same world, different life

Chapter 7. Joining the game

I waited there for what seemed like 5 minutes until they looked like they recognized my voice. They looked in my direction and nodded no in response. It was unfortunate, but at least I knew Machiavelli had a deadline and planned to bring me to them. I headed to the park's entrance only to find Machiavelli waiting there for me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Machiavelli.

"Oh nothing, just watching as you trusted the ones you were with for the past 3-4 weeks to the point that you believed we didn't want you to head there, but I'm afraid your case is direr than most," he replied.

"Direr, how exactly?" I asked him.

He began to look sad as he said: "We had an accident with her during transport."

"Well, no one's perfect," I replied.

"Ain't that obvious Sherlock," he said in a harsh voice. He then calmed down and said: "When the transport ship was going through the atmosphere, we hit some turbulence, and all 3 of those that lived with you ended up with brain trauma. They all ended up with amnesia."

"What's their condition now?" I asked him.

"I hadn't bothered to contact them yet, but Nathan, one of them, remembers you. He told me if they didn't make it, take care of you as my own. They trusted me," he replied. I began to shed a tear as I hugged him. "I would have had your family with me when you came out of the Infested, really I would," He told me.

"I know she wouldn't want me to worry, and now I know she's in good hands. Why don't we have some fun?" I replied.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you this. Why don't you retake control of the snake; I bet Daniel is wondering why it's acting differently," He replied. 

At this point, I figured the two people I had noticed now and before were lookalikes of my family and not actually them. I headed back to the same snake and then soon woke up in the same body as I did the first time.

"Nathan, where have you been? We've been calling Machiavelli to no avail," my metal trainer told me.

"Machiavelli needed to talk to me, and I know what happened," I replied.

"Good, maybe knowing that you won't be as worried," she replied.

It wasn't long before Daniel decided to hit the hay, and surprisingly he had laid me on his bed. "How do you like the feel of my bed? I wasn't one for it at first, but it just feels so natural for me," Danial said to me before dozing off. I soon fell asleep with him under the heat lamp.

"Nathan, wake up," I heard Machiavelli say. I opened my eyes to find Machiavelli carrying me home. "I figured you'd want to be sleeping in your dragon's mouth instead of in that snake," he told me.

"Did you have to wake me, though? I'm still tired," I told him.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew, my scaled child," he replied. 

I was soon home with my dragon holding me close. "I'm home, dear," I told my dragon.

"I missed you," she said as she began to lick me, "Now then let's get some rest." She then stuck me under her tongue with me covered entirely in her saliva.

The next day it was finally time, my first time playing their holographic games. "Nathan, you awake?" Machiavelli asked me.

"Yeah, but I'm probably going to need to wash off the saliva and get into some casual clothes," I replied. I mostly wore swim trunks when sleeping in my dragon's mouth, and then I'd let some of it soak in if I had time before showering, but in this case, I was pressed for time.