“Wait. I need to be inside of that coffin?” I asked after I breathed in again.
“Yes. I told you it is the latest in full immersion. When you are inside of the VRIU, you’ll have full use of your body. The liquid will sense your movements and translate them into the game. I don’t want to reveal any more of the technology until you get your first taste, but you’ll understand how it works as soon as you enter the game world,” Zarra smiled reassuringly as she spoke, but I didn’t particularly like the idea of lying in the strange black liquid.
“How will I breathe?”
“We have an air mask that also serves as the visual and audio feed. You are going to love it.” The lavender eyed woman nodded as she spoke, and I thought again about the note.
Don’t trust the purple eyes.
“Okay, blood pressure time. Please relax.” The doc attached a digital blood pressure monitor that wrapped around my bicep like a live snake and then started squeezing. Thinking about dunking myself in the pool didn’t sound very relaxing to me, but after fifteen seconds the device relaxed and let out a tired beep.
“Okay, the last step is that I need to attach a monitor to your wrist,” the doctor asked as she placed the watch-like device to my arm. As soon as she tightened the strap, I saw lights glow on the small screen.
“The VRIU juice also gives us some biofeedback, but we like to have a second source of data to ensure there is nothing out of the ordinary,” the doctor said.
“Is there a suit that you want me to wear?” I asked the five of them. I couldn’t smell anything from the liquid in the tub that Ky stirred, but I imagined that the black looking ooze would stain my clothes.
Sal would be freaking out right now, and tell these people that there was no way I would be dipping a toe into that vat of juice. I should probably be doing the same, but the five of them seemed extremely excited that I was here, and while I sensed some weirdness with Jacob’s note, I didn’t get a gut feeling that these people were trying to hurt me. Even the dour Casper had a smile on his face.
“That is something we are working on. The VRIU works best when the user is naked,” Zarra said the words quickly, and her amethyst eyes glanced back to the strange vat.
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
“I’m afraid I am, we have a privacy alcove you may use to disrobe, and a switch on the VRIU controls the tint of the glass where we will be monitoring you. Once you are ready, Ky will help you get the headset on.” The five of them had tensed with Zarra’s words.
“That is really weird, I don’t think th--”
“Look, Leo,” Zarra put her hand on my arm, and I was conscious of the fact that I actually wasn’t naked, but they all wanted me to get naked.
“I realize that I’m asking you to get out of your comfort zone with this. I will guarantee that you will enjoy this experience. This is the future of video games.”
“Fuck it,” I sighed. “I’ve come this far already, and you’ve all been more than hospitable. Show me where this modesty wall is.”
“Fantastic, you won’t be disappointed,” Zarra said again.
“Yeah, okay. Let’s do this.”
The tension in the room relaxed, and the three women, along with Casper, moved behind the glass wall where the long computer terminal sat. Ky pointed to a side area a few steps past what they called the VRIU. I saw that part of the room as kind of an optical illusion. The walls looked like they were made of steel, but their surfaces were brushed, and the corner by the dark liquid was actually an alcove with mirrored walls on the outside. Unless someone stepped past the VRIU, they wouldn’t be able to tell that the changing area was back here.
“You can stack your clothes on the shelf there. Then you can come out, and I’ll help you step into the VRIU,” Ky said as he gave a last stir of the strange liquid.
“Sounds good,” I said as I started to take off my shirt.
I wasn’t actually too worried about being naked in front of everyone. The skin tight omni suit I wore left little to the imagination, and Jax had once shown me a tabloid magazine that had us standing on a team victory podium. The magazine had highlighted our junk so that the readers could see how big we were. I also had a tidal wave of paparazzi following me everywhere, and there were dozens of photographs of me stepping out of a shower when I’d forgotten to close the blinds to a window.
“Alright. I’m ready.” I stepped out of the alcove and noticed that the glass door of the next room was now opaque.
“Okay, I’m going to have you step into the unit first. Grab onto the handrails. Yeah I know, you’re probably the fittest dude in the entire world, but I don’t want you to slip and smash your head against the side.”
“Got it. What is this ‘juice’ made out of again? It doesn’t smell of anything.” I grabbed the dark metal tubes on the side of the tank and then put my foot inside of the black liquid.
“The specific mixture is about to be patented, so I can’t share the secret with you, but the quicker you move, the harder it resists you. It is what gives us the--”
“That’s enough, Ky,” Zarra’s voice came over the speaker in the room.
“Yes, Ms. Zerne.” The man smiled sheepishly.
The liquid was strange. I thought that it would have been like water, but it was much thicker. Not quite mud, but the strange goop did seem to resist my movement into the tank. The other sensation that felt odd was its temperature. I almost couldn’t feel the stuff because it was set at exactly the same heat as my body.
“There are some steps where your feet are, Champ. Just walk down them a bit to get into the deeper part,” Ky said, and I followed his instructions.
“This isn’t bad.” I laughed as I settled into the resistant sludge. It was much deeper than I expected, and the top of the liquid came up a bit past my shoulders as I stepped to the bottom.
“Yeah. It is kind of therapeutic. Helps relax the mind. So here is the switch to return the observation wall to normal glass.” He pointed at an electronic dial on the top area of the pool. “Press it now please.”
I followed his instructions and then turned to see Zarra and her employees standing behind the glass.
“The idea is that you’ll be able to do all this yourself after I show you the procedure. Here is the VRIU mask,” Ky said as he lifted the black metal half helmet from behind the steel lip of the pool. It looked similar to what I’d wear when using an omni station for Astafar Unlimited, only those were a smaller goggle shape.
“Alright, so you want to bite onto the mouthpiece. You’ll still be able to talk into it, but it will take a bit of getting used to.”
Ky put the helmet over my head, and then he tightened a bottom piece over my jaw. I’d been snorkeling a handful of times, and the mouthpiece fit into my mouth in a similar fashion.
I couldn’t see anything. Or really feel anything. The liquid in which I stood felt as if it was part of my body. I was suddenly disoriented, and I heard my heart begin to pick up tempo through my ears.
“Test, test, test. Champ, can you hear us?” Jennifer asked through the helmet.
“Yeeehhaam,” I tried to say around the mouthpiece.
“We are almost ready to get started. Just thirty seconds.”
“Oak ayyye. I finnk I ale red hay see a proogggame ith errr gaay meee.”
“What was that, Leo?” Zarra asked.
“I already see a problem with your game.” I had to move my mouth differently to speak into the tube.
“What is that?”
“This whole set up seems expensive and complicated. It takes me less than a minute to suit myself up for the omni station. How much is this tub? How about the liquid? You’ve got a doctor monitoring my vital signs. How are you going to mass market this?”
“People will buy once they play, Leo,” Zarra purred into my ear through my helmet. “Just wait until you play.”
“I’m ready. I’ll read him through the starting procedures,” Jennifer said.
“Don’t bother. He’ll be just fine,” Zarra said.
“But, Ms. Zerne. He isn’t starting at the temple. He’ll be out--” the blonde woman’s voice cut off suddenly, and there were about ten seconds of silence. It was a little disorienting because I couldn’t see anything out of my helmet, and I couldn’t feel anything around my body. It was as if I was suddenly robbed of my senses.
“Sorry about that, Leo. When you spawn, you will be in a small grove of trees outside of one of the small cities of the game world. You won’t have any clothes on, but there will be a chest near you with some starter equipment.” Zarra sounded like she was smiling through her voice.
“Okay. How does class selection work? Do I get skills or magic?” I asked.
“I want you to just experience the game. Oh, but one thing, and this is important. As I said before, the game is in early alpha stage. It is really just a huge sandbox where the AI has built the world and managed the characters. We haven’t incorporated much of the battle system in yet. So try not to fight. It just isn’t balanced properly, and you’ll probably lose. Just put on your clothes, and walk out of the trees. You’ll see the city about half a mile in the distance down a dirt road. You can walk there, talk to the people, and when you want to logout of the game, you can come back to the grove of trees and lay down by the chest. Then we will turn off the VRIU. Understand?”
“Yes. I get it.”
“You can actually log out by laying down anywhere and closing your eyes for twenty seconds, but we would prefer you do it in the grove,” Zarra instructed.
“Okay. Let’s get this over with,” I said. I felt like I was starting to go insane with no other sensation than Zarra’s sultry voice in my ear. I couldn’t even feel if I was getting aroused or not.
“Okay. Champ. Get ready for Ohlavar Quest,” Jennifer said.
“Five, four, three, two, one, logging in.” Her voice seemed to become more distant with each number, but after she said her last word nothing happened.
I waited for what felt like a minute, but I only saw the darkness of the inside of my helmet.
“Is something supposed to happen? Did your game crash?” I sighed. Figures. All that build up and then it breaks. They were probably going to try and convince me to try tomorrow morning. After they made their programmers work all night to fix whatever was wrong with the system.
“Hello? Zarra?”
There was no answer, but I heard something strange. It sounded like wind, and leaves, and birds. The game’s visuals must have broken, but the audio was starting to come in. I reached up to touch the helmet and gasped. It wasn’t on my head anymore, and the only reason I couldn’t see anything was because my eyes were closed. I opened them, and all of my breath left my body as if I’d been hit in the stomach.
I was in the game world, and it was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Chapter 5
As Zarra had explained, I lay in a grove of trees. I was on my back, and I felt the firmness of the ground the moment my eyes opened. The trees were fantastic looking; like maple trees, with big, wide leaves, but the trunks and branches were gnarled like the kind of oak trees that would be found in California. The bark was a deep brown color, but parts of the wood flaked off into grayish pieces. Their leaves were green, but as the wind whispered a gentle breeze, I noticed that the top part was a strange purplish color.
Then I gasped as I realized the obvious.
I felt the ground underneath me.
I was sitting upright now, and the dampness of the grass was apparent on my bare ass. I reached my hand down and pushed a finger into the soft dirt. My fingers felt the resistance, the small amount of dampness I’d expect for grass to hold, and I pulled them away to see mud on my fingertips.
“Holy shit.”
They had done it. They’d figured out a way to add tactical feedback to a game.
Astafar Unlimited had some feedback, of course. I could feel the platform of the omni station when I ran on it, and there were feedback vibrators attached to the sensors, so that when I hit something, my limbs felt a brief shake, but there was nothing like this in any game I’d ever played.
I moved the pointer finger of my right hand and pressed it into my left arm. I felt my skin and the pressure at both places, and I let out a whistle. Then I was amazed that I could actually whistle in the game.
“Wow, wow, wow.”
I lay the palm of my hand to the dark green grass and pushed myself to my feet. I stood easily and did a few stretching movements while I looked down at my naked body. I hadn’t been able to pick an avatar, so I had guessed that they would use a generic one in the game, but I noticed the various scars on my knees from playing basketball growing up, and I glanced at my hands again to see the familiar scars from years of martial arts training.
How did they get my body so perfectly? It must have something to do with the VRIU juice that I was currently floating in. The liquid was probably able to determine my exact body composition and then translate it into the game. It was kind of a genius idea, and I felt bad for mocking Zarra’s game a few minutes ago. Yeah, I guessed that this system was going to be expensive, and maybe only the rich would play it, but I was already impressed by the tactical feedback. Even if this was just a sandbox game, I would think that people with money would want to get a chance to play.
Something tickled my foot, and I looked down.
It was an ant.
“Holy shit. Holy shit.” I couldn’t stop from smiling, and I let out a laugh. This game was fucking amazing. I reached down with my hand, and the insect ran onto my finger. I could feel it crawl across my skin, and I saw all of its legs move just like real ants would.
It was fantastic.
I didn’t think graphics like this were possible. The amount of detail on the ant, my skin, the grass, the trees, and the sky was unbelievable. As a test, I shook my hand quickly and tossed the ant from my skin. The sensation felt real, and I had to let out a short laugh of amazement.
So maybe I owed Zarra an apology.
When I thought about the beautiful woman, I recalled her instructions to me. I glanced around the small grove and saw a chest a few feet behind me. It was made of a simple light colored wood with metal hinges. The metal had a light greenish patina on it, and I guessed it was copper. I spent half a minute looking at the tiny details of the green swirls, touching the wood of the chest, and giggling like an idiot to myself before I finally opened it.
Inside was a pair of unbleached underwear of the “tighty whitey” style, a light brown tunic with a leather lace tie in the top half of the front, and matching pants. These both felt as if they were made of a thick cotton, and I rubbed them in-between my fingers to enjoy their sensation. They even smelled great, as if they had just been laundered and dried with a lavender dryer sheet.
I could smell.
“Holy shit,” I said again as I inhaled. I could smell the soap of the clean clothes; I could smell the wood of the chest, and the copper smell of the metal. The dampness of the grass and the bitter scent of the soil underneath were now apparent. I didn’t know how this was possible, but I guessed that they must have been distributing the scent into my helmet. The technology had been around for long enough, and a few of the other games I had test played tried to use the system, but they’d never been able to make it smell real enough, and the systems seemed to be too extreme.
I put on the underwear, pants, and shirt. The material felt nice against my skin, and they looked as if they were handmade with high-quality fabric. I could even see some less-than-perfect stitches on the seams. The attention to detail everywhere was mind boggling, and I was more than a little impressed with what Zarra’s company had done. Astafar Unlimited had wonderful graphics, and even though the game was almost fifteen years old, they continued to patch new visuals in every month.
Zarra’s game looked a thousand times better.
It was maybe a little too vivid. The colors were really rich, and the visuals seemed to glow
with an internal light. It was probably just a stylistic decision, though, and I realized that the only reason it was kind of throwing me off was because I was so used to Astafar Unlimited’s more muted color palette.
There was a pair of socks and boots at the bottom of the chest, and I put them on to complete my outfit. I didn’t see any weapon inside of the chest, and it was a bit annoying. I knew that Zarra had told me not to get into combat, but I kind of expected some sort of starter sword, or dagger, or staff, or anything that I could have used to beat something. I wanted to get a small taste of what little they had set up for the combat system.
A flock of small brown and blue birds flew through the trees and chirped at me. I studied their movements and shook my head again. There were all sort of non-aggressive fauna and flora in Astafar Unlimited, but if I watched the birds and ground creatures for long enough, I could see the redundancy in their programmed movements. The AI in Ohlavar Quest must have been cutting edge, because the birds moved as if they were real.
The leaves of the trees swayed once more in the breeze, and I marveled again at their rustle. There was a lot of movement, sound, smell, and color going on at once, and I made a mental note to talk to Zarra about the hardware that was running the game servers. I also wanted to talk about the AI, but I doubted that the woman would spill any of the secrets. Most game developers regarded their Artificial Intelligence, and their game engines, as their secret sauce, and engineers practically signed their NDA agreements with the blood of their first born.
“Time to find this village,” I said to no one in particular. I couldn’t even feel the breathing tube in my mouth anymore, and I figured that the body temperature fluid I floated in was doing a great job of numbing my mouth feel.
There wasn’t a clear trail out of the grove, and the tall reach of the trees was preventing me from seeing the sun. I could tell that it was day because of the bright light that peeped through the strangely colored leaves, but I could only guess at the time. I didn’t even know how the time worked in the game. Astafar Unlimited made fifteen minutes in real life equal an hour in the game, so a player could get a full pass of a day within six hours.
Lion's Quest: Undefeated: A LitRPG Saga Page 7
