[IC]「VIRTUAL」Reality

[Noctis the Devious]

[btn=modc|https://www.iwakuroleplay.com/threads/ooc-virtualreality.139192/|self]OOC Thread[/btn] [btn=modc|https://www.iwakuroleplay.com/threads/vr-gaurdian-or-troll.140510/|self]Troll Thread[/btn]

Samantha Gray

Reality Dome
Highschool Grad. || Human- Rogue || Outfit
Mood: Anxious
Interaction: General
Mention: General

- x -
​

On May 4th, 2034, the KIT team scheduled the opening day of their 10,000$ contest at the newly refurbished and newly renamed Reality Dome, an air-pressured supported domed arena meant specifically to host the new technology for KIT Reality: Survival. Holograms mounted around the dome brought the experience to life visibly while the body gear brought the experience to life on a more mental level, giving the player the impression they were mentally and physically in the game. The gear consisted of a sleek headset, white gloves interwoven with wires and sensory technology, and shoe caps that went over ones shoes and served the same purpose as the gloves.

Samantha had such gear tucked away on her small duffle bag, the same one she used to bring to her practices and sporting events as a high school runner. It currently rested beside her as she hunched over the tablet passed out to all participants to create their avatar. Compared to the ninety degree weather outside the domed arena was surprisingly cool with water set out for the participants. The way it was furnished was also a little surprising as it slightly resembled an old colosseum with a modern twist complete with raised seats where people started to gather and a dirt ground, something she was thankful for as combat was apart of this game and she could only imagine what it would be like to fight imaginary creatures on something like tile. The Romanian decided to seat herself with her back against the wall the seats were mounted on and knees peeked so she could support the tablet against her lap. All around her the other participants were scattered across the floor of the arena doing the same thing, either in small groups or by themselves, and filled the large space with soft chatter.

It was such an odd thing really. Sure she had a couple of friends she met during her time back in track but she never tried to get them to game with her, so to not only go from limiting gaming to her private life to sharing with who knew how many other people, but also doing so in front of a crowd proved to be quite the experience. It was for this reason she stuck to her real life appearance in the first place (though she couldn't pass up the opportunity to shorten her hair a little from it's usual shoulder length). She snuck a peek at a nearby group of three who seemed to be having a little too much fun picking the appearance of their characters. Even if they were being a little obnoxious having others to create avatars with seemed like a good time.

She shook her head and pressed accept. A loading bar then appeared and she set the tablet aside while it synchronized her customized avatar with her KIT gear. She watched it for a moment, hands cupped around her knees and right foot tapping against the floor of the arena with a little anxiety. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice suddenly boomed from out of the speakers she assumed would provide the sound for the game. Her eyes immediately found the platform she noticed earlier where a small group of adults was assembled. The person who currently held the microphone looked to be a woman in her late twenties, early thirties with blond hair clipped to the back of her head and a voice that teamed with excitement as she spoke,

"Welcome to the first annual KIT Reality: Survival! I'm your host, Jane Beck, and I'm proud to announce that the sponcer of the KIT Project, Mr. O'Niel, is with us today as well as a member of the original development team, Ms. Auer." That one name caught Samantha's undivided attention, mainly because she was the devious mind behind the troll system. "They'll be watching today's activities so be sure to put on a good show." Right, no pressure at all. "Now I'm sure you all picked up a rule book on your way in here so I won't go over them. It'll be your responsibility to follow the rules. Failure to abide by the rules will result in a warning or, depending on the severity of the offence, elimination from the competition. I am also at liberty to tell you that the slip you signed upon signing up frees us from all responsibility of personal injury, so please be careful. Now, we'll be starting soon but in the mean time feel free to mingle and form parties."

With that said the little speech was concluded and the participants were left to their own devices. Samantha frowned and snuck another peek at the gathered group of people. It seemed a little silly to form parties in a competition that would crown one winner but it couldn't be without its benefits. After all, there was ten dungeon floors to clear each with its own boss, that was nine levels to get through before winning really mattered.

 

[Redsun_Criminal]

.:Hazel Williams:.

--Reality Dome--
High School -- Human -- Mage
Mood: Somewhat panicked / Hyper
Interaction: General / None
Mention: Samantha

​

The gnawing anticipation (not to mention a little thing called insomnia) prevented Hazel from getting much sleep at all. When she did manage to doze off, however, it was already morning. Her human body proved itself to be an inconvenience time and time again. Speaking of time, her sense of time seemed to slip away from her even after checking the time multiple times. Soon it seemed she had very little time remaining, and as such, she was forced to leave despite being... rather unprepared. Hazel got to the stadium later than most, the grand entrance she planned turned out to be her gasping for air and holding onto the nearest wall for dear life. Fortunately, and to her surprise, she hadn't arrived late enough for anyone to notice. The couple-dozen-or-so other players seemed to be doing their own thing, equipping gear, forming alliances, and otherwise futilely preparing to "survive" the upcoming event.

It's worth noting that her thoughts weren't always this scattered, but the anxious excitement caused by once-in-a-lifetime-virtual-reality-game-shows tend to do that to a person... with an acceptable range of variation on an individual basis.

Other than a quick breather, she didn't waste any time, and meticulously crafted her character onto the tablet from what she imagined. She already knew exactly how she wanted to represent herself, and even considering this, she completed the creation unnaturally fast.

While equipping the rest of the gear, her eyes shifted rapidly around the room, and locked onto the closest player in the vicinity, who seemed a lot more put together than herself. Alone, prepared, serious-looking, outwardly calm, prepared, gunslinger: maybe, rogue: likely... poncho, nice boots, prepared... Hazel's real-world garb, on the other hand, consisted of a black hooded cape tied around her collar, which was employed more for the sake of covering her messy hair than for style, and frankly looked as though it came straight from the cheapest Halloween store imaginable... which it quite likely was; high top converse shoes, black, with white laces and soles, which she was particularly proud of; a dark grey t-shirt with faded white letters which she wore yesterday, and possibly the day before that; and finally, a pair of plaid pajama pants... yes, pajama pants (see "rather unprepared"). If it wasn't for her height, she could easily be mistaken for a six year old trying to dress up as some contrived villain, a villain who's evil lair was a pillow-fortress...

It's not like she was actually worried about her personal image, this was about "Willow" not "Hazel" after all. Plus, no one in her family, except maybe her brother, would even watch KIT Reality: Survival, let alone care about "Willow"... or even "Hazel" for that matter. Speaking of which, her parents didn't even know she was here. She was expected to take a cab to the office of her new psychologist today, making for the perfect excuse to get out of the family apartment without them asking questions and nagging her incessantly as they often did. Luckily for her, KIT's new arena was built right here in the city.

Jane Beck's annoyingly enthusiastic voice boomed over the speaker, the sound of which even overpowered her sacred, although somewhat distorted, thought process. It also forced her to cover her ears, albeit, to no avail. Jane then oh-so-cheerily explained all of the stipulations, including the fact that KIT wasn't liable for any injuries that occurred. How convenient for them, she'll have to remember that next time she has to dodge a goddamn fireball or something... Hazel wondered if her sensitive sense of hearing, and therefore her overall sleeplessness, was to blame for Jane's ear-piercingly loud voice. Rubbing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she figured she's certainly endured worse, and she wasn't going to let this stop her from making a good first impression.

Unsurprisingly, many others began banding together in groups. She always found that desiring to join a group was an obvious sign of weakness. As much as the thought bothered her, however, she knew she would eventually have to team up with a few others if she planned on remaining here longer than the first few dungeons. Being a mage certainly didn't improve her survivability chances either. A warrior... yes... that's what she needed, a nice big shield of meat to take hits for her. A defender, a servant, a slave. Scanning the surrounding area for anyone who had the tell-tale demeanour of a warrior, she realized that she wouldn't know how to convince someone to sacrifice themselves for her in such a way, but she was determined to try nonetheless...

 

[irregular-neptune]

~Robin Wagner~

Reality Dome
Tattoo Shop Apprentice // Orc Warrior // Outfit
Mood: Cheerful, friendly
Interaction: Samantha
Mention: Hazel

xxxxx
​

Excitement buzzed through Robin as he entered the Reality Dome and surveyed the current inhabitants; teens of all ages, shapes and sizes who had a common interest in either the $10,000 reward or RPG games. He was certain most of the participants were a mixture of both, because why else would you try to win at a game that instated permanent death if you were no good at it? He wouldn't claim to be an expert at RPG games, but having played them most of his life, he was entering this competition a fairly confident player. He knew he had slim chances of winning, especially as the realization of just how many people were participating hit him, but he figured it would be fun to just experience the fantastic technology of this new gaming system as it debuted.

He took his sunglasses off and slid one of the arms into his pocket as the rest of the glasses hung loosely on the outside. He took another glance around the room as he excitedly began to make his way to the location where he was to grab his gear, a rulebook, and the character creation tablet. He shoved the gear into an old, worn backpack (that had obviously seen many years of usage at school) that he slung over his left shoulder and made his way to the large group of people in the center of the colosseum.

He noted a few scattered groups of people here and there around the room, which inevitably meant that alliances had already formed, whether they was between strangers or long term friends. He didn't mind at all, other than the fact that he wished that he had a friend or two that was interested in participating with him. Most of his friends just weren't the "video game" playing types, which was sometimes alienating when he got excited about a new release or the advancement of the technology involved in video games, but he enjoyed having a hobby to himself. After all, if he did have friends who were interested in participating with him, eventually it would come down to him vs. them and he wasn't the kind of guy to betray a friend (he also wasn't the kind of guy to give up easily, which would put him in quite the predicament).

He himself wouldn't mind starting an alliance with someone, but he'd prefer if they didn't seem to be the kind of person to betray him at the first sign of danger or early on at all. He knew it would eventually have to happen (winning was the ultimate goal, after all), but with ten dungeons in all it didn't need to happen very early on in the summer.

He took a seat near the bottom of the colosseum and sat the backpack by his feet as he pulled out the character creation tablet. Character creation had always been one of his favorite parts of games, as silly as that may sound. He enjoyed creating characters that looked like him, characters that looked nothing like him, characters of all sorts of races, shapes and sizes. Even if it affected gameplay very little, he found it interesting to temporarily inhabit characters of all kinds. He knew that a lot of people tended to enjoy being the more attractive kinds of characters, maybe something that looked like themselves, and the classes that were unusual or less conventional.

Which was exactly why he decided to be an orc warrior. Not only was warrior a class he was very familiar with, it suited the orc race (which he very badly wanted to be) perfectly. As he finished creating his orc character, a woman's voice began to echo throughout the room, introducing herself as Jane Beck and explaining the specifics of the event that day. He looked up at the woman and group of adults intently as they spoke, feeling even more excited as he realized that it was finally happening. He was excited to start finally playing and experiencing this new technology firsthand and for the first time ever.

As the woman ceased speaking, he pressed the "accept" button on the tablet and set it to the side. He decided that maybe making an alliance was actually a good plan, and began to observe the people around him to see if any of them were promising candidates. He saw a few people here and there, nobody who seemed too promising yet, but he had an open mind. After all, someone didn't have to look a certain way to be good at a video game.

He saw a younger girl standing off to the side who looked very unkempt, with an… interesting variety of clothes, to say the least. She didn't seem to have anybody nearby who was allies with her, but he couldn't tell at first glance if she would be a good ally or not, so he continued to look. A girl was sitting not far from him, with a couple of empty seats between them, who seemed a little… uneasy. He could understand that, after all, the stakes of the game were fairly high, it was nerve wracking to think you could die early on in the game and not be allowed to return (how disappointing), but he didn't feel like he would be one of those people.

He didn't want to leave his gear alone for very long, but he still approached the younger looking girl in order to ask her if she wished to make an alliance. "Hi, I'm Robin," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Are you excited for the competition?"

 

[Renose]

Rei Amagi
High School Student // Elf // Gunsligner
Mood: Calm, but secretly Excited
Interaction: None/General
Mention: Surroundings

Today was the day, a day Rei had been mentally preparing for. After all, this was their golden ticket into their own goals and dreams. To get into the game industry and get some money towards independence. After all, they couldn't just depend on their older sister forever and make her unable to live her life. Wearing a light blue hoodie with a fur trimmed hood, they had their KIT Gear, once acquired, stored in a small backpack adorned with the face of a certain virtual idol, their hands in the pocket of their jeans as they entered the facility, which needless to say did get a small, quiet, but overall impressed whistle from Rei.

Rei knew that all of the gaming experience they have amassed over the years would come down to this point. It would all hopefully pay off with a $10,000 payoff, plus attention from the game industry itself. So naturally Rei didn't pay much attention to the others, as they wanted as much time as they could acquire to set up a character and read through the rule book as extensively as they possibly could as they took a more lonesome seat, not to be by their lonesome, but to just not have as much background chatter potentially interrupting their concentration.

Given their apt choice of a hoodie with its hood pulled up though and how their white hair slightly rested over their eyes, one could presumably call this... person... a loner.

Needless to say, from an aspiring game designer's point of view, Rei was quite impressed with how streamlined the character creation experience was and how the rules played out. Simplistic enough for inexperienced gamers to get the hang of, yet intricate enough to hold strategies for more experienced players to keen their trained intuitions onto. While Rei was dead set on winning, it would be a good experience in the end either way if they were capable of lasting longer than the first floor.

Once they had created their character, Rei listening to the announcers in the process, they checked, double checked, and then triple checked what they had created. Elves were usually agile and could potentially become magic users. Granted if Rei did play more solo, however; they wanted something that wasn't a glass cannon while also being able to deal some decent damage from both close up and a further distance. That was why Rei chose the Gunslinger class. The ability to deal strong, fast hits from further away was more appealing than getting up close and personal. Furthermore its potential for later sub-classes was what definitely caught Rei's interest.

After creating their character, which synced up with their KIT gear, Rei decided to take a moment to look over and, if they were allowed, put the gear on, just to get used to the feeling of the gear on their body ahead of time. After all, they had the time, why not use it to get used to the certain aspects of what was going to be a unique virtual reality experience. Others could waste their precious time chattering all they wanted. Rei, on the other hand, was going to use this preparation time to start formulating strategies.

That being said, Rei also saw the potential of forming parties, but if there was only to be one winner, then Rei also saw the downsides in partying up. So for now, with gear on as they stood up and checked the feeling of the equipment on their short, they idly let those pale blue hues in their skull scan the room, secretly checking out the moods and expressions of the competition. Some looked like they were here just for the hell of it, others looked like they had both plans and determination for winning. It was those people that Rei knew would either make great allies, or deadly adversaries. Definitely people to watch out for, Rei making mental notes of all of this.


​

 

[Noctis the Devious]

Samantha Gray

Reality Dome
Highschool Grad. || Human- Rogue || Outfit
Mood: Anxious
Interaction: Robin Wagner - @irregular-neptune
Mention: Rei Amagi - @Renose || Hazel Williams - @Redsun_Criminal

- x -
​

"Hi, I'm Robin." Samantha glanced up with and was met with a hand being offered to her. "Excited for the competition?" Samantha regarded the wielder of the hand, a young man with pale skin sharply contrasting her own, especially when she reached out to shake his hand. His blond hair was in way that seemed popular on male models, with blue eyes to match.

"Samantha," she supplied courtly. "Truth be told, I'm not sure what to feel right now. It's like we're about to preform in front of a live studio audience Roman-style." She stood and dusted herself off, her heeled boots making her out to be two inches taller than the other, something she was inwardly amused by. In reality, she was probably a little shorter than he was, but not by much. "What about you? You excited?" She decided idle charter couldn't hurt, not as long as there was potential for a team up, but that didn't mean she could do some fishing. At least to know they would benefit each other before jumping in. "What build did you pick anyway? I went with the rogue build; a fast hitter. Can't hurt what you can't hit, right?" She offered a lopsided grin, wanting to at least be friendly about the whole thing.

She took another survey of her surroundings and noticed a hooded figure already trying out their gear but also doing the same thing she was; sizing up the competition. They stood alone, they because she couldn't quite make out who or what they were exactly with that hood on. When their eyes wandered in her and the other guy's direction, she made out a rather pale blue. All around they appeared interesting to Samantha. She pulled her eyes away and immediately noticed another interesting character, a young girl - a little too young, Samantha thought - who stood closer to her than the over-watcher already wearing their gear. How she hadn't notice her before was beyond her, with her strange cape - yes, cape - and pajama pants. Pajama pants. Samantha caught herself staring at the odd ensemble and politely looked away. It wasn't her business what others wore; some even found it off how she could wear her poncho even on the hottest days knitted of not. She had little room to judge, but pajama pants?

 

[Redsun_Criminal]

.:Hazel Williams:.

--Reality Dome--
High School -- Human -- Mage
Mood: Excited / Hyper
Interaction: None
Mention: Samantha, Robin, Rei

​

Maybe that one. Over on her left was another competitor and possible candidate for her personal shield... hoodie, backpack, white hair, questionable gender, alone, not reaching out, bangs, possibly hiding face, possibly hiding... A rogue, maybe a gunslinger, either of which wouldn't do. Hazel knew the reserved ones were much more frightening than the extroverted ones. She had to watch out for them. Such people generally lack trust, a notable advantage, plus they knew how to handle themselves on their own, not relying on others more than they need to. Hazel needed someone outgoing, someone who valued friendship, loyalty, fellowship, teamwork, altruism, camaraderie and all of those nasty things...

There. In the direction of the other (poncho wearing) rogue was a male not much taller than herself. Blonde hair, streamlined, put-together, prepared, definitely prepared, sunglasses, but not using them to hide... Brash enough to be a warrior? Not likely, though this was all very theoretical, and she couldn't know for certain. Time was running out, and she would have to settle for someone eventually. Straightening her pajama pants, Hazel resolved to wander over in his direction, trying to make her approach appear as absent-minded and uncalculated as possible. To her dismay, however, poncho caught his attention first, or at least that's what it looked like. The two began conversing, and so Hazel's pace became vaguely faster than casual. "What build did you pick anyway?", poncho asked. At this point, Hazel was only about a meter behind poncho, failing to look very inconspicuous as she peeked her head and listened closely (perhaps too closely) for his answer...​

 

[Renose]

Rei Amagi
High School Student // Elf // Gunsligner
Mood: Observant
Interaction: None/General
Mention: Hazel, Samantha, Robin

---

So they weren't the only ones sizing up the competition. Rei did notice a couple of pairs on their form and let their own pale blue hues scan in said directions. The first she noticed was the girl in the poncho talking with some other guy. Their eyes had met for a moment, and Rei could tell that this person was looking them over. After all, they stood out, so it was understandable. Samantha wouldn't be the first person to stare at Rei and Rei knew from the bottom of their heart that this girl wouldn't be the last.

In fact, Samantha wasn't the last. Some other girl in pajama pants and a... cape? Was staring at her. Well... Rei didn't care what they were wearing, but knew a thing or two about eccentric types. It was clear from the fact that this person was taller than her that Rei was convinced that this girl wasn't lost child, but rather a player. Well... this unprepared looking girl could also be a COSPlayer, but a player nonetheless. Rei had to mentally chuckle at their own bad joke, deciding to work that out of their system since they figured that if they started trying to crack jokes in the middle of the competition that they would be in for a bad time since that would be taking their eyes off of the prize. That was something they couldn't afford to not care about.

Still, they were all taller than her at least, and that meant either they were older, or Rei was just short. Well... Rei knew that they were short, but also figured that these people were older than them as well. Rei really hoped that they were all students like themselves and not actual adults. Students were a bit more predictable than adults after all. Of course, with things like friendship, trust, determination, or other such things students often carried within their hearts they were all the more predictable.

Shrugging, Rei stood up now, taking some time to stretch. Even if exercise wasn't their forte, they figured stretching before this sort of competition wasn't necessarily a bad idea. In fact, now that Rei had gotten used to wearing the gear on their small body, they needed to get used to moving around in it. After all, judging from the Character Creation screen, Rei knew that a huge growth spurt was inbound for them. So they needed to get used to the gear now so that they could quickly grow more accustomed to it in a much taller body.

Which was why Rei found nothing wrong with spending this time stretching rather than looking for potential party mates. If anyone wanted to party up, then those people could come to Rei. Rei wasn't going to start throwing their own self to a party after all. They had no reason to at the moment.

​