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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.
no subject
Well, he must be fine enough if he's able to coherently self-criticize. He feels dizzy and unsteady, but he's alive, whatever that looks like. Barrett's voice comes in and out, the shapes of his expression coming into vague definition. Oh, he barely has the words for this normally - never mind right now. )
... I can walk...
( He coughs, with some shaky effort trying to push himself up with one hand, maybe too soon. )
... Stay... Stay with me.
( He speaks this with certainty. He'd heard an I'm here, and he thinks he heard a now, and he's not chancing it. )
no subject
The guilt digs, harsh and immediate. An echo of words that he no longer hears, but still feels deeply. He shouldn't be here. This is his fault. His fault. Look at what you've done.
He feels so sick. Morgan asks for him, direct and wanting, and all he feels is dread.]
...I... I can't. I shouldn't. If that happens again, I'll...
[...kill him.
This is just another reason not to trust me.
He swallows, trying to lean Morgan's weight against him from his new sitting position, as though he means to try and pick him up.]
We need to find a healer. I... I'll get you to one. I won't leave you here.
no subject
He lets Barrett shift his weight against him and into his arms if that's what he needs. He's returned to ignoring his own pain, so, while his body may flinch if his arm (and thus shoulder) is jostled, Mithrun won't really acknowledge it.
But, while Barrett sets to work on that, Mithrun interrupts his effort - he takes his face by both sides of his jaw with one hand so Barrett is looking him in the eye, Mithrun's fingers curling pointedly into the bone. This is, in part, for Mithrun - he can see guilt's fault lines running through Barrett's expression better like this. )
But you'll leave me?
( After he gets Mithrun to a healer, he means. He sees you, Barrett. )
no subject
The gentle and shaking work of his hands says "No. I don't want to. I'll take care of you. Don't leave me, either." But it's impossible to ignore how unsteady his own breathing is when they are this close together, something that's already making him feel dizzy. He feels himself tilting inwardly, like a seesaw with uneven weight.]
...I need to.
[It's a small and quiet answer, torn up by panic, eyes screwing shut.]
For... just for a little bit. I need to.
[He stays very still under his own answer. He knows it's not one Mithrun will like. He knows he'll just continue to be hurt. But he feels on the verge of collapse.
He can't do that here.]
no subject
... I forgive you. ( And he'll hold onto that for Barrett, the way he holds onto Barrett being enough. ) I forgive you for hurting me, even if you don't forgive yourself.
( And it wasn't Barrett's fault, but he doesn't think that detail's going to matter much to Barrett right now. When Mithrun had hurt Tylor, though it'd been in error, what had frustrated Mithrun most - as Hani had to see and tell the both of them - was that there was no acknowledgment of wrong.
He lets go of Barrett's face. He can't stop him from leaving, angry as that makes him, but he'll be angrier, still, if Barrett comes out thinking he's lost the right to be vulnerable with him. )
... Come back soon. I'll be looking for you.
( "Waiting" is too passive, so he doesn't use it. He'll be at the door Barrett's hidden himself behind, peering under and clawing at it, just so he doesn't forget he's there. Run all you want, but he isn't letting you disappear yourself into guilty obscurity. )
no subject
It's not something he expects. Forgiveness.
Maybe Morgan was just saying it to make him feel better. There was no way. No way he could be okay with this.
...
His face still cracks with emotion under the statement. Wether he means the nod that accompanies it as an acceptance, or as an agreement to Morgan's request... it's harder to tell.
He still shifts Morgan into his arms as best as he can, the crushed shoulder facing outward. He's brought to his discarded sword long enough to get it into his inventory, before sprinting off to the dungeon - he couldn't force them both to disengage without finishing the Area, after all. They might both be in the red for health, but at least Barrett could still do this much.
Empty of enemies as the area now is, Barrett takes a second to send off a message to the first cleric he can think of. But there's no response, even by the time they make it to the end.]
...Hector's still not replying. [Shit.] One of the clerics has to be around somewhere.
no subject
He tries to keep vigilant as they progress through the tower, but he's clearly faltering. Fortunate that there's no enemies to worry over right now. )
... Clerics are... ( Reciting: ) ... Hector... Hien... Nanashi...
( Not sure about the rest, but that's an amount of people who exist, presumably. )
... Don't use Hien. Try Nanashi.
( He's lower level, but he'll be easier to work with than Hien, assuming Hien would bother help at all. )
no subject
Mn. I'll find someone. I'll get you to someone.
[The softened tones of the blessing start to drift down as he kicks open the reward chest with one foot, not even looking at what he's picking up or listening to what the voice says. All that matters is leaving.
He holds Morgan tight as the gate engages.]
Stay with me, Morgan. Stay awake. Stay with me...
[It's hypocritical to ask. If Morgan passes out, it's not as though it's unreasonable. But the sentiment still tries to settle in as the root town comes back into view.
Even if he has to drift... come back to him. Don't leave just yet.
It's time to go find a healer.]
no subject
And somewhere in the back of his mind, he's aware Barrett's armor might trigger again - in the same way he knows Barrett might keep more secrets from him, or Barrett might run errands that prove to harm the rest of them; Barrett would leave him alone, but asks Mithrun to stay.
Barrett might not want to do any of these things, but he does. )
... I'm here...
( A soft murmur - the voice of someone trying to anchor themselves awake.
But this is still Barrett, who'd hold his hand until he fell asleep, and who looks so anxious about the harm he's caused, and who tries, no matter how fumbling, the best he can with what he knows. Barrett is - more than just the sum of the things he can't trust him over; at least, that's what makes sense to him right now. )
... So let me be here.
( But you won't, will you? You're going without him.
He dozes. But he doesn't leave completely. He'll be somewhat there in mind when Barrett gets him to Nanashi. )