The darkness was nothing new to him. It was as if he never left his old, shabby apartment went he entered the game. There was the obvious lack of body that told him that he was in some other level of consciousness, but it was mainly the lack of must that told him that the VR capsule worked. The lack of a vessel to move in was odd, but it was also strangely comforting to him. He felt free, for the first time in a while.

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Avatar generation in progress.

Would you like for your avatar to--

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Before the message could finish, he pressed the spot that would have said yes on the box. The box closed before it could finish its message, signalling motes of light to dot the dark expanse and gather in front of him, leave h- a body, in front of him.

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Avatar gen--

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He pressed yes again, closing the box and bringing up another window with a list of sliders. His “hand” moved quick, but without purpose, swiping across the sliders with no goal other than to move them. His eyes never rested on his avatar before he did so, but out of the corner of his eye he saw its shape shift from thin… gaunt to large and bulky.

When he rested his eyes on his avatar, it was an oddly proportioned mess with arms that were far too wide and long and legs that were too skinny to hold up its large frame. It looked more suited for a game with cartoonish aesthetics than the more realistic tone of the game he was in. It was somewhat horrifying, actually, but so out of place that it made him laugh, and impressive feat for someone with no mouth. He took to the sliders again, shifting the cartoonish frame to a more realistic one, a familiar one. The avatar that resulted was that of a muscular man. He was toned, but not to the overly defined physique of bodybuilders. His was a build that was perfected through practice and form rather than weights. His skin was a pale white, the only thing remaining from avatar’s initial appearance. That, he soon corrected, giving it the darker shade of someone who spent more time in the sun, the skin that he used to have. He looked at the avatar some more, thinking the sight of it would help him, soothe him.

It didn’t.

His hand flicked across the sliders again. He kept the build, but shorted the hair and made it black. He also adjusted the color of the skin, shifting it from the sun-tanned look to a color that was actually paler than it first was. The avatar’s eyes, once blue and clear, shifted to a deep red color at his command. A cold expression sat on the avatar’s face, and his hand hovered to alter the features that sat on it, but he paused. It was different enough, no point in being completely different. His avatar hurt less to look at now and he allowed himself a pitiful “smile” at its appearance.

“If only…”

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Avatar Adj--

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He pressed the spot that would have said “Free Form”. The flash of light that followed blinded him, but as his vision cleared he saw that the hands of his avatar were now his own. It shouldn’t have, but it made him smile.

“I can enjoy this… just for a bit, can’t I?”

It was then that he realized that he was standing, and then for a moment everything froze. He was standing.

As an experiment, he moved his foot.

He held back a gasp as he took a step. There was a delay, possibly from his mind getting used to its new shell, but still he took that step. He took another, then another, and when he immediately didn’t fall on his face he almost lept for joy.

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Please sele--

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He practically smacked the section that would have said Retissia. His life was saturated enough by machines as it was. Something… anything different would have been preferrable.

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Please enter your Username:

__________

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That was the choice that made him pause. He wasn’t the type that wanted attention, so it would have been better for him to choose a name that many people had, but he had heard of ways to hide a player’s username.

Keeping that in mind, he chose the name that most suited him.

“Null.”

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This username is currently in use by 531 players, would you still like to use this name?

Yes / No

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That made him frown. He hadn’t actually expected there to be people with that name, but then again it was the internet. As disappointing as it was, he liked the name anyways, so he selected yes.

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User--

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He smacked where “Yes” would have been again.

“I don’t have time for this.”

As if on command, the light overtook him.