The first thing that woke up Claude was the smell; it was a shocking experience like someone had mixed meat with battery acid and then cooked it up in a bath. His body lurched as he rolled to his side and threw up the contents of his stomach and a mixture of seawater.

  His throat was painful but his eyes remained closed as he ignored trying to rub them open. After his stomach was entirely empty as all that was left were dry retches Claude forced his eyes to open. There had been a thin layer of a liquid film covering them as his ears picked up the sound of a high pitched buzz.

  All he first saw was a stretch of coastal, a mixture of beach and sand with waves splashing behind him. Close enough for him to hear but far enough that they weren’t lapping on his boots.

  Rolling onto his back he lay back and raised an arm to block out the light of the sunshine from his eyes. The last he had remembered had been the long distance operation boat which had been aboard before there had been a detonation and then a sudden lightning bolt as a storm had appeared from nowhere.

  He had been working on behalf of his employer, the Acqua Foundation, back on Belphus, taking on a long-term ocean environmental survey of those patches of ocean which hadn’t been effectively commercialised and were still open to public use and abuse.

  There had been reports of citizens using them for illegal dumping grounds for abandoned technology and he had been sent out by himself to see if he could find any traces and evidence to be used against them.

  Some people hated the shift in the world when Liam Acqua and his wife Carissa Acqua had introduced commercially available technology to regulate the temperature and clean up the oceans but only at a high cost.

  Others had been thankful that commercial activity fixed in months what decades of environmental groups hadn’t. For Claude, he was just thankful to have a steady job where he could work by himself for three months at a time on the oceans of Belphus and not be stuck inside an office like his cousin Johan had been.

  On Belphus, the corporations had grown powerful enough that the global government had largely weighed a great deal of authority and law in their direction. All of that was too far over his head though.

  He was here now, lying on a coastal beach on his back with a kind of liquid which was rapidly drying from his open eyes, holding a hand to block the sunlight and avoid retinal damage. In a way it was peaceful. There was something he needed to remember for but for the moment this was nice.

  So nice. Ever so nice. I need to relax more. Yes. Relax.

  The smell came again, stronger than before but more acrid. Claude resolved to breath through his mouth as he reached for his emergency park on his belt. When he’d been stuck on the oceans of Belphus by himself travelling as a long worker for months at a time he’d been forced to take enough necessary preparations to keep safe.

  A voice gently called out but Claude ignored it. Then it called out again. The direction was straight from the ocean in front of him which didn’t make a great deal of sense. Claude hadn’t heard….hadn’t….why was he lying on his back?

  His ship had been caught in an explosion from the water as lightning had come from the sky and his boat….his long distance operational….why was he lying on his back?

  A voice spoke from directly behind him this time as as hands reached down and grabbed both his shoulders and lifted him upright into a sitting position. His back was slapped as he threw up again, this time between his legs. Claude saw something inside his vomit, movement of some kind. An insect or a bug.

  Immediately his body reacted in revulsion and he tried to plant a hand to the floor and push himself up to his feet before a hand grabbed onto the back of his head and his entire body froze.

  ‘Fascinating isn’t it. Evolution at it’s finest, rather rapid evolution considering but a parasite strong enough to wilfully control a human being into denying pure reality and basic instinct is an impressive feature. I’m going to give you some advice, maybe even a bit of equipment and then you’re going to listen. If you don’t then I’m going to pick you up, throw you into the water to wake you up a little and then show you one of the worse things you’ve ever seen. Directly. The alternative is that you can learn a bit of body horror just a little bit at a time. Maybe even escape this place. The others broke too early and this isn’t one of the more popular Tourist Destinations so...do you want to listen...Claude?’ said the voice.

  An involuntary chill ran through him as the insect or bug sitting in the small pool of half-dried vomit stopped moving. His body was soaking wet, his clothing entirely saturated with water and more of the same slime substance which had covered his eyes and he hadn’t even noticed.

  The waterproof clothing was measurable to avoiding water even if treading waters in the oceans but unless he had been completely submerged then there was no reason for him to be this wet.

  The sickening smell came back again and Claude realised that it was coming directly from him, his white hair, his skin, his clothing. His head bent forward as the hand grabbing it pushed down a fraction. His body remained unmoving despite his efforts.

  ‘Ah...I’m sorry. This usually happens and I skipped a few stages. I am a Tourism Operative designed to keep this place from...growing stagnant as it were but I’m bored and granted The Founder isn’t that interested I have relative agency to change a few things. Oh, and I rescued you. I wouldn’t suggest turning around just yet even if I do let you go. The paralytic nerve agent is still drying off in the sunshine, your body needs to catch up with your mind a little. Fleshly abominations can wait, besides you’re safe here with me. For a short time at least. Feel like talking yet?’ said the voice as the hand gripped the back of Claude’s head.

  A sequence of events flashed through his mind as the explosion near the boat had in fact been caused by himself. He had thrown together a device to get past an obstruction, something had been stuck on his boat.

  No. My memory. Why didn’t I remember this? Aside from the smell and the vomit….wait. No. There was something living in the ocean. It stopped me moving forward. Something big.

  There had been an attack, something had rammed into the boat and gotten past the emergency countermeasures and he had tried to fight it off and….fallen into the ocean. He was certain that he had set off the emergency signal and then...a lightning strike.

  Memories can wait. I’ve experiencing full locked in syndrome. This nonsense is scary. Breath. All I can do.

  The sensation of being unable to move his body, even though he was breathing, he couldn’t move his head, his eyes or even his physical position in the slightest. His mouth was able to open and he sensed that he was able to talk even if the rest of him was paralysed.

  All Claude was aware of was that he hadn’t booked a holiday in years, so unless he had ended up on some biological research facility gone wrong and a tour guide was one of the survivors then he had no real clue was that going on.

  What did I get mixed up in? I’m a lone employee for a massive organisation.

  Cooperation at this point was in his favour. The person behind the voice hadn’t actually hurt him, threatened him a little and talked complete nonsense but there was no pointy bits of metal or devices on the back of his head. Merely a hand.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Am I going to become one of those people who leaves to another worlds and comes back with crazy stories?

  Another voice sounded out, smaller, thinner and feminine, not the androgynous tones of the one from earlier.

  [Miss, this is a highly irregular procedure. Your instructions are to secure, rescue and immediately release all and any suitable candidates for this location based o-]

  Claude decided to interject before the secondary voice said or made something else happen which was going to be out of his control. He had already had enough of the sun on his face and the view of the ocean waves receding out was growing boring.

  The smell was becoming maddening now even it was dissipating, if he didn’t know better then he’d say that his body and clothing smelled like rotting meat at best. He didn’t want to consider what else it was going to be. The talk of a parasite and the image of the writhing insect in the small pool of his own vomit had been enough.

  ‘Yeah...hi there. A real pleasure to meet you. I’d really like if you let me stand up and get my bearings a little. Are you part of the welcome committee to this place? Some mad scientist asks you to recruit washed up survivors from shipwrecks? That it? No idea how you can freeze my entire body with a single palm grip but impressive stuff.’ said Claude as he struggled to keep his voice even.

  His body showed no signs of physical discomfort or even cramp. He simply couldn’t move anything besides from his mouth, tongue and breath in and out.

  He’d experienced mild forms of danger a few times, people usually did when they travelled across large sections of ocean by themselves for months at a time. The loneliness hadn’t been an issue with the twice a day reports and the dumbed down artificial intelligence systems largely automating his boat.

  The voice of the unknown person spoke, there was an oddness to her words. Not mechanical but her words were more blurred like she had too many teeth in her mouth. As soon as Claude had considered it an image popped into his mind of someone smiling with rows of stacked teeth inside their mouth in a toothy grin.

  Everything is good. This situation is good. They know something. But that voice..something’s off.

  ‘Sally. He’s fine. Oh and the smell on your body is something close to cadaverine. You’d know it if I pointed it out to you. In a way it protects you so washing it all off isn’t the best idea. The smaller ones tend to keep away from the prey of the larger ones. Sally, stop glaring at me and set us up with the full equipment tent. What? I’d do it myself but my hand is holding onto the back of this guy’s head if you hadn’t noticed. No, I’m not lazy…..fine. Please Sally, would you, please please set up an equipment tent. I do not want him seeing the...predator over there and going completely insane. Well...he might not but why take chances?’ said the voice as the hand of the back of Claude’s head released him and the sky above his head vanished to be replaced with a wall of grey cloth-like material.

  Claude froze for a moment before he realised that he was now inside a tent, the folds in the fabric and an unseen white shining light above illuminated him. The sudden immediate shift in his environment was disconcerting but he had better areas to focus his energies on.

  Without experiencing aches or pains, Claude reached both his hands around the back of his head and neck and touched nothing. His outer, inner clothing and boots had all suddenly become completely dry.

  His body wasn’t thirsty or hungry and his throat no longer hurt as though he’d been fully recovered in the blink of an eye. He was refreshed, not completely but more so than he had been in the last few months.

  The salt water on his tongue, the sick inside his mouth and the pain inside his empty stomach were gone. The taste of vomit on his mouth and the acrid aftertaste had been removed as though he had….had…..wait.

  Virtual space. CAMPIN. The rumours were true. Was I taken from the boat? The water wasn’t real, the creature….me throwing up. I’m….inside a virtual reality? Not going to test hurting myself though. No thanks.

  He pulled both his legs in and slowly rose to his knees and stood up without turning around keeping his gaze strictly on the tent material in front of him. There were stains on it, dark stains but at this point he had more than enough to be concerned with.

  He wasn’t going to question much out loud, not at this point but he did take a step towards it as the soft cloth material was as hard as cement. He could see it rippling as though wind ran past it but the texture was rough and solid. The roof was a tent, a standard grey style tent. A little expensive but nothing more.

  Nor did it appear to his eyes to be high technology using nanites that hardened on contact, the appearance was simply cloth. Plain tent cloth, old enough to be worn..with mysterious stains.

  ‘Standard equipment. Thanks Sally! You can turn around Claude. Congratulations, the chances of you going insane and diving back into the waters trying to swim to safety have dropped. I’m Kamryn. This is Sally...and...you haven’t turned around. Try to relax a little, this is a temporarily safe place. I promise. Right Sally?’ said the voice.

  Claude swallowed and turned around to see a thin figure with short cut trimmed hair wearing a full grey body suit with pockets and a few pouches hanging off. There was a pink backpack with a unicorn logo floating in the air next to her. Besides them was a plain foldable camping table with two pop-up chairs.

  The human figure was thin in the face, pale and a little bent over. Judging from the look of the face, she was female but it was too close for Claude to fully tell. Short eyes and a demure face with a pair of eyes with purple irises broke into a smile of crooked teeth.

  ‘Hi. I introduced myself already. Did you forget my name? Kamryrn. Uh, sorry I don’t like to shake hands. I touched the back of your head though, so we kinda already did shake….uh touch?’ said Kamryn as she waggled a hand full of fingers in the direction of Claude.

  There was a small lingering smell but his empty stomach had already thrown up at much as he could as in a way, Claude had begun to grow used to the smell.

  ‘Sally, introduce yourself and stop showing off. Uh….I made a few changes to your genetic structure. You can survive here at least. I mean, there have been generations since this place was uh...well...spoilers! You’re not a superhuman though. Sorry, there are limits of what we can do but leaving you as a baseline human would mean two things. One, you would probably go insane like the rest did and then everyone complains how boring the Tourism Experience is and secondly your immune system would collapse or you’d die or thirst and hunger. Uh...Sally! Back me up here, he keeps staring at me!’

  Claude wasn’t sure if the woman was insane or seriously disturbed but the fact that she’d made a medium sized closed off tent around the pair of them meant that he was likely stuck inside a virtual reality or he’d suffered a serious psychological trauma.

  The pink backpack with the unicorn logo floated up to Claude and then circled him once before floating back and landing on the shoulder of the woman. She visibly shuddered at the physical contact before she brushed off it her body and it hovered at her head height.

  Claude saw the rest of the tent was simply empty space, the ceiling was higher than he had expected and there was no indication of anything holding it up. If he’d been told that he was inside a room with fabric covered walls then he’d believe them except for the appearance of the fabric.

  There was no visible door, no windows, just an entirely closed space with more dark marks on the walls in random patterns. Some were darker than others.

  Those stains on the walls. Blood? Is this an interrogation virtual reality? Torture room? Worse?

  The floating backpack lit up with a mild pink glow as the same voice came out of an invisible mouth and spoke to him. Claude heard it but didn’t know where it was meant to be coming from so he focused his eyes on the unicorn logo when it was talking.

  [Welcome to...an experience. I’d say that you’re in good hands but any jokes related to biology aren’t suited in this place. Would you prefer immediate dissipation as an alternative? Painless, complete and...you don’t need to experience the world outside of this tent. Kamryn has been here for so long she considers it as punishment from The Founder of the Tourism Board. We are Above All. Or would you perhaps like a cream tea? Freshly baked scones, jam, scream and a pot of tea for the three of us. Mmm? Yes, I am a backpack. My name is Sally. A delight. Kamryn, he’s not staring at you, he’s lost and confused.]

  With a serious lack of options and the fact that the only thing that had been actually polite to him was a floating pink backpack Claude did the only thing that he was comfortable with. He nodded his head in agreement.

  ‘Welcome to the . Please confirm your destination to your chosen Seed world or Variant of the planet Belphus.

  All Visitors please register with your nearest available Tour Guide. The Tourism Board is Above All.’

  [This has been a sponsored message from . Choose yours today!]

  Nicholas A. Ostheimer [Original Founder of the Tourism Board and Creator of Fictional Realities.]