Child's Play.

[Wolfe]

There was a blinding flash and concussive sound, the shock-wave had hit shortly after the initial explosion, a searing heat that had leveled the trees and sent me tumbling into the hollow of an old, ancient looking tree, I cursed as I hit the damp, cold bottom of...whatever this chamber was. My ears were still ringing from the blast and that same shadow had been following me for quite some time. I didn't know how far I had wound up away from the city, all I knew was that I was thirsty, hungry and in need of a sharper sword...maybe there were some things in the forest I could scavenge...that would have to be for later today after the explosions had settled down, until then I was stuck in this place. I was wondering whether a stream was nearby...there had to be some source of water that kept all these trees alive. I decided to wait until everything settled down and continue on this pointless journey. I wondered where all the other players were, surely some of them had had to have escaped the city, it was foolish thinking to assume that I was the only one.

[cats]

* * *

Begin Chapter Two: The Guardian

* * *



Players

You stand well away from the city, in a rolling field of yellow grain. The others are standing beside you. You see Sprite standing a few meters in front, facing the city, which is being destroyed by the fading light of a nuclear explosion.

Sprite

The overpressure wave rocked Sprite on her heels, but she didn't look away from the rising smokey orb until it had dissipated along with the dark ash vortex over the city. The sunset's light split the dust and struck the plains and ruins. After a long moment, she turned to face the players and the two stone markers that she had generated on the ground. Time was short, the cancerous corruption that had been allowed to enter her program through her many copies was already spreading, but she would allow herself a brief period of mourning. She scanned the text on the faces of the two short markers that stood in place of an actual burial, then the faces of the players. She pointed at the gravestones and spoke in an uncharacteristically somber and removed tone. "Two people have given their lives for yours. And mine. Two that I knew well." She trailed off and sighed as she decided that it was best to move forward and brief the players on their next task. "The anomaly that caused this" She motioned toward the city. "has been temporarily subdued. But only temporarily, I believe. In the process of subduing it and evacuating you, I sustained an injury. I'm not entirely sure how it has affected me yet, but I am sure that the effects will become more severe as time passes. I may become unable to assist your advancement in Reverie. It can be fixed, but I require access to my core, which is stored with the rest of the core programming, within the Infinity Matrix, in the northern part of the continent, defended by the Guardians. My ability to transport myself and others instantaneously seems to be blocked, so we- those of you that wish to assist me- will have to travel by foot. It will be dangerous, challenging, and tedious at times. For those of you that wish to leave and live a more peaceful life, there is a city to the west and another to the south. I will not think less of you for it." She held up a hand. "Before any of you object or agree, there is another matter that must be dealt with. Now that you've all finished your trial, or at least what we'll call your trial for the sake of time, you may choose your... ah... classes. Or aspects, roles, whatever you'd like to call them. The classes influence the player's tendency toward certain skillsets. Some must be gained over time, some will make themselves evident as soon as they are chosen." Sprite held a hand flat, palm facing upwards. "For example, there's:

Druid." A leafy green vine grew from Sprite's hand. "Druids have the ability to control and warp nature to their will. Power will be given instantaneously, but you'll have to learn some incantations and chants over time.

Scout." The vine was replaced by an image of Petra wearing her 3D Manuvering equipment. "Increased vision, honed reflexes, and an ability to go undetected.

Engineer." The image of the deceased Petra was replaced by spinning cogs. "Engineers lean toward knowledge of mechanical devices. You may find that you absorb knowledge from the environment.

There are many, many more." A long list of titles and descriptions appeared in front of the players. "After you choose one, you might not experience a change. Be patient, the game does these things gradually in some cases."

[Professor Fenway]

High above the planet, on the edge of the atmosphere, the hexagonal monolith was slowing down. Ahead of it, a massive platform loomed. An ancient derelict of metal and plastic, canonically, it was a massive installation designed to serve the planet.

The monolith approached the tumbling platform, long since abandoned as civilization crumbled below. With a resounding screech, Parallax's AI core smashed into the platform and burrowed into the structure, where it remained.

[Error]

Markus shook his head. Nuts. This whole game was nuts.

He stepped forwards and looked askance at Sprite.

"You said North, right?"

[ACH0225]

Tyyr watched the AI's speech, and while he figured this was all part of the game, he might as well play along.

When Sprite finished, he spoke up. "I'd like to be a Kyysr Siiklriisyyk."

Sprite looked back, confused. "That's not a programmed class, but I guess..."

The Kyysr Siiklriisyyk, Deploy Solos, were elite single owl deployed soldiers. They were not always deployed in combat, but specialized in long distance flight and sniping. Tyyr had been one, accomplished in many campaigns, and had retired due to being out of the limited age that would allow for an effective Kyysr. He was given this job because it was not taxing on his body, and he could simply use his acquired skill to win and hack into enemy combat training simulators.

(They're like scouts, but special ops, sometimes deployed as the only owl soldier on the enemy planet. Some bonus that could be nice would be long distance flight gear and a scope or sniper rifle)

[Wolfe]

I had been teleported back to the field of grain where a funeral service was in effect and a shimmering AI stood before me and the hundreds of other countless players in the game. The mood was solemn, but I had seen death too often...that being said, it wasn't pretty and I had sympathy for the obviously dismayed AI. "...so we- those of you that wish to assist me- will have to travel by foot. It will be dangerous, challenging, and tedious at times. For those of you that wish to leave and live a more peaceful life, there is a city to the west and another to the south. I will not think less of you for it." She held up her hand and listed the classes and then went silent. I chose druid and then stepped forward and waved to get her attention. "I volunteer to go with you. I'm no stranger to death and violence, but it's never pretty."
I stepped back and looked at the ground. The game had changed, and right now I wasn't sure if it was for the best or worse yet, either way, it wasn't in me to just leave someone who needed help alone. I was trained to be a soldier, but I still had the heart of a man.

[Professor Fenway]

Space Platform A-7716 is nearing completion.

The main AI chamber has been erected and keeps the core secure. The thrusters and engines were back online and were currently stabilizing and circularizing the platform's orbit. The defensive guns were being brought online as well.

At the same time, the drop-pod systems were being prepared. Parallax would soon be able to interface with the world from orbit, near the existing edge of Reverie.

[cats]

OOC: Fenway used REVIVE!

BIC

<<Brief summary of "Theoretical program-analogous virtual environment, existential physical/code-state coordination, and network protocol within Reverie"

The structure of the virtual environment of many modern VRs, the characters present in-game, and events that take place within the program often reflect the structure and state of the actual underlying programming and physical network. In Reverie, this is true for nearly every manifestation of the game, from tectonic activity within crust of a planet to a single blade of grass. This allows the reality of the game to evolve beyond the point of software, to an unprecedented state of life.

Take for instance one of the intelligent non-player characters or a sub-program virtual intelligence. Each is not only sustained and controlled by the processes of Reverie or a representation of the software, but actually has the ability to change the program as they, themselves, evolve. The base algorithms that are used to generate AIs are taken from a bank of hundreds of neural pathway schematics (copied from real individuals' brains recorded both prior to release and during game) in order to simulate sentient intelligence in the most realistic manner possible. It is evident, however, that Reverie will allow purely original minds to grow within it as it evolves. When a character dies, they do not just disappear from the environment, their code isn't recycled and put into another. The code that is fundamental to their being is destroyed. It is possible, however, that Reverie could, in the future, develop a means to store information that was generated and subsequently obliterated.

The network that links each player and console is, at the moment, made up of a highly experimental, multi-dimensional system that utilizes specific tendencies of quantum interaction to establish and preserve connections [omitted section can be found on page 17]. The wetware used to connect the player to the console is currently a standard spinal prong and a system of cellular activity sensors that are used to map the player's brain. Normally, this would be a relatively safe method of immersion, however, due to the unpredictable nature of Reverie, it is unknown how the wetware will actually affect the players. Some test subjects that have undergone immersion into the reality have experienced feedback from the game, resulting in complete brain death. Because the system is already online, we cannot actually investigate, but we believe that this may be caused by Reverie misinterpreting the subject as part of the program and are attempting to find a solution before the release deadline.>

More information can be found in the library codex of most Reverie information centers. The nearest is located in Unrada and is currently offline. We apologize for the inconvenience.>

[Archduke Daynel, PhD]

The nuclear disintegration of the city, the funeral for the heroes.. It was all very sad and dramatic, but also a bit.. peaceful.
Jesse looked at the list. There were a lot of different classes to choose from, some stupid, some interesting. The scout class seemed nice, but were there perhaps others like it that could suit him better? Maybe he should just choose a completely different class and use the skills he already had for the sneaky/scoutey stuff, and so more or less have two classes, or at least one-and-a-half, for the price of one?

He decided to play it safe, though, and choose the scout class. "..to go with you. I'm no stranger.." he heard another player say. Sure sounds like an overenthusiastic fellow, Jesse thought. No stranger to death and violence, huh? The hell did that guy do in his spare time? Either he ran around murdering people, or he just spent waaay to much time in VR games. Jesse had heard it happen before; people getting too obsessed with VR games, believeing either it to be real or everything to be just as fake as the games.
"I'll join you too, I guess.
He then looked at Yarxn.
"So, what class are you gonna choose? And are you coming with us?"

[Error]

Markus, having decided naturally on Engineer, took stock. Noting something, he wandered over to Sprite.

"'Scuse. I note that this game seems...a touch lethal. While I do not think you are the creator, could you give me insight on why the creator chose to kill people?"

[Professor Fenway]

An asteroid was blasted into thousands of pieces, bits of rock careening in every direction, glowing red with heat. The brittle rock crumbled to reveal solid cores of gleaming metal. Almost immediately after it appeared, spider like robots touched down on them, their four prong-like legs sticking themselves inside the asteroid, their square bodies flanked by thrusters. They fired in unison, pulling the rock and returning it to the now-functional refinery on the space platform above. A rectangular access door, currently open, allowed the mining bots to enter the platform and drop the asteroids into the massive smelter, and an overpowering orange glow was emanating from the rooms that bordered the door. On the longest sides of the door were two Omni-Sensor units, large square blocks of advanced sensors and detecting equipment. Multiple dishes were present on each, many of them spinning quickly, some slowly, some stationary. This system was currently in use.

Parallax was monitoring the entourage below. Heartwarming speech by Sprite. But she had -once again- tried to destroy him. Even though they were both attacking the same thing. Parallax knew that he would be hunted. While his space platform was relatively safe for now, he could be easily destroyed if the players gained access to the right equipment. He probed the game files for a second, looking for relevant tags. As he did so, the game world rippled very slightly, imperceptibly, but enough to be detected by monitoring equipment. It was too subtle for an organic mind. After a minute of searching, he came up with four targets.

The first was the Starport. It was sunk in the world's ocean, far to the south near the city. Unlike most of the continent, this city was still thriving with people. Not too dangerous, at least as dangerous as cities could go. The Starport fell into disuse after the collapse of the world's government, but it was still maintained. From sensors, at least three combat-capable ships were still docked. It would have to be dealt with.

The second appeared to be a massive orbital gun, to the east of the former city. It was sunk inside a mesa, and subsurface scans indicated a large complex present inside the mesa. It was heavily damaged in the civil war that had felled this world, but it could be repaired without problem. Parallax knew it could be used against him, but he wanted it repaired. It would be extremely useful in keeping space free of other craft.

The third was outside the city to the west, about 20 kilometers from the last house. A series of nuclear missile silos were present there. Most were abandoned and useless. Some still held functional nuclear devices; Parallax presumed that this is where Sprite got the device that destroyed Unrada. Nuclear missiles could be easily shot down- that he knew. Their blast wouldn't be an issue. But if detonated in the right position, it would create an EMP blast capable of frying many electronics and overloading electrical systems. It would cripple the platform and most of his robotic workforce, and his army. But the nuclear devices could easily remove players and unwanted compounds from existence. And he could not create his own nuclear weapons, not without Uranium, which was very rare in orbit.

The fourth was Sprite's Infinity Matrix. Located to the north. Sensors indicated several extremely powerful automatons present in the compound. He could not determine their function nor their layout, due to EM interference. The compound's construction was also highly variable; it seemed to have destabilized and could not take on a specific solid form for long. If this was Sprite's core, then it needed to be taken out or taken over.

There were a few other compounds that caught his attention. A nuclear processing plant to the south. A fusion power plant in the northwest. Several storage facilities in the east. And a research compound in the Southwest. He would send cores to all these locations.

On the aft of the platform, Parallax had constructed ten small silos, each now sealed against space. Eight of them opened, each revealing a small black hexagonal prism, about 8 meters long and 1 meter thick. Slightly smaller than the main core, but very similar in appearance. One by one, the hexagons were shot out the pods, each with a slightly different trajectory, until the last prism had been ejected. They were headed planet-side.

Above Sprite's funeral procession, multiple streaks appeared in the sky as the prisms hit the atmosphere and heated up in reentry. They diverged, each oriented differently from the other. And they moved relatively slow.

[Professor Fenway]

You all disgust me

[cats]

You all disgust me

Blargh, my bad, I haven't even noticed anyone had posted in the last few days . This is a good place to stop, though, Reverie has run it's course for now. I'll probably pick it up with Chapter Two a little later when it feels fresher (I mean that when I say it this time, I've gotten too attached to my characters). I've already written part of an OP for another RP, Vanguard, that I've been planning for a while, which should be up tomorrow or later tonight.

[ACH0225]

The dead RP pile grows.

Seriously, I never got a reply for my post earlier; I hate being the last guy to post on a page, nobody replies.

[Shadowcatbot]

OOC: dead my ass it's still a the top of the page. Therefor it qualifies as alive.

Yarxn looked over at Jesse and said "trying to decide I think il just play it safe and run scout too, but perhaps something a bit more special.... Hrm perhaps a jetpack scout? Yes I think il go with that" after which a short shimmering buzzing sound marked the arrival of a jumppack upon Yarxn's back. "So into the breach?" He said to Jesse.