"How can we be inside a game?" Emma demanded. "This all feels so real."
Zee's expression turned serious. "I know it's hard to take in. You're doing better than most at dealing with this. Let's walk out in the garden and I'll explain things the best I can."
The garden turned out to be a well-manicured Japanese garden, with a koi pond complete with an arched bridge. Beyond the wall, Emma could see a whole landscape. "Is there a whole world in here?" she asked.
"It's small that it looks," Zee replied. There are six landscape zones: this dojo and garden, the wasteland, the starship, the ruins, the city streets, and the mansion. They're big enough to provide plenty of space for the girls that live here. But it's probably helpful to avoid thinking of this place as being 'in' anywhere. It's your world now, and as soon as you start thinking of it as real, the better you'll do here."
"But I don't want to stay here," Emma protested. "I have a wife and k1ds outside. How do I get out of here?"
Zee frowned. "You know that combat is part of life here, right? We engage each other in competition to determine dominance. It can get pretty intense, but it's non lethal, and well, you've seen how it ends up."
"Naked make-out sessions?"
Zee blushed a little. "Yeah. And that's the worst thing that happens in here. You won't need to eat, drink, or rest while you're here. There's not much to do other than talk, train, and have sex with the other girls. A lot of fighters aren't really that motivated to find her way out. Remember Didi, that catgirl you fought? She was an orphan on the outside. She bounced around from one abusive foster family to the next. She's found more comfort here than she's ever known, and people who really care for her."
Emma nodded. She could see how some people might find this world more a blessing than a curse. "But that's not me," she added. "Like I said, I have a life on the outside I have to get back to."
"Do you?" Zee asked. "If you leave, it won't be in your old body. The only way to return to your old world is if you get picked to fight for a gamer, and you beat the boss. Then you can go home, but as Emma, and not as Martin. And you will be bound to the player who chose you."
Emma shuddered. "You mean I'll be stuck in this body? As a slave?"
"Not quite a slave, but it will not be easy to pick up where you left off."
Emma looked down at her body again. It was one thing being a female in this place, where she could suspend some level of belief, but to continue like this on the outside? Her new self seemed younger than her son, and the thought she would be 'bound' to some third party didn't sound appealing at all.
Emma's thoughts were interrupted by a shrill cry.
"You! We're throwing down. Now!" Emma looked, and a few yards away stood the first woman she had fought in the game. Chuck the Zombie Hunter. Chuck was a lean, tones woman wearing torn jeans and a heavy-metal t-shirt. She carried a sawed off shotgun.
"Sorry?" Emma asked. "Zee? What's going on?"
Zee took a few steps back. "This is a challenge. You haven't been called into a formal duel yet. This is just a way we establish the pecking order around here. Chuck has been out first round fighter for quite a while. She wants to put you in that position."
"Enough talk!" the zombie fighter cried. To Emma's horror, she leveled her shotgun and fired without hesitation. Emma thought she was doomed, but a moment later, she found herself flying through the air, propelled by lightning reflexes and ninja training. The pellets passed safely under her and impacted on the garden wall. Emma landed gracefully on her feet. As she was still trying to figure out how to get away, four tentacles sprang out of her sides and attacked Chuck. Two grabbed her wrists and held her helpless, while the other two stripped the zombie hunter of her clothes. Chuck flushed and writhed, partly in anger, and partly in arousal.
"Well, looks like you're still the first rounder," Zee said with a smirk. "Good job, Emma. You made it look easy."
"I did? What did I do? What are these...things?"
"The tentacles? Don't you remember? They were one of the enhancements you gave me. You got to keep half of the ones you earned when you came in, while I got to keep the others. Poor Chuck here got beaten in the first round, which means she sucks as a warrior. She's also unable to accept her role in this place, which is why she refuses to use the name the game her."
"That's because I'm not a damn CeeCee!" Chuck cried. "I'm not a woman, and I don't belong here! Now put me down!"
"Sorry," Emma said, releasing her tentacles' grip on Chuck. Now that she had calmed down a bit, she had better control of them. She had them retract into her body.
Chuck, still nude, then crawled over to Emma and prostrated herself before the victor. "All right, you won. Let's get this over with."
"Excuse me?" Martin asked, stunned.
"You have asserted your dominance. You may use CeeCee to gratify your desires."
Another woman stepped out from behind a large stone lantern. She was dressed like a Greek goddess, and she stood a head taller than any of the other fighters. She had long, flowing red hair, and her rack was at least as impressive as Zee's.
"I...I don't think..." Emma stammered.
Zee came to her rescue, stepping behind Emma and putting her arms around here. "I don't think Emma is into that kind of sex. Besides, I think I want to be the one to show her how much fun this place can be."
The new woman nodded agreement, then she gestured towards Chuck. Sullenly, the zombie hunter got to her feet, and her clothes rematerialized around her.
"You're lucky you joined our group," the new woman said. "Some other the others are quite savage about the pecking order. Almost none of the sex that occurs in them is consensual. But I don't see any reason why we can't live harmoniously between competitions. Why not make the best of a bad situation?"
Emma nodded dumbly. "And you are?"
Zee took the liberty of answering. "This is Alpha. She's the boss of our group. She's the best. If you had met her in the game, you wouldn't have lasted two seconds. She has some amazing enhancements. But she's the best boss in this world. She looks out for us, and she gives us far more freedom than any of the other bosses. She was actually born a woman, and she has that compassion thing going on."
"Just try not to piss me off, OK?" Alpha added with an indulgent smile. Then she laughed. "And not all gamers are boys, Zee. But I think my old self would have cracked up being called compassionate. I was pretty badass back there."
Emma ventured a respectful smile. "Do people here talk about their old lives much?"
"Less than you might think," Alpha said. "This is your life now, so do try to embrace it fully, OK? I'll leave you with Zee. She'll take good care of you." With that, Alpha dissolved into a flock of white doves, which flew off.
Sat Dec 10 10:40:35 2016
5 comments Last updated: Sun Dec 11 02:13:01 2016