in my mind when I made a loud shrieking noise with my mouth and tried to distract the creature. I felt satisfied when all four heads of the creature seemed to recoil in pain as I assaulted it with my mind. But winced slightly when I saw the lion doing the same. I stopped and picked up my pace toward them. They recovered quickly and all looked around for whatever did that. I sent out a small painless pulse. I then realized one of the heads spotted me and bowed slightly. The action made the others look at it and then toward me. It was easy to figure out that each head had a personality. But why that was so confused me. I let out another pulse to everything around me and moved to a space behind the lion. He eyed me with recognition but then caution as I continued to send out pulses. I looked up at the four headed creature as two of its heads began to rear. One started to lunge, but I assaulted its mind violently with ease. It screeched in pain while its companions looked at it with confusion. I did the same to the other three heads and upon doing so, the legs started to shake. Each head felt pain. The creature started to step away and flee from the encounter, knocking over trees and anything else in its way as it ran. I watched it go for a few moments before locking my eyes with the lion-Chimera. I floated down slowly while stopping my mental assault on the creature that was now running. It seemed to keep moving despite my relenting and I felt satisfaction from my actions. It then occurred to me that I had no idea I could do that until now. Assaulting something’s mind seemed like it would be more difficult and taxing. But I realized it was when I felt weaker from the ordeal. The Chimera looked at me suspiciously but didn’t run, determined to stand its ground while the more imposing threat ran. It regarded me as I stopped six feet away from it. I gave it a nod of my head and watched it intently. It seemed to raise a confused eyebrow at me before nodding its head back to me. I felt I might be pushing it if I tried to get more out of it. It just saw me scare away something twenty times bigger than it and might feel threatened if I tried anything else. I just left it as that and flew off to its right toward an open space of the bog. I was satisfied with my choice; I was able to save the Chimera-thing without harming the much larger thing. I felt like I got paragon points like in Mass Effect by not killing it… even though I doubted I could kill it if I tried. I momentarily slowed down to take a better look at the murky swamp water under me. I was actually very happy to see my reflection despite it not being human like I remember it. I took a closer look at myself and noticed a strange ring with weird symbols that was outlining my pale face. I saw the grey cloth that wrapped around my body that acted like a suit. It was attached to the black ring with the weird letters on it that was around my face. There was a dark grey mask on my face that covered my mouth. I reasoned that it was the thing that obstructed me before and I lifted it to stick out my tongue. I observed as the murky reflection did the same and I brought my tongue back into my mouth. I paused and contemplated my situation again. “I’m no longer human…” I thought to myself. “I’m no longer in my home… I’m no longer able to drive a car. I can’t see my friends anymore. I can’t see my family… why am I calm about that?” I questioned myself as I stared at the reflection. “The situation I’m in seems so surreal. I should be dead right? What am I doing here? How did I get here? Hell why am I an Advisor!?” I thought irritably. I pondered my situation but a moment more. My reflection seemed almost pitiful as I stared at every detail. Every white wrinkle on my pale face. Every movement of my optics as I turned it to regard the details. Every mechanical implant that seemed to wrap around me. I lifted my head and continued on. I saw a bird fly across the swamp swiftly, oblivious to my presence. My optics somehow landed on the strange structure on the side of the mountain again. I remembered my fascination with it. It seemed so far away, but so captivating. I flew down the open space in the bog. I continued to move forward as grass seemed to grow right out of the water and into the sky. Small paths of land seemed to begin and end in what I now assume is a very wide and shallow river. A few croaks break out as the wildlife begins to act up again from the aftermath of a giant creature storming through it. I listened to the world around me wondering how I could possibly hear this. I couldn’t seem to pinpoint where I was receiving the sound. It was as if my whole body seemed to process it. I only figured this out now because I’m surrounded by noise. The wind seems to have died down since leaving the dark forest. Then I felt something impressive. A few new sensations seemed to appear from a very far distance ahead of me. For some reason, they seemed different from the minds I felt in the bog. The reason why I found it impressive was because I could actually feel them from farther away than I could anything else. Even the Chimera that I left behind didn’t catch my senses until I was much closer than this. It felt as if the creatures giving this off were mentally capable. As in being able to lift things like me. But they only felt like that, and they were too far away to be sure what they were. I picked up the pace toward those creatures. Opting to fly back into the forest to keep myself from being seen. I slowed down as I had to dodge logs and adjust altitude to keep myself from hitting low branches and bushes. The bog seemed less dense than the dark forest, but there was more obstructing my flying abilities. With slow and tedious effort I was able to find my way toward the creatures that I sensed earlier. But as I weaved between trees, I began to feel something else. It seemed like the creatures I felt had more to them than I thought. I got closer and the sensation of more creatures that were similar but not as capable became more apparent. It was as if they were subspecies of the same creature. They seemed to be on par with them mentally, but not as capable as I am. They also seemed to have more to them than the Chimera I felt. My original assumption that the lion-Chimera was the dominant species seemed to wither away as I began to feel the inner workings of their minds. Their feelings seemed to be clearer to me. But I was confused because in the dream about being an Advisor I didn’t feel this when I felt Alyx and Gordon. But dreams aren’t very exact when thinking about the real world. I continued to weave between trees and upon reaching the treeline I stopped and tried to look out of it. What I saw both gave me hope, and worry. I saw small buildings that seemed to be similar to homes that I’ve seen in suburbs. But they were smaller and more decorative. Obviously the creatures here must be big on beauty. But when I got a look at what was in the village I stopped and looked quizzically at them. “Why are there so many horses?”