⬣//GROWING WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.

[cccorp]

>>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

Comments

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

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"?

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

[ 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?

[tot]

[ 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?

[dissimulative]

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. ]

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

[ ... ]

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. ]

[tot]

[ 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. ]

[dissimulative]

[ 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.

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

[ 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?

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

[ 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.

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

[ 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.

[tot]

[ 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.

[dissimulative]

[ Oria would have an entire laundry list for Uta if this was later in time but it isn't. ]

Don't worry. I'm used to how the news works. My family bought so many news stations under our thumb for this sort of reason, so I'm gonna make use of it when we leave. I promise.

[tot]

[ it sure isn't... and then looks at how things look in the future with bleak eyes. ]

How very vigilante of you! I didn't realize you could be that kind of guy.

[ maybe she should be worried about what she just heard but then again, she was murdered because of who her family was and the business that were involved in. so, don't mind her if she can't help but laugh a bit. ]

With that settled, then the last thing is that I can only hope that the next person to inherit my family's legacy will be around to claim it and no one else.

[dissimulative]

Would you be comfortable telling me who that is? I can try to contact them to make sure that they're the one who gets it.

[ He doesn't need more money nor legacy. He will have his own. It's fine. ]

[tot]

[ ...

she hesitates for a moment before you know what? if there's anyone who she can trust with this then it might as well be oria. ]

Don't laugh at his name; I already did that enough when we were kids but—his name is Luffy D. Monkey.

[ there he is. the protagonist. ]

Unfortunately I don't know where you could find him. He went on a trip with his brothers years ago and I haven't seen or heard of him since, but my dad would have wanted him to inherit what I wouldn't...or couldn't.

[dissimulative]

Alright. That's a name that's easy to remember.

[ Because it sounds so outlandish... ]

I'll definitely find him and relay the message.

[ HE MIGHT AS WELL USE HIS WEALTH FOR SOMETHING THAT HE ACTUALLY WANTS... damn. ]