READER'S POV

I slowly opened my eyes to see that I'm inside a pod but not just any pod, an alien-like pod. I tried to move but, I couldn't. I looked around to see there are other pods in the room and that's when my eyes landed on a familiar face, its Laz'el! My eyes widen when I saw her and I wondered what she was doing here until I remembered what happened earlier. The last thing I remembered was playing Baldur's Gate 3 before the game started to glitch and then a tentacle appeared from my screen and pulled me into the TV.

'If Laz'el is here...then that means...!'

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw the doors opening and closing. I saw a mind flayer floating towards the tadpole pool. I gulped nervously as I watched the pool open up before the mind-flayer reached into the pool. I saw a tadpole float in its hand before the mind-flayer floated towards Lazel's pod. She tried to move away but it was no good. I had to look away the moment the tadpole entered her eye because I always cringe at this scene. I looked at the mind flayer and watched as he closed Laz'el's pod before coming towards me. It opened my pod and I tried to close my eyes and move my head to the side but it was no use. The mindflayer used his other hand to compel me to look at him and then it held up the tadpole near my eye. The tadpole opened its mouth and shrieked at me before it entered my eye. I screamed as it squirmed into my eye socket and into my brain. The pain subsided before the mindflayer closed my pod and levitated out of the room.

'Now I know how Tav and the others felt after they got their tadpoles,' I thought to myself before I shook my head a little. I looked at Laz'el to make sure that she's okay and seems fine, for now.

A few moments later, I heard rumbling outside of the ship and I realised what was happening right now.

In the game, they show a cinematic opening to the game before you create your Tav or play an origin route. After the character selection or creation, the Mind-flayer ship heads to Baldur's Gate and then the long tentacles start to destroy the buildings in sight while kidnapping the civilians and teleporting them into the pods like mine and Laz'el's. After this happens, the Githyanki emerged from their portals and then they started to attack the ship with their red dragons. 

Suddenly, a dragon broke through the wall of the ship and then it used it's fire breath. I watched as the flames flew into the room and then I closed my eyes and waited for the explosion but it didn't happen. I opened one eye and sighed in relief. If I remember correctly, the mind-flayer that's controlling the ship, teleported the ship into another realm but it was a colder climate for now. How do I know this? its because I felt the ship shaking for a moment before the ship started to fall apart after crashing into the walls and then a cold wind blew into the room. I looked at Laz-el and watched as she started to struggle to break free from her pod. I heard roaring outside and I knew I also had to get out of here too. I tried to wriggle free but I'm not having any luck. 

Just then, one of the dragons poked its head into the hole of the ship and it growled softly before it blew its firey breath into the tadpole pool. My eyes widen in shock  before I closed my eyes and braced for the explosion. If I remember correctly, the ship teleported into Avernus and Laz'el managed to escape her pod. I opened my eyes to see Laz'el stumbling out of her pod and then she collapsed onto the ground. Laz'el glanced at me before she looked out of the ship and then I felt light headed all of a sudden before I passed out.

A moment later, I opened my eyes and then my pod opened up. I watched it slowly open and then I sat up before I climbed out of the pod. I stumbled out of the pod for a moment before I managed to get my footing. I shook my head a little before I looked around to see that Laz'el isn't in the room anymore but, I know that I'll meet her once I get out of here. 

"...I'm...inside the video game...and I'm at the start of it after having a tadpole instered intside my brain..." I told myself as I looked around. 

"All right, I need a plan...find a weapon to defend yourself. And then, have a look around and find some supplies and information. Then get the hell out of here," I told myself before I looked around the room.

I managed to find twin daggers that I could use. Thanks to Derek's lessons, I can defend myself. I strapped the daggers to my back and then I explored the room some more before I moved on. I got into another room and when I first saw this in the game, it looks like a labatory of some kind. Why am I saying this you ask? its because there's a dead body on the table and I remembered there's a wisdom check on the body with a talking brain. I walked towards the lift and then it moved up before I reached the second floor. I saw a man who looked dead at first but, he was twitching a little.

"Yes! you've come to save us from this place, from this place you'll free us!" I heard a child-like sound.

I looked at the exposed brain and it quivers in expectation. "Please, before they return. They return."

"Um...who am I talking to? a man or a brain?" I asked as I bent over slight while examining the brain.

"A newborn. Born new from this husk," The brain told me. I remembered that if I automatically pass an arcana check, depending how high my class and skills are, the narrator would tell me that I know this creature. It's a servant of the mind-flayers, an Intellect Devourer but this one is called Us.

"You sound afraid, why?"

"The enemy. So many enemies."

"You're past the point on saving. What do you need me to do?" 

"Remove us from this body - from this case free us. Please!" Us begged me.

"Ugh...I'm not going to enjoy this..." I mumbled as I reached into the man's skull and I gently grabbed the brain. I gagged a few times as I gently pried the brain from the man's skull. 

The brain lifts from the skull, but I remembered there's an opportunity. I could try and cripple the brain, which will make it more calmer and submissive, should it pose a threat. I did this on a few playthroughs and I've seen the outcomes. Fail a dexterity check and it'll turn on you but if it goes well, he'll still thank me anyway. But, I'm not a brain doctor so I decided to spare the brain instead.

"Here you go, little guy. You're free," I told him before Us jumped out of my hands and landed onto the floor. I took a few steps back before Us grew bigger and sprouted what looks like antennas and four legs.

"We are free. Our freedom is ours. Friend," Us told me before something happened. The creature pauses before I felt something behind my eye, like something has looked at the brain in recognition.

"We must go to the helm. At the helm we are needed," Us told me.

"What's at the helm?" I asked, even though I knew the answer to that, before crouching down.

I noticed Us tensed up when I asked that question, as though querying an unseen advisor. 

"Do you not hear it? We will not survive here. We are needed to navigate - we are needed to leave this realm."

"What should I call you?"

"Us. We are Us."

"Well then, Us. You can call me (Y/n)."

"(Y/n). Friend," Us spoke cheerfully which made me smile a little.

"All right, enough talk. We should get going," I told Us before I stood up from the floor.

"To the helm we go. We are going to the helm."

I nodded my head before we went onto the lift and went back onto the ground floor. We rushed out of the room and then we were outside. I stopped for a moment to look at the view and I was shocked and amazed at the sight. Lava pools and rivers errupted below, the air felt hot, and I could see dragons flying around the ship as they continued to attack it including the cambions that are trying to attack it and the Githyanki. 

"Okay, its official. I am in the video game and it feels a little too real," I commented as I looked around before someone jumped over me and then she landed in front of me.

My eyes widen when I saw her land gracefully in front of me and it's Laz'el! I would've felt relieved to see her but, she drew her longsword and held the blade near me.

"Abomination. This your end," Laz'el spoke with a frown as she stood at a fighting stance.

"Wait a second- ah!" I shouted before my head started to throb and my skin tingled. Visions rushed passed me; a dragon's wing, a silver sword - and a flash of my face is seen through Laz'el's eyes. 

"Erugh...my head. What is this...ngh," Laz'el frowned before she looked at me. "Tsk'va. You are no thrall - Vlaakith blesses me this day! Together we might survive."

Laz'el smiled as she sheathed her sword before I asked her, "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Your only chance of survival."

"What made you think I was a thrall?"

"We carry mind flayer parasites. Unless we escape - unless we are cleansed - our bodies and minds will be tainted and twisted. Within days, we will be ghaik. Mind flayers."

"Oh crap..." I mumbled and I didn't like the sound of that. "Isn't there something we can do?"

"We can do nothing until we escape - that must be our priority," Laz'el told me before we looked at the Imps that are munching on the corpses.

"First, we must exterminate the imps. Then we find the helm and take control of the ship. As for that thing," Laz'el told me before looking at Us.

"It will remain tame as long as it believes we are thralls. It may be of use in the fight to come."

I nodded my head in agreement before we approached the Imps. One of them looked at us with red glowing eyes and growled at us. Laz'el drew her sword and said, "Htak'a!"

The Imp shrieked loudly and then three of its friends flew over to us. I drew my twin daggers and charged at them. Laz'el, Us and I managed to take them down without any bother. I'm thankful that Derek taught me how to defend myself before I started college. I panted a little before I sheathed my daggers.

"You prove surpisingly adequate in battle."

"You weren't so bad yourself," I complimented her.

"To the helm!" Laz'el told me before we headed towards the ladder and started climbing. Once we got to the top, we entered another room, cautiously because we didn't want any unexpected surprises.

"All clear," Laz'el spoke softly before I heard knocking.

"Shh, what's that?" I asked before we heard someone shouting for help. I followed the source to see another familiar face and it's shadowheart. She's trapped in her pod and she banged on her pod.

"You! get me out of this damn thing!" She shouted while banging on the window of the pod.

"We have no time for stragglers," Laz'el spoke with a frown while I examined her pod to find a leaver or something to open the pod.

"This ship is crashing. Do you intend to die for a stranger?" Laz'el spoke angrily.

I ignored her comment before I looked at the console. I rushed over to it and checked it out.

"Okay, this console is linked to your pod but it looks like something is missing. I'll have a look around and get you out," I told Shadowheart.

"Hurry! please!" Shadowheart demanded before I rushed into another room where Laz'el and I saw another pod but the woman is unconscious.

I rummaged through the loot and chests and found the item that I have been looking for. Laz'el and I got back to the console and placed the orb into the console before it hummed to life. I took a few steps back for a moment and then I sensed something off about it. I remembered the narrator mentioning the console is more like a heart than a machine. I glanced at the pod and back at the console.

"Here goes..." I mumbled before I placed my hand on the console and then I felt a hideous squirming feeling in my mind. It's the parasite. The discomfort fades, and then another sensation washed over me. A connection, authority.

I closed my eyes and willed the pod to open up. I felt the biomechanical brain of the console process my command and then it yield to it. I felt a shiver travel through me and I felt sated. I opened my eyes and I looked at the pod to watch it open up. Shadowheart fell out of the pod and landed onto the ground. I rushed to her side and helped her sit up.

"Hey, are you all right?" I asked her.

"Yes...I think so..." She told me before we stood up from the ground.

"I thought that damn thing was going to be my coffin. Thank you-"

Shadowheart's sentence was cut off when we both felt something in our minds, almost felt like a connection had formed. Shadowheart's gratitude is mixed with wariness because I have Laz'el with me.

"You keep dangerous company," Shadowheart commented with a small frown.

"Dangerous company's what you need in a fight," I told her.

"Fair point. Looks like there's plenty of fighting ahead. Let me come with you. We can get off this ship, and watch each other's backs along the way."

"Did you feel what I felt just before? We were in each other's minds," I asked her.

"I did...it must be because of those parasites they put in us...But that'll have to wait. Are we going to help each other or not?" Shadowheart asked.

"All right then. Let's get going, I'm (Y/n)."

"Shadowheart. One moment..." Shadowheart told me before I watched her walk back towards the pod and she grabbed something from it.

"What's that?"

"Its nothing. Let's get going," She told me.

"Enough of this chatter. We need to get to the helm - now," Laz'el frowned.

"She's right. Lead on."

I nodded my head before we left the room and headed for the Helm. On the way there, I could feel Laz'el and Shadowheart's eyes on me and I asked them, "I know you two are staring at me. What's up?"

"You're not from Badlur's Gate are you? Judging from your clothes," Shadowheart asked as we started to climb up onto the next level.

"You got that right. I'm not from this world. I'm from a different realm that's way different compared to yours. Don't know how I ended up in that pod but, I'm just glad I met you two. Didn't fancy escaping by myself," I told them before we reached the helm.

"We are nearing the helm. Once inside, do as I say," Laz'el told us.

"Who put you in charge? I'll trust my own judgement," Shadowheart objected.

"Kainyank," Laz'el grumbled. 

I shook my head at the two of them and then we opened up the doors to the helm. However, when we got there, we saw a mind-flayer fighting off two devils along with their creatures. We watched as a mind flayer killed one of the cambions before the imps flew towards it and after a couple of slashes, he was also killed. I watched as another mind flayer used a blast spell against the commander and sent him flying before it turned to look at us.

"Thrall. Connect the nerves of the transponder. We must escape. Now," The Mind flayer spoke in my mind.

"Do it. We will deal with the ghaik after we escape," Laz'el told me.

"Connect the nerves! We will connect them!" Us spoke in my mind.

I looked around the room and told myself, "I should've picked a different game to play."