John stirred as streaks of sunlight hit his closed eyelids through the thin curtains.

“That was one fucked up dream” he murmured to himself rolling onto his side. His mind suddenly sharpened as his hand hit a pool of cold sticky liquid. At the same moment, he realised that beneath his head was not the scratchy linen of his pillow but the cool, hard, wood of the floor.

Memories that seemed foreign to him barrelled into his awareness, a sickening scream, begs for mercy and the crunching of bones. Bile rose from his throat and sprayed from his mouth as he remembered the sensation of warm blood hitting his stomach and the distinct sense of satisfaction it brought.

As he evacuated his stomach something else dawned on him, as he opened his mouth the entirety of his head split vertically down the centre. Finally daring to open his eyes he felt as 4 sets of eyelids cracked open, two on each side of his grotesque mouth and as he did he saw what remained of his mother. A mask of abject horror painted across her still, pale face as the blood dripped from the stump where her left arm once was.

John rushed to her side cradling her in his hands. Three 10 inch long fingers were tipped with sharp, curved claws. His skin a smooth ashen grey that stood stark against her skin. He gently rocked back and forth whispering “I’m sorry... I’m sorry”. After about 25 seconds another blue screen appeared in front of him making him aware of several blue flashes in the corner of his eye.

Skill activated [Assimilate]

Prolonged contact with a recently made corpse has activated this skill

Your skill [Assimilate] successfully activated. A portion of the targets recent memories and skills have been absorbed. Effect weakened due to deterioration of the target.

The body of his mother turned into a black viscous liquid and flowed into his arms, trying to stand and stop whatever was happening he found that he was unable to move.

For long minutes he just sat there blinking as he relived memories for the second time that did not seem to be his own. He remembered clearly the book that his mother was reading as he entered the house, the frown cross his forehead as he looked up at himself and saw a coffee stain on his shirt that he hadn’t noticed, the thoughts as to whether she should tell him that she knew the stories he told her were lies but resolved to just make him feel like he was doing good. The terror she felt as a monstrous creature smashed into her room, the pain as she had her arm torn from her body and the despair and concern for her son as she watched the life drain from her body in bright red spurts.

Panic, despair, rage at himself and whatever turned him into this, horror as he relived his unconscious actions filled him as he sat on that bed. He tilted his head down to look at his hands. His pale, wrinkled, sickly hands he saw the mole on the left wrist that his mother always joked was the only way she knew to tell the difference between left and right. His head swam and his consciousness left him once more. Unaware of yet more blue flashes appearing in his vision.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

He awoke several hours later, lying on his mother’s blood-soaked bed sheets, the emotions he felt before were still there but they felt oddly muted, detached from him. Over the next few minutes, he found that despite what he had done, despite knowing how this should feel he didn’t regret what he had done. He just felt slightly peckish.

Bringing his attention to the flashing blue messages in the corner of his eye they flashed up.

Notice

Race change is incomplete:

-physical changes [100%]

-mental changes [30%]

Changes will complete the next time to fall asleep

Notice

Race change is complete:

-physical changes [100%]

-mental changes [100%]

You now have access to racial skills

Racial Skill Gained NAME: Shift As a doppelgänger you are able to change your physical appearance to that of any humanoid you have studied for more than 1 minute or from which you have eaten Effects- change physical appearance to that of another humanoid creature. Additional effects may develop at higher levels. MP cost- 10 Activation Time- 5s Level 1 Achievement- First Blood

You are the first monster to successfully kill another creature on this world. Due to your nature as a doppelgänger, you have received a unique skill [Assimilate]

Unique Skill Gained NAME: Assimilate Through prolonged contact with the recently dead you may absorb the essence of another creature. You will receive a portion of the targets recent memories and skills. You will also gain a thorough understanding of the form. Effects- varies dependent on level of success MP cost- 100 Activation Time- 25s Level 1 Achievement- Matricide

You have killed your own mother, that’s low even for a monster. -5% to social interactions with creatures with children. +10% damage against creatures with children.

Skill Gained NAME: speed reading You have spent so long reading you can now do it significantly faster Effects-Increases reading speed by 2%/level MP cost- NA Activation Time- Passive Level 5

Understanding that his newfound lack of guilt must be a result of his new monstrous outlook on life he wasn’t sure what to make of it, he felt that he should be angry that some force has messed with his head, he also felt like he should be more concerned about the fact that there were now blue messages appearing in front of him but he just wasn’t. An unnatural calm permeated his whole being.

He had never been much of a gamer as he didn’t really have the funds for it but from what he had played he realised that these messages were very similar to some of the more advanced VR games that had been popular recently. He stood up and walked into the bathroom whilst mulling this over. looking into the mirror he realised he was much shorter now. Peering back at him from his own reflection was the face of his mother.

He preceded to wash the blood from himself and his clothes before returning to his mother’s room. At that moment he opened the window to let out some of the smell of the blood and as he did he heard a loud crash come from the door to the apartment followed by voices.

“Police! Get on the ground now!”

Quickly sitting in the wheelchair in the corner of the room that thankfully wasn’t in the pool of blood, John, wearing the face of his mother began rocking back and forth in the chair with a vacant expression muttering. “Monster... it got my son... monster...”

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The three police officers that had been called out to the scene swept through the house, noting the destruction throughout the house and what appeared to be bloody footprints coming from inside a room. Hearing muttering coming from inside they quickly pushed open the door to see a frail, sickly lady that one of them knew as Mrs Simmons rocking back and forth and muttering, blood pooling on and around the bed but with no body to be seen and an open window over the bed.

The officer that recognised the woman as their children had gone to school together knelt down next to the woman and gently shook her shoulder.

“Mrs Simmons, are you ok? What happened here? Where’s John?”

She didn’t respond, just kept muttering to herself with that vacant stare.

“Monster... it got my son... monster”