Virtual Hell

Sammy gasped in surprise when she felt something suddenly materialize in her bags. Looking over to Nick, she saw that they were potions. Healing potions no less. What amazed her more was that a town suddenly appeared around them, the tree they were sitting under in the middle of a square. Her eyes widened as the tavern, a place to drink(though underage) and most importantly, to rest, appeared. Hearing Nick's question, she answered him in awe,"No. This wasn't here 5 seconds ago. Oh. You should probably drink some of that potion."she said turning to him a bit concerned.

The tag for Raiden popped up with the address for his house, sent by the White Tiger. Nox smiled approvingly. No one would die tonight, since Michael finished installing the towns as well as potions. Plus, they had three addresses down. Only a couple more to go.

 

OOC: Firekeyblade, there aren't any NPCs yet, it's pretty much just a deserted town with an inn.

IC:
Rei drove her claw into the remaining rat after a quick struggle, killing it. "Hey," she said, folding her claws back and turning to the other player, "You alright?"
She took a moment to look around found that they were more or less in the middle of nowhere, but saw mountains in the near distance. We're sitting ducks in the open...would the mountains be safer? she thought, trying to remember previous games she'd played and how safe mountains tended to be.

 

Leo closed his menus as the female player called to him. "I'm fine", he replied. He placed his sword onto the holder for it on his back and looked around him. There didn't seem to be any more monsters, no obvious places for objectives to go and no save points. He wandered whether he was simply meant to just explore for now or not.

 

"Good," Rei said, walking closer to the other player. My name's R- erm, Hellhound. Female, eighteen years old. In case you couldn't tell because of this armor," she rambled, hoping not to sound too awkward. "And you are...?"

 

"Leo", he replied keeping it short before looking the girl up and down seeing the armour and weapons she chose. It was an interesting design, not one of his flavour considering his fantasy gaming history but definitely something he thought looked cool. He continued his stoic characteristics that he thought his character in-game should have, at least for now.

 

Still walking, Civia barely noticed the sign that read "Fala, due North."

"Fala? What is...?" Civia muttered curiously, stopping in front of the sign. She touched the sign. It was real, like everything here. What was Fala, though? She had to wonder. A cave, perhaps? Or, thank god, a town?

"Better check this place out, then." She readied herself, pushing on.

-~-~-~-

Laurence was walking to the nearby coffee shop to get a cup of hazelnut latte, with vanilla syrup in it. His usual, as he liked to call it. As he walked, his phone vibrated. "Hm?" He says curiously, taking out the phone from his pocket. He unlocks the touch phone, tapping "show message".

The message basically says that 3 towns were added to the game. Fala, in the forest, Begal, near a lake, and Jolusi, base of the mountains. He nods, wondering if he should track down Civia in the game. Maybe watch over her.

He puts the phone back. "My Civia will be fine." He says, more to reassure himself than anything. Laurence pushes the door to the cafe open.

 

"Hmm....looks like this was a gift. Come on. Let's go to it and rest. It's better than this tree," Sammy stated as she stood up and reached her hand out to Nick. Still, she was surprised that she managed to leave battle with cuts, bruises, and minor injuries in general. She was lucky this time. Very lucky. I need to start learning.

 

Nick grabbed Sammy's hand and pulled himself up. "Thanks" he said. "Now that you mention it, it was pretty lucky having this place just appear out of nowhere like that..." Nick said. "Maybe I was right earler...Ah, whatever, it's here now and thats all that matters." He said, walking towards the town.

 

It was a long walk. A really, really long walk. Apparently, signs were already posted even if it was more than 3km away. Civia didn't seem to mind so much; as long as it meant that there was a town, then fine. She needed the rest. Hopefully, she would find assistance; and maybe a bag of sorts. A bigger one, anyway. She already had a bag (which had her potions kept neatly) that she had taken from some random, abandoned place.

Civia stops a while to regain a little strength and to catch her breath. The potions tempted her. The feeling she got right after she drank it! Like she just woke up with all the benefits and none of the morning sickness. It was utter bliss, but she knew that 4 potions weren't a lot. And she was sure she'd need an energy drink or two much later.

Pushing her greedy thoughts aside, she tried to plan out her next moves. She reaches a town, what then? Look for Nick? He was the only one she knew here. Perhaps she should ignore Nick for the time being and look for other players; leave coincidence to do the planning. But she felt a small pang of guilt at this. She'd just have to see.

And what about fighting? She'd need to get better. Much better. Little rats with claws sharp like scissors and teeth sharper than scissors. Her arm nearly fell victim to them, and she couldn't risk that. Having an arm ripped was a bit too painful. She could barely handle a bite on the thigh. Well, she could, but not as well as she would have liked. If monsters were so rare in this game, then the spoils would have to be more, but less training. It was a bad deal. Training over items. The better you can hold out, the lesser you need the items. It was limited. Strength was, in a way, not limited. Not like items, at least.

Ignoring the worry, she decided she'd rest a while in Fala, then she'd find a training post of sorts. Or maybe, if she felt too tired, continue walking and find more players to team with. Going solo wasn't such a good thing. Nor was having not that much provisions, she just realized.

OOC: Too long? .__.

 

OOC: Don't worry about posts being long, those are fine with me. xD

IC:
"Leo...nice to meet you," Rei said, looking over his armor as well. Nice armor, I take it you're an experienced gamer because of your equipment choices."
Looking over towards the mountains, she said, "Think there's anything that way? Something better than an open field, at least..."

---

Michael stood up from his work. He was almost done with his next upgrade, but he needed a break. Returning to his secretary, he said, "I'm going into the game. See if I can start anything up."
As he was closing the door to his office, he paused. "Nox...keep an eye on Laurence's house. If you see him spending too much time alone with his daughter, pull him out of the house and keep him out."

 

"A game like this, probably would be dragons", Leo replied looking at the mountains. "I'll find out", he said as he started walking towards the mountains letting the other gamer go the same way if she wanted. He wanted to test the limits of his character in this game and whether it was in game data that gave him strength or himself.

 

"Understood," replied Nox. She nodded at Michael's command and marked the dot that was Laurence with a mark on his tag when it opened. Nox would be sure to keep an eye on him for now. Action would be taken if he stayed close to his daughter, which confused her a little, since technically, all of them were not human anymore. Why does he stay close to his family? Would they not meet him with revulsion and disgust if they knew? Is he not afraid of that? Regardless, she continued to monitor the Hunters and their activity.

Sammy picked Nick up and began walking to the inn, the only building in the field just outside the forest. She opened the door and stepped inside. There were a few rooms on the bottom floor as well as a reception desk most likely used when NPCs were added. There were stairs leading to the upper floor, where most likely more rooms awaited. Bed...rest....sleep.....home.... "My room," said Sammy as she approached a room and went inside, closing the door, got out of her armor, until she was in her common day garb and laid down on the bed. She was out a few moments later.

 

Laurence goes back to the office, carrying a nice cup of latte and a sandwich, in case he gets hungry. He smiles at everyone he sees for no apparent reason; or only because he felt like it. Though, at the back of his mind, the constant worry-rat for Civia started gnawing on his nervous system and made him a bit clumsy. A bit.

As he walks to his office, he notices the boss, Mr. Aeon, standing just near his secretary and walking away, the secretary nodding and promptly clicked on something. Not bothering to find out, he sits back down in his chair and starts looking through the email to see if there have been complaints of any game. There are none.

Then his mind drifts. He wasn't human anymore, was he? Just a hybrid of sorts. With wolf DNA. Maybe, as long as his family didn't know just what, they would be fine. He would quit the moment they were stable enough. But even to Laurence and his particular optimistic attitude about everything, it seemed like a long, long time from now. A lot can happen a long, long time from now.

 

"Dragons, huh? I'm up for that," Rei said and followed after Leo. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, What do you think of the game so far? Ever play something this realistic?"

---

Michael walked to a door in the back of his office, entering a password into the keypad next to the door. It slid open and he stepped inside, approaching a machine in the center as the door closed. The machine looked like nothing more than a large glass tube with a control panel mounted next to it, but it was the one thing that allowed his people into the game. As he Michael stepped up to the panel, a compartment opened, revealing a small needle. He pricked his finger on it, leaving behind a tiny drop of blood, and waited for the machine to recognize the DNA in his blood.
A moment later, it made a dinging noise, retracted the needle, and the glass tube lifted. Michael stepped inside and the tube went down around him, transporting him into the game.

 

Leo continued to walk as they talked, "Kinda", he replied, "Wasn't as real as this, I don't even think this is just VR" he hypothesised as he walked. I'm starting to get used to the weight of this armour, I'll have to readjust every time I enter the game, he thought.


Richard re-entered the Aion Building. He had found only three players, one being Leon and two being unknown kids. One of the kids had died fighting the monsters and was sent to hospital but it was far too late.
He approached the secretary's desk and asked, "Where's the boss?"

 

OoC: Sorry for my absence..School happened :P

IC: Nick watched as Sammy walked over and into the inn to rest. "Hmm...All of the sudden I'm not in the sleeping mood.." Nick thought. "Nothin' else to do..Might as well just rest too." He walked over to the inn where Sammy was, chose a spot across the room, and just lied there with his eyes open. Thinking. "Something doesn't feel right about this..First I almost die, then I get sick from contaminated water...in a Video Game. That stuff usually doesn't happen in a video game.. He then thought he would talk to Sammy about it. "Hey, Fir--" He then noticed that she was asleep. "I shouldn't disturb her..I'm probably just being paranoid.. He then closed his eyes to try and fall asleep.

 

OOC: Whoever is in Fala...XD

IC:

As she looks up, Civia sees what is most likely a town; inns colored cream with hay roofs. There were chimneys in some and over all, it was quite welcoming. Only it was completely deserted. A bit wary, she tightened the grip on her staff and adjusted her lightweight armor under her jester costume. She fixed her hat, propping it properly on her head.

She walks forward, taking in the abandoned scene. The emptiness of the town was a bit unnerving, but the inns just seemed a bit too tempting. She quickly approaches one, but hesitates on opening the door.

 

OOC: Sorry guys, been busy lately.

IC:
Rei nodded. "I think the same, I've never actually felt the weight of armor in-game before. I don't know how safe it'd be without it though...those monsters were pretty nasty."
The pair was about halfway through the field, the base of the mountains coming closer to their view.

---

Michael found himself in the middle of a forest. "Hm, interesting, seems to be just as realistic as we hoped" he said. He looked at his device, noting the position of players in the forest, and grunted. "But perhaps I should make it more interesting."
As he said this, he pulled a matchbook from his pocket and lit several matches, dropping them on the forest floor. They ignited the fallen leaves and trees almost instantly, and he smiled as he felt the heat coming from the fire. Calmly, he clicked a button on his device, and he was once more in the real world, re-entering his office.

 

Leo returned to silence as they got closer to the mountain. He had his suspicions about this whole thing but wanted to play a little longer, to see what happens. Maybe this was a huge conspiracy. The thought excited him as it could end up just like the movies.

---

Having been told where Michael was Richard walked passed the secretary and knocked on the door to his office before opening it and entering. "Yo, boss-", he stopped when he noticed Michael wasn't there. He went a little more in as Michael appear through the back door. "There you are, I'm back. I've sent my report on the kids you had me find to your phone-amajig", he stated.

 

OOC: Bump. :3"

IC:

Civia then saw a trail of smoke float to the sky from her peripheral vision. She turned her attention to her right. It was safe to assume that maybe there were players, but why would they start a fire?

The smoke grew thicker and covered a wider range. Civia's eyes widened in realization. A forest fire.

Without panic overtaking her thoughts, her eyes darted from one side to another, seeing if there was anything she could use. She quickly spotted a well, but it would take a few people to stop the fire.

She frowned. "Better than nothing," she said, making her way to the well, not at all taking her time.