driftfleet | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Atoli
Broadcast: video; fleet wide
Action: Marsiva
When: Dec 25ish

[This sudden turn of events has left Atoli stunned. She's to be frowning near the hospital decks. Her mind is boggled for various reasons.]

Um, can anyone hear me? My name's Atoli. I don't know what's happening. I woke up and I suddenly found myself here I--[The poor girl seems to be having trouble putting her thoughts into words. With her expression and tone it's clear that she's not taking this very well at all.]

I can't seem to remember anything from before I arrived. I think I was supposed to meet up with my friend. I got lost afterwards. [She definitely emailed Haseo and told him to go meet up with her at the Forbidden Grounds, so why is she here? It's puzzling.]

Would someone please help me? I'd hate to be a burden, but I need to know what's going on. This isn't "The World" is it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's something productive to do.

I'm sorry you couldn't worry on your main project here. [The lack of technology is saddening. ]

It's okay. I was working on it with a couple of classmates back home- I'm sure they'd be annoyed if I finished it on my own.

[But enough about him, before he gets outright evasive.]

What about you? What's your world like?

[He pointedly avoids specifying whether he means the virtual or real world. It isn't polite to pry about the latter.]

[Atoli laughs happily and nods.]

I had pets back at home! I took care of three birds whenever I wasn't playing an mmorpg.

[She really loves birds can't you tell?]

[She sure does.]

What kind of birds are they?

Hand-perching sparrows! They're really friendly and have different color wings.

One of my birds is pink, the other second is white and the last bird has a cinnamon color.

[She went out of her way to give them all names too.]

Pink sparrows are... pretty rare, aren't they?

[He can honestly say he's never seen one before.]

You won't find pink sparrows outside all the time. I'd say they're unique and special.

If they were too rare then we couldn't keep them as house pets. [Then that would be a true shame...]

Did you keep any pets at home Kirito?

No, my family hasn't had pets for a long time. None of us really have the time for taking care of them.

[Well, okay, he probably could do it, but he doesn't trust his attention span. He'd rather play games.]

Pets take a lot of time and care don't they? It might be hassle for some people. I understand.

[Some people have better things to do than clean up after pets.]

Well, it would be bad if they weren't healthy because we neglected them. Better that they're with people who can look after them.

Animals seem to like me well enough, though. I have a friend in the virtual world with a feathered dragon companion, and she's always falling asleep on me.

[Digital pets totally still count.]

A feathered dragon! It sounds cute...

[Atoli secretly wishes she could hug the feathered dragon. Digital pets count yo. They still require some care even if they're virtual.]

Did you pet it?

I did a little, yeah. She has a way of getting herself under your hands when you aren't looking.

[Sneaky, like her master.]

The transfer of information by touch still isn't a perfect technology, but even so, she's very soft.

She must enjoy getting pats on the head.

Technology sounds amazing in your world. You might have more advanced computers than mine.

[She only had her monitor and video game. Going into it was only possible because of AIDA nonsense.]

It's definitely come a long way. Ten years ago we had nothing that could compare to what exists now. I know I'm lucky.

[Even if VRMMOs kind of almost killed him multiple times. Who's counting?]

I can say the same thing actually.

I'm thankful that we have technology to begin with. Without it we wouldn't be able to play these games that we love so much.

Can I ask what your tech is like? This is the first time I've come across someone with similar gaming capabilities.

Of course!

Um, people who play the world access it through a head mount display. It looks kind of like a pair of goggles? I used an M2D. It was fairly pricey when I first got it.

Is technology expensive where you're from too?

[The costs they pay for games man...oops.]

[Head mount display, huh. So not that different from Nerve Gear or Amusphere then.]

It was outrageous, honestly. I just barely managed to afford it somehow...

[Basically. It's got the same concept.]

When you played the game it must have felt worth it, right?

Hah... yeah. It definitely did.

[During the beta test, anyway. SAO... was a whole other can of worms. Still, it isn't all bad.]

It was the same for me! I met so many friendly people while I was playing the world.

There were terrible ones too. Did you know any player killers in your mmorpg?

[The ones who like to slaughter people outside of fields for no reason at all??? They must exist in Kirito's mmorpg too, Atoli figures.]

[Ahahaha... ha... ha... so much for keeping it casual.]

Yeah- more than I care to remember. They're the lowest of the low.

[Though in most games they're not, you know, actual murderers.]

I agree!! You shouln't do those things to people.

I'm happy to learn that you aren't one of those players.

[...Is it still PKing when it's sort of in self defense?

Anyway.]

This might seem like a weird question, but it's not... dangerous in real life, is it? To be killed in your game.

Don't worry I don't think it's a strange question. [It makes her nervous, but she'll answer honestly.]

Some people in my world suffered from something called Doll Syndrome after playing The World. The reports said that players who participated in the arena ended up in a coma later.

Kind of odd right? I take it that something similar happened to your game too?