LiverisGoodIndiana Jones
Reality is inherently filtered through the mind, producing a unique sense of comprehension that is different for each person. Even identical twins will have varied ways of studying reality, even if its minor. To have one's concept of reality challenged can cause anyone to question if they're sane, or not. And for one of the players now on the other side of the screen, they were going to be in for one hell of a shock.
"Eh...did I doze off? Knew I shouldn't have had so much caffeine earlier..." Chris stirred, yawning, backbone popping as he stretched, only to pause. Odd, if he'd dozed off, why was he sitting upright? Not slouched back? He never crashed, not unless it was somewhere comfortable. His chair wasn't the most comfortable. His vision also seemed off, like there was something directly in front of his face, preventing each eye from seeing around. "Okay, this is weird."
The ground felt cool against his feet, and hard, not at all like the carpeting of his room at the university in Tokyo. Like stone. And his desk looked wrong, where was his laptop, his supply of food? Hell, where was his phone? His gaze slowly looked left, then right, as the historian rose to his feet. And that was another alarm bell, the chair didn't feel like what he knew, and if anything, it seemed to...crunch slightly as he pushed down. He almost lost his balance, a hand shooting out to grab the table...as he glanced down, steadying himself, he froze. That wasn't his hand...
"What." As if to make his what felt like a bad trip or strange lucid dream worse, he heard footsteps, and his head swiveled, his entire body turning, to take in...the space that felt oddly familiar, but also not. And he saw her, a blondish woman wearing a strange sort of bluish fabric outfit, almost like...no, this had to be a dream. But as he stood there, the elf stopped, a smile crossing her face, a joyful one at that.
"Ah, I thought I'd find you here, are you alright, Indy?" Her voice was cheery, gentle, kind, loving, in a big sister manner. It made Chris feel ill. Something was so wrong. If this was real...his gaze took in the workshop. His hand from earlier, that looked a lot like his character model, the sounds his clothing made, that didn't sound like a t-shirt and shorts, made him look down, seeing what looked more...like what you'd see someone in a tabletop game wear for traveling clothes. This also revealed his arms, and legs...weren't his own.
"...Meg?" The strange way Chris spoke, now realizing his voice sounded more...reptilian, made Meg pause, lifting an eyebrow. "Something wrong, Indy?" Chris took in a breath...then slowly smiled, reaching up a hand, to touch the hat that almost always sat there, and pulled it off, exposing flat dragonscale, the dragonkin known as Indiana Jones looking his NPC turned seemingly living person in the eyes. "I don't know, how do I look?" This made Meg stop, and place a hand to her chin, studying her creator for a few moments, before chuckling. "Fine as ever! But I gotta ask...I feel a little weird myself. Like something's off, its why I came to find you." Concerned eyes met Indy's, as the two stared at each other for a long moment, before Indiana coughed, to clear his throat.
"Well..." He had to keep his hand planted on the desk, given the new height difference from before, the weight difference, and well, just everything. This was one hell of a lucid dream. But right...hadn't he sent Meg to check the notice board? It would have been about a half hour prior to his last recalled memory. Standing motionless, he soon sighed. "Just a sense of deja vu, that's all. Did you check the board or?" His voice was gravelly, well, reptilian, to be precise again. Meg nodded, but then sighed. "Yeah, but I didn't see anything interesting on the list for us, and then as I was walking back...some folks weren't around who I'd just seen. But I'm sure its fine." Chris shrugged with one arm, the gesture a bit stiff. He glanced around his workshop, trying to not make himself sick or dizzy. If this was a lucid dream, surely he could will whatever he wanted, right? Just as a test, he moved his free hand, trying to make it pass through his body...only for it to not. Okay, that wasn't supposed to happen, right? It was making Meg look at him funny. "You sure you're fine? You're acting strange...should I get us some tea?" It took him a moment, then Chris nodded, deciding to adapt to the role of Indiana. "Yes, that'd be lovely, thank you Meg."
After Meg left, Chris quickly looked back to his empty desk, seeing a quill pen, and hanging in front of the desk, well, above it actually, was a portrait of a landscape, somewhere he'd been. Funny, that looked like real paint, not some clever coding. He was feeling sick again, so he sat down, listening to Meg work in the next room, the other humming. For the first time seriously, he considered the possibility that this wasn't a dream. Nor him falling, bumping his head, and slipping into a coma. That this was real. But it didn't...make sense. Stuff like that doesn't just...happen, right? It made him think of the players he'd noted suddenly go missing, including one or two people he'd seen around before. No trace. What could this place be? A massive simulation that he was now stuck in? No...he wasn't using a VR headset, so that wasn't it.
"Hmm...It can't have been too long, its a good thing I'm here in the Guild, better that than...the middle of a battle field or something." He mulled over this more, placing one clawed hand in his lap, glad that he had working opposable thumbs at least. Why couldn't he have made a human model? Or even an elf? Well, truth be told, being a dragonkin had incredible perks. Increased strength, stamina, hell, he was pretty sure he could even get wings from a race centric quest, but he'd never found it, so he'd chalked that one up to a popular urban legend. Not that he needed them, finding a witch's broom or something that would work could replace that.
His other hand found its way to the desk, and began to tap against it, as he kept thinking, wondering what it could all mean. Could this be some sort of parallel universe? Had he swapped bodies with his character? In this world, did everything exist as if it had always been there, rather than added in? The thoughts swirled through his mind, and for a moment, his eyes slid shut, nerves shooting through his body. It scared him, he was already in a foreign land before, now he was in a whole new world. With no way to seemingly get home. The fear of never seeing his family again, his mother and father, rose up in his chest, making it hard to breath, before he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him, pulling him from the pit of despair he'd been about to fall into it.
"Indy! Snap out of it! You're shaking like a leaf!" Meg's worried voice jarred him, making him realize how bizarre it had to seem to his...friend. His big sister. His eyes opened, the one that could see Meg on his left side glancing up to her...it felt really weird, but he was already starting to learn the differences, plus his body seemed to be automatically handling moving his tail, if he even had a visible one that is. He always was a fast learner. Just treat it like a big divider in your face, blocking off vision in front, in favor of a larger field of vision. Plus eyes that can move freely of each other was a plus. "Meg...I'm sorry, just, had a moment of fright. Remembered a bad memory, that's all." Meg scowled, sensing he was hiding something, but knew it wasn't worth pushing at. She sighed, gesturing to the tea, which she had placed in front of him, before reaching up a hand, to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I swear, you're like a child sometimes. You're supposed to be one of the greatest artificers one day, and here you are, scared of a memory. What, was it an old teammate you have sour memories of?"
"No, just...my first adventure, that's all." She harrumphed, accepting the statement, as it seemed to be true. How little did she really know. She had a history in this world, whereas Chris...had no idea for sure. He'd stated that his character was a foundling, raised by a human in the port city..so he wondered if that was true. "Drink, it'll help, and when you're done, we can go check your mail, see if your father wrote." Even as Chris reached for the drink, he paused, looking up at Meg, well, more like levelly, before laughing. "Papa Jones, he's fine?" "Yeah, he should be, I spoke to him yesterday in the market, don't you remember?" Another memory he didn't know, but he was beginning to see a pattern...It was like an old story of his, where a character had stepped into the shoes of someone who looked just like them, same name, powers, and everything, but different history. Similar, but not the same. "Yeah, sorry, was up late working. You wanna go get ready to head out? I'm thinking we go down to the market place, see if there's any quests there for us. Or anyone who needs items made." Meg nodded, but didn't say anything, offering him a smile and a shoulder squeeze, before walking off. He wouldn't lie, his gaze drifted after her, man, had he really given her the exact same figure as her name sake? That was a nice sight...get it together.
Taking a sip of the tea, Chris...no, Indiana Jones now, mulled over what was going on, as he swallowed, then took another sip. This was a good cup of Green Tea...he almost wished the MMO had done a crossover with Rune Factory or something, then he'd be able to drink Relax Tea. He wondered if he could make more NPCs, or if it was just Meg and him. Oh well, even if not, he'd do what he could. First, he had to get the lay of the land...then worry about long term plans later. At least the guild was on the edge of the port, most players went through there...When Meg confirmed she was ready, he'd head out. But for now, he enjoyed his tea, a taste that felt so...unique to him. Beautiful, really. It brought him...relief. It was going to be a long road, but a worthwhile one, he felt. To make the most, of his situation. Even if he was universes from home, he'd fight...for Meg, and for the other players. He was an Artificer...a lore junkie, and he was going to figure things out...one way or another.
But really, this tea is so good. Like, wow, he was legitimately wondering if the Dragonkin race had stronger tastebuds than humans, or if something else was going on...