Tunnel of Light: Dare to Eat the Worm

For a bato like me out on the trail, riding from sim to sim with nary a care in the world other than to make some quick cash and move on, the strange and fantastic and twisted do little to unnerve me. I’ve seen things that would make your blood turn to ice; entire areas filled with n00bs, spamming gesture after gesture as they writhe and beg everyone around them for ‘monies for pen15’. I’ve seen entire sims dedicated to the seedier side of the market, where those engaged in carnal acts speak one word, typically ‘mmmm’, if that even qualifies. I’ve seen haunted buildings, filled with evil and scary sound-effects that genuinely made me want to run screaming in the other direction. I’ve seen aliens, and furries, and zombies, and giant robots and cel-shaded cartoon characters. In my head rests an entire repository of crazy knowledge, passed down from my years of exploring this place we call Second Life.

So when I say, dear readers, that after my last article I grew a bit thirsty and found myself in a strange Mexican bar, well let it be known that my most harrowing adventure yet awaited me, and I did not know it. What did I endure? What lived in that place to destroy me so utterly? Read ahead, but be warned, your darling protagonist, narrator, explorer and blogger is in for it rough. Is in for it rough, indeed.

A Terrible Thirst:

After riding through the Tunnel of Light, and experiencing all that lay within, I found myself wandering around with a thirst that could not be quenched. It was in this delirious state that I somehow found myself in a bizarre, surreal, Mexican bar. The entrance was a long tunnel, lined with entrancing images of death and culture. These drew me inside, where I found the bar itself. If not for the weird feeling I had in my gut, it would have seemed almost normal. Empty, but normal. There were booths, stools, a well-stocked bar. Everything I could have wanted at that point. Except for a delicious looking senorita to oggle and to serve me some drinkage. As if reading my mind, a woman wandered out, a seductive smile on her face. “How can I help you?” she asked, voice soft, resonating within my ears. I approached the bar and said, simply, “I’m thirsty.” She wiggled her hips, sensually, and turned around, grabbing a positively glistening bottle of some unknown liquid. “It’s tequila. The best we’ve got. Remember to eat the worm.” Still smiling, she poured me a shot.

I did not know what it was that awaited me. How could I? I took a seat and picked up the shotglass, raising it up a bit to toast her before I put it to my lips and downed it, worm and all. At first, it was not so bad, but then she began to blur. The whole world began to blur. My head felt about ten times lighter than it should have and her smile grew even wider. It was then that I noticed that half of her face was missing. Underneath it was white-bleached bone. I could not entirely tell. I had to get out of here, that much was certain. Too late did I feel myself tumbling off of the stool, towards the floor. The ground, a mess of colors, rose up to meet me. I was gone.

Through the Looking Glass:

When I next opened my eyes, it was like I floating in a vast, unreachable sea of colors and noises. They were everywhere. I was being tugged forward by something I could not yet see or understand, but what I saw in the darkness took my mind right away from it. I saw the face of the devil, skeletons, and sombreros. All terrifying. All mind-shattering. I tried to escape, to fight what I was seeing, but I couldn’t. It was too much. It was way too much. I traveled like this, in the chaos of Mexican-themed darkness for some time, until suddenly, I tumbled out into what appeared to be a placid lake. There were flowers, dragon-flies, water. Everywhere. It was so calm, so peaceful and so beautiful that compared to what I had just been through, it was startling. Everything shined, like crystal. As I reached out to touch it, to see if I could scoop up some of the light into my hands, I was suddenly yanked away back into chaos.

It was in chaos that I saw her face, the face of the devil-woman that had brought me here. She laughed and laughed and laughed. There was nothing I could do. Through the chaos I tumbled, until my very mind felt like it was going to snap.
Somehow I found myself returning to my body, waking up in a place unfamiliar just when things got the worst. It was a shack by the ocean. I could hear the waves lapping at the sand. There was blood underneath me, sticky and warm. I tried to move but my side hurt. My side hurt really badly. I reached up and felt a recently stitched scar. I couldn’t believe it.

She had taken my frickin’ kidney.

The Ride:

If you wish to visit the bar itself, and hopefully avoid the dastardly kidney-stealing woman, head to the Tunnel of Light and click on the glass in the entry area. Just, be warned. She lurks there, waiting to steal more kidneys from the unwary after serving them delicious, thirst-quenching tequila. Delicious, tequila which…oh hell…I may see you there.