Holy jeez this stuff was expensive! Emma sat down with a box sitting on her lap that contained all the equipment she needed to start her first ‘dive’ into the virtual world. “At least that’s what the book says… Uuugh… this better be worth my grade….” She muttered as she scowled at her package. The Psychology major had zero interest in anything that had to do with gaming or online stuff. She simply wanted to experience the craze that was causing a lot of concern around the world when it came to addiction and people being able to distinguish fantasy from reality. She hoped she would be able to understand at least a little. Perhaps talk to others while in the internet. …seriously, INSIDE the internet. She shook her head and opened the box…

A full day had passed. She really had no skill when it came tech stuff. Everything was finally set up and ready to go. All she had to do was put on the gear, lay down comfortable, and boot it up. Or so one of the many tech support agents had told her over the last few hours.

Finally, she was in. Emma looked around her sudden new surroundings. Everything was a soft white. The only thing she could see, was window infant of her nonexistent self asking for a screen name. Simply thinking of what she could call herself pulled up the required tools, such as a keyboard. The letters seemed to type themselves as she didn’t exactly have hands to do that with. Slytheria was now her online persona. Next was gender and all the stuff she vaguely wondered how people had the will power to complete before giving up and doing something productive.

Her time in the virtual world, or VR as it was called, suddenly got a little interesting. She found that she rather liked the character creation and was a little amused, not that she’d admit it, of how her very self began to form as she went through the settings. Ultimately she chose a tall female with waist length black wavy hair and purple eyes. She was particularly fond of the black fox set she got from the starter currency she got for being a new subscriber. The ears and tail moved as if attuned to her every thought and emotion. That was pretty charming. Her clothing was the most basic of basic. A plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers. She had spent all of her currency on the tail and ears that she found so adorable.

Her avatar created; she was suddenly dumped into the starting area of… the internet? “Maybe I’m too old for this,” the 27 year old muttered to herself as she saw a bunch of creatures who were other players running around and shouting. She could ‘hear’ it and read what was being said. It was total chaos. She didn’t even know where to start. Her hands on her virtual hips, she stared around hopelessly while looking for a clue.

The young woman spawns into a sprawling, multi-level metropolis, with shops and other stores crammed in to the infrastructure of the city. Staircases between levels pass through bookstores and restaurants in the commercial district, and gently sloping water slides provide quick transportation between areas of the city. The city is very busy, and just jam packed with shops and things.

Another young lady, with short, white hair and red robes was climbing up through one of the staircases when she spots Emma and heads over. "Heeey, you've got some sense about you, I see. You didn't end up spending your money until you knew just what you wanted, right? Or you knew what you wanted right away... You don't see a lot of newbies with the sense to buy the expensive items like this right away." She smiles softly, circling around the woman once before stopping in front of her.

"Name's Trinity. What's yours?" She had a number of nick knacks attached to her robes, as well as some good RPG stats.

Emma... no, Slytheria turned to keep her eyes on this new woman all the while still suffering from what could only be culture shock. "Oh, a-ah... um... Slytheria. I thought these items were cute. I didn't really care about the rest..." She said a little awkwardly. Was she being mocked for getting them? Sure, it seemed strange but they were cute. "Should I have gotten something else?" She asked, momentarily forgetting her mission.

"It's your money, isn't it?" Trinity stepped back from the woman, giving her a curious look. After a moment, the girl turns and continues on the way she'd been going before. "Well, I was just on my way to the Adventure Field, myself. Get some nice PvE maps in. I guess I might catch you around, Slytheria." She waves to the woman as she starts to head back for the staircase she was ascending earlier.

Slytheria watched Trinity go all the while thinking. They were already aquatinted now, might as well see if she'd like to have a tag-along. "H-hey, Trinity! Wait, please!" She called as she ran after the woman. "I'm sure you know already, but I'm new to all this," she panted after closing the distance quickly. "Would you mind if I... followed you around a little? I won't be in your way." She might be able to get some good notes down tonight. Her avatar looked pretty advanced compared to her own so maybe this woman was one of those addicts to diving into the internet if she spent all that time or money getting this stuff.

Trinity stopped as she heard the girl calling out after her. She turns to watch her approach, considering what she'd need to bring this girl with her. Well, it might be a little bit of money to get her properly equipped, but it would be worth it for a party member... assuming she was any good. "Aaah, well... it might be a little rough on you. Have you tested out your pain settings? Made sure you're comfortable with them?" Those were important to have properly set. Having them too high could really ruin your experience. Too low was less of a problem, but some people liked the rush.

"Hmm..." The woman assesses her young charge. She'd need a weapon beyond the newbie weapon if she wanted to come along. "We'll have to get you some equipment..." She could provide at least decent armor, but, "if you were to fight a monster, how would you do it?"

"Pain?" Sly asked, homing in on that. "This is all fake! How can there be-- why would anyone want to feel pain online?" She asked, completely shocked. She hadn't heard of that aspect of the internet. "What does that have to do with maps? I mean, I can see why one would be needed," she rambled a bit while also looking around, completely overwhelmed. Then she went silent and stared at Trinity, eyes wide. "Fight a monster?" This girl was more hopeless than a newbie. The last virtual game she played had been when she was a child and she believed it had been called a PS Vita or maybe it was a Nintendo?

"Some people don't. They turn it off. I think it's good negative feed back: don't get hit. Some people really like it, but they're pretty much universally vaguely crazy, at best." Trinity shook her head, though just how lost this young lady was gave her right away. "Eeer... Right. Y'know how video games are video games? Yeah. Monsters. We're just gonna ignore that 'maps' thing for now. I think you'll understand that when we get there... Maybe." She turns and starts to climb her staircase again, expecting the girl to follow. She knew she was going to need to stop by an equipment shop, but they'd just have to figure out which one on the way.

"So, if you were gonna fight a monster, what would you want to fight it with?" She probably was going to have to ease her in to the game, too. Which means she'd be taking her somewhere for novice players and not getting any good loot. Oh well...

Slytheria paused to think about it for a moment. "I don't think I could," she finally admitted. "Even if it was fake, I'm not really sure I could bring myself to hurt anything." She followed along. She'd almost forgotten that the internet had things such as games. For a moment she had thought that just being right where they were they could be in 'danger' of attacks, perhaps by some virus or something. Already she was beginning to think that anyone who wanted to be here in this virtual world was probably crazy on some level. "So is that what you do a lot online?" She asked Trinity. "Just fight monsters?"

What the hell? People like this existed? Trinity catches herself staring at the girl, thinking her very strange. She looks away before she ends up leering at her too long, sighing softly. Newbies had a lot of hang ups they had to get over, sometimes, just... just, be patient. "There are all sorts of games to play. There are all sorts of simulators, but there's also strategy games and racing games, RPGs and... all sorts. Not all of them are compatible with VR, but then again, taking a step out of it can be refreshing sometimes. They just give you a fake controller to play with, instead of being in it."

Trinity gets off the stairs and leads the way out of whatever store they had climbed into, leading the way off into a corner of the shop. "If you don't want to fight, I'll get you a cleric staff. You can heal me."

"Heal?" She asked thoughtfully, not really a question. She actually liked the sound of that, it seemed so close to what she wanted to achieve in real life. "Is there a lot of stuff that I would have to get to heal you or is it just the staff?" She wanted to know. "I don't mind buying stuff if it's not a lot. I mean, I am kind of forcing my company on you. I can't expect you to go short because of that."

"No, there's not a lot to get, but you'll have to be on your toes. I can take a few hits, but not too many. You'll be busy keeping my health up and casting supporting spells. Stat buffs and status restorations, stuff like that. Uhm..." She stops and looks at the woman following her for a moment, before pushing her way into the next shop over. "You'll figure it out, I'm sure. You seem smart... kinda." She chuckles softly as she turns to face into the shop. "Don't worry about it, you'll want to save your money for your next staff. I can afford a basic staff for you. Here." She plucks a staff from among many on a rack. "Try it out. Cast a healing spell. It won't do much outside of a game, but you can still get the action as a visual effect. And, here. This is my old cloth armor. It should work well enough for you. The stat bonuses aren't quite right, but... it's good enough." She opens a small bag on her person and shuffles through her inventory for a bit before digging out the items she wants to hand over.

"Hmmm..." Was the only response for a moment as Slytheria looked through her menu and at her spells which were all beginning. "How many hours would you say you put into this game so far?" She asked conversationally as she equipped the items given to her. She had to admit, even the basic stuff looked kind of cool. She twisted this way and that to look herself over.

After she was satisfied with her gear, she cast a light healing spell. One that simply raised ones health in small amounts over time. There was no casting time and any special words. The only indicator that she had cast the spell (aside from holding her hand out) was a light green glow around Trinity. She didn't know if anyone aside from herself could see the numbers though. She saw the tick of +0 every few seconds. "Can you see the numbers or is that just me?" She wanted to know. Part of her wanted to turn that feature off. It seemed like it would get in the way of the scenery. But she also knew that she might actually need to be able to see what she was actually doing.

"How many hours? Oooh... Hundreds? I've played for a long time, too, though." While Slytheria worked on equipping herself, Trinity led the way to the transit system. They had to switch engines; in this case, drop the shopping and prepare to load in a game engine. She opened the terminal interface for the transportation center and ordered their ride. A boat pulls into the dock shortly, waiting for them. "Ever heard of Fairy Heart? I suppose not, huh... It's a series of games, and we'll be playing Crystal Legends. Stuff you do in this game can give you items and points in the other games.

She climbed into the boat and makes room for her new friend, waiting until she climbed in before she pushed off the dock and started to row. She pulled the oars into the boat after they clear the dock and let them be pulled by the current, down the chutes and into a tunnel. She faced backwards all the while, toward Slythera. A light on the boat illuminates their surroundings as the engines switch. "This will take use right to Fairy Heart: Crystal Legends. Ready to play?"

It would dump them out low from the side of a mountain, down a chute and into a nearby, slow flowing river. They can see the town immediately to their right, off a dock. Lots of people and fairies were gathered there, and Trinity looks up, smiling as a green fairy comes down to greet them. It flutters around Trinity in a circle, and Trinity speaks in response, "hey, Sylph. This is my friend, she doesn't have a fairy, so I'm counting on you to help protect her." The light bobs, and Trinity smiles at the creature before turning to Slythera. "When you play this game, you have to play with someone who owns it. You won't get far out of town, otherwise.

"I don't really play games but if I got someone to show me the ropes I think I'd do fine," she had answered with a shrug. "I've always been more about offline activities. Mostly studying. I thought I'd give it a little go while I had a little free time." She watched their scenery go by and stared at the adorable little fairy when it came. "So you only get a fairy if you own the game? What does it do?" She asked Trinity, taking her eyes off the creature in question for only a moment while she asked.

"Gotcha. Book nerd." Trinity nods approvingly as the boat pulls up to dock at the town. She steps off and helps Slytheria onto land, before turning and motioning to the town before them. There's a very large tree with crystals growing in clusters from the branches, like fruit. Fairys flutter about the tree, buzzing about amongst the branches and with players milling around the tree. Shops and walkways seem to have been somehow shaped into the tree naturally, housing a fair portion of the town within its trunk and among its branches.

"Fairies allow you to travel through the poisonous miasma that coats the land. Their very presence keeps it at bay. Trees like this one, and crystals like the ones growing on the branches, but bigger, also keep miasma at bay. You'll find large player hubs at trees like this, with smaller settlements with shops and local goods built up around a crystal growth.

"So, with your own fairy, you can play the game without needing a guide. Worth it for some people, not for others."