Taylor Giles RP Post
Colorful assortments of clothing lay in heaps atop a wooden display table. Pale hands quickly fold and organize the mess. A smile spreads across a teenage girl’s face as she looks toward a digital clock hung on the wall. There are five minutes left until this shift ends, also marking the beginning of her weekend. Brown eyes are locked in place, watching numbers go up in value. Finally, the clock shifts to a new hour. Her heart beat quickens, she saved up enough money to go to the arcade this weekend and play Ultimate Horizon. Turning on the balls of her feet, she heads to the employees’ break room more excited than usual to clock out. She treks down store halls until a tall wooden door stands in front of her marked “H.R.” Men and women stand around, leaning on cubicles drinking coffee. There is a kiosk in the corner of this room. She hurries past her work associates while saying bye. Unclipping her I.D. card from a lanyard, the girl swipes it through a slot in the machine to clock out.
She grabs her light brown canvas purse from a cubby before heading out. For a weekend, the streets aren't busy. Luckily, the arcade is a block away, so she doesn't have to walk far. A few minutes before 2:30 P.M., she reaches the arcade. The colorful display of lights makes her regret leaving a pair of sunglasses at home. Stepping inside, the smell of overpriced food clogs her senses. Scrunching her nose up, she searches the building for a virtual reality section. Younger kids are running around this area. Perhaps it’s upstairs, the arcade she frequents has more expensive equipment stored away from children. Her pale lime colored skirt swooshes around her legs as she rushes upstairs. To the right, V.R. machines line the wall. Brown eyes scan the space, but all of the game pods are occupied. Pouting, she walks toward a sitting area running across the wall. Several uneventful minutes pass before a windshield pops up. An older man gets out of the machine.
He blinks for a moment before looking toward her, “Do you want to play Ultimate Horizon? I just got off. It’s a pretty fun game if you haven’t tried it.”
She straightens her back before looking up with a smile, “Oh, thanks! I’m really excited to play.”
“Have fun,” he waves at her while walking off.
Pressing her lips together, she rushes over to the machine. Her brother already has a day of progress over her! She pulls out her credit card and slips it into the machine. For a moment, a grim look etches itself onto her face. This will take up most of her paycheck, and she doesn’t want to work more hours! Besides, she doesn’t like her job in the first place; it’s just a way to get money. However, she can’t let her brother break their current tie. Thus far, neither of them has beaten the other’s stats in an R.P.G. Sighing, she slides onto the seat and takes off her purse before slipping the game helmet over her head. Everything goes black.
“New game data loaded, please grip the handles with both hands to transfer into the game,” a mechanical voice instructs.
The girl jumps up, somewhat startled before doing as told. For a moment, it feels as though she’s being ripped from her body. Light seeps in through her eyelids. She was in an arcade one moment ago (technically, she supposes she still is); Virtual reality never ceases to amaze. She is inside a cozy, but futuristic lobby; arrows point down the hall to a character set up room. A screen pops up in front of her asking for her real name, and an in-game one. The first slot is easy to fill in.
“Taylor Giles,” she says, the game picks up her voice and fills her name in. Knitting her brows together, Taylor ponders username options.
After several agonizing moments, she looks toward the screen, “Jellyfish of Death.”
Surprisingly, the name is available. Next, she scrolls through a list of job options and picks Command Ship Driver.
“Are you sure you want that job to start off? Low level Command Ship Drivers can only join teams with members who are two levels ahead of themselves to prevent power leveling,” a mechanical voice asks.
“Well, you have to start somewhere,” she murmurs.
“Please wait while Ultimate Horizon loads a list of possible teams. You will be transported to the nearest space station.”
Taylor yelps as her body begins to dissolve into air. Once again, everything turns black. Her faculties return, and she looks around. White walls surround her, with transparent black beams running along them. Four other players are standing in the area. They’re wearing colorful spacesuits very different from her outfit. The group has sleek but heavily accessorized armor. She decides they must be higher levels than her.
“Hello, and welcome to Space Station AN-12. This room is reserved for crew-less command ship drivers. There are screens to your left, please go to one and scroll through your team options. Crews reserve the right to reject you,” a clinical voice instructs from above.
A square is situated in the middle of the black screen, asking for people to place their index fingers onto it. Taylor presses her finger against the screen and it lights up four times before changing into an option page. Charts lay in front of her detailing team stats. Most of the teams are made up of level three players. Looking to her side, she notices the man beside her is looking at a different batch of teams. All of his team mate options seem to be in the level forty ranges. Shifting her attention back to the selection screen, Taylor attempts to join a team.
“Thank you for putting in a request, your response is still pending,” a mechanical voice says.
Several second pass before a window pops up. The corners of her lips tug down into a frown. “Rejected,” that’s all it says. She tries to join several other teams, but groans out in frustration when they all reject her.
“Huh?” She stares at the last team chart. Why is there only one person? His name is… William. Well, he doesn’t seem to care about screen names.
Hmm, this might be a good opportunity, she thinks. It’ll give her the chance to pick team mates! Grinning, she taps her finger against the “Join” button and waits for a response. They better not reject her!