Beep

Beep

Beep

I wake up to the sound of a heart monitor? Still half asleep, I crack open my eyes. I don't remember having a heart monitor in my room. Letting out a sigh of relief, I relax as I see the familiar inside of the TVR pod. That’s right, I was in the middle of playing. But I don’t remember logging out?

I freeze, through the smokey plastic of the pod’s lid, I didn't see my familiar grey walls. Instead, bright white lights shine down from a stark white ceiling. In the distance I can hear muffled voices speaking. Not in the universal language used on the station, but in something I could understand nonetheless.

“Status report?” A regal but icy voice reverberates through the walls of the pod.

“Yes Ma'am. Seventeen out of the first twenty units are fully grown and ready for transfer. There has been slight complications with the eighteenth, but the caretakers are in the process of sorting things out.” This voice is definitely male, but very soft spoken, especially when compared to the voice of the woman.

“Good,” the woman curtly replies, “and what of the twenty first?”

“Ah! You'll be pleased to know we expedited his process. He's been fully constructed, and is currently in the middle of transfer!”

“And who told you to begin the process?” Her voice is now firm, and even colder than before.

“I- I just assumed-”

“Enough.” She cuts him off. “Send him back. It's much too early to begin the project.”

“Yes Ma’am…”

A pair of sharp footsteps exit into the distance as I let out the breath that I was holding. What in the world was that? I'm not still in the game am I? A wave of shakiness hits me as the adrenaline fades. And a second later I feel my body collapse as my consciousness is suddenly tugged away.

---

Darkness.

No? More like nothing.

Void perhaps? Yeah, that's more apt.

I wake up in a void. It's as if I have no physical form, as if I'm just kinda here. Wherever here is...

I don't think I'm supposed to be here. It's like when you glitch out of bounds, or the loading screen to the next area breaks while playing some old video game. You're not where the developers want, or even expect you to be.

A translucent blue window, not unlike the ones my holoprojector uses, pops up in front of me and confirms my thinking.

Loading (12/272)

Definitely a loading screen.

More windows pop up in rapid succession. Giving me barely enough time to read each one.

Searching for suitable safe-protected spawn point

ERROR: no suitable safe-protected spawn points available for race chosen

Searching for suitable spawn point

Suitable location found

Loading ground (0/67)

That can't be good.

As the most recent window started counting up, splotches of worn dirt and stone started to form beneath me. Leaving strange empty holes where I assume other objects will eventually reside.

Loading sky and weather (0/36)

The void abruptly turns into a dark grey expanse. For a second I think that I spot two brilliant suns before a thick cover of clouds blocks any view that I had of them. A thick eerie mist forms, hanging just over the newly created ground.

Loading plants (0/134)

Some of the strange holes that were left are suddenly filled with large conifer trees that tower above me. A blanket of grass grows across the empty ground and disappears under the ferns and lichens that cling around the bases of trees. Thick layers of moss seem to hang floating in the air, giving hints of what sort of other things will be spawning in.

Loading buildings (0/12)

Underneath the hanging vegetation, crumbling stone ruins form. I seem to be standing in the middle of what used to be some sort of grand hall. The cracked bricks that make up the ruin walls reach higher than should be the possible for the condition that they're in, blocking nearly all view of the trees outside. Shattered stained glass shards litter the ground, shining like jewels under what little light makes it through the heavy clouds. In the centre of the ruins a circular stage-like platform raises up out of the ground, and a small ruined staircase leads up to its top.

Loading misc (0/1)

Atop the platform appears a dark jutting pole that sticks out of the crumbling stone from a weird angle. It appears to be some sort of spear or other polearm, but it’s made out of a strange material. Not metal, not wood either. Whatever it is, it’s so dark it looks as if it’s consuming all light that touches it, reminding of the void I was in earlier. But the really unnerving thing about it is the bizarre aura it gives off. It gives off an intense feeling of dread, not unlike what I felt from the Thorn Fiend avatar during character creation. Strangely though, something felt familiar and nostalgic about it- as if it were some sort of long lost possession that I’ve finally found after years of searching.

I try to make a move towards but my strange ethereal form doesn’t find any purchase on the floor beneath me. Resigned to wait for everything else to load, I look down to see the next loading window appear.

Loading creatures (0/253)

The previously still air is filled with the sounds of buzzing insects and distant birds. Large dragonfly like creatures buzz to and fro, and a bush poking out from the cracked stone floor suddenly rustles as a rodent jumps out from within, darting to whatever hidey-hole it makes its home.

Loading enemies (0/1)

Uhh.

Ignoring whatever window pops up next, I frantically spin around trying to get any glimpse I can of this impending threat. I stumble in surprise as my feet are suddenly tangible against the ground, and I look down at myself to see the alien body of my avatar, now clothed in a rough cotton pressed tunic and pants. A small leather pouch hangs from my belt, but I have no sword or other means to defend myself.

Crouching low, I continue searching for the yet unseen enemy as I slowly make my way over to the strange spear. Keeping an eye on the ground as to not trip over any invading plants or loose cobbles, I creep my way up the shoddy stairs to the top of the platform.

Grabbing the polearm I pull it from the ground. It feels comfortable in my grip, and I give it a couple test swings. As I do, the strange nudging feeling that aided me during the Sprite chambers returns, guiding me into a natural flowing pattern of attacks, the last of which swipes downwards through the air with a sharp whistle.

I freeze, checking to see if the noise attracted whatever enemy lurked nearby. After a good thirty seconds of silence, I deem it safe enough to loosen my guard and look down at the spear to give it a closer look. The weird light-absorbing material feels cool against my hand, even after holding it for some time. It's smooth but not slippery, and unlike anything I've ever seen before. Whatever it is, it's strangely light for how sturdy it feels and it seems perfectly straight and balanced. When holding it next to me it stands nearly as tall as I do. If I'm correct I'm assuming my avatar is just over six feet, than I’d guess this spear is pretty much exactly six feet long.

No- it's not a spear. Upon closer inspection, both ends of the pole are flattened, meaning it's more of a staff than anything. Gripping it tighter, I sigh. It's better than nothing, but almost any sort of bladed weapon would have been easier to use than this. Theoretically, anything sharp can do damage if you hit the monsters with the pointy end, but this will actually take some skill to use. Without my racial combat sense, this would be more of a glorified walking stick than a weapon.

My inspection of the new weapon complete, I turn my gaze outwards, once again surveying the room around me. Through the empty window frames and cracked walls I see hints of the forest beyond, but still no sign of whatever enemy spawned in. Deciding that I'm probably safe here (at least for now), I finally turn my attention to the blue windows hovering in the edges of my vision. They had probably popped up some time since I spawned in, but I was to focused on what I was doing to notice.

The windows shift to where I can easily read them as I focus on them. The first few boxes are your typical “Welcome to the game!” and “Here's the backstory again but this time in text!”. Skimming through them, I quickly pick out the only important message out of them all.

New commands unlocked!

Say or think ‘menu’ in order to see the in game menu. There you may access your status, friends list or any other options you may need.

For quick access to any of the menu features, you simply need to think about opening whatever section you wish.

Happy to see my new options, I quickly bring up the menu.

Status

Passives

Inventory

Friends list

Options

Help

Logout

Out of habit, the first thing I do is open up the options tab.

Unlike most games, there aren’t any options to change resolution or graphic qualities. After all, the inherent nature of true VR means that it has to be as realistic as possible for it to work. Likewise, there was no audio related options either. Most of the controls seemed to be related to when the blue windows would pop up, where they would appear, and how they would notify you of their appearance. Changing a couple things, I made sure they wouldn't appear so often as to annoy me, but hopefully enough that they could be of some help.

Other than that, there are a couple settings to do with player interaction. Whether you wanted to receive friend requests and all that, but I mostly just ignore those.

Finally I see one last option.

Immersive mode: ON

Curious, I flip it off, wondering what it did. For a second, I don't notice anything different, but then I spot a barely noticeable circle in the corner of my vision. Focusing on it caused it to expand into two bars. A long red one, and a slightly shorter green one. The red one must be my health bar, but I wasn't sure what the green one was.

A little annoyed, I close the options window. Why would that be off by default? It seems like the kind of thing that everybody would want on. Good thing I checked the options.

Moving on, I open up my status.

Status:

Name: Briar

Race: Thorn Fiend

Level: 1

Health: 110 / 110

Stamina: 43 / 45 (max: 45)

Str: 13

Agi: 16

Con: 11

Vit: 9

Per: 15

Luk: 6

Aff: 0

Glancing it over, it seems pretty normal, at least until I got to the final line. I don’t know what “aff” is, but zero? I assume it's because of my race, but still... Other than that, I recognize most of the stats. Just to be sure though, I click on the little information button that’s been flashing at me since I opened the window.

Status information:

Name - That's you!

Race - Helps to determine your starting stats

Level - A measurement of your overall abilities and power. You can level up by completing certain achievements and quests, or by slaying monsters. Each level you gain gives you points to spend on upgrading stats.

Health - An indication of your body’s well being. Taking damage reduces your health and when it reaches 0 you die. You regenerate health slowly over time.

Stamina - An indication of how much you can / have exerted yourself. Stamina is used when exerting yourself in combat or during travel. Your maximum stamina also decreases over time (1 per hour), and can only be increased by resting and eating. Your stamina regenerates slowly to its current max over time.

Str - Strength, a measurement of your physical abilities and prowess.

Agi - Agility, a measurement of the nimbleness and speed of your body and fingers. Your speed.

Con - Constitution, a measurement of your ability to take hits and stand back up again. Your defence, also affects your health.

Vit - Vitality, a measurement of your ability to exert yourself of long periods of time and without rest. Affects your stamina.

Per - Perception, a measurement of your ability to notice things and pick up on small details.

Luk - Luck, exactly what is seems. Also affects your critical hit chance.

Aff - Affinity, a measurement of the bond you have with your Sprite, and your command over its abilities.

Sifting through the giant wall of information, I skip over the things I already know and focus on the couple of weird stats. Seems like I was correct in my assumption, there's no reason for me to have any points in affinity without a Sprite. Other than that, most everything else made sense. I find it funny that there are no mental stats (intelligence and wisdom) like in other games, but I figure that's because there is no actual spellcasting, which is usually what those stats are for.

The one thing that I do find a little strange is the stamina mechanic. I had to reread it a couple times to understand it, but I think I get it now. It basically just promotes taking proper in game breaks and rests to eat and freshen up, probably to make things a little more realistic. After all, you don't just spend three days straight fighting monsters without ever needing to sleep, rest or eat.

The inspection of my status complete, I move on to the next tab of my menu.

*shhhhk*

I snap my head up as a sort of sliding sound resounds through the air of the empty hall. The screens I had open fade and retreat to the sides of my vision as I warily survey my surroundings, searching for the noise’s source.

The ruins around me appear unchanged, but a dash of movement catches my attention as something green scurries out through a nearby window. I didn't see it long enough to tell what it was, but whatever it was looked pretty big.

On edge, I grip my staff tighter as I listen for any more sounds. I'm sure that thing knows I'm here. Tense and combat ready, I stand shock still for a good minute before…

Nothing happens. Whatever creature lurked around me didn't seem too keen to face me head on. I guess that's a good thing. If it needs to rely on surprise attacks to take down its prey, it's probably not too physically tough.

Keeping an ear and an eye out, I slowly turn some of my attention back to my menu screens and bring up the Passives screen I was going to look at earlier. Thinking about it now, it's weird that this game doesn't have any abilities or skills like other games have. I ponder this for a minute before a new window pops up, obscuring my view.

About: Combat

Combat in the Di Game is unique. Because of the nature of True VR, it is up to the actual skills of the player to determine what is possible in game. There are tutoring guilds in every major city available at all times to learn new skills and abilities, but players must actually put in the efforts themselves. We acknowledge that some players may be upset with these features. But through testing we have found that this system enhances combat, and promotes skill over long hours of grinding.

- The friendly administrators of The Di Game

I'm beginning to see why Thorn Fiends have so many negatives. The ‘Combat Senses’ passive virtually eliminates the learning curve of combat. Speaking of the ‘Combat Senses’ passive, I wave away the newest window and look at the passives screen.

The screen is disappointingly empty, occupied only by the couple of racial abilities that I saw during character creation. Now though, I could bring up their descriptions.

First I tap on the one I was most curious about.

Combat Sense: (passive)

Thorn Fiends have a unique ability to “feel” the best courses of action in combat. Your stats don't necessarily let you keep up to its prompts though.

Interesting, but not very helpful. Didn't tell me much apart from what I already know. I give another quick glance around before tapping the next ability.

Enhanced Senses: (passive)

As a thorn Fiend your senses (eyesight, smelling and hearing) are much keener than any other race.

This ability was the most noticeable thing when I first started the game, it makes everything seem so much sharper. It's as if I've been living my entire life in low definition. I don't think I could have heard the creature earlier without it. And I definitely wouldn't be able to hear it as I do now.

I freeze as I hear the same soft shifting and sliding sound I heard earlier, this time directly behind me. From the sound of it, it’s still 4 - 5 meters away and approaching slowly. I don't think it’s even noticed that I've heard it yet.

Clutching my staff, I pretend as if I haven't noticed it, and go about navigating and ‘reading’ my screens. Really I'm just hitting random buttons as I focus my attention on whatever creature was growing closer.

As I said earlier, it moves with a sort of sliding sound. Maybe some sort of snake than? No, I've watched hundreds of nature documentaries from the pre catastrophe archives, not once did I ever hear a snake that sounded like this one. No, this sounded more like a thick rope being dragged slowly across the ground.

As I listen closer I notice a couple sounds that I hadn't before. As it moves, a quiet, rhythmical clacking of claws against the cracked cobbles breaks the sound of the dragging rope. Making a sort of percussive melody as the beast draws nearer.

Being able to hear the sound of its heavy breath gives me a good indication that it's gotten plenty close enough, and I whirl around to strike my glorified stick against the creature’s head.

It hits the creature’s long toothy snout with a satisfying crack, momentarily stunning the creature as I get my first chance to look it over.

The creature is some sort of lizard, but it doesn't quite look like anything I've heard of before. The closest comparison I could think of was if a gecko grew to the size of a coffee table, then some mad scientist came along and slapped on a crocodile’s snout and thick curled claws. Large brown vines curl around and drape off of its forest green body, and twisting roots seem to bulge underneath its skin. Those must be the source of the dragging sound.

As I finish my brief inspection a short name tag flashes over the creature’s form.

Creeping Vine Lizard - Lvl 2

Huh. Not a very creative name, but accurate I guess. Pondering the name, I whack the lizard across the snout again. I wish it had a cooler name than just ‘lizard’ though.

The hit seemed to snap it out of its surprise, and it skittered backwards in an attempt to get some more space. A nudge in my stomach notifies me to chase after it as it leaves the range of my staff, I lean forward to comply but before I even start to move strong vines shoot from the ground to grab me. Following my combat senses, I knock one out of the air and step back, but three other vines begin to latch themselves onto my legs.

Tearing my legs away from the vines, I look up to where the lizard was. Then to where the lizard is currently scurrying towards a window to the outside.

Oh no you don’t! Leaping after the lizard, I jump up and slam down the staff on the lizard’s tail. The large reptile lets out a sharp hiss as my staff pins it to the floor, but as I'm about lift my weapon up to hit it again, the tail suddenly disconnects from the lizard’s body as it darts up and out the window.

Out of breath, I glance at the status bars in the corner of my vision. Luckily, I didn't take any damage during that encounter, but my stamina bar looks like it's only half full.

I lean against my staff as I glance down at my prize. The lizard’s dark green tail lays limp on the ground in front of me. Taking a closer look at it, all the vines and roots that were previously sewn throughout its flesh seems to have either disintegrated or been pulled out when the tail disconnected, leaving dark oozing wounds. The scales that cover its skin are actually very fine and soft. That must be why it relies on ambush tactics.

Grabbing my first piece of loot, I weigh it in my hands. It’s about the length of my arm and feels pretty heavy. As I pick it up a label pops up notifying me that this is indeed a ‘Lizard’s Tail’! Who would have guessed...

Looking around for somewhere to put this, I glance at the pouch at my waist. Oh! That‘s right, I forgot to check to see if anything was inside! Reaching my hand in the pouch brings up a new window, showing what’s inside. I let out a small grin. Looks like I already have some items!

The new screen is arranged in a grid. The first couple squares already have pictures of items along with a small number telling me how many there are. Glancing through, I take a quick count of what I have. Three loaves of bread, a medium size waterskin, and a spare set of clothes. A small section in the lower corner also tells me that I have 12 gold, not that it’ll be of any use to me though.

Across the bottom of the window, a small message tells me to think about what I want to take out, and try to pull it out of the bag. Following its instructions, I imagine the waterskin as I remove my hand from the waist pouch. Sure enough, there in my grasp is a full leather waterskin.

I take a quick sip and toss it back in the bag, trying not to think about how something larger than the bag could possibly fit inside of it. At least this way I didn’t have to lug the tail around.

Walking back to the raised platform, I slide the tail into the pouch. Maybe I’ll have a use for it someday. But for now, I figure it’s about time to log out. A lot of crazy, weird and questionable things have happened to me since logging in, and I was well overdue for a long reflection on today’s events.

Bringing up the menu, I tap the logout button.

ERROR: That function is not available at this time.

Uh oh.