Hello, World!
Prologue: The final countdown
Time it seemed had slowed down. And not in the fun way, not in the Unfolding World Online way. UWO had a time dilation system, time would actually slow down artificially. Ok, so time is not really affected of course, but our perception of time is, which is as good as the real thing. There were whole research papers on the effects of time dilation on the human brain and body, they were publicly available. I had even once given it a shot, to try and learn more about it, but the dryness of the content had me quickly giving up on it. Everyone in the end agreed it was safe for use when the proper safeguards were in place, and that was what mattered for me.
I was one of the lucky few that played the Beta of UWO. I had been following the game for ages now (or at least that’s what it felt like), and participating in the forums like a madman... girl... madgirl. Meh, some things just don’t translate well, and yet I can’t help but try. Anyway, my participation on the forums got me recognition and I suspect they knew my name when my Beta application came in. But whether through my participation or sheer dumb luck really didn’t matter; I had my Beta key either way.
In Beta full immersion had still been on FDA lockdown. The key agreement and acceptance was in, but the last safeguards and contingency plans needed to be implemented. It had been tested internally, and it was to be the big surprise for going live. But even without full sensory perception, without tasting and feeling stuff, it had been so… so right.
Right in a way the real world wasn’t. Sure medical- and surgical-wise we had come pretty far. What they had done was good enough. Well, that’s what I kept telling myself. It was the nearest to the real thing that science could get me right now. But it wasn’t… it wasn’t... It was not the real thing. It was not complete. Maybe science one day could give me the peace of mind by correcting my body 100%, but for now I’d have to make do with a close approximation.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am a girl. I know this in my core, in my center, in every fiber of my being. Yes, even in my body. Some of you might call me lucky. I’m not burly, not overly hairy (and what hair remains on my face was being taken care of). I passed most of the time. It had been months since last someone clocked me. But every time I look in a mirror I can’t help but see the traces of him. Every month I am reminded that though I might mostly look the part, my body isn’t.
It’s good enough... So they say. And in a sense, it is. I can survive like this. As long as people accept me for who I am. As long as I can express who I am inside, I can survive. Lots of girls have their womb removed, or have dysfunctional ones. It doesn’t make them less a woman. It doesn’t make me less a woman... Or so I keep telling myself. It’s good enough and yet it isn’t. There’s always this voice in the back of my mind, telling me it isn’t enough, that this isn’t how it is supposed to be. In the real world at least.
The moment I entered virtual reality that voice was quiet. Well, let me correct that, the moment I entered Unfolding World Online it quieted. I’ve tried VR before. It was intriguing, promising, it had so much potential. And yet it failed to deliver the full potential. Don’t get me wrong here, it was indeed awesome to “be” in those other realities. You could move about (if you had the space) and interact through controllers in your hands that were accurately tracked. But so much was missing still.
I’d been following the development of VR closely for years. It started out as basically a gimmick with the limitations I just mentioned. But slowly things progressed from there. First the resolution went up. Then gloves came to track finger movement and add touch. After that inside out tracking had taken off and cameras were able to follow the bodies movements but this came at the loss of the sense of touch, as there were no gloves to offer resistance anymore.
Huge frames were built in which you basically hung your body to offer complete movement, but still it wasn’t quite there yet. Touch was still an iffy thing for which one need wear a full body suit to imitate pressure. The headsets had thankfully grown lighter as well, making prolonged time “inside” more comfortable. It was an awesome experience, it was so much more than traditional PC or console gaming was, but it still felt so… lacking. VR was so much already, but the potential was just so much…. More!
Then came this company called Origami Inc. For years they had been on an alternative track of VR, and most people thought little of them. They had a Halo system, a clunky band of technology that was placed like a crown upon your head. Sure, it had fantastic visuals, there were no pixels to be spotted. But there was no tracking, no feedback, none of the really interesting stuff.
Until there was. It turned out the FDA had been keeping this under close control because of the direct interaction with the human brain. The amount of hoops to jump through to get the full interaction was told to be immense, but it also helped to make the system fool proof. Backup plans for the backup plans were worked out, safety measures implemented, all while the technology improved and the clunky band became a sleek silver halo.
Origami Inc. saw itself as the next big thing. To prevent fracturing of the VR community they started licensing out their technology even while the FDA process was still finalizing approval for full immersion. Everyone was now free to use all the features of the new headset. There was a big but in that though. The software needed to go through FDA approval process as well, and although that was a relatively easy process when using only one sense, or even two senses, the more you added the more strict the FDA became.
The designers of course led the way with a slew of companies ready to utilise the product. Direct information transfer through implanted memories offered instant training. Rehabilitation therapy using immersive simulations improved the success rate tremendously. Crime investigation through directly experiencing the memories of the witnesses took on a whole new dimension.
And then of course there was gaming. While other companies all settled for a quick win by only implementing a couple of senses, Origami Inc. went instead for full immersion and the biggest scope for a game ever. This did of course mean long delays as the FDA once again strictly controlled the entire process with safety procedures wrapped in backup plans wrapped in emergency protocols.
But full immersion was what the entire gaming world had been demanding for years now, and it showed in the interest, the hype that the game had been building up to. Beta had some limitation while the last ordained safeguards were being implemented. But Unfolding World Online was promised to be the holy grail of gaming, and unlike many such games the Beta only increased the hype around the game even without the full immersion being enabled.
I’ll be honest here, playing UWO, although the game is absolutely awesome, was never primarily about the game for me. It was another way to be me. As it turned out, a more fulfilling way. My character was based on my family and my own features. I didn’t want to be someone else. I wanted to be me. The me I was supposed to have been from the start. So my character looked a lot like RL me. A lot, but not quite. There were subtle details that changed things, but oh were those details important.
Beta had been a blast to play. Instead of following quests I mostly just explored. I lived. Even with the integral immersion system being disabled for beta, it just felt right. It felt real. I interacted with the NPC’s as if they were real people. I made friends amongst both the player characters and the non players. And even when not questing I was still leveling at a steady rate. I found hidden temples riddled with traps, stumbled into enemy camps and had to fight my way out. I helped lost children, hurt animals and down on their luck monsters. Everything I did felt worthwhile.
30 minutes. Thirty long minutes. And then I’d recreate my character. They say our first character gets some achievements from whatever we did best (or worst) in beta. I wondered what I’d get from it. I explored more of the world than most. Maybe not in actual acreage covered, but in exploring the nooks and crannies. I found my fair share of treasure that way. But I also encountered a lot of bugs that way.
The most notable thing I encountered was when I entered an unexpected solution for a puzzle. It had been a long day and I was exploring a temple that was hidden behind a waterfall about halfway up. In any other game this would’ve been a fake front, adding some flavor to the world. The rocks had smoothed out from the water offering no hand or footholds and there was no hold that a grappling hook could catch on to either.
But in this game there were no limitations to stop you from going beyond it. Catapulting yourself to the entrance using rope, a young tree and a knife. Building a ladder from branches to climb up, using a freeze spell and a pickaxe to climb the water itself. Countless possibilities crossed my mind the moment I had spotted the temple. Most of them useless but not all.
The catapulting idea, although fun in theory, just seemed like a recipe for disaster. Trees by nature being rather uneven I had no assurance that I would actually enter at the right spot. And whether I got the right spot or not, there was still the issue of the rather sudden stop. Not looking forward to that I quickly dismissed it, and all the other ideas in a similar fashion.
After going rather crazy with my ideas I was growing a bit frustrated when suddenly it came to me and I facepalmed. I went to the top of the waterfall, attached a rope to trees on either side of the river, making sure it was nice and tight. Then I looped another rope around the one spanning the river. I quickly quaffed a water-breathing potion and waded to halfway across the river, tightly secured to the rope.
Thus prepared I scaled down the waterwall. It was possible, and I did make it to the entrance, though a few times it had seemed like I would not . Tons of water coming down on your head offered a lot more force than I had accounted for. A couple of times I lost my grip on the rope, and if I hadn’t been secured the way I was I would’ve ended up at the bottom of the waterfall in questionable condition. Then came the issue of actually getting on the platform. But through a lot of swinging and timely releasing of the rope I did finally manage, just a minute or so before my water breathing potion would have run out.
Thoroughly drained I fetched a towel from my inventory. That was another thing about this game. Due to the realism of the game, you had to bring a whole set of items along with you that other games never bothered with,like soap, a toothbrush and a towel. Besides, if Douglas Adams taught me one thing, it was to always know where my towel was.
When I was dry enough to function normally again I took a good look around. Two rows of big white marble pillars led inward to a large archway. Intricate patterns adorned the walls and the fading color on them was the only proof left of what must at one point have been brightly colored murals. Carefully stepping through the archway I entered a large hall. The same kind of murals were here, slightly better preserved. Presumably because the air was less damp here.
The focal point of the room was a small altar on a platform against the back wall. Benches were placed in a half circle around it, with a couple of pathways leading towards the altar. Probably 200 people could be comfortably seated on them. This made me suspect that in the olden days there was probably a better way to enter then the path I took. Presumably it was less wet as well.
I scanned the room for more. It seemed rather empty for such a lovely temple. There were no doors, no chests or closets, nothing. Even the altar was nothing but a solid block of marble. As a proper rogue I methodically started to search and inspect the room. I tapped the walls listening for hollow spaces, inspected the ceilings for air holes, and the benches and altar for buttons, triggers, levers or other moveable items.
Nothing worked, nothing seemed to be there at all, until i noticed some very faint scratches on the platform that the altar stood on. The altar itself had been moved before. Well, that was easy then, all I needed to do was to move the altar sideways. I put my entire weight behind it and… nothing. Not an inch. In hindsight I should’ve expected this. Imagine a cube of pure marble with a slab on top of it giving it a somewhat table-like look. Neither my real self nor my virtual self would ever be strong enough to move that.
At least not by myself. Time to get creative again. I took a good look at what I had to work with. The slab had an indentation at the bottom of about 3 inch or 10 cm high and half that much deep. Maybe if i could make something of a lever? I went to check out what the benches were made off. To my surprise the benches came apart rather easily, and i could use the wooden boards that were used for seating for a lever. Another two boards and I had a tipping point as well.
I set up the lever, put my full weight on the outer end and barely managed to lift the thing at all. But it was enough. When it lifted the tiniest bit i shoved the lever sideways, and it moved the altar an inch. It took a long time, alternating the altar’s sides so it wouldn't just rotate. About half an hour in I knew my work was not in vain as I noticed a trapdoor, but it took me another 2 hours to finally clear the thing entirely. Then I was able to drop down into the puzzle room.
The puzzle was a set of runestones and each rune represented a concept of sorts. By putting them in the proper order the way forward would open up. But as I was working the puzzle I was attacked. The encounter itself was not very inspiring although I did wonder how the creature came in, it was a weak goblin using bow and arrow. A quick dodge and a roll later I was within arms reach. The bow was then useless and the goblin had no time to switch weapons before I finished it off with one of my daggers.
Turning back to the puzzle though, I saw that one of the puzzle pieces was cracked through the center where the arrow that missed me found its end. When I picked it up very carefully to see if it could still be used, the thing broke in two. This could have been the end of the puzzle if the mechanism wouldn’t accept a repaired piece, but before I got that far I noticed something interesting. The rune that had broken split up the concept that was before whole. Each individual half still held meaning. And opened up new possibilities.
They said that the Unfolding Artificial Intelligence of this game was really strong. It was time to test it. Rearranging the rune stones I put them in place. No longer would the answer read that intelligence was the way to open the door. The new message was that to open the door was the way to intelligence. If this worked I would probably get a stat boost to my int score, or maybe some bonus experience.
What happened next is not quite clear. I remember stepping through the door. I remember the sensation of moving at great speed across great distances. I remember the darkness, the sensations of shapes moving around me in random size, speed and direction. I distinctly remember words being said. The words had meaning. But though that meaning was clear at the time, they elude me now. Something had happened, and when I emerged from the darkness I was sitting on a bench in the park of the starting area.
I immediately did the responsible thing. I wrote a bug report. But the feedback startled me. There was no such puzzle. There was no doorway, nor did the code or the logs report me anywhere else than moving about the starting area. The developers agreed that it was very odd. I had gained a bit of a reputation as a bug hunter, so it didn’t take much discussion for them to take me seriously despite the lack of proof, but as there was no record there was little they could do. After trying without result to reproduce the conditions that led to the event, the ticket was closed.
5 minutes until launch. I was about to grab a last drink before entering VR, when my rig whirred to life. Odd, it wasn’t time yet was it? I double checked my pc, but it really showed 5 minutes before launch. Wasting no further time I pulled the silver band over my head, letting it rest just above my ears, and laid down. The real world faded out and any musing about minute mismatches mysteriously moved from my mind
I stared for a second at the login screen. I had already started the launcher before, accepted the eula and all that boring stuff so it would not cut into my prime VR time. My credentials also pre-entered, all I had to do was reach out and tap “login”.
“Welcome back Jessica“ The words resounded in my head as I resided for a moment in nothingness, and then I was thrown into character creation. There were two choices I needed to make before I got my body. I spoke quickly, not even looking at the options, “Human, Female.” And in faded the world. I was standing in what looked like a castle bedroom, in front of a big mirror. Here I got to change any part about my body simply by interacting with the mirror.
I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted me, but a slightly idealised me. 5’7”, an inch smaller than I actually am. Noticeable hips and breasts, but not too much. A very subtle curve that was sadly missing from real life, that just felt right. Long black hair, straight and thick. Ok, so my real life hair was a bit thinner, much to my frustration at times. A little bit more of a tan than I actually had. I would’ve had this tan had I actually spent a lot of time outside like my character did, but instead real life me was sitting behind her computer most of the time.
I zipped on through the rest of the options. Green eyes, not slanted, slightly wide, a tiny bit further apart. Lips a bit thinner, not as pouty, a bit darker in color. Smaller nose, tip pointing up slightly, nose bridge a little less defined. Cheeks a bit fuller, a bit higher, jawline a bit rounder (here I deviated slightly from reality again), ears a bit flatter against the head, a bit less of a lobe and just the tiniest bit pointier.
Neck a bit thinner, a bit longer. Shoulder a bit less defined, arms thinner, more wiry, and a bit longer. Long fingers, with nails long enough to be fashionable, short enough to not get in the way all the time. I did not even want to consider getting a broken nail in full immersion.
Torso, breasts go down a size. I don’t know what everyone’s fetish with big breasts is, but it's not mine. Enough to be clearly there, to give me a figure, but not enough to have cleavage without a bunch of help. Waist a bit wider, hips a bit slimmer. The fantasy hourglass figure was default which again, was not my fantasy.
Pretty soon I was ready and a cute athletic girl was staring back at me from the mirror. I did a double take to admire my work, but after finding no more flaws I tapped the mirror and entered my name, “Jazz”. I turned away from the mirror and took a look at the room. A small table had appeared behind me upon which lay the character contract. I skimmed over the text on it quickly, it seemed to be much like the Beta except for one clause they added.
“Upon signing this agreement you signify that you understand that your rewards from Beta will be transferred to this character. This transfer is a onetime occurrence. Any subsequent alts you may play will not benefit from these rewards.”
I had no intention of playing any alts, this was to be my alter ego. Actually, now that I thought about it, calling it an alter ego was not quite right either. This felt so real, so comfortable. I felt so at home in this body that calling it an alter ego would be an injustice. A super ego sounded more like it. With a flourish I used a nearby quill to put down my name, making the agreement binding.
A circle of light lit up from the floor, arcane patterns twisting in and out of existence. This was it, my door into the actual game world. Taking a deep breath in anticipation I stepped into the portal, and disappeared into the Unfolding World.
To be continued
Hello, World!
Chapter 1: Getting Classy
The first thing I noticed entering the world was the cool breeze on my skin. For a moment I kept my eyes closed, and took it all in. There was the smell of fresh grass, the birds sang their little hearts out, and the world felt…. Fresh.
I opened my eyes to find myself standing in one of the many little parks that were scattered throughout Threefold. It was such a familiar sight; I’d spent days just wandering the streets of Threefold, and here I was once again. It was exactly as I remembered and yet so much more. The breeze became a bit more pronounced, and I looked down to see if I was dressed right at least.
Starter clothes... Of course. I giggled a bit at this, for some reason all the starter equipment in any game always looked like crap. I guessed it’s incentive to go out and get better, but really, did it have to be almost falling apart? I’d better get out there and get my class sorted out so that I’d at least be covered a bit more.
Looking around I saw the training areas of Threefold. The Arcane Halls, the Fighting Grounds and the Explorers Tower. I had to stifle a grin as I thought of the Explorers Tower. Although Explorer was an actual class that could be played, the tower was little more than a coverup for the thieves’ guild that was hidden inside.
Before I could set out to any of the three guildhalls, a young man in the official Threefold livery approached me. The town had three signature colors, each representing one of the three races that originally started Threefold.
A muted yellow brownish color represented the humans, the people of the earth. A similarly muted green brought to mind the elves’ forests, and the muted magenta matched the raw sapphires that the dwarves dug from the deep. Each Threefold representative wore one of these three colors, but the distribution was random, to promote unity. The cut of the clothes would differ with each profession that the wearer practiced, but always there was the logo of a triangle folded in on itself, each side colored for one of the three races.
The representative held out a brownish leather backpack to me and said, “Jazz, good to see you made it. I have have these for you.” He turned over backpack to me, and after wishing me good luck in my adventures turned around and went back, undoubtedly to find the next adventurer.
Curiously I looked into the backpack. This was new, nothing like this happened in Beta. Upon opening the backpack I found a few memory crystals. These I did remember; it was a rather elegant way for the game to teach you new skills without you having to spend hours in a training yard. You held the crystal up against your forehead and the memories inside, and with them any matching skills, would be transferred to your character.
It was an ingenious system that was already being used outside of the game as well, to imprint actual real life skills on people without having to spend months training them. You’d still need the aptitude and muscle memory in real life to be able to actually use those skills, but inside of the game that part was handled by your new body. And yes, that did mean that if your body could handle it (and no magic was involved) you could try and apply these skills outside of the game as well.
One by one I held the stones up to my head. A bright flash filled my vision and the crystal dissolved as my mind was filled with images and rushing sounds. I’d obtained my rewards from Beta as the system voice in my head told me
You have been granted the Epic Feat: Pathfinder - You are the most traveled beta player which grants you a [+25% bonus to finding a path to your destination]. Also grants title [Pathfinder]
You have been granted the Achievement: Eagle-eye - You saved the Eagle King despite it not being a quest goal during the Burning Caves raid and are hereby rewarded with extraordinary sight - [enhanced vision]
You have been granted the Achievement: Cat’s Paws - You located a captured lion cub and brought it back through the mountains, deserts and forests to return it to its mother. - [Like a cat you always land on your feet.]
You have been granted the Achievement: Silent Tread - Your passage through many an enemy camp unseen has taught you to [walk quietly]
You have been granted the Achievement: Nimble - Your climbing, scampering, jumping and crawling has payed off. [+5% to any dexterity related activity]
You have been granted the Achievement: Early Access
You have been granted the Achievement: Hello World!
That was odd. Two achievement rewards without any explanation. Early access could refer to me getting in the game before time, but five minutes wasn’t something to write home about, even it was twenty in game. Bit odd for a reward. And the Hello World! Achievement made no sense at all. Ah well, I decided I would figure it out later, for now I’d need to continue to the training areas to get my first class skills.
I swung the backpack onto my back and headed straight to the Explorers Tower. I had no interest in playing a fighter, nor was the studious mage or cleric something that caught my interest. I wanted to continue doing what I did in Beta, and that was to explore the world. And the best skills to overcome any obstacle, be it through climbing, jumping, tightrope walking or crawling, were gained through the “Explorer” classes.
I took a better look at the tower as I headed towards it. It was a bit different than Beta too. A total of 6 floors. No wait, make that 7. It was a bit hard to spot but there was an extra layer of windows that were carefully hidden. Quite ingenious, the windows above and below had been shifted down and up a bit to mask the difference in height between the “visible” floors.
I walked into the tower and walked straight past the Explorer stall. Against the back wall of the room was a locked door. They moved the key to the door since Beta, but it took me only a few seconds to spot the new location. I grabbed the key, unlocked the door and made my way up the stairs.
Each floor had its own theme. The first, or ground floor had the Explorer class, the 2nd floor had Acrobats, the 3rd floor had Thieves, the 4th Assassins, the 5th Nightblades, the 6th Ninja’s and the.. Wait, where was the 7th floor? I traced my steps back and was able to notice the difference in the stair lengths, but the 7th floor was not there.
I went back outside to double check my earlier observation. Standing a bit closer now, and knowing what to look for, there was no doubt that there was indeed an extra floor. I circled the tower twice when my eye fell on the ivy that went up to the 2nd floor. Where the ivy stopped a few of the stones stuck out just a bit further. I took a quick look around. This was the back of the tower; there were no nearby buildings or windows on this side that would allow others to easily spot me. Also it was still early morning, and the sun was just about to rise. There were enough shadows that I was decently certain I could climb up unseen.
I had no intention of getting caught. This game did actually have jail time, and being caught on my first day ingame and not being able to play for whatever time the sentence would be, was not how I wanted to spend my time here. So looking around to see that there were no witnesses I climbed up the ivy, the stones, over to the camouflaged windows. A quick glance showed that the window was barred, but there was a lock on it.
I took in my surroundings. The front door of the guilds usually had the tools needed to enter nearby. For Mages it was a spell to open the door, for the Fighters’ guild there was an assortment of weapons to challenge the guardian, and for the Thieves’ guild you had to find the key to enter. As this was part of the guild tower, a solution had to be nearby.
Peeking through the bars I spotted the solution on the table behind them and upon said table, just out of reach there lay a single hairpin. I removed my backpack from my back, squeezed it through the bars, and swung it from the handle. When it was over the hairpin I dropped so it lay upon the table, and dragged it towards me, pin and all.
Now I hadn’t officially gotten the lockpick skill yet, but the game allowed for untrained actions and I did do a lot of lockpicking in Beta. So after I unfolded the hairpin and fumbled a bit with the lock it sprung open. I opened the bars and climbed in the window, ready to explore whatever secret was hidden behind.
For a moment I could not see a thing as my eyes quickly adjusted to the relative darkness of the room. As my eyes vision returned the first thing I noticed were the sheets of paper covering the walls. All across the walls were maps, portraits, sketches and notes. Pins connected with wires, charcoal lines drawn across them. There was a slight draft that occasionally animated the papers.
Behind a desk sat a rather lean man of an indistinct age. He wore a grey greenish outfit with a high collar, brimmed glasses and had a wholly unremarkable face. “Welcome recruit. I did not quite expect anyone to find me just yet. Would you please lock that window behind you by the way? Oh, and put the pin back for any other recruits.”
He waited patiently as I locked the windows and put the pin back. When I faced him again he spoke once more. “Your name is Jessica, although you go by Jazz here. We know you have lived behind a mask for most of your life, we know of your pursuits in a world much like this one. We know many things, and it is pleasing to inform you that you have not disappointed us.”
“Who is ‘us’?” I asked.
“Who do you think we are?” he asked in return. I took another look at the room we were in and took it all in.
“Spies? That much seems kinda obvious. But who for? The thieves? The guard? The council?” I guessed. The man smiled thinly and waited for me to go on. I took another moment to scan for more details. There was a ring on his hand, a letter on his desk, and a coat hanging on a hook.
“You’re working for the council. Councillor Taden to be precise. This world is still unfamiliar, even to the natives, and you are the intelligence agency tasked with gathering information in an inconspicuous manner.” I replied after a few moments.
“Okay, color me impressed lass. That’s a bit more than I had expected you to learn. Mind sharing how you gathered all this?” he asked.
I had used my enhanced vision to take in the extra details, the signet on the ring, the pockets of the coat and the text of the letter. “Well sir, The letter on your desk came from Councillor Taden with the task to map and explore the region. The ring on your finger bears the same sigil as the letter does, telling me you are actually employed by that faction. Now you could still have been a family member or something, but your coat has a receipt for equipment from the council sticking out the pocket.”
He burst out laughing. “You’ll do lass, you’ll do! I’m guessing you have cheated a bit with some special ability, but that’s no problem at all. We use all the means at our disposal to get the job done. You’re hired, should you choose to accept the job. You’ll be a Scout and your task will be to gather intelligence of all kinds on our world. You’ll be asked to map out areas, to find the weak spots on specific targets and to intercept communications. To infiltrate and to walk unseen.”
Hearing this I was almost bouncing in place. I was just told that I could advance in this game doing what i loved to do most. “I accept, sir!”
“I’m glad to hear that, from what I just witnessed I would’ve hated to let you go. Here are your memory crystals,” he said as she pushed a small collection of crystals in my direction, after which he reached under his desk, “and here is your starting equipment.”
I immediately held the crystals up to my head and felt the new knowledge seeping in. A light chiming sound came from my bracelet. As I looked upon its display it showed me my new stats.
Class: [Threefold Scout]
LVL = 1
HP = 350
AP = 350
STR = 10
CON = 11
DEX = 12 + 5% bonus
INT = 12
WIS = 9
[Backstab]
Stabs at vitals of opponents for 600% damage.
Requirement: Must be in stealth, Must be behind target, Must have fought this creature type 5 times before if not base race.
Cost 6 AP
Duration 1.5 secs avg
[Tumble II]
Vault and tumble over your opponent, disorienting them for a moment allowing you a 3 second stealth time after landing behind the opponent.
Cost 18 MP
Cast 3 secs avg
Special: Can be used out of combat to clear hurdles of a max of 10ft / 3m
[Dirt Kick]
Kick dirt in the opponent's face disorienting them a moment. 3 second stun, does not grant stealth.
Requirement: rubble, sand, loose stone or other things that can be kicked up. If dropped by scout, add 1 second.
Cost 6 AP
Cast Time: 1 sec avg
[Lockpick]
Open locks of shabby quality with the use of tools.
Requirement: suitable tools
Time: 10 sec-5min depending on lock, lockpick and concentration.
“Huh.. Tumble II? Isn’t that a bit much for starting new?” I asked the still nameless man. I really did have to ask again who he was before I left. He looked puzzled for a moment before he browsed his papers. “Ah, I see. Your pre-existing experience with tumbling superseded the memory crystal. We have great expectations of you miss Jazz, I’m looking forward to seeing your results. Now, go get dressed properly, “ he said while pointing at a changing screen, “and we can set you up with your first contact.”
I grabbed the clothes offered and hid behind the screen to change. I hesitated for a moment. I could have just used the interface to link the backpack to my inventory, put in the clothes and “apply” them through the display on my bracelet. But it seemed like a shame to do it that way. I had this wonderful new body, that just felt so right on all accounts. I wanted to experience it all, so I undressed and dressed the old fashioned way.
Clothes in unfolding world online were a wondrous thing. Everything was oversized. Like, way oversized. All clothing, and armor for that matter was big enough that a half-orc would fit into them. One size fits all. Ok, so I hear you thinking, that's like, really uncomfortable for smaller people, right?
Wrong.
After donning said clothes all you needed to do was tap your bracelet and they would adjust to the proper size. Always fitting well, always looking good. There was some lore behind this feature. I know I’ve read a book on it in Beta, but really, who remembers boring shit like that? The effect was what was important, and the effects were stunning indeed.
When I tapped my own bracelet and the clothes shrunk to size, I noticed something odd. Something stuck between my toes, and the lack of a proper sole beneath my feet. “Are you sure these are the proper boots? They don’t seem right…” I asked stepping into view from behind the screen.
“Ah yes, these are new here. These shoes offer all the protection that normal shoes do, but offer way more traction when doing active stuff like climbing. They do take a little getting used to, but once you do I assure you you’ll never want to go back to regular shoes. They are brilliant for our line of work. By the way, there’s a mirror over there if you want to admire our handywork.”
Putting on the oversized pieces of cloth really hadn’t allowed me to get a proper look at what it was I was actually putting on, and the effect was great. It was still low level clothing of course, so it was nothing to write home about. Yet it still felt right. This was the garb of my chosen profession and it looked good on me.
The special leather boots looked like normal boots from a small distance; the pants looked to be cloth but while putting them on I had noticed the leather reinforcements. The sweater was skin tight, and had the same reinforcements as the pants. The collar though was interesting. When down it draped over my shoulders and bosom like a comfy shawl, but fold it open and it became a hood that would nicely hide my face. Two belts hung crisscrossed over my hips, with many hooks and notches to hang tools and pouches on. Finally a leather jacket finished the look. The jacket was short but loose hanging, allowing for many pockets and hiding bulky objects underneath in plain sight.
From a glance it looked like a simple outdoor outfit, but it really was both very comfortable and functional, offering protection and flexibility. “Great, everything in order then? Your contact can be found sporting the Threefold sigil and a crow, and resides in select inns across the world. Tell them the crows are ranging far this year. Now scoot, I think the next recruit is scaling the wall, I’m curious whether he’ll get in. It was nice getting to know you miss Jazz, have a great day and goodbye!”
He ushered me out the door and it slammed shut behind me. I found myself in a small room with only a door and a shuttered window. The door behind me had no handle to grab onto, so it seemed the window was once again the way to go. I lifted it open and climbed out. The shutter fell shut behind me, leaving no trace from the outside that there actually was a window.
I shrugged and started to climb down, my mind already made up to find the contact in the inn and see if he had an assignment for me, when a chiming sound pinged from my bracelet. “Hello, World!” was featured in large friendly letters on its display. As I was preoccupied with the meaning of this message, my foot located a foothold and I set down my boot so that the sole would hook on and transferred my full weight. I was warned that I would need to get used to this new type of shoe and the first thing I did was forget all about the warning!
For a fraction of a second it felt like I was suspended in the air, much like those old cartoon characters who had to realise that they would fall before they actually did, and my mind went into overdrive. My enhanced vision showed me a rock sticking out of the wall, a nearby flag, a blind wall and a market stall’s cloth cover. I twisted around and let myself fall until I reached the stone, kicked off against the stone and shot away from the tower, crossing the street 5 stories below.
At about 4 stories height I altered my course by grabbing the flagpole. My hands and arms throbbed from the sudden strain on them, but I managed to swing a 90 degree arc on the flagpole before letting go to sail to my next target.
Once again I sped over the street, this time twisting my body so I was facing down. My feet touched the blank wall at about the 3rd floor and I crouched on it for a mere moment to break the momentum. Slowly my mind started to catch up with what I was doing and it started to scream at me wildly for the stupid shit I got myself in this time. But this was not a place to stop, and before I could start sliding (read falling) down that wall I pushed off with all my might.
As if sprung from a spring I straightened out and took off again. I rolled my body in the air to land with my back on the cloth top of the market stall. The wood creaked as the cloth took my weight and for a moment I was afraid that either the cloth would tear or the wood break, but instead it launched me into the crowd gathered below. One last time I twisted myself through a somersault and landed, on my feet but out of breath between townspeople and players.
Okay, so that just happened…
I peered up at the tower and measured the distance and the path I had traversed, counting my lucky stars. If it hadn’t been for the tumble, the enhanced sight and the cat’s paws I would probably be suffering from resurrection sickness right now. And what was with that weird message? Glancing once again at my bracelet it had disappeared. Bringing my mind back to the present I felt a lot of eyes on me.
Fuck… So much for low profile. I quickly pulled up my hood before people could get a better look at my face. I moved into the crowd, turning at least 3 times in random directions. Then I pulled my hood off and joined the crowd in the search for this amazing acrobat before wandering off toward the inn.
[Tumble +1]