I thought the next day I was going to get dragged back to work, but instead, I was allowed to rest. The day after that, I was shown an empty apartment in the complex. Theo shoved some cleaning tools into my hands, and gestured at the rooms full of dust and dirt and garbage (and a dead meerrat), telling me to clean the place. I got to it with difficulty, my body still ached really badly – I had painful bruises everywhere.

In the following days, I was cleaning the rooms or rested at Theo’s place. He was mostly working and wasn’t able to always be there for me, but he took care of me when he could. My mother didn’t show up once, not that I expected her to.

As my body slowly recovered, so did the apartment. When I was finished with it I showed it to Theo, who checked it out with that bastard (the pimp). They talked among themselves for a while, then that bastard left me with Theo, who pulled out an old holo pad from a flowery satchel he carried everywhere, and quickly sketched the outline of the room with his finger. He then drew furniture on it, which wasn’t present in the apartment, then pointed at me, then at his drawing then at the room.

So I guess they wanted me to furnish the room next. I could do that. I welcomed the distraction. The moment I was idle, my mind started to wander, back to that awful…

A-anyway, I nodded at Theo, then left to do as ordered. I thought of where I should go to find good furniture for the room, and I decided that the abandoned hotel a few floors down would be best. It seemed like only I knew about it, as it was still more or less intact and wasn’t stripped clean yet.

I headed out to find my stash of hidden dismantling tools and a floater (a kind of small platform with a handle, which when activated would float a few centimeters above the ground regardless of how much stuff you put on it – made carrying things very convenient). I hid them to keep them from the grabby hands of that bastard and other denizens of the underworld (as I liked to call this place). They were hard to acquire, and I bet some of the original owners still cursed me for borrowing their stuff and ‘forgetting’ to return them.

I went down two floors and searched for a specific panel drilled into the wall. My handiwork, it was inconspicuous and did a great job of hiding the entrance of the tunnels leading to the abandoned hotel. I looked around, and when I was sure nobody was watching I quickly entered.

It was dark, the lighting wasn’t on in this area at all, so I felt around in my pocket for a light stick I grabbed from the brothel. I attached it to the handle of the floater and hurriedly made my way to the hotel.

There I looked around the lobby, halls, and rooms, taking note of everything that could be useful. The apartments of the prostitutes usually consisted of two rooms, one where they would entertain their customers and another in the back where they could rest by themselves. Theo was an exception as he only had the one room. Maybe he was getting new ones, that’s why I was ordered to do this now. Theo was really nice to me in the past few days, so I decided to make his new room comfy and pretty.

I took a round bed, that had a mattress in surprisingly good condition. I took some decorative pillows from various rooms, two armchairs from the lobby, and every intact sheet I could find, along with a fluffy cover. I gathered shelves and a chest of drawers. I found a good wardrobe, and a small desk with a mirror fastened to it. I avoided looking at my reflection in the mirror, but still managed to confirm that it was of good quality. I got a nightstand and a few pretty lamps. I found another cover – this one silky to the touch, and a fluffy carpet. I snatched a couple of pictures depicting some abstract art, that could be interpreted as love or passion, or were just colorful and pleasant to look at.

I spent the upcoming days going back and forth between the hotel and the brothel, cleaning and fixing the things I found, slowly placing them in the new room. Over time the place started to look inviting and lovely. When the alarm signaling the end of the day sounded (which I couldn’t hear, so I had made a bracelet on my wrist that would flash with a sharp light to show the time), I looked around satisfied and tired. I quickly showed the refurbished apartment to Theo, who was just coming back with a basket of nutrient packs (these were disgusting by the way, they tasted like clay) in his hand. I grabbed the startled Theo by his wrist and dragged him to his new rooms. I excitedly made sounds along the way, not saying anything, just vocalizing, I wanted to emphasize to him that I was excited and he should be too.

With a ‘Ta-da!’ gesture I opened the door to the apartment, and I carefully watched Theo’s expression. I wanted to see him happy and wanted him to praise me for my hard work, but at the same time, I was also worried about whether he would like it or not.

Theo’s eyes widened, he was clearly surprised. I guess he didn’t expect to end up with such an awesome room. But he didn’t look particularly happy or disappointed, so flustered I widely gestured at the furniture and the decor, while I kept yapping.

In the center of the room, there was a round bed hanging from the ceiling fastened with strong wires to float above the floor. There was a transparent white gauze-like material draped over it in a tent shape covering the wires that had fairy lights ran down on their length. There were many decorative pillows on the bed and a dark wine red silk cover. Under the bed, spreading out in the room laid a fluffy, furry carpet. There were four armchairs surrounding and facing the bed (in case there is a need for multiple guests to be entertained). Four floor lamps were standing in each corner emitting an ambiguous pink light. I hung most of the pictures on the walls of this room. There were semi-hidden drawers attached to the underside of the bed, to store ‘tools of the profession’ and the spare sheets.

In the back room, which would be Theo’s private quarters, I placed the dressing table with the mirror on it, the wardrobe, the chest drawer, and a couch, which could be transformed into a bed with the pull of a lever. I fastened the shelves onto the wall and I arranged some fake plants to liven up the room a bit. I placed a coffee table in front of the couch, while next to it I placed a nightstand with a lamp emitting a gentle yellow light on top of it. I draped the fluffy cover on the backrest of the couch and rested the large pillow against one of the armrests. There were containers on the dressing table to put makeup tools and hairbrushes and the like in them (I noticed that Theo likes to pretty himself up). I left the wardrobe and the chest empty, figuring Theo would fill them with his things anyway. And finally, I placed a rug with a mandala-like pattern on it in front of the door.

I puffed my chest with pride and grinned at Theo with expectation, I wanted him to praise me and pet my head. Noticing that I wanted something, he patted my shoulder and made a ‘huh-not-bad-I-didn’t-expect-him-to-get-so-many-things’ expression. A very low-key reaction in my opinion, but I took it regardless.

He then showed the room to that bastard, who at first scowled and shook me by my collar saying something. Maybe he was asking where I got these expensive-looking things? But I wouldn’t explain that even if I could communicate with him, so I just stared at him as dumbly and confused as I could. In the end, he sighed in exasperation, said something to Theo, and left. Theo looked at me and pointed at the bed, then said something after which he left too.

Hmm… What now? Were they satisfied or not? Well, it didn’t matter even if they don’t like it, I’m not taking these back. I was a little sad that Theo didn’t like the room I made for him, but I was hungry so I left to get my tools to hunt for some meerrats.

I was almost out of the brothel’s back entrance when I felt someone lightly kick my calf. I turned around and saw Theo carrying a huge box and gestured with his chin to follow him.

We went back to the room I decorated and headed to the private quarters where Theo put down the box on the dressing table while straining. He stretched his back with a pained frown on his face when he sat down on the couch and gestured at the box. I opened it, and I saw clothes inside. They looked fancy and sleuthy, clearly the working garments of a prostitute. I picked one out and lifted it to take a better look to see whether to put it in the drawer or the wardrobe. Then I froze.

What startled me wasn’t the color or the design of the scanty, transparent fabric, but rather its size. This was clearly made for a child. Me.

I stared questioningly at Theo, but he just tiredly waved at the wardrobe to have me put the clothes away. I did as I was ‘told’, I sorted out the various pieces, each more embarrassing than the last. There were also makeup and brushes and spatulas in the box which I put in the containers on the dressing table. Then, Theo, had me take out the ‘work tools’ of various shapes and sizes, and the lubricants, massage oils, ointments, and other things on the hanging bed. At first, I wanted to put them in the drawer on the underside of the bed, but Theo stopped me. I looked up at him at a loss, but soon enough I understood what he wanted.

Apparently, these rooms weren’t for Theo, but for me. From that day onward, Theo would train me in the ancient art of concupiscence. He taught me by having me mimic him, what poses and faces to make, how to act seductive, and how to put on my new clothes, and apply makeup. Finally, he also trained my body by slowly having me get used to larger and larger dildos. It was unpleasant and awkward, but I understood the necessity of it. It was better to know this now as I was joining the workforce, and having some semblance of control than not. It was for the sake of survival.

I was all the more determined to get out of here but to do that I needed money for a shuttle to take me to the surface. I saw a few of them before heading up from afar. I may have been able to tinker with bits and bobs of the garbage but I couldn’t put together a sophisticated vessel like that.

When Theo deemed that there was nothing left that he could teach me, he brought me before that bastard, who said some things to me. I guess, he said to work hard, and maybe he gave me a warning not to scam him. Then, he shoved a pill into my hand. It was the same kind he had my mother and the others take to keep them compliant. I had no intention of actually taking it, so I put it under my tongue and made a show of swallowing before stealthily spitting it out.

That day I had my second client. Thankfully, this one wasn’t as gross as the last one, but the experience was still just as horrible. I wanted to curl up and cry, but Theo soon came in and had me get myself cleaned up and get ready for the next customer.

After I started working as a prostitute my living rhythm changed a lot. I was doing chores in the mornings, sleeping till the evening, and servicing clients throughout the night until dawn. On my days off – once every month – I would continue to scavenge. Over time I got used to this life, though I never enjoyed it. Fortunately, the pain lessened to mild discomfort, and I became able to control my expressions expertly, never letting on what I was feeling.

I worked for four or five years as a whore in the underworld. When it finally ended, it was thanks to an entirely new kind of hell erupting, one that nobody saw coming.

That day just happened to be my day off. I woke up my latest client, and after taking my payment from her, I escorted her outside. I took a bath, cleaned up my room, and laid down to get some shut-eye before going out to scavenge for things.

I woke up to violent tremors shaking me from sleep. My first groggy thought was that maybe there was an earthquake, and how much it would suck if the underworld’s tunnel collapsed and I got stuck down here forever. I was about to go out, when Theo burst into my room in a panic, frantically shouting something at me and scaring the crap out of me. What was his problem? What was wrong?

I learned soon enough. As he dragged me outside, I saw my mother running toward us screaming while on fire. I was so stunned, I just stood there rooted unable to move. Before she reached us the ceiling suddenly collapsed burying her alive. But what made my jaw drop was the gigantic clawed foot that very clearly stepped on the roof of the brothel, crushing a hole into it. The purplish-red foot then slowly lifted and mowed down the rest of the walls in front of it, moving away from us.

Bewildered I looked at Theo and pointed in the direction of whatever that was, but he didn’t notice my silent inquiry. His entire body was shaking from fear, his bunny ears drooped down his shoulders. His mouth was agape, and tears and snot ran down his face. He looked at me with a sad, pitying look in his eyes. Then shook his head, like a dog shakes water off its fur (he actually flicked some snot at my face), gestured to me to stay quiet (interestingly this was the same as in my old world), and carefully inched outside. He crouched down behind a broken wall with me to take a look at the situation outside.

It was utter chaos and mayhem. Disgusting creatures swarmed the tunnel and all its platforms. People were running for their lives screaming terrified. The monsters pounced at them, tearing them to shreds. Some people tried to resist and fight back but to no avail. Blood and gore covered the torn-up sidewalks and buildings, many of them on fire, and the thick stench of death dominated the already heavy air.

There were creatures of all shapes, colors, and sizes, their hordes came in waves, endlessly and without stopping. Some, like the one that crushed my former home, were huge, with metal-like armor growing out of their grotesque bodies, annihilating everything in their path just by simply passing by. Others were small and agile. Some looked as if a velociraptor and a praying mantis made a baby, with huge bone scythes growing out of their forearms. I saw an at least 10-meter-long gray-orange hooded cobra scuttling after a terrified family of five on centipede legs. It had shoulders – there were a pair of scorpion-like tails sprouting from them. Some looked reptilian or insectoid while others didn’t even have skin, their mucus-covered open muscles dripped a foul-smelling yellow acid that melted everything. Many didn’t resemble any kind of animal I’ve ever seen before.

I felt airbrush my skin in rhythmic bursts, and after I looked in the direction I perceived it from, I saw an enormous, bloated dragon-like creature, that was flying with huge, dragonfly-like wings. It opened its mouth which folded down from its head down to its stubby hind legs, opening up its belly and giving way to a myriad of new horrors from its body. Hundreds of worm-like seals with mouths resembling those of lamprey eels wriggled out and after flopping to the ground with a wet ‘splorch’ (at least that’s what I imagined it sounded like), they started vomiting a gross, jiggling mass that started to spread out in all direction like mucus mushrooms until they covered the ground in a thick, pulsating, homogeneous carpet of flesh.

Next, floating jellyfish-octopi swarmed out and started to settle down on the flash carpet. Bouncy flea-like creatures surrounded them, bringing them dead humans, metals, rocks, batteries – whatever they could find – to feed them. For what reason, I don’t know.

There were many others as well, too many to take account of.

I stared at the hellish nightmare unfolding before me in a daze. What the actual fuck?! Am I supposed to make it through this somehow?! Even if I was a badass rock star in my past life, I was always a pacifist and never learned to fight. What am I supposed to do with my current much weaker twink body?! This is against the rules! I stand no chance here whatsoever! Theo, dude, you should have just let me be crushed in my sleep by that ugly meat tank thing! I turned towards him, to glare at him angrily, only to find that Theo didn’t have a head anymore. There was a stinger stuck behind us on the wall, still dripping with acid, a suspicious red puddle gathering underneath it into a metallic container with gray chunks in it. Interestingly, even though the acid started to erode even the wall, it couldn’t even put a dent on the surface of the container.

Startled and terrified I shook off his hand, and his body fell sideways still spasming. I stifled the urge to scream, swallowed my upcoming sick and tears, and focused on the task at hand. Survival. Since uncle Theo wanted to give me a chance, even if it was ultimately futile, I would try my best not to squander it.

I stayed hidden in the ruins of the brothel not daring to move, holding my breath until things calmed down outside. My legs fell asleep, and I was hungry and tired, but at the same time alert and jittery with my nerves pulled tautly. I thought I could hide out in the hidden hotel, maybe these things still hadn’t been found it yet. There were many hidden, unexplored tunnels opening from there maybe I could find my way to safety with one of them. And there were meerrats, so I would have food too.

I watched as the monsters settled down after a while, taking a rest from a hard day of slaughter. When I saw none of them move much I carefully sneaked out with the container – the one that could resist the monster acid and had bits of Theo in it – covering my body. If I was about to be seen, I could crouch down and hide underneath it to pretend to be just a random piece of garbage.

Somehow I made it to the edge of the platform where the maintenance ladder was and prepared to carefully climb down. I looked down first, to make sure there wasn’t some nasty surprise waiting for me, then hooked the edge of the container on my head, and very slowly made my way down.

The last step of the ladder hung a few meters above the ground, so I had to jump down. After some hesitation, I dropped down. I expected to at least twist my ankle, but since I landed on the squishy flesh carpet my fall was cushioned.

For a moment I stayed under the container to calm my erratic breaths, then stood up only to be faced with a bloated fly dragon.

I froze.

It froze too.

Neither of us moved and just stared at each other wearily. It had nine neon green eyes with pupils resembling crosshairs.

And then it swallowed me whole.

Luckily, it didn’t chew. Screaming I rolled into the container and slid down its pungent throat curling up in it. Then after the world’s most terrifying and disgusting slide ride, I landed in the monster’s stomach acid with a splash.

The air burned my throat and lungs as I was breathing, and the air smelled like vomit and fart. In the stomach acid around me, there were a lot of dead things – people, meerrats, smaller monsters – this thing seemed to eat everything even its own kin.

I was half-screaming half-sobbing, I felt my mind was on the verge of breaking. With my last strand of sanity, I pulled the container’s shutter lid closed over me, and just like that, I fainted.