When Dylan first learned about the PlastikOS concept he was surprised. It was a completely changing fantasy world. No overlords deciding what the game would be like. No massive events that changed everyone everywhere. It should be exactly what he’d wanted for years… Power incarnate.
Dylan wasn’t the type of person that could get into the beta that first round, but fuck if he wanted to. Learning that Sasha had made it lit a fire in his belly, he knew that he could get enough fame to surpass his friend, easily within the time period. He just hoped he could make it into the beta’s second trial. If he could, it would get him the head start he wanted.
So he made it his mission to become popular as quickly as possible. He started streaming near constantly, mostly old flatland games. Why? Because he could use a Vtuber avatar, a femboy cat, which he knew would make his rise to fame a lot quicker. Still, he did dip into VR content as well, mostly to get his audience used to what he planned on doing for the majority of their time together. It would be great.
After a week or so Dylan got an email, and it was exactly what he was looking for. It was simple, and held the code to install Plastikos’ beta. Installing it took all night, and in the morning he jumped at the opportunity to get started. Putting on his helmet.
Dylan, of course, had dropped the cash on a better helmet than his friend could afford. He had the money, so he knew what he wanted. The helmet was chrome, both tougher and lighter than many of the older models. It didn’t cover the face, leaving him a lot more comfortable as it only covered the back of his head. Putting it on he jumped into his console.
Dylan’s room wasn’t very intricate. He’d grabbed one from the fallout downloads, it was a simple vault room. He’d immediately started customizing it though, using the graffiti tool that was a part of the download for Street Kings 4, an open world skating game he was a big fan of.
“Let's get started.” He said, starting the stream with a getsure.
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There was darkness after Dylan started Plastikos, lit only by the bright light of white words floating in the sky.
Plastikos Initiation…
Opening Plastikos Beta 2.1…
Welcome!
Dylan found himself in a void, but his body was there, able to easily pat himself down. He looked just like his avatar in his own intro room, which meant he was closer to his Vtuber avatar than his own body. He’d already stepped into the lythe role of a cat, wearing the distinct 80s exercise look he’d decided to go for.
“Hello and welcome. I see you are… not my average member.” The voice was that of a woman who walked into the area, looking him eye to eye. “We usually open to people’s normal bodies, not whatever this is.”
“I have an avatar at boot, for the audience.” Dylan said, grinning and gesturing at nothing. “I’ll be taking a body just like this one in the game, if that’s alright.”
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“It is. In fact, the assets for your fur are already loaded. You can make your choices from there.”
“Goodie.” He walked over to a mirror and began doing gestures. Funnily enough the mirror easily responded, just like many other games Dylan had played in the past. His outfit disappeared, and Dylan began to change his avatar to make it more comfortable. Chat blew up, of course, seeing through his eyes at his bare chest and the fur on his tummy. They were excited, even though they knew he wasn’t really being lewd.
“You see, I chose this form to be more cute and appealing.” Dylan said, grinning up at the woman beside him who had an exasperated look on her face. “But I may have exaggerated a few features a little too much to be comfortable.” He walked over and made his thighs thinner, bringing his body closer to his own in proportion, despite being only three feet tall. “I never got used to this, always playing in meatspace.”
“But you got used to being short?” She asked, a little incredulous.
“Yup, I don’t know about you but there are some really good games where you play as a kid and I got used to them. Besides, I’m a bit short IRL, just not that short.” He grinned. “I’m only four foot ten, pretty short for a man of my stature.”
“Well, now that that’s taken care of… why don’t we get you into some clothes.”
“Oh right, next we chose name and class right?” Dylan nodded, grinning. “Well name is easy, I’m going with Exotica.” He turned slightly away so chat knew he was staring at them and winked. “That’s my avatar’s name, so I might as well keep it in here, right?”
“Sure, sure. But class?” She waved a hand and made four pictures appear on a cork board. “The four classes are Fighter, Mage, Rogue, and Cl-”
“And Cleric yeah.” Dylan, now Exotica, said cutting her off. “I know, I did my research. Most people have. And I know that there is no one true path in this game, however I also know that most of the people that have gotten specialist classes so far have chosen either Fighter or Mage.”
“If you’re so experienced, what do you even need me for?” The goddess said, stomping her foot. She glowed slightly, it was clear that she was annoyed.
“Eye candy.” He said, winking at her. “Joking, joking. You’re here because you should be, so many people are gonna make decisions they regret. It’s just that I happen to be an old hat at gaming, and I know where power comes from.”
“Where’s that?”
“Magic.” Exotica said, slapping his hand on the Mage paper and selecting it. “As for background, I know that background choices are much more open ended than you make them sound. There are hundreds in there based on class and race that allow you to put me in whatever part of the world you feel is appropriate.” Grinning, he waved a paw. “You don’t need to worry about that. I already know where I’m going, which means we just need to find the right background.”
“Where’s that?” The goddess seemed almost interested, there was something about how confident Exotica was, especially now that he was wearing the robes of a wizard, which were red.
“I want to start at Draiocht Academy, one of the seven great schools of magic.” He was confident. “I believe there should be student based backgrounds that could fit that.”
“There are… but I can’t guarantee that you’ll…”
“Oh don’t worry, I know my lore already. Due to the structure of the academies of magic, each one covers an extremely large area, and Draioct is one of the two in the range of the Empire. By choosing the name I did I knew I’d show up in the Empire, and by picking a cat of my breed I knew I’d end up in Britania instead of the mainland.” He grinned. “So put down Teacher’s Pet as my background.”
The Goddess nodded, a little bit impressed with the cat’s deductive reasoning skills.