Alicekai'd 1.1: What?

 

 

 

     Ugh. The day of my presentation at work. I don't want to wake up. In fact, I would rather do anything but.

     Anything. I'll do anything to get out of it. I sigh, knowing it's impossible.

     I open my eyes to an unfamiliar site.

     What? Blue walls greet me. Boring, unadorned, blue walls. I close my eyes, guessing I'm still dreaming.

     Nope. Still there, I think after opening them again. Where am I? 

     I look to my right and see a reflection of little Z's as they float away from my head.

     This isn't real. I blink hard, trying to wake up.

     What is going on? I look at my hands. They look almost cartoon-ish. I don't recognize anything, and I can't figure out how I got here.

 

      It's as if I'm in some kind of fantasy world. Is it VR? I reach up and try to grab the headset off my head. Nothing.

     "What's going on?" I ask to the empty room. Then, I pull back the covers, stand up, and immediately make the bed. After that, I stare at my hands like they belong to a stranger. Well, they do.

     I look like me--only not me. I look like...

     ...a sim.

     "Wake up, Alice," I tell myself. "You've been playing too many games lately." Wincing, I realize pinching my arm didn't work.

     "Shit."

     I look around, still trying to get my bearings. Yeah. It's Sims 4. 

     "Hello? Who's doing this? This isn't funny! What the fuck is going on?"

    No answer. Big surprise.

     I've been... what's the word? It's mostly an anime thing. Is-kaid? Although some of my favorite storylines revolve around this concept, that's all it's supposed to be. A CONCEPT.

     I'm on some psychotropic drugs or something. I stomp my feet and feel the hardness of the floor beneath them. 

     Why is this happening to me? Why to ME? My stomach gurgles. I can feel everything, very unlike the VR stuff I've played. Guess there's a kitchen on the ground floor. 

     Testing a theory, I decide I want a bowl of cereal. When I open the fridge, there it sits, waiting for me. I'd laugh if I weren't freaking out.

     Later, I pick out an outfit and fix myself up while standing at the mirror.

 

     THAT was weird. It was like I was standing outside myself as I picked out what to wear, etc.

     Maybe I've lost my mind.

     I decide to go outside, still hoping I'll wake up.

     Is that... Angela Pleasant? I squint.

 

     It is her, standing and tapping away at her phone.

     I mutter under my breath, "You didn't delete the townies. That's not very creative of you." Someone has to be controlling this, and I know they can hear me.

     I remember Angela Pleasant from Sims 2. I didn't play that house much because the sisterly fighting kind of got on my nerves. They brought her back, along with others, for nostalgia and stuff.

     I'm in that university neighborhood.

     Angela looks up and waves at me, and I'm inexplicably compelled to go over and talk to her.

 

     "Hi, my name's Angela Pleasant. You must be new. Welcome to the neighborhood!"

     Okay, fine. I'll play along. For now. 

     I startle her with my sudden change in expression.

 

     "Hi, I'm Alice Dyer," I say in a cheery voice. Then, I decide to go for it. Why not? "Um, perhaps you could help me with something. I have no idea how I got here." What's the worst that could happen?

      She could result in some strange error code, causing the entire game (or whatever) to break down into nothing but a bunch of ones and zeros, leaving me either deleted or stranded in a zone of nothingness. 

 

      "Not to worry. That happens a lot." 

      "It... does?" I'd never before pondered just how 'alive' the AI of sims actually is.

      She smiles. "Sure. It's not surprising, actually. That's the neighborhood's 'starter house' after all. Have you gotten a job yet?"

      I answer in an automatic way, like someone else is controlling my mouth as I speak, "Yes. I'm a land surveyor in the conservationist career path." What? Since when am I 'gung ho' for the environment? Not that I'm against it or anything.

     "Wow. Already at level three. You must've been created using the stories method."

     "The what?" My mood takes a nosedive.
 

     "No. You don't get it. I wasn't just 'created' today. I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be getting ready for my presentation at work today." I take a breath. "In the real world." Why hold back? If it helps me, I'll try it.

      She puts her hand over her heart.

     She looks like she's trying to figure out what to say. "Oh dear." She brings her lips together then lets them out. "I... don't know what to make of that. I know some people may feel a little disoriented, and my sister and I have strange dreams at times, but..."

     She's going to think I'm insane. "Maybe that's it. I'm just disoriented. Sorry. Look, I'll go and... get my bearings, okay? Nice to meet you." I dash away, remembering there's a library somewhere.

     She waves, and I wave back. Crap. Now what? 

     With the limited resources at my disposal, I do some research, looking for anything and anyone who may have had a similar experience to mine. I'm surprised I find anything at all. I guess the 'sim internet' is more vast than I'd previously thought, not that I'd thought much about it.

     I find an interesting conspiracy theorist site. Normally, I'd laugh at these things, using them just for my own entertainment, but not today.

     There's a whole page talking about people being isekai'd. Apparently, this is a thing, and the more I read, the more sick to my stomach I become. No one mentions a way they've found to get out. But if they had, would they get a chance to or even bother mentioning it? I turn off the machine. I'm hungry again, so I go 'home.'

 

     What's going to happen to me? There was contact information, a kind of generic email, for the site talking about people in my situation, but I'm a little leery of reaching out just yet. I suppose I don't have a choice, at least for now, so I may as well make the best of it until I can figure something else out. 

 

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A/N: Sorry to break the fourth wall, first of all. I merely wanted to put in a little note here talking about the story. 

 

I write in first person because it's the most comfortable to me. I enjoy it, but I also understand it has its drawbacks. For example, what we see and are told are people and places as Alice sees them. She could be wrong. In fact, I'll go ahead and tell you that she IS wrong quite often. Strange to write this, but... don't believe everything you read. :) lol