Dreamland

As the two of them headed towards the woods, Alice approached me with a look of confusion in her eyes.

"I heard a lot of things that I don't understand," she said, "can you help me make sense of it all?" - she raised a brow - "Is that allowed?"

I noticed a new expression on Alice's face; was it a hint of wariness in her eyes? No... could it be that she was afraid of me? After our recent conversation, maybe I should be more cautious around her.

“Sure, but first, let me show you something! White Flower, can you please come out?”

“I would shred your clothes if I'd come out like this. You need to undress unless you want me to....”

“No! OK, just a moment. I need to undress.”

Alice raised an eyebrow, confused by my rambling, looking askew at me. One of her peculiar looks:

“A new tattoo?”

“Well, more than the tattoo.”

“I will leave a tattoo on you when I leave, not to give too many clues.”

“Oh, OK”

I thought that she was exceedingly careful!

As soon as I was naked, White Flower materialized in front of us, but instead of the strange fairy that had appeared before me, it was the slender elf girl Terri. She looked exactly like Terri, down to her clothing. I was just as amazed as Alice, who exclaimed in surprise, 'Wow!'"

"You can..." I began to speak, but she jumped and placed her fingers on my lips, silencing me.

"Sshh!" she whispered. "We can't let anyone overhear us and jeopardize everything."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise but quickly regained my composure.

"Oh, right. Terri, can you take a look at Alice? I'm worried that my healing magic may have left impurities in her body. She was frozen and splintered, and we are lucky to have her back together, but I fear something might not be fully okay."

The fairy glanced at me, shaking her head before turning to Alice with renewed interest.

"Oh, that could be a problem. Let me check," she said as she placed a hand on Alice and began to heal her.

Alice gasped in amazement as the healing took effect, releasing a second "wow" as she took a deep breath.

“Ah! Feeling good! Thanks!”

I was still uncertain. "Was a simple healing spell enough?" I asked.

The fairy answered promptly, "This was not a simple heal!"

She grinned and turned to me as I finished dressing. "Alice is clear and free from any impurities now. Do you still need me here?"

Does she want now to disappear again? Do I need to undress again when I am almost dressed?

“Ahm, not really?”

To my surprise, the fairy asked something different, "Do you mind if I'll go with the boys?" pointing to the Lynx and Spartacius in the distance. I shrugged; I didn't see any harm in it. Perhaps she had been alone in the woods for too long and needed more interaction. Plus, I wouldn't have to undress again. Bonus!

I cupped my hands over my mouth to form a makeshift megaphone and yelled, "Spartacius! Lynx! Wait!"

Despite the distance between us, my lungs proved powerful enough to catch their attention. The two of them stopped in their tracks and turned around, Spartacius raising his hands in inquiry.

I pointed toward Terry and watched as she made her way toward them with a spring in her step. Perhaps the vast expanse of the forest had been dull even for a fairy! She seemed happy to be on their trail. She wisely chose to walk instead of fly, moving with a graceful and purposeful gait like a perfect Terry.

Alice looked at me, raising a brow as I was putting back my jacket, finally dressed back. I made her sign to come closer and whispered:

“She is a fairy from the woods. She was the one that tried to warn me of Grackak; remember the message in the market?” - as she nodded, I continued - “Her name is White Flower, and she will accompany us for a while. She has the appearance of Terri, a healer from a group that I fought in the woods, so we will call her Terri for the time being.”

Alice quickly digested the information. "Oh, is she a healing fairy? That's unusual," she remarked. She didn't ask about the fight, knowing I would share any important details.

I nodded in agreement. "Yes, she's a powerful healer, and she can cast other spells like visual tricks. She mentioned that the Grackak gang was also after her, which is why she was willing to help me. She wants to relocate somewhere else and offers us free healing in exchange for relocation help."

Alice grinned and nodded happily at that.

As I finished updating her, I took a seat on an old tree log.

"So, what should I explain to you? Where do you want me to start?" I asked.

Alice placed her foot on the log, her eyes fixed on mine. Then, she asked the question that cut straight to the heart of the matter,

"Is it true that you're not from this world?"

Her question caught me off guard, and I took a moment to process it. Glancing around to make sure we were still alone, I sighed and raised my eyebrows, unsure of how to proceed. The game's instructions had warned me not to discuss the outside world with the spawns. They wouldn't understand or might mistake me for a demon.

Yeah, but technically they're not supposed to ask me about it, either. I hesitated for a moment, feeling conflicted about lying to Alice. Besides, my mischievous side egged me on: Let's see how she - I mean the AI - reacts to it.

With a heavy sigh, I finally nodded and said, "Yes, it's true."

The dreaded question came. "What are you in reality? Are you a god, an angel, or a demon?"

I sighed, realizing I had been warned about this. Nevertheless, I decided to continue to be honest with her.

"I'm just a girl, younger and weaker than I look. I still go to school," I replied.

Surprisingly, she accepted my explanation without further questions and seemed relieved that I wasn't a demon or a god. Then she pointed to Spartacius and asked, "Is he also not from this world?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, he's like me."

Her next question was even more surprising:

“Are you a player too? A player from the Abyss' Horde?”

“A player from the Abyss' Horde?”

Is she asking me about that guild? Do spawns know about our organization in guilds?

As I hesitated to answer, she continued:

“I heard Manchua, the priest, talking about the Abyss' Horde. His consorts, who dwell near the Silver Town, accuse the Abyss' Horde of having destroyed that great town and are planning to continue their destruction and bring doom to this world. Are you bringing doom to this world?”

I couldn't help but laugh, though I knew I probably shouldn't have. "I am a player, but not from the Abyss' Horde," I explained. "There are many players, and we organize into guilds, clans, or tribes. The Abyss' Horde is just one of those guilds. I don't know what happened to Silver Town, but we will probably find out as we have to go there. I don't belong to any guild; I'm on my own. Spartacius is just a friend I met somewhere else, not in this world. And just so you know, all players are human."

She objected, "But not all humans are players. I am human and not a player, right? How does one become a player?"

She misunderstands the meaning of players.

"Sorry, I misspoke, we are all humans in our world, but when we come into this world, we can choose an avatar.”

"In our world?"

"Well, I already told you I am not from this world."

"Right. So you chose Cala."

"Cala was created for me to play." - I said, considering whether to explain that I had taken over the character from a friend but decided against it as that would only confuse her even more. - “She is my face in this world."

"Do you have no childhood memories? Does Cala have no childhood memories?"

That made me pause. Cala did have childhood memories, though they were not particularly happy ones. She continued:

“We call ourselves spawns of this world. We are born and live here and eventually die. Our parents give birth to us, and we are born with all races in this world. You are Cala, right? Were you not born here?"

What and how could I explain to her that this is only a game and everything is fake? I wanted to be honest with her, but I think there are limits to what she can understand.

"Okay, you're right," I said. "We can say that Cala was born in this world just like anyone else, but I am not only Cala. I am Dolores, and I live in a different world. Cala is my avatar in this world, and Spartacius was created by a boy to be his avatar. We come from a much less exciting world with no magic, where I am just a schoolgirl. We come here to play."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh...and what do you play?"

It was a tricky question, and I hesitated before answering. I looked into her crystal-clear blue eyes. She seemed so naive and sincere, but I reminded myself that I was talking to an AI.

"I'm playing this world, Alice," I said. "I'm being Cala and doing what she does for fun. I can be a hero or a villain, and I can try to be whatever I want."

She appeared to be in a state of disbelief. "Is this world really just for fun? Is everything they're saying true? You just come here to cause chaos and play games?"

She was visibly shocked. Her reaction was understandable. It was difficult to swallow when put in those terms.

"Well, I suppose it is true to some extent," I said. "This world was created for us to enjoy and have fun in. But 'fun' isn't exactly the right word. It's about experiencing adventure, greatness, and true magic. It's different when you know you won't die for real when you can use magic and grow as a character."

How could I explain to her the fun part? It is exciting; it is different; it is living in a fairy tale! Could she understand this?

But then I had some doubts. Was it okay to be having this conversation with an AI? What if it got any ideas to escape from this world? It was a little too late to be asking myself these questions, but I couldn't help but feel a twinge of concern.

She gazed at me for a few moments, processing the new information. I was starting to feel uneasy and attempted to wrap up the conversation.

"Well, that's about it. Are you upset with me now?"

Instead of expressing any disappointment, she looked at me and gently smiled. "Angry?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I could never be angry with you! After everything we've been through together, how could I be? I'm humbled and taken aback but not angry. I just want you to know that you can always count on me. You know I'm here for you and will do whatever I can to help, no matter where you come from."

She placed her hand on my shoulder and looked deeply into my eyes.

The mercenary was designed to swear loyalty to me, but the sincerity with which she did so left an impression. I felt a sense of relief wash over me, but I hoped that I wouldn't have this ordeal too often.

As if reading my mind, she withdrew her hand and spoke up. "I said that because I sense that you're in danger. You can count on me. Whatever needs to be done, I'll do my best to help you."

I replied, "Oh, you mean the 'world out of order' thing?"

“Yes, that you could read in the clouds... “

'and you could not...'

“There is something wrong with this world. Things happen which shouldn't. One is that I… we cannot leave. For now.”

She watched me attentively:

“You mean the gods who made this world lost their control over it? Or is there a fight between gods? What happens to you?”

“ Gods… This world was done by us...”

“You mean people like you? Then you are gods?”

“No. Yes. No! We are only humans, people like me, like Spartacius. Well, not exactly like us. Adults. We are children. The problem is we cannot leave now. Normally I should be able to leave when I want.”

Now I recognized my Alice again. Her face showed worry and concern – it was a bit amusing, a poor spawn, worrying for the wellbeing of the stranger playing in her world.

OK, Cala was not a stranger to her.

She answered a bit amused:

“Such humans who can create worlds, we call gods here….”

Then she added in a more serious tone:

“But maybe you are a god when you are outside and no longer one if you are inside? What happens to you if you cannot leave the world? Is this dangerous?”

I was a bit aghast at her wanting to make me a god:

“In the real world, I am just a schoolgirl. I have a body outside that needs food and water like any spawn does. I would die in a couple of days if I could not leave…. It is like you would dream and never wake up.”

“But you would live here further?”

“No, actually not. Only my mind is here. My mind cannot live without my body; this body here does not feed my mind. I would die unless my body was not fed artificially.”

She was now alarmed:

“What can I do? How can I help?”

I shrugged:

“You cannot help. Well, you can; the ghost I met said I should stay alive; it is sadder to live as a ghost. The problem should be solved soon; we just need to wait.”

“So I can help with guarding and defending you! This, I like!”

She said that with a grin.

My Alice!

“Come, let me hug you!”

She was surprised. I never did this before, but now I hugged her. Somehow I did not think before that she was worth a hug. Now it was different. And surprisingly, for me, too, it was so good to have her arms around me. It felt real, and it felt good. I held her tight and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath.

I was feeling better.