Vivid Dream Reality 1

by Savannah Maun

  Then I realised what I needed to do. I pushed the two bodies closer together until they were overlapping each other. That was quite easy. Then I had to change the male me image into the female image that was there so that there was only one image. This was a lot harder. I started at the top and tried to force the male image to match the female image. I was really struggling to even change one hair.

  Then I noticed all this energy behind me that was being pushed into me. I tried to grab hold of it, but that did not work. It was very elusive, the more I tried to grab it the more transparent it became. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do, so I started the chant again, “I submit myself to Lagbit to be made anew.” On the word submit I almost felt myself get a hold of the energy, but then I lost it again. It did give me an idea though. I needed to submit or surrender to the energy rather than try and grab it.

  I started a different chant. “Submit, surrender, give in, allow, relax, open.” I tried to let the energy in, open myself to it, welcome it, give thanks for it and it started pouring in. It was a female energy and it started changing the self-image immediately, working on the male me and converting it to the female me. It was both easy and difficult. Like concentrating on not concentrating. Every time I felt my mind trying to tighten up, the energy slowed and I had to relax my mind again. Initially, it was very stop-start, but I got better as it went along.

  Then it was done. There was only one image left and it was female. The energy carried on flowing through and sudden pain brought me back to the altar with all the priestesses pouring energy into me. My whole body felt like it was on fire. I wanted to say stop, it is too much, but I was in too much pain to do anything but scream. I don't know how long it went on for. It felt like an eternity. I went from agony to no pain in an instant. The lack of pain almost felt like pleasure and I relaxed from this fetal position I found myself in and then I passed out.

  Chapter 3

  I woke up to darkness. Not the, it's night time and it's pretty damn dark. More the, I can't see a damn thing, have I gone blind. I wouldn't say I panicked, but my heart rate skyrocketed and I lifted my hands to my face with a degree of anxiousness. As soon as my hands touched the VDR headset, I let out a sigh of relief.

  I reached around the back and released the catch and took it off. I was back in my flat again. I thought the only way to log out was to die and I don't think that happened. I looked at the clock next to my bed. It was reading 11pm. Presuming it was the same day, I had been in the headset for over 4 hours. That didn't make sense either. The most you could set the headset for was 2 hours and that was its default setting.

  I wasn't feeling sleepy so I decided to try and scratch my curiosity itch. I plugged the headset into my computer and checked the log sessions. It showed that I had only had a session for 24 minutes and 3 seconds before an emergency log off, code 1473. When you logged off you are supposed to wake up immediately, obviously, I hadn't. I logged onto the VDR manufacturer website and searched for the code 1473. Apparently, if the headset believes you are suffering too much pain, it automatically logs you off. It notes that all pain will be perceived rather than real and because the brain is in turbo mode, it will feel like it lasts longer than it does in real time. And then a bunch of legalese to explain how they were not responsible.

  Well, that was a weird experience and only the headset and I ever needed to know that I had agreed to become a woman. I wanted to phone Vee and talk about why she thought I was gay, but it was late at night and she would be back tomorrow evening and it was probably best to discuss it face to face.

  I had met Vee at Kingston University, during one of the social events. She is studying Drama and creative writing and I am studying computer science so we don't have any classes together. Nor did we make much of an impression on each other when we did meet. I had found a flat suitable for two people, my flatmate dropped out of the course after only 4 weeks. I put an advert on the noticeboard and Vee answered it. I had thought it a bit strange at the time. A woman moving in with a guy who she hardly knew. It makes a lot more sense if she thought I was gay.

  We got on really great. She had a boyfriend called David and, at least once per week, they would go out on a date. A lot of the other nights we spent together. We watched movies snuggled up on the sofa, alternated cooking meals, organised the housework fairly. We even went out to social events together. I've never been very good with girls. I tend to get shy and tongue-tied and really awkward. Yes, I found Vee very attractive, but she was also safe. She had a boyfriend and I never got the impression that she was attracted to me. I had only known her for two years, but she was my best friend. I couldn't help feeling a bit sad and disappointed to think that she knew me so little.

  I put the VDR headset on its charge station in her bedroom. I was beginning to feel tired so I settled myself for bed. That was my first experience with VDR and I have to say in some respects it was amazing. So real. The food tasted amazing, the sense of touch, even smelling added that realistic touch. During my adventure out killing orcs and goblins, I probably could have done with less of the smells, but it did add to the experience. Would I try it again? Probably, but not the same one. That one was only designed for gays and lesbians.

  Sunday I spent finishing off my coursework and working on android apps. Most of my personal income came from designing and selling apps. I hadn't hit it big and made ridiculous money, but I made enough each year to keep me solvent. The day passed pretty quickly and before I knew it I could hear the telltale sounds of keys in a lock as Vee returned.

  “Hi honey, I'm home,” she called out.

  “Hi Vee.” I didn't want to jump down her throat as soon as she arrived. Plus I also knew that she hadn't meant any harm. Anything she did, came from a place of love. I helped bring her bags in. She had spent the weekend at her parent's house, which she did about once per month. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

  “That would be great. I'm knackered.” She said as she flopped onto the sofa. I prepared a cup of tea for her the way she liked it and a hot choc for me and brought it to her, sitting opposite.

  “Umm Vee,” I began gently.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think I act gay?” I asked, trying the roundabout question of why she thought I was gay.

  She looked at me with a frown. “Err...No. Why do you ask?”

  Now I was confused. She didn't think I was gay. If she didn't think I was gay then why did she have the VDR set up with that game installed? Unless...

  “Come on Andy, why would you ask that. Has someone been teasing you?”

  “No.” I took a deep breath. “You know you have been trying to convince me to give VDR a go?”

  “Yes. Oh did you give a go? How did you find it? Awesome, right?” She smiled at me enthusiastically.

  “Well, I found myself in Lagbit's World.”

  She went completely pale. Jumped up and ran to her room. I followed her but didn't go in, just hung around outside her room. I could hear this muttered 'Shit, shit, shit.' coming from her.

  She came out a few minutes later. She was in shock and looked really scared and I think I knew why.

  I enveloped her in a hug. “I won't tell anyone,” I whispered to her and stroked her. She started crying. I led her back to her room and pulled her onto my lap, sitting with my back to her headboard and continued trying to soothe her.

  “You don't understand. No one must know,” she stuttered.

  “I won't understand unless you tell me. But whether you do or not, I'm not going to tell anyone. Come on. This is me. You have told me loads of secrets, have I ever revealed anything to anyone?”

  “You're right, you're right. And in some ways, it is a relief. Having someone to share with. OK, OK. Where do I start?”

  “How about with David?”

  “Oh, that is easy. He is in a similar situation. I am his cover and he is mine. Let's go to the sofa. I think I am over the shock now.” We moved back to the sofa and sat opposite each other. “It
started when I was 14. I realised that all my friends were always talking about boys and who was more attractive and I just didn't see it. Then I started noticing that how they were talking about boys was how I was thinking about girls. That freaked me out and of course, I hid it and pretended that I was like the other girls.” She paused and took a sip of her tea.

  “Anyway, despite trying to act that way, I was pretty upset a lot of the time and acted out a bit. I realised that I had to confront the truth. I have great parents and I knew I could trust them, so I sat them down and very nervously told them my truth.”

  “How did they take it?”

  “They took it really well, but there is a complication. My parents appear fairly well off, but they really aren't that good with money. They earn good money but are really bad with investments or savings. They have an expensive home, but they also had a big mortgage.”

  “What's that got to do with the price of fish?”

  “I love that expression. Don't worry, I am getting there. They didn't care what my sexual orientation was, as long as I was happy, but as I said there was a complication. My mother's family comes from New York and her Grandfather was very, very wealthy.”

  “Was?”

  “He died when I was a baby. He looked at all his family members and rather than distributing it evenly he chose very carefully where his money went. He was worried that his money would make his loved ones lives worse, not better. So, to each family member, he set up different provisions. One of his granddaughters had married a working-class family, so he set up an annuity. They would receive, each year, the equivalent amount of money to what her husband was earning at that time. This meant if he carried on working, they would have twice as much as usual and if he ever lost his job, they would never be without. He did similar things to other family members. For my family, he paid off my parents mortgage. Now, to those members of his family that were too young for him to work out what would be good for them, well, he left the rest of his money. That was myself and my cousin who lives in New York. But he didn't want to give it to a black sheep, so to speak, so there are respectability clauses. At 25 I am due to inherit over 250 million dollars, provided I do nothing that could be deemed disreputable. Again it would be put into an annuity, but that still is going to be a large income.”

  “Surely being a lesbian couldn't be considered that way.”

  “The problem, of course, is another family member. My aunt is greedy and was very disappointed that she only got a modest annuity. If there was any way she could cut me out of the will, the 250 million would then be distributed to her son. If she had evidence she could and probably would take it to court. She actually has employed a private investigator to keep an eye on me, that is how serious she is.”

  That made me a bit worried. What if they had placed a bug in our flat. “Err..should we be worried about listening bugs?”

  “Not really. If anyone recorded our conversation, it would be inadmissible since it had been gathered illegally.”

  “So your parents are making you hide your real self until you can inherit.”

  “No. If they did that I would have rebelled. No, they were very clever. They explained the situation and then gave me a choice. They told me they would support whatever my decision was, their love of me would never waiver. I chose this and because of that, I chose to study drama. I figured I would have to act a part until I was 25 and then I could retire if I wanted. Don't forget, I made this decision when I was 14. The last few years have been particularly tough. The VDR and Lagbit world have been a lifesaver. With that, I know I can last until I am 25.”

  “Wow.”

  “I am so sorry for setting it up with the wrong game. How did you cope?” she asked with a worried expression, biting her upper lip.

  “It was very awkward. I was surrounded by beautiful women who weren't interested and men who wouldn't leave me alone. I ended up trying to commit suicide by orc.” She laughed. From an outside point of view, I guess it could be funny. “I don't want to talk about it.”

  “Fine, fine. If I set you up with a more standard game would you be interested?” she asked.

  “Yes, I think I would. The realism was amazing. I want to be a bit cautious though, can you set it so that I am only there for a day. If I don't like it, I don't want to think I am going to be stuck for a week,” I replied after a thoughtful pause.

  “No problem. Don't forget the same rules apply. You will appear as you so I wouldn't pick a warrior type class. The interactions are exclusively heterosexual, so you can get lucky and believe me, it feels amazing. I will go and set it up.”

  “What, now? You have only just got back.” I didn't think she meant straight away.

  “Nah, that is fine. After our conversation, I need to de-stress. After you have had your day, which will only take about 15 minutes, I intend to spend a week in Lagbit's World.”

  I emptied my bladder and got my self settled on my bed. Vee came in shortly after that and passed me the helmet. She showed me where the different games were loaded so I could see the title of the game was Middle Earth 2. I went through the options before it hypnotised me. You use your eye movements to toggle through the choices and then blink hard to select. I chose to be a mage. I knew that if it followed the other game, a good part of my first day I would be in mage school. A good way to dip my toes in the water.

  Like before I felt myself drift off and then awoke lying on a bed similar to the room I had been in in the other game. Something felt different. I lay there trying to work it out when I heard a knock on my door.

  “Come in,” I called. That was weird. My voice sounded completely wrong. Not like

  my voice at all.

  A red-headed woman in a white mage dress entered. “Wake up sleepy head, it is time to get to our first class.”

  It was only when I got up that I noticed what was different. I was taller, wearing a white mage dress as well, but what really shook me was the long golden blonde hair that had floated in front of my eyes and two considerable weights hanging from my chest. “Oh,” I said in shock.

  Chapter 4

  I almost sat back on the bed, my legs felt a bit weak. The red-headed woman had different ideas and grabbed my hand.

  “Come on. We don't want to be late.” She started pulling me out into the corridor. I guess while my mind was distracted my body just decided to follow instructions and followed her.

  “I'm Cassie, by the way. What's your name?”

  “Err...Andy.” My mind was still in a state of disorientation. Even walking was a bit different. My hips were a lot wider so I had to keep subtly changing how I was walking until I could find it comfortable or more natural, I suppose. I could definitely tell there were bits missing between my legs. Even without a mirror, I knew exactly what I looked like.

  “Nice to meet you, Andi. Do you reckon there are going to be any hot guys in class? I can't wait,” she continued with girlish enthusiasm.

  I felt like slapping my head. First I was the only straight guy in a world of gays and lesbians, now I was the only err... lesbian, I guess, in a world of straight people. At least it was only for one day. To be honest, what I really wanted to do was go back to the room and have a chance to think. I sighed. That probably wasn't going to happen.

  We spent an hour in the classroom practising 2 spells. A fireblast spell that required quite a lot of energy and a trip spell that didn't require much energy at all. It was strange, I could literally feel the energy drain after each spell and then slowly return to normal. There was no visual mana bar or health bar, so everything was done by feel. And in the classroom was our chance to work out our limits. So we cast the spells until we couldn't any more and then felt when we had enough energy to cast it again.

  Then we went out to a guild hall to meet different adventurer groups who were looking for a mage to complete their set. I don't know how well the game mimicked real life, but a lot of the men were pests. I told them I was not interested. I tried to do i
t politely, when that didn't work, I was less polite and in the end, was downright rude and for some men, even that didn't work. I chose a group that had more women than men and the two men, the warrior and assassin accepted my polite no. I still didn't feel completely safe in their company. I stuck close to the healer priestess, who was called Carrie. There was also a female druid. She seemed pretty content with her own company and didn't interact too much with anyone.

  We spent a couple of hours clearing a forest of orcs. Funnily enough, I think it was the druid who was the most helpful. Her early warning prevented us from being ambushed a number of times. The warrior did most of the defending and the assassin did most of the killing. The healer kept them both alive and the druid and I helped. I found the trip spell particularly useful. I used it to stop the warrior being initially overwhelmed and then if any broke away and started heading towards us girls, as weird as that sounds to say, I could slow them down and also then fireblast them. If they were lying on the ground the druid could use the plants to keep them there.