First Impressions

The timer over the massive door counted down the last few seconds before launch. Most of the other Diamond tier players had gathered in front of it. Gray estimated less than two hundred people were here. Still, he remembered that players normally had to pay a massive price to become Diamond tier. Gray felt lucky to receive it for free, thanks to the contest.

The clock finished counting down, the thick golden doors slowly creaked open, and a portal appeared in the door. Players excitedly pushed forward, and Gray got swept up with the crowd and went through the portal.

After going through the portal, Gray's whole world turned black. He tried to move his body, but it felt like he was in a very confined space.

"I must be in the incubation chamber," Gray thought.

Shortly after the world started to get brighter, Gray heard the sound of hydraulics from nearby as Gray's incubation chamber opened up for the first time. Finally able to see, Gray noticed he appeared to be in what looked like a military medical facility. The room was immaculate, with dark gray metal walls and floors. Evenly spaced lights illuminated the large room without being overbearing. A small number of people in lab coats were looking at him while others in what looked like military uniforms were discussing something amongst themselves. The incubation pod finally opened entirely, and the restraints holding him down were released. He was able to look at the rest of the room and noticed that only about ten other players were present.

"I wonder what happened to everyone else? Or maybe the other players must've spawned somewhere else?" Gray thought to himself.

Gray noticed a bundle of clothes and an armlet were placed on a tray next to his pod. Seeing that he was only wearing a pair of briefs, Gray felt a little uneasy having so many NPCs, and possibly players, staring at him.

Gray hurriedly grabbed the clothes and slipped into them. The clothes themselves were pretty ordinary. The bundle consisted of a military jumpsuit, socks, and a white undershirt. The jumpsuit was dark blue-green and made from a light material. It had minimal adornment aside from his name on the left breast and a crest on each arm that denoted his Diamond tier status. Gray figured this crest was his rank. As a standard-issue suit, it contained several pockets that seemed slightly silly to Gray. Players could use their own inventory and did not need to store items this way, assuming this game was like every other game.

"Huh, seems kinda neat, not as flashy as one would expect for a game, though," Gray said while looking at the emblem design on his chest. It appeared to be a winged sword in front of a shield and some stars. The top part of the emblem read 'Licentia auferendi vitam.'

"I should ask someone what that means, I hope it's not something cheesy like 'Freedom Protectors', 'Justice League', or something else equally cringe worthy."

Gray watched some of the other players nervously get dressed too. He was surprised that men and women were mixed since they started out in underwear. Gray noticed that everyone appeared to have a physically fit body that seemed strange for a typical gamer's sedentary lifestyle. Still, he could attribute this to the body sculpting you could do in the character customization.

Gray's next thought was to check his starter inventory, so he tapped his arm where his armlet usually was. This was the standard way to bring up your inventory in most games. When nothing came up, he then said, "Inventory."

After another moment, nothing came up. Gray then said, "Skills... Status... Customer Support... All your base are belong to us." and became confused when nothing appeared.

Other players also seemed to experience this same confusion.

A large intimidating man wearing a fairly well-decorated military uniform yelled sharply as some of the other players began to try to wander away. Gray knew military ranks quite well and saw that this guy was pretty high ranking since the gold leaf rank emblem signified he was a Major. "Welcome new players! Form a line for your briefing!"

Gray and seven other players stood next to each other in a line while looking at this large man. They were confused but figured this was a new player tutorial of sorts. As for the 4 other players, they assumed since it was a tutorial, they could just skip it if they wanted and start to leave.

The rest of the NPCs did nothing to stop those four players while they were starting to leave the building. A friendly NPC handed these four players what was probably a starter package.

The four players leaving took this package and then left the medical facility off to play, most likely.

Gray thought that he may as well skip this tutorial too and started to take a step forward but felt one of the other players grab his arm. He saw a light brown-haired man shaking his head at him when he looked back. Gray understood that the guy was probably trying to help him out. He smiled at him and went to shake his hand when the guy shook his head again and nodded in the direction of the military officer. Getting the message, Gray stopped and turned his attention to the military officer.

"I am Major Valen of the Alterra Alliance! You maggots will be the first batch of recruits and the batch given the most attention too by us! We hope to turn you from the raw lumps of metal you are into fine swords! As you have all noticed by now, you do not have a fancy status window or virtual inventory. Treat this world like the real world! If you want to carry something, you have to hold it yourself! Do you have any questions?"

"Sir! I have a question!" A cheeky guy stepped forward and asked, "What if I want to be an attack helicopter and not a sword?"

Unsurprisingly, Major Valen picked up one of the clipboards a medical technician was holding, walked up to the guy, and smashed it over his head. The clipboard shattered and knocked the guy to his knees. "Does anyone else have any real questions? We have plenty of clipboards for the smart asses here!"

Gray looked to his right to see if anyone had any questions and noticed a girl to his right. She seemed cute, and Gray probably would've flirted with her if he was still a teenager, but he's learned that making yourself too available is off-putting!

The girl to the right of Gray stepped forward and said, "Sir! This is just a game to us, are we being forced to join the military?"

"Yes and no, you joined the game fully aware that it is a military mech simulation. While you are forcibly on the side of the Alterra Alliance, you could still try and make it on your own as a mercenary. You should all be aware of this after reviewing the information included in your Diamond tier package."

Gray nodded his head with everyone else, but he remembered that his package was never opened and was still on the small coffee table in his house. "Guess I should read that when I log off," Gray thought.

The girl continued, "I am aware of this. I was asking simply because I feel I would like to help in other ways than fighting."

"Each mech squad requires a small team to maintain and refit, if you find yourself unable to handle combat, you can still contribute from behind the front lines!"

This answer satisfied the girl, and she stepped back into the row. Gray started to think that all of the players were surprisingly responsive to an NPC. He figured that most players were probably trying to increase their immersion by treating NPCs as people instead of computer programs.

Considering how the 'Major Valen' NPC interacted with everyone, this NPC was amazingly self-aware and came with a very human personality! The CGI was so well done that it looked life-like, far more advanced than anything else out today!

Gray thought that the NPC might be using an extremely advanced AI instead of the more common AI. Common AI could easily be confused if asked a question outside its parameters. Most games, especially multiplayer games, went for simple AI as an advanced AI would require much more processing power. Gray realized the guy may have been trying to test the AI's capacity by asking a confusing question. Gray thought to himself that he could ask a more confusing question.

"Sir, I also have a question!" Gray shouted, "I was informed we would be given a starter mech. When will we be able to see it, use it, and what… is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

Major Valen looked at Gray expressionlessly and said, "You will see it soon, use it not as soon, and an African or a European swallow?"

"Well… I don't know… Aaarrggghhh!" said Gray as a clipboard smashed into his head.