I speed past trees and leap over vast stretches of forest floor as I dart towards Fayetteville. This marks the first time, in a chain, I'll be heading back to Fayetteville. In fairness, Generic Gamer world was not an exact copy of Earth, but I lived somewhere akin to Vermont in that world so this is really my first chance to be heading to the place I consider an extension of my birthplace.
I leap with inhuman speed over a fallen tree trunk and watch myself sail over it with superhuman visual acuity. A split second later I am on the ground again and continuing my run. There's a pretty nasty exploit with my system where I only lose stamina if I am going all out with my speed, which allows me to run for impossible amounts of time so long as I adjust my running speed to be just short of going all out. In minutes I have covered miles and I am already in a different county.
I feel like if I looked at my legs I'd see some goofy ass loony toons shit. My speed is almost, but not quite, at silly comic book levels for comic book versions of "Peak humans". My senses and mini-map are both sharp enough to allow me to be able to move like this pretty consistently, though I don't typically bother going all out. I like having my secret tools actually be secrets, weapons that I keep safe for when I face foes that I can't afford to hold back against.
I am moving at speeds that are comprehensible, and visible to the naked eye, but that puts me on par with a solidly fast car. I'm also moving with grace and dexterity beyond what cars are capable of, thanks to a handy 100 point perk, Lightning Quick. I piled on drawbacks in GG for the sake of affording nearly all of the introductory tier perks, which in moments like this demonstrates its worth.
I slip out of the woods a few miles from Stansberry and I zip across a lonely patch of the highway with a look of jubilation on my face. It's hard for me to contain the joy I feel during moments like this. I almost break out into a silly Naruto run as I feel the wind whipping past me and note how bizarre it feels, even now a full decade after I've regained full mobility, to be able to run without feeling any of my dull aches or pains in my knee. The ability to run, to go wild on a purely physical level, is something I've never taken for granted and was one of the reasons why I chose Generic Gamer as my first jump.
Unpleasant memories fill my conscious mind as I swiftly dart through a small town. I'm not taking pains to hide my presence, but seeing how fast I'm moving I doubt people are actually gonna believe their eyes if they see me for a split second, blink in surprise and then can't see me anymore. This is due, in no small part, to a fun little gem named Rogue, which gives me the skills of an adept thief. My willingness to punch myself in the face with drawbacks a jump ago is paying dividends now.
Before my first jump I was a very different person. Particularly on a physical level. A mangled knee left me pain-ridden and made doing various basic tasks difficult during my pre-chain life so I devised a build for GG that was designed to give me as many broad abilities as possible as well as to permanently rid myself of the weaknesses of my knee. It worked. I coupled that base build with a rigorous schedule that involved daily workouts, and that, especially when mixed with MOA, was very powerful as far as training went.
The sun begins a slow descent as I speed through North Carolina. My long-distance running is enhanced by a skill of the same name and as that experience bar fills up I faintly note all of my other experience bars filling up at the same time. MOA continues to be worth its weight in gold.
The sun is notably lower in the sky when I reach the sign that welcomes newcomers to Fayetteville. I am standing on a road that leads into Hoke county and I quietly ponder the relentless nature of urban growth for a moment. I quickly snap out of my musings and focus on the puppet next to Doctor Harrison. I turn the puppet's head and note how the fallen doctor is still breathing shallowly and painfully, but as I study the good doctor I note that her condition has not worsened. I open my eyes and refocus on the sign welcoming me to this world's version of my hometown.
I was born not far from here, quite literally not far from where the sign is posted, in an army hospital some miles from where I'm standing. The sign is exactly like the one in my native reality and as I appraise it I remember my pre-chain life with unpleasant intensity. I allow myself another moment to study the sign before resuming my travels.
On the outskirts of Fayetteville there are a number of suburban neighborhoods that developed independently of each other around a small gas station right outside of the city's true limits. I gaze at them as I begin to run by them, cognizant of the fact that "My" house is in one of the neighborhoods, but I quietly stay focused and take off towards the part of the city that actually feels like a city.
It takes me about five minutes of speedy running to reach Fayetteville's downtown district, a sprawling mess of cute shops and historic buildings and then another minute to finally reach the alley where my puppet is located. Downtown Fayetteville still hasn't recovered from the damage COVID did to the area's rate of walkers and curious shoppers so there's surprisingly few people here but I still release a pair of puppets from my inventory to act as guards as I walk towards the dumpster. I reach the puppet and the doctor and lean down next to the woman even as I recall some of my handiest spells: my healing ones.
I use "Observe" on the doctor, as she is very decidedly not my original target. My most aggressively video-game-like power activates and informs me that the doctor is named Sophia Stills, and confirms some other things I knew about her such as her harmed state and the fact that she is stable.
I switch my class to "White Mage", my current handiest class for support and healing magic before I cast two healing spells back to back. The magic washes over Sophia and she begins to faintly glow, which makes it easier for me to appreciate the way that the magic allows her to recover at truly supernatural speed. Before my very eyes the harm she endured is undone and she even begins to stir. Her eyes open and then widen as she curiously observes the brightness of the alleyway.
"Where… am I?" She asks, her voice soft and weak but growing with each word. Time freezes as various text bubbles appear before me.
"You're in an alleyway not far from where assholes jumped you. My friend over there," I point to the puppet next to her. "Saw you nearby and took you further into this alleyway. I used magic to heal you, which is why you should be in no pain." I explain. She looks at the puppet and I can tell from her facial expression she's not happy, but when I say I used magic her interest snaps back to me.
Before she can question anything I gently grab her hand and lift it into view for her, allowing her to see her glowing skin. This shocks her, and she looks at me with alarm. Time freezes again before she can say anything.
"I'm gonna enjoy this. So I'm someone from somewhere else. I have supernatural abilities. My friend here was at the hospital watching someone else. Doctor Redfield, when it spotted some rough looking men following after you. I wasn't sure what was gonna happen and I couldn't do much through this lad. But when your attackers left I had my friend here drag you out of view so that when I arrived I could help you. I have healed you using magic." I tell Sophia, speaking honestly. She pauses and I watch her weighing my words against what she remembers and what she's feeling. My charisma-empowering perks hit her with the weight of a bag of bricks, especially given that I am not trying to hide my powers or gaslight her.
"I… Thank you. Those assholes are the goons of some loanshark. I haven't been able to make the payments he wanted so I guess he sent them after me to send a message." She tells me, her expression darkening as she thinks about what happens from here. I smirk at her before responding.
"I have more than just healing powers. Do you want to ask me to handle the loanshark? I'll be forthright with you, if you do I'll be charging a heavy price but it is one that you can pay. And the payment is one-time." I offer, before retrieving more puppets from my inventory, causing them to appear around us and surprise Sophia. She eyes me curiously and stares at the small group of puppets around her.
"Can you tell me what you want to do, or is this a hitman-type deal where the less I know the better?" She asks. I respect her forthrightness and contemplate what to say before time freezes and text boxes appear in front of me. I ultimately opt to be honest.
"I'm going to kill them. And then I'll resurrect them, kind of, but as my possessions. And in exchange for killing them I would like your permission to also claim you. All of this is vague language so I'll be explicit with you." I explain before pausing for a moment and giving her a second to visually express confusion.
"I have the power to turn people into dolls or puppets. I prefer to turn people into dolls. Dolls are living creatures that are utterly and fanatically loyal to me, and are empowered versions of the people or creatures they were before I made them into dolls. They are also more independent than puppets and retain the ability to think for themselves. Puppets are what you may think of when you hear that term, just life-sized puppets and simple extensions of my will that I can manipulate remotely, and while they are useful there's something both more fun and worlds more useful about dolls. There is utility in either option, but I do tend to turn people into dolls if I can help it. I'll definitely turn the actual loanshark into a doll. And of course as payment I'll turn you into a doll. If you accept." I state, again relying on a powerful tactic: just telling people the truth. People often expect deception, even a sort of passive kind where you don't tell someone the full truth.
"That's… I mean I appreciate you telling me the truth," She exclaims after having a second to take in what I've said. I watch her weigh my offer, and I note the moment she realizes that this is a trap, which I appreciate. I like smart people. "Is there a reason you're asking for permission instead of just turning me into a doll, or what have you, while I'm unconscious?" She asks, which is an exceedingly fair question.
"Smart question. So I could give you a purely mechanical answer, which I'll also offer and which is true, but when possible I'll prefer to do things in some conception of the 'right' way. I know the ethics of what I'm doing, that this is a vile thing to do to people. So in exchange, if I can, I try to make deals that are palatable to people. Mechanically the way this power works is that the wellspring of energy I draw from can be resisted. Barring exceptional circumstances a normal person cannot successfully resist this ability, however how much of the energy it takes me to convert someone drops if the person willingly accepts the change. I'd like for you to willingly accept the change." I reply, and when I sense her looking at me with curious eyes I opt to preempt the next question.
"You, as an oncologist, are in a funny position. Sometimes you get to tell people the worst news of their lives, and sometimes you get to give them unimaginable relief. But cancer is a real motherfucker of a disease and it can be brutal even to previously healthy people. I know how to cure it," I state, which causes her eyes to widen in genuine, and completely fair, surprise. That statement is true, one of the, secondary for me, functions of Healer is that it gives me encyclopedic knowledge of all diseases, illnesses, and conditions, and how to cure them. "Which I plan to share with you but also people with an array of resources come to you at various states of health. They trust you. And that trust is a powerful currency, one which I want. With you as a doll I gain access to a far more dramatic number of intriguing targets to turn into dolls or puppets. I was targeting Dr. Redfield, but you are also an oncologist and a woman, so when you get dolled your appearance won't be as drastically changed as Dr. Redfield's would be." I confess, once again smacking her with complete honesty. This argument disarms her and I watch the gears turning in her head as she weighs the truths I've hit her with. I wait a moment and internally grin when she begins to speak.
"So you'll kill them? At least in the ways that matter. I want to be sure of that before I say anything else." She asks.
"Yep. I'd argue that what I want to do to them is better than murder. Not morally, of course, but on a practical level. It's certainly preferable for those who've been victimized by the loanshark. I'll even sweeten the pot here: what if I doll the man, and defeat his goons, first, and then doll you?" I ask, expecting her to take the deal. She listens to me and considers the offer but what she says surprises me.
"Can you turn corpses into dolls? And if so… would you allow me to kill him instead? If you do, I'll accept dollification." She remarks. This response surprises me and I eagerly accept before asking her to guide me to the general area where she knows her victimizer likes to lurk. When she gets up she expresses surprise at the fact that she's not in pain.
"Healing magic. It's crazy what it can do." I exclaim before she begins to guide me towards the part of town where our mutual foe unknowingly awaits.
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Warm beer in hand, shrewd eyes locked on his competitors, Ray Kingston quietly studies the cards in his other hand. He is not a lucky man and he silently groans as he is reminded of this surprising consistent trait of his.
The men around him are all high rollers. They are also fierce, violent men. Ray is a mousey sort. Nothing about him screams "Violent loanshark", other than the money burning a hole in his wallet. He thinks about his wallet and silently sighs as he realizes it may be on the cusp of becoming a lot lighter.
Ray is underground right now, literally. He is seated in a high-stakes poker table in an establishment run out of someone's basement, one of the many unsavory sorts who calls Fayetteville home. Ray looks around and spots the owner of the establishment seated behind a bar and talking to a patron. There's something curiously old-timey about what someone older than Ray might call a "Speakeasy".
A phone somewhere close by rings. The sound draws annoyed looks from the gamblers, but the figure whose phone is ringing diligently pulls it out of his pocket and frowns in annoyance. He answers and listens as a speaker with an emotive voice tells him something strange. Ray and the other players look attentively at the player on the phone. He rolls his eyes and puts his cards on the table, a sign that he's bowing out.
"Sorry boys. Something's come up." He remarks, and he reveals the nasty hand he had before he nods at the dealer and gets up. He walks to the stairway leading out of the basement, unaware of the significance of each step he's taking. It'll take him some time to return, but when he comes back he won't be himself.
The gamblers return to the game, one player short, and they are blissfully unaware of the fact that a grisly fate awaits each person at this table. This marks the beginning of a curious cycle which will repeat itself a few times over the rest of the night.
Firstly someone at the table will get called away from it and they'll affirmatively try to fulfill their obligations. And then that person will come back but they won't return to the table. One by one this'll happen to all five of the men who happened to be sitting at the table when Dr. Harrison and the Phantom Puppeteer made a grim deal.
What is actually happening is quite simple, though rather dark. One by one Dr. Harrison and the malevolent gamer she has thrown her lot in have been systematically transforming vital minions of the gang into dolls and puppets. Their efforts began at a bar where Leo carefully identified two gangsters and turned them into dolls. From there the rest of the operation was simple. Leo's fanatically loyal dolls happily spilled the beans on the hideouts and haunts of the gang backing Ray's loanshark activities.
Leo remains malicious but not sadistic and efficiently converts his targets into dolls. The creatures he converts into his dolls he immediately connects with via Connected and he orders them to go back to the illegal bar and casino. Once there they keep their eyes on their final target.
In the minutes before Leo commences the final phase of his operation he reaches into the store he is perpetually connected to and purchases a knife. This tool is immediately given to his new friend who takes it with a shocked expression but is quickly convinced of the utility of the weapon, even as the two of them sit in a park near the home where the action has been concentrated thus far.
Leo is gentle and calm as he asks Sophia if she's ready to commence the finale of the night's activities. She steels her will and tells her new companion that she's as ready as she imagines she can feel, and Leo accepts this, telepathically commanding his newest toys to get Ray to where they met Leo for the first time. This endeavor is easy enough, and when Ray and one of the dolls are outside the doll is quick to knock out the little sadist with a well-aimed strike to the back of the head and simply insert his unconscious form into her inventory before quickly returning to her master's side.
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The park is a dark place which in some ways makes it fitting for the sort of work Sophia and I have been up to. I glance at her and note how antsy she seems as she fidgets uncomfortably. She's tightly gripping the knife and a part of me that is still tuned to my empathy supposes I shouldn't blame her. I spot the doll that was told to bring Ray to the good doctor and I in the distance and I whistle, catching Sophia's attention. She looks at me and I tilt my head in the direction of the doll, causing her to look into the dark gloom of the area beyond the edge of the park.
Sophia watches as the doll steps into the range of her human, mundane senses, I nod at the doll and he morphs into her true form. The change is seamless, the intimidating and bulky looking man morphing into a tall, broad-shouldered woman of incredible, albeit warrior-like beauty. As she strides closer I note the immediate utility of the ability I invested some of my energy to give her: Inventory.
In much the same way as I can carve arrays into my puppets to give them powers, albeit ones tied to me, I can invest energy into dolls to empower them. It does cost me energy to do this, which can be inconvenient, but the annoyance that that makes me feel is mitigated by a few factors. The first factor that makes this less annoying is that their abilities aren't tied to my own, meaning they can use the powers I give them without draining me of energy. Secondly, my doll energy is part of a universal energy I can use meaning I've always had an abundance of supernatural energy to use as I see fit, naturally allowing me to invest a lot of energy in dolls if and when I deem it handy. Thirdly, I can do this remotely thanks to my doll power book item, which I know will be incredibly useful in the future.
The doll reaches us, towering over me and immediately retrieves Ray from her inventory before depositing him in front of us. His crumpled form simply appears in front of the three of us, unconscious and still.
"You ready? When I use my magic he'll wake up." I state, warning Sophia. I give her a second to focus and when she nods I cast a healing spell on Ray. He slowly stirs, and as he looks up and spots Sophia and I the burly doll behind him is quick to act, standing over him and pulling him into a crushingly tight bear hug, frightening him and sending his brain into overdrive. As he's about to scream the doll covers his mouth with a large hand. His scream is silenced before it can happen at all, and I wait a second to watch his fear increase and note how he eventually calms down. I turn and nod at Sophia. She doesn't speak, nor does she hesitate. I suppose she actually did steel herself properly before this…
She steps forward and cuts the man's arm. The cut is purposeful, targeted, and effective, drawing a muffled whimper from the loanshark. Blood begins to slowly leak from the cut and Sophia takes a second to study her handiwork and I wonder what she'd be like if she were an Essence Entity wielding something nasty like the knife essence.
In my native reality I was an active jump maker. I made many jumps, including for essences. I want to wield more of them, but I'm not in a rush to claim them, nor am I after as many as I can get my hands on. Still, the knife essence is fun, and I'd benefit from having a fiat-backed weapon that isn't just some goofy thing from my shop.
Sophia cuts the man again, this time on his other arm. The cut is, unsurprisingly, skilled, swift, and clearly not a killing blow. I note the sadism evident in Sophia, though I can't blame her. Ray, the mousy almost-librarian-looking asshole, is a sadistic dickhead who told his goons to beat Sophia to unconsciousness, an order which they eagerly followed mere hours ago.
Over the course of the next few minutes Sophia takes her time, strategically cutting Ray. Each stroke of the knife is surgical in its precision, well-aimed to increase suffering and slowly but surely end his life. I wasn't expecting to see a blow by blow Death by a thousand cuts type vengeance today, but I'm very much the sort of person who can seize opportunities so I sit back and enjoy the show. It takes Ray over 90 minutes to finally die, and when he does I look at my new possession with a smile and allow her to revel in her victory. She reaches out and touches the man's neck, confirming the lack of a heartbeat before relaxing.
"Piece of shit." She mutters, before turning and looking at me. I can see her weighing her options, and when her heart rate increases I assume she's contemplating trying to escape. After a few moments I watch a weight be lifted off her shoulders, and she nods at me. She has the wisdom necessary to acknowledge that she cannot escape, and I am firmly aware that my earlier approaches to talking to her were the right ones. I don't doubt that the knowledge that I can turn corpses into puppets and dolls, something I know she believes even if she hasn't seen it, is part of what made her decide to stay and quietly honor her end of the deal. I turn to the doll and have her take Ray's corpse into her inventory.
"So… I guess it's time I pay the piper huh? I never imagined that a gambling addiction would lead to this." She tells me quietly. I flash her a look of feigned sympathy as she reveals her backstory, but truthfully I just want to go ahead and doll her. Nonetheless my reaction helps her further calm herself and I watch her laugh before she tells me she's ready. She reaches out her hand and recalls what she's seen me do to Ray's goons. I take her hand and pour power into her. It takes considerably less power to transform her thanks to her willingness to accept my corruptive might, and I watch her soft features essentially get amped by extra estrogen, her curves becoming fuller, her lips becoming thicker, her height increasing a little, and various other subtle, and some-not-so subtle, changes: enhancements, taking place.
I continue to hold her hand as I pour extra energy into her. I am taking advantage of my perks, all of which are powers I can give my dolls or my puppets, to give Dr. Stills a few remarkable new advantages.
As her mind adjusts to the dollification she's undergoing, new knowledge fills it. Powerful, completely supernatural wisdom flows into her mind as her brain becomes the home of a profound database of illnesses and other maladies, and knowledge of how to cure each of them becomes a part of her, all part of Healer. Additionally I share a few other perks with her, namely Silver Tongue, The Face, Well of Wisdom, and Beautiful Mind, all of which are perfect for what I want her for. The perks increase her beauty, charisma, wisdom, and intelligence, and when coupled with the other ways that being a doll enhances her will surely make her incredibly nasty as my agent.
In the minutes that follow I use magic to scrub evidence of Sophia's activities from this place, and have her guide the doll and I to her home. It is there that I turn Ray into a doll and begin to interrogate him to determine precisely how useful he'll be. One incredibly helpful thing he tells me is that he knows someone who forges government documents, and I immediately have the doll contact the forger and commission a falsified set of government paperwork for me, which will allow me to actually do normal things. Beyond that he explains the structure of the gang, and obsequiously vows to help me take down the gang, probably assuming I'm a hero because I helped Sophia get revenge for the beating his minions dealt her. This does not especially interest me, and I explain as much to the doll, saying that I have no desire to stop the gang, though I do mentally note them as easy targets in the weeks to come.
Now equipped with a nice collection of resources and means to acquire more resources, I find myself in a rather nice position. And for the next few months things proceed at a pleasant pace, allowing me to steadily, and controlledly, expand my operations. Before I know it I have spent an entire year in this world, with my toy collection ever so slowly expanding as I take advantage of the slowly increasing collection of resources I have at my disposal.