'I hate video games,' Lightning thought to herself as she put the virtual reality mask over her eyes, blocking out all light and leaving her in darkness.
So why was she alone at home, in bed, at eight in the evening, preparing to play one of the newest and most anticipated games that had yet to come out? It was a question she had been asking herself ever since she had obtained the game.
The answer she came up with was always the same.
'It's that idiot Snow's fault.'
Approximately one hour ago, Snow and Serah were leaving after having their bi-weekly dinner together; something Serah insisted on doing since she got married and moved out. They had all walked out to Snow's car, and after saying her goodbyes she was turning to go back to her house when Snow told her to wait a moment.
Turning around she waited patiently while he rummaged in the back seat, letting out a cliché 'ah-ha!' when he found what he was searching for. He came around the car, semi large box in hand and grin plastered on his face. It was fairly dark out so she couldn't exactly see what was on it, but she was skeptical about it nonetheless. She'd learned over the years to be wary of any gift the big man had decided to give to her.
“Here ya go, sis!” he said far too enthusiastically for her liking.
“What's this, Snow. It's not something impractical, is it?” she asked, voice stern; eyes glaring at the box as if she could scare it into being something she'd appreciate, though the chances of it actually being such a thing were slim.
“Eh, heh,” was his sheepish reply as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, balancing the box in one hand. Bringing his hand back to the box, he held it out towards her. She took it from him, being as wary as if she were handling a bomb. Finally it was close enough and from what she could see from the box, it was some sort of visor. Her eyes wandered to the words on the box. 'Second World- New Virtual Reality Game! Create your own avatar and become a Hero!'
Snow continued when she looked back up to him, one eyebrow raised and wearing a look that clearly asked him to elaborate why she was holding this. “Well, you know that new game we've been working on? Well, this is it! Serah and I thought you might want to play.”
From the way he was talking, she was pretty sure he could tell how she felt about receiving a video game as a gift. However, there was no real reason to constitute her actually getting a gift so with a grimace she accepted the box out of gratitude. She wasn't so heartless that she would deny the gift – even if she'd never play it – especially if Serah had wanted her to have it as well. She glanced at Serah who just nodded her head, a smile on her face as well.
“This game isn't supposed to be out yet though, right? Why are you giving it to me,” she inquired, actually slightly curious. Though she didn't approve of her sister marrying a game designer, it payed the bills somehow so she couldn't rightly complain. And since she didn't complain, Serah often took that as reason enough to talk about his job whenever they were together and conversation was lacking.
“Haha, yeah it's not out! Isn't that cool, you get to be one of the first people to play, along with everyone who worked on it and their families! You'll probably even get your desired user-name!”
Once again one of her eyebrows arched. “And what's so special about having my desired user-name?”
Snow looked at her incredulously. “Wow, sis, I know you don't like video games much, but come on? A game like this is bound to have millions of players; it's the very first virtual reality game! Do you know how hard it'll be to get a good user-name after people start buying it at stores?”
“Yeah, right now you could probably even get the name Lightning if you wanted!” Serah piped in as she opened the car door and stepped out, probably realizing that the conversation would be longer than she anticipated.
Lightning let out an exasperated sigh, scratched between her eyes, and then let her forehead rest on her hand. “You're talking as if I plan on playing this game. I really am grateful for your thoughts but you both know I don't play video games.”
Serah looked at Snow and then at the ground, a frown marring her face. Lightning felt her heart tug slightly at the act, but she wouldn't give in just like that.
Then she heard it. A soft sniffle. Her eyes widened as she watched her sister turn around and bring her hands to her face. “Claire, I just wanted to spend more time with you,” she half sobbed, her body slouching.
Maneuvering the box under one of her arms, she reached out with the other and set it on her shoulder. “Serah...” She looked to the left to see if Snow would help at all, but he was wearing a frown too and for once said nothing. 'Huh, figures. He talks all the time when I want him to shut up, but when I finally want him to say something, the only language he knows is silence.'
“Fine,” was all she said after a few moments of inner speculation. If it would cheer her sister up she'd play about an hour of the game and then quit, claiming it 'not her thing'. It's what she always did when her sister got her to do something she didn't want to do. Like those dance lessons she had been forced into taking. All she could say was that she would never set foot in a dance hall ever again.
Serah's posture lighted up almost instantly and she twirled around, a smile on her face and her eyes sparkling. “Really Claire? That's so great!” She rushed forward and pulled Lightning into a tight hug. “It's so much fun, you'll love it! I just know it! It feels so real, it's crazy!”
Awkwardly she hugged Serah back with one arm, the box still clutched under her other. “You've already played it? And what do you mean it feels real?”
“Oh yeah, but just a little bit before we came over today. I actually spent most of my time creating my character; you wouldn't believe the choices they give you for that sort of thing. You know, they just handed them out this afternoon so you're getting it really really really early. Of course, I would never miss our dinner though, even for a game.”
Snow interjected after Serah had finished with a giggle, pulling away from the hug finally. “To your other question, it's really awesome! We've worked really hard and with the virtual reality visor, you can feel 99.9% of all that's happening. Like for instance if you were to have a picnic, you'd be able to taste the food and feel the wind on your face. Not pain, though, so you don't need to worry about hurting yourself if you die in a battle.”
“Why would I ever want to have a picnic in a game?”
Snow gave her another look, like he couldn't understand her logic. “Well. It's called Second World, you're able to do just about anything in it, and it's like an actual second life for you.”
“That doesn't really answer my question, Snow, but whatever,” she digressed. It didn't really matter to her what his logic was on having picnics in a game. With a grimace she asked her next question, slightly appalled that she even had that many about the subject. “So how does this work exactly?”
Serah took over once again, her eyes still sparkling and smile still intact. “Inside the box is a visor that you put on, and that's it! Just cover your eyes and turn it on. It'll put you in a REM state, so basically it's like you're dreaming, and this also means that you can play while you sleep; not disrupting your daily life at all while still being able to play!” 'Dangit. Well there goes one of my excuses for weaseling out of playing this. - No time.'
“So... I just put it on and press the power button? And that's it?” Nods from both Snow and Serah were her only answer.
With another sigh she looked at the ground and then back up. “Okay. I guess... I'll try it out tonight.” Serah let out a squeal and leaned in for another hug, but Lightning put her hand forward stopping her. “But, if I don't like it I'm not going to keep playing. Got it?”
Serah looked a little dejected, but her smile never left. She was probably thankful that Lightning was going to play at all. “Fine. But like I said, I know you'll like it, Claire.”
Slowly, Lightning brought her hand back and Serah finally got to hug her. “Snow and I will be waiting for you! We wont do anything so we can all be the same level and work our way up together, okay?” Looking down, she looked into Serah's big eyes, practically willing her to agree. All she could manage to say was a quick 'sure', and then she let go and stepped back, ready to end this and go back inside.
Opening the passenger door to the car, Serah gave one last look at Lightning before saying goodbye and getting in and waving through the window. Snow doing the same; going to the drivers seat and opening the door. Before he got in, he looked back to Lightning, regular goofy smile on his face. “Our names are Snow and Serah in game; yeah, we know. Not very original. Make sure you pick the central continent for starting out in! See you tonight, Sis!”
And then she was back in her room, visor over her eyes. She had been procrastinating. Denying it would be pointless. She didn't really have anything to do, but she didn't want to go to bed just yet. Or rather, she didn't want to play yet. Then again, she couldn't really not log in. Serah said she would be waiting, and while she was probably not yet playing the game, her character still needed to be created.
Cautiously, she brought her hand up to the side of the visor and pressed her finger over the power button. She planned on just quickly creating a character – it didn't matter what it looked like, she wouldn't be using it for long.
As soon as the thing had powered up she was showered with a bright light; blinding after being used to the darkness of the visor. Bringing her arm up to cover her eyes from the sudden contrast, she thought bitterly, 'If it's like this every time you start up the game, I feel for those kids who will do this every night. Their eyes'll be shot before they even get out of school.'
Her hand fell and she opened her eyes fully. Looking around she noted she was in something akin to the interior of a large empty rectangle. Nothing but white wherever she looked. Slowly she took a step forward, but as soon as her foot touched the ground an image appeared in front of her.
Jumping back she stared daggers at the picture, as if it could feel fear. Tonight, it seemed, she had a thing for leering at inanimate objects – first the box, then the visor after she opened the box, and now this image.
Taking a closer look, she realized it was a three dimensional woman, not really a picture at all, like she had assumed. Lightning stood up straight, not realizing until now that she had tensed up, and lessened the intensity of her gaze. After a few moments she cleared her throat, and when still nothing happened she stepped forward again.
This got a reaction, and she was starting to see a pattern. The woman turned her gaze on Lightning and began talking in a calm and warm fashion. “Welcome to Second Life, I'm here to help along your character creation. First, a warning. Please make sure that while playing the game you are in a safe area, and that by closing off your senses are not putting yourself in harms way. Do you understand?”
Lightning slowly gave a nod, unsure if it would acknowledge the gesture. It, fortunately, did and continued with it's speech. “On to character creation. Each person is allowed only one character, as to make the game more realistic, so make sure that the avatar you make is suitable. All choices made now cannot be undone.” Suddenly, Lightning understood why Serah had taken her sweet time making a character. “Next, we base all characters off of their real life players – your own – appearances, though in some cases it's not visible.
“We here at 'Second World Inc' are proud of our variety when it comes to making your character. Would you like a list of all the races? There are over 500, but if you would like to look at a specific group that is fine as well. There are no advantages, or disadvantages, to any particular race.
“Whenever you are ready, please specify which race you wish to see yourself as; or several different races if you are unsure of your preferences.”
Lightning took in and absorbed everything the woman had said. Really, she just wanted to hurry it up. This was becoming unnecessarily difficult.
It was then that she realized she was supposed to say something; pick her race. She stood still and stared at the woman, neither of them moving. Lightning felt like an idiot, her mind bumbling around to come up with a suitable race. 'This is so stupid, why does it matter.' “Just show me the most common ones.”
With a wave of the woman's arm, five different 'Lightnings' appeared in front of her in a row. She was slightly prepared for something to jump out at her, but this still alarmed her and her body became high strung for a moment before relaxing. She looked over all of them, starting from the left and going right, scrutinizing every aspect.
The first one, she noted, looked exactly like her. It was sort of frightening; it was like looking in a mirror that didn't reflect what she did. It was also a bit unnerving to see herself unmoving – not even seeming to breathe.
Next to that, was another one that looked almost identical, and unless you looked carefully it was hard to notice and differences. The body was a bit more lean, and the ears were pointed, but that's all she could discern from her vantage point.
It was once she made it to the one in the middle that she noticed a stark difference. This particular 'Lightning' was taller than the others, or at least appeared so, with two large rabbit looking ears pointing straight up in the air. The face was more drawn, and her nails were sharper. It's feet were also very strange looking, and not in a way that particularly appealed to her.
Moving on, the fourth one was strange but ultimately much better than the bunny-hybrid. It looked similar to the first one, the only difference being pointy cat ears and a long tail sprouting from behind it.
Once she reached the end she had to do a double take. It looked absolutely nothing like the others. Not in a terrible way, but not in a good way either. Perhaps it was a bit insulting considering it was based off of her, but otherwise she found it to be rather cute. It reminded her of a plushy that Serah used to have when she was a child. On closer inspection it really did look like a stuffed toy, with a small white body and unusually large pink nose, framed by puffy cheeks dusted pink, and scrunched up eyes. On the top of it's head were two ears and in the middle was a large antenna with a pink crystal on the top. “What on Cocoon is that?” she muttered under her breath.
The woman heard her mumbling and spoke up, waking Lightning from her reveries. Gently she raised her arm to point at the first one Lightning had overlooked. “Human.” Her hand inched over to the second. “Elvaan.” Third. “Viera.” Fourth. “Mithra.” And finally fifth, the one that had been originally asked about. “Moogle.”
Lightning mentally slapped herself. 'Human. How could I have overlooked that when considering a race. I've just wasted about fifteen minutes because I couldn't think of human. This must be why Serah took so long. “Human, please.”
“Very well,” the woman responded, and with a wave of her hand all but the twin-like 'Lightning' disappeared. “Would you like to change any physical attributes? Though it is based off of you, you can still change smaller things like the hair length and style, along with body proportions and starting clothes – nothing too fancy there, though.”
“No, I'm fine. It's fine.” Lightning tersely replied, getting quickly agitated with all the questions.
“Would you like to see yourself as any particular class? Although you start out without a job, we will allow you to see how your character would look in every classes late game armor.”
“No.” Lightnings eyebrow twitched slightly.
“Do you have any questions about classes?”
“No.”
“Very well then, second to last on the list-” Lightning exhaled sharply, “-we need your user-name.” A floating opaque rectangle appeared in front of her and she eyed it suspiciously. “Please write your characters name here in your signature. Make sure you can duplicate it because your signature will be how we verify it is you when you start up your visor.” Extending her arm, she wrote out her signature with her finger – 'Lightning' – . When she withdrew her hand, the rectangle disappeared.
“Finally,” 'Finally indeed, you insufferable woman.' “Please pick a starting continent. There are five; North, South, East, West, and Central. Once you pick your starting continent, you will be teleported that particular continents starting town.”
Recalling what Snow had told her before they'd left she quickly responded with, “Central” before tapping her foot, waiting for... well, whatever was going to happen now.
Suddenly she was surrounded by glowing blue and green particles.
“Congratulations on making your character, we hope you enjoy playing 'Second World.'” the woman said with a smile on her face.
As Lightning was being consumed by the lights, she couldn't help but feel a little bad for calling the woman insufferable. Just a little, though, seeing as the woman probably had no emotions anyways.
Finally, after she had been submerged completely, she was hit with a blast from the side, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to tumble to the side. She had assumed that the light wouldn't have any ground, but she couldn't have been more wrong. With an 'oof' she hit the ground, a sharp object jarring her chest and causing her eye to water from the sting. She had blinked to erase the moistness, but when she opened them again there was no more bright light. Instead she was inside a building that looked oddly like a temple. Standing up, she couldn't help but feel bitter. 'Argh, what the hell, I thought Snow said you couldn't feel pain.' She glowered down at the ground, searching for her assaulter as she gingerly pressed a hand against her side. Her eyes came across a sharp looking rock and her eyes narrowed. 'What's a rock doing inside a building anyways. Stupid game.'
Gathering her bearings she looked around carefully. The walls were a smooth tan brick, forming a dome with a single opening – a hallway – leading to large wooden double doors. All along the walls were torches set into sconces. 'How medieval.' she thought. In the middle of the round room was a strange looking machine. It sat on a small circular platform with a bar coming from the floor and ending when it met a small globe that glowed like the lights she had just been absorbed in. Around the light, two rings were rotating, each in a different direction. She didn't bother going up to it, she wasn't sure what it would do and she wasn't really prepared to find out.
From the platform, leading into the hallway, was a long black carpet which stood in stark contrast to the lightness of everything else. Even the platform was a coppery color. She walked towards the carpet, and once on it, faced the double doors at the end of the hallway.
Letting out a deep sigh, she strode towards them pausing only a moment before throwing them open and looking at what lay before her.
'This is going to be a long night.'
The Khronicles of Kure
Originally Posted by DoughGuy
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