Comments | damned: Day 40: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

clockmongler in damned

Day 40: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

Apr 09, 2009 09:14

Well, that was... special. No wonder he was losing respect for this place--the fearful Martin Landel was coming undone, most probably with boredom. So scary. Even Nursey seemed a little exasperated, though that most likely had more to do with X's constant insistence to stay in the Sun Room rather than go inside the Greenhouse ( Read more... )

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oftemptation April 9 2009, 18:04:31 UTC

The strain from the prior shift was clearly evident on Endrance's face. For once, his nurse decided not to push going outside on him a second time; she allowed him to rest in the Sun Room, and he took that chance with only a silent nod in reply.

He sank down on one of the couches near the windows, and was surprised when not a moment later, he felt something small jump onto the couch next to him. He looked down and was shocked to see what appeared to be the same cat from the night before - white with dark-tipped ears, the spitting image of the smaller, frailer Mia - rubbing against his arm and purring.

"You..." Endrance trailed off, the words catching in his throat. He swallowed hard, just as the cat jumped into his lap and curled into a ball.

It was all he could do to look at her, really.

[The Video Game Addicts Anonymous meeting will now take place in the Sun Room. Matt, your attendance is cordially requested.]

whohitreset April 10 2009, 04:15:02 UTC

Matt had hoped that the crowd in the sun room this shift would allow him to sneak quickly into the game room and out, but he was wrong. It was like the nurses were waiting for him to make this move. He was grabbed roughly on the arm by an orderly as the nurse rattled on about how they weren't visiting the game room that afternoon (such crap - they never let him in there) and he found himself seated none-too-gently next to a girl with unnaturally blue hair that had to be a dye job.

Or, hold it. Not a girl. Great. Not that it mattered. He crossed his arms and leaned back in the seat in a bit of what he knew was a childish huff. But so what if it was? They were bastards, all of them.

He wanted a cigarette. And a gameboy. And he hoped Mello had fallen off a cliff and died.

oftemptation April 10 2009, 06:19:52 UTC

The cat in Endrance's lap drifted off to sleep, only interrupted when Matt sat down next to him. It meowed once, then turned in a circle and went to sleep again.

"You look as unhappy to be here as I am...I'd rather be playing The World right now." He sighed, looking in the direction of the game room. "You'd think they'd at least let someone check their email...or something...

...you know?"

whohitreset April 10 2009, 07:01:30 UTC

If he'd still been uncertain about the gender of his new acquaintance, the voice cinched it. Definitely male. He gave the boy his attention, head resting on one arm.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." The way he spoke of 'playing the world' didn't make him sound like the world dominating sort, so he could only assume it was a sort of game. The mention of email and his glance toward the room Matt had tried to get in previously made him certain. Fellow gamer?

"What's this game, then?"

oftemptation April 10 2009, 18:53:08 UTC

Endrance smiled just a little. "You play them? Well...The World is the most popular MMORPG where I'm from," he began. It felt strange to add the words 'where I'm from', but as he'd confirmed earlier that day, it was a necessary amendment. So...

"It had broken the 12-million user mark a few months ago. It was rather...surprising to me to hear that no one here was actively playing it. With that many users, and it's popularity even before the second version was released..."

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "You play?"

whohitreset April 10 2009, 19:21:04 UTC

"...Occasionally..." Matt raised an eyebrow, appraising the young man again. "You... didn't exactly strike me as the gamer sort, if you don't mind me saying so." Then again, they were really attracting a wider audience these days. He shouldn't be all that surprised.

He'd never heard of a game called The World. While he'd ventured into a few MMOs, he tended to play a great many hand-held games since he could take those anywhere - something that had become even more necessary when he'd started working with Mello. Of course, it was only a matter of time before they started making MMOs that could run on hand-helds. It would be terrible for raiding, though.

oftemptation April 10 2009, 20:03:07 UTC

You probably wouldn't say that if you saw what I look like in real life... Objectively, there had been a reason so many girls were after him in high school, and he knew that. But it was just as true that the character he played didn't look like him in the real world.

"It's complicated," he finally settled on saying. "I...well, I was logged into the game when I was brought here," he said, hesitantly. "The World has always had a number of rumors around it...glitches, effects in real life... some of which have proved true. I can only guess that one of those glitches came into play when I was brought here." It was a roundabout way of saying what had happened, but better than nothing.

"So what do you play?"

whohitreset April 11 2009, 04:56:56 UTC

"Wait. Hold on." Matt ignored the last question in favor of turning around completely and leaning toward the other man. He was frowning, serious disbelief on his face. "You're trying to tell me that this is your video game persona you're stuck in? Am I hearing that right?"

It sounded like the guy was bullshitting him, but he couldn't dismiss anything right off the bat in this place, as much as he wanted to. He raised an eyebrow. "And are you also going to tell me you were originally a chick?" Because he'd known of girl gamers that loved male characters that looked like him, just as he'd played a few girls in his time. ...Man, that wouldn't have even been right.

oftemptation April 11 2009, 06:12:33 UTC

"...no, I'm not female in the real world," he replied. Why did that matter so much to so many people? He didn't particularly understand that. Why would it change what was inside their mind, or their heart?

"My real name is Ichinose Kaoru, but in this form, it's simpler to call me Endrance. And...yes. I'm in the character's form. I was taken while I was logged into the game, going from one area to another. But...it's not the first case of this happening in this place, actually...I don't suppose you've ever met a girl named Atoli? She was short, with blonde hair...and was here until a few days ago. She was a Harvest Cleric in game - a healing class, and an acquaintance of mine."

He braced for what he was sure would be a mocking reply.

whohitreset April 11 2009, 19:54:39 UTC

Not a girl, then. Possibly just queer. Matt would have preferred to call the guy by the real name he'd given, now that he knew it, but he could understand the importance of a pseudonym. "Endrance it is, then." Still, what sort of name was that?

"I might have heard of her on the board a couple times." There was a lot of information he had to recall from there, and there were so many people constantly coming and going here that it was hard to keep track of all the names. "Can't say I've heard of your particular predicament before, though. S'possible it's just your world that has this issue." He raised an eyebrow at Endrance. "How immersive is this game, exactly?"

oftemptation April 12 2009, 01:31:44 UTC

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case." Endrance surprised himself with his own bluntness with the reply - even as he realized it was the absolute truth. "Again, there have been rumors surrounding the game for years...its manner of drawing people in has a way of generating them."

The question now was really how to explain exactly how immersive the game was. In his case, that answer was 'more than it is for most people', thanks to certain connections, but...even without those connections...

"It's played using a headset controller, with a microphone, and in first-person perspective...so even with the smallest M2D available, one that looks like a simple pair of sunglasses, it's still quite immersive."

whohitreset April 12 2009, 02:20:45 UTC

"A headset...?" Matt was reminded of those virtual reality machines you could sometimes find in shopping malls or game centers that cost way to much for how little time you actually got on them. If they ever managed to develop that into a a system you could use at home... Though they didn't seem to be developing those much anymore. If what Endrance was saying was true, then perhaps it was for the best. It did seem a bit too immersive.

Although fun. Mello would probably kill him if he ever got into something like that, mostly because he'd never be able to get a hold of him again.

Oh wait. He was already dead back in his world. Funny how he kept forgetting about that. And Mello was still up for being thrown off a cliff.

"I'm guessing you're from a time after mine," he murmured, still thinking over the possibilities.

oftemptation April 12 2009, 02:44:55 UTC

Endrance nodded. "The headsets were first released around...hm. The prototype version of The World was in beta in 2006, so it must have been around that time. They've gotten much smaller and much lighter over the years, while the image quality has improved quite a lot..."

He realized he was going on about the subject, but...well. When you spent as much time logged into the game as he generally did, you wanted the kind of equipment that would see you through those kinds of sessions.

"I'm not sure," he said, to that last question. "The last date I remember seeing was in 2017."

whohitreset April 12 2009, 06:25:35 UTC

2006? Matt's eyes narrowed. That couldn't be right. Was this boy's world so similar and yet so different from his own? If something like that had come into existence four years ago, he would have known about it. He had his nose far enough into video gaming news to catch something like that. And if it was that big and had lasted for that long...

"I'm from the year 2010, and I've never heard of it." He was still frowning, staring off at nowhere in particular. "Must be a difference between our worlds, and that's pretty messed up, mate."

oftemptation April 12 2009, 20:02:30 UTC

He hadn't been expecting his new acquaintance to have heard of it, given his prior reactions, but the confirmation still made his stomach twist - as did the year that was given. 2010... the year so much had happened, the year that had changed him in so many ways...and then seven years later... Endrance ran a hand back through his hair, sighing softly.

"2010, you say," he said, quietly. "I realize it's unlikely we would remember the same things, but...what was that year like, where you're from? Major events, things like that?"

whohitreset April 12 2009, 22:30:33 UTC

Matt snorted. "All I should have to do is mention the name 'Kira,' but as crazy as it seems to me, it's likely you haven't heard of him - just as I wouldn't know what was going on in your world." He leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. "Unless you have a mass murderer masquerading as a god whatever you've come from also."

Perhaps he should watch what he was saying, but Kira couldn't hurt him here even if he'd wanted to. And aside from that, there was the whole matter of already being dead again. He'd already done his job, or his followers had, anyway. In a strange way it was a bit of a relief.

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