"Diseases don't exist here...."
This was quite the leap in logic but, it wasn't one he made without reason.
Think about it. Even people from thousands of years ago, the Romans and the Egyptians knew that drinking dirty water was a bad idea.
What kind of cavemen would believe that it didn't cause diseases? And if a civilization was idiotic enough to be ignorant of such a thing, then how would they be intelligent enough to go into people's minds.
Sure, maybe the woman was just some sort of illusion, but he really didn't think so. She acted completely like a normal person.
But, this was still too shocking.
Bacteria, viruses, such things which were so detrimental to humanity were gone just like that. They didn't even exist in this world.
Sure, he may be in a new world but wasn't this a bit too much? How could there be bats, humans, and animals similar to those of Earth without the existence of disease?
He was too old for this nonsense. He would have been more at peace had he just died in prison.
And the woman in his head....
He wouldn't be shocked if he jolted awake right now in that cramped cell of his.
Well.... He was too thirsty now, and since the woman said so, it might as well be true that the water was safe.
As he bent down, his bones didn't crack, neither did his back ache like it did when he was still on Earth.
His skin too.... It was different.
Rather than the hairy, veiny and flabby skin that he had back on Earth, the skin on his hands at this point was more tight, and hairless, like that of a youth.
He had noticed this before too but he ignored it thinking it was delirium. He was barely wearing anything, with only a shirt that seemed to be made with cotton. It was a feeling that he was familiar with.
And while he looked down, he saw grey pants, also seemingly made with cotton.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point.
Lincoln held his head with his hands and gripped his hair tightly as he looked downwards.
"..."
"This is bullshit." He muttered as he stood up and went closer to the murky pond,
At this point, if he even buckled his feet, he felt like he would slip into it.
He stepped backwards and got on his knees to begin drinking the murky water.
That green water with algae floating on it's surface and little bits of god knows what floating on it.
He drank it.
It felt like grains of sand. Yes, grains of sand.
It was how wet sand felt on someone's hands but instead of wet sand, it felt more like water with some disgusting combination of bits of leaves, sand and dirt mixed into it on his tongue.
This went against nearly every single thing he was taught back at his time in the army but he did it anyway.
He didn't have anywhere near the mental bandwidth to figure out which was which.
Either, he was sleeping or on drugs and he would soon wake up or he was truly in this world and he would get sick sooner or later.
That was all there was to it. And waiting was all he could do at this point.
"I know it's not exactly the best-tasting water, but is that really a reason to act like this? God, you really remind me of that bastard from the Life Cult." The woman spoke in his mind,
"Ah yes, the Life Cult, might I ask you which bastard you're talking about though?"
"As if you would know anything about the Life Cult. Trust me, you haven't been discreet at all about the fact that you're a mortal."
"..."
"I can understand not knowing the Life Cult but not knowing 'The Black Star Odyssey'? Isn't that a little too much? Even mortals know what that is. Are you some kind of stupid slave that somehow escaped?"
"..."
"And on top of that, you somehow managed to wake me up. You're quite the specimen, you know that?"
"It was impressive how you walked past all of those bodies without looking too scared though. Was there some kind of epidemic or famine where you lived? Did your owner not feed any of you?"
She seems to think that I'm some sort of native here, considering she hasn't made any comments about another world.... A mortal, the Life Cult, this is too confusing though....
Better play along.
"Fine. You caught me, not many people have done that before." Lincoln said, somehow sounding like he was sighing simultaneously,
"Gee, I wonder why. Maybe it's because malnutrition impedes brain function? Well, it's that or just plain retardation."
"..."
"..."
"Can you stop with the slave comments? Do I look skinny enough to be one?"
"Who knows? Maybe your master used you for both hard labour and other purposes involving hard objects?"
*Why did I have to act like some mentally retarded donkey back there? This woman just doesn't know how to stop....*
"..."
"..."
"I'm hurt. I'm not speaking to you anymore."
Finally, a break. And my cover will be safe for a bit.
"Really? Big Baby. Prostitute. Slave. Mortal. Idiot."
"..."
Lincoln remained completely silent as he began drinking more of that disgusting swamp water while visibly cringing.
Eventually, after getting his fill, he began to walk around the area, trying to find some semblance of flowing water. That way, he could easily find human settlements just by going downstream.
He did have to be wary though. People were..... extremely dangerous at this moment.
Knowing all the scumbags he dealt with on Earth, he was perfectly content staying here, atleast until he figured out what the hell a mortal was.
A mortal....
If she insulted him by calling him a mortal, then she must be some sort of immortal?
And immortality isn't possible unless you're either a magician, or literal god.
So, she was some kind of magician who got into his mind.
That was just fucking great wasn't it.
At this point he was completely convinced that it had to be a dream. He didn't believe that even in alien worlds did there exist mind invading immortal magicians,. especially ones who acted like her.
"You know how boring it gets being stuck in someone's corpse for a couple thousand years?"
"..."
"I do. It's not fun. So how about this. I want a... partnership. You help me get back my body, and I help you become someone who isn't useless. Deal?"
"..."
"What's there to consider?..."
"Deal."
"Good. So all we have to do is find 'Ambition'. "