Fantasy Life Offline (Vii x Absyinthe)

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

Pumpkin Soup

"Fantasy Life Online, huh?"

The voice was staticky, coming from the receiver of an archaic cellular phone from decades past. The voice was quiet, so it was barely audible past the bustling noises of the surrounding patrons.

"That's right. The Beta Test is going to start in just over an hour. It's around a quarter 'til I can actually enter the building."

The voice was a gentle, but deep voice, coming from one of the patrons of the café - evidently, the one with the archaic phone pressed against his face. The fellow was outfitted in a gaudy pink and yellow Hawaiian button-down shirt that went out of fashion a decade or two ago, as well as a pair of khaki pants that look like they came right off the ironing board. The fellow was grinning pleasantly as he spoke, staring off at the ceiling in the distance as he listened along to the buzzing of his phone.

"Leo, this isn't going to be another one of those incidents like West London, is it? You're sure you got that Valance company vetted properly?"

"Harvey, listen here." He chuckled warmly, "I've learned a thing or two in the last year. Valence was properly vetted."

"We'll see about that in a few hours then, I suppose. Call me once you're out of the brick. I have to get to work."

"Alright Spooks, don't leave your headlights on!"

Both voices were still chuckling a little as the call terminated with a dull electronic 'beep'. The fellow then casually pocketed the phone and looked down at the table in front of him. There was a rather simplistic plate of brownish yellow soup sitting on a dish, with a few sliced pieces of bread sitting around it, and a spoon resting calmly within the fluid. It had evidently been left to cool for quite some time, seeing as a film was starting to form on the top of the soup. Nonetheless, the fellow in the Hawaiian shirt happily continued where he left off in dunking a few small pieces of bread into the soup and slurping it up. He seemed to be enjoying himself quite thoroughly.

Around him were numerous patrons and a select few rather overworked waitresses. It was rush hour for the place, right at quarter to eleven on a Saturday. Glowing screens adorned all of the tables and booths, complete with various holographic images of various food items and company logos flashing about immediately above them. But despite the bustle, the shop was still relatively quiet, at least compared to the streets outside. The scent of various steamy drinks and delicious snacks permeated the place, and a cozy fireplace was calmly crackling away on the far end of the room.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Chance of a Lifetime

Candace was never on time for anything usually; however, this opportunity was too good to pass up. She made sure she was early this time. Candace had hopeful ambitions about the future, and video games were a big part of her life. Fantasy Life Online was a way for her to immerse herself in what she loved. Maybe Candace wouldn't go back to her day job and do that for a living. She had a bunch of ideas on how this would go. For now, she would hit up the lovely cafe outside the building. The woman had medium-length dirty blonde hair that was usually never styled. Her eyes held a deep chestnut color and were scintillating. She never wore makeup as her time was spent at home, mostly playing video games. Candace wore flats that were black and scuffed slightly from her use of them. She hastily made her way to the cafe.

The hustle and bustle of the rush hour welcomed her in as she opened the door to the cafe. She had no idea who would be doing this testing with her; all she knew is that a muffin sounded delicious. She made a beeline for the counter and chatted up a barista as she looked around the room, perhaps she should make an entrance, but her client might not want her blabbing to the whole world about what she would be doing. She had no clue, but the barista had asked for payment two minutes prior, and she apologized profusely. She offered up the sum and graciously took her muffin and turned to see a man with a brilliant Hawaiian shirt in the corner. She raised an inquiring eyebrow and decided to sit at the empty table across from his. She sat down and smoothed her gray slacks before taking a bite of the muffin. She didn't know how to start a proper conversation, so she just eyeballed him as she ate.

#BA93A9

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Chance Encounter

The soup tasted great. He finished the last little bit of soup-soaked bread with a chomp, staring down at the plate, which was not wiped almost entirely clean. He had the unnerving feeling of being watched the entire time he had been finishing his rather cold soup, but he refused to look around to satisfy the superstitious feeling. He was too busy enjoying his soup, after all. He looked quite happy after he wiped his mouth with his napkin, and let out a relieved sigh.

After a few moments of resting, he felt it again. That unnerving feeling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an ancient-looking leather wallet, then withdrew from it a gold-plated black card, and swiped it in front of the glowing screen in the middle of the table. A hologram with the words, 'Thank You! Come Again Soon!' appeared over the screen moments later, but he paid it no heed. He was already rising from his booth by the time the fanfare began.

He then began looking around the café as he slid the card back into place within his wallet. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a bit of movement. Of all the movement in the room, for some reason, this lady, sitting all alone at a table right next to his, carefully inspecting something about her half-eaten muffin, happened to have caught his attention. He then approached her table and casually cleared his throat.

"Hello there miss, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

He smiled warmly and gestured to the seat across from her.

"I was hoping to pass the time while waiting for an event, and I just so happened to have finished my meal. Would you mind if we talked for a bit? Say..." he reached into his right pocket and pulled out his ancient-looking phone, flipping it open and staring at the screen for a second or two before continuing on and returning the strange device to his pocket, "...for around thirteen minutes or so?"

He paused for a moment after seeing her expression, then smiled even more and gestured to the screen at the center of the table, adding, "I'll buy you anything on the menu, if you do."

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Chance of a Lifetime

Candace was enjoying her muffin when the man she was staring at previously came up to her and spoke. She froze and thought, did he see me? Was I that obvious. When the words registered in her brain, she relaxed and peaked up at him from the muffin.
"Anything on the menu? I don't believe you. I suppose you can sit." She gestured to the seat and made a small humph but resigned herself to glancing at the kiosk in the middle of the table and wondering about the newest beverages. If he was telling the truth, she would probably take him up on his offer. Although, she peered at him and scrunched her nose. He might want something from her. She sighed and asked him a question.
"You said you're waiting on an event? Well, it so happens I am too. Perhaps it is the same one? I guess I'll also ask for your name." She smiled slightly and raised her eyebrows at him, the menu in the back of her mind as she waited for his reply.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

Down To Business

After the lady's attestation of disbelief and invitation to sit, the fellow pulled a seat out across from her and sat down on it. "Thank you, miss." he added, smiling to her a bit more before returning to a more neutral, still cheerful expression. He watched her as she sighed and looked at the menu, but stayed quiet.

Once she started speaking again, he made eye contact and looked interested. After her request, he grinned. "Ah, of course, how rude of me. My name is Leonard Simmons, but everyone calls me Leo." He offered his hand as he introduced himself, as if for a handshake. Once introductions were done, he withdrew his hand. "As for the event I mentioned, I will be going to Valence Incorporated to help them test out a new product." He looked a bit bashful as he mentioned that, adding, "Although, it would seem that I was far too early. The test starts at one o'clock, and they won't allow people inside until noon."

He then gestured to the screen and added, "Oh, and I genuinely will buy you anything on the menu. Just order whatever you want." He paused, thinking momentarily, then quickly added, "Their pumpkin soup is excellent, by the way."

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Chance of a Lifetime

Candace raised her eyebrow at his remark and shrugged, picking up the little menu kiosk. She scoffed at his suggestion and tried not to roll her eyes; of course, he would like pumpkin soup.
"I'd prefer one of the secret menu drinks. There is a new one I've been dying to try!" She scrolled through the options until she found a place to input the secret menu's passcode, and once doing so, she found the Extra Large Caramel Frappe Sparkles Extravaganza that they just dropped. She giggled at the price and shrugged before paying for it with his card. The drink would take a minute to be ready, so she decided to study Leo. He didn't look too menacing, and he at least was going to the same event as her. She didn't think she would know anybody once she got her. This person might give her an advantage in the future, so she decided to be quaint.
"My name is Candace, I may not look like it, but I enjoy video games. They are a great break from reality. Which I suppose is what we are doing today, hmm?" She hummed at him while whispering the last part. It wasn't that hard to hold a conversation with him; before she knew it, her cloyingly sweet drink came to the table, and she tried to finish it all; but could only slurp a quarter of it before the sweetness became too much.

It seemed like the time passed quickly as Candace and her new companion chatted idly about the weather and other small topics. She was eager to leave as soon as the clock struck twelve, and they were allowed to enter the building. Candace figured that she would stick by Leo as long as she could; he seems like he knew what he was doing. She wondered what adventures would await her as they began to trek towards the building.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Quick Snack

He looked slightly amused as his new café companion scoffed at his suggestion, but kept smiling nonetheless. As she expressed her desired menu item, he pulled his wallet out again and drew out the black and gold card. "A secret menu? Wow, I had no idea!" After she made her selection, he swiped the card over the holographic projection and then went to work replacing the card within his wallet. When he looked back up, he seemed to notice her gaze, but didn't say anything, still nonchalantly smiling over at her as the ambiance of the café continued along.

As she spoke up, he looked more attentive, making eye contact once again. His smile softened a little after her slightly self-denigrating comment, but he followed along with the rest of her comments with a warm grin and an a few affirmative nods. "Hopefully. I have had a bad experience with this sort of thing before, but I'm hopeful about this group. After all, they're very highly accredited." He continued to subtly guide the conversation along, gauging her facial expressions as an indicator of when to add another comment and when to quiet down.

He smiled the whole time they were together in the café, but he looked down at her drink more than once. He seemed captivated by its initial appearance, and briefly asked about how it tasted once or twice. For the most part, their conversation veered around the topic of video games, but he occasionally brought up more intellectual topics, or asked her somewhat personal, but nonetheless tactful questions. Although he didn't seem to have checked his phone once throughout their conversation, he wrapped up the conversation at exactly 1159 with, "You're absolutely right. You know, you're a very thoughtful lady, and you've got a lot of insight too. I'm really grateful I managed to find you here. That said, I think it's just about time for them to start letting us in. How about we head over and continue talking on the way?"

Once she got her things together and they made a few wrap-up comments, he got up from the chair and helped her out of her seat. He eyed the drink that she left behind with a slight break from his usual warmth, looking back at it with pity, but after the moment's glance was over, he went back to evading the patrons of the café in order to follow her over to the exit.

The walk was brief. The café was only a block or so away from the headquarters of Valence Incorporated, after all. He had already forgotten the name of the quaint cafe by the time their destination came into view, no doubt due to his continued conversation with his new acquaintance. He held open one of the two double doors after they got to the front, and followed her over to the front counter. As she introduced them to the fellow behind the counter and got checked in, he took a look around the lobby.

There were several people in the room, although none seemed to be beta testers. The clerk behind the counter indicated that the beta testers would be ushered into a separate waiting room so that they would be able to start once everyone was present, or once the clock struck one. Nonetheless, the lobby was fairly busy, with interns, janitors, businessmen, lawyers, cleaning bots, and various other fellows rushing around and waiting on pleasant seats positioned around. There even seemed to be a few stations in the lobby with computers set up for people to try a few of the demos of games that were upcoming, each of which was occupied, with a short line of people waiting to use it.

After Candace finished up with registering, he waved to her as she headed over to the waiting room, then started getting to business registering himself as well. As could be expected from a corporation as big as this one, there were a lot of waivers. Leo looked more than a little concerned as he skimmed the pages, but he signed them nonetheless. After filling in all the requested personal information, a process that only took around three minutes, the receptionist opened the automated door next to the desk and mentioned the directions that he ought to follow. He then meandered along towards his new destination.

The hallways were coated in plating that made the structure feel like the inside of a futuristic spacecraft. The hall lights were all integrated into the walls, providing a dull-white glow that wasn't blinding, but which nonetheless was rather harsh with the added glimmer of the well-polished snow-white panels positioned around them. There were signs incorporated into the walls and little dome-shaped mirrors at the intersections in the hallways, but Leo seemed quite confused nonetheless. Eventually, he made it to the door labeled 'Trial Lobby 1' and sighed in relief. He pressed the little card that the reception clerk gave him against the green-glowing panel beside the door and, after the door whooshed open, he stepped inside.

However, to his surprise, a magazine then fell upon his head. He reached up and pulled the magazine off, but as he did so, he noticed snickering in the room before him. He rapidly shifted his attention from the magazine over to a punkish figure in the far corner of the room, over by the only other door in the waiting area. The fellow had a very striking appearance, with a prominent purplish-black pallet to his clothing, hair, and tattoos. He had numerous piercings, and a remarkably conspicuous and spiky mohawk haircut. The fellow jumped to his feet as Leo folded the magazine closed, then cleared his throat.

"Wow! You don't even seem mad about it!" He sneered and approached Leo.

Leo smiled pleasantly, looking completely unphased. "Ah! Judging by that comment, this must be yours. You seem to have misplaced it." Leo held out the magazine and approached the punk in turn.

The punk visibly grimaced in annoyance. "Man, you're no fun." He swiped the magazine out of the fellow's hand and stood by the doorway, seemingly waiting for it to close again.

Leo looked a bit confused as the fellow walked by, but turned to continue facing him. "My name's Leonard Simmons, by the way. Most people call me Leo. It's nice to meet you!" He didn't bother holding out his hand, since the other guy still had his back turned, but still looked over at him expectantly.

The punk kept Leo waiting for a few seconds, staring impatiently at the door. Once the door closed, he sighed, then busily set up the trap again, leaving the half-open magazine wedged in the top of the doorway. "Hah. 'Nice' he says. Go sit down and stop bothering me already."

Leo looked a little deflated at the guy's impertinence, but as he looked around the room, he spotted a familiar face and a newer, but not as intimidating presence. He headed over to where Candace was sitting and took a seat across from the coffee table she was seated at. "Glad to see you made it alright. I got a bit lost in here, myself." He winced a little and scratched his neck as he said that, but went back to his usual cheerful self once they got back to talking.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Chance of a Lifetime

Candace was uncertain about having to leave Leo at the registration table. Yet, she knew this journey was hers to take, so she followed the instructions to the other room and admired the high-tech visage of the building. A few people were already in the area; Candace didn't recognize any faces but noticed a man with thick-rimmed glasses sitting in the corner, almost hiding from the other more formidable punk. She hated bullies and immediately sat down across from him, sending a glare at the trickster. Ignoring the look he gave her back, she focused her attention on the nerd in front of her. He had dirty blonde messy hair, and he spent more time in front of a computer screen than in front of a mirror. She tutted and tried not to roll her eyes.
"You should ignore people like that. They are jealous of whatever you have." She paused before finishing her sentence and forced a smile. He sniveled and adjusted his glasses before speaking up.
"You think so? I don't know, but my name is Kevin Saunders; I didn't think too many girls would be here!" He extended his hand to her that shined with sweat, and she tried to hold back her disgust as she timidly took it with the edge of her fingertips and shook it. Candace was unusually charming, but it had something to do with starting over, perhaps. She sighed and clasped her hands on the table.

The punk did some trick propping a magazine on the door when the man she met earlier walked through the door. The ploy worked on him, and she stifled a giggle. Leo didn't seem phased by this, and he proceeded to come over to her and Kevin. She smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders.
"Years of working in corporate offices have allowed me to navigate these labyrinths with ease. I'm sure I could teach you a few tricks." She leaned over to an adjacent table and pulled a chair for him to sit.
"Kevin, this is Leo. I met him at a nearby cafe; it seems we were too early." Candace introduced him to her new acquaintance and glanced around the room, hoping something would happen. Her nerves were tingling as she looked at everyone gathered for this grand occasion. Kevin acknowledged Leo and spoke quietly.
"Welcome, I hope you're as nice as her." he gestured to Candace and shifted his glasses in to place.
"This opportunity is a chance of a lifetime for all of us! I believe it will be something the world will talk about for generations." Candace grinned and took a deep breath, and asked a question.
"What do you think is next?" She peered at them and tapped her fingers on the table in wonder.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

Foreshadowing

The gentleman maintained eye contact with Candace as she responded, and casually moved over to the side of the table that she was moving the chair to. He took a seat as she finished her offer. "I would love that! I can never get used to these types of places, so a trick or two would be great." He grinned even wider as he spoke, but seeing her attention shift over to the other guy at the table, he directed his attention to the fellow as well.

He inspected Kevin a bit as she introduced him. The fellow's hairstyle seemed especially notable to him, as his eyes seemed to linger on them. As the fellow introduced himself, Leo's eyes shifted down to Kevin's glasses and the distorted eyes that looked through them. He chuckled a little after Kevin's comment, and hastily replied, "I'll try my best." He then looked back over at Candace and, noticing that she was looking around the room, he took a moment to glance at some of the other people in the room as well.

The punk was busy chuckling to himself as another fellow entered the room and became the unsuspecting victim of his trap. The new arrival raised his voice as he approached the punk, but backed down once the punk responded with even greater aggression. Several other people in the room glanced over at the confrontation before returning to their own conversations. There was a relatively wide variety of different types of people in the room, but most of the people were either playing games on their phones, or they were scrawny-looking and pale-skinned.

He looked back over at Candace with renewed interest as she started to talk. "Right!" Kevin commented, answering rather hastily. Leo nodded, looking between the two of them and responding, "I agree. Even the government funded this project, so it's definitely going to be a success story. I'm excited to be able to contribute to it a little." Kevin glanced back over at Leo with an awkward grin and added, "Yeah! I bet it's going to be fun!" Leo chuckled and nodded to Kevin, but Candace started talking before he could comment again, so he looked over to her again.

Leo contemplated Candace's question for a bit. Kevin, seeing Leo's pause, immediately replied, "It's still pretty early. I think that they'll give us some instructions once everyone arrives, or once one o'clock hits." He smirked a bit and gestured back towards the door, adding, "That's what the receptionist said, at least."

Leo nodded and crossed his arms. "Whatever is up ahead, it probably involves getting hooked up to some sort of device. They're probably getting those devices set up as we speak." He then looked more pensive, and commented, "Although I am rather curious about what they'll look like. Maybe they're helmets? Or maybe it'll be like the matrix and they'll stick some spike into our backs! That'd be interesting."

Kevin looked more than a little distressed at the thought, and quickly added, "I hope not."

People were still trickling into the room as they spoke. By now, around twenty people were calmly chatting with one another, a couple of the more avid gamers still seemed to have their phones out, but most people were now excitedly talking about the beta test, or were introducing one another. The only person in the room with an especially loud voice was the punk, who seemed to be laughing hysterically at his own jokes. One person he was talking to seemed to catch his interest. Right as Kevin finished his comment, The punk commented, "...I like you! You're not like these other spoilsports. You can call me Marko."

The other guy seemed surprised at the name, and commented, "Marko? As in, Marko Lupadra?" The punk arrogantly raised his nose and replied, "The one and only! Since you recognize my greatness, you can offer me tribute by going and getting me something from the vending machine across the hall. Something sugary." The other guy nodded and excitedly rushed out of the room, presumably to follow along with the guy's suggestion.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

The Beginning of Forever

Candace scoffed at the display the men carried out before her. She disliked men like the punk and knew she didn't want to be around him much. Candace turned towards her companions and sighed softly. She heard the simulation would be a fantasy world, oh how she wanted to be a dragon or something like that. The everyday world she lived in wasn't the best; she would rather be in the game now, but she would hold onto her patience before then.
"If you could be any creature, what would it be, Leo?" Candace gazed at him, a half-smile playing at her pink lips. She was curious at what his answer would be and peered over to Kevin and shrugged at him, asking him the same question. She might as well create conversation before they could do precisely that.
"I would be a dragon with fire-breathing abilities and scaly wings that help me glide over the world. Who knows what awaits us in the next few hours? We could be fighting and engaging in a fantasy battle!" Candace shouted gleefully, the idea of it all blossoming in her mind. She was antsy to start and listened to Kevin when he began speaking his answer.
"I would be a warrior knight that saved damsels from evil! I would have powers of strength and smarts too." He smirked and folded his arms across his chest. Everyone turned to Leo and waited for his reply.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

A Thought Exercise

Leo snuck a peak over at the Marko fellow after seeing Candace scoffing and looking over their way. However, he didn't react much to their words as he turned back to Candace and Kevin. Once their conversation continued on to the topic of preferences, Leo looked very intrigued, and listened closely to the other two. He looked surprised after hearing Candace's desire to be a dragon, and chuckled a little after hearing Kevin's desire to be a smart and strong knight. Once their attention turned to him, he started to look more thoughtful.

"I'm not entirely sure. If I could choose to be any kind of creature, maybe I'd be a fey creature of some sort, like King Oberon." He grinned excitedly, and remarked, "After all, the whimsy and complexity of their lives would be rather interesting, I would think."

Kevin looked somewhat confused after hearing Leo's response, as if he was expecting something more. "Is that the only reason? What about abilities and powers and stuff?"

Leo shrugged, looking indifferent. "I'm more interested in having the potential to experience new things than having a bunch of things that I'm capable of doing. Especially in a game." He paused, looking over to Candace and adding, "For instance, being a dragon would make it hard to enter houses and caves, right?" He then looked over at Kevin, and added, "And, I've been a human for my entire life. I'm not particularly unsatisfied with my experience, but something new would be pretty great."

He then gestured to the other two and asked, "Speaking of which, how about we flip things around? What about a creature that you'd never want to be?" He paused for a moment to let them think, then continued, "I, for one, would not want to be a ghost. They probably can't feel much, and they generally have grudges that they want to resolve. I wouldn't want to live like that."

Kevin seemed to think of something, and smirked a little. "No way I'd want to be a goblin. A stinky, ugly little munchkin that serves as cannon fodder for beginning players? No thanks." He crossed his arms to make an "x" shape in front of his chest as he made that last comment, then smiled meekly as he looked over to the other two.

Leo chuckled. "I agree. That would, indeed, be quite an unpleasant existence." Leo and Kevin then looked over at Candace to hear her thoughts. The ambiance in the room continued growing louder as the remaining few people continued to stream in bit by bit.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

The Beginning of Forever

Marko tapped his feet impatiently as he waited for the other guy to get his tribute. Candace rolled her eyes at this and started nervously chewing on her nail. Waiting around as this got on her nerves a bit, she was eager to start this adventure, this beginning of her new life. She pondered what Leo had to say for her question and decided she liked his answer. Fairies were another fantastic thing fantasy had going for it. Perhaps she would be a fairy dragon in this new simulation? She chuckled at the thought. She smirked at Leo's dragon comment.
"Well, that's why you could shapeshift, right? So you could fit into the houses, perhaps like a human form?" She paused to listen to him ask his question and sighed a little bit at her answer. She hoped she wouldn't have to be this ever in the game, but she had no clue what lay ahead.
"Well...I would never want to be a kobold. Working in the mines...toiling away to no end, I'd rather die." She rubbed the back of her head as she imagined the scenario. She squinted as the other man burst into the room in a silly fashion with the so-called tribute for Marko.
"I have claimed this rightful Snickers Bar for your tasting pleasure! Here you go." He tossed the candy bar to the punk and bowed before him slightly. Candace could only pretend to barf at his display and whispered something to Kevin and Leo.
"Do you think real-life personalities carry over in-game?" She raised a quizzical brow and waited for a response.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

Interference

Leo grinned empathetically and nodded after Candace's comment. However, right as Leo was inhaling and about to speak, Kevin sharply cut in and said, "Yeah. The last thing I would want to do in a fantasy world is more work!" Leo chuckled at this, and made as if to speak once again, but he was interrupted once again by the electric door sliding open and the fellow who was talking to Marko earlier rushing back in, shouting something about claiming a candy bar. Leo raised an eyebrow, looking perplexed, and turned around to see what was going on.

As he did, Marko swiped the candy bar out of the air, tore it open in one swift motion, and chomped down on it. He seemed to mull over the taste, leaving the other fellow in suspense, but shrugged after having chewed on it for a bit, commenting, "Good enough, I suppose. You will make a fitting servant for one such as I." He then laughed for a bit as the other guy groveled and mumbled something about being grateful.

Leo turned back around, looking between Candace and Kevin with the same perplexed expression. Notably, none of them said anything for a few seconds. Evidently, the display between Marko and the other fellow caused the room to quiet down, but in the following seconds, people started talking again. Candace seemed to be the first person to break the silence. Leo sighed, looking rather skeptical. "Doubtable. It would be difficult to market if it imposed changes on the user." He then cleared his throat as he looked over to Kevin, and added, "Although, I did hear something about the game having the ability to affect one's mind. So perhaps users can choose to do something like that if they want to."

Kevin looked excited at this comment, and grinned. "Ooh, then maybe I can be a brave hero after all!"

This statement prompted Leo to nod, looking enthusiastic. "I will certainly be looking forward to seeing what it has in store for us."

A few moments after Leo finished his comment, a door on the opposite side of the room opened, and a man and a woman in suits walked into the room. The beta testers all quieted down rather quickly as they did, and turned to see what was going to happen. The lady who walked in cleared her throat, then announced, "All of the beta testers have arrived, so we will be started several minutes earlier than scheduled. I will be calling your names one by one, then you will be led to the testing facilities down this hallway." She gestured behind herself, towards the door that she entered from. "Once you reach the end of the hallway, you will enter a changing room, where you will be given a package and an instruction booklet. Please follow the instructions provided in order to place the electrodes on the specified locations on your body, and then please place the gown over yourself before continuing into the testing room. There, you will be assisted in entering one of the testing devices, and you will be asked to wait while the other participants get set up. While you are waiting, we will be running tests to ensure that the system is functioning properly. Once everyone is set up and the diagnostics confirm that the system is ready for use, we will have you synchronize with the game system in order to ensure that the device is properly configured. You may think of this as a 'tutorial'. Once everyone has completed the tutorial, we will begin the test. As a reminder, the test will last no more than 2 hours, but you will be free to leave the test early if you would like. Further, you are encouraged to provide any and all comments that you have during your experience through the 'contact GM' functionality within the game."

With her speech out of the way, she asked, "Does anyone have any questions for us before we begin?" Immediately, several hands rose. The lady accepted a few questions, but specified that time was limited and that she could only accept a few more. Notably, Leo appeared content while listening to the other people ask their questions, and did not pose any of his own, nor did he raise his hand to attempt to do so. Once she answered the last question, she began calling names. The guy who entered the room with her did not seem to do much of anything aside from watching the beta testers in the room and lead them past the door and into the hallway beyond. One by one, the beta testers steadily proceeded into the area beyond.

The first name called happened to be "Leonard Simmons", so he got up and casually waved to Candace and Kevin. "See you in a bit, you two!"

He made his way down the hallway and through the door, as directed. Luckily, the hallway seemed both short and simplistic, with only one available route to go down. He looked relieved as he made his way into the room and recognized what the lady seemed to talk about earlier. He reached down to the table and picked up one of the many packages waiting for him there.

He quickly disrobed and placed the sticker-like electrodes on various points on his body, like the diagram in the instruction booklet specified. He then put the garment within the package over his body and placed his belongings into one of the lockers, securing it with the padlock that was inside of the package. He was still setting the code on the padlock as the next fellow walked in. He calmly waved to the guy and made his way into the room beyond.

He gasped once the door opened and he saw the room beyond. The entire place looked like something out of Tron. Neon lights waxed and waned in long, swirling lines all throughout the room, illuminating countless servers and circuit boards, as well as narrow catwalks with fans positioned expertly around them, directing air around the place in a peculiar, but not especially noisy way. Once he entered the room, he started to spot various capsule-like objects positioned throughout the room - 30 in all. Also of note, there seemed to be plenty of men in work uniforms walking about with checkboards and tools in hand, performing various tasks. One such fellow walked up to him and said, "Welcome beta-tester. Right this way."

Leo nodded and followed the guy, still looking around at the room in amazement. Before long, the guy he was following walked up to one of the capsules and pressed a bunch of illuminated symbols on the side of the thing, presumably entering some command which resulted in the lid popping open. The capsule made a wooshing sound much like a sharp inhalation, which caused Leo to flinch. He looked skeptically at the thing for a bit, but the worker chuckled and gestured to the seat within. "Go ahead and hop inside. I'll hook you up and run some diagnostics. You'll be in the game in a few minutes."

Leo nodded. "Alright, if you say so." He then climbed into the capsule and watched the guy start busily pulling cords and clips out of the sides of the inner surface of the capsule, and attach them to the various metal nipples on the stickers that Leo placed on his arms, legs, and chest earlier. Once everything seemed to be attached right, the fellow gave Leo the thumbs up sign and pressed a few illuminated symbols, causing the lid to close once again. Leo took a deep breath as it closed, as if anticipating something, but only silence awaited. For a few seconds at least.

After a bit, a whitish hologram appeared right in front of him. "Hi again! Looks like everything's set up right. Looks like the others will take some time, so I'll be starting your synchronization now."

Leo raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Alright then, if you say so. But didn't..."

He got cut off mid-way through his sentence as the capsule started to boot up around him. The whirring sound of fans and some sort of electrical clicking and beeping distracted him from his train of thought. Then, as he tried to relax, he realized that he was relaxing way easier than he expected. In fact, his senses were starting to dull. A vague hint of worry came to his mind, but before he could consider the fear and concern that he should have felt at that moment, everything went black.

...

Consciousness came back to him quite suddenly. He tore his eyes open and looked around in a panic. He noticed that, unlike what he remembered, he was now wearing some sort of sports uniform, and was sitting in...an infinite expanse of white. "What in the hell?" he mumbled, looking incredibly confused.

Suddenly, a few seconds after his exasperated comment, an airy female voice sounded from seemingly nowhere. "Hello beta tester! I started your synchronization! And, wow! I must say! You are incredibly compatible with this technology. Like, the program took less than a second to give the 'all clear'. That's, well beyond our wildest expectations."

Leo frowned and looked up at the sky, growling, "What is going on? Wait...you're not the technician. I don't even recognize your voice from the corporation. Who are you?"

The disembodied voice chuckled. "I am an AI that is replicating certain phrases that the team manager of the Fantasy Life Online project at Valence - Khaleen Thorman! This is a pretty simple AI that modifies canned phrases from a speech profile that I gave it in order to try and sound more like me, but don't expect too much out of it, okay?"

Leo sighed, looking a bit relieved, "Oh, so what then, am I in the game already?"

There was a brief pause. "Sorry to disappoint, but no! You just completed synchronization, so I'm giving you a quick briefing on what's going to happen in the game! Since you completed synchronization so fast, you're going to have to wait around quite a while before the others are all ready, I'm sorry to say. Hopefully the AI will be able to entertain you!"

Leo smirked, then started walking around, "Alright then, 'AI of Khaleen Thorman', how about you give me the run-down?"

There was a brief pause. "Sure thing, 'beta tester'! I will now provide the 'run-down' for you." The disembodied voice cleared its throat in a comedic fashion. Leo smirked even harder, cracking an amused smile. He kept pacing around as the disembodied voice started talking. "Usually, you would currently be doing a bunch of random stuff like running around, jumping, doing jumping jacks, reading a book, watching a video, eating a sandwich, smelling a bunch of perfumes, and otherwise testing out functions of your body to make sure everything checks out. But, for whatever reason, the system already gave the 'all clear' for you even before you did any of that. So...how does it feel?"

Leo waved his arms around a little and stuck his finger in his mouth, sucking on it for a second, then wiped his finger off on his clothes and shrugged. "Everything feels normal to me."

There was another brief pause. "As expected! Well, good, then I'll just give you the rest of the information about the game that you'll want to know while we wait on people to finish up. First off, the currencies of the Cash Shop. Aethernum is the currency you can earn in-game through succeeding in difficult tasks or through otherwise making achievements in-game. Ethernium is the currency that you have to buy with real-world money. Of course, since this is a beta test, we will provide all of you with ten times the normal amount, so that you have a bit more wiggle-room in testing out certain functions. You can exchange the currencies if you want, but you'll lose some of the value when you do so. Also, try not to spend all the currency at once, since you won't be given any more. Any questions?"

Leo shakes his head. He appeared thoughtful. At some point while the disembodied voice started talking, he decided to lie down on the infinite, vague, pure white plane and relax, staring up at...more pure white endless expanse.

The voice continued. "Good. We will not be providing you with any information about the game during synchronization, since one of our goals in this test is to evaluate the 'learning through experience' design of the game. However, if you get stuck, a tutorial is available through the menu. Many of the more basic tutorials are free to access, but content that is more rigorously detailed or which would discourage exploration or experimentation is locked behind a paywall of Ethernium. You are free to access the tutorials if you want, but we would prefer that you utilize the 'Pray to God' feature in the menu to communicate feedback pertaining to any frustrations that you experience in the game. Any questions now?"

Leo shakes his head again, still lying down on the ground and relaxing.

There was a pause, a bit of a longer one. Leo raised an eyebrow. The voice then continued. "Well, that's all I had. I guess since there's still time, I'll give you some more information."

Leo chuckled and nodded. "Alright then, feel free."

"Currently, 0.2 seconds have elapsed since you have entered synchronization. No other beta testers have started synchronization yet. The total number of beta testers ready for the start of the game is: 1 out of 30."

Leo's eyes widened. "Wai-WHAT? Wait, clearly a lot more than...whatever fraction of a second you just said...more than that has passed, obviously. What are you talking about?" He looked skeptical, and sat up.

The disembodied voice chuckled a little. "Nope, that's absolutely accurate. Let me explain: The prototype Valence capsule you are utilizing processes the progression of time at approximately 1,000 times the standard rate you are used to processing time at. This is made possible due to the digitization and imposition of signals on the neurons of your body, which eliminates the need for action potentials when conveying neuronal signals. 180 seconds have elapsed since your synchronization experience has begun, therefore, 0.2 seconds of real-world time have elapsed."

He stared off into the distance, still looking shocked. "Wait a second, no one else started the synchronization yet? I thought everyone was going to start synchronization simultaneously after the system checks were completed."

"That is correct. Everyone should be entering in to synchronization simultaneously once all of the system checks are completed." The voice then suddenly had far less personality to it as it said, "No explanation currently exists for your query."

He frowned for a second, but then looked more thoughtful. "Hrm. So you're telling me that I have a lot of time to kill, right?"

The voice then returned to the prior style, with more personality. "That is correct. According to the predicted model, getting all of the remaining 29 beta testers hooked up and having pre-synchronization checkups will take approximately 30 minutes."

Leo sat up, a grin steadily spreading across his face. "Hrm...so, how many hours is that in system time?"

The more mechanical, robotic voice returned momentarily. "Answer: 500 hours."

Leo blinked a few times, then started counting with his fingers.

The mechanical-sounding system jumped in again. "Answer: Just over twenty 24-hour days."

Leo frowned. "What the hell am I going to do for 20 entire days in this white box?"

It appeared that the mechanical-sounding voice was here to stay now. "Answer: No such circumstance was predicted. As such, no orders were put in place for this eventuality."

Leo got up to his feet after hearing the comment from the voice. He paced around in a circle for around a minute or so. Then he looked up, as if he had some sort of idea. "Well, how about this then. It would be boring if this endless expanse is all I have to see for the next twenty days. Can you give me something to interact with?"

There was a long pause. The mechanical voice then replied, "Answer: You may be provided with any object you desire to interact with, since you are still in the synchronization."

Leo grinned, looking rather crafty. "In that case...how about something from the game Fantasy Life Online?"

There was an even longer pause. Leo stopped pacing, staring smugly up at the sky. Then, at long last, the mechanical voice returned, "Answer: No such prohibitions have been made. However, no metadata from maps, scripts, or logs can be accessed."

Leo chuckled, sounding victorious. "So what? At least I'll have something to do for the next twenty days! How about you make a great big library for me with a comfortable chair so that I can read some stuff for the next few days? Ooh, and I'd like to try a bunch of cuisine from different places as well. So maybe set up a feast table over there. And how about..."

...

Twenty days passed. Leo was casually reclining, sipping on some sort of colorful green drink out of what looked to be a translucent green orb. The book had a bunch of funny-looking symbols on it. Every now and then, Leo would make a comment in some sort of gibberish-speech, and the mechanical-sounding voice would retort with similar-sounding gibberish-speech. A few minutes of this passed by, then Leo tossed the book aside and got up from the fluffy recliner he was seated on.

"Alright then, enough of that. Back to English, please."

"Acknowledged."

Leo took off a pair of fancy-looking sunglasses, as well as a funny-looking straw hat, something like a sombrero. He was wearing the same Hawaiian shirt he wore back in the Valence building, but had some sort of straw skirt on. Further, there were piles of books everywhere, as well as piles and piles of other crap, including various food scraps, balled up and neatly-stacked paper with various mysterious scripts on them, and several empty bookshelves and tables. Leo sighed, sounding quite satisfied.

"It should be about time, right? The timer went off around an hour ago, so the last person should be finishing up with the pre-synchronization checkups any moment now."

"That is correct. An estimated 5 minutes remain until the pre-synchronization checkups are completed for entity 30. Thereafter, the system is currently programmed to automatically begin synchronization. Based on the current projections, synchronization will elapse over, at most, 5 more minutes."

"Well, I had a neat vacation, so I guess that's fine." He tossed the sunglasses and the funny-looking hat to the side. "While I'm waiting, can you erase all this junk around me and generate the usual platter of ingredients? I want to see if I mastered that recipe for pemmican yet."

The stuff around him then poofed out of existence, leaving him standing in the white, endless expanse once again. A moment later, a long table filled with a huge variety of strange meat and plant matter appeared, as well as several ground-up piles of powders with various colors. Next to the table was a campfire with some sticks set up in a tripod, as well as a pot hanging over it. Leo then went to work messing around with the food, putting a bunch of stuff together into a big batch, and then sticking individual balls of the stuff into the pot. While he was still in the midst of adding ingredients, the system called out, "Notice: Pre-synchronization checks completed. All beta testers have entered synchronization."

Leo didn't say anything, he just kept moving along with making the dish. The recipe seemed pretty involved. He wiped sweat off his brow at various points. After a dozen minutes or so, he sighed with satisfaction as he stared down at a plate piled high with crunchy-looking balls of...various materials. Right as he reached out and pulled one of the balls towards his mouth, the system called out, "Notice: Synchronization completed for all beta testers. Proceeding to log-in."

Leo quickly munched down, but right as he was chewing, his vision started fading again. "Damnit! Wait a second! I need to try the other kinds fir-"

He never finished the sentence, as reality completely faded around him.

...

Once again, Leo regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked around. Everything he could see was...purple bars with a black background? He looked down at himself. He appeared to have a humanoid form, but he had the same aesthetic as the walls around him - a wire-frame figurine, hollow, made of purple glowing stuff. He looked around and saw 29 other figures around him with a similar appearance. After a second, someone spoke up.

"Game Start, Baby! We're in!"

With that loud announcement made, everyone started to chatter. Lots of questions like "Who are you?" and "Oh, hey!" and that sort of thing predominated. Evidently, the room was pretty wide, and had a few interesting features, and further, there were two other wide rooms that people were starting to check out. Some of the people immediately rushed over to start fiddling around with everything, whereas others started socializing and messing around.

Leo paused for a moment to observe everyone. Despite being made of wire frames, there was some sort of 'sensation' that made him 'feel' what expressions the other wire frames were making. Further, despite how none of the wire frames were speaking, he had the 'sensation' that he could hear them, and he could even distinguish their voices from one another. After a few seconds of observation, he noticed a voice that sounded a lot like Candace, and also noticed one that sounded like Kevin. He then looked around for the wire frames making those noises, and spotted them(or at least, intuited which ones they were?) a few feet away, right next to one another.

He then rushed over to them, and waved, saying, "Hey you two! It's me, Leo." He grinned(or at least, that's the sensation that was communicated to others) as they gave their replies, then added, "This is kind of trippy, but not bad. So how was synchronization and everything for you two?"

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

To Become Different

Candace thought it took an eternity for someone to call her name. Leo had gone ahead with the process ages ago, and she was anticipating what would happen next. Candace had played video games before, but nothing like this. Everything was a controller and a headset; for the most part, this was a whole new experience. She was so lucky to have this opportunity to live a new life in this game. Hopefully, it would be worth all the waiting. The chatter between Candace and Kevin waxed and waned as the other testers left for synchronization. Finally, with what seemed like twenty minutes had passed by, a woman holding a clipboard appeared out of the passageway and called her name.
"Candace Macorney, please come with me." She was beckoning her to the doorway, and Candace said goodbye to Kevin before following her into the hall. The trip down the corridor was short, and Candace grabbed a package and disrobed, placing the stickers on the places the diagram had told her. She tried her best to get ready quickly as she was eager to get in the game. She traveled into the room where the pods were and took it all in, wondering where exactly Leo was in all the chaos.
"Beta tester, please come this way; we have a pod prepared for you." Candace blinked at the man and nodded quietly, in awe of all the technology. She was speechless at everything; none of her console games could hold a candle to what she would experience here. As she got into place and they attached all the wires to the metal nipples on the stickers, she took a deep breath and knew this would be the start of something entirely different. Candace went through the motions before a calmness fell over her body, and her consciousness sunk into a state of inky blackness.

* * *

Synchronization wasn't painful; for that, Candace was grateful. It was so seamless that she hardly remembered the transition from the pod into this room. It was as if Candace was there, flexing her fingers and gazing about, wondering when the real fun would start. She decided to test out her virtual body and tried running straight across the blank expanse. It wasn't hard to move her new legs, so Candace tried simple exercises and stretched to feel how to work in this form. It took her several tries to feel like she was getting somewhere in her synchronization finally. Overall her time within this space was helpful as she felt like she could do anything in the game now. It wasn't long before a wispy voice spoke aloud.
"Notice: Synchronization completed for all beta testers. Proceeding to log in." Candace clapped excitedly at the voice and stated,
"Now the fun starts, let's go!" She looked around curiously as the expanse faded away, and she slipped into darkness once more.

* * *

It was only moments before Candace had her vision back, and she could see a giant purple room with a black background. Everyone around her was now in this room, and they all looked like a wireframed form. It was only a second before she spotted the shape of what was Kevin and came closer to him, waving her wire hand at him. She was curious about Leo when he called over to them from the other side of the room.
"Hey, Leo! It was awesome; I've never experienced anything like it. I thought it would be painful, but I was wrong." Candace called to him as he asked his question. She observed the room and wondered what sort of things she could do in here. Obviously, they weren't going into the game like these frames, so perhaps she would finally become something different here. Kevin stood quiet absorbing everything at once.
"How was your synchronization? You were first to go, and it seemed like forever before they called my name!" She exclaimed to him as the other testers got familiar with the area they occupied.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

Settling In

Leo nodded along and chuckled as Candace described her experience and expectations with synchronization. He followed her gaze and looked around a bit as she did, but focused back in on her as she started talking again. After her question and comments, he emitted a concerned expression and scratched his head, or at least, performed the action that emitted that information to those who saw it. "Well, I had a bit of an odd experience...but I got through it alright. Nothing bad happened, at least." He paused for a moment, then smiled again and added, "Glad to hear it went well for you though." He then turned his attention over to Kevin and asked, "How about you?"

Kevin seemed to have been hypnotized by all the stuff going on around him, so he was pulled back to reality once he felt Leo staring at him. He looked over to Kevin and quickly replied, "Who, me? Oh, right. I, uhh...I took a little bit to get used to it. It felt like my arm was a couple feet off to the left..." He moved his left arm around, as if to make sure it was on correctly, then continued, "...yeah, I'm glad that is over with. That was really unnerving."

Leo emitted an empathetic smile through whatever perception algorithm the game was using to mentally convey his expressions. He commented, "That's tough, buddy. But, at least you helped them iron out an issue with their tech, right?" He emitted a grin through the mental thing.

Kevin emitted a nervous grin as well, and chuckled a bit. "I guess. I'm just glad everything feels like it's back to normal now...aside from this weird emotion thing. It's kinda creepy to 'feel' your expressions, Leo."

Leo nodded, and shrugged his shoulders, looking indifferent. "Then I guess we should get to making our characters. It's definitely uncanny here." He paused a bit to give Candace a chance to speak.

The longer they talked, the more people seemed to start streaming on over to a room off to the left of the mirrors. As Leo glanced that way, he saw a bunch of tables set up, with people waving the arms of their wire-mesh-bodies around above the tables. He pointed it out to the others and commented, "It looks like that's where everyone's going, so I guess those tables are where the magic happens."

Kevin immediately started walking over that way, with a bit of an elevated pace. He radiated eagerness. "Alright then, off I go! I'm getting out of wire land ASAP!"

Leo chuckled and followed along, pausing a bit to gauge Candace's reaction.

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

To Become Different

A line formed around the tables, and Candace knew they had to be something special. She had seen character creation menus in other games, but this would take the cake. It would probably be another couple of minutes before she decided to use one herself, so she stood in her spot and made the motion of crossing her arms. This experience was overwhelming, but Candace tried her best to temper her excitement.
"What type of character shall we make?" She pondered aloud as a group of testers crowded closer to the tables. Candace hoped she could start with a relatively intelligent character, probably not the mighty dragon she first imagined in the lounge. A favorable starting location would be best since she didn't want to die the first couple of moments into the game. Hopefully, Candace could stick by Leo's side for most of her time testing this game. He could teach her a thing or two about video games, and she sensed he was a veteran in the field but was too humble to brag about it.
"Will you go first and show me how to do this, Leo?" She asked him as she overheard others talking about the character they made.

Candace loved the way the glowing purple of the Digitarium swirled around her and pulsed. Her heart was pounding almost out of her chest with all the anticipation she had for creating a character. Candace bet that Marko and his fanboy would make expensive characters that wouldn't be effective in a starting situation. It was all so overwhelming as she turned to Leo and hoped he would lead the way into creating their first avatar for the game.

 

[Vii]

Fantasy Life Offline

Planning The Trial Run

As Kevin rushed off and Candace asked what sort of character to make, Leo rubbed his chin, or at least that's what his wire-frame avatar looked like it was doing. He walked alongside Candace as they followed in the wake of Kevin. As they entered the room with all the tables that people were crowding around, Leo responded, "I just want to dip my toes in and see what the game is like first, so I won't be spending any of my premium currency on my first character. Since it's just a trial run, I'll make a boring, powerless human character and choose a bunch of knowledge-related stuff." He glanced over to her, his wire frame mesh communicating a knowing grin. "Once I see all the things I want to do but can't, I'll make another character based on that stuff."

Once they arrived near the table that Kevin was at, Leo noticed him gesticulating wildly in the air above the table. Leo laughed at the sight, quite amused. Kevin commented, "This is incredible! I can literally make my dude look however I want! I feel like a sculptor right now."

Leo looked over at Candace as she asked him about how to do the character creation stuff. He shrugged in response. "I haven't done it yet either. From what the others are saying, it sounds like you just wave your hands around." He gestured to the space above the table. "Actually, it seems that you need to approach the table first."

After his comments, he approached the table. The various people around him were all commenting on various options they were taking, or laughing about certain options that sounded funny or stupid. Once he got near it, he saw a hologram appear, indicating several colored orbs, a numbered orb up at the top, and a black and white orb, as well as a little blank, vaguely-humanoid figure at the bottom. Leo then turned back to Candace. "Yeah, you have to approach the table first. Looks like you can't see what other people are doing either. The orbs have text around them though, so it should be straightforward."

He then started exploring the options available on the orbs. He started by poking the red orb and looking around at the menu that showed up along the table between him and the featureless mannequin in the middle of the hologram in front of his section of the table. He emitted delight as he started going through the options. "Wow, human doesn't cost anything. Guess I'll go with that. It actually gives some bonuses, too!"

He then maneuvered over to the body parts tab and looked through the options. He emitted surprise as he saw some of the options available. "Huh. Starting out with only one kidney only gives 3 points. Actually, I should make myself a cripple, shouldn't I?"

Kevin emitted a smirk as he heard Leo's comment on crippling his character, then butted in by saying, "I'm giving my dude the dense musculature and dense bones features. He's going to be really strong and durable."

Leo looked over at him with a friendly grin. "Then I'll be relying on you to keep me safe, won't I?"

Kevin proudly responded, "But of course! That's what heroes like the future me do, after all!"

Leo chuckled at Kevin's uncharacteristic bravado and selected a whole bunch of traits. He selected "Hemirenal Failure[-3 points]", "Hemioccular Failure[-3 points]", "Missing Arm(Right)[-10 points]" "Missing Finger(Left 5th)[-1 point]", "Cachectic[-5 points]", "Color Blind(Monochromatic)[-5 points]" and "Bald[-2 points]" features, for a total of -29 points. He then turned over to Candace and Kevin and commented, "There's also a racial magic section. Looks like humans get mental abilities, like heroism."

Kevin hastily responded, "Oh, really? Dang, maybe I should do that then. I was going to be an Avelon."

Leo shrugged at Kevin's response. "Up to you. I'm sure Avelons can be pretty heroic with their features."

Leo then navigated through the racial magic section and selected, "Phobia-Prone[-5 points]" and "Pain-Averse[-3 points]", for a total of -37 points. He then looked over to Candace. "Well, my poor, unfortunate fellow has a body now. How about you? What're you going with?"

 

[Absyinthe_Artica]

Fantasy Life Offline

Steps to Creation

Candace waited in slight anticipation as she watched the others make their first characters for the game. Candace didn't quite want to make her first character a dragon; as she said earlier, she guessed that would cost a lot of points, and she didn't want to use all of them right off the bat. Candace had plenty of choices, so she would have to think carefully; when she had a chance to get up to the table. Leo commented about being a cripple, which amused Candace as her wireframe foot tapped impatiently.

Another person adjacent to them had finished their creation process and left the table to do other things. Candace took this opportunity to use that table, and as she made her way closer, a screen appeared that held the orbs Leo mentioned earlier. She picked the race tab open and scroll through the options. Candace didn't want to be just a human to start; she wanted to spend a little bit of currency without entirely going bankrupt on an OP character. She made the gesture of biting her lip in contemplation before she finally chose the Florian race to start. Candace glanced back at her new friends spoke,
"I think I'll start with a plant person. Perhaps I can be useful to your cripple in some way?" She gestured towards Leo and then looked back at the table. The standard model for a Florian was standing there waiting for her to choose more options. She studied the racial body parts menu and sighed. There were a lot of choices, so perhaps she should stick with the standard and save her points for later?
"What are your favorite kinds of plants?" She asked them as she debated on her options.