#1561
Life Among Humans
a game for one player and the Internet
Life Among Humans is a hack of Vincent Baker’s Doomed Pilgrim. It is heavily inspired by various other bits of media, including these: Under the Skin (the 2014 movie, I haven't read the book); We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson; The short story Second Variety, by Philip K Dick; and The Drifter’s Escape, by Ben Lehman.
It is about passing in society, paranoia and a deep, deep longing.
I am monster. I look like you. I talk like you, mostly. But inside I am different, and that makes your world dangerous for me. You would catch me. You would kill me. Worse, you would hold me down and stick me, test me, hurt me. Life among humans is hard.

Rules
Post this online:
“I’m a monster. I look and sound human, but I am not. My lair is in [pick a real city]. I am getting out, though, because I desperately need [pick a need]. I must satisfy my need, and return safely to my lair.
“You, my reader friend, may join one of two factions. You do this by responding to a question addressed to that faction. If your answer is selected, then, for the remainder of this story, you will be a member of that faction. If no answer of yours has yet been selected, you remain factionless, and may answer any question you like.
“One faction is The World. The World’s goal is to see me unmasked and destroyed. The other faction is The Handlers. The Handlers’ goal is to keep me trapped and utterly inhuman. Your goal is the same as your faction’s goal, if you have one. You might not be able to accomplish it, since the other faction’s goals don’t match yours, but try your best anyways. And besides, you’re only allowed to answer my direct questions.
“The rules:
1. You can only answer my questions.
2. If you belong to a faction, only answer questions addressed to that faction.
3. If you don’t know the answer, make it up!
4. Try to keep your answers short.
5. If your answer is disruptive, I can ignore it, downvote it, delete it, etc.
6. Otherwise, I have to go with the first answer somebody gives. There'll be some way to indicate I've chosen your answer."

Cities
Earth is littered with cities - pick one!
I'm in Seattle this year. When no one's around I sleep by the water, next to the troll, up in the scaffolding of the wharf... well, I don't really sleep, but I spend a lot of time there. It's funny how you put up this big stone monster when we don't really look like that. I have brown eyes and curly hair. I don't have claws or big teeth or anything like that. I don't breathe though. So that's weird, I guess.

Needs
Pick one of these or make up your own:
Eat fresh meat.
Fulfill a promise.
Consume books.
Stay warm, safe.
Bathe in motor oil.
Find clothes that aren't sticky.
Burn milk and inhale the smoke.
I have to go out... my clothes are all mucousy again. I should get some new ones. There's the lost and found at the gym. Maybe the laundromat over by the park?

Character Features
Monsters have monstrous powers. Pick one, or make your own.
I can jump and balance like a cat, and my eyes flash at night like one's too.
Locks open when I touch them, anything that requires a key or code really, but they'll never lock again after that.
I am impossibly beautiful, and from a reasonable distance humans are completely enchanted by me.
The surface thoughts of people around me sound like chanting.
When I touch someone, they'll stop moving for a few seconds. It's really weird, and I don't like doing it, but if you need someone's wallet, I guess there's no more convenient way!

Monsters are different, they have signs. Choose something that could give you away, or make one up, and put it somewhere in your post:
My blood is thick and yellow in color like mustard.
I cannot blink, although I do have eyelids for some reason.
I cannot speak without drooling copious saliva.
I smell like burnt hair. Sometimes wet burnt hair.
I secrete mucous that helps me absorb oxygen, but if I get too slippery it's hard to stay in the rafters. Falling down on humans isn't fun, you know?

Beginning Play
Add in your post a few sentences describing your lair and how long you have taken shelter there. Say what you’re near and what you’re doing on your way to get your need, and then: “I sense something that starts to make me feel uneasy. What is it? The World should answer.”
Gods if only I could get an apartment with a washer and drier. I mean, there's no way, but needing new clothes every time these ones get too moist is a real nuisance. It's up this way right. Wait... something's nearby. This is bad. What is it?

In Play
Always ask for details that interest you. Always say what you’re doing right now. Always ask what happens next. In your narration, always refer to humans with the pronoun ‘it’. Unless otherwise specified, always alternate who answers: The World or The Handlers. Your job is to get your monster into loaded interactions with humans. Play to find out if you can survive, and if you have any humanity in you.

Questions to Ask
When you are in proximity to a human:
“Can it tell that I’m a monster?”
“What’s my best escape route, if any?”
“Is it armed, and how?”

When you try to avoid notice:
“Can I do ___ without [its] notice?”
“Does it seem nervous yet?” (or angry, disgusted, suspicious)
“Can I keep my facial expression normal and pleasant?”

When you talk to a human:
Roll two dice.
On a roll of 2-5, ask, "It knows. What gives me away? (The World should answer)," then, "I do ____. Do I have a chance to get away? (The Handlers should answer.)"
6-8: “It is getting suspicious. What am I doing wrong? (The Handlers should answer),” then “I do ____. Is it mollified enough to let me leave? (The World should answer)”
9-12: “I might be able to get what I want out of this interaction. I do ____. Does it give me what I want? (The World should answer)”
Do this again if the conversation doesn't end in the first round, and if you roll the same result again, pretend you rolled something else. Just pick whichever you like.
If the conversation goes to a third round then post, “It knows. If I don’t kill it now, it will get help. Can I kill it before it does? (The Handlers should answer).”

When you flee a mob:
(which might happen if a human gets help)
“Is there a place ahead where I might lose them?”
“Is there a place ahead where I might ambush them?”
“Is there one of them who might protect me from the others?”
If it's still ambiguous, ask, “If I haven’t gotten away, I will have to fight. Have I gotten away?”
If you get away, post, “Soon I reach my lair and I put the day’s events behind me. I learned _______ about being human.” Edit your initial post to contain this piece of knowledge. In future adventures, you may use that piece of knowledge one time per story to get a 9-12 result on a die roll when you talk to a human.

When you fight:
Roll two dice.
On a result of 2-5, post, “[It/they] might kill me here. I do ______. Can I kill [it/them]? (The Handlers should answer)”
6-8: “I kill [it/them] messily. What evidence do I leave? (The World should answer).”
9-12: “I might be able to kill [it/them] cleanly and escape. What might stop me? (The World should answer),” and then, “I do ____. Does it work? (The Handlers should answer).”
If you win the fight cleanly, post, “Soon I reach my lair and I put the day’s events behind me. I learned ______ about my monstrous powers.” Edit your initial post to add a new monstrous power. In future adventures, you may use that piece of knowledge once per adventure to get a 9-12 result on a die roll when you fight.
If you win the fight messily, then you should post, “Soon I reach my lair, only to find it has been compromised. How is it compromised? (The World should answer). What is my new lair, and in what city is it? (The Handlers should answer)”
If they kill you, ask, “What happens to my body?”
And then get ready to play the game again, of course.

Notes on the Game
Life Among Humans is set up like interactive serial fiction. Feel free to try different formats or different wording. The game makes it easy to play, but don't let that hold you back. If you have a story to tell, this game is meant to be read, so go wild.
In Japan there's this tradition of publishing Replays, which are short stories or novels based on the events of roleplaying sessions. This game is perfect for inspiration for Replays.
Let's tell stories.

Replay
I'm a monster. I look human, but I'm not. I want to tell you a sad story about a happy dream. The first time I tasted humanity.
Past the restaurants, were the humans are sparse, I smell a sweet dream on the air from this inn. It's rare to find a good dream. Humans think they forget all their dreams, but mainly they just forget the bad ones. It just so happens that the bad ones are almost all of their dreams.
I look over at the man parking its bike in front of a 7-11. I realize I'm standing in the middle of the road, leaning towards the inn, nose in the air, my electric blue tongue hanging out. I suck the saliva back into my mouth. It stares at me with wide eyes, as I back into the alleyway by the inn, and duck behind a particularly rank set of garbage bins. A minute or two passes. My knees hurt. Once I feel certain that it isn't coming back to find me, I let go of the bag of cans and bottles I was preparing to throw, and hobble back into the alley.
I see one human walk up with luggage and I pull the shadows around me and follow the human into the inn. It and the girl human behind the counter unconsciously rub their ears. Humans do that when I'm cloaked.
I prance up the stairs in a trance, only to realize I need a key for the room. I need to go back downstairs. I release the shadows and carefully walk back to the front desk, and while staring intently at the fake flowers to one side, I cover my mouth and say to the female, "My friend's in room 302. They're in the shower but they locked the door and I need to get something from the room." I glance over and see that it's actually smiling at me.
It hands me the key. "Are you from Kyoto or are you visiting."
I take my hand away from my face to grab the key. "I'm from... a little north of here."
Its eyes get all white as it sees my blue skink mouth. I quickly cover up again and start backing towards the stairs. It opens its mouth as if to say something, but I run up the stairs. Quickly, quietly, carefully I unlock the door and slip inside, turning the lock behind me. My heart is racing. It's coming upstairs, certainly. But this delicious dream...
I step over the tatami in my boots. There's one in the futon and I bend over, open my blue mouth, wide, wider than any human, and inhale the wisps of smoky dream into my mouth all at once. The blood in my veins glows blue. I taste an old life-mate. I taste a quivering heart. A dream of infatuation, of sex, of something else sweet I can't quite understand.
But then the dream stops. The old man dreamer gasps, sucking air into its lungs before tensing up and going limp. I pant as the dream courses through my veins like monster heroine. A knocks on the door.
I panic. It'll see the dead one and think I killed it... did I kill it? I'm still glowing. The dream isn't fading. There's nowhere - nowhere to go. I look at my reflection in the window: I look so afraid, so longing, the life-mate on my mind... is that love? I'm confused. I'd look human, if I weren't covered in lines of blue light.
I run across the room and jump out of the window. All around me, humans are staring, looking at my skin, at my panting, dripping tongue, at the bloody glass. I swing my head left-to-right. The market. Exhausted, I cloak again and hobble through the crowd, in a wake of ringing ears. 
I lie in the grass under the bridge. The dream wasn't satisfying. I almost feel guilty. Did I kill it, that dreamer? When I finally sleep, I see a nightmare about the old male's life-mate.
I learn the value of human memories. Does this make me... like one of them?