Virtual Crisis: Character Creation
First in a mini-series of "prologues" for my writing project, Virtual Crisis. I've had to go back to restart and re-edit this project numerous times over the years, but hopefully this time it'll stick.
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Ba-ding!
A chiptune jingle rang through the air as electrical light glinted off a logo: a crest of Earth's eastern hemisphere rotating counter-clockwise, before settling into place as it aligned with the letters 'GE' that it faded to reveal.
'Gaia Entertainment'
After a fade to black, streaks of color flew across the space: red, brown, then scarlet, then orange, yellow and lime, progressing through the color spectrum as Korean lettering revealed itself bit by bit:
벤처 렐름: 그 너머와 그 안
as a circular swirl of neon green began cycling below and to the side, the lettering converted into English:
Venture Realms: Beyond & Within
"Ugh, my eyes...."
A blue light began fading in and out within the green loading indicator, before the colors decreased in brightness as the display ended.
The previously black space then grew in color to become something like a nebula, with fog and mists of various subdued blues swirling in the distance. The speaker--the player--turned this way and that to look around, before realizing, *'Where are my arms and... Where's my body?'*
All that was present was an iridescent aura of energy, insinuated to be a player's consciousness, lacking a proper form in the worldspace of virtual reality. And then...
"Hel-looooooooooooooo, lady gentleman or otherwise!"
A crackle of electricity, swirl of pixels, and a flash of light came and went in seconds, leaving a humanoid figure made of vibrant green plasma, with deep blue "eyes".
"'Ay! Welcome to the world of- well, okay, more like the void preceding... Venture Realms! Beyond and within!" the figure said in a bright, peppy voice, like a television host. All the while, it gestured with its limbs for emphasis.
"...Huh. Wait, Mercedes? Mercedes Newton?" said the player.
The figure paused, hanging in the air and staring blankly for a few moments, before speaking again. "Oh, Mercedes, you say? Good ear, good ear, she's who I get my voice from! I ain't the real gal though, I'm an ar-ti-ma-ficial intelligence made to emulate her," it explained. "She's probably playing the game herself right now, hahah. You happen to know her?"
"Yeah. Yeah... She's a friend of mine," the player replied.
"Ooh, really now? What's your name? I can send her a friend request on your behalf once we're done here."
"Uh, Joshua. Beckett."
The AI facsimile of 'Mercedes' clapped its hands, then gave a thumbs up and a wink. "Funny! My records have you listed as one of her friends! I'll make a note of that for later."
The AI hesitated again, more briefly. "Anyway, back on topic," she started, snapping her fingers a few times as she reoriented upright. "Welcome! Like I said, to Venture Realms! I'm the AI guide for players in this region: Matrix-Affiliated Recreational Catalyst and Informant. You can just call me Marcy for short, heh."
"Yup...? Can we get to the character creation?"
Marcy blinked. "...Oh, ain't got time for my rambling, huh? Alright, yeah yeah, fine, I'll move it along:"
Marcy put her hands up to her sides, palms up. "So, this here's where we'll begin creating your *avatar*, the persona you use, play as, and can *be* within the virtual world. First thing's first, a name:
"...Your name is Joshua Beckett, you say. That your *legal* name?"
"Yup." Joshua said, mildly disengaged.
"Right, riiiight. Quick question: would you like to consent to me accessing available data on you outside of the game, to fill in information for your profile more quickly? You're free to opt out at any time, and we never save more than basic, relevant information on players, nor do we share your information with people outside our moderation teams."
Joshua opened his mouth to speak, invisible within the virtual world, but hesitated. "Uh... Okay, sure."
"Right-o! As a reminder, you can tell me to wipe any of our saved data on you at any time, unless there are extenuating circumstances like, you know, an ongoing criminal investigation on your person that we've been made aware of. Hopefully not relevant!"
"Yeah, that... Won't be a problem."
"Heh, here's hoping. Now, lemme take a read and rundown... Age seventeen?"
"Yes."
"Living in.... Boston, Massachusetts?"
"...Uh, no, New York City, New York."
Marcy smirked, turning her head to the side and pointing a finger coyly at Joshua. "Hah, making sure you're paying attention, I said that wrong on purpose."
"Yeah, sure you are."
"Correct-a-mundo! Now: gender male?"
Joshua paused, looking down, then off to the side. "I, well.... I'm... Sort of male? I guess."
"Oooh," Marcy cooed after processing. "That mean you're genderqueer? Nonbinary? Demi-gender? We're all about that whole 'respecting people's identities' stuff, heheh."
"Well duh, your voice credit is genderfluid. I'm- *I'm* not genderfluid, I'm, uh... I'm demigender, I guess."
".......Gotcha, noting that down. Now, would you like to base your avatar on your, ah, 'meat-space' body?"
Joshua paused again, thinking. "I... I'd rather not, but..." he trailed off.
"Okay, alright, we can do some'n else then. Human, or some other type of entity?"
Joshua perked up. Outside of the game, he put a hand to the front of his virtual reality headset, as it was covering his face. "No, wait, I was gonna say, I'll... Use my real life self as a base."
"Oh! Oops, I'll go change that," Marcy noted, shrugging. "So. 'As a base', you say. Any modifications or such you'd like? I mean, *hopefully* you wouldn't want to be JUST an average human in a sci-fi fantasy RPG."
"Oh obviously not, uh... Can I be, like, a... A were-dragon? Or like, able to transform from human form into a dragon form and back."
"Oh yeah, totally. Human-dragon form-shifter, huh... What kind of dragon?"
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The exchange went on for a while, Joshua dictating his desired self for the game, and the AI making developments and changes to narrow down to his liking.
All around the world, countless others were having similar interactions. Instances of MARCI aided players all around the United States' northeast states, but in other regions, different AI personas appeared to players, representing the various locales they were from.
"¿Ángel? ¡Qué buena elección! ¿Hablamos de representaciones contemporáneas o de algo más 'bíblicamente exacto'?"
"Schockierend, sogar! Mit solchen Kräften wirst du einen Riesenspaß haben!"
「制限については申し訳ありませんが、制限があるにもかかわらず、アバターを楽しんでいただければ幸いです。」
Venture Realms was a runaway success in its week of release, many regions experiencing slowed game performance due to the volume of new players.
"So, bipedal dragon dude, username 'Nocturne of Umbra': can craft weapons from shadow magic, and can project your voice to damaging and debilitating frequencies. Lookin' in the mirror, whatcha think?"
"Yeah... I like it. That all? Can I start the game?"
"That should be it! You ready to start? Gimme a yeah or nah!"
"Yes! Of course?"
I know I'm no celebrity or pro gamer, and maybe the whole darkness motif is kind of edgy and weird, but hopefully I can make up for it with the... ‘Eventful’ content of my story.