Steam Island, an attic guest room in a bar.
A blond man lay unconscious on the bed, his eyes wide open, as though he had witnessed something utterly terrifying. His body tensed involuntarily, but he could not move or even make a sound.
Suddenly, his eyes rolled back. Blood and even debris poured from his nostrils, staining his clothes, and his body began convulsing. Only after a dozen or so seconds did he relax.
A razor as sharp as a scalpel pierced his forehead and slowly cut through it, eventually forming a perfectly even circle, with only a little blood flowing out. He then sat up and looked toward Bell, who sat a short distance away, carefully touching up her makeup in front of a mirror. She was wiping away the pale purple mucus seeping from the slit in her forehead, then applying a layer of powder, spraying on perfume, and carefully covering it with her hair.
"Mother."
The man spoke, trying to smile, but his control over his expression was clearly flawed, making his facial features look misaligned.
"Try to avoid making expressions until you get used to this body."
Bell spoke while looking into the mirror, her attention not on her newly born offspring.
But the man quickly understood and adopted a calm poker face. After a few more attempts, he finally managed a reasonably natural smile.
Bell told him to get used to his body as soon as possible, understand his identity, avoid exposing himself, and simply act as this Player had before.
"What are you doing!"
A Private Message suddenly appeared in Bell's chat interface. It came from Lada, or rather, the system, and carried a measure of anger.
Bell paused for a moment, then promptly replied.
"I'm reproducing."
"That's not what I'm asking!
"I'm asking