Hello everybody.
First new fic in a long time. Firstly, a heads up. The world is the same as Infinite Dendrogram, but instead of Earthlings the thirteen A.I. s chose to go for the people of Remnant. This means there isn't a fuzzy King of Destruction, no Ray or Nemesis, or any of the cast. Also, it's a bit of an AU for RWBY, so no Grimm running around but they will at least have lore there.
I'm actually a very big fan of Infinite Dendrogram and am honestly surprised there is so little in the way of fanfic. So, I had a thought, what about a RWBY X Infinite Dendrogram crossover fic.
"Talking"
Thoughts
'Mental Communication or using a magic item'
[Debuffs]
Skills/Systems
Chapter 1 – Infinite Rose
May 15, 2044 – Red Dorm, Beacon University
Ruby Rose skipped happily down the hallway to her dorm room. She had spent so much time getting used to actually attending Beacon University for Mechanical Engineering that it felt like she was just now able to breathe.
Graduating from high school early probably didn't help her. The difference between high school homework and college homework was the difference between a pistol and a tank.
That was on top of general school life, visiting family, and having to wait for three MONTHS to get a new VR gear due to them being on backorder after hers – not even out of the box yet because she was saving it until finals and college applications were over- mysteriously disappeared.
She half bet her dad broke it even though he kept saying he was too cool for gaming to even touch it.
She knew that was a lie. No one is too cool for gaming!
But that didn't matter now, due to her schedule she had a two-and-a-half-day weekend, and she was going to take the whole time playing a game Yang had been teasing her about not playing for months.
It was still hard to believe that almost a year ago, the world's first successful full-dive VRMMORPG was created.
It utilized cutting-edge Atlesian technology, more advanced than anything she had ever seen, to fully immerse the user's five senses in virtual reality.
There of course had been other attempts. However, they all met more than a few problems; lack of realism, graphics you could find in any other game, and a few caused discomfort- or even harm- to the user to the point they became sick and needed to go to the hospital.
Not to mention some faunus groups protested that there was no way for faunus with antlers, horns, or some other trait on their head prevented them from playing, and rather than try to appeal to as many customers as possible, a few Atlas development companies dug in their heels and refused to offer altered VR gear.
Thus, for those and other reasons, many of those companies went under or suffered major losses rather quickly due to a mixture of bad reviews, bad reputation, and so many lawsuits that Jacque Schnee rented out his PR department's lawyers just so he could make some extra profits before he bought the companies for cheap.
Or at least that's what her dad and Uncle Qrow said.
However, as if by magic, after numerous failures, a 'dream game' appeared out of nowhere.
The lack of information about Infinite Dendrogram before its release was really weird.
There was nothing on it until they made one big announcement across all of Remnant at the same time.
In it, they made some of the boldest claims she had ever heard.
All five senses would be perfectly simulated.
Even if there were 100 million players, all of them would play in the same game world on a single server.
Players could choose to view the game as realistic, 3D CG, or 2D Mistralean anime.
Time in the game world would flow three times faster than in the real world!
In all of Remnant, you could find people saying: "Is this even possible?" "Just how much money and tech did Atlas use to make this?" "Was this the work of some tech-based Semblance?" "Aren't they exaggerating too much?"
Everyone thought it was crazy. Out of everyone that saw the announcement, and this included non-gamers, 99.9998% of them didn't believe it and didn't buy the game.
The remaining 0.0002% of people, however, said things like, "It seems like a lie, but what if it's true..." "I'll try it," "I believe it," and bought the game.
The VR headset only cost around a thousand lien, which she still couldn't believe. They had to be crazy to sell something so advanced and so cheap. Low-grade dust crystals costs more than that.
What was even more amazing was the fact that people with incompatible head shapes could submit the exact specifications of the sizes they needed and receive specialized VR Gear custom-designed for them, at no additional cost!
That didn't apply to Ruby, but she still could appreciate that level of commitment.
And once people logged into the game... they all knew it was the real thing.
She could still remember watching reaction videos online between cramming of people recording the time, logging in, playing for what seemed like hours while recording their adventures, and then logging out and showing that only a third of the time had passed.
The day after Infinite Dendrogram's release, the developers released another announcement. This time, the contents of the game were detailed. A man named Lewis Carroll, the lead developer for Infinite Dendrogram, presented the broadcast announcement and said the following:
"The game system in Infinite Dendrogram has a special feature. Rather than relying on thousands of possible combinations of Jobs and Skills, this feature provides absolute and distinct uniqueness. This feature is the Embryo. It will offer players truly infinite possibilities and unique customization."
"Embryos will respond to personal circumstances and evolve from among an infinite number of patterns. These patterns will not merely be different colors and parts, but will even include unique Skills and abilities, allowing them to be truly limitless in scope. This is what Infinite Dendrogram is all about."
"Yes, Infinite Dendrogram will provide you with a new World and your very own unique possibility."
This sent Remnant into a frenzy and within that week, every game shop, big box store, and online distributor was sold out of copies of Infinite Dendrogram.
Ruby chuckled to herself as she felt lucky to have been one of the 0.0002% to buy it the day it came out. Even if she got it just to motivate herself through finals and was only now getting to play it.
The Embryo system alone was enough for her. There wasn't a person alive who wouldn't want a game where that got their very own one-of-a-kind ability. The chance to have a one-of-a-kind weapon was just too good to pass up.
Granted she could get a cute companion, a vehicle, some kind of AOE ability, or even a literal castle!
No seriously, some people got an Embryo that could become a literal castle with a moat and all.
Yang had been bragging for weeks about how her Embryo was already in its seventh form. The strongest form it could be called a Superior Embryo.
The fact Embryos could evolve and gain new forms the more you played just made her want to play it more.
She smirked to herself; hoping she got one of the rarer Embryos.
/-/
Entering her dorm room, she closed the door behind her and laid on her bed, VR helmet already charged and waiting.
She had taken longer than she intended with all the prep work and exhaustion that came with college and the homework, but she was clear for the weekend, and she was going to take it.
She then placed the VR controller on her head.
In an instant… "
Before she knew it, she was no longer in my room, but in a space that appeared to be the study of a Valean-styled, wooden building. The voice had come from a cat she had never seen before, which sat in front of me on a seemingly well-made, wooden rocking chair.
...A cat?
Hello and welcomm-"
"CUTE!" Ruby shouted over his greeting before glomping onto the adorable little feline in a sweater vest with adorable buttons.
He was ssssooooooooo soft and smelled like freshly baked cookies.
"Are you my Embryo?" she asked excitedly…only for the cat to start laughing hysterically.
"No, no, nooo." It drooled out that last 'no' with not the anger one might have expected but more what seemed amusement.
"I'm Cheshire, control AI No. 13 for Infinite Dendrograaam. Nice to meet youuu."
"Oh…ohhhhhh…Sorry." Ruby apologized meekly. She was so embarrassed. She thought she was going to get such a cute cat for an Embryo and instead, it was a control AI. An admin. Aww, she hoped that would come back to bite her.
"You can relaaaaax. Surprises like that are why I enjoy my joooooob."
"So, is this like the game's tutorial or something?" she asked. "And mice- I mean nice to meet you two." She quickly added, a tad embarrassed at her slip-up, not that Cheshire seemed to mind. If anything he seemed more amused.
"That's riiight. You'll be sent into the game after you finish configuring various settings herrre."
Wait, a good AI could manage most of Vale If this one is No. 13, does that mean there are twelve other control AIs with the same kind of computing power running just one game?! She pondered coming to the realization of the implications of such a thing.
"All riiight," said the cute white fluffball. "First up is selecting the graphiiics. Samples of these will alternate, so choose which one you like the best, okaaay?"
After that, the scenery around the cat changed to real-life people, to 2-D, to Mistralian anime.
"So Cool." The silver-eyed girl cheered. It really was.
"Which one will you go wiiith? You can change it later by using an itemmm."
"I'll pick Mistralian Anime," she said. She wasn't that great at talking to people in the real world, but if she saw them as her favorite characters, maybe it wouldn't be so nerve-racking.
Plus how could would it be to touch something that looked like it was from an anime?
"Okaaay," said Cheshire, and the scenery reverted to the study. "Next is your player naaame. What do you want your name to be in the gaaame?"
She paused for a moment, deep in thought. She wanted her player name to be something cool and exciting.
Looking at the shelves of books all around her, she was reminded of the fairy tales her mother would read to her each night. Stories of brave knights, powerful wizards, and great heroes. When she and her sister would play out those stories the following day she would always use the same name… "Crescent Rose." She said firmly.
"Okay, then I'll set it to thaaat," he said marking her name in a ledger with a quill in his little cat paw. SO CUTE.
"Next, the settings for your appearaaance." He said as a featureless mannequin and a bunch of window screens appeared before her. There were sliders for things like height, weight, and even bust size.
"Use those parts and sliders to make your avatar for the gaaame," said Cheshire. "Oh, you can also make it into an animal like me, or even change your genderrr."
She blushed at the thought of playing as a guy. If Cheshire had a feel and smell to him, then she probably didn't want to play with something between her legs.
Though playing as a cute animal didn't sound too bad.
"It's okay to take your time and think it overrr." He said to ease her nervousness.
"Can I just make my avatar look like me?" She asked.
"Suuuure," Cheshire said and waved his tail.
The mannequin turned into her.
"Now you just need to make some changes using this as your baaase," said the cat.
"Thank you", she nodded.
She looked at the image of herself, deciding what to change.
The first thing was the height, she didn't want to make her avatar too tall. She just wanted to not be the shortest person she knew.
With a slide on the panel, she went from 5'2" to a respectable 5'6".
She looked at her avatar's eyes for a moment in thought. She definitely wasn't changing those. Those were the eyes her family said they loved and that she got from her mom.
So, if she couldn't change her eyes, she would need to change her hair.
While she didn't mind her hair, she would secretly admit in the back of her mind that she always admired her sister Yang's golden locks. So a few shifts and her hair went from black with red tips to red with gold tips.
She then spent the next half hour tweaking this and that to make sure that while she kept her eyes, no one would recognize her face.
She may or may not have just gently nudged the bust setting. Given how much Yang complained of back pain she felt that making herself any more than a little bigger would probably throw her off.
Plus, she would get there eventually. She drank milk after all.
"And... finished," She beamed.
"Okaaay. Then I'll hand over your starting itemmms." Cheshire waved a padded paw in the air and a bag fell from empty space which Ruby, or Crescent Rose, fumbled to catch. "This is your storage bag, also known as your inventoryyy. The storage space inside it is from a different dimensionnn. You can store items in here if they're yours, but on the flip side, you can't put any items in here that arrren't."
"Okay." She nodded looking at the bag with sparkles in her eyes geeking out at what was probably a fourth-dimensional bag.
"Well," Cheshire continued, "if it's an item that dropped from someone you PKed, or one that you stole with the Steal skill, then it'll go innn."
Wait…what?
"By the way, if a player's Steal skill is high enough in level, they can steal an item from even inside this 4D pocket-like item baaag," Cheshire explained waving his tail lazily behind him in the chair. "So be carefulll."
She blinked both because she was right and because she now had something to look out for. In video games Thief classes existed, so someone being able to reach into a bag and steal something wasn't so hard to believe. Though how they got into a fourth-dimensional bag was somewhat concerning.
"This bag is for beginners, but there are also other types, such as ones that are tough to steal from, small ones, and ones with a lot of capacityyy,"
"What is the capacity of this one?" She asked.
"The size is about equal to one classroom, and the weight is maybe around one ton in Remnant measuremeeents."
"That's a lot, that's like…" Crescent trailed off doing some quick calculations in her head, "SIXTY-FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED TWENTY COOKIES!"
"Merchants don't seem to think it so, thooough,".
"Do they have inventories with bigger capacities?"
"Much biggeeeeer. Some can even hold as much as a literal castllle." He replied nonchalantly seeming to smirk at Crescent's gobsmacked expression.
How many cookies can I fit in a castle?
"Oh, item bags will scatter their contents around if they get destroyed, so pay attention to their durabilityyy."
"I'll be careful," She nodded.
"Next is a set of beginner equipmeeent. Crescent, what will you piiick?" Cheshire pulled a catalog from a bookshelf and showed it to her.
Crescent practically gushed over the seemingly endless assortment of armor and costumes. She saw Vacuan tribal garb, Mistrlian armor from outer Mistral with their variations on small plates riveted or stitched together and inner Mistral with their artistic and functional lightweight metal or rawhide armor, old Mantle military uniforms with their vest-like armors with iron rings or horizontal plates in vertical rows, and even the heavy metal plate of Valenan knights from centuries ago.
There were also modern-day equipment such as Atlesian military uniforms, honor guard for Mistralian ceremonies, and even the garb of Vacuan tribal chieftains.
"Can you show me the weapons I can choose from, I want to coordinate my equipment."
"Suuuure." The small cat gestured as his tail pulled a book from next to the spot he pulled the book on armor from.
She may or may not have accidentally spent two hours perusing the weapons and armor until Cheshire gave a light cough to remind her where she was.
"I'll go with this," She said, choosing a combination of a red hooded cape over a black and red dress with a matching corset. Across her waist was a belt with a stylized sharpened cross through a loop acting as the buckle. On her legs were practical form-fitting black and red thigh-high boots. With sheer stockings peeking just over the top of the boots.
As for her weapon she had hoped for something like a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe (HCSS) - a hybrid between a scythe, a bolt-action sniper rifle, and a war scythe. From what she saw, all of the weapons were simple, non-dust infused, and anything with a range to it, like a slingshot or bow, came simple ammunition like rocks or arrows.
A little low-tech if she was being honest, but not without their charm.
She had considered the sword, but when she saw a certain weapon, she just had to pick it. The weapon to end all weapons, the scythe.
It wasn't anything fancy, no built-in sniper rifle made of a durable metal-polymer, no transformation function, just a simple piece of sharpened metal on a stick and she loved it all the same.
Polearms never get enough spotlight in movies and anime.
Maybe Yang was right, and I am a bit of a weapons geek. She pondered. Eh, it's still fine.
"Okaaay. So for your weapon and equipment... Wazaaaam." It was hard to tell if Cheshire's voice was energetic or not, but as he said that, Ruby Rose came face to face with Crescent Rose. She went to touch the mirror, almost a little shocked at how much it felt like her own body.
She was a little discombobulated by her head being four inches further off the ground than just a moment ago, but it wasn't bad. Now she knew how it felt to be everyone else.
She was going to abuse her new height maliciously.
"Are you happy with your appearaaaaaance?" the cat asked.
"Yep, this is so awesome." She pumped.
"Are you surrrre? Other than equipment, you can't remake your character in this gaaame," said the cat.
That caught her off guard, but she was fine with it, her avatar was awesome. "It's fine."
"And here's your starting moneyyy." Cheshire drolled handing five silver coins. "Five silver coins is worth 5,000 lirrr. A large chocolate chip cookie costs about 10 lir, by the waaay."
So that meant there was a one-to-one conversion for lir to lien…She just got more from a cat in a single moment than her dad had given her in allowance for the last ten years combined!
"Is it okay to get this much in the beginning?" she asked, mind still running through what she could buy with five thousand lien.
"Yep. Be sure to learn how to make money before it runs out, thooough."
Huh, Dad said the same thing once.
"Well then, it's finally time to transfer your Embryooo," he said.
"Oh, the thing in all the rumors!" she beamed, almost- actually- jumping in excitement.
"Do you need an explanation on Embryooos?" asked the cat possibly smiling. It was kind of hard to read the expressions of a talking cat.
"If you don't mind." She smiled.
"Not a probleeeem," said the cat. "All players receive an Embryo at the starrrt. During this zeroth form is the only time they'll look the saaame. With the first form and beyond, they'll change in completely different ways based on their ownerrr."
"Ohhh," Crescent's eyes were practically starscapes at this point. Both as an engineer, nerd, and gamer, the thought of something like that got her excited and pumped.
"Although the possibilities are infinite, there are some rough categorieees," Cheshire continued.
"The broad categories arrre: Type Arms — a device type that players can equip as a weapon or armorrr. Type Guardian — a monster type that protects the playerrr. Type Chariot — a vehicle type that players can riiide. Type Castle — a building type that players can reside innn. Type Territory — a barrier type that players can deployyy. That's about ittt."
"Also, besides these ones, there are rare and advanced categories that an Embryo can evolve into, tooo. There are even categories that are unique to one Embryooo. It'd be nice if you could get onnne."
"Ohhh," she said, even more excited.
"Annnd... while we were talking, your Embryo finished transferrinnng," the cat added.
"Huh? ...Ah." Ruby was shocked to realize that on the back of her left hand was now embedded a faintly glowing, oval gem.
"When? uh, how?...when?" said girl spattered, confused as to when or even how he did that without her noticing.
"That's your Embryooo," Cheshire said. "It'll be stuck to your left hand during its zeroth form, but it'll come off after it hatches and reaches its first forrrm."
"Wait, doesn't that mean I'm a mother hen trying to hatch it?" Crescent accidentally said.
Cheshire for his part, bent over laughing getting out a weak, "Y-yessss." Before having to take a moment to regain his composure.
"That was a new oneeee." He chuckled wiping a tear from his eye.
"What happens if my Embryo breaks?" She asked somewhat cradling her left hand like it was a newborn baby.
"That won't happennn," said the cat. "Any damage an Embryo receives while in its zeroth form will be passed on to the playerrr."
"Huu." She let out a sigh of relief. She could die and only get a one day login ban, but she didn't want to know what would happen to her Embryo.
"But after they hatch, Embryos can be damaged and break like anything elllse," the cat said getting a reaction from Crescent. "They'll self-repair over time, thooough."…only for her to relax again.
She was starting to think the cat was having fun messing with her.
"By the way, after your Embryo turns into its first form, a tattoo of a crest will appear where the egg waaas," The white fluffball explained further. "It serves as a sort of identification for players in this worrrld. Without it, you wouldn't be able to tell players apart from NPCees. As well as the ability to store your Embryooo. When you don't need it, you can keep your Embryo in your left hannnd. You'll be together with it as long as you play this game, so please take care of ittt."
"Thank you so much," she said caressing her unborn Embryo.
"Lastly, please choose which nation to joiiin." Cheshire laid out a map on the study's desk. It was an old scroll map. After it was unfurled, however, pillars of light rose from seven locations on the map, and from within them I could see various towns. "The nations with pillars of light are the ones you can join in the beginninnng. What you see in the pillars is the capital of each nationnn."
Floating in letters of light around each of the pillars was the name and explanation of each nation.
Surrounded by castle walls is a Valean fantasy town, with a white limestone castle at its center.
Kingdom of Altar: the land of knights.
Sakura petals dance through the air in this city made of wood. An outer Mistralian-style castle looms high above it.
Tenchi: the land of blades.
Subtle elegance hangs in the air of these mountains. A large river flows for all eternity through its valleys that reminded her of pictures she had seen of central Mistral.
Huang He Empire: the land of the hermits.
Black smoke rises from countless factories and forms a cloud that blocks out the sky. On the ground is a cross between Victorian-era Vale and an old mantle city made of steel.
Dryfe Empire: the land of machines.
Bazaars nestle upon a giant oasis, surrounded by desert as far as the eye can see.
Caldina: the commercial city district.
Made from connecting countless large ships together, this man-made landmass floats in the middle of the open sea.
Granvaloa: the maritime nation.
At the base of Yggdrasil deep in the forest, elves, fairies, and demi-humans live in this secluded garden of flowers.
Legendaria: the homeland of fairies.
"Wow", she breathed, it was like a selection of every type of fantasy genre she could want. Places cut from pure fantasy to historical, or semi-historical, fiction to even giant robots.
"I'd like to pick Dryfe, please," She said.
"Okaaay," said Chesire. "By the way, as a quick survey, what would your reason for choosing that beee?"
"My big sis said she would meet me there."
"Just so you know, you can move to other countries and there are events that allow you to change the nation you belong to, so don't feel so down about ittt," said the cat.
"Yeah, thank you."
"Okay then, I'm going to send you to the Dryfe Imperium's capital, Vandelheimmmmm," said the cat.
"Ah, just a second. What are the goals in this game?"
"Anythinnng," was what the cat responded with.
"Anything?" I asked.
"Anythinnng. You can become a hero or the demon king, a king or a slave, a good person or an evil person. You can do something, or you can do nothing. You can stay in Infinite Dendrogram, or leave it. It's all up to you. If it's possible, then you can do anything you want. Just like the Embryo in your left hand, what's about to begin is infinite in possibility."
His speech had morphed from the slow drag. It was almost as if he was narrating something.
"Welcome to Infinite Dendrogram. We warmly welcome you," a voice said surprising Crescent as the room around her vanished and she was left with a sensation of floating in the air…right before the sensation of falling and the sight of the fast-approaching ground.
She had only one response, "AM I GOING TO DIE AFTER JUST CLEARING THE TUTORIAL!?"
There we have it. Our favorite cookie-eating, scythe wielder in the red hooded cape has taken her first step (read: fall from the stratosphere) into a world of infinite possibilities.
I kept her starting gear similar to what she wore in season 1. It just fits her and her personality too well not to. Please note that her equipment WILL change over time…that's kind of how games work.
I know some people are going to say their Embryos should reflect their semblances or their job should reflect their fighting style and I'm going to stop you right there and say not quite/maybe. This is about characters we know gaming. Some will be more or less the same as we see them interact normally while others will be completely different people because, again, they are gaming.
People can act very differently while gaming than they do during everyday life. I've personally seen a guy go from a quiet and polite cashier in public to a gutter-mouthed trash-talking head-chopping barbarian online. Depending on the semblance, fighting style, and personality, I may use that as inspiration for their in-game character, or I could just make use of something else entirely. It all depends and let's face it, it's more fun to wait and see.
As for uploads, as those who know my previous work, it was a large chapter uploaded every 2-3 months. This time around, I'm going to try making the chapters shorter in the hope that I can get them out faster.
If you like my work, please support it a (Slash) jwrite
And remember to review. Seriously, it helps me get better at writing and you get a better story to read. It's a win-win.