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⬣//GROWING WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.
September 23rd—conference day. In the hours preceding the meeting, beta testers are supplied with information on how to access the virtual conference room and offered a set of conduct guidelines. Testers are urged to read them thoroughly and instructed to sign their name on the bottom of the page to confirm that they’ve read and understand the following guidelines:
1. All questions will be addressed. Do not interrupt speakers or other beta testers when they are asking questions or having their questions answered.Players are generously allowed one hour to filter in and find their seats, review the guidelines, and discuss the questions they’ve prepared with their fellow beta testers.
2. Conduct yourself professionally and appropriately. Do not curse, shout, or otherwise engage in disruptive behavior. Violators will be muted and their speaking privileges revoked.
3. No eating or drinking. Keep your virtual space clean and free of debris.
4. Remain seated. Excessive movement or inappropriate behavior will result in restriction of your avatar’s movements.
5. PvP is disabled in the conference room. Weapons cannot be drawn and your Fragment inventory is unavailable during the duration of the conference.
One hour comes and goes. The room remains occupied only by the beta participants, CyberConnect Corporation’s flashy logo spinning idly on the conference room’s 80 inch display. Restlessness begins to settle in, idle chatter turning to frustration as one hour becomes two. Still, no one from the Corporation shows.
The conference room remains devoid of purpose, some forty-odd people sitting alone in a sterile conference room, a locked room, should anyone grow so restless they try to leave. Any attempts made to break doors and windows will fail.
The door is locked, as are the windows, the world beyond their stark white blinds a slurry of purple and black. Thunder crackles in that dark, endless void. Even if you could leave, where would you go?
It’s painfully evident after three hours of silence that no one from CyberConnect is showing up to the conference, but you knew that already, didn’t you? This mandatory meeting was fishy from the start, some would argue, while others may yet hold out hope.
That ends the instant anyone tries to log out and leave. Everyone who attempts to leave will be met with the same error Shoka was some weeks ago, but this time, the error is permanent. This time, there is no connection between mind and body anymore, and any attempt to “reach” your real self will fail.
You feel no one on the other end. You no longer feel the weight of your headset on your head or the keyboard beneath your fingertips. All your worldly aches and pains have drifted away only to find you here in your new reality, every sensation so real that Fragment no longer feels like just a game. Fragment is reality.
Three hours pass from the start of the conference. The boring white walls and rickety office chairs shudder and shake and give way to the Mac Anu everyone knows. You’re back where you started, more or less. What you do from here is up to you.
Some menus remain online. Players retain the ability to send and receive friend and party requests, access their inventories, spells, and weapons, and so on, but a few notable items are missing.
Players can no longer toggle their pain sensors on and off. Every blow you take is one you’re forced to suffer through, and what’s more, your health no longer automatically regenerates when idle. You’d better keep a stash of potions or a pocket healer handy.
While you’re at it, try not to die. The sharp-eyed among the group may notice that the respawn information nestled in the menus is no longer accessible to them. The respawn counter now reads as a series of zeros instead of the typical 20 minutes. Now is probably not the best time to continue testing Fragment’s death mechanics, but nothing’s stopping you from trying. No one’s going to save you, either.
Good luck, players. The real test has begun.
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confusion from Sinclair, even after Swallow's annoucement.
He just stands there for a moment, looking into the distance, with a notably dark expression, unusual on him ]
...I wonder what will happen to our bodies...
[ His co-workers will find him for sure but...]
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Looking away.]
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...would your workplace do a welfare check on you?
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No. They'll probably think I just ghosted them.
...
Someone'll notice. Eventually.
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...was I contacting your real number before?
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[Sinclair has no illusions about how fragile his phone security is. He never needed to think about it before]
Knowing them, they'll be going through my entire list of contacts once they break into my phone . They'll be investigating outside.
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Thanks, I guess? Even if it's super creepy.
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[Just straight up admitting to this. Hopefully they can track down Shoka on time...]
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[Hopefully.]
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[Her tone is perfectly neutral. This is just How It Is.]
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I see. Then, my company will send someone out to check in regardless. It'd probably be Rodya...she's good with people.
[No breaking and entering here. That was a Sinclair Thing]
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When I was in Japan, I gave my family’s retainers a list of all the players I’ve talk to. It included your real name if I knew it; nicknames or potential real name if there was any mention on the forum by other players; your general or exact location if I knew. And of course, phone number.
[ their 12 hour flight reading forum posts and compiling notes. ]
I asked them to check up on us physically if I stopped checking in with them before the 48 hour mark. Some I’m confident they’ll find. Others…
[ well.
but it’s something? ]
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...Rodya will find me pretty soon, when I don't show up for breakfast. I think my coworkers would help your retainers too.
[ He had the same idea, but not as thorough. And since]
...thank you, Hani. Did you have an idea something like this might happen?
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[ mithrun then the affliction, etc ]
The two times people fell unconscious, we were lucky they were discovered in a timely manner. But I was worried about those living alone.
[ mostly justy and kara. ]
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[ He'll make a confession here. He exhales softly and looks down. He'll take Hani's hand if its free]
Bringing us here and trapping us...I can't work out what they get from this.
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An excellent group for some sort of experiment? Or... multiple virtual bodies with human souls to act as bait.
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[Sinclair has his own ideas, which he had shared with Mithrun in that semi-disastrous private conversation at the beach]
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[ whoops, was this not common knowledge? did hani forget to tell people... ]
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...that makes sense. Zelkova is an AI. He wouldn't exist outside of this world. But we do. All of our memories, feelings and dreams...maybe in the process of connecting us, the glitches can cause them to run amok.
[A random selection of people, bait for...what?]
Do they want us, as humans, to be completely digitalised, to remove the need for our actual bodies? Or is there something else...?
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[ why? they don't know. ]
So. There are at least 4 sides to this: CC Corp, whoever or whatever is causing the glitches, the AIs and NPCs, and us.
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[Frowning as he thinks.]
CC Corp wants us stuck here because if they can chase whatever 'it' is, it'll be through us. The players. We'd be their tools. [Is it a way to remove the need for real bodies? Or is it a way to test theories of consciousness or, this 'world' they've discovered is something they want complete control over?]
The glitch creator might not want us here...or want us trapped for different reasons. They don't seem to care about the hurt they inflict. As for the AIs and NPCs...Zelkova seems to have our best interests in mind, at least. But the other NPCs don't seem to be particularly aware of anything outside of their world, except for the Sexton. We're outsiders there.
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Well… Did you also learn about the condition for death from Hien-kun? How did he know? How was he so sure?
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[He just squeezes Hani's hand in turn, frowning in thought]
Hien wouldn't have a reason to lie. If he thought it wouldn't be serious, he wouldn't have stopped them.
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