Welcome to Archeonae Online, the only choice for your near-future sci-fantasy VRMMO needs! Become a cybercrusader for the Silrissian Empire, or a daring psy-soldier for the Antiqua Revolution! Or perhaps being a sneaky Travassian space privateer is more to your liking? Pick from over fifty distinct races, each with their own skills and abilities, and wander anywhere you want in a world with over half a billion galaxies! No levels, no grinding - only the bliss of the new, exciting frontier that awaits you! So download the app now on your Simsense™ Pod for your FREE thirty day trial, and carve out your legend today!
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"You never did ask why I joined the Ops team."
They were in one of the bars near the office post-shift - dark enough to obscure identities, and cheap enough that one could get drunk on a miser's budget. There were a few people tonight, scattered here and there between the tables. The un-cybered bartender polished another glass with practiced ease before setting it aside. Cassandra leaned back against the white sofa, her hands nursing an empty bottle while her blue eyes watched him with a guileless smile. He took another sip of beer and shrugged. "Never crossed my mind."
She grinned and drew her hair back. "Really now? Come on, I pegged you to be better than that." She crossed her arms, giving him a view most men (and some women) would commit unspeakable acts for, but he just rolled his eyes.
"Look, Cass. If an intelligent girl as ridiculously attractive as you-"
That earned him a smile. "Why, thank you. Go on..."
He held his hands up while explaining. "-decides to join a bunch of desk jockeys, that's your thing. I personally don't care about how attractive or unattractive my team is - as long as you people work together and get the job done."
She laughed, the sound echoing across the bar. "Oh wow, the professional answer! Afraid the HR ghoulies are going to overhear and file a sexual harassment report?" He felt a very warm foot that was undoubtedly hers press against his leg under the table. "Come on. I won't tell."
"Cass, we're professionals. Cut it out." He managed to keep a poker face somehow. Maybe the gods were rolling the dice on his luck tonight. "And you're tipsy already."
"Fine, fine, mister no-fun-allowed." He slowly exhaled in relief as her foot retreated. Did she notice? Gods, he hoped she wouldn't notice. "And to answer the question you claim you haven't thought about...well." She suddenly had a faraway look in her eyes as she sipped her beer. "Sometimes a girl just doesn't want to be known as a pair of boobs. We've got brains too, in case people haven't noticed."
He nodded and smiled. That logic, he could get behind. "Fair enough. Waiter." The robot at the end of the bar swiveled its head and fixed its camera on his hand. "Dos cervesa, por favor."
"Ooh, Spanish." She reached for her purse and winked. "Guess you're paying tonight, great leader."
He smiled back. "With pleasure, senora." A pause. "Because you're paying for the team next week."
In retrospect, it was a good thing that the bottles crumbled on impact with hard surfaces. Cass's aim with thrown objects seemed to improve while under the influence, and he would rather not risk coming to work with a concussion.
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Fact: I am by myself in a fucking alien world. Well, not so alien. But still.
Fact: I am somehow in this strange fucking world inside my Silrissian combat cyborg chassis. Thank the gods for small blessings.
Fact: Browning is somehow here with me.
He looked at his AI companion. At the moment, it was just hovering off to the side by itself, eeriely quiet. A glance upward told him that the stormy skies wouldn't be breaking into sunlight any time soon.
Fact: I cannot communicate with any members of the Ops team, or the in-game CustCare representatives. I also have no tool access.
Corollary Fact: I therefore cannot add new items to my account - inventory? I cannot spawn monsters. I will need to use Browning's interface to try game master functions. Cumbersome, but better than nothing.
Fact: I think I've seen an Japanese animation about this. Must research on this later.
The land around him was a mix of forests and open plains, dotted here and there by small mounds of dirt that barely qualified as hills. He could see a fair distance from the hill that he was standing on, and spotted a dirt road a little way off to the horizon. Roads mean civilization of some kind, although he had serious doubts that it could support the cybermount that he kept by default. Perhaps a hoverbike? Did he update the hoverbike's paint scheme already? Man, he had put that off for so long..
Focus! Right, back to the facts. Fact: This entire world seems to function along Archeonae's basic game mechanics. I can still access the usual functions. And I can swear normally, which means that my core identity as a person has come reasonably intact, right? Must check on class and world skills.
No point in standing in the rain like a dumbass, though. "Inventory..." he mentally pored over his items. It was proving to be a bizarre experience, thinking of what you wanted from your stores and then pulling it into existence with your mind. "Ah, here we go. Phase Camouflage Cloak, equip."
New numbers and words quickly swam across his vision in bright green symbols. PHASE CAMOUFLAGE CLOAK EQUIPPED. That was good. VISUAL STEALTH: 100%. He looked down and watched his legs and feet vanish, as if they were never there to begin with. AUDITORY STEALTH: 100%. PSY-STEALTH: 100%. That last one brought a chuckle. As if he'd run into a Antiquan Sentinel any time soon - and even if he did, they'd need to match his equipment and skill sets. Good luck on that. He could walk the world several times over and no one would notice a thing. EVASION: 100% (PERFECT). He dismissed that one with a thought.
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Well, it's now or never. He began to walk to the road, the rain having slowed down to a drizzle.
Browning serenely floated behind him, water beading down its black sides.
He stopped.
Hm, another mystery.
To its credit, Browning simply floated there until he regained his balance, then replied.
He waved his hands before realizing that the cloak rendered it invisible anyway.
Fact: I have no idea about this planet's day/night cycle. Or weather conditions. Have Browning recor-
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Greetings, player! Select your race in Archeonae Online!
You have selected the Silrissian Empire, home of the courageous humanoid cyborgs from Earth's long-lost colony in the Tarussian sector! Might and science have combined in the Empire to form the foundation of their prodigious military strength, and their marvels of techonolgy are a joy to behold! Capable of superhuman feats of power, they serve as the pioneers of the unexplored frontier! One Silrissian cyber-commando is more than a match for an entire star-army, and they happily work within the United Coalition of Races at the forefront against the evils of the cannibalistic Dendraz and their muderous sycophants! Their humble sacrifi-
TO: Janine S. (Dev Coordination)
FROM: Adrian D. (Marketing/PR)
RE: Racial Template Copy - Silrissian
Can we tone the copy down a bit? There are just too many exclamation points in the last set of edits! And please rework the pitch - we sound like we ripped off generic Korean MMO #214534. Come on, guys.
TO: Adrian D. (Marketing/PR)
FROM: Janine S. (Dev Coordination)
RE: Racial Template Copy - Silrissian
Nope, no can do. HQ has already signed off on this version - unless you want to explain to Tanagawa-san why we had to postpone the game launch while we run the gauntlet of getting the copy approved by committee again. Relax - worst case scenario, we'll just have it patched over on launch week. No problem. Nobody will notice.