Installation

He stepped out of the garage onto the driveway and looked around basking in the morning sun. He could see the other neighbor's houses, they lived in a pretty large neighborhood off the main street many of the houses were built similarly. There were a few kids out early running around. "I guess I should do a quick warm-up," he said while doing some light stretches. There wasn't much he could do at home since he had no equipment, he could only do basic exercises and cardio. Walking to the sidewalk he lined himself up to sprint up and down the block. He ran barefooted when he was staying near the house.

Some people would watch his morning routines but, no one would engage a conversation with him. Running down the sidewalk he passed by Jennifer's house, she was his old childhood friend. He noticed on the front porch of the house was Jennifer and her friends. They were currently fiddling with their mobile devices and chatting, there were also suitcases and bags beside them. He couldn't help notice her because she was once his first crush and best friend. While his feelings were no longer the same towards her because he gave up on them as they entered the same high school. Their relationship has long since changed to something worse then acquaintances.

"Good morning Jennifer, Abby, and Lisa" he waved while running past.

Jennifer completely ignored him, while her friends waved back.

"Good Morning Daniel," he heard Lisa and Abby yell back, he recognized them from school but, they rarely encountered each other so he wasn't too familiar with either of them. He turned around a couple of houses down and began running back, he began doing laps up and down the sidewalk. There was no further conversation with the girls, he just caught glimpses of them as he ran by. As he was running he noticed a large Xelco truck pull into the neighborhood. He quickly turned around and began sprinting to his house, he wanted to be there for them. The truck was pretty eye-catching since it wasn't often one came into the neighborhood. The truck was slowly driving down the road looking for his address, he was already at his house and waiting out front when they parked.

Stepping out of the large truck was two pretty robust men, they were similar size and height to his grandfather. They began walking over towards him while fiddling with their mobile arm devices.

"Are you Daniel Smith," the slightly larger better dressed African American man said.

"Yes, are you here for the installation," he said, he knew the answer was probably obvious but his lack of social skills caused him to ask the question anyway.

"Yeah that's us, damn your tall boy..." He quickly coughed to readjust himself, "Sorry, my name is Malcolm Harris, I'm the senior installation tech assigned by Xelco for today's service, this is Mark Moore, my partner," the African American man said while extending his hand.

Daniel reached out and accepted the handshake, "Nice to meet you Malcolm, and thanks for coming out," he said.

"Of course, it's our job," Malcolm said while laughing with Mark after noticing the awkwardness of Daniel. "So let's get to it, where would you like your capsule installed," he said.

Daniel gestured them to follow him, "in the back corner over there," he said while pointing into the open garage.

"Well, that makes things a lot simpler and pretty easy, we won't have to disassemble any parts to get it inside," Malcolm said while smiling he was admiring and looking inside the cleaned garage.

"Hell Malcolm we can just pull the back of the truck to the garage and dolly the large boxes down and assemble it pretty quickly," Mark said.

"Let's do that then, you don't mind Daniel if we pull up into the driveway?" Malcolm said while looking towards him.

"Of course not, whatever makes it easier," he said.

"A hell of a lot easier, you got the larger sized capsule so those parts a pretty heavy and damn sturdy," Malcolm said.

Daniel rubbed the back of his head while chuckling, "Haha, sorry about that I needed the larger one," he said.

"Yeah, it's no problem, given your size, its obvious why man," Mark said.

"As I said, it's our job, it's just nice to be working with a cooperative customer for a change, the snappy older rich folk can be pretty demanding and annoying," Malcolm said.

"Really, is it that bad?" Daniel asked.

"We once had to try and fit three capsules inside a small office room inside a house, that was a nightmare," Mark said.

"Haha, that really was a nightmare, they didn't even move the old desks out..." Malcolm said as he turned around and began walking to pull the truck around and back it up.

"I can imagine," Daniel said.

"Oh it got way worse, We got two inside the office room and they decided the third was not gonna fit as well as they had thought, like we had been telling them the entire time, they decided we needed to take all three out of the office," Mark said while standing next to Daniel in front of the garage.

"Do you at least get paid hourly by Xelco?" Daniel asked he couldn't imagine otherwise.

"Naw better, we got a pretty good salary so we can't really complain too much, it is so the customers don't get charged extra as part of Xelco's Quality Customer Service. Of course, if we are running late on installations we have to call it in immediately." Mark replied.

"That's good because the installation was just a flat amount, I was curious," Daniel asked.

"Yeah, though we might be finishing up this installation way too early giving us plenty of time to make our next appointment, though we will need you out of the way for safety reasons," Mark said as the large truck was backing up in the driveway.

"That's no problem at all, I'll just hang out on the side, if you need anything just let me know," Daniel said.

"Thanks, it's already been awesome working for you, you have helped us enough already, a large open space is already perfect, I hate having to clean and move stuff for the customers," Mark said.

"Seriously, that sounds like a tough job," Daniel said.

"It is pretty tough sometimes since we are expected to represent the company as bright quality customer service representatives, that includes going above and beyond what our job usually entails," Mark said shaking his head.

Daniel shook his head, he had a good understanding of what they probably have had to deal with just with their short stories. "Well I'll get out of your way," he said as the back of the truck was coming to a halt in front of him. Daniel moved back towards the front porch. It was a small porch, the stairs up to the porch only had two steps. Sitting down of the front porches stairs, he just looked out at the neighborhood. He could somewhat overhear, Malcolm and Mark's discussion about the steps they are gonna take. It didn't take them long to open the back of the trailers and set up the large ramp.

Daniel noticed from his peripherals the various neighbors that were curious, most people knew what the truck was for just that it was rare to be seen in the neighborhood. Even Jennifer and her friends had walked down the sidewalk somewhat out of curiosity. Getting a better look at them they were pretty nicely dressed in colorful summer blouses and shorts.

They were roughly near the same height they were each close to five feet, Jennifer's friends were slightly tanner than her. He always noticed Jennifer with her long straight blonde hair that she let flow freely. Abby had a long braided brown ponytail and easily stood out with her more developed body. Lisa had straight black hair that stopped at her shoulders, she was the smallest of the three with a cute petite frame, she came from a mixed family, her mother's side was from Japan.

He wasn't really friends with them, so he didn't pay them to much attention as he decided to walk to the porch swing he heard Lisa call out to him.

"Hey, Daniel, are you planning on playing Evotania?" Lisa yelled while waving towards him.

Jumping down from the porch, not interested in yelling back and forth he jogged over, he noticed the bickering between them as Jennifer was elbowing Lisa.

"It's not like I am inviting him to join our party or anything Jenn," he overheard Lisa say.

He was well aware of how Jennifer thought of him, he wasn't really interested in getting into a dispute with her but he wasn't rude enough to ignore them. "Yeah, I plan on playing, me and Joseph from math are gonna be starting in Sylvantir," he replied.

"The elven kingdom.... you.. are you going to be an elf....." Abby said while looking him up and down trying not to laugh.

"Daniel.... if you are trying to hit on women in Sylvantir....." Lisa said while shaking her head.

Daniel noticed Jennifer was shocked, he could only laugh when he thought of himself being an elf. the system won't allow drastic changes to a person's physical appearance. So if he became an elf, he'd probably be the largest and tallest elf. Noticing the confused looks on their face as they looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm sorry, nooo...," he said while trying to recompose himself but the image of him being an elf caused him to still stifle a laugh. "Me, an elf, nooo, I have no idea what race I am gonna be, It was Joseph's idea he wanted to start in Sylvantir...." he turned his head away pausing. He knew Joseph wanted to start there because of the higher population of girls, he realized he has just thrown his friend under the bus. He noticed them shaking their heads at him and Jennifer looking at him with disgust.

Lisa couldn't help but sigh, "Intentions aside, what kind of character or role are you planning on being?" Lisa said.

"Melee, more solo-oriented with ability to sustain myself, I am thinking a combat-support race will either be beastkin or human," he replied.

"So a paladin, war cleric, blood knight something like that huh," Abby replied.

"It could work I suppose," Lisa said while thinking to herself.

"Ooo, so what are you three going to be?" Daniel asked curiously. He knew that answers could only really be rough since not much information was known yet about the game.

"Elf or human healer" Lisa quickly replied.

"Elf spellcaster of the sort," Abby replied.

"Elf healer this time," Jennifer replied.

"This time?" Daniel asked curiously. Noticing Jennifer glaring at him and not responding he just shrugged.

"Jenn usually is always our frontline in games," Lisa paused and looked towards Jennifer, "She decided she is going to be there to heal and support Matthew this time," Lisa said teasingly.

Daniel raised his eyebrow, not really sure what to say or how to respond so he simply nodded.

"Pfft, don't just nod as if you understand," Jennifer quickly snapped at him ignoring the nodding Abby beside her.

"Be what you want, don't let your high-school boyfriend decide your playstyle and character, Jenn," Abby said.

"Is it so wrong that I want to support him and stand behind him," Jennifer snapped back clearly agitated.

Daniel felt out of place and wanted to simply back away, he knew who Matthew was, but Daniel always had difficulty dealing with Jennifer. He knew Matthew was Jennifer's boyfriend, he was pretty sure they had been dating since the first year of high school. He never had any problems with Matthew, but they were not friends. Daniel's only actual friend was Joseph, they had been friends since the first year.

"Yeah yeah, the doting girlfriend who doesn't want to show up her boyfriend, Daniel what's your ID, if you really are going to be melee I'll add you," Lisa said as she pulled out her portable device. She was already looking up at him expectantly before he could reply.

"Uhhh," caught off guard he had to pause for a moment to remember his ID, "it's Daniel@XXXXXX, why exactly melee?" he said.

"Melee is very unpopular and we haven't joined a guild, melee was popular in the first couple of MMO's but as things became more and more realistic, people began to simply dislike it. Basically, if you aren't athletic in reality you will struggle in the game world as a frontline. Melee is perfect for you though," Lisa said while smiling towards him.

"Is it really that uncommon?" Daniel asked.

"Not that uncommon, people of course still love to swing weapons, Jennifer are you seriously gonna heal Matthew, he is a newb," Abby replied while turning to confront Jennifer.

"He's not that bad," Jennifer said unable to really muster a defense.

"He is terrible, I know for a fact Daniel is a better frontline just from his physique," Lisa said.

Daniel frowned he did not want to be dragged into this, he slowly started to step back.

"That's not really fair Lisa," Abby said.

"I am just stating the obvious, how well can you fight?" Lisa said while looking back towards Daniel.

If he wasn't embarrassed by his past fights and the things he did with the Mimic persona he'd just tell them, however, he had no plans to share that much information. "I am pretty good, I train quite often and have done a lot of practicing with the combat simulators at the gym," he said while shrugging. He noticed Jennifer roll her eyes beside Lisa. He could tell the facial expressions of Abby and Lisa changed when he mentioned the simulators.

"Which ones do you use," Abby asked curiously.

"What level are you?" Lisa added she was really curious about his training as well.

"Level? I mostly practice with them all, I don't really have any single martial arts that I specifically practice," He said, he wasn't lying, at first he fooled around using the various dojos, gyms and schools simulators. Eventually, he met his friend and teacher who taught him what he could, but most of it was self-taught through practice fighting shadows and AI. He has lost countless times, in fact so many times that he only remembers losing when he thinks back. He couldn't help but smile recalling his memories, those were the moments that got him through his struggles and allowed him to vent and refocus himself.

"Oh, well at least you have some experience which is more than most," Lisa said though she was disappointed in his response, there was nothing wrong with mixed martial arts, however, most people still had a primary focus when they talked about training and experience.

"Do you really even practice, go ahead and show us something" Jennifer snapped towards him mockingly.

Daniel pondered for a split second, "Sure something simple then," he said, walking over onto his front yard grass. in a quick motion, he brought his arms up into a guard as he slid his left leg forward, following the motion of his right foot was being raised into the air, up and around his head, he quickly stomped his right leg down in front of him. Following his axe-kick, he had already leaped forward now using his right leg as pivotal support he lowered his body in a sudden quick fluid motion he thrust his left fist out into the open air with a sudden left straight. He knew it was nothing fancy, most fancy moves weren't practical in a fight, it was important for someone as tall and large as him to remain grounded and strong and yet fast and quick. He could hear clapping from the side so he turned to face the girls.

"That was really good, you really practiced quite a lot," Abby said as she clapped from the side.

Daniel actually noticed the shocked look on Lisa's face as she was grinning. Daniel quickly shuddered as he realized she knew something.

"No way so that's how it is, Daniel, we should definitely group up," Lisa said with a grin.

"What, no, so what if he can kick and throw a punch, he's not joining," Jennifer said from the side.

"I thought it was pretty good though, sorry Daniel if Jennifer says no," Abby said while shaking her head.

"Come on you two, Daniel is actually really really good at fighting," Lisa said while looking more towards Jennifer.

"Doesn't mean he is going to be that strong in the game, he probably has no gaming experience," Jennifer said.

"I don't honestly have that much gaming experience like Jennifer said," Daniel said he honestly didn't have much gaming experience but, virtual reality games required a lot more technical skill. He wasn't looking to argue with Jennifer or join their group anyway though so he was fine with being declined.

Lisa was contemplating for a moment while looking between Jennifer and Daniel.

"What are you thinking about Lisa?" Abby asked from beside her.

"He's not joining Lisa, we don't need him," Jennifer said from the side.

"We may not need him, but, if he joined our group..." Lisa paused, "Daniel, will you be wearing a mask?" She said as she looked towards him trying to read his expression. She got her answer from his contorted face.

"No..." he sighed as he paused, "I don't plan to," he finished by saying he noticed she didn't blurt out his other name.

"What's going on?" Abby and Jennifer asked confused. They were both confused as they watched the exchange.

"No, not really, It is pretty one-sided, I know Daniel," Lisa said as she looked towards Daniel, "You have all but confirmed it, shall I tell them or should you?" she added.

He sighed he did not expect this, was he that easy to read he wondered, "How did you come to that conclusion?" he asked.

"Really... How many people do you think are that tall and can kick like that, in fact, that isn't even the first time I have seen you do that same move... not to mention your voice... I am honestly surprised though that it was you," Lisa said with a look of excitement.

"care to explain one of you?" Jennifer asked as she was growing impatient due to not being apart of the conversation.

Looking at Daniel's defeated expression Lisa laughed, "he is really famous actually, I am really curious about a lot of things my self," before Lisa could explain further a car horn went off behind them.

Daniel recognized the car, it was Jennifer's grandmother so he waved, "Looks like you three gotta go, have fun," Daniel said as smiled he was glad that Jennifer's grandmother had shown up.

"Let's go, she's here," Jennifer said while she was turned she began waving towards her grandmother.

Lisa laughed, "Really, you are too much, accept my friend request later, see ya later Mimic," she said as she winked and waved playfully. She was already heading back over towards Jennifer's house where their stuff was, Jennifer's grandmother was pulling back around to meet them at the house.

"Mimic?" Abby asked, still confused beside Lisa.

"I'll explain later, my dad got me into watching the sport," Lisa said.

Daniel was shocked and frozen stiff, it took him a second to realize and process everything that happened, he could only sigh as he waved them off. He watched as the three chatted as they walked back to Jennifer's house. He couldn't imagine the things Lisa will be telling and talking to them about, he decided to turn around and walk back towards the front porch.