Ep.1 - Linked - Pt.3 - Wonderscape

VR wasn't what Jane expected.

The old VR, with the visor and controllers, was much more technically demanding. She had tried it a few times, at conventions and stores. For one thing, the visor blocked your view of the real world, all you could see was whatever was in VR. For another, the controllers took some getting used to. But with the Soulink, everything was so seamless and intuitive, that it felt less like interacting with a device and more like... just plain reality. And her vision was never impaired. She could see both the virtual world and the real one as if they were being projected into two different parts of her mind.

But what she found really striking, was how real it all looked, how real it FELT. She could feel the VR air around her and the temperature of the place. She even felt the VR gravity pulling her down.

Now, Wonderscape wasn't a program you had to install on your computer, it was a VR site you accessed through any old browser. So, once she had a fully functional Soulink, all she had to do was log in to the site using her Google account and she was sent straight into VR. In real life, she sat back in her chair, forgot all about the real world, and focussed her attention on the new one before her.

After logging in, she found herself staring at her own reflection. She had popped up in an apartment, with a huge mirror on one of the walls. Everything there was white... There was a white couch, a white table, with white chairs, an empty white shelf... maybe for displaying achievements. The walls were all white, the ceiling, the floor... In fact, the only colors there were the ones she brought in herself, with her blue jay color scheme.

She held her hand up and studied it... looking for pixels or polygons... any sign of artificiality. At first glance, she couldn't tell it apart from her real hand, but after a moment, she realized her skin was just a little bit too smooth. It seemed the simulation didn't account for pores or the tiny little hairs on her forearm... which was fine by her. She then pinched her finger, and it felt pretty close to a real pinch.

"Cool," she said, impressed.

That prompted Cynthie, who was still sitting across from her IRL, to ask her, "What? Jane, what're you doing? You need to at least let us know. All they can see on the stream is you sitting in your room, in real life. Not very entertaining, you know."

Jane took notice and explained, "Yeah, I know, sorry. I was just checking out my avatar in VR. It's really something. Anyway, I logged in to Wonderscape and I am currently in what I assume is my apartment."

Cynthie pointed out, "So, you're in already. Great! We need to set up a VR cam, so they can see you IVR. What's your VR handle?"

"I think it's just my name," she replied, "Jane Brogan. Wait, come to think of it, I better change it to Blue Jane. Gimme a sec." She turned to the drone, sitting on its charger, and told her viewers, "Sorry, guys, I'm... I'm figuring this all out as I go along."

"Magneato says: No worries. We've all been there."

She went into her profile again, but to her surprise, there was already an additional option. Over her name was the VR handle box. "It's a little annoying how the Soulink knows everything I'm thinking," she said, "It's convenient, sure, but... I just... I can't help feeling like someone's watching me." She filled in the box, closed the profile, and informed Cynthie, "There, my handle's Blue Jane."

"Okay, let me see," Cynthie said, going through the process of sending her a contact request.

Jane heard a little chime and a little icon appeared at the corner of her eye. She pulled into center view and mentally clicked it open. It was Cynthie's request. She accepted it, then asked, "Now, what?"

"Now," Cynthie explained, "I'm going over to your place IVR to help you set up your VR cam."

Jane received another request, this time to allow Cynthie into her apartment. When she clicked the accept button, a tall skinny blonde girl appeared before her, as if beamed in by some starship in orbit. She was simply beautiful.

"Hi," she greeted Jane, with a cute grin.

"Cynthie?" Jane gasped, "Wow! I mean... WOW! You look... just... stunning!"

Cynthie smiled, "You like my avatar? Hot right? Yeah, I spent more time working on it than I can remember. You think you waste time with character creators? Girl, you have NOOO idea. I probably spent more time editing my avatar than using it." She chuckled at herself.

"Well, it was worth every second," Jane praised her, "You look amazing. Jesus! I feel like I have to seriously step up my game now."

"Mamasboi says: That's great, ladies, but we still can't see nothing. Common, don't leave us hangin."

"Right," Cynthie remembered, "Let me see your set up."

Jane gave her access to her profile, and she started going through it. First, she looked through the streaming setup and found a video feed of Jane's POV.

"Hey," Jane pointed it out, "isn't that it?"

"No," Cynthie explained, "That's the view from your eyes, your first-person view. What we need is a VR cam. It's just like a drone cam, but IVR." She scrolled through the menu until she found a "View" option. Clicking on it, she found another list, including a "Camera" option. "Here we go," she said, quickly creating a camera and activating it. A little floating sphere popped into existence, like an eyeball, looking right at Jane. Then, she checked the streaming setup again and found the new video feed. "Done," she said, "Now, I'm going to give myself control over the cam... That way you can just do whatever without having to worry about it, just like we do with the drone. Okay?"

"Perfect!" Jane agreed happily.

Cynthie then asked the viewers, "Can you guys see her in the VR apartment?"

"Sephymoth says: We can see you, BJ. Yay!"

"Mamasboi says: Yep. Lookin good!"

The others all confirmed the video feed was good.

"Okay, nice," Jane breathed relieved, "There's so much to figure out... but we're getting there." She went to the VR mirror and took a real close look at her face, "I can't get over just how real this feels." She started making funny faces, to see how much her expression would stretch and distort.

The human face was one of the most important things for interhuman communication. Surely the guys at Neurotech knew that and made the simulation spend more processing power on her face than her forearm. Her teeth looked like the real ones, the gloss on her lips, the wrinkles around her nose, the reflection in her eyes... it was all there.

Glancing at Cynthie through the mirror, she remembered, "But you guys have to check this girl out. Just look at her avatar. Isn't she gorgeous? Come on, show them what you look like."

Reluctantly, Cynthie turned the camera to herself and waved timidly at the viewers. They showered her with praise and she quickly turned the cam back to Jane.

"Sephymoth says: Cynthie looks great, but so do you, Jane. The fact that you look like that IRL just blows my mind."

"Aw, thank you, Sephy," she said, blushing.

"Magneato says: Yeah, you should consider modeling, BJ. Seriously."

Cynthie cut through the pandering, "Alright, cut it out, guys, you're just making it awkward for her..."

"Mamasboi says: Guys, you're making it awkward for ALL of us. Oof, the simping is strong with these two. Damn!"

Looking around again, Jane noticed there were no doors in her VR apartment, which meant no other rooms. There was only one big window, from floor to ceiling. After checking herself out in the mirror one last time, she went and looked out the window.

"Whoa," she commented, "I must be at least two dozen floors up." She could see a huge plaza from up there. It was surrounded by lush trees and other cool-looking buildings. There was a whole city around her. "Is this whole thing functional? Like, can we actually go into all those buildings, or is it just for show?"

Cynthie explained, "It's all functional, but not like IRL. For example, this building we're in has hundreds of floors, even though, on the outside, it looks like it has maybe only fifty floors."

"Right," Jane understood, "Of course, it's all virtual." At street level, there were hundreds of tiny little people walking around. "Is that the central plaza?"

"Yep," Cynthie answered her.

"Magneato says: Yeah, come on down."

Without any doors, Jane wondered how she was supposed to get out of there. But once again, the Soulink read her mind and helped her out. A menu appeared on the wall next to the window with the words "Choose your Destination".

"The central plaza," she told it.

With that, the view of the window morphed from the sight of the plaza from atop a building, to ground level. The sounds of the people in the plaza flooded the apartment as if the glass had disappeared. She extended her hand trying to touch the window, but it wasn't there anymore.

"The window is actually a portal," Cynthie told her, "just step through it and you'll be sent to the plaza."

Jane smiled and stepped over the window seal, out into the plaza. She felt the temperature shift slightly, as if she had gone from an airconditioned place to the outdoors. When she glanced back at her apartment, it was gone. A second later, Cynthie beamed in next to her. Jane caught the scent of flowers in the air, maybe from the trees, and felt the light breeze in her hair. It was like being in a vivid daydream, except she wasn't distracted at all. Everything was so crisp and vibrant, so full of life. No wonder people got addicted to that new VR... It was absolutely intoxicating.

The plaza was packed with crazy-looking avatars walking this way and that. There were catoon aliens, anime fairies, realistic zombies... furries, centaurs, lizards, robots... walking sausages, flying mermaids, people in bouncing bubbles, flying cars... There was a dude with a mohawk that danced... and a girl with three arms... not four or six, to maintain symmetry... three. It was a bit overwhelming.

"Guys," she called out, "where are you? I'm in the plaza, with Cynthie, but... this place is just colossal. Can you come find us?"

"I'll send you our coordinates, on the chat," Cynthie told them, "There."

Back in her room, in real life, Jane asked her viewers, "You all seeing me okay on the stream? No issues so far?... Yeah?... Good... Let me know if you have any problems and we'll sort it out." She checked the viewership. There were 107 people watching her, the highest number she had seen in a while.

In VR, a guy she didn't recognize came running up to her. It was a tall muscular dude, with blue skin, spiky white hair, and bright white eyes. He was a sight to behold... nearly twice her size, quite handsome, for a blue-skinned guy... and shirtless... He had abbs for daaays.

"YOOO!" he cried in a deep voice, "There she is, the legend!"

"Uh, hi," she greeted him, glancing curiously at Cynthie.

"Yo, don't tell her, Cynth," he cried, "I want her to guess who I am. I turned off my nametag so you wouldn't know. I'll give you a hint." He leaned down towards her and said, "Check it, baby girl, Sephy's a bitch ass punk."

She grinned at him, "Mamasboi?"

"Ding-ding-ding! In the cyberflesh!" he confirmed cheerfully.

"You're just as energetic as I expected, but... why blue though?" she couldn't help wondering.

He grinned and raised an eyebrow, "Because... I'm blue dabudee-dabuda dabudee dabuda dabudee-dabuda dabudee dabuda dabudee-dabudaaaaa." He laughed and danced as he sang the old tune. "Why? You don like? I thought blue was your color."

"It is, and it's not that I don't like your look," she said, "It's just... a lot to take in, with the height, and the hair..."

"And the abbs," Cynthie added.

"You like my abbs?" he teased her, flexing his muscles, then laughed again, "Truth be told, everyone has abbs in VR."

"True," Cynthie agreed, "It kinda gets old fast."

"You didn't, like... paint yourself blue on my account, did you?" Jane asked him carefully.

"Nah," he replied, waving a dismissive hand, "I'm not THAT much of a simp, baby girl. I've always liked this color. In fact, I started watching your stream because I dug your color scheme."

The others came over to meet her. Mamasboi made her play the guessing game with all of them. He had told them to turn off their nametags as well.

"Now, this guy," he began, putting his arm around a guy who looked like a young Doctor Strange, "he never argues with anyone. No, he's too polite for that shit. He's, you know, ABOVE IT ALL... or so he likes to think. If I'm not mistaken, he's also one of your oldest followers."

"Oh," she realized, "Mags?"

"Ding-ding-ding! She guessed it again!" Mamasboi celebrated, "That two for two!"

Jane found Mags' avatar odd, "The Doctor Strange look is sweet, don't get me wrong, but why Doctor Strange? I thought you'd look like Magneto."

"I used to," he explained, with a younger-sounding voice than expected, "but I went through phases. I wore an Ironman suit for a while, then a Luke Skywalker outfit, then Indiana Jones... I like changing it up every now and again."

"I feel you," she understood, "It's good to keep things fresh. And I bet you looked good in all of them too."

Mags clearly wanted to talk more, but Mamasboi pushed the conversation to the next guy.

"Next up," he said, grabbing a blond guy, with blue eyes and a fancy office suit, by the shoulders, "Actually, I don't know much about you, dude... other than the fact that you weren't in on the tentacle joke."

Jane remembered, "Oh! Um, you're... what's your name? Don't tell me... Foxy something... FoxyMan? No... Foxy... GUY?"

"Almost, FoxyGent," he corrected, in a kind of sexy british accent, "Cuz' I'm clearly a very foxy gentleman. See?" He opened his arms, showing off his suit and style.

"Oh!" she realized, "Damn, I'm so dumb. FoxyGENT. Sorry, I only just got that now. It more makes sense when I can hear your accent. Where are you from? I'm terrible with accents."

"England," he informed her, "Yep, I have a smexy british accent."

"You do indeed," she said, chuckling, "I love it!"

Mamasboi was going to give hints about the next guy, but Jane guessed who it was before he could say a word. He looked exactly like Sephiroth... except with red eyes for some reason.

"Sephy!" she declared, "Right? You're the only guy left. Plus, you kinda look the part."

"Correct, my lady," he replied, taking her hand and kissing it, "We finally meet face to face. It's an honor."

She felt his lips on the back of her hand, and it felt like a real kiss. "Oh, wow," she chuckled, "You really leaned into the whole role-playing thing, huh?"

"Not at all," he said narcissistically, "This is just how I am."

Mamasboi laughed, "What he means is, he's just as full of shit IVR as he is IRL."

Sephy was clearly pissed, but kept his cool.

"So, anyway," Mamasboi asked her, "what do you wanna do first, baby girl? We need to get you into a game, yo!"

"I dunno," she replied, "to be honest, I haven't even thought about that yet. I mean, just being here, in VR... I could freaking LIVE in here..."

"I told you you'd like it," Cynthie told her meaningfully.

"Oh, I always knew I'd like it," Jane reassured her, "That was never the issue. I just don't like having a chip in my head."

Mamasboi joked, "What you got is a chip on your shoulder, yo. Come on, forget the chip, and let's go have some fun!"

She chuckled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be a downer. What do you have in mind?"

"You can't go wrong with a good FPS. I say we hit CUF up," he suggested, "You down?"

"Or how about Masters?" Magneato gave her other options, "You can't go wrong with a good MOBA either. Or Cardmon, if you're into the whole monster-collecting thing. It's pretty laidback in the beginning, good for first-timers. Or Star Tales? Flying a spaceship is badass, you gotta try it."

"Star Tales?" Sephy argued, "No, if you want to fly starships, Star Faction's the way to go."

"Guys-guys-guys," FoxyGent cut in, as if the solution was staring them all in the face, "Those games are all great, but come on... Realms of Power and Glory... There's no better place to start, the visuals are top-tier, it's easy to get into, and there's a shitload of stuff to do in it... questing, hunting, bounty hunting, raiding, forging, cooking, fishing, farming, trading, crafting... building houses, building settlements, building airships... you can date other players, and even get married in a church there, if you're into that sort of thing. Also..."

"Alright-alright," Mamasboi cut him off, "we get it, Foxy, you love Realms..." he stopped and thought about it, "I guess it IS a good place to start."

"Don't most RPGs these days have all that stuff though?" Jane wondered.

"Most do, yeah," Cynthie pointed out, "but Realms is like the gold standard. It just gets everything right. I think it's a good call. At the very least, it's a good game to get your feet wet. Also, it's one of the best games to stream, a lot of streamers make a living just playing Realms."

"It has a character creator though," Mamasboi reminded them, "one of the best and most complex character creators... I'm just sayin'."

Jane rolled her eyes at him, "Can't I just play as a human, without changing my appearance?"

"Honestly, I don't know," he replied.

"Yes, you can play as yourself," FoxyGent answered her question, "The whole idea of an RPG, a ROLE PLAYING GAME, is to play a ROLE, as in a character that ISN'T you... but, when you create a new character, they give you the option of using yourself as a starting point. I imagine most people end up changing everything, but if you just leave it as is, you'll play as yourself."

"Then, I'll do that," Jane decided, "That way I won't bore anyone. Besides, I can always create another character later, right?"

Mamasboi felt kinda bad, "Hey, look, Jane, you can make your character if you want. I didn't mean to clip your wings or anything."

"No, it's fine, dude," she insisted, "I'm kinda anxious to get into the game myself anyway. So, is everyone on board?"

They all agreed.

"Okay, Realms it is," Cynthie declared, before summoning a square portal, just like Jane's window.