altimit | ⬣//GROWING WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.

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⬣//GROWING WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.

  >>Gathering
  //
  >>Waiting
  //
  >>Can't Return
  //
  >>It's Real

        ⬣//STERILE WHITE WALLS
      

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.

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.

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.

        ⬣//THE LOW RUMBLE OF DISTANT THUNDER
      

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?

        ⬣//TORRENTIAL RAINS
      

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.

        ⬣//LOST TO THE TUMULT AND BEDLAM
      

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.

  >>Navigation

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ it is unfortunate and she kind of suspected that to be the case, but at least there might have been some flexibility with it. uta doesn't let it show whether or not she is bothered by the way he maintains his distance from her as she keeps smiling at him. she'd never fault oria for the reaction that he was having. ]

I think all of us have things that we need to resolve or, at least, have something that we are involved with.

[ of course, what she doesn't need to point out is how people will think certain things are more important to them than others. it kind of goes without saying. ]

None of us can log out and check for ourselves and everything feels so much more real now but... [ she drops her gaze and looks down at the pieces of paper in her hand. uta somehow maintains a pleasantness in her voice as she elaborates. ] I wouldn't have released my name—my real name—to the public, and that was definitely a photo of me. I can remember when it was taken.

... I know.

[ He was also surprised when he saw Uta's real name on the news. He promised her that he'd never tell anyone, and he kept it. But they really went the extra mile and revealed something so personal to her, her family name too. He would have thought that CC Corp extracted that sort of information from Uta like how their memories were on full display in the mirrors.

But the fact that it's a photo and not really a memory gives Oria some implications that he doesn't like. What if the corporation sent someone to set her house on fire to test how someone's mind could be kept here? And found the photo in the house raid...

He feels sick to his stomach. ]

They really just went ahead and did that, huh? Can't even hire a lawyer for doxxing you like that in a news outlet.

[ Since she's apparently dead. ]

[ she doesn't know if oria is saying that to lighten the mood or not, but uta laughs softly regardless. it's not really funny that he says that, but she finds it a bit ironic. she is sure to keep up a mildly playful demeanor despite how it juxtaposes against what she ends up talking about.

all of the things that she would have loved to keep locked away are slowly being uncovered and uta is out of road to run down. and while oria is thinking of how the cc corp might have been involved with it, there's another face that comes to mind. ]

I'm not sure if I'd want to press charges even if it did get accidentally got leaked while I could do something about it. [ she pauses for a moment to think about exactly how she wants to word it. ] All sort of things get dragged out into the public eye any time there are legal proceedings.

Especially for people who are super wealthy.

Yeah.

[ There's a knowing expression on Oria's face. He knows that for sure! He's been part of it so many times, even. But now he wonders again. ]

Do you have to keep to yourself? Or can you be among us again, like any other player?

[ There must have been a reason why Uta is all the way here in a Root Town that's barely populated with players, is what Oria thinks. ]

[ uta makes no comment about the knowing look on his face since from the memory that she saw, it seemed to make a lot of sense. all in the most unfortunate ways. instead she just hums softly to herself for a moment. ]

I'm fairly certain that I can play with everyone just as I had been in the past.

[ not that she has tested it but there was nothing that seemed to change on this side of things. her next comment is certainly "too soon" but...look. sometimes you just..?? need to say things. ]

I'd just imagine that it'd be best if I was extra careful when doing area explorations.

Yeah, that makes sense.

[ Oria doesn't seem bothered by the comment and quietly breathes out. ]

Uta, I was thinking... about things lately, and I guess they surfaced more to the front of my mind ever since I read the news, but...

[ ... ]

Do you feel lonely?

[ JUST BECAUSE HE'S RIGHT DOESN'T MEAN HE HAS TO SAY IT.... she could very well lie to him but the writing is all on the wall. ]

Sometimes.

[ but— ]

I used to be a lot lonelier before I was able to interact with my fans. Even as scary and dangerous as the Fragment has become, I'm still thankful to be able to interact with everyone.

... Yeah.

[ Oria gets a little closer and holds a hand out to her. Instead of it being outstretched near head level, it's as if just hooking fingers would be enough with how things are in this moment. ]

You love your fans. You like that kind of support. You're kind. Empathetic. I'm not saying that you're a saint though—you're just like us in that regard.

... The question that I wanted to really ask you was... despite everything, why do you feel so distant?

[ uta notices the outstretched hand and only needs to look at it briefly before grabbing a hold of a few of his fingers. she maintains their distance as she isn't sure if oria is doing it because he doesn't want to get closer to her or is waiting for her to make her move.

either way, it's not as though she's actively pushing him away. ]

Because it's safer for everyone.

[ simply and easily said but uta pauses for a moment as she thinks over her initial reason for closing herself off. ]

I guess I don't have any reason to be scared anymore now that things have become like this. [ after all, now that she's dead, there's no reason for her to hide and make sure that she can't be traced. there doesn't need to be a divide between uta and unna; the two of them could exist at the same time as the same person. ] ...or maybe I should be even more scared. I'm not quite sure which I'm supposed to feel.

I think you're allowed to take your time to think about that. You're still here, capable of doing things. Who cares if you're alive or dead—even at this rate, you might as well be more alive than half the people on this planet with how you are. I can't imagine you just sitting there doing nothing even after all this.

[ Oria takes another step forward towards Uta and takes the chance to hold her hand in full, then goes to tightly hug her. He can feel her. She's real. She's right here. He lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, shakily. ]

Is the fire what you mean by "it's safer for everyone"?

[ there's nothing that uta can say to counter what oria tells her because nothing he says is wrong. there's nothing that she wants to fight him over. she doesn't need the validation, but it'd be wrong to say that she doesn't want to hear those words from someone.

and as oria brings her close in for a hug she stands there momentarily before returning it while simultaneously trying to calm him and ease his pain and doing her best not to also break down and cry. she had already done plenty of that and wanted to keep a good face on for everyone she met. ]

In a way. [ she doesn't pull back from the hug when she speaks and keeps her voice no louder than a whisper. ] Before me, my dad was involved with things that weren't legal. He never hurt anyone, but once I was adopted he decided to step away from it all.

[ uta trusts oria to know where she is heading without needing to elaborate, but at the same time, she knows it would be good if she told someone about it. at least, she didn't have to explain too much more as oria already knew some of the larger story. ]

Except those kind of people never really let you walk away.

[ Hmmm. Yeah. Shady things under the table? Illegal things? Oria's familiar with all that--though he does more on the revealing and "justice" side of things. ]

Yeah, they really don't.

[ There are things in life that you can't take back, but Oria can at least respect the man for trying. He gives a brief squeeze in the hug. ]

Hey, Uta?

[ thank you oria for understanding what she means and not needing her to further elaborate on anything. she has had enough exposure for the rest of her digital(?) life(?).

...though him following up in such a manner does make her a bit nervous. ]

Yes? What is it?

I won't think badly of you if you cry, you know.

[ In fact, he's a little concerned that she hasn't yet. ]

You have time now. You can grieve over what happened to you. At the very least, you're allowed that much.

[ Don't be like him where he always needs to get over things as soon as possible and walk past everything without looking back. ]

[ ah. ]

I...

[ well, about that. don't be like him, he thinks, but the tragic part about uta is that she cares a bit too much about other people that it leaves little for herself. ]

I think I've spent plenty of time doing that already. [ cue how she was pretty much unavailable for all of oct 1st. ] What I want to focus on right now is what I'm able to do for everyone moving forward. I don't want to read anymore news about others ending up like me.

[ ... ]

Are you saying that something happened to you in real life because of something here?

[ He wants Uta to say that he's misinterpreted things so badly, but he's worried. ]

[ picks this back up because some of what she says here definitely will not be important for things later for whatever reason. also to make extra sure that this is definite in-game canon. ]

I... [ the words get stuck in her throat and when she tries again her voice sounds fragile—trembling even though she remains still. ] Remember how I told you about that person who worried for me and checked on me?

[ she says nothing to give oria some time to make the connections and understand what she's saying without having to say it. ]

I can't think of any other way I could have been found.

[ and given how there was another body found along with her in the news was something she didn't want acknowledged but she must. it's largely why she knew that it couldn't be faked or false. why would it be? there must be limits to the cruelty of humanity. however, there is a stark difference between acknowledging something and then addressing it let alone speaking the words into existence. ]

[ Oh... he didn't want to be right, but here he is. :pikashook: He hates this, actually. ]

And even through all that, they still died...

[ God. This is rough. ]

But, Uta. You know.

[ He quietly breathes in. ]

You know it's not your fault, right? Because it isn't.

[ oria's words make sense to her. they do; she can understand what he's trying to tell her. however, it doesn't make any of this easier or make her actually believe what she's is being told.

even if she tries—and she does make afew attempts—it's impossible for her to lie about this. she couldn't do that to him. ]

Isn't...it? If he hadn't—

[ she stops herself from saying things that would imply that she wasn't grateful for everything that he had done for her. it's because of how much he did for her that it ended this way in the first place. ]

They didn't release his name.

[ There were several possibilities about the person who also burned to death. Oria thought the person was a thief who got careless and burned along with Uta in the home, but it makes a lot more sense if this was the person who regularly checked on Uta. But then where did the fire come from? Conspiracy theorists could have noted that CC Corp went to her address, didn't expect someone else there, killed him, and burned Uta's residence to hide the evidence, even if fire isn't really a good way to hide things. By publishing the news themselves, they could easily frame the dead person as the possible culprit. ]

... Yeah, they didn't.

[ Oria sighs and tries to hold Uta's hand. He wants to be here to support her. ]

Do you see that as a bad thing?

[ oria will be allowed to hold her hand even though she isn't a huge fan of what he's saying here. of course she knows that he means well and honestly there is a benefit of him not being named because of the possibility of it not being what she fears.

however— ]

Why wouldn't I? [ she'll give his hand a squeeze. ] He deserved to be named!

[ yes, she's not sharing his name herself and she's aware of it but... look... it's really the principle of the matter. ]

Everyone who dies deserves to be named so that they can be remembered—especially for those who've loved them.

[ man, if hien heard this.... closes eyes

But Oria catches the small discrepancy. ]

Then what was his name? He'll be known as the person who tried to help you in your time of need. I'll make sure of it.

[ yeah hien? got a problem with our idol here? and instead of asking exactly how he was going to go about it, though she has an idea if the memory she saw of him was anything to go off by, she simply just tells him. ]

Gordon Elgar. [ and with a bit of a laugh, she has to make this joke. or, well, ""joke""? music nerd. ] No relation to Edward Elgar.

[ she'll smile softly while looking down to the ground. ]

He was my music professor when I still attended school. After I stopped going to class and eventually dropped out, he became very worried about me. I apparently reminded him of another singer he knew when he was younger.

[ Music nerd... Oria cracks a little smile because of it. When Uta explains who Gordon is, he lightly squeezes her hands in his. ]

I'll definitely let everyone know, in a way that his intentions will never be misunderstood.

[ would she be anything different than a music nerd tho!!! ]

Thank you Oriade; I know it probably won't be easy but it'd mean everything to me.

[ you know, given the reason why she died in the first place and how that was likely going to get swept under the rug. or forgotten about in the media because people are actually terrible. ]

I only wish I could do something to help you.

⬣//GROWING WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.

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