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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
Tch. We'll see. At this point, I daresay you've no longer the choice, but who knows? Perhaps you will win out in the end, so go ahead. Be as petty as you desire, not that you ever needed my permission for that.
no subject
[ Even so, he endures. That's all he does despite hating pain. ]
So, what are you going to do? You finally have me right where you want me.
[ Even so, he smiles again and grabs onto the end of Fandaniel's robe from what he can reach. ]
no subject
Ah, but that earns a raised eyebrow. He finally has him where he wants him? Really? Is that the case? Fandaniel can only chuckle at Hien, reaching down to tug the hand grasping at his robe away. ]
My thought was to leave you here to bleed on the cobblestone, dear Hien. If you were hoping for more, you missed your chance at the tournament.
no subject
[ The hand falls back on the ground and Hien quietly breathes out. ]
Because you're not the kind of person who can shoulder that. You're not meant for the murder scene.
no subject
You're wrong. [ Is he, though? ] You didn't let me kill Swallow because you're the soft one. You care more than you want to let on. You wanted to be there for us... in ways you could, which were not many, were they?
[ Because of CC Corp, no doubt. Whatever stranglehold they have on this poor fool is a tight one. ]
But myself? I will kill you when I have to. That simply isn't today.
[ With that, he gets to his feet, standing over Hien instead, and idly wipes his hand clean of blood on his robes. ]
no subject
Alright. Then I'll look forward to that day. Show me how you can impress a murderer.
no subject
I do hope that I won't let you down, in that case.
[ And then he turns, leaving Hien to lay there in a little pool of his own blood. Unlike the admin, he can simply walk through the sign-created barriers to enter the @ homes and that's precisely what he does. ]
no subject