"Please remain calm. I know the sensations you are feeling are unusual. Please follow the sound of my voice. Once you reach me and form your virtual selves, your disorientation will dissipate."

I am really glad the speaker is Squardrim. Her voice soothes my nerves and compels me to her. I just want to find the beautiful voice. I feel myself move blindly through the darkness as the voice continues to talk to us.

"Once the game starts, you will not be able to contact me until it's over. I suggest, if you have questions, to ask now."

"Is the crowd watching this? I mean, can they see us right now?" It is a male voice. Deep and raspy.

Without seeing the person, I guess he is Gnarr. It is a Heavy-G planet. Most Gnarr have muscles on muscles, short, and don't live much longer than Humans. Hard workers, though. And unmatched physical strength. Not always that book smart. But they don't need to be.

"Yes. Right now, the view screens are focused on me, here at home base. Ah yes, you have made it. Welcome, Zea. You are faster than most."

The Squardrim female stands before me finally. She is taller than most Squardrim, wearing a flowing purple gown that sparkles in the dim light. It swirls around her with some unfelt wind, reminding me this is all in my head. Like I said, trippy.

I look around. It is a plain silver dome. I can barely decipher where the curved wall meets the floor. The light is dim and seems to come from nowhere and everywhere.

"Welcome Nort. I had a feeling you would be next. Hmmm, impressive form."

An abnormally large Gnarr male appears. He walks out of the darkness behind us, stopping several feet away from me to my left. His form is primarily that of a Gnarr but larger. About eight feet larger, to be exact.

I am slightly disturbed to find he only wears a loincloth. That is a lot of male exposed. Heavily muscled male. His muscles bulge in his arms as they hang awkwardly out from his massive chest.

He is oddly silent as his massive form lumbers to a stop, his meaty legs a little shorter than his arms, huge muscles flexing with each step.

Suddenly another form races to a stop between us. Chest heaving, panting heavily, nostrils flaring. A female Dukri. They have long skinny figures. More or less looking like a Human, just slightly taller, faces a little leaner and grey skin.

The most significant difference is the muscular legs with backward knees. She is built for speed and jumping. She had most of her head shaved except a thin strip of hair that runs down the middle. Bright orange hair reaches the middle of her back in a thin line. Strange orange tattoos cover all of her exposed skin. I swear they glow.

Her clothes are pure black. It was made of some sort of shiny material that reflects light. It looks armoured. Some type of hard material that forms to her thin body perfectly.

And out of thin air materializes a Feyronian to my right, wearing bright coloured flowing robes. I shouldn't be surprised. They have strong telepathic skills. Their minds being one of the most talented next to the Zukrog's in energy bending.

He is unmistakably Feyronian, yet there is something significantly different about him. I can't put my finger on it. His hair is buzzed short. Brown, like his skin. Nothing special about that.

They are primarily a humanoid species as well. Resembling Zukrog's in pretty much every way, except their hair doesn't change, and their skin tones vary from pale white to as black as deep space. Perhaps they are more humanoid than Zukrog's in that respect. However, they do live as long as Zukrog's, which is bloody long.

Feyronian's are mostly known for their shady reputations and telepathy skills. They are unmatched by any species I have ever met in that area.

They can manipulate your senses by releasing pheromones. Add that to their ability to mess with your mind, and you have someone very skilled in seduction and sabotage. Scarier than a huge Gnarr any day, if you ask me.

I hate anyone messing with my mind. Yet, here I am. If I make a mental grown, will I automatically act it out here? Ok, that thought makes my head hurt. I am done thinking about it.

"Arki and Ola's. Welcome." Our guide welcomes first the female Dukri and then the male Feyronian.

"I welcome all of you to the sixth annual Battle of the Minds. Are there any more questions before we continue?" For some unknown reason, everyone's eyes turn to me.

"What is she supposed to be?" The Dukri asked the question everyone seems to be thinking.

What the fuck are they talking about? Most people assume I am a Zukrog mutt of some kind. Not exactly a thing to be desired, Zukrog half breeds are heavily shunned, but not wholly abnormal either. It happens.

But they are all looking at me like I am a super freak.

A sinking feeling in my gut takes hold. Sweat breaks out on my virtual skin.

OK, that's weird. I didn't know virtual skin could sweat. Shit!

I look at each of my competitors, then to our Squardrim guide, shaking my head.

"Seriously. I don't know what the problem is, but does it matter what I am?"

I feel my ire rising. I don't like being put on the spot. Or the centre of attention. My skin tingles again.

The Squardrim's head tilts to the side as she assesses me. The others keep staring, but all seem to be suddenly holding their breath for something.

"What the fuck is the problem here? You won't remember what or who I am once the game starts anyway!"

My skin feels hot. I am getting pissed off and very embarrassed.

I feel the air that technically is non-existent start moving around my skin and all my hair stands on end. All of my hair, not just the short hairs on my arms and legs. Didn't I just remove all the hair on my head?

What in the blazing stars?

The sinking feeling in my gut grows. I look down at my hands. My usually olive skin glows a hot white back at me.

I am fucking glowing!

Holy mother of stars.

I look down at my body. It, too, is glowing white. Bright enough that looking at myself hurts my eyes a little. And the best part? Ya, I am still naked. What was with that?

Granted, I am glowing so bright I doubt anyone can tell I am naked unless they stand right beside me.

I don't dare touch my head. Whatever my messed up subconscious has decided to project here in this virtual reality is not something I need to investigate further.

Fuck this shit.

At least I will forget once the game starts. That brings up a good question.

"Do we keep these forms for the entire game? Or can they change?" I sound a little panicked. I feel a little panicked.

The Squardrim seems to asses me anew, head tilting to the other side, big shiny black bug eyes blinking at me.

Everyone else is still staring at me, and I notice they all seem a little more uneasy than they had moments before. Screw them.

"Most keep their chosen form the same throughout the game. However, we have had some interesting contestants with impressive skills, who have chosen different forms for different challenges." She turns to the Feyronian.

A slight smirk plays on her lips. So he is last year's winner then. And an "impressive" contestant. Not that this information will help once the game starts, but I make a point to log this info into my memory bank.

This is beyond stupid. But maybe, if I am lucky, my skin will stop glowing. I stick out like this. Badly. If combat is involved, I will be the first dead—my bloody skin working like a homing beacon for my enemies.

"Any other questions? We need to start. The crowd is getting restless."

"Ya, how do we win?" The Gnarr is nothing if not to the point. I respect that.

The Squardrim just smiles coyly at him. Being a tall species themselves, she almost reaches his eye level.

"That is for you to figure out. You wouldn't remember even if I told you Nort, so don't pout."

The massive giant male is indeed pouting. What a bizarre thing to see. He could crush any one of us here in one hand, yet he is pouting! I have to forcibly stop myself from rolling my eyes. I hear the Dukri snort and the Feyronian chuckle.

I wonder if the Feyronian remembers anything from playing before. He is most likely smart enough to keep it a secret if he does.

Feyronian don't have any issues about playing dirty.

"Let's get this shit show on the road, ya? I have the rest of my life waiting. And people to kill."

Everyone turns to me again, and I realize my internal thought had unwillingly spilled from my mouth.

Yup, me and my bloody mouth. Still, it is the truth. I shrug my shoulders at them as if to say, "What? Don't you?".

Our guide lets out a small melodious laugh. OK then.

"Even if untasteful, Zea has a point. If you are ready, please say, Ready. Once you have all said ready, the game will start."

Her voice is so musical and enchanting I can not tell if she just made fun of me or not. Whatever. Let's do this!

"Ready." I turn to the others. The Feyronian is next.

"Ready." He is too calm. I don't like it.

"Ready." Nort seems almost over eager. Hands opening and closing, arm muscles flexing, nostrils flaring. I hope I do have to fight him.

We all turn to Arki, the Dukri.

She shifts from foot to foot. I see the uncertainty wavering in her pale silver eyes. She is wondering if she has what it takes.

That is normal for any newbie on their first mission. I get the feeling she is younger than her projected self. I suddenly have a pang of sympathy for her. I hope she doesn't come out of this mindfucked. Dead would be better.

Finally, after what feels like forever, she says it.

"Ready."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. We all turn back to the Squardrim then. She smiles a relatively evil smile at us. Fuck.

"Let the game begin!"

The room explodes in a blinding white light. My hands reflexively come up to my ears as high-pitched ringing bursts through my head.

"Wait! Who won the draw earlier?"

I try to call out, but I am pretty sure the words never leave my mouth.

Yet this is all in my mind.

The pain in my head from the blinding light and awful ringing sound has me curling in on myself. All of a sudden, something pops so loud I think maybe I have been shot. Then there is nothing.