"My head…" I opened my eyes to a blinding light, the sun shining directly down onto me. It felt warm, like a soft blanket on a cold winter's day. I found myself lying on the ground, with a face-full of dirt and grass. The environment was completely green, with a river running down in between a forest. It was so peaceful, like a dream.

"Note to self: don't let mom make lasagna again." I muttered to myself. This had to be a dream. I must have fallen asleep on the computer, and now I was in the middle of this weird dream. One absolutely messed up dream. I felt kind of weak, like I had just run a marathon. I could barely pick up my legs and walk, and I only took about three steps before collapsing. I was tired, and I was itching all over. I looked down at my arm as I scratched, and noticed something odd. The Balkan cross was painted on my arm, like a tattoo. My sister was likely to blame for that, she liked to color on my face at night with washable markers.

"I swear, Madison, I will get you back for this…" I muttered.

"Ah, you're awake." A strange voice said. It sounded strangely feminine, but I couldn't see anyone anywhere.

"Who's there?" I asked. The wind whistled through the trees as I awaited a response.

"Nobody, I'm just the voice in your head." It said.

"The voice in my head? What kind of a dream is this?" I said, half to myself and half not.

"Yeah… dream… Hey, listen. I'm working on your outside, and it's almost done. When it is, things are going to get a little… painful, in here. Things will change." What did the voice mean by that?

"What the heck do you mean, painful?" I asked. There was no reply.

"Where am I?" I asked again.

"Why, your innerscape silly!" It shot back.

I tried to stand up again, and a surge of pain shot through me. My gut began to hurt badly, and I grabbed it with both hands in pain. It was intense, like none other I had felt before. It felt like my organs were moving around inside me, shifting and growing. Twisting, turning, rearranging, and shrinking. I felt like I was. I couldn't even speak with the pain; all I could do was roll around in agony and hope that it would stop. My hands started to go numb, and my whole body followed suit. My bones felt like they were crunching, expanding, and that I would pop like a bloody balloon. Soon I was unable to move at all, forced to sit and wait through the pain without moving. I tried to close my eyes, wanting to escape this nightmare. As I did, I spurted out a mix of blood and something blackish. It was thick and oily, like a glob of paint. I I closed my eyes in pain, and passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt funny. I could barely see, and I had to squint. I was once again blinded, but I couldn't put my hand in front of my face. Were they numb? I had no feeling to my legs, either. I looked around slowly, and found myself in a new environment. It was like a meadow, with a hill on one side and a flat area on the other. It was a lush yellow-green, and the two areas were separated by a lake. It seemed oddly familiar. My pain was gone, and I felt like I was taller. I felt heavy, like a wall of bricks. Only then did the realization set in. I looked down at myself, and saw a big, grey object.

"Wait, is that… metal?" I touched it, and felt a metallic click as I did so. Wait, what was I touching it with? Wasn't my hand numb? I looked around one more time, and made yet another startling realization. This wasn't just a meadow, this was Malinovka!

"Is that what the voice meant? Change, like, me changing? That had to be what she meant. She made me something else! What did she do to me?" I said to myself.

"Wait… is that… a gun?" I asked myself, looking at the thing on my face.

"And the grey thing, is that a hull? Did she make me a tank?" I wiggled my gun up and down. She did! I was a Leichttraktor, on Malinovka! This had to be a dream, it just had to. I had to be sure, as unreal as it was. I struggled to move, and it took me a minute to figure it out. When I finally did, I moved along, trying to find something to poke myself on. I had to wake up. There was a destroyed building in front of me, laden with sharp points.

"Perfect." I muttered. I mustered up speed (not much), and rammed the spike. It dented in the frontal plate, causing a slight pain. A black substance leaked out, almost like oil. It was like blood to me, bleeding out when I was injured. Did that mean I was biological? I grew more curious by the second. This wasn't a dream, I had come to that conclusion. It was amazing. I could put aside the shock, and replace it with sheer wonder. This was the most amazing thing to ever happen to me. I wanted to explore it all. Unfortunately, there was no time. I heard the sound of another engine, alerting me to an unknown presence. I reacted fast, and hid inside the destroyed building. I still didn't know how to use my gun, or if I even could. I was defenseless.