As Matt was having a mini panic attack, CrimsonValkyrie entered the game. After what happened that morning, her mind was a mess, and she'd made so many stupid mistakes that her boss had insisted she go home and get some rest. However, no matter what she tried, all she could think of was that guy and the- the thing he'd turned into. She needed a distraction, and some stress relief, so she did what she always did. She entered 'The Maze'. CrimsonValkyrie stretched out in bed, where she'd left her character last night before logging off. 'The Maze' gave characters boosts for logging off in houses and beds, helping them heal faster and learn better, a way to encourage and reward players who treated the game as if it was real. CrimsonValkyrie began to get dressed, picking out her outfit for the day, before pausing as she noticed the notification for a new friend request.

"I wonder-" She began to mutter to herself as she opened the notification, before freezing as she saw the username, beginning to hyperventilate. It- it was him! She almost rejected the request on instinct, before stopping herself, taking a deep breath, calming herself down. Maybe- maybe this wasn't such a bad thing? The guy had seemed reasonable, as much as anyone who can open portals and turn into monsters can. She'd even sort of enjoyed talking to him, in the moment, before all the weirdness had caught up with her. Plus, this was a game! If there was anywhere she could safely interact with him and figure out just what was going on, it was here. CrimsonValkyrie bit her lip, hesitating slightly, before finally confirming the friend request.

Chris paused as he received a message.

[Where are you?] - CrimsonValkyrie

[Want to meet up?] - CrimsonValkyrie

Chris raised an eyebrow at the messages, before shrugging.

[Sure.] - WorldlyAlien.

He pinned his coordinates and sent them as well.

[I'll be there in ten minutes.] - CrimsonValkyrie

"Looks like I have a friend coming. You cool with that?" Chris turned to Matt, raising an eyebrow.

"That's fi- you have friends?" Matt asked. "More people from- from-"

"Oh, no. No, this is someone I met here, the girl who sold me the game actually." Chris explained. "She asked me to send her a friend request, which I did, and now she wants to meet up."

Matt blinked at him. "You- you do realize she probably wants to sleep with you, right?"

Chris paused. "Huh?"

Matt shrugged. "I don't particularly like it, but the game has become a large part of hookup culture. It's great for dates, because it doesn't cost any real money, plus you get all the fun of sex without worrying about disease or pregnancy. And, you know, the massive community to meet people in. That helps."

"Okay… but I don't think that means this girl just wants to sleep with me." Chris replied, frowning. "Literally all that happened was I bought the game, then… Well, then the store got robbed and I got shot. Which, of course, led to me dragging the robber into my world, which let her get a look at my combat form, then we had an argument about Doppelgangers… still, nothing in that makes me think she wants to sleep with me."

"You got shot?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean much to me. I just pop back into my world whenever I die, no big deal." Chris shrugged.

"And- and this combat form?" Matt continued.

"Ah, my world lets me mutate." Chris explained.

Matt just stared at him for a moment. "So you're just ridiculously powerful, aren't you?"

"Pretty much. No idea what to do with it all either. Though, I will say, preventing a war does seem like a pretty good option." Chris chuckled. "You're buying my story then? I thought you still weren't sure whether to believe me or not."

"I'm becoming convinced." Matt sighed. "Even crazy people give some indication when they're making things up. You just… you're too flat. It's hard to believe you're making any of this up when you don't seem to give a single flying shit whether I believe you or not."

"Whatever gets you there." Chris shrugged. "If you need help, I can always pop by and show you a few tricks, but again, I don't think that'd be a good idea on your part."

"So you've said." Matt rolled his eyes, before eyeing Chris weirdly. "You're weirdly easy to talk to for someone who should be objectively terrifying."

Chris frowned. "I'm still a dude, you know. Having power doesn't make someone any less of a person."

"Doesn't it?" Matt replied, raising an eyebrow. "The more power you have, the less you need to consider those without power. Politicians, celebrities, business men, all divorced from the common rabble, unable to even comprehend their struggles."

"That's actually because they're people." Chris retorted. "See, it's an unfortunate fact that people only do what they want to do, and the large majority of people don't want to care about anyone 'lesser' than them. They only want to care about people who can actually benefit them. The more power someone has, the less they need, so most people hold no benefit for them. They don't need them, so they don't care about them. At least, they don't think they need them, but that's a whole different argument. Anyways, that's a normal human nature thing. So, if anything, power makes someone more of a person, rather than less."

"That's… that's an interesting way to approach that. You think people are innately selfish?" Matt asked, frowning slightly.

"Obviously? It's the curse of being a self. To be conscious of the fact that you are you, and others are not, means you have to choose which of the two options you value more, and it's only natural to choose the one that's you." Chris replied.

"But what about charity? Isn't that people valuing others more than themselves?" Matt countered.

"Have you ever seen someone give away anything they actually need?" Chris shot back. "Charity is only possible when you're already secure yourself. You can only give from your excess."

Matt blinked. "Okay, that's a good point."

The two fell silent for a moment, neither having anything else to say after that, when they heard scrambling from further down the tunnel. A few seconds later, a woman appeared, coming up short when she saw the two of them, before carefully approaching them. "Are- are either of you WorldlyAlien?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yo." Chris waved a hand. "CrimsonValkyrie?"

"Y-yeah." She nodded, glancing towards Matt. "Who's this?"

"This is Matt." Chris replied, pointing his thumb at Matt.

"Username?" CrimsonValkyrie asked.

"Matt is his username." Chris responded.

CrimsonValkyrie's eyes widened. "That- how did you manage to get that?"

"I made the game. There are some benefits to that." Matt shrugged.

CrimsonValkyrie blinked, turning to Chris. "You're already friends with the game developer?!?"

"According to my friends list, yes." Chris nodded. "Though, we've only known each other for a few hours, so I'd say we're more like acquaintances."

"Hey! Haven't we bonded? You've told me secrets! I think I've at least gotten close enough to say we're friendly." Matt complained.

"I don't have secrets." Chris rolled his eyes. "I have things people don't know yet because they haven't asked. Really not anything special."

Matt clutched his chest. "You cut me to the quick, young sir!"

"Yeah, talking like that isn't making us any friendlier." Chris commented.

"Can- can we focus?" CrimsonValkyrie interjected. "You- does- does he know about your-" She waved, gesturing between the two of them.

"The fact I'm from another world? Yeah, he knows. He doesn't really believe it yet, but he knows." Chris nodded.

"I'm coming around though." Matt grinned, giving CrimsonValkyrie a thumbs up.

"O-okay… look, I just- I- I need some help… wrapping my mind around- around all this." CrimsonValkyrie explained. "You- you died. Then- then that thing you turned into… can- can you just explain it all to me? Please? I- I can't get it out of my head! I- I had to leave work early because I was too distracted!"

Chris blinked. "Didn't I already explain everything?" He began listing things off on his fingers. "I'm from another world, I own a different world, which lets me mutate, hence the other form, which I split, causing it to connect with this world, hence my presence here. There really isn't much more to it."

"Okay, but- but how?!? How can- how can Azza actually exist!?!" CrimsonValkyrie began to hyperventilate. "I can't- if- if a world like that actually exists, and- and it can connect to ours… what does that mean for us? If those- those monsters came here… we wouldn't have a chance! They'd take over everything!"

"They could…" Chris muttered, frowning. If he could make it here, then what's to say no one else could? There were plenty of abilities out there. It was honestly surprising that he was the first to make it here. This world should have had visitors decades, if not centuries, ago! Chris paused. Maybe it had? Who knows? Though he'd think they'd leave more of a mark if they had… maybe it was that anyone with an ability that could travel between worlds didn't have the strength to make an impact? He could see that. An ability that let you travel well didn't necessarily let you fight well. His ability was the weird one. Way too much was bound up in it. But that wasn't the point here. "Honestly, if no one has done it yet, it pro- oh, crap, I'm doing it, aren't I?"

CrimsonValkyrie's eyes widened. "You- you're going to conquer us?!?"

"Huh? No! No, I was just about to say that there are enough people with enough different abilities out there, that if it was possible for anyone from my world to come over and conquer your world, then it probably would have happened already, but, thinking about it, I could totally do that if I wanted to, which probably means it's possible for others as well. No idea why it hasn't already happened. Seems like an oversight." Chris replied, shrugging.

"I rather appreciate the lack of superpowered overlords, so maybe we could find a better term than 'oversight'?" Matt chimed in.

Chris paused. "Missed opportunity?"

"I worry about you." Matt sighed, shaking his head.

"I worry about us!" CrimsonValkyrie exclaimed, panicking slightly. She'd seen Chris die! If he tried to take over the world, who could stop him?!?

"Feh, you guys worry too much." Chris waved his hand dismissively. "If anyone tries it, I'll put them down. It might take a bit, a few cities might get destroyed, but I'll get it done."

"What I'm worried about is you!" CrimsonValkyrie yelled.

Chris blinked. "Me? I'm too lazy to take over the world. Seems like a lot of work which I'd really just rather not do. I'm not even all that interested in saving it, but if I don't, I'm pretty sure Beth will yell at me…"

The Chris in the Maze turned to Beth. "You'd yell at me if I could save a world and didn't, right?"

Beth frowned at him. "I worry about you."

"Why do people keep saying that?" Chris muttered.

"Why aren't you saving the world?" Beth asked with a weary sigh.

"Oh, I am, don't worry. People are just worrying about me instead taking over that world, and I'm assuring them that I am much too lazy to do that." Chris explained. "I am also assuring them that you provide the necessary motivation for me to actually save it as a balance."

Beth paused. "You'd still save the world if I wasn't around though, right?"

Chris nodded. "Of course. I'd still have to consider Derek, Penny, and Thad, right?"

"What if they weren't around either?" Beth pressed.

Chris frowned. "I'd find someone else to anchor me? Then I'd save the world for them."

Beth raised an eyebrow at him. "Anchor you?"

"Yeah. See, I've been thinking about it, since we talked yesterday, and I realized I need someone to keep me… connected. Like you. Preferably always you, but I can't really demand that of you, so if you decide you'd rather not, I'd need to find someone else." Chris explained. "Otherwise I just don't have the motivation to do anything, and I'd devolve into indolence, only doing enough to keep myself barely entertained… it'd be awful."

"What if your anchor wouldn't push you to save the world?" Beth asked.

"I wouldn't choose someone like that to be my anchor." Chris replied with a shrug.

Beth frowned. "So, let me get this straight. You don't think you're motivated enough to save the world on your own, but you are motivated enough to find someone else to motivate you to save the world? That just seems like a roundabout way of saying you're motivated to save the world."

"I dunno… There are a lot more benefits for finding a friend than there are for saving the world." Chris pointed out. "Plus, the anchor is there to keep me connected, which I value, while saving a world only seems valuable if I'm actually connected to it. Well, directly valuable. I get the whole larger implications thing, that saving the world would be better for me in the long run, I just have a hard time actually conceptualizing that benefit, so it's relatively meaningless to me."

"Okay… but the end result of all this is that you still do the right thing, right?" Beth asked.

"Oh, yeah, totally." Chris nodded. "Just need that anchor, you know?"

Beth sighed. "You have such a weird way of being a good person."

"Hey, you knew I was weird when you met me." Chris retorted, grinning slightly.

Beth smiled. "I did. It was pretty obvious though. You were walking around naked."

Chris nodded at CrimsonValkyrie. "Yeah, Beth would yell at me."

"Who is Beth!?!" CrimsonValkyrie exclaimed incredulously. Why wasn't this guy taking any of this seriously?!? This was about the fate of her world!

"Oh, she's my girlfriend. Or fiance… one of the two. I haven't exactly proposed yet, but she knows I want to marry her." Chris explained.

"If you know you want to marry her, why haven't you proposed?" Matt asked with a frown. "Don't be wishy-washy with relationships, man. Either shit or get off the toilet."

"It isn't the best time." Chris shrugged. "We're currently in the Maze, finishing up our basic training. I figure we should at least figure out which squad we'll be in before I make it official."

Matt blinked. "You're currently in the Maze? You mean she's in the Maze and you're supposed to be in the Maze, right? Cause my tech may be good, but there is no way you're playing it from an entirely different world."

"True, but my world lets me be in multiple places at once, so yes, I am currently in the Maze, as well as currently lying in a bed playing this game. I'm also currently fighting a kobold and buying a TV and some movies." Chris replied, grinning slightly.

"Good god you suck!" Matt complained. "What doesn't that world of yours let you do?!?"

Chris paused. "So far, it doesn't let me go back in time."

"How- how can you not be freaking out right now?!?" CrimsonValkyrie asked Matt in a high pitched squeal. "He- he could single handedly destroy our world!"

"So could our government with a few well placed nukes, and I honestly trust WorldlyAlien more than I trust our government." Matt shrugged. "Look, I get why you're worried, but I want you to look past the facade of his power, and see WorldlyAlien as a person. Do you really think he'd do anything?"

CrimsonValkyrie blinked, turning to Chris, going over her interactions with him. The overwhelming impression she got from him was stability. Even when the robber had shown up, he'd just dealt with it, like it wasn't a big deal. For him, it wasn't, was it? What did he care about money? About being shot? Would he even have done anything to the robber if she wasn't there? If all the robber had done was shoot and run? She bit her lip, still a bit worried, but… less so. "What- what did you do to the robber?" She asked. That was the one thing she was worried about. If he just killed him… what would he do when he saw what the rest of the world got up to?

"Anthony? I connected him to my world, told him to be a better person, and borrowed his house to play the game. I needed an internet connection." Chris answered.

"What does being connected to your world do?" CrimsonValkyrie asked nervously.

"Well, it lets me go through your memories, and you have to do whatever I say, but in exchange, you can mutate to become stronger and you can't die." Chris explained.

"It- it turns people into your slaves?!?" CrimsonValkyrie began to panic again.

"I prefer to think of them as subordinates." Chris replied with a shrug. "But yes, you could say they're my slaves. I don't really do much with it, but the potential for abuse is definitely there."

"Do you even realize how terrifying that is?!?" CrimsonValkyrie yelled at him. "If- if you decided to take over the world and connect us all to yours… we wouldn't even be able to resist! The world would just be yours!"

"To be fair, if that was the case, we'd all be immortal shapeshifters as well, so I'm pretty sure it balances out." Matt interjected. "It'd be like the entire world was the game, and we'd be the Doppelgangers, just without superpowers." Matt paused, before turning to Chris. "You… you can't give people superpowers, can you?"

Chris paused, before shrugging. "I'm not sure. I've never tried, you know? All my subordinates already have abilities." He considered it for a moment longer. "Theoretically… if I have the core and the energy… you might need to mutate first to make everything fit together right, but it could happen."

Matt blinked. "Well now I almost want you to take over the world."

"Matt!" CrimsonValkyrie exclaimed incredulously.

"What?!? WorldlyAlien would be in charge! What's he going to do that he couldn't already do by just being stronger than everyone?" Matt retorted.

"At least we could resist!" CrimsonValkyrie shot back.

"Could we?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "If he showed up at your door, right now, what could you do to stop him?"

CrimsonValkyrie hesitated. "I-I could kill myself?"

"Actually, as long as I get you into my world fast enough, you won't die. My world heals anyone who dies in it." Chris replied. "Maybe if you could instantly disintegrate your head, you might be able to stay dead, but I don't think you're capable of that."

CrimsonValkyrie shuddered. "Why are you so goddamn terrifying!"

"Just lucky I guess?" Chris shrugged.

She groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, I- I get that you're not- you don't seem like the kind of guy to do anything terrible, but… people change. All your power is completely unchecked here! If you decide it's better or more convenient to take over the world, to enslave humanity, to- to bend us to your whims… What's to stop you?"

Chris blinked. "What would I even want from you? My world can make anything I need or want. Well, once it's been analyzed. If you gave me one of everything your world has, I would have no more use for you."

"R-really?" CrimsonValkyrie asked hesitantly.

"Mostly, yeah." Chris nodded. "I suppose I could use you as an army to take over other worlds, but again, why? Just to have more worlds? What's the point?"

CrimsonValkyrie stared at him for a moment. "Huh… that's- that's a good point."

"Power is only a threat until it no longer has any use for you." Matt pointed out. "A dragon is scarier than a god, because a god must be begged to be interested in you, while a dragon will eat you just because you're there."

"Are you calling me a god?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You own a world that you can use to create whatever you want. What would you call that?" Matt retorted

"Convenient?" Chris offered tentatively.

"So, we don't need to be scared of him, because we're useless to him?" CrimsonValkyrie asked, interjecting before the two of them went off on another tangent.

"Exactly! If anything, we should be begging him to help us." Matt commented.

"Could you not?" Chris sighed in exasperation. "I'm already dealing with the problems in my world. I don't need to be dealing with your problems as well."

"Spoken like a true god." Matt chuckled.