Chapter 134: Hybrid

I watched her jump down the rockface expertly, and she was down before the soul light appeared. I kept an eye on her as she started to walk towards me with a critical look on her face; great, here we go again. What now?

"Ara..." (Sorry...)

That was all that she said, but I was still taken aback by the suddenness of it. Sorry? For calling me ugly? I guess, but I was over that now; I was more concerned about what happened now. What was the plan now? Would she just run away again?

"It's fine; we got off on the wrong foot, I'm..." 

I paused at my name; did I want to tell her? The others seem to recognize me for my actions, but my name seems to mark me. Maybe I would try something different this time; what was a cool name?

"...Grayson. I'm a player just like you, that's why I got mad at you earlier..."

Something from the corner of my eye put my talking on pause again. I had forgotten entirely about the lights, and they slammed into her back and my chest. There was no impact or any feeling at all, just a light red flash at the bottom of my HUD. I had partially noticed the light the last few times, but Trina had been there to distract me, but she was gone now, and I was alone.

I shook my head to clear the negative thoughts out, I wasn't a child that needed a guide, but the company had been friendly, even if I hadn't appreciated it at the time. I looked back at the bunny girl, who hadn't said anything besides sorry, and she seemed to be thinking about something.

"Hmm? What's up?" 

"...Ara Ara Ara?"(...What's a player?)

...

That was not the answer I had expected, and I was bewildered. Why was there someone without a memory in a new game? Even if this were the "Lost Soul' Simon had mentioned, she would have to have memory in a new game, wouldn't she?

"What do you know? What was happening before I came? Didn't you just wake up in that hole? Wait, before you answer anything else, do your evolution and try to get human speech. I think you sound adorable, but it's starting to give me a headache."

The bunny girl seemed to understand what I meant and stepped back from me. Once she took on the far-off look typical of someone interacting with their HUD. I focused on opening my EVOLVE screen and popped open my Evolution Choice, but it was labeled differently, and the choices were different.

Existential Evolution Choice:

{Humaniod}{Pure Beast}{Hybrid}

I saw a flash and turned to find...oh damn. What the hell did she pick? Babs was still not showing skin, still just short grey fur and long ears, but now...ya, I was not picking pure beast no matter how cool I might look. Nope, it was Hybrid or Humanoid, but not being adventurous just for the sake of sexual urges would be pretty pathetic on my part...kind of...

"What did you end up picking?"

"Hybrid...oh? I can talk now like you?"

"Thank goodness, although, with this new look of yours, I might have been able to handle the Ara's for a bit longer, hehe. Well, it's my turn to try this out; I think I will make the same choice; wish me luck, whatever your name is."

"Kierra."

I wanted to compliment her, but coming from me right now wouldn't mean much. In my current state, I looked like nothing more than a failed science experiment. Come on! Please give me something dope!

{Hybrid}

I flashed with light, but time slowed as the flash happened. Suddenly, I could see my ugly body for the first time close up on my HUD. I really was hard to look at, considering how many different parts were in me; it was no surprise.

Then my body started to change and morph; my image began to change into a more humanoid shape, but not completely. Wings and a tail grew, but as they did, a message popped up over my picture with another choice, but only two this time.

Evolution Choice:

{Scorpion}{Spider} 

{Scorpion}

The message disappeared, and the image of my new body reappeared, with the tail now beginning to curve, but then it went limp and dropped. Interesting, I could see the stinger now at the end, but the tail was not jointed but smooth like a... dragon's tail? My legs were fascinating now, they weren't the standard human straight legs, but instead, a type of reverse join that had my knees bent backward.

My body was good, and it looked badass now, but I finally drew my gaze up to the place I had been avoiding, my face. Maybe it was the comment Kierra had made earlier, or maybe just how good she looked now, but I really didn't want to be ugly anymore. I looked up and let out a sigh of relief as the screen and light disappeared and time started to move along again.

"Woah."

I opened my eyes to see Kierra open-mouthed, staring at me. Well, this was awkward; I cleared my throat, twice, before she came back from whatever place her brain had just gone. She quickly turned around with a shake of her head and started to place back and forth, but finally, she stopped and, with a deep breath, came over to me.

"That place you...found me was my home. I've been in there with my mother since I was born. As far as I know, but now...why am I like this? My head feels like it's going to explode, and I didn't think before, I was just..."

"I don't know what's going on here, but I think we should stick together for the time being. Everyone here is trying to kill us to get to the top, and each other, but I think I can get around us having to fight each other."

"You said before that this was a game; what did you mean by that?"

Oh, boy, sleeping is for the dead anyway, right?