Chapter One: Installing the Game and Signing In
"Set up of VR games is remarkably simple, as all the information is contained on the disc itself and very little installation needs to occur before you can begin your adventure... signing in is equally simple, as the Player Plug-InsTM recognize your fingerprints and will log you in accordingly."
-VR-TI6 instruction manual, Chapter One
Stephanie twitched for a moment, not wanting to open her eyes. She felt calm, as though she had just woken from a good dream and maybe if she didn't move, she might be able to return to it…
"Thank you for playing the YourFantasyTale demo," a mechanical voice recited. Stephanie groaned and pushed herself into an upright position as the monotone continued, "To live your own dream adventures, please buy the full version of the game from our GDMs for the low, low price of just 39.99…"
"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Stephanie muttered under her breath, rolling her neck to work out the cricks.
"I thought that game was pretty cool, actually," her friend's voice came from the other VR chair in the room. Stephanie glanced over at Juilliette, who hadn't moved or opened her eyes. Her brown hair was draped over the headrest of the chair, and one of her legs hung lazily off the edge of the footrest, her flip flop only half on.
"The game was great. The advertising needs a little work," Stephanie removed the VR headset, shaking out her own brown ponytail, and returned it to the hook in the wall next to her chair.
"I say we get this one," Juilliette finally sat up. "It was much less stupid than the PinkPrincess game and much less bloody than the DragonWarrior and Escape the Dungeon games."
"Hard not to be," Stephanie snorted. "But you're right, this one's best." She pushed open the gray plastic door of their VR-TI—virtual reality total immersion—sampler booth. The specialist waiting outside smiled in a way that Stephanie thought seemed more sarcastic than friendly.
"Are you through, then?" she asked, voice proving Stephanie's assumption.
"Yes, thank you," Stephanie returned the cheesy smile. Juilliette walked up next to her, letting the door bang shut behind them. "Come on, Juilliette, let's go."
As they left, Stephanie thought she heard the saleswoman mutter something rude about stupid customers who played the sampler demos as a hobby but never actually bought anything and that she hadn't done six months of specialist training just to cater to them and at least she should get a decent salary for doing it.
"I don't think she meant for you to eavesdrop on that," Juilliette cut in.
"She wasn't exactly being quiet," Stephanie walked towards the Game Dispenser Machine near the cash registers in the front of the store. The GDM was a lot like a vending machine for video games, with a glass display case containing the game ads and a black retrieval slot above it, except it spoke to customers in a mechanical voice and required handprint ID to prove that the buyers were sixteen or older, which was good since Stephanie's low height made her seem much younger than she was. She was the type of person who was always stopped when she tried to buy PG-13 movie tickets.
As they stepped up next to the machine, Stephanie wondered if anyone's game had ever fallen out of the retrieval slot and hit them on the head, and if they'd sued the company for it.
The line was short, considering it was a Saturday afternoon; the only two people there were just finishing their purchase.
"Welcome," the same digital voice that the demo sampler had was used for the GDMs as well. "If you would like to buy a game, please place your palm and fingers flat on the scanning screen below. Remember that only those who are age sixteen and over are legally permitted to buy games."
"They say that, and I bet the machine would illegally permit someone underage to buy stuff," Stephanie muttered, but she pressed her hand to the scanner anyway.
"Stephanie Ryder, you are of age to purchase any teen games of your choice," the machine announced.
"Really? Aw, that's sweet of you! I'm flattered. I'll take YourFantasyTale then, since I have your highly esteemed permission," Stephanie answered, drumming her fingers impatiently against the scanner. Immediately, a picture of the game's preveiw appeared on the screen eye level with her.
"YourFantasyTale costs 39.99. Are you sure you would like to make this purchase?" The artificial intelligence appareantly decided to ignore her sarcasm.
"Yes, that's why I asked to buy it to begin with," Stephanie rolled her eyes. She liked technology, but conversing with artificially intelligent machines was not her favorite activity. She'd watched The Matrix too many times.
"YourFantasyTale purchase confirmed. Please insert cash in the slot to the left of the scanner."
Stephanie reached into her jeans pocket to find the money. Juilliette was already inserting a twenty-dollar bill into the machine, and Stephanie slid her own twenty in after, grimacing as screen lit up again. "Thank you for paying," it said, and there was a whirring sound as the game slowly rose from the glass preview window and through the retrieval slot. Stephanie reached up and grabbed it, turning to leave as the machine said, "Thank you for your business, Stephanie Ryder. We hope you will enjoy your game and please, come back soon."
"Wait," Juilliette said. "We paid forty dollars, and the game was supposed to cost 39.99. They owe us a penny." She jammed her hand into the slot, feeling around inside for the coin. The slot was thin enough that she only managed to get her fingers wedged in a few inches. "We're being cheated," she declared loudly, kicking the machine as though that would convince it to give up the money.
"It's just a penny, it doesn't matter," Stephanie sighed, but Juilliette was already calling to the woman behind the cash register.
"Excuse me, the machine swallowed our penny. We'd like it back, please."
Stephanie winced at the use of 'we'.
The woman pushed past both girls, and Stephanie was forced to hold her breath to avoid passing out from the extreme hair spray fumes emanating from her hair. Just as the woman approached, the machine spat a small coin out of the same slot the game had come from. It bounced off the woman's hair, which didn't even wobble.
"Oh. Well, never mind. Thanks!" Juilliette smiled brightly as she picked the penny off the floor.
"Dumb kids," the woman muttered.
Cornelius was bored. He stared at his computer screen dully, not even really seeing the VR-TI6TM advertisement that was currently playing, barely even noticing that they were using his favorite loud and obnoxious advertising jingle. He was just starting to drift off into a doze when something on his leg vibrated.
Cornelius jumped about a foot in the air, letting out a very un-manly noise that his friend Stephanie would have called a squeal. He'd forgotten he'd left his cell phone in his pants pocket. The phone vibrated again and he grabbed for his leg, which was threatening to go into a spasm from the odd sensations.
"Hello?" he gasped into the phone speaker, not bothering to check the caller ID.
"Hey, Cornelius, it's Stephanie," her familiar voice crackled over a bad phone connection. Either she was standing in the bottom of a reception-less pit or in the middle of a supermarket. Possibly both.
"Are you there? The connection's really lousy here," Stephanie's voice was louder this time.
"Yeah, I'm here," Cornelius managed to speak normally. He ran his hand through his dark blonde hair, pushing the longer pieces out of his eyes.
"Great. I'm in the parking lot of the VR store with Juilliette, and we've got a new game. If you're not busy, do you want to play?"
"Why are you in the parking lot? You don't have a driver's license," Cornelius felt the need to point out.
Stephanie let out an annoyed sigh. "We rode our bikes. Cars aren't the only thing in a parking lot, you know."
It was hard to tell over the bad phone connection, but Cornelius imagined her tone had changed into the kind of voice you use when you're speaking with someone very, very young, or very, very annoying. He didn't appreciate the use of either.
"I don't know. My parents aren't home right now, so you'd have to get a ride…"
"We're on our bikes," Stephanie repeated. "If you're busy or something, just say so."
As annoying as Stephanie's blunt manner could be, it was still better than boredom. "Nah, I'm just playing a computer game."
"KartRider?" Stephanie named his favorite game that he played almost to the point of being obsession.
"Er, yeah," Cornelius mumbled, not wanting to admit she'd been right. "Okay, well, I'll get the VR set ready. How long do you think you'll be?"
"Ten or fifteen minutes, maybe," Stephanie said. "Hey, Cornelius, do you mind if we invite Shaiya, too? We haven't seen her in a long time." Shaiya was another friend from school. She was a few years older but they rarely noticed the age gap when they hung out, which was happening less and less as school continued.
"Sure," Cornelius shrugged. "If you all bring your own Player Plug-InsTM, we'll have enough."
"Yeah, we've got them. Great, thanks. So, see you soon?" Stephanie sounded distracted. Cornelius thought she was probably talking on her cell phone and riding her bike at the same time.
"See you," he answered quickly, and hung up so Stephanie wouldn't crash her bike trying to do too many things at once.
The VR-TI6TM was sitting on top of the computer under his desk. It looked like a small, black, plastic box, and was entirely unimpressive. Small silver letters spelled out "Rasmussem Enterprises- Virtual Reality at Home" across the side and the emblem of VR-TI6TM was engraved into the top. A small flap of plastic lifted in the back to reveal several small plugs for the Player Plug-InsTM, and a disk drive slid out of the front to take games. It was the most advanced gaming technology on the market, the first home virtual reality set. It connected to the Internet servers, allowing technicians at Rasmussem Enterprises to keep an eye on all the gamers and fix any problems as they came up. The Internet connection also meant that when you played, you might meet characters played by gamers from all over the world, which was usually amusing, especially when they didn't speak the same language.
Cornelius pulled it out and set it on the table in the middle of his living room. Two sofas and two chairs surrounded the low table, perfect places for everyone to stretch out comfortably while they played. The pillows were slightly squished, but Cornelius didn't think his friends would mind. He rather doubted they would even notice.
Turning back to his desk in the corner of the room, he opened the side drawer to find his Player Plug-InTM had been consumed in a tangled mass of headphone wires, power cords, mouse connectors, and various adaptor channels. With a sigh, Cornelius sat down and began to unravel the mess.
It took the longest and most frustrating ten minutes of his life before Cornelius was finally able to pull his Player Plug-InTM free, and it seemed like only seconds later someone rang the doorbell. Loudly. Insistently. Repeatedly.
"I CAN HEAR YOU, STEPHANIE! GIVE ME A MINUTE!" Cornelius yelled at the door.
She rang the doorbell again in response.
Shaiya made her way up the long, steep driveway in front of Cornelius's house. It was a warm and breezy day, constantly blowing her black hair in her mouth. Finally arrriving at his front porch, she had just raised her hand to knock when the door was pulled out from under it. Cornelius grinned at her from inside. "Hey, Shaiya," he said, stepping aside to let her pass through.
"Hi, Cornelius," she answered. "Are Stephanie and Juilliette already here? They said they'd bought the new YourFantasyTale game."
"Just got here a few minutes ago, actually," Cornelis replied. "They're getting their Player Plug-InsTM set up. Did you bring yours?"
"Of course," Shaiya slid her backpack off her shoulder and opened it, showing Cornelius the small lump of cords inside.
"Come on, we've got the VR-TI6TM set up in the other room," he pushed open the sliding door that lead to the living room, where Stephanie and Juilliette were bent over the small black box, squinting through the dim light offered by the room's only window. They both turned to see Shaiya and Cornelius enter.
"Hey, Shaiya!" Juilliette called, grinning. "Glad you could come."
Shaiya nodded back, returning the smile. "Great to see you."
"We're about ready to play," Stephanie said. "You want to claim the sofa?"
"I've got the lounge chair," Cornelius said, pointing to his already laid out Player Plug-InTM.
"The sofa is fine," Shaiya said, setting down her backpack.
The Player Plug-InsTM took only a minute to set up, and it took Stephanie the same amount of time to work her way through the ten layers of plastic packaging surrounding the game disc. "Honestly, I think we spent more money on the package than the actual program," she complained, making a small pile of crumpled plastic on the floor next to her.
As Shaiya finished laying her things out on the chair and plugging in the last of her cords, Cornelius opened the disc drive and Stephanie slid the game inside. A cell phone sized keyboard and monitor slid out of two unused sides of the box.
"Hey, I've read about this game on the Internet!" Cornelius said excitedly as the title logo appeared on the screen. "There were even some cool cheat codes!" He reached for the keyboard and started typing.
Stephanie grabbed his arm, pulling him away. "What are you doing? We haven't even played the game yet! Maybe we don't need cheat codes."
Cornelius glared back at her. "They're really cool cheats though. They can advance us up to six levels of the game, so we don't have to go through all those useless training stages." He yanked his arm out of her grasp and went back to typing.
"Cornelius, she asked you not to," Juilliette said impatiently.
"Too late," Cornelius looked satisified with himself. "We're all level six gamers now.
Stephanie opened her mouth and Shaiya, sensing she was about to say something rude and possibly censorable, quickly cut in. "Can you change it back?"
Cornelius shot her an annoyed look. "Isn't anybody happy that I saved us from the monotony of the beginner levels?"
"Is there a purpose to using big words like that or are you just showing off?" Stephanie muttered under her breath, but it was a much nicer comment than the one Shaiya had been anticipating.
Cornelius either hadn't heard Stephanie or chose to ignore her. "In any case, I can't change it back, so you should at least pretend to be happy about it." Shaiya suspected it was more that he didn't want to change it back, rather than that he couldn't, but she decided not to point that out.
The room was silent for a long minute, and then Stephanie let out a sigh. "Well, I guess the beginner levels are sometimes kind of boring," she said finally. "As long as we're stuck with it, might as well enjoy it."
Juilliette raised her eyebrows. Shaiya glanced over at Cornelius, who was once again typing away on the keypad. He nodded after a minute and looked up again.
"I've put us in for a three-hour session. That gives us fifteen gaming days. It will select a quest at random for us, and since we're starting at level six, I've programmed us in with our usual characters." He was referring to previous VR games they'd played together.
"I want to change my outfit," Juilliette said, her usual smile returning. "If we're level six, I want something cooler than my old clothes."
"Like…?"
"I want a red skirt with gold edging and designs, and a band across-"
"Hold on," Cornelius cut in. "Maybe you should just program it in yourself."
"I don't know the codes," Juilliette pointed out.
Stephanie rolled her eyes and flopped back on the sofa, narrowly missing her Player Plug-InTM. Shaiya laughed and sat down next to her as Cornelius and Juilliette debated different fabrics for her gaming clothes.
"Cornelius is great," Stephanie said quietly, "but sometimes I just want to whack him over the head with an extremely hard blunt object."
Shaiya smiled. "Anger management issues?"
"I guess." Stephanie sat up again and returned to her normal voice. "You guys, is there really a difference between five percent Spandex and two percent?"
"My point exactly!" Juilliette cried out. "The top looks fine, Cornelius. We have to start playing soon or we'll run out of time."
Cornelius shrugged. "You're the one who has to wear it for fifteen days." He pressed a button on the keypad and it slid neatly back into the VR box.
All four settled comfortably into their designated spots—Stephanie and Shaiya on the two sofas, and Juilliette and Cornelius on the two lounge chairs. Shaiya took her Player Plug-InTM from where she'd set it down on the floor and slid the various parts on. The headset fit perfectly over her head, with two small ear buds attached that she slid into her ears. She slipped her hands into the black gloves and fastened the chestband around her ribs, just snug enough to be comfortable.
Closing her eyes, she leaned back into the couch pillows and let herself drift away as the world slowly darkened around her. A vague voice murmured, "Welcome to YourFantasyTale" just as Shaiya entered the game.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue! The story really gets started next chapter, so please keep your support coming. I really appreciate it!
P.S. Juilliette is property of Glowfish36. Stephanie is completely 100 mine!