Don't ask how, or why, but I was an idiot while hiking; figuring myself as some sort of amateur adventurer, I hiked the trail, to the very top of the nearby mountain. This mountain is a hotbed of rumors and urban legends in my town; from strange creatures, lights in the sky, and people disappearing. The last option happened to me, as I slipped and face planted right into the trunk of a tree. Instead of making contact, I slipped inside it and was bathed in a light of luminosity equal to that of the sun. There was no sensations of heat, mind you,so my body didn't end up burnt.
When I regained vision, I slipped out of the tree again, but found myself in a modern city; a rather huge displacement from atop an uninhabited mountain. "What in the hell..." I wondered looking around me. Everything seemed somewhat familiar, modern skyscrapers, cars driving on the road, sidewalks with pedestrians....except, it was the pedestrians themselves that were obscure. Every adult walking by was a woman wearing revealing clothing, or, at least that's what you'd think until you looked up. Atop each female body was the head of a male, walking along as if nothing was weird. "Wait, what's going on here?!" I outburst. The women, or men, close to me turned and stared, as if I was the weird one; which, technically I was in this situation.
From my better judgement, I decided not to run, but play it cool and casually walk away from the crowd. The people watched me, before going back to their business; thankfully, I managed to get away without any followers. Trying to find a place to relax I happened upon a somewhat empty bookstore, "Better that than nothing." I said with a sigh. The was a noticeable ding from a bell attached to the door when I stepped inside. At the front desk was another woman, or man; she/he was dressed in tight clothing, a blouse with a low cut to show of his/her large breasts, a short skirt stopping halfway down her butt, and a pair of really high heels with a peep toe. Despite this, the head was that of a bald man, with a noticeably lighter skin tone than the body below his head; although, he did have thick lips coated with a light shade of lipstick.
"Can I help you?" He/she asked, speaking with a high pitched female voice. "No, uh...just looking around. I'll let you know if I need assistance." I replied, to which he nodded and focused on the computer on the desk. Exhaling rapidly, I backed up into a magazine rack, knocking one off it. Turning to pick up the mess I made, the headline on the magazine cover caught my attention. It seemed to be a life style magazine which read 'How to help family cope after your transplant'. "Transplant?!" I shouted, loud enough for the service clerk to hear me. "Uh, yeah, that's the normal thing unless......oh, you're one of those agnostics, right?" He asked me. "Believers, agnostics? What do you mean?" "Well, yeah, y'know, our religion? Assimilatism? Where a man and woman unify themselves in life by combining their bodies? Like me?" He stated, expecting this information to be common knowledge to me.
"Uhm, I'm not from around here." I stated as a half truth. "I have no idea what any of that meant." With wide eyes, he apologized. "Sorry, I just thought that.....nevermind." "What did all that mean exactly?" I inquired. With a smile, the clerk went on to explain the worldwide religion, Assimilatism. Apparently, two people who want to become one have the man's head transplanted onto the woman's body permanently, where he then has to live the rest of his life dressing in revealing clothing and pleasuring his new body as it wishes. This in turn pleases the god they believe in, Assima, who will then let the combined spirit of the man and woman into the afterlife, where they will have eternal joy and pleasure once they die. This practice is supposedly common all over the world, with small pockets of people unsure of it, those are the agnostics. Even rarer are the ones that grow up unknowing of the religion entirely, which this person thinks I must be.
"Listen, you gotta be careful around here. Agnostics are tolerated by the government, but unbelievers are captured and transplanted forcefully." He warned, causing me to freeze in place. "But, it's not a legal requirement for someone to turn you in, so you won't have to worry about me." He added with a smile. Hesitantly, I nodded, then bolted out the door, wondering how I ended up in such a different world, and how to get home.