Chapter 1

I sat facing the beautiful elven high priestess. She had a frown on her face, but I don't think any expression could seriously dampen her stunning good looks.

“Do you know why you are here?”

I sort of knew. I was in a vivid dream reality, VDR, so I was stuck in this game unless I died. I desperately wanted to leave the game so I had been very reckless today. I thought I had been careful and tried not to endanger any of the other characters. Considering the fact that VDR only consists of a helmet and is deliberately not connected to any internet, the only way to play multiplayer games is if my helmet was physically connected to another VDR headset and since I was in my flat alone, I knew I didn't need to be worried about any other players. Still, I just couldn't bring myself to be nasty to anyone, even if they were only a computer generated image.

“Err...maybe I was a little over enthusiastic?”

“Ragar reported that you were suicidal.”

“I think that is a bit strong.” The computer system is obviously more perceptive than I expected. My flatmate, Veronica or Vee for short, who is the owner of the VDR headset, had convinced me to give it a go. I have never really been into gaming, nor could I have afforded the ridiculously priced VDR.

Once you put the helmet on it uses auditory and visual effects to drop you in a semi-hypnotic state so that the images and sounds it produced allowed the mind to fill in the blanks with all the other senses. It was true, really effective, virtual reality. However there were a couple of drawbacks. The person you became was based on your mind image, so you couldn't be anything other than yourself, a human and in the same condition that you were in real life. The mind went into a kind of turbo mode so 2 hours gaming was equivalent to a week in the VDR. You couldn't access any interface so you were stuck in the game until your time ran out or you died.

The problem was the world that you went to was generated by the computer game that you loaded into the system. I'm guessing Vee thought I was gay, since, in the game loaded, the only intimacy allowed was with the same sex. I was surrounded by beautiful women who were not interested because I was a guy and handsome men who kept touching me inappropriately and being very suggestive. If there had been any question in my mind about my sexuality, I would now know that I had no homosexual leanings at all. I had thought these games were also used for sexual gratification, and judging by the actions of the computer generated characters, I would say, suspicion confirmed. Pretty much all the characters were beautiful. All the men had six packs and all the women had large assets, slim waists and amazing smiles.

She carried on frowning at me. I am pretty sure she was not convinced. She got up and came around the desk so that she was right in front of me. I moved my chair back a bit to give her room. She kept eye contact with me and then touched my forehead with her finger and said “I ask for truth, by Lagbit's will, I ask for truth.”

Lagbit was the god in the game that she was the high priestess to. I was set up to be an apprentice priest as well. I think she had just cast a truth spell on me. I had no idea whether that would work on me.

She released her touch and went back to her chair. “Shall we start again. And the truth this time. Were you suicidal today?”

“Yes.” The word slipped out unintended. Crickey, the truth spell worked.

“If you went out again tomorrow, would you be suicidal again?”

“Yes.” I was tempted to put my hand over my mouth to try and stop the words, but then it would look like I was trying to lie.

Her frown was gone to be replaced by a look of compassion and caring. How a computer program could show caring I have no idea. Somehow I was convinced that she really cared about me. She got up and took my hand and led me to a couch and then cuddled me. “Are you really that unhappy?” she murmured to me.

Again, I couldn't help the response. “Yes.”

“Why? Whatever is the matter?”

My true mother was a bit of a cold fish, never interested in cuddling. I was lucky if I got a pat on the head. I am not sure if it was the truth spell or just the fact that I had a caring woman, who, despite looking the same age as me, probably due to her elven heritage, was taking on a maternal role. Whatever the reason, I was soon crying and blurting out my unhappiness with my situation. In particular, all the unwanted male attention.

She didn't say anything at first, just made soothing noises and stroked me, making me feel better. In her arms I felt like a child. I am a twenty year old man, I can't even remember the last time I cried. In my defence, she was probably hundreds of years old and saw all humans as children. I was either ignoring, forgetting or downright discarding the fact that she was a computer program, and relating to her as if she was real.

“Well I can only think of two solutions.”

“Err...you can solve this?” I had been racking my brain since I had first discovered my predicament and had come up with nothing. I had never thought to approach the high priestess and ask for her advice.

“Maybe. Either you change your sexual orientation and I have no idea how to do that, or we change your sex.”

“Change my sex.”

“Yes. I will have to do some research in the library, but I am sure there is a transformation spell. More accurately, I think it is a combination of potion, ritual and spell. It will take a lot of effort by quite a few of us, but if that is the only way to make you happy, that is what we need to do.”

I didn't know something like that was possible. I mean I had read that your character came from your body image, so you didn't have a choice as to how you would appear. Did I want to be changed into a woman? There was conflict in my mind. Society had taught me that I was a man and had to act like it. Whenever I had done anything that was thought to be at all feminine, I was laughed at. I knew that I was supposed to react strongly to the idea of changing my gender. Despite that, I had never seen women as lessor, just different. This was an opportunity to find out how the other half of the population lived. The computer wasn't going to judge me and no one else had to know.

“I would like you to go to your room and meditate. I will try and arrange everything for tonight. When all is ready, I will send someone to collect you.” She stood up, holding me up at the same time. Still looking at me with caring in her eyes.

I leaned forwards and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you high priestess.” I went back to my room. I had a big decision to make. I guess if I really didn't like it, I would just have to be more successful in committing suicide by orc or goblin. Plus I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have to experience the downsides of being female, at least they were downsides from a male perspective. No periods and no pregnancy. Life was about to get very interesting.