Alternative Stories

"That's it, just focus on that feeling, that mental image."

(Even with help it's still not exactly easy...) I thought as I continued to zero in on my goal.

A few hours had passed since our little group chat, and honestly, things hadn't been all that bad at all, in fact the atmosphere had been rather calm and pleasant overall, however there was one thing that had been bothering me. Malice, the creepy ass cyborg demon knight, had been glaring at me intensely from across the room. The most annoying thing about this whole situation was that I couldn't tell what the hell they were actually thinking because of that full body armor of theirs. It didn't seem like a "admiring the view" or "planning a murder" kind of glare, however I didn't really know for sure. For now though I just tried my best to ignore it and focus on the task at hand.

Currently Anna was showing us how exactly to open our System Panels, the large carnivorous feline was laying happily on a table as I and the other five newbie Alternatives sat around her. I had to admit, I hadn't expected the overactive and excitable overgrown house cat to be very good at teaching, however I have to admit that I was completely wrong in that assumption. In fact it had only taken me around thirty or so minutes to get a solid understanding of how to open my System Panel when compared to the several dozen hours it had taken for me to get my other Gifts to work.

(Well...there we go then.) I muttered as a multi-coloured panel finally appeared before me, one that had a list of several different options and menus.

There were relatively normal things such as a System Store, Contact List, Notes And Logs, yet there were also things that made absolutely no sense at all. For one such example, there were several bizarre and somewhat confusing survival guides, some looked relatively useful, however there were some with titles such as "Why Drinking Molten Metal Is A Bad Idea" or even "How Not To Be Defiled By A Three Hundred Foot Space Squid" and "What Should You Do When Faced With Nomo, The Universe Hopping, Galaxy Devouring Catfish".

"Did you manage to pull it up?" Anna asked, causing me to look at her questioningly.

"You can't see it?"

"Nope." She hummed as she shook her head slightly. "I mean you can show others your information if you want to at some point but you'll probably need a bit more practice to do that."

(Guess that makes sense.)

"Anyway, now that you've got it open, why don't you try looking at your status, it should be under the menu called "Personal Information"." She purred before then turning back to the others who were still trying to open their System Panel.

"Alright..."

{///Name: Carmen...

///Titles: None...

///Race: Xenomorphs Queen...

///Current Status: Healthy...

///Current Emotional State: Mildly Fascinated...

///Rank: Social...

///Occupation: Newly Manifested Alternative...

///Growth Type Gifts:

Hive Dominance...

Hive Possession...

Verbal Communication...

Empress's Redemption...

///Inheritance Type Gifts:

Warp Conversion...

Minimize...

System Access...

Universal Clock...

Fate's Bane...

///Trait: 

Superior Acidic blood...

Acidic Vial...

Xenomorph Weaponry...

Xenomorph Exoskeleton...

Telepathic Manipulation...

Electrical Impulse Detection...

Pheromonal Detection...

Breathless...

Wall Walking...

Extreme Environmental Resistance...

Pressure And Vacuum Resistance...

Greater Regeneration...

Hive Production...

Rapid Parthenogenesis...

///Skills: 

Zoology...

Botany...

Ecology...

Sociology...

Cryptozoology...

Wilderness Survival...

Vehicle Maintenance...

Multilingual...

Business Minded...

Diplomatic...

Creative Adaptability...

Strategic Battle Awareness...

Combat Proficiency...

Savage Combatant...}

(It didn't show my last name? Huh, guess it only shows the name that the user identifies as theirs.) I thought before quickly moving away from that topic. (Anyway, "Traits" are probably my race's genetic abilities but that still leaves me with two rather important questions.)

"Why don't I have many Skills? I mean, there's a few but I'd thought that the list would be longer to be honest." I asked drawing Anna's attention back to me.

"If you're thinking that Skills are things you learn over time then you are exactly correct, however not everything you learn is considered a Skill by the System." She answered while licking her paw. "After all, breathing and walking could be considered Skills as well, same could be said about swimming or knowing just how much milk to pour into a glass before it overflows."

"Okay okay I get it, the system only shows things that are considered notable or worth mentioning." I sighed but quickly continued with my questions. "Anyway, what exactly are Occupations?"

"That is a bit more complicated..." She mused, taking a second to think up an answer.

"Right now your Occupation should be "Newly Manifested Alternative" and after your two years of training under Decker you'll become a "Full Fledged Alternative." She explained as her tail swished behind her. "These two Occupations don't really give you anything, no positives or negatives, however if you choose to advance past that into a new Occupation that will soon change. Depending on what you pick you'll get various rewards and bonuses but you'll also have to abide by several rules and restrictions. In fact even being a Mentor counts as a kind of temporary Occupation."

(Huh...I'll have to investigate some of these Occupations at some point down the line...) I thought just as Decker tapped my shoulder to get my attention.

"Hey brat."

Looking over my shoulder at him, I gave my Mentor a relatively blank look and said. "You know you could just call me Carmen, right?."

"Where's the fun in that?" He grunted, causing me to shake my head at him.

"What do you need?"

"Do you want to check out your Sanctuary or not?"

"Be kind to the girl you big grump." Anna huffed but Decker mostly ignored her.

"Are you coming or are you staying? It honestly doesn't matter to me, just hurry up if you are."

"I'll be there in a sec." I muttered before glancing back at those around me with a somewhat awkward expression. "Got to go I guess, see you lot later."

"It's no problem at all."

"Farewell for now my friend."

"Brain!" (^w^)

"B-bye..."

With the farewells out of the way I quickly followed after Decker who was waiting for me at the door that led out of this place. Without any delay I followed him out and we re-entered the central plaza area once more, thankfully for my insides Decker decided that we wouldn't be taking the teleporter out of the Lounge, instead he simply put me on his shoulder and jumped off the floating building without much care at all.

I was surprised by the genuinely small amount of damage he caused when he landed but I currently had a question I wanted to ask so I ignored that fact for now. "By the way, how do we use fragments if everything around here constantly moves? I mean seriously, how the hell are you supposed to find a shop around here?"

"You can buy a building or plot of land, so long as you continue to pay a kind of tax with Reward Points it will not move...most of the time anyway."

"What do you mean "most of the time"?" I asked with a blank look.

"You can never be too sure in the Nexus, honestly you'd have a way easier time finding a proper place to buy and sell goods if you head over to one of the outposts." He shrugged with a rather dull expression. "After all they are far less confusing to deal with compared to the Nexus, in fact that's one of the reasons why most people live over in one of the many, many outposts scattered throughout Chaos's territory."

"What even are outposts exactly?" Of course I knew what an outpost was in general but when it comes to something owned by the literal manifestation of chaos itself...well...you can never be too sure.

"That will take quite some time to explain and unless you want to be here all day I suggest we save that topic for another time, for now you can just think of the Nexus as a kind of capital city and the outposts as small and less centralized cities."

"Alright I guess..." I mused before realizing that we were no longer moving. "Why exactly did we stop?"

"Because of this." He hummed as he flicked his wrist causing a portal to rip open in front of us.

I didn't have to be a genius to figure out it probably led directly to our apparent destination. "Why didn't you just do that before?"

"I've done this whole "look after a new arrival thing" enough times before to know that people need time to adjust and accept their new environment after finishing their Trial." He explained. "Thankfully you are by far the most level headed brat I've had to take in, however I still wanted to give you some time to just take in your new reality and environment."

"And before you ask, the reason why most Alternatives take the Highway instead of just teleporting around is because, well, teleporting in the Nexus is difficult to say the least. In the end, most people who try it for the first time end up fused with a wall or find themselves several hundred kilometers underground." He hummed before adding. "Thankfully this little fact doesn't apply to teleporters that link to various Landmarks but you get my point."

"Ah, fair enough..." I muttered before realizing what he had just said. "Wait?!"

He chuckled at my rather panicked expression before saying. "Don't worry, I'm kind of an expert when it comes to spatial manipulation and other similar such abilities. Actually you should be more worried about your insides than the idea of ending up as a wall." That last part made me turn a pale shade of purple.

"Oh...oh please no..."

One teleportation later we were at our destination, sadly I was unable to admire the sight considering I was vomiting out my own organs. Anyway, once I regained my bearings I was able to glance around and observe my new surroundings. 

In front of me was what I guessed to be some kind of apartment complex, however instead of doors it had giant tears in reality. Additionally, it too defied the laws of physics just like everything else in this damn place seemed to do. Its overall structure seemed to clip into and coil around itself in completely unnatural and bizarre ways that made absolutely no sense at all, it actually kind of looked like multiple snakes tangled around each other in a mangled mess. The oddest thing about it however was the fact that it was seemingly made mostly out of shards of shimmering glass that rippled and warped in confusing yet mesmerizing ways.

"Welcome to one of the many Inns scattered around the Nexus."

(This is an Inn? It doesn't fucking look like an Inn to me.) I grumbled internally before going on to ask a question.

"And this is where I can access my Sanctuary?"

"Indeed." He responded as he walked forward. "I mean you could just buy a gift that lets you teleport there whenever you want, however like I said, teleportation of any kind can be rather sporadic when you're inside the Nexus." 

I let out an "ah" sound at that little bit of information, however I was more concerned about the rifts covering this rather odd looking structure. "Please tell me this isn't going to turn my insides into my outsides again."

"Probably not." That didn't fill me with confidence, thankfully as we walked into one of the portal-like things I felt perfectly fine, something I was very happy about.

As for what the inside actually looked like, well, it looked like a fairly fancy looking hotel waiting room with a red, gold and purple furnishing. Honestly I was both suspicious and surprised at how normal it all looked in here, although however, despite being seemingly normal it was still breaking the laws of physics considering that the outside layout did not match the inside in the slightest.

"Will the Nexus ever make sense?" I asked with a flat expression.

"Probably not."

"By the way, why is no one else here?" 

"There are other people here, you just can't see them." He answered, a fact that only confused me more.

"Huh?"

"They're probably all in their own separate fold of space, their own individual instance of this region of the Nexus where only them and those that they came in with can interact with each other in any way." He explained, causing me to groan while rubbing my head crest in annoyance.

"So basically just more space manipulation fuckery?"

"Pretty much."

Before we could continue this conversation any further however, a ball of multi-coloured light suddenly appeared next to us, a fact that surprised the hell out of me. "Hello there!"

"Jesus fucking Christ!" 

"I am Receptionis91683570132, I am also the current manager for this section of this fine establishment. Anyway, it is very nice to meet you valued visitors, how may I assist you today?" It said, causing me to glare at it in irritation.

"This one needs to get to her Sanctuary, she's new." Decker huffed while gesturing to me.

(That didn't faze him at all?) I thought while looking down at his completely unbothered expression.

"Very well, please follow me, miss."

"Sure I guess..."

Shrugging somewhat to myself, I hopped off my Mentor's shoulder and followed after the ball of light who was leading me over to a nearby elevator, an elevator that I was sure hadn't been there when we first entered. As I walked into said elevator and watched the doors close however, I noticed that Decker had taken a seat on a rather oversize lounge chair and was reading some kind of holographic newspaper.

(Guess Decker can't come with me, or maybe there's some other reason he's not coming, well whatever, I'm sure that I'll be fine on my own for a bit.) I thought as the elevator began to move.

"I gotta admit, I kind of like the music." I muttered to myself as I listened to the oddly ethereal yet peaceful sounding music that played in the background.

"Where is this thing even taking me anywa-oh..." I was about to ask but was cut off just as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal an empty black void.

Somewhat hesitant, I stepped out and immediately found that despite there being no floor to speak of I could walk within this odd place without falling down into the endless expanse of nothingness. "Where the hell am I now?"

"Is this my Sanctuary?" I asked myself somewhat confused. "Isn't it...you know...a little empty?"

(Now what?) I hummed internally after an awkward moment of complete silence, I wasn't actually expecting any kind of answer or response, however I ended up getting one.

[Hello there my dear.]

"Oh...oh please god no..."