Chapter 1 Burnt in the Morning
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?”
Author's Note
So far there isn't much character development that I could have achieved this chapter. However I do plan on readdressing the issue again and again. Sorry if you guys find this slow. I was working on detail and this will be the placeholder for the stories quality later on.
Edit: WOW just realized EXACTLY how dull the first chapter is....I mean it's literally a few thousand words without much going on other than...well...actually setting scene really. Ugh ok well the second chapter is already out and I'm sorry for you guys who either suffered through this or were extremely bored and left...ok well I can't apologize to them because they're not going to read this. So I'm going to write a summary about this chapter here.
SUMMARY (By scene)
First Scene: OC has a dream about Half Life 2, the game he spent an all nighter playing. In the dream it explains that an Advisor relies on a protein solution to allow it to survive and use mental abilities. This solution can fuel it's 'mind' and allows it to lift objects and crush metal, as well as break bone. If an Advisor runs out of protein solution then it dies. There are two ways it can get this solution. Through synthesizing it from grey matter extracted from a living creatures brain. Or at a life support hub (Like in the barn where advisors were first introduced to the player).
Second Scene: He wakes up after a one hour worth of sleep and tries to go turn off his alarm but hits the "snooze" button. Being extremely tired doesn't stop him from having work in the morning, he decides it's best to go downstairs and start breakfast. His half awake mind makes him believe very dream like thoughts, such as things he remembers from the Advisor dream. He turns his stove on to make pancakes while constantly getting confused by his actions. More specifically, he goes to get ingredience and he forgets what he's doing once he does something minor like taking out a plate or spoon. By this time the alarm clock starts beeping again and like in his dream, he believes the only way to turn it off is by setting it on fire. He goes to his fireplace and turns on the gas but forgets a match. The obvious happens and he blows himself up.
Third and Final Scene: (This scene is the rest of the story with no scene changes.)
Our currently unnamed OC wakes up in a forest, however his sleepy state seemed to travel with him in death. But his body appeared to be left behind. He then discovers he has less control over his motor movements, and this makes him raise a metaphorical eyebrow. (Advisors look like the creature in the cover image) He discovers his body has physically changed to an unrecognizable form. Before he can even process his new figure though, he discovers he can't see, and he's able to 'feel' the minds of nearby birds. At first the ability seems a little limited, but as time progresses --and after he discovers he has "optics" rather than eyes-- he's able to gain more control over his body and eventually activate a device on his back that allows him to fly (he does not have wire frame arms attached to it like the advisors in half life 2 episode 2). When he's finally fully awake, and soon realizes what he is (I don't remember how he does...sorry authors don't remember the details very well either...) he quickly sets off in a direction where he 'feels' something. Being an Advisor, he can sense life forms. (How else could they pick out Eli? Also they couldn't sense Dog, but he's a robot...so...)
He approaches the object he senses and while heading toward it he spaces out while testing his mental abilities. In his musings, he almost gets clawed to death by a Manticore who became territorial after it killed a deer. Our Advisor OC floats over nearby thorn bushes to get away from the Manticore. He calls it a "Chimera" or "Lion" because it looks that way. (He also thinks the scorpion tail is for show). The Manticore looks like it's going to attack him so he shakes the leaves with his mental abilities. Which makes it not want to attack him. He notices how the Manticore looks at him like it's 'thinking'. The Manticore raises its eyebrows when OC acts passive and "waits" for him to continue doing what it's doing. It then eats the deer, and leaves the skull intact. After which it rests nearby with a full belly. OC Advisor floats the head toward him and experiments with his advisor skills. Mindlessly and without a second thought of doubt or disgust, he cracks open the skull with his tongue and takes the grey matter to keep himself alive. (He doesn't question it very much, which comes into play later.)
He flies away to give the Manticore space after it looked up to see him do that. Making the Manticore wary of him. He backed away so he wouldn't make it feel like it needed to defend itself. He floated along in the forest for anything to do before thinking more about the "Chimera Lion" thing. He realized he would probably go insane if he didn't have anything to talk to, or at least communicate him. He remembered it's apprehensiveness toward him so he didn't want to approach it again. He decided to get a better look at his surroundings and he popped out of the tree canopy to see the expansive forest. He also got a look at Canterlot Castle in the distance and it proved to him he wasn't on earth. He went back into the forest with the idea of making first contact and remembered that the Manticore acted like it understood him, and even questioned him through facial expressions.
So OC Advisor goes back to track down the Manticore but isn't sure about it due to the previous encounter. However upon arrival to this new location which was a Bog. He noticed the Manticore was being stared down by a Hyrda. After quickly figuring out how to attack it with his mind, it ran away. The Manticore regarded him oddly, and unnamed OC Advisor decided that it was better that they go separate ways for now, to keep it from assuming he was a threat. As time went on and OC continued through the bog, he figured it was better to go through the forest. He thought the intelligent life of this world might feel frightened by him if he appeared to them randomly. He also discarded the notion that the Manticore was from the race that built Canterlot Castle that he observed earlier. But he never let go of that. He saw a town beyond the tree line and moved toward it to see what he thought were horses...and the chapter ended.
That's the summary for those of you who don't want to read this. More character interaction and characterization comes in chapter 2 so it won't be as difficult to read. Thank you for reading the summary. And for having faith that this story might still interest you. If you weren't impressed then thank you for at least coming to the authors notes to read anyway.
Chapter 2 Meeting The Indiginous Population
I stared dumbfounded at the creatures that gave my mind a weird feeling. While I looked at the horse-like creatures and began to take in their odd features, I began feeling strange. I felt almost like I was in an eerie place. Turning around I noticed that I was in the dark forest I woke up in. I went deeper and flew low so I didn’t attract too much attention. I wanted to observe this society for a little while before I started doing anything with it.
I glanced to my right and angled my body so I could see the town again. Without much to go on, I began heading along the edge of the forest just trying to get a good view of the creatures. I then looked back to the left and searched for a position to observe them. I noticed a particularly stubby tree with low hanging branches. I flew over to it and separated the leaves so I could tuck myself inside. I went around to the back of the tree and opened a hole in the canopy. After I did that I went through it and slowly let all my weight down on the branches.
I began to sink and when I finally stopped moving the tree was giving me natural camouflage. The branches snapped back into position as I let go of them and covered my whole body. Even though I was heavier than my human self, I was able to fit very well into the leaf fortress. I moved my optic around and made a space where I could peer out. The leaves moved to fill in the spaces and I pulled them from the branches. I was happily content with the hiding spot I picked. While it felt childish to hide in a tree, it did get the job done. I was also very content with how much to branches sagged so I could actually be a part of the canopy and still be able to see out from under it.
My optics zoomed in so I could see the town in more detail. My eyes slowly scanned until they rested on an individual horse creature. This one seemed to have a yellowish coat and a green mane. I at first thought this was dye, but after seeing some of the others before I figured this was their natural color. She seemed to have an unusual symbol of grapes on her flank. What was more confusing was that she had a picnic basket in her mouth. I assumed that’s how they’d carry objects. I zoomed out slightly when she disappeared behind a log.
The tree was in my way, and I lost sight of her. I looked slightly to the right and I saw something strange poking over the bushes. I zoomed in to figure out it was the top of a hat. It swiveled and a hoof appeared beside it and started to move back and forth. I was surprised by this gesture as it was reminiscent of a wave. The yellow coated horse I lost sight of earlier appeared again and disappeared behind the bush that had obscured my view.
“They’re having a picnic?” I thought intrigued.
I zoomed back out no longer interested in what they were doing. I panned to the left and found in the distance a gathering of other horses. Each of them has marks of their own but all had different coat colors. After a while of observing I realized that they looked pretty similar, and the only real difference between most of them was what color they were. I felt it odd that this was natural. That or dye is extremely common and easy to make. But I doubted it because there seemed to be a reason for it to exist. The fact that they were similar in shape made distinguishing them from others difficult. Their myriad of different colors solved this problem.
I began to feel foolish as I was beginning to notice less and less from these creatures. They seemed to either be wandering aimlessly until they find a spot to sit down. I realized that I was looking at a park of some sort, and there was no way I could possibly learn more about them if all the ones I’m observing are eating sandwiches and sitting around with goofy smiles on their faces. I let my mind wonder as aimlessly as these horses.
“I’m already bored with them. They’re not doing anything here but relaxing. I guess it’s actually pretty interesting since I don’t usually see parks this crowded. I wonder if it’s a weekend or a holiday?” I wondered looking away. I saw a horse on a park bench watching the birds. “Unless they just value nature more than anyone in my home town did. The parks were mostly vacant there except on weekends where the kids just went outside to play. Most just stay inside now though.” I thought, reminiscing about my home town.
I let my musings hanging as I redirected my focus back at the horses. From what I saw, they didn’t have much dexterity to use tools, considering they’re always on all fours. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that they actually had more dexterity than I thought. That one horse waved its hoof, and another carried a basket with their mouth. Looking back at the group closer to town I noticed a horse holding something up with their hoof. When I zoomed in with my optics I noticed it was a sandwich.
“Yeah, the Chimera was more entertaining than this.” I thought dully. “Do I even want to meet them?” I pondered deeply. “If they’re intelligent and find me dangerous they’d come after me, right? Or alternatively, if they find me really interesting they’ll just follow me around to see what I’d do… ugh, are the possibility of losing my freedom of movement could outweigh the fun of meeting a new species.” I thought irritably.
I concentrated on where I felt the horses and realized the sheer liveliness of the town. Granted I’ve lived in larger places than this that had big festivals and traveling carnivals arriving yearly. But the activity that went along with these events was purely confined to those areas that they set up in. The entire town felt like it was participating in something. Everyone was outside and doing something with their neighbors or so I assumed. Many of them lingered in large groups. But there wasn’t anything I could see that gave me an indication of what the event was.
The more I thought about it, the less I knew. But my thoughts were interrupted by the rattling of leaves crashing against each other in a big gust of wind. The gust seemed almost unnatural and man-made. When I refocused myself I realized something shocking. Above me were the same beings that were on the ground. But they were in the sky… flying. I was momentarily confused by this sudden revelation. I could feel the horses minds in front of me, but they were also slightly above me or even high above the cloud layer. I had no idea how they got up there, but as I began to ponder the existence of planes I split open the canopy with my mind.
Looking up, I discovered a rainbow contrail flying off into the distance and then circling the town. It started doing weird things like going into dives and making tight turns. I looked around it and saw a few other creatures scattered around the sky. Some flew while others appeared to stand on clouds. When I realized I was exposed to the sky above I shrank down into the canopy and closed it behind me. I was slightly mortified by the idea of a race Pegasus horses trying to find me. Since I fly and they seem to fly faster, it’s a no brainer that I’d never get any peace and quiet if I revealed myself to them.
It would be even worse if they discover me unprepared for their interaction. I need to think ahead if I want to meet with these horses and discover how they built that structure on the side of the mountain. Or even better, how to get home. Unless I’m actually dead and I’m just playing through this fantasy world until… something happens.
I backed out of my leaf camouflage and slowly hovered toward the ground. I turned around and started flying back into the dark and eerie forest to escape the creatures that fly so I can come back another day. But then I stopped and thought for a moment. Looking down at the grass and dirt I realized I had nowhere else to go. When night time rolled along I’d also have to think of a place to sleep. And the Chimera thing probably wouldn’t want me snuggling up with it. Not only that, but I want answers as to where I am. And this is definitely not earth, and the intelligent horses were proof of that.
I looked back toward the town. I stared at the tree line that separated me from the park that the horses were relaxing at. I began to feel slightly self-conscious as I started planning on introducing myself. The possibility of ruining their good day was astronomical. The possibility of them trying to kill me seemed reasonable. The possibility of them driving me out of their town… but there’s a problem with that. These creatures seem more social than the people I’m used to. If I was to go in there and start snarling in Advisor, then what would they think of me. If a creature that could float like me wandered into my home town, I’d probably… actually I’d give it a funny look while keeping my distance.
“Wait yeah, I’m not exactly a very scary thing to look at. Hell the lion-Chimera-thing at first tried to pounce at me. If I don’t look like a predator then I shouldn’t have much to worry about right?” I thought to myself. My mind kept on replaying scenarios through my head of what could happen. Each time the situation got worse, but the more I tried to be reasonable and not think of the negative, the more I realized there wasn’t much that I should be afraid of. “But it still doesn’t help if I don’t know what they’re like… I’m going to have to interact with one. But not with so many watching or I’d make first contact too soon… maybe I can make them come to me? But how?” I pondered.
I looked around the eerie underbrush and looked for anything that can help me communicate. Then a new thought came to mind. “Maybe I can see how they act when confronting something they don’t understand… wait yes! I can just use my mental power and send some pulse like I did with the four headed thing! Yeah! I can do that to see how they react.” I thought confidently. This idea seemed sensible at the time.
I surveyed my surroundings and flew closer to the tree line. Flying low, I kept out of sight. When I was twenty feet from the tree line I floated up into the tree canopy to hide. I was relieved when no one came to investigate as I rustled in the tree tops. When I was fully shrouded in leaves I started to get comfortable and opened up a small leaf window for my optics to look through. I knew I might have to stay where I was until sundown if they started searching for me. Or alternatively if they run and hide, then I’d assume they either won’t be friendly if I floated into town, or they’d just be afraid of me. If they’re afraid of me then it would take more effort on my part to appear friendly.
I was about to begin my shriek when I realized the leaves that covered me were actually brighter than the ones behind me deeper in the forest. I contemplated that for a moment before snapping back to the current event. Although I was much closer to the horses now and I decided to hold off for a while longer to wait and see what they do. To my surprise, I heard voices coming to my left. I peered at the source with my optics and spotted two horses walking along side each other and walking along the tree line.
“Did you see Rainbow Dash earlier?” asked a male voice.
My mind shut down.
“Yeah, that was pretty cool!” Responded an enthusiastic female voice.
“English?” I thought apprehensively.
I regarded the two ponies with interest. They slowly came into view of my optics and I tracked their movements.
“Oh stallion, I thought I’d never see tricks like that anywhere other than a Wonderbolts show,” said the male excitedly. “Rainbow’s got some moves,” he praised. “Oh hey, this is the spot I mentioned earlier,” he said pausing to point a hoof at the location in front of me.
“Right here?” responded the female voice. “Seems awfully close to the Everfree Forest...” she said nervously.
“What? Just because we’re close to the forest doesn’t mean something bad will happen,” he responded confidently. “Hey, maybe something interesting will show up.” He said teasingly.
“Was that my queue?” I thought good-humoredly.
“Don’t joke like that!” She hissed back.
They moved into view and I could tell the one farthest from the tree line was the woman I heard. She was giving the guy a warning look and he was smiling away calmly. The girl had long green hair and a grey coat, while the guy had yellow short hair and a tan coat. They slowed to a stop and the girl faced walked in front of him to face him. They both sat down in the cut grass facing each other.
The guy gave her a mocking grin. “Hey, don’t tell me you believe in superstition. The Everfree is just a forest; it can’t send stuff at us every time we bad mouth it.” He replied holding his grin.
The girl frowned deeply. “Yeah, but it’s been spitting out a lot of weird things lately,” she shot back in a mood-crushingly dull tone. “I mean just a few months ago Cerberus came to Ponyville and started wrecking the place. A few months earlier an Ursa Minor was dragged in by two colts!” she said warily. “I just don’t want to risk the Everfree sending something else at us.” she finished unhappily.
The guy raised an eyebrow. “Dang,” he said. “You’re a buzz-kill,” he mocked, receiving a glare from the girl.
“Everfree Forest? Ponyville? Colts? Ursa something? Wait he even said Stallion earlier right? Yeah ok, so I know the opposite of stallion is mare. Colt is… whatever… but pony? They didn’t look like perfect horses but I’m not ready to call them ponies just because it happens to be a town name.” I thought to myself while analyzing their conversation.
“Look, everypony knows there’s something going on in the Everfree,” added the mare.
“Everypony? Ok, they’re ponies… but if this conversation is just a little too convenient for me.” I thought suspiciously. “Do they actually know I’m here? If so then they’re great actors. That or very informative when talking.” I mentally sighed.
“Everypony also knows that it isn’t a daily occurrence,” retorted the stallion more seriously. “Besides, most of the weird stuff that goes on here was because of locals acting up,” he said giving her an unimpressed glare.
I decided that was all I needed to hear. I focused my mental abilities around me and I shrieked letting out an unseen wave of energy that affected everyone’s mind. The first two to feel it where the ponies in front of me. They both shot their eyes over to the forests treeline and stared at it like it was going to pounce at them. I looked past them and noticed the entire bustling town had stopped moving. The ambience of their talking and moving was almost unnoticeable at first; but now after its absence I remembered it well, and now it was completely gone. Everyone looked off in the direction of the forest. As I panned my optics to look at all the distracted eyes.
I was surprised to see them all completely frozen in place. Some of the ponies seemed to take hesitant steps forward, unsure if they want to investigate or not. Others seemed to try to usher their friends away from the treeline, most of them responded, but some of the braver seemed to walk forward toward the treeline and scan it more thoroughly. I was worried that they’d find me if they started checking the nearest trees. I was hiding in one just on the edge of the forest so there was a good chance they might spot me. I backed up slightly, but when the leaves rustled I realized my mistake. The leaves rubbed against my clothing and made a dragging noise not unlike the wind.
I froze as the sound of leaves didn’t actually time up with the wind, and that the silence made the noise very distinguishable to those around me. My heart sank. I looked down nervously at the two ponies I was observing earlier; discovering to my chagrin that they were looking directly at me. I couldn’t tell if they could see me or they just heard me but they were definitely looking at bushel of leaves. I noticed they weren’t making direct eye contact with my optics so I hoped they were just scanning the leaves to find whatever made the noise. They remained stock still for a few moments while just staring at me. I began to feel nervous and wondered if I made a mistake.
“Did you hear that?” whispered the mare to the stallion nervously.
“Yeah,” whispered the stallion keeping his composure.
“S-should we back up?” she asked still whispering.
The stallion thought for a moment before saying. “M-maybe it’s a pony?” he whispered back to the mare. “H-hello?” he started hesitantly.
“Shh!” the mare hissed. “Don’t talk to it!” she whispered sternly. “We don’t know if it’s friendly!” she said quietly.
The stallion gave her a short glare. “Yeah, well we won’t know if it’s not a pony either.” he whispered back unsure of himself.
“Wait is he seriously going to do what I think he’s going to do?” I thought precariously.
“Hello? I-I think I heard you in there.” he said loudly, causing some other ponies to look in his direction. “A-are you stuck or something?” he asked.
I looked up and noticed some of the closer ponies looking at him curiously. I winced as I noticed those closest to the two in front of me started to trot over. Five of them in all. But it was big enough of a crowd to make him feel obligated to continue. Before he noticed them he looked to the mare on his left for guidance. When all he got nothing but a nervous look back, he flared his nostrils and huffed before looking back up at my general direction. At this point he noticed the sound of movement behind him and looked over his shoulder to see ponies approaching. He seemed to puff up slightly as confidence grew, presumably because of a herd instinct. They started looking in his general direction, which was toward me.
“Uh is anypony there?” he asked out loud.
I couldn’t answer his questions through words so I remained still and quiet.
“Are you stuck?” he asked again, in a normal tone. “I know you’re in there, we heard you,” he said matter-o-factually. He paused for a moment before speaking up again. “Did you do that… thing earlier? Can you do it again?” he said apprehensively.
“…I could use this to make first contact.” I thought to myself. “But is it worth it right now? I just got here and I barely know customs. It’s too dangerous to talk to them now… right?” I thought considerably terrified.
“O-ok, d-do you want me to come get you out of there?” he continued, without the conviction in his voice.
I figured I couldn’t stop them from investigating even if I continued to shut off all communication. They’d eventually feel safe enough to check the tree. Or at least I figured that. I was never very good in stressful situations like this, and seemingly always got myself in situations like this where I had little to no control. Of course the situation with the Chimera when I first met it was stressful, but there was only one of them, and there was four feet of thorn bushes between us; plus a lot of breathing room to flee. These ponies were no more than ten feet away but the only thing keeping me from running is a chance at communication; with the possibility of being hunted down if they see me.
“Ok,” he said to his mare friend. “I’m going to check the tree.” He said confidently.
She nodded her head in confirmation but she had a concerned frown on her face. “Be careful,” she suggested uneasily.
Now I was very nervous and slightly afraid. Not only were the stakes high for this situation, but it was very sudden. I’d rather deal with someone less confident. As I waited for him to approach the treeline as I kept trying to figure out how to escape if need be. In my musings of escaping I happened to look up, noticing movement by the small town. It took only a moment for me to realize that some of the ponies were trotting away to safety in the buildings. Some ponies were just watching them with unsure looks on their faces. My optics landed on what I thought was a very confused mare looking around with a hint of panic on her face. She was sitting on the outskirts of town watching the group of ponies in front of me.
Our little conversation was causing a lot of unnecessary attention. I needed to think fast to end it without causing too much damage. If I continued then the whole town will go into an uproar and turn what was once a happy day into a paranoid disaster. I looked down at the ponies in front of me and realized that my responses were leaving an impression on them. They stared at my location with curious expressions that no longer seemed apprehensive. The stallion spoke up again.
“So…” he started. “Ok I’m going in,” he said with conviction and started trotting forward.
At this moment I realized I had to leave immediately. “If I left now they might see me! But how do I leave without attracting too much attention?” I thought for a moment as he got closer. “Wait… why not attract as much attention as possible?” I thought to myself with a cleaver plan in mind.
I recollected the locations of the tree trunks in my vicinity and grabbed them with my telekinetic powers. I pulled slightly to make the trees around me start to shake and bend toward me. They started to cover me up and my last image of the ponies in front of me was shock and awe. With little effort I was able to bend the trees enough that they elicited the sound of splintering wood. Without second thought, I lifted five trees into the air with an unseen force. I started to fly backward while taking the trees with me, keeping me concealed in a leafy fortress.
I picked up my pace but realized my strain was talking a tiresome toll on me. After backing up a sufficient distance I tipped the trunks forward to make the leafy tops face them and blocked their view of me rather than just cover my body. I dropped them and dove behind the concealing trees that now formed a wall of forest canopy that separated me from the group. To my dismay, the trees didn’t form a perfect wall and they started sagging, which made a large hedge made of tree leaves. I dove down quickly, so I was no more than a meter off the ground while I backed up. I couldn’t hear any voices or surprised screams of any sort on the other side of my improvised wall; so I assumed I left them speechless and in shock.
With a sigh of relief, I spun my bean-shaped body to face the darker parts of the forest and abruptly made my escape. I moved as quickly as I could while keeping close to the tree canopy thinking I’ll lose them quickly if I was higher up and away from the hindering flora below. I reconsidered my flawed logic when I realized the branches were beginning to start lower to the ground and the only clear line of sight is anything above the ground. I rolled my optical eye at my clumsiness and lowered myself to the ground. The forest was rife with thick hedges and wide bushes that obscured my path. But the device on my back made it easy to avoid them. As I flew, the forest began to grow darker and mist started appearing at the low ground.
The sensation of many minds behind me slowly began to fade as I delved deeper into the forest. But the massing sensation of wildlife before me made me hesitate. I could feel many creatures I’ve yet to meet in the dense forest, but I paused only to consider the possibility of meeting something more dangerous than the Chimera. Last time I zoned out while thinking and almost got myself killed. I only noticed the lion-Chimera when it missed me. If I wanted to venture into the wilderness again, I’d need to be cautious and not slip up.
With that in mind, I continued floating along the tops of the bushes. I kept at a steady pace while I was constantly scanning back and forth for anything that looked suspicious. I often just darted my optics back and forth because of the limited peripheral vision that they gave me. The wind began to blow again overhead and drowned out the sound of the indigenous wildlife. The sound of buzzing insects and loud bug noises rang out from the forest around me. I was surprised to hear a cricket chirping in the dark forest. As my cautious glances became a well-oiled system, my mind began to wander.
“Ok I think I’m safe, for the most part. Although I have no idea how long that’s going to last.” I mused cynically. “I’ve made contact with the species that I assume made that building on the mountainside. Not sure though. Have to find out more. Ok ok, now I need to think of food and wa-wait… do Advisors need that?” I thought. I stopped moving forward and hovered in place while I contemplated my needs.
“I don’t feel hungry, or thirsty… But I feel a little less than one-hundred percent. Like I was drained and not fueled back up all the way. Maybe my dream has an answer?” I thought analytically. “Ok I remember something about protein… wait no protein solution! And I had to hook up to life support for the stuff. But there isn’t any Combine Stations are there? No. Wait, I remember I was able to eat brains or something to replenish my solution. Ugh, I don’t want–” My mind halted faster than my body did earlier.
I very clearly remember gorging myself on the brain of a deer very early on in my quest to figure out where I was. Or where I should or shouldn’t go. But that action felt so natural that I didn’t think more on it. I began to ponder why I felt no regret for driving my tongue into the deer’s skull. I reasoned that it was probably because it was already dead; but I at least should’ve thought more on it before I dropped the matter. Granted there was a lion-thing that had most of my attention at the time, but shouldn’t I have been a little shaky after that? Not even a tinge of disgust for further desecrating its already damaged remains? What about me changed other than my body?
My questions remained unanswered. I still didn’t have sufficient information to come to any conclusion. There was just too much that I needed to get straightened out before I can get proper answers. Even as I shook the thoughts of my change out of my head, I felt lost. Who was I now? What kind of changes did this Advisor body do to me? Better yet, why haven’t I thought of this earlier? But the more pressing reality before me ultimately won in the long run. In an instant I was reminded of what was behind me. A village of talking ponies that I left paranoid and possibly terrified. I instinctively looked behind me in case the ponies managed to catch up to me, but nothing came into view so I continued deeper into the forest.
“Ok, enough questions for now. I need to find something to eat… or pick it’s brain out… ugh I’m not going to get used to thinking like that.”
Author's Note
Ok yea it took a while for me to write this chapter. The whole time I was worried about it being as good as the last one while putting story related elements into it. At first the very beginning actually became very awkward to read. I would know...I wrote it and felt the same way. I'm sure some of the 'silly' elements in the beginning took care of themselves when I revised it. I even ended to scene sooner than I wanted too just to keep it from being too iffy.
Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please point out any spelling error or odd line that you notice.
