Hungry. That was the first thing that came to Lea's mind when she entered her new body. Her stomach was growling. The feeling was unbearable, especially combined with her dry mouth. She was hungry and thirsty. The worst combination ever.
Lea looked around. She sat behind a computer with her fingers on the keyboard. It appeared she was in an office, with a bunch of other people. They were all sitting quietly, concentrating on their screens. The office was a mix of grey and white, giving a very boring feel. Luckily there was natural light coming through the floor to ceiling windows. The office was in a skyscraper, seeing they were really high up. Lea couldn't remember the last time she was in such a high building. She wanted to figure it out, but the rumbling in her stomach and the dry throat kept her from thinking too much about it. She needed to find something to eat and drink.
Lea wanted to stand up from the desk, but her body didn't listen! Her legs refused to push her chair away. What was happening? Lea tried to move her fingers, to see if they listened to her commands and they did. She moved her toes and they worked perfectly fine as well. Then she lifted her leg up without a problem. Thinking she had imagined her previous immovability, she wanted to go find something to drink and eat, but her body refused again! This was insane. Why couldn't she get away from the desk?
[Something is very wrong with me, Dwyl. I can't remove myself from the desk!]
[Dwyl: Don't panic. You're fine.]
[I'm not okay! I can't move.]
[Dwyl: You'll know what's going on once you receive the world plot and the body's memories.]
[What are you waiting for? Give it to me!]
Dwyl didn't delay any longer hearing the urgency in Lea's voice and told her the world plot.
This was a world obsessed with following rules and laws. Once a child is born they will be removed from their parents so that the state can educate them and have control over every citizen. The children are all put together in state-funded homes, where they will be raised and educated by certified psychologists and scientists. Every child is put into groups of five, with a caregiver that is there to make them feel loved. During their education children will undergo compulsory indoctrination and hypnotization that will make children obey the law and rules that are put in place and if they even think about not following the rules and laws they will punish themselves, by either starving or sleep deprivation. Of course the duration of the punishment depends on which rule or law the person wanted to break. If a person thinks too often about disobeying, they will automatically snitch on themselves to the law enforcers. Because of this sort of state, criminality has been reduced by a lot. People no longer murder, steal, commit fraud, rape, violate traffic regulations, skip work or class without a legitimate reason or cheat on their legal partners. The world has become a whole lot more peaceful on the surface.
Unfortunately, not everyone is susceptible to indoctrination and hypnotization. These persons are often identified at birth thanks to specific genetic markers and then eliminated, but it can happen that such a person slips through the net.
The protagonist of this world Mason Miller is such a person. Thanks to his quick wit and intelligence, he was able to pretend to be a 'good' citizen that follows all the rules. His entire childhood he had to be careful and repress all his opinions. Mason was outraged with how the state took away all the free will of the people and he started searching for persons like him. That was a very dangerous thing, because blabbing to the wrong persons could get him killed. One night, he made a mistake and got taken by law enforcement. His life would be over if it wasn't for the chief of police Darian Davis, who helped Mason escape. As luck would have it Darian was the big boss of an underground organization that was called 'The Criminals'. People all over the world were part of this organization, that was slowly growing. Since Mason's real identity was now compromised, The Criminals took this opportunity to give him an alias as the butler of the self-proclaimed president. Thanks to Mason's contribution The Criminals were able to gather proof that the elite who controlled the entire world didn't undergo the indoctrination and hypnotization themselves. On the contrary they can break any law without repercussions, and can even change them as they see fit.
After overcoming a bunch of obstacles, and careful planning The Criminals staged a revolution, overcame the ruling elite, punished them for their misdeeds to humanity and abolished the compulsory indoctrination hypnotization sessions. The world wasn't necessarily better off, because criminality rose again, but people were generally happier. They were able to keep their children and make their own choices, no matter if they were good or bad.
Lea's eyes became darker and darker the more she read the plot. This world sucked! Separating perfectly fine parents from their children was not okay. Messing with people's free will was not okay. Letting people starve and depriving them of sleep just because they were thinking of doing a bad thing – not even actually doing the said thing – was not okay. Nothing in this world was okay! The revolution thing wasn't great either, because even though it was for a good cause and will maybe make the world better in the future, revolutions were messy and got people killed. Often the new established regime wasn't even better than the last one, because they have no idea what they are doing and the sudden rise in power got to their heads. Even if Lea stayed far away from the plot it would affect her life.
[Urgh… This entire world is a mess. Why would you willing choose to come here, Dwyl?]
[Dwyl: Because I always wanted to be an evil person belonging to the elite. The power to do anything you want, without having to think of the consequences… It's just too tempting! Being able to trample down on people and they having to do what you say, doesn't it seem like the best kind of life?]
Lea was seriously getting worried about her system. Maybe she should recommend Dwyl to go see a therapist or a shrink? But then again, if you throw away ethics and morals, the kind of life Dwyl described indeed sounded appealing. Lea was certain that if she had to choose between being looked down upon and being the one who looked down on people, she would choose the latter. Which sane person wouldn't? Maybe, a masochist, but could you really describe them as sane? But wait, did that mean Lea considered sadists sane people? No, no, no. Lea shook her head. A sane person, would want everyone to be equal. Yes, that's what a sane person would want. Following that reasoning, Lea decided that neither Dwyl nor she were sane people and that Lea as Dwyl's fellow insane person and possible friend, should support it's dream.
[I understand! Being evil certainly has its charm, but I have a question. Does this mean that you are in this world, and have taken over a character?]
[Dwyl: I'm proud, Lea. You're becoming more observant.]
[I have always been observant!]
[Dwyl: I disagree.]
[… I'm not going to argue anymore. I'm way too surprised by the fact that you are the kind of system that can also take over bodies! Why didn't you tell me sooner?]
[Dwyl: There was no need to tell you, now or before. It's not like me being in the world will be more beneficial for you. Me being here is only for my own fun.]
[Of course it can be beneficial! You can help me with the things I want to do.]
[Dwyl: Do those things on your own.]
[Please~ Oh great almighty Dwyl. I want to see you in human form. I'm sure it will be amazing! You don't have to help me with anything. The only thing I want to do in this world is seeing you. The world plot doesn't suit my tastes.]
[Dwyl: Since you're begging me, it would be kind of rude to refuse. Maybe I'll even have some fun.]
[Hurray! Thank you. I promise you won't regret it.]
[Dwyl: Good. Do you want the memories of your body, or are you going to be like in the previous world?]
[I want the memories. Otherwise I'll know nothing, since my identity is not in the plot. I need to know why this body punished itself!]
[Preparing for memory transfer. 3… 2… 1… Memory transfer complete.]