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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.
library;
[ Not exactly wrong for Sinclair to try to locate such things from his perspective. It'd help pin down when the issues potentially began...though there might be issues with that. ]
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[At least, according to the public. They knew that wasn't the case]
If we can pinpoint the date the first case appeared, we might learn something.
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[ Albedo states, with a thoughtful look on his face. ]
We certainly could. Though, as I might imagine, it wouldn't be information easily accessible in a library.
However, that doesn't mean I don't believe it could not be located in a book in-game at all. It could be that there's a place where such archives are hidden.
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CC Corp --> Doll syndrome --> Mithrun's "death"/"revival" --> Some messy scrawl that becomes indecipherable to read.
Dungeon effects -> brain activity --> ??? --> death of real body if consciousness dies here
Headset cannot be removed or
Fragment 40 years too soon to exist
Most of it has been crossed out quite thoroughly]
Mm. Maybe we haven't unlocked it yet. I've been completing dungeon runs, but I haven't gotten any messages to special areas since the beginning of this month.
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I assume you already searched this place for hidden compartments and hidden passageways?
[ A light ask. ]
You seem to also believe that the game is 40 years too early to exist? I presume the number isn't exactly random.
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[Distracted as he glances down at his papers and glances up. He's not exactly hiding it]
Mm. I was discussing it with Mithrun. He was a researcher? In a different field, but he has a good insight into these things. The level of technology is just too advanced for today. Nothing else even comes close. It does make me wonder if CC Corp knows what they're doing with it.
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[ It is what it is. ]
Since we're in the conundrum we are now, despite the impossibility of such technology, it's being utilized as it is now. We can hypothesize that they have a reasonable idea of what they're doing with it. Or, someone at the company may believe that they do.
Whatever the case, another question now might be where they plan to take it.
[ When someone can trap people's consciousness within a game...the possibilities are endless, aren't they? ]
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[ Easy to lose yourselves in. He looks down, frowning]
Hani suggested we might be "bait" for multiple virtual bodies. And...it's not like it's unheard of, for people to reject the physical human body entirely. Maybe the whole purpose is to create a world that's only digital. Here, where all our memories can be accessed by some other AI-like being...I think people would be easy to control here.
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[ Albedo can see that being a thing, for sure. ]
...Bait for a myriad virtual bodies?
[ There are people who truly do reject their own flesh. As for himself...he looks at his hands. He has wondered about humanity and the distinction between what isn't at times. Though, he looks up again at the notes again, thoughtful. ]
I imagined the very same, however. To clarify, I mean about the control of others. Whether or not various AI beings are firmly and completely under CCorp control. Though certainly there is without a doubt that they know of the existence of such entities exist.
...It wouldn't be difficult for them to at least bridge a partnership or agreement should it come to that. Naturally, this is pure speculation.
[ But all the same, it's best to consider all scenarios, including ones where essentially they have only themselves to trust or rely on. ]
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[Speculating time!!]
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[ He is all for speculating. ]
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[Something different, something other. But in a good way]
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...Someone likely programmed him in a certain way, and then he either gained that sentience all on his own. Or, he simply made strides towards reaching that potential, and then achieved it.
Which do you think to be more likely?
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[Hmm]
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[ Partly due to their situation, but also, this game seems to be good at implementing aspects that seem beyond comprehension given today's current level of advancement in technology.
Though Albedo isn't about to start claiming someone from the future came to the past to pass along certain information. That's a step too far. ]
Either way, it's not too surprising if there are others like him, or may already be in the process of developing to that extent.
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[ Yeah, no time travellers thanks]
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[ Can you imagine tho? ]
We currently have no way to reach the outside world...it is for the best we focus on such matters as they relate directly to Fragment.
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Anyway he can't disagree there (and nor is Sinclair the disagreeable type)]
Yeah. You're right.
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...It seems you were also considering the potential correlation of death of the real body should something disrupt our consciousness while we inhabit our bodies.
[ He imagines based upon the information that was delivered post-meeting by another player. In conjunction with the dungeon effects... ]
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[ Being PK'd before with Oria had felt real. Too real. It's why he's never mentioned it.]
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[ The sense of realism has been present before, however... ]
Though, there is one pertinent fact to consider:
The condition that we are currently in has made our minds unable to "connect" to our bodies at all. That may assist in help bringing that fear to fruition due to also serving as a barrier for a proper link to our bodies, so to speak.
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[ Sinclair sighs, drumming his fingers against the table.]
Because our minds believe it to be true, it'd basically stop us from restarting again you mean?
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Yes, and there is nothing to stop the belief from coming true. Even if the belief simply fulfills one of two conditions for that 'restart' to become impossible.
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[ Hmmmmm ]
That our minds are that strong.
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[ That being said, he isn't going to linger here too long, since he wants to take another look around himself, and then leave. So he will begin to walk away. ]
...With that said, I have other matters that require my attention.
[ And with that, Albedo departs! ]