I mentally glare at the glowing blue message. Yes, this is clearly some sort of trick. I shall bet *all* the riches of my kingdom... I no longer have... on that. Ugh.
The blur of autumn-touched trees whip past my vision as I start to ignore the text. The direction my wolf runs us in was chosen by me. All of the route is familiar and unfamiliar at once.
I knew from this body's memories that there was supposed to be a river nearby. If I can just get to it, that might buy enough time to get away without things turning even more...
chaotic
.
Hopefully.
I've found myself forced to rely on the influx of Helene's, rather limited, old life in the short time I've been...
here
. Luckily, the impression is dry and clinical. My feelings are still my own, which is as good a thing in this strange situation as I might hope for.
I still don't know how my soul got moved to this world and body. Or why.
However, that doesn't matter immediately. My immediate concern is that fighting isn't exactly my forte. Doing it in an unfamiliar form would be even worse! While this hybrid mix of wolf and human is... bestial... it is not *quite* like anything I learned about before.
I might be able to let my new spirit partner handle it... but no. The mere thought makes the creature in my mindscape whimper.
> Not a fighter either, huh? Then focus on running! It's cute that you understand how I think so little of your old partner. But hiding my criticism of her ignorance doesn't erase how true it was. Your pack is quite literally
backwoods country bumpkins
- Helene's own thoughts. Your last partner could not swim. You had to save her three different times from her memory. Two of which, he stood and watched her struggle. It's alright if I confide in you that it's not just about the cold, right? <
The sad creature raises its head in my mindscape and chuffs at me. I guess it's not in the mood to commiserate over our very different core fears and worries just yet. My fox soul form turns its back on it.
And I also flick
glorious tail fluff
at its nose before I leave it alone, like it wanted. While looking for something else to think about other than being stuck here in this body
forever
, I finally allowed myself to once again confront... the strange message.
| CONGRATULATIONS! APOCALYPSE SYSTEM HAS CHOSEN YOU! |
This ethereal blue text has been flickering at the edges of my vision the whole time. Like an attention seeking
firefly
. I narrowed my eyes as it grew more 'substantial' when I focus on it and swirled to the center of my sight. The writing had a strange... almost otherworldly quality to it.
"Well, it is in English... so I guess that is true in my case."
I chuckle weakly to myself, trying to make fun of my predicament. It didn't really help. Just made me hug myself tighter.
The words shimmer like the
glow of foxfire
... or with the semi-translucent quality... the thing in this world they might call 'holographic'? When I started to wonder if that was all it did, more text began to appear, as though responding to my attention.
|
INITIALIZING INTERFACE...
|
I read the phrase a few times in confusion. Then talk to myself again... since my wolf still seems to be waiting for me to appear so it can pounce on me in revenge.
Foolish beast
, you think I can't see what is going on with a place I built with my own soul?
"This sounds like the 'computer' stuff that Helene didn't know much about."
The text disappears and I look around to the sides of my vision. I'm not naive enough to think that was all the entity using this
unidentifiable
magic on me intended from this experience. Just when I get tired of waiting and thinking I could be wrong... more of that blue glow swirls around the edges of my sight.
It fades in and out, like mist being pushed along by a stiff wind on a pond. Symbols drifted and swirled, gradually settling into an arrangement of some kind around the edges. One especially pulsing glyph at the top catches my eyes first.
Quickly the gently rotating
snowflake
moves to the center as if it knew I was looking. Probably did. It takes over a chunk of my vision as it morphs into a full message.
|
TIME UNTIL APOCALYPSE COMMENCEMENT: 57 DAYS, 13 HOURS, 27 MINUTES
|
"What in the name of the nineteen hells is this?"