STAGE: North Dallas Marketplace

TIME: 12:15 AM

Astrid’s Memory Bank: Accessing Memory… 

This world was weird. It was so cold. Even the ground beneath my feet felt rotten, dying. Petrified women lay in the windows, adorned in garb like some sort of trophy. Metal beasts roam. The air was sick and made my lungs burn. I do not think I like this place very much….

After hopping around so many random locations, I made my last teleporting stop. My chakra was running low. I could feel it in my draining limbs. The heat from my body was receding just like the warmth I usually felt from the world around me. Something was wrong with this place. Something was missing that should have been there. But for the life of me, I could not understand what it was. So, no matter how much I wanted to continue jumping around, I just could not. Cautiously, I rose from my landing pose to inspect my new surroundings better.  I recognized it as an alley. Leaning on the brick wall at my side, I could finally catch my breath. “Finally... Somewhere safe and alone....”

My respite was short-lived, as my ears perked up from the awful sounds of the city around me. All the traffic and people made me uneasy. Just when I thought I could catch my breath, I still happened to touch down on a place heavily inhabited by these things. They looked like humans and even had the correct number of limbs. But I had never seen humans dressed like them. They were so bunched up, on top of each other. As I stared at doors opening and closing all unto their own, I saw how cramped this world was. It was overstuffed with people. Maybe it was just this place… But it seemed like finding places to yourself was a rarity in this world. Still, I needed to keep on moving. I needed to make sure I was entirely away from that horrible man. I needed to find a way home, back to Petra and my beautiful unfathomable goddess Buttercup. Wait for me, my queen…. My chakra was still replenishing, so shapeshifting and teleporting were off the table. I had to go on foot. But would I be safe among these not-humans? 

Cautiously, I stepped out of the alley. It took me several tries to make it onto the sidewalk. Why? Because every time I gathered up the courage to go out, those metal beasts passed by with flashing lights. What were they even doing? Attacking? Calling for help? That must have been it. That must have been why… I darted back into the alley as another one passed. There was no way of telling if those things were friendly or not. I could not risk it. There was no Petra to back me up. No father to help me… I was alone in this dead world. It took time for my perspective to adjust to recognize the scope of the tall buildings surrounding the area. My comprehension took even longer to change as my eyes moved from the metal beasts traveling up and down what seemed to be a street. As I walked, I locked eyes with a handful of bewildered bystanders. They stared at me, so I stared back. There was no way I was letting these not-humans assert dominance. But this place did look a bit familiar now that I got a better look at it. The structures were different, and the people were weird. However, a marketplace was always going to be a marketplace. The light shined from where I was standing. It caught my attention in the market in the first place. So I walked down there to discover many people lined up in front of a building called…

What the hell is a GameStoop? One of the flyers displayed through the front window suggested that the people were customers waiting for a... midnight release; it read? My eyes scanned past all the other flyers displayed through the window, that was until I stopped at a poster. I could never tell what it was, but I wanted to learn more.  The poster featured the image of a teenage girl standing over the words ‘Astrid 2: Night of the Humanoid.’ Hm… That was a good name… I carefully examined the girl and tediously described her appearance to myself as a way of coping with the reality of what I was seeing. That girl was me in every way. I was essentially standing before myself, a reflection like no other. It was just like that stupid stream. Was this what Buttercup was trying to tell me? An overwhelming amount of Déjà vu entered my head. It was almost like the memory of being in such a pose was clear. Yet, the memory alluded to was virtually unreal and unrecognizable. It was a memory whose feelings contradicted themselves in some weird, non-poetic, yet ironic way. 

“It’s me....” I was in a trance, ambling over to the window. It was so clear. I had never seen glass so nearly invisible. So, to be honest, I mashed my face against it. The incident almost took me off my feet. Some people laughed. I did not care. It was pretty funny if I do say so myself. That laughter was the only thing keeping me from breaking apart mentally. I needed to hear such things as I gazed again upon this dastardly mirror of me. This was the closest look I had of myself – at least how I was portrayed in this world – compared to the tiny glimpse from the computer monitor back at that awful storehouse. 

A flash of light blinded me out of nowhere. Black spots appeared in my vision. Determined, it was not enough to prevent me from trying to make out where the light came from. That was when I saw the line of people at my side. Everyone was watching me. A girl held up a small, rectangular device. It had to be a weapon. It was so powerful. Assumedly this was where the light originated. 

“Yo!” A ghastly beast of a not-human exclaimed. He was so excited. He practically jumped up and down in what I could only assume was a war dance. “Nice cosplay!” And his face… Oh my god… it was full of freckles! It had to have been his intent to make me outnumbered. Those who were unaware of me before were looking at me now. Most of the crowd took out small rectangular devices of their own and held them up while simultaneously trying to speak to me. 

“Yo, nice cosplay!” They exclaimed. “Can I get a selfie with you?” Lights flashed. “How long did it take to put your paint together?” They blinded me over and over. “So realistic!” And the clicking kept going. What was that awful sound?  

Quickly, I shielded my face and crossed the street. I needed to regroup. Thanks to those terrifying devices, even the little ones were dangerous in this world. Fortunately, I saw a sign that read ‘bus stop.’ Context clues made me realize that the massive metal creature must have been this thing called a bus, waiting to pick up late-night riders. See Petra. I was the observant one. It was not just you… I rushed inside the beast, blowing past the would-be passengers without a second thought. Looking down to avoid meeting any lingering eyes from bewildered passengers, I navigated my way to the back and sat there. I had to admit… This metal beast had the comfiest seat I had ever felt. Was this fuzz? Did it evolve just to have soft fur only on the chairs? This had to be a golem. It was too cleverly designed.

“Passengers, we are ready to move momentarily,” the driver announced over the intercom. It was one of the few things that were similar to my world. Wizards used such a thing in their dungeons. Shallow, weak men who taunted adventures as they traversed the dungeon, I had little respect for wizards who used such things. “Please stand by as other passengers board the bus.” 

Raindrops tapped the glass one by one as all the passengers boarded the bus. The vehicle took off just as the rain began to pick up. Head pressed against the cold windowpane, I tried to make out what was past the raindrops to admire the city’s architecture. Those windows were just so darn clear. It was now easier for my perspective to adjust to everything. Perhaps, taking in everything from inside the bus was the best way to approach things at first. It was recon from a safe vantage point. And the bus was just so cozy. I could almost fall asleep here. Quickly, I sprang up in my seat. I had to remember that I was chest deep in enemy territory. I had to be alert. I had to be… I wonder if Petra also had trouble with this…

Flashy signs rested on top of the shorter buildings. They lined the roadway as if someone had intended for passengers to see them. Regular pedestrians would not have been able to see them as clearly as I was now since I was on the ultimate recon vehicle, the bus. Recon vehicle? A vehicle! That was what this was. Oh… I am an idiot! Still, the advertisements from the side of buildings caught my attention. I could not help but notice that almost every one of them featured attractive not-humans. No bad-looking one was in sight, a stark difference from what I had seen on that line or in the streets. It would appear vanity was the main selling point in this world.  

“This world...” I groaned. Sue me. “It’s completely different from mine....”. 

Slowly, the bus soon approached one of those signs on the buildings featuring an attractive model around the same age as me. Their complexion was tanned, and their hair was straight. Latin was one of the words on the sign. The model wore a denim outfit with ‘Fall Beauty’ just underneath her in a scripted font. She was beautiful. It made me feel a little bad inside that such a creature could exist, yet I looked the way I did. Something about it shamed me. I needed to correct that for some reason.  To better fit into this world, I have to blend in. So, blending in, I will... The bus passed by the fall advertisement just enough for me to get a good look at the model. This world sure did love repetition. Keeping the image in my head, I closed my eyes and deeply meditated. I could feel the tiny remnants of my chakra within me stretch from my core to my arms, legs, and head. I opened my eyes, and my previous fighting attire was replaced with the denim outfit. As for my hands, the skin was smoother, and the color had changed from lavender to a tannish brown. I looked out the window and tried to make out my reflection. Yet what stared back at me was the model’s face. Good lord, I was gorgeous. With a loud smack, my hand uncontrollably touched my face. It could not be real. I finally felt pretty. I felt like I would be accepted by everyone I would possibly meet. And yet I still did not feel like me. I had become entirely unrecognizable. The two fangs that I had reduced to only one. The appearance of one fang was the only contrasting appearance compared to the original. But it was a negligible difference. From my understanding, even humans that looked alike had subtle differences. It might have even been better that it turned out like this. At least, that was what I told myself. So, I sat back, relieved that I would not receive any more bewildered stares from this point on. That was just a weird development that I could not process emotionally. However, there was still one thing left on my mind. 

Survival.