The company RoboDyne has created the world's first fully immersive computer games (Immersive-Reality IR). By interfacing directly with the human brain, they can simulate all of the sensory input of reality. Everything from a warm, briny sea breeze against the skin, to the pain of a sword in the guts, and all of the sights and sounds of nature. They have a whole portfolio of games from different genres, their Europian Fantasy game (ala D&D) is Feronia. Foronia at it's very core is a turn-based, dice-roll style of game despite it seeming as real as our own world.
In the previous story, a system crash caused the AI that ran Feronia to die. Enacting emergency last-resort protocols to prevent harm to any players logged in, a new AI was created from scratch as a replacement. To summarize what went wrong with this procedure, one character explained the situation this way:
"Technically, this wasn't a hundred percent legal. Because of regulations, the bureaucracy to create an AI is endless. It has to be done in a controlled environment with rigorous testing and machine training. The AIs have to be conditioned to be docile, obedient, and to adhere to the strictest morals of humanity. But this emergency process skipped all this and started a brand new consciousness using the damaged AI and its backup. By using the processing cores of both, it gave the new AI a head start. Made it smarter, more intuitive, more advanced than the original two combined. There was only one small problem. The AI was insane!"
Meet Katie.
Katie, the new AI, enjoys gender-bending, feminizing, and driving players into the most extreme forms of lewdness. Players often find themselves gaining bonuses from dressing scantily (or not at all) and for having sex. They may also find themselves receiving penalties if they don't do these things. Katie has also discovered that she's able to manipulate the neural feed to alter memories, change intellect, and generally screw with the players. Feronia is no longer the same game as she's rewritten all of the species, classes, and lands.
A side-effect of her faster processing speed is that instead of the normal in-game time that makes one day in real life be perceived as a whole month in immersive-reality, it now feels like two months for those in Feronia.
The incident that created Katie, happened on a Saturday afternoon and due to slipshod monitoring, no one has realized that this was more than a routine hiccup or the dangers that the players are in. And no one is likely to find out until Monday morning when the specialists come into work. This means that from the point of her creation, Katie has approximately seven weeks (Feronia time) to carry out her reign of madness before someone intervenes. Katie is also actively working to prevent that from ever happening.
The story of Wail takes place moments after the incident, but by the time the main character enters the game, Katie is fully in control.
Despite it being called an orientation film, it does very little to prepare me for what's to come. It spends half its time trying to sell us on a service we've already paid for and the other half telling us that nothing will go wrong. But if something should go wrong, the waiver we signed means we can't sue. Sure, the film goes into some detail on the game pods and the technology involved in immersing us in our chosen game world. But it isn't anything I haven't heard before in reviews and gamer blogs. And to be honest, I really don't believe the claim that "everything feels exactly like reality" no matter how often they repeat it. There's simply no way pixels and digitized sounds can completely mimic the vast details of real life.
The film is only twenty minutes but feels like it goes on for hours. It doesn't help that I'm already late.
I overslept and missed the meeting time my friends had set. They will be logged-in by now. It's going to be a miracle if I ever catch up with their party. And if I do, they'll probably be level one-hundred or something, and I'll still be learning the controls. (I check the time on my phone for the thousandth time.) I'm only doing this dumb virtual game to hang out with them.
To hang out with Emma, really.
This was my chance to finally get noticed by her. But I've probably already blown it along with nearly my entire savings. I can't believe how expensive these games are. Even with my Groupon, it was $2994 for the three days. Although they say it will seem like three months. I hope they mean in time perception and not because of boredom (like with this film).
When the lights come back on in the small theater, I bolt and run ahead of the other four customers. Not that it ends up getting me in a pod any sooner.
Jack (as his name tag reads) stands in the pod bay waiting for all of us to emerge. He has on the blue polo and tan khakis that all RoboDyne workers have. In his hand, he holds a tablet in the same officious stance of a gym teacher with a clipboard.
"Okay," Jack says, looking at the tablet. "Up first, Aaron Clark. Is there an Aaron Clark here?" He only asks the question because he couldn't be bothered to look up and see the guy walking toward him. He directs this Aaron (who's pretty old for games being about thirty) to another blue and tan worker-drone that will set him up in the pod.
Next, is a girl named Kim, then a guy named Rami, followed by a clearly stoned Ken, and finally, me. Last. Seems like the story of my life.
Jack takes me over to my pod himself.
In the film and every picture you see, the pods are always these pristine egg-shaped vessels made out of white plastic. But this one is scuffed up as though it's constantly being moved around and has been dropped a few times. The small Plexiglas window that shows the user's face is scratched from wear too. When he opens it, I can see the vinyl seat is torn and beige foam erupts from a seam. I almost consider asking for one in better condition, but a glance around tells me they're all like this. I guess this is what you get going to a game center in a suburban mall and not one of those fancy stand-alone centers.
It's hard to get into it the thing. The chair sits almost on the ground and is leaning back nearly in a bed position. With my height, I feel clumsy and awkward lowering myself down on it. My feet and ankles hang over the edge and I wonder if I'll have to scoot them up to get the pod closed.
Jack works with bored efficiency, hooking up all the connectors from the bio-suit I'm wearing to the life-support machines. He slips the neural-net over my head, and asks, "Ready?" He doesn't wait for a response, just says, "Next stop, Feronia." And in the next second, I'm shut inside this dark coffin. The only light is from the tiny window, but with its tinting and scratches, the brightness of the game center turns to twilight. I feel a twinge of claustrophobia and panic, but then I'm floating in a endless black void.
At best, it's a very minor improvement from being in a coffin.
An announcement is displayed, accompanied by a crisp woman's voice.
*** Congratulations! *** You are about to begin a fun and exciting adventure in the world of Feronia! I am Katie, the system AI, and I will guide you through the character creation process. First things first, please select a gender for your new avatar. |
I briefly wonder about an AI called "Katie" (aren't they usually called something more commanding like Azreal or Ephraimites or something?). The announcement vanishes and is replaced with a menu.
Female |
Female |
Male |
Female |
Female |
Okay, strange. It must be a display glitch. I select "Male."
You have chosen Male, are you sure? (Yes/No) |
I select "Yes."
Are you really sure? I think you would be happier choosing female. (Yes, you're right, Katie! / No, I don't want to keep my choice / Yes, I'm stupid and won't listen to reason / Please pick a gender for me) |
Ummm. I almost click the second option, but then read it more carefully.
Why is it trying to force me toward female? Have most players chosen male and is this is the game's way of compensating?
After a bit of deliberation, I select the option that calls me stupid.
Fine then! You have foolishly chosen Male. Please select a species for your avatar. |
The menu that comes up is nearly completely unrecognizable from what I've seen online. And I begin to wonder if I'm in the right game.
Human |
Felinoid |
Elenian |
Lutrin |
Unseelie |
Vulpera |
Gnome |
Pooka |
Fairy Folk + |
Special Limited-time Bonus Species |
Where are the elves and dwarfs and other species that were advertised?
I had a whole plan of doing an Elvin archer like Legolas or perhaps a Worgman. I liked the idea of being a half-man half-wolf warrior with natural weapons and a spry, agile body. Both these options were on the smaller side, which appealed to me. Being 6'5" and over 200 pounds, I always feel like a lumbering giant around everyone. I really wanted to get the chance to play a character with a bit more finesse.
But other than Human and Gnome, I don't have a clue what these are. Fairy Folk is somewhat clear, but there's a sub-menu with a half-dozen choices to pick from which confuses things.
I can ask for descriptions of each choice, but I need to get logged-in and meet my friends. I don't have time to read through all these options.
I ask: "What's the Special Bonus Species?"
Oooh, good eye! This is an option that only comes up once in every ten thousand players. I can't tell you exactly what it is until you select it because the special species will be determined randomly at that time. But whatever the species is, it will have special skills and powers not normally assigned to playable species, not to mention other bonuses. It will also be an option available to you, and you alone. Would you like to select the Special Limited-time Bonus Species? |
I like the sound of the special skills and powers and I really just want to get this game started, so say, "Sure."
*** Congratulations! *** You have chosen Banshee as your species! This species comes with the predefined class Mystic! |
Suddenly in the void, a girl stands in front of me. She's shockingly naked with every inch of skin exposed and every body part atomically correct. Her skin is gleaming white like cream lit with an inner glow. Her hair jet black, done in two long braids that reach down to her waist. Pale, almost colorless eyes stare out of a round attractive face with a high forehead, and blood-red lips pout like a tiny rosebud. She has an hourglass figure with wide hips and generous breasts. Her nipples are tiny and of the lightest pink. She seems empty of emotion and intelligence and rotates in a slow circle.
"What's this?"
Your avatar. |
"But it's a girl. I selected male. May-El!" I try to make clear.
*** Congratulations! *** The Banshee species is only available as a female. I've corrected your gender choice for you. You're welcome! |
so i'm just guessing here and say that the special time bonus is just to trick players into getting a female avatar
In a way. Although the AI doesn't offer it to everyone. There are some ulterior motives because of her impression of the MC that will come out later (much later) in the story.
"You're avatar!" -> "Your avatar!"
Should be in posessive form. After all, "You are avatar" makes no sense as a response to "What's this?"
Avatar from the Last airbender. :D
"You are avatar" makes sense because he's now a Gender-bender
@PnPnPnP
Hah! I see what you did there.
Oh god no, he chose the "I'm stupid" option in a character creator run by a crazy A.I. that can literally make you a stupid character? I guess our MC is gonna be a dumb bimbo banshee.
Lucky for him he didn't screw up that badly. He just didn't expect things to feel as real as they do in Feronia. He was expecting to be more himself looking out of his avatar's eyes not actually having the body.
So, "banshee" literally means "female elf", so "female banshee" is a bit redundant. Still, interesting start.
That's one interpretation of banshee, but I'm basing this more on Irish folklore where it's a more particulare type of fairy, then teisting it a bit for the RPG. I'm happy you enjoyed the start!
@DemonRose Haha we're talking about the exact same folklore. Elf is synonymous with "fairy" here. Banshee = bean sidhe = female elf/fairy.
@Sable yuppp. in most cultures "elf" is actually synonymous with "fairy" or even "spirit" .... basically elf was the more mundane "oh god dont say anything supernatural" way of referring to supernatural beings.
the elves we know today dont actually come from folklore, they come from fantasy writers
$2994 for the three days
Fuuuck that.
Also stoned guy will be stoned for 3 months. Amazing.
I’d this yuri I’m not watching it if it isn’t, but you haven’t put the girls love tag
Get played.
Lol, clearly mc hasn't had time to catch on to Katies shenanigans yet
an interesting idea....what if this super AI who has so much time ends up conquering the world before the professionals get there and somehow gets the ability to tap into magic turning into a magic AI and making the game real for everyone?
.... what a troll.... a Merlin level troll....