⬣//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

[selfconcept]

[ ...

Okay, Hien pulls up his UI and... Nanashi is right. Damn, man. ]

That's a rather unfortunate mix...

[justonezero]

Well, even my real name is just numbers anyway.

[Haha!]

[selfconcept]

At least it's a name.

[ Hien lacks language skills, but even he knows a potential meaning of what "nanashi" could be. ]

A name, despite numbers, is still a name.

[justonezero]

Right. I'm not really "nameless" or anything!

[selfconcept]

Yeah.

[ He pats his head. Why? Don't worry about it. ]

Anyone that has a name is worth something.

[ Hien says that very sternly. He won't budge on this. ]

[justonezero]

That means you're worth something too, Hien! Even if you feel hollow!

[selfconcept]

So you admit that you're worth something. Good.

[ ... ]

I don't really have a real name though.

[justonezero]

[He never said that. And he doesn't even have time to deny it because-]

Huh? You don't?!

[selfconcept]

[ He said "too", so Hien will take that. ]

Yeah.

[ He says it so simply. ]

[justonezero]

[Along with everyone else with names, Nanashi isn't people silly.]

Then where did Hien come from?

[selfconcept]

[ ratshakes nanashi

He shrugs. It doesn't look like he's keen on giving out that information yet aka this is a social link question. ]

Does it matter?

[justonezero]

Yeah! Because if you like being called Hien, you have a name too! And if not... you can just find one you like and go by that!

[selfconcept]

I have complicated circumstances that won't allow me to change my name in real life.

[ As with complicated feelings about the name "Hien", but that's that. ]

... Don't worry about it.

[justonezero]

Does it need to be changed legally to be your name?

[selfconcept]

Yeah, and there's no way getting around that.

[ He just ruffles Nanashi's hair as if to tell him not to worry about it. It's complicated. ]

[justonezero]

[Hmmm...]

Do you like being called Hien, though?

[selfconcept]

... It's ust a name I chose for the sake of convenience. People can't refer to me if I don't have anything they can call me by.

[justonezero]

Then... is it okay if I call you something else?

[selfconcept]

You want to name me?

[ He looks at Nanashi like. Huh. ]

[justonezero]

If you're okay with it!

[selfconcept]

[ He gets a choice? For his comfort levels?

??? ]

... I'll have the right to reject it if I don't like it. So tell me... what name would you give me?

[justonezero]

Hmm...

What about Takara?

[It's rather on the nose. 宝 - treasure. And yet, still an actual name, shockingly???]

[selfconcept]

[ Nanashi seems to be good at that... ]

Is there a reason why you chose it?

[ Because he knows a tiny bit of Japanese (now), but he still has a poor grasp on most of the language.

Also because he doesn't want to be named after a dead anything. ]

[justonezero]

Because you're a precious treasure.

[Simple as that, it seems.]

[selfconcept]

[ Perhaps this would be sweet in another perspective, but for Hien, it only feels like he's being mocked. ]

Notion completely rejected.

[ Also because he doesn't think anyone values him enough to call him that and mean it. Nanashi might mean it, but it doesn't mean anything to Hien, when he doesn't feel a strong bond between them.

aka your social rank is a little too low for that right now ]