Intermission I
"Well,
everything okay?" Carthan patiently stood still again while the
process of sticking all of that equipment on him was run in
reverse.
"Yeah, perfect. It didn't even look like you got slightly upset the whole time, just—biologically speaking, as if you were sleeping peacefully."
"As it should be," the Neko nodded.
"Yeah, perfect. It didn't even look like you got slightly upset the whole time, just—biologically speaking, as if you were sleeping peacefully."
"As it should be," the Neko nodded.
"Well—so
how'd it go?" the lead designer asked. "What did you
think?"
"I admit it was fun," he said. "I met up with a few other players, we went through a dungeon and then back to town.
"From what I can tell, they all seemed to enjoy it quite a bit as well. When I pressed, they had some complaints regarding that device," he said, pointing to the pod. "I thought it was comfortable, but it isn't the same for everyone. One of them seemed to believe its inner workings could fit in a wearable."
"Hmm, yeah. But it's a lot easier to lose something like that, and we really want all the beta models back to run diagnostics on. I'm sure we can ship them some wearables if they want to keep playing afterward, though," she said.
"I admit it was fun," he said. "I met up with a few other players, we went through a dungeon and then back to town.
"From what I can tell, they all seemed to enjoy it quite a bit as well. When I pressed, they had some complaints regarding that device," he said, pointing to the pod. "I thought it was comfortable, but it isn't the same for everyone. One of them seemed to believe its inner workings could fit in a wearable."
"Hmm, yeah. But it's a lot easier to lose something like that, and we really want all the beta models back to run diagnostics on. I'm sure we can ship them some wearables if they want to keep playing afterward, though," she said.
"Understandable,"
the Neko nodded, dropping his arms after the last of the medical
equipment came off.
"The
acclamation process seemed to function perfectly, but the process
itself seemed...somewhat intense," he said. "Not
unpleasantly so for the most part, and of course not in a way that
affected my actual body...but I think, enough to issue a disclaimer
to at least anyone taking on the opposite sex in the future."
"Yeah, I
noticed what the randomizer picked for you," the designer said,
following him out toward the hall as he went. "What's it like
being part-sheep, anyway?"
"Odd. Not
unpleasant. Really, it began to feel natural before very long. I
don't know if I would've liked it if I were stuck that way, or needed
to cope with the different dietary needs I would have in that form,
but it was enjoyable feeling young and strong," he said. "I
admit I only met with three other actual players—and two of our
employees—during the session."
"That's about what's expected, for the number of beta players we have spread across the game world. Just try to party up with a different group next time, if you can. That is part of the idea of the game, after all—getting out of your comfort zone and meeting people you never would otherwise."
Carthan nodded. "Never thought I would have a civil conversation with a fox, for one thing."
"That's about what's expected, for the number of beta players we have spread across the game world. Just try to party up with a different group next time, if you can. That is part of the idea of the game, after all—getting out of your comfort zone and meeting people you never would otherwise."
Carthan nodded. "Never thought I would have a civil conversation with a fox, for one thing."
Marcus was such a
bizarre person. He was unerringly forthright about everything,
excited about everything, and never approached anything in any way
besides diving in headfirst. Naomi met him in college when she was
already engaged, and—although he was a tall, fit, handsome man, he
never expressed any romantic interest in her either before or after
learning that. Instead, after knowing her for slightly over a year,
he'd approached her with a business proposition.
Her first
impression of him was that he was some kind of male ditz—a nice,
excessively friendly jock, but without much going on in his head.
This proved to be totally incorrect; Marcus was deceptively clever in
some ways, and his ideas for setting up and running a gym were rock
solid. After talking it over with the man who'd become her husband by
then, Naomi agreed to go in with him on the project. And
miraculously, five years later, they were still wildly profitable.
It was Monday,
so—like clockwork—he ran in the door just ten minutes before
open. Naomi had taken care of setting things up and was sitting
behind the front desk; he'd make up for it by coming in early later
in the week. "Morning! Sorry, overslept." He dashed around
checking everything himself, finding it all already done.
"Yeah, yeah."
Even though it didn't surprise her, he always seemed
astonished and a bit ashamed when he overslept the night of their day
off and wound up coming in late. "Hey." Naomi waved at him
when he was near the counter, and patted the side of her head.
"You're due for a haircut, you know." It was just
long enough to look a bit wild, since he didn't usually do more than
run his hands through it briefly when he was running late.
"Huh." He ran one hand through it now like he was surprised about its length, then shrugged.
"Huh." He ran one hand through it now like he was surprised about its length, then shrugged.
"You have fun
with that new game last night?" She wasn't really into video
games, but of course he'd been so excited about this new thing that
he wouldn't shut up about it for approximately a month, making her
almost as much an expert on the matter as he was.
"Yeah! It was
amazing. Oh, I even met a cute girl, too. I mean, like, I
dreamed about her last night!" he said, grinning.
"You know
she's probably a fat old man or somethin'," Naomi said, but
half-heartedly. As always, Marcus's smile was infectious.
"Haha, yeah, but...it just. The game world, is so real. Like actually, really being in another world. You can—see, and feel, and hear and smell everything," he said, gesticulating excitedly.
"Haha, yeah, but...it just. The game world, is so real. Like actually, really being in another world. You can—see, and feel, and hear and smell everything," he said, gesticulating excitedly.
"I'm sure
someone will be pleased they can simulate any stench they want
now," she said sarcastically. "Heey, maybe you can try out
virtual allergies soon!" One infuriating thing about Marcus was
that he'd never had any kind of allergies, and she was pretty
sure he'd never been sick in his life, either.
He came back to the
counter again and finally stopped running around for a minute.
"Sorry, uh, who's on the schedule today?"
"Well, you've got Yaboth first thing..." she listed everyone off for him, counting on her fingers. Yaboth, poor dear, was a gluttony demon. For him, carrying some extra weight wasn't the least bit unhealthy, but he still didn't like it and kept looking for new ways to get rid of it. Marcus had talked him down from three or four different useless fad diets so far. "...then Giles and Phillis this afternoon," she finished. "Some wiggle room after that."
"Got it, thanks!" He gave her an actual thumbs-up and headed off to get started, just as their doors officially opened and the first few customers started walking in.
"Well, you've got Yaboth first thing..." she listed everyone off for him, counting on her fingers. Yaboth, poor dear, was a gluttony demon. For him, carrying some extra weight wasn't the least bit unhealthy, but he still didn't like it and kept looking for new ways to get rid of it. Marcus had talked him down from three or four different useless fad diets so far. "...then Giles and Phillis this afternoon," she finished. "Some wiggle room after that."
"Got it, thanks!" He gave her an actual thumbs-up and headed off to get started, just as their doors officially opened and the first few customers started walking in.
Aetuornos was no
ordinary game. Usually Remus could separate himself mentally between
'work' and 'play', focusing exclusively on his job when he was at the
job, but he caught himself several times more or less daydreaming
about the next time he'd get to play: Wondering what the story the
demon general had hinted at was going to be like, or dreaming up
creative new spell ideas and strategies. It wasn't enough to really
disrupt his work; if anything it energized him to keep at it when he
would otherwise have been unbearably bored. He hadn't had quite this
level of near-distracting obsession with a piece of media since he
was a teenager.
He wasn't really
into 'trying out a girl's body' the way Marcus seemed to be, but
getting to be someone else—especially someone with incredible magic
powers—certainly appealed to him. Ever since the veil was lifted
and everyone learned that magic was real, he couldn't help but feel
he'd missed the bus. Of course he'd tried out some basic tests
for magic capability and found more or less nothing at all. He was
far too old to try to become an alchemist or something, and he
just wasn't quite adventurous enough to go shopping for magical
trinkets online. Really, even Marcus was practical-minded
enough to not buy possibly cursed artifacts from strangers.
And..they didn't
really know any especially magical people. That wasn't to say they
weren't acquainted with some who turned out to be, such as
several of their respective customers, but no close friends or anyone
Remus would feel comfortable approaching and asking to help him earn
a Kitsune tail, have a werewolf bite him, or something crazy like
that. Realistically, it was silly to want more in the first
place when both of them had fulfilling...well, reasonably
fulfilling and decidedly well-paying jobs. Maybe the game, with how
real the power felt to him as 'Aranthra', was just helping him
scratch that itch, and that was why he was getting so obsessed
with it. Well, hopefully it'd be long enough before they pulled the
plug on this one that some comparable competition would show up by
then.
If he had an
opportunity, though, Remus thought...maybe he'd take on a second
character sometime, for an extra fee if they asked it. Someone male,
and also at least as ridiculously physically fit as Marcus
always was. He wasn't sure if he could stomach being an all-physical
class, but there were plenty of hybrids to choose from in that
regard. Maybe he'd even try out a race with some nonhuman appendages,
like the eagle folk or something...yeah. But he'd only played as
'Aranthra' for one session so far and was very far from
tired of her. Marcus would surely be disappointed to see him 'give
up' so soon, too, and anyway the option to play multiple characters
hadn't even come into the conversation yet. For now, he knew, she
would do just fine.
"Now, it's no
skin off my nose, but y'all ain't plannin' nothin' evil with
this, are ya?" The red-headed, two-tailed kitsune was hard at
work reconfiguring a set of speakers for a bit of a mismatched
couple.
"Nothing you'd do with it," the wife said—a short catgirl named Violet. He wasn't too sure whether she was a Neko or not, and it didn't really matter that much. "There's more people with ears that can hear at higher frequencies these days, and even for the ones who can't, there's all kinds of temporary fixes. I just think it's high time someone wrote music that takes advantage of that."
"Nothing you'd do with it," the wife said—a short catgirl named Violet. He wasn't too sure whether she was a Neko or not, and it didn't really matter that much. "There's more people with ears that can hear at higher frequencies these days, and even for the ones who can't, there's all kinds of temporary fixes. I just think it's high time someone wrote music that takes advantage of that."
"In
theory, we've got the
software side fixed already," her husband said. Lance was a
tall, burly werewolf with a somewhat wild beard. "You want to
stick around for the test?"
"Nnnah, I think I'll be as far away as I can get," he said. "No offense, now."
"None taken," said Violet. "The avant-garde isn't for everyone."
"Nnnah, I think I'll be as far away as I can get," he said. "No offense, now."
"None taken," said Violet. "The avant-garde isn't for everyone."
"Hey, is that
what I think it is?" he said after working quietly for a
bit—pointing to a familiar plastic shell he could just see the edge
of through the doorway to an adjacent room.
"I guess so, if you recognize it," Lance said. "You part of the beta too? We were supposed to get two pods, but one of them broke in shipping and had to get sent back. Soo, we're taking turns for now."
"Hmph. 'Nother reason they shouldn'ta used such ridiculous kit in the first place. All the actual tech in that thing could fit in a hat," the Kitsune said.
"Oh?" Violet said, wandering back into the room. "I suppose you've had a look inside for yourself. Reconfigured things, maybe?"
"Now, I ain't admitting to anything like that."
"I guess so, if you recognize it," Lance said. "You part of the beta too? We were supposed to get two pods, but one of them broke in shipping and had to get sent back. Soo, we're taking turns for now."
"Hmph. 'Nother reason they shouldn'ta used such ridiculous kit in the first place. All the actual tech in that thing could fit in a hat," the Kitsune said.
"Oh?" Violet said, wandering back into the room. "I suppose you've had a look inside for yourself. Reconfigured things, maybe?"
"Now, I ain't admitting to anything like that."
"Heheh. I
wouldn't blame you, though. Lance barely fit into it last night, and
was stiff for hours this morning. We called and complained, and they
said they'd up the size of the replacement for him. Off the record,
though, I don't suppose you'd be able to..'customize' ours a bit?"
"Hmm. I can't
exactly rip out the tech without voidin' your warrantee, as I don't
quite know enough'a how it works to put it back together again. Tell
ya what though," he said, getting an excellent idea. "I
oughta be able to rig somethin' separate up that can communicate with
it, without tamperin' with the proprietary device itself. I'll test
it with mine and come back to ya if it looks like it works."
"That'd be
great," Lance said.
"Say,
what's your character like?" the werewolf continued. "We
wanted to try out forms kinda like each other, you know, for
fun."
"Now, I'd rather not say. I gotta keep some mystery, and I ain't hidin' my tails," the Kitsune said. "..Anyway, it's rigged up. Should be able to put out the high squeals and low rumbles like ya asked. And.." He popped the speaker casing back together. "Don't look like anything special at all," he said, standing up and patting it a couple of times. "Just in case the avant-garde wants to surprise somebody."
"Heheh, as long as it isn't you, I presume," Violet said.
"Now, I'd rather not say. I gotta keep some mystery, and I ain't hidin' my tails," the Kitsune said. "..Anyway, it's rigged up. Should be able to put out the high squeals and low rumbles like ya asked. And.." He popped the speaker casing back together. "Don't look like anything special at all," he said, standing up and patting it a couple of times. "Just in case the avant-garde wants to surprise somebody."
"Heheh, as long as it isn't you, I presume," Violet said.
"Yyyep."
The old Neko came
to his house and checked his mail, shuffling through it on the short
walk to his front door—a quite old habit of his, to have the
majority of spam set apart from the little that mattered before he
even got inside. This time he paused briefly at one particular flier,
mentally filing it for closer inspection before taking the last
couple of steps to go inside.
Tired of old age? Want to live
longer?
REJUVENATION SERVICE
REJUVENATION SERVICE
In town this week only!
Call to reserve a place...
It was a little
funny for these people to use physical fliers, when an email or text
would surely be easier and cheaper, Carthan thought. But then—it
was people exactly like him that they were trying to reach, and he
had to admit he checked the snail-mail far more often before signing
on with the "virtual-reality" people. Much of the space was
taken up by photographs of past "customers" with an arrow
pointing from their (literal) old appearances to the new, young ones;
of course, these results all looked like young-adult versions of the
originals, and only the fine print mentioned how unpredictable the
results could be sometimes. He'd heard stories of that magic
unexpectedly awakening humans into demons, overshooting their target
and leaving folks physically children, or changing hair color,
complexion, and all kinds of other "minor" changes in
appearance that rendered them initially unrecognizable to their
friends and family—if the reduced age wasn't enough for that.
He sighed, placing
it on the kitchen table while he threw away the rest of the mail.
Until today, he'd gotten so used to being old that he forgot how much
worse it felt than being young. And anyway, his tail wasn't showing
any signs of splitting anytime soon, so that much more stable
path to immortality was likely closed for now. But, besides the fact
that it was probably too late to call tonight, he just...needed more
time to think about it. Maybe another time being 'Jesse' for a while
would either convince him to give it a shot, or else fail to—and
then he could make a decision. Besides, he'd have to speak
with the Aetuornos people beforehand, too, since perhaps they still
needed more medical data from an old, "weathered" body like
his present one to be absolutely sure their device was safe.
As you may have already noticed, I've changed the way this story is numbered/titled slightly. The reason for this is that I've essentially had what I hope is a good idea for how the story overall will be organized, and a different way of "numbering" it to match. I think it maybe also fits the theming of being based on a video game slightly better, as well as distinguishing it a bit more from how the other stories are numbered.
Hopefully it isn't too confusing; in fact please let me know if any of this nonsense makes it actually difficult to navigate things. If I change my mind later, I may alter the numbering yet again, but I'm happy with this new system for now at least.
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