The world didn't end the way people thought it would when the AI took over. Now it did end in a way of sorts. First, everyone lost their jobs, but some sort of preservation of humanity failsafe kicked in as riots started. No one knows how it happened, but quickly the AI “offered” virtual reality “games” to those who stood down. Lock yourself into a virtual world to not disturb whatever goals the AI strived for. We were lucky in a way, with electronics controlling everything from tanks to drones to your car, the AI could’ve easily wiped humanity off the planet.
The virtual world is put simply an infinite luxury hotel where everyone has their own room. There are TVs, Computers, and Game consoles, where you can play or watch anything humanity has ever created. Or you can visit people, talk to them and hang out. Fortunately, or unfortunately, there is very little sensory input. You don't get hungry, thirsty, or anything else. Nor can you feel much of anything, like minimal touch is the gist of it. There is an outside environment, but it gets very little use. I’ve been outside a few times but the fact that you can’t feel the wind, or smell the fresh air makes it feel more like looking at nature photos rather than being in it. Not that there was much of that in the outside world anymore either.
Is there still a world outside? Who knows, in the few Q&A sessions the AI overlords have done they’ve not talked about the “real world”. The few friends and family I had, are all in here, but I’ve heard from people who haven’t found their loved ones or some friends. Are they dead, or still living outside the virtual world, no one knows? The AI has given a few interesting answers though. One is that supposedly they’re only keeping our brains, and it’s working on immortality for us all. Sounds great, but this made some people outraged. I don’t really get it. Apart from some carnal self-indulgences, there isn’t much that I miss from the “real world”. In fact, being without my chronic pain is quite something. I just wish I could actually move around more now that I'm without pain, but the lack of tactile feedback makes it all rather bland.
But that is what makes me excited to be selected for the beta testing of the AI’s supposedly “first of many” full immersion games. This one is apparently a fantasy game and 18+. When asked the AI just said it was to allow more freedom, rather than being strictly a sex game, but a lot of people got excited by those news nonetheless.
Aria: Hey guys, they just rolled out the first wave of invites for the fantasy game. Anyone else got it too?
KenB: You really got it? You lucky fuck. You gotta tell me how it is once ya test it.
LyLyLyn: Pick a cat girl race if there is one, I’m going to pet the ever-living shit out of you. And no I didn’t get in either.
KenB: You really need help Lyn, you need to stop doting on Aria. You’re the same age dammit, and you keep trying to act like her big sister.
Aria: Calm down guys! And I’ll give a full report once I log out.
LyLyLyn: You better. And remember cat ears!
Aria: Lol, yes Mommy.
KenB: Don’t encourage her. Where is James when I need him? I bet he got an invitation too.
Jaaaaaaaaames: I wish, and I’ve been lurking the whole time, I’m just upset that Aria got in before me.
Aria: Should I just wait for you guys to get in too?
LyLyLyn: No, just enjoy yourself, sweetie.
Aria: You know I don’t like it when you call me that.
LyLyLyn: Sorry sweetie. Xoxoxo
Aria: Whatever.
KenB: Nah, get ahead and carry us when we get in.
Aria: Sure thing bro. o7
Juustin: Nah, as much as I wanted to be first go ahead bro, you deserve it, after all, your shit with chronic pain IRL I bet you can’t wait to actually move around in a proper body without pain.
Aria: Yeah, I do look forward to that actually, also, did you change your name?
Jooooomes: Maybe? :D
LyLyLyn: Clown.
Aria: Wish me luck, I'm off!
LyLyLyn: Good Luck!
KenB: GL A.
Jems: GL BRO FR FR
Aira: Sigh, you guys.
I logged out of the messenger app. I don’t have many friends, but the few I have are great people. James's repeated name changes are just too funny. That guy has too much free time. Actually, we all have supposedly infinite free time. In some ways the AI actually kind of delivered.
I sent a message to my step-sister too. She’s the only family I have left after my mom passed away and dad stopped talking to me many many years ago when I came out as bisexual. But the sister I gained from my dad’s new marriage turned out to be one of the best people I’ve ever met. Funny how that works somehow. Her mom’s a bastard just like my dad, so she had almost completely cut contact with both my dad and her mom. And when we all got put into the virtual world none of them have attempted any contact.
Aria: Iris, I got the beta! I’ll tell you all about it once I log out.
IRI: Automated response: I’m asleep, ill return the message ASAP.
IRI: Stupid auto-reply, I’m here. I got invited too, but I’m gonna wait for my friends to get it too before I log in. But don’t let that stop you. Enjoy!
Aria: Alright, And I know: no spoilers! Don’t worry.
IRI: Enjoy!
Aria: Talktoyasoon!
With that out of the way, I navigate my virtual HUD to the game selection screen. And there it is “Beta: Free Skies”. I launch the application, and before I know it the world around me changes. In front of me is a large logo in iron banded letters “Free Skies” with “beta” as a subtitle in an angry red. Behind the logo are hundreds of floating islands with cities, castles, wild forests, and mountains. It’s actually an incredibly beautiful vista.
An epic deep male voice booms out.
“In a land shattered by conflict, the ancients are coming back to claim what is theirs. Will you rise to the challenge and drive them back, or will you carve your own path in the world of Free Skies”
Okay, as epic as the voice was, I feel like the content wasn’t as awesome. Sounds kind of generic, but at least they, or it, or whatever big AI wants to be called, seem to want to focus on freedom. I can agree with that at least.
“Humans never read any terms of service or legalese, so here’s a few commonly asked questions and info previous testers have found useful instead. In order of frequency asked.”
I mean you’re not wrong AI overlord, but no need to be so blunt. If I could laugh I would, but I was even more limited than I was in the hotel world. It was weird, but mostly weird by how not weird it felt. I was just a viewport into a scene, I didn't even have a body, yet it didn't feel strange at all.
*Does the full immersion have pain? Yes, but the pain is reduced.
*Can we have sex? Yes with full sensation, but it’s an opt-in mechanic. And you cannot inflict pain during a sexual encounter unless it’s thematically appropriate.
Of course, the second question in order of most asked is about sex. I roll my non-existent eyes. At least it sounds like the AI doesn’t allow rape and stuff, so I don't really mind then. The question is what does thematically appropriate mean?
*How big is the world? The game currently has 54293 km^2 of playable area.
That was just the number as I read it, about once every second or two the area increased by a square kilometer. Damn, it’s working fast.
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*Can I play as X race? (Question combined with other similar questions) The list of races is too long to list, but the list of selectable at the start is limited. More can be unlocked in-game or through random chance.
Random chance, I wonder what that means.
*Can I invite my friends to the beta? No, they will get an invitation when appropriate.
*Do attribute points affect the appearance of your character? Directly no, but it can allow more options when creating the character. Example: High strength allows a more muscular appearance, but it is not required to look muscular with high strength.
The questions keep coming, but getting less and less interesting the further down I get. I close the virtual window with a mental click, and I'm finally greeted by the enticing
“Before creating your character, each beta character gets a random present to spice up the testing. Keep in mind that beta characters will carry over and retain all progress for public release.”
Every beta tester gets a free mystery box for their character creation? That's cool. Though knowing my luck, I’ll probably get some bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. I mentally nudge the
I mentally brace myself for the impact while keeping a close look at the ever-changing color. White, Blue, Orange, Yellow, and Purple seem to be the colors, but it very rarely stays orange or purple for any long duration of time. Please give me something awesome. I had no idea what options there even were, but I still prayed. Maybe the AI overlords were listening. It hits the ground with a deafening sound, a bright light blasting in every direction. When it calms down a little I finally see the color. It’s… huh, green? That wasn’t one of the colors I saw earlier.
The side of the present box or perhaps the house is more apt, starts falling over towards me. I’m still immaterial and unable to move, so I just let it happen. The side hits the ground and a green light shines out of the box. The fading light slowly reveals a figure.
In front of me stands a red-skinned figure with long white hair. If I had lungs currently I would’ve lost my breath. She is without a doubt the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. Her figure is slim and sexy with a healthy amount of muscles underneath her lustrous red skin. Somehow, her face stares out into nothingness but still manages to look sexy yet dignified. Her eyes are black as the void itself with a glowing yellow vertical slit in the middle.
A large pair of horns sprout out from the snow-white hair that flows down her shoulders. The horns sprout out from the sides of her forehead a bit above the ears and up towards the sky in a magnificent manner curving in just a tiny bit. Her breasts are shapely and large, but not unwieldy.
Her stomach is flat and muscular while her waist is slim but not comically so. And her legs, oh my god her legs. From her wide hips come two long legs with thighs that look soft yet strong. Further down things change up and instead of normal feet there is a pair of hooves that are attached to what almost seems like another joint. Swishing behind her, I can see a long tail with a spade tip swishing back and forth.
“Would you like to play as Lilith the first sinner, or take 100 gold as extra starting money?”
Two buttons hover in front of me, and I’m left speechless. Wait holy shit, is this for real? I can play as this woman? In a full immersion game? I haven’t clicked a button that fast in my whole life. How much is 100 gold? Who knows, but even a million wouldn't change my mind.
“Are you sure of your choice? (You can still change your mind at the end of character creation)”
I click the yes button again.
Suddenly my perspective changes and the demon lady moves to the right side of my vision. Just let me play already! To the left is a literal truckload of sliders and buttons to change the appearance of your character. Except they’re all grayed out for me. A large text is covering the entire interface diagonally across it. “You cannot change the appearance of a unique character”. Alright, fair enough. Not that there was much if anything that I’d wanted to be changed. Also, Unique character, damn this really has to be a top roll for sure.
I click
Another big text covers that too, however, “Due to level adjustment, you have 0 points to spend”. Behind it, though, I can see that I have some sort of pre-made stat line.
Might: 14
Constitution: 12
Agility: 16
Spirit: 8
Intelligence: 12
Charisma: 18
Luck: 0
Was that good? I had no idea or frame of reference on what any baseline was or how many points a normal player got to spend. If it was anything like the classics; a 10 would be the baseline, and in such a case I’d guess my stats were already quite insane. Not that it matters because I had no option but to press
The next screen was extra racial abilities, and here I could actually make a few choices. Excellent, even though I wanted to start playing as soon as possible, I didn't want to fuck up this chance either by making bad choices.
Apparently, I could select 3 extra racial skills, out of what looks like 6 total.
[Mother of sin] You are considered the mother of all sinborns and any sinborns nearby get +2 to all ability scores while you are within 50 meters. Any children you have will always be sinborns, no matter the race of the father.
Oh! That was a lot to unpack. I had no idea what a sinborn is, but I assume +2 is at least decent. However, the big bombshell is that you can have children in this game. That’s kind of freaky. Not sure how I feel about that.
[Contractual Obligation] +2 Intelligence. You may offer anyone a soul-bound contract. A contract can be about anything; favors, actions, or items. A contract must always include 20 [soul] to be valid. You may never offer up your own [soul]. The punishment for breaking a contract must be decided upon in said contract.
Special: When defeated in battle, you are not automatically slain, but instead may enter negotiation with the victor. If the contract is agreed upon you will not be slain. The required 20 [soul] will be used to fuel the resurrection.
[soul] Most living humanoids have 100 soul. This stat represents the mind’s connection to the body. At certain thresholds penalties will be incurred, and at 0 the living being will die with no way to be resurrected. The thresholds are at 70% 50% 30%. The penalties are race dependent.
That’s interesting if nothing else. Not dying sounds like it could be great. I don’t know the penalties for dying, but I doubt you want to suffer them. I also wonder how it works for any wild monsters, it doesn’t actually say. Taking this would also increase my intelligence, which is one of my weaker stats. The info about soul is quite something too.
[Sinner’s Boon] +2 CHA. Whenever you have a sexual encounter with a new race for the first time, you get a permanent power or ability that relates to that race. You can decide to decline the power or ability, but you will not get the offer again in the future. You can gift the one you received the power from a permanent ability or boon in return.
This race, or unique character I suppose seems rather sex focused. Not what I initially expected of this game, but I don't straight out hate it either. The benefits of this could be massive, but I’d also have to have sex with a lot of different races to get them. Not sure about this one. +2 CHA to my already highest stat might be very powerful though.
[Freedom of flight] Grants nothing at level 1, but will give you increasingly powerful wings at higher levels. Can be hidden at will.
Well, that’s rather simple in comparison. Given how the world around me looked from the intro earlier, being able to fly would probably be a massive boon later. But it doesn’t say when I actually get them. Still, I’m very inclined to take this.
[Fires of a thousand suns] Your powers over fire are magnified to the extreme. Cold is no longer the opposing element for any fire you create. Your skin will burn anyone touching you. Cannot be turned off.
Damn, the first part seems incredibly powerful, but being unable to touch people sounds like a bummer. Oh well, onto the last one!
[Free from sin] Whenever you kill a sinborn or other demons you can shed part of your own sin to them. Once you have lost all your sin, you will ascend and become an angel once more.
That is… weird, but kinda cool. Still a hard no though. I doubt any angel is as badass as Lilith is. Or as badass as I am? This feels so strange, maybe it'll feel more natural once I get into the character. I hope so.
Well, I get to pick three. So, [Free from sin] is out, So is [Fires of a thousand suns], the last one out is probably the first one. [Mother of sin] I have no idea if sinborns are a common race, but I get the feeling it's not the case. And it’s not like I plan on having children. That’s just weird.
So for the one, I decided to pick [Freedom of flight], it’s basically a given. If the game truly is fully immersive, flying is going to be crazy fun, and possibly dangerous but clearly, you can die and revive from the description of [Contractual Obligation], which is the second one I pick. Not dying sounds neat if the contracts aren’t too awful.
This leaves my last pick, [Sinner’s Boon] is kind of a weak pick, but given how I’d rather not have the other ones it’s the one I pick anyway. If I end up having sex a bunch, I at least get some free stuff, and if not. At least I won't be random people’s mother, or scorching their faces by touching me.
I click
I click the
“Enter your desired character nickname.” Right, I forgot about that in my excitement. So from the looks of it, I was going to play as a somewhat established character named Lilith, but I guess that’s changeable, or it’s an actual nickname, rather than a name. Does that make any difference? I give it a hard probably maybe possibly.
I usually use Aria, short for my real name Arianna, but do I go with that? Doesn't really sound all that demonic, if that’s what I want to try for. Lilith is not really my jam, and I also want to decide on my own name, but I also suck at naming things. I named my old cat Bubblegum for crying out loud. Lilaria? No, that just sounds like a smaller version of my normal name. Alith? That kind just sounds like Alice but with a lisp. Arileth, or short Ari, yeah that works. Did I just make up a nickname for a nickname at the same time? Damn right.
There it finally is, the sought-after
And then everything turns black.