Chapter 00

Facebook released its cutting edge VR full immersion device. To set up the device, it requires the user to perform a full body scan in one of the many Mobile Scanners. The Mobile Scanner has a neural network that trains and implants an AI on the purchased device, as well as avatar data. It’s a very recognizable, sleek van that is usually swarmed by people dying to load their device up for the first time. Many jokes are made about Facebook’s “white van” coming to steal you away.

Account names can be anything a user wishes, but the bodies they inhabit will be the exact same as their real life bodies. And, of course, the users are required to sign in with their Facebook accounts. In that sense, Facebook Reality Labs has not changed. But in every other sense, the company has accelerated progress in the Virtual Field to new heights. They weren’t the first to make full immersion, but their avatars are inarguably the best. In the Virtual World, it’s vividly obvious who has a Virtual Real body, even under all the cosmetics they unlock and wear.

The scanning process is much like the TSA checks of yesteryear, however, they stand with their arms out as straight as possible (the tech world unable to give up the legendary “T” pose). The first sweep is done nude, which would be uncomfortable if they could think about anything except jumping into the Virtual World. Makeup is highly recommended to take off, because you will be stuck with that makeup on you forever. On the second sweep, users are allowed to scan in their underwear for free (many opting for their fanciest lingerie, or at least something really comfy), but can pay a premium for a third scan with any other set of clothes for their default outfit.

The scans of Virtual Real clothes are highly regarded because of the insane fidelity. They can only be scanned in, are unable to trade, and the Virtual Market is unable to produce something near that quality without dangerous mods and ridiculous development time. It’s much cheaper and safer just to wait for an availability to open on the nearest Mobile Scanner, and pay the premium. Virtual Real clothes also feel so much better than just Virtual Clothes. The difference is like satin versus coarse wool, to the point that people often wear their Virtual Real clothes underneath any virtual outfit they decide to don.

Users setting up an account get priority to the Mobile Scan Centers, but many frivolous people get addicted to scanning in multiple Virtual Real outfits, paying extra to go ahead of others that are also trying to get that next outfit, sometimes ending in a bidding war. During times between manufacture releases of the Facebook Device, the mobile scanners are mostly used for clothes, some users bringing entire wardrobes if they can afford it, and scanning clothing sets one after the other. It’s expensive to scan the clothes layer by layer, and even though the price quickly adds up, many users still opt for it so that they can actually remove their clothes instead of it being stuck to their body. If it’s just a quick outfit and one doesn’t care about realism (or can’t afford the extra layer cost), they can alternatively get away with switching clothes instantly through the menu.

The scan process is rather astonishing. The Mobile Scan Center not only has the visual data translated by scanning, but its secret formula is that it’s one of the largest Deep Dive devices, because it interfaces with the scanee’s brain. It can only read brainwaves; it cannot write, like the Facebook Device can. Throughout the duration of the 2 to 3 sweeps (and sometimes taking a bit longer), it reads the new user’s entire mind and trains an AI to work with the user’s specific mental map. Once finished, the AI is injected into the connected Facebook Device. There is no way to wipe this device or reformat it, because the AI is ingrained onto the firmware itself, for performance and security.

During the scan, the Mobile Scanner also makes you intensely aware of everything you feel, so that it can accurately capture the exact sensation of your clothes on your body. Of course, in game, your mind filters out the feeling of clothes after a while, just like real life. But for that very reason is why Virtual Real clothes are so much better. The sensation of them is not emulated, but replayed to you from your real life. This is another reason that a user would want to remove makeup before scanning, because that feeling of makeup is also captured. Of course, a more expensive, layered scan can have a sweep with the makeup off. This technique is most commonly adopted among cosplayers who want to cosplay ingame, so they can get a break from the additional makeup, but still having the feeling of real makeup or cosplay accessories captured. Virtual makeup has no feeling at all, and since it can be changed much more frequently, it’s an easy and convincing way to show off. Plenty of effort has gone into the development of Virtual Makeup, so even though one size wouldn’t fit all, there are complex algorithms written by brilliant people to warp it onto the surface of the skin. This makes it completely 2 dimensional, but isn’t easily noticed, because the bump maps (raised portions of a 3d model) of Virtual Real models are already incredibly detailed.

David, however, is an exception. Being in the Virtual Reality development field, he has access to resources and hardware that is more specialized than even the most dedicated of deep dive fans. This allows him to dive (no pun intended) into the dangerous modding and spend the ridiculous development time that I mentioned is required to make fake Virtual Real Clothes. But it goes much further than that. After accomplishing the faked clothes, his knowledge and practice led him to undertake his most formidable task. He crafted his first fake Virtual Real body. It’s unknown how many are out there or if he was the first. The fake Virtual Real clothes are already very hush hush, because the mods not only go against Facebook’s terms, but are physically dangerous. Remember the part where I said the Mobile Scanner was a deep dive device, and that it recorded brainwaves to capture sensation? Imagine having to build that sensation from scratch. It’s hard to describe the feeling of clothes, just as it’s hard to describe smells, and harder still to describe color.

This is where his job helps him out. He is not only in the cutting edge Deep Dive field, so he has the knowledge, but he has access to Artificial Intelligence, and a very powerful one at that. Deep Dive has always been driven by Artificial Intelligence. There is no other way to access unique brainwaves of individual users. A linear program would force everyone to literally think the same, and would easily fry anyone with a different mental makeup. Each Facebook Device’s AI is formed to a unique user’s brain. That’s why a registered device is useless in the hands (or should I say, on the head) of anyone else. The AI that David uses is more advanced than Facebook’s Mobile Scanner neural net that scans users on first configuration. It’s obviously the company AI, but being on R&D instead of production, he really can use it however he wants in the name of science! But seriously, it’s his job to push the boundaries of the current way things are done. Dangerous modding? That’s basically his job description.

So David started down this path making Virtual Clothes. He makes them for volunteers that sign a nice and friendly NDA. It’s not encouraged to stay on a single topic though, unless he is clearly making advancements in that field of research. Once he made a few sets of convincing fake Virtual Real Clothing articles, there’s not much beyond that. Sure, different materials or unique clothes may prove to be a challenge, but the limited, NDA-signed group didn’t pitch him anything challenging in a while, nor had he thought of anything interesting.

That’s when he decided to make something for himself. Sure, he could throw some cool fake Virtual Real Clothing articles on his Company Profile, that was a Virtual Real scan of himself. But he had the same problem of coming up with anything challenging enough to warrant research. But what about something to call his own? He hasn’t actually played much of the Deep Dive game, past work-related playtesting and teambuilding hangouts in the Virtual World. With quite literally endless resources to do whatever he wanted, he decided to make a fake Virtual Real Body.

Even to his coworkers who were also paid to push the limits, this was pushing it. Sure, this idea was tossed around. A lot. But no one had actually done it, or even tried. The ones who worked on something similar were more focused on adding fake Virtual Real appendages to someone who was disabled. The problem with Facebook’s Scanner was that it captured everything. If you had a physical disability, that was captured in flawless precision, and you were stuck with it in the Virtual World. People would scan as they are when they got the device, but it was starting to become increasingly important to treat your body as a temple until your first scan. Then you could do anything you wanted with it, and the program would rely on that initial version of yourself if you so chose. Even scanning new clothes could be superimposed on one of your earlier scans (of course at yet another premium, because it took computation time, and it’s Facebook).

But a whole human? That was unheard of. And when he pitched this to his boss, he got a laugh. But the amused expression fell away and the eyebrows were raised when the BossPerson realized that this was a legitimate pitch. They sat back in their chair, and put a hand to their chin.

“I don’t doubt your capability, nor your potential.” They sat forward, “It’s just dangerous, David. You know about the incidents in the early days.” They were referring to the first experiments on paraplegics and quadriplegics. These disabilities were far too advanced for the relatively young R&D company to tackle. Hindsight being 30/30, they should have started with amputees, just replacing a finger, or arm, or leg. But the sickening truth was that amputees weren’t that desperate. They didn’t want to be the test dummies because the cons far outweighed the pros. Quadriplegics that became paralyzed before being scanned were so desperate to get their mobility back that they would put their life on the line. Paraplegics were soon to follow when the survivability rate dropped to something closer to the risk level of major surgery. But the survival rate, for an unfortunately long time, was pretty much a death sentence.

“I appreciate your concern, I really do. Morality-wise, I couldn’t test this with another person. Not that it makes it any better, but I will be doing the research on myself.” David replied, gaining the sense that he was treading into murky water, but had been thinking about this for a while and was quite stubborn.

“I was afraid you would say that. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be just as concerned if you had found a willing individual. Lives are lives, no matter who they are. I need to know your reasoning, which is likely what you were waiting to say next. It better be really good.” Bossperson sat forward, knitting their fingers together, like they would at an intense meeting where things really got serious.

David’s heart beat so loud he could feel it in his ears. This was more nerve-wracking than the first time he came out, “I’ve been stuck in this male body for a very long time. This is something worth risking my life over, and I’m prepared for everything that may come my way. I’m doing it to transition to female in the Virtual World.”

His boss placed their hands flat on the table, and breathed out a calm, measured breath. “Thank you for confiding in me,” They said after a while, obviously fine with the whole transgender part. The concern for David’s health was still hinted in their expression, although as they thought about it more, it fell away to a gentle, reassuring smile.

“You’re the smartest person on my team, don’t tell the others.” They chuckled, easing the tense vibe of the room, before continuing.

“If anyone can do this incredible feat, it is you. Don’t rush it and keep me updated with all of your progress.” They signed the paper that David filled out, giving written permission to start this new research path.

David logs into his test account for the first time. Well, it wasn’t exactly the first time. He’s had to reset the initial startup sequence a couple times, bailing out at any sign of glitchy behavior. He technically ran 5 generations of thousands of start up sequences the night before with the company AI, but this was the real deal. He sent all his last texts to his family and friends. His NDA prevented him from saying anything specific, which made crafting his last texts quite difficult, even with his natural talent at beating around the bush and adeptness at writing. Fully aware of the possibility of death, he continued with the boot up sequence. He didn’t have to mod the facebook AI much for his project, other than selecting the right gender flag, which affects virtually nothing (pun not intended) and is done on a regular basis for transgender and non-binary people, right at the Mobile Scanner. They, however, are scanned like everyone else, and get what they get and don’t throw a fit. Most just update their scan or don't make their first scan until gender reassignment surgery is completed.

David, though, has created an emulation of the entire scan process. He more or less had to fake the incredibly advanced, precise, and expensive Mobile Scanner. He did this completely from scratch with the company's AI. He did have a vast amount of anonymous user-submitted data to train the AI on, courtesy of R&D Company. But all training methods, success laws, failure criteria, fell solely upon his shoulders. That being said, he also collaborated with the closest research team, the same team that is slowly curing Virtual Disabilities. His prior knowledge faking Virtual Real clothes made adding clothes braindead easy. I seriously didn’t mean to write braindead in bad taste. The risk involved with complete body/mind emulation can be severe and is nothing to joke about. The most important part that he did manage to get his hands on is the Mobile Scanner itself from Facebook. This was not easy, but luckily the lawsuit from the early days of the quadripalegic tests had given the company access to the newest versions of the scanner as they came out. David had to step up his “need to know” basis and sign a few more legally dense forms.

The only problem with making it for himself, other than death, was that he is making it for himself. When it comes to AI, they really like things to be the same. Patterns are everything. Since he was making an AI for himself, it was trained on his mind. Just like attempting to use someone else’s Facebook Device (impossible without modding for good reason) would almost always end in death, because the AI is synced with one person and one person only, he had to avoid making an AI with that same restriction. That means instead of training the AI to be really good at making him a fake Virtual Real body, he had to make an AI really good at making any fake Virtual Real body. This fact alone set him back months. He had accidentally made that first case early on, where it was trained to work with only his brain. Considering most people don’t have access to an ultra-powerful neural network (other than that first scan at the Mobile Scanner, which is still less powerful than his company’s), that training process was unrealistic to be required to perform for each individual person who wanted a fake Virtual Real body. However, if he made a generic AI, it could be sold in countless downloads. Once an AI is made, it actually doesn’t take up much space at all. It’s just really good at one task and never has to be retrained.

Finishing the AI training step with no glitches, the emulated Mobile Scanner continued on to the scary part. Scanning his body... Or should I say, her body.

Fun fact, because it’s important enough to put off telling you the scary part for even longer, the Mobile Scanner emulation actually has an AI inside of an AI, made by an AI. Ok, that was a lot. Let’s break it down. The company AI had the task of crafting an emulator of the Mobile Scanner. Relatively easy, just feed it the Mobile Scanner that David has access to from his company (through several layers of security clearance). For such a powerful network, this is like having the answer key of a test, and then being asked to take the test. You can easily cheat off of the paper. The Company’s AI -- (let’s call them Kat) -- Kat has to come up with a way to scan the user’s brain. They actually don't have to work much harder, because David also can just feed them Facebook’s AI (which he had access to quite early on in his R&D career). Let’s call him The ZUCC. Kat knows exactly how The ZUCC works, and can put him in the emulator without changing anything. More cheating off the answer key. But The ZUCC is used to the real world and scanning humans. He is driving an emulated White Van and can use any of the equipment in it like normal. However, no humans come to his White Van. But Kat is smart. They hear rumors that their makers wish to have a human enter the White Van. Now they have to get imaginative. They craft a little AI, let’s call her D.A.I.S.Y. (Discover Avatars Intended Specifically for You). Daisy doesn’t know much at the moment, but she knows that somebody cute named Kat gives her the task of making a human. She tries to make that human realistic, but The ZUCC is very particular. He tells her she got it wrong, but is nice enough to say what he was looking for. She learns from that, and tries again. And again. Soon enough, after a few million iterations, she is able to make really good humans, and The ZUCC has less complaints. Just a bit more, and The ZUCC doesn’t realize that the humans walking into his White Van are completely made up by our imaginative Daisy. Kat is pleased with this result, and has learned a lot from this experience. However, they are not done yet. This was only the first generation. It ended in success, but there may be something that Kat didn’t account for, and that scares them. They bring over the Emulator they designed, complete with The ZUCC and their new Daisy. Kat hears feedback from David, who manually inspects the results of the whole process. He makes some changes to parameters, and Kat now knows what they need to try next. So they rebuild the experiment, keeping all the best versions of the emulator, The ZUCC, and Daisy. Thus, the emulator has Daisy tricking The ZUCC, all made by Kat; an emulator that has an AI in an AI, all made by an AI.

David’s Virtual body starts the scanning process. He starts to feel everything that the Virtual body should feel. The Emulator is being tricked that it’s scanning his Real World body, and doing what it isn’t supposed to do. All Mobile Scanners are completely unable to write, again for good reason. The Emulator, however, works differently. It, with the help of D.A.I.S.Y., sends virtual body data to David’s mind, and then The ZUCC reads David’s mind to record how he feels. The transformation process gives David an out of body experience. He is no longer connected to his company’s Deep Dive device, but finds himself inside the emulation. He recognizes the inside of the White Van, and the familiar prompt plays, asking him to copy the silhouette and assume the legendary “T-Pose” stance. He holds out his arms. Nay, her arms. His mind starts to mix with the Virtual Body, especially now that The ZUCC starts to initiate the beginnings of the mental scan. He can feel the additional weight on her chest, the long hair on her back. Her breath, her heart beat, all were becoming his. She was overwriting him. It was not a feeling of him becoming more, but her replacing him. It was the most terrifying sensation, but absolutely thrilling. What parts of him that she was discarding were parts he had wished he could get rid of on his own. Every individual experiences a scan differently. Some suffer side effects from the sensory overload as The ZUCC reads everything from their mind. The easiest cure is to interface with the Facebook Device as soon as possible, and allow the setup mode to cure potential Scan Illness. David had done this process before, but nothing could prepare him for what was about to come.

Before I continue with the mental scan, I have to explain what the Body Scanner is doing. It’s taking a high fidelity image, like it would normally, of the naked user proceeding through first setup. However, the avatar in the Scanner is completely fake. David made it with the AI we called D.A.I.S.Y. He input parameters to the AI of what he wanted, and was able to select from a list of viable avatars that it generated. If nothing was what he wanted, he could tweak a parameter or just reroll. Daisy would comply, and make fake humans in the thousands. Humans that were under a probability threshold of tricking The ZUCC were automatically culled, until David was presented a list of the best humans she could think up, for that given set of parameters. If one was close enough, he could adjust that avatar’s specific parameters. This would save the state of the avatar, and Daisy would begin to churn out thousands of variations of that avatar, again culling ones that would potentially fail at tricking The ZUCC. The closer he got, the higher he made the restriction for culling avatars. This greatly increased the accuracy of the models, but also increased the compute time. Daisy was a finished AI, meaning she was already fully trained, so she could run on any hardware. But what she was running on would affect how long it took. David luckily had company resources, so this sped up the process. For the particular model that David ended up going with, the possibility to trick The ZUCC was at 99.9979%. This only took a few hours to iterate with the company's render farm, operating at his user account’s 5% share of the resources. If no one was using the render farm, it would allocate more resources to all active users. It was a quiet day when he made her, so he got a healthy slice of additional computation power. On high-end consumer hardware, an accuracy percentage this high would likely take a few weeks. It was still theoretically feasible, especially if they rented compute power at a commercial render farm to speed up the process.

The parameters he started off with were quite simple. He tweaked and added as he went along, but her general look was quite distinct. He had drawn, 3d modeled, and written about her long before this. She was a caucasian, red haired girl standing at 178 centimeters with freckles. She had sparkling green eyes, long hair, and ample breasts. She was overall lean, but her curves were healthy. She had connected earlobes, unlike David. Well, most things were unlike David, except for her skin color and height. She looked around his age, as well. She wasn’t flawless by most standards, the generative tactics of D.A.I.S.Y. prevented that. A perfect human would not trick The ZUCC, and the relatively slim control over the outcomes were sometimes hard to refine the search for Discovering an Avatar Intended Specifically for You. Slightly changing a parameter could induce vastly different outcomes. That’s another reason to start the choosing process off with a medium tolerance for tricking The ZUCC, and then refining later. It was faster so it could generate more diverse humans, and then by selecting and tweaking, one could narrow down the desired features before upping the tolerance and forcing them to become more realistic.

The interesting part about Daisy is that she doesn’t actually make a human. She just tricks The ZUCC to think there is a human in his Emulated White Van. Data-wise, she is just passing him 1s and 0s that look like a human is being scanned. There is no actual avatar, no human, nothing. To preview the human she created, David actually has to render the human through The ZUCC. Luckily this is done automatically for all Mobile Scanners, so that the avatar can be visually inspected by a human employee for any common errors in the scanning process. So that process is already Emulated, along with the White Van and The ZUCC. David just had to code a simple menu that would display the avatars as they render through the iterations, ripping the previews straight from The ZUCC himself. Daisy keeps a record of what she made, for training purposes and if David wanted to go back to anything. This record file would be disabled for the full release of Daisy, assuming David survives the testing process. The record file is intensely large, and would be highly unreasonable for anyone that didn’t have access to petabytes of storage space. That amount of data is wonderful for training or retraining AI, and can assist in any debugging.

It begs the question, why does David feel like Daisy? Oops, spoiler, that’s his Virtual Body’s name. As far as which was named first, even he doesn’t remember. He created the idea of the AI making the body at the same time as he drew what the AI would design for him to be in the Virtual World.

David feels like Daisy because for the scanner to link his mind to the body, he had to enable the writing process to the Emulator Deep Dive device. He was actually linked to the company’s Deep Dive, running an Emulation of Facebook’s Deep Dive, being tricked that it was scanning a Virtual Body. You get the idea. The ZUCC has to know how David’s brain works in order to associate his mind with his body. The most dangerous part of this whole experiment is that David’s mind must feel like Daisy. If the Neural Net takes a wrong turn, it will cause the wrong synapse in David’s mind to fire. This could cause a seizure, and the stream of data to the Deep Dive will be overloaded. Normally, Deep Dive devices have a seizure protection and can calm the mind. But that’s AFTER the first scan. Remember, The ZUCC is learning how David’s mind works for the first time. It’s impossible to calm the mind if The ZUCC has no idea how the neural pathways connect. That’s why Virtual Clothes are relatively safe. All the Seizure protocols have already been in place. It’s actually safer to connect to Deep Dive for users with seizures (again, after the first scan. That one is more dangerous for people with epilepsy, but great caution has been taken to prevent seizures on first scans).

After a while, the first scan is complete. His base body has been scanned. His mind isn’t yet linked to the AI, so he opts to wait for it to finish before donning her pink and blue underwear. Usually, time is money and the Facebook employees want you to finish your visual scans while the system is loading your mind. No one else is in line for this death machine, and David can take his sweet time. Also the terror of continuing has started to set in. He can feel The ZUCC start to crawl his mind. In a real body, this is a sometimes pleasant, tingling sensation. One’s mind being read is sometimes very relaxing. David’s just happens to have a second AI running through his mind, writing. D.A.I.S.Y. is molding his mind into Daisy’s. Yeah, I’ll have to start capitalizing the AI’s acronym to show the difference. I was a bit lazy before I spilled the beans. I may go back and change it retroactively. If I didn’t, this comment will land in the Final Draft. I’m a bit stubborn with my Rough Drafts making it all the way to Final Drafts, bar grammatical errors, so it’s likely this whole tangent is here to stay. I hope you’re having a good time and that I haven’t lost you yet in all the AI talk. Thanks for stiking around!

He will have to continue in a bit. Once his mind is scanned, it will be refined when he puts on her underwear. Movement, the feeling of fabric on skin, even emotions are recorded from his mental map. Her mental map. He doesn’t want to touch any part of his body, Virtual or Real, because that could set off overstimulation, as the AI is boosting his senses for greater fidelity in recording. It’s attempting to boost her senses, but she doesn’t exist, and that command is rerouted to the company’s Deep Dive device. He opted to connect into his company’s Deep Dive Device in a sensory deprivation tank. This is a common request, even for consumers, as it enhances the Deep Dive experience by allowing minimal conflicting signals. It hasn’t yet been done on First Setup, mostly because no one has been stupid enough to run First Setup anywhere except the Mobile Scanners.

The AI writing has become excruciating at this point. It must be attempting to figure out how she feels pain. Is this what a period feels like? This sensation is confirmed by intense nausea and cramping. His first Virtual Real period. He’s so happy he could cry. Emotions that he never experienced, or at least experienced faintly in his male body, come flooding in all at once. Emotions switch with little to no connection between the two. She makes facial expressions in response, dutifully recorded by The ZUCC. She feels ticklish suddenly, likely D.A.I.S.Y. tickling her to find out her response. She laughs, hearing her voice for the first time. Her laugh is like a fairy, high pitched and happy.

“For the first time, I’m myself.” She utters her first words, hearing the feminine inflection in her voice. Her voice is deeper than her laugh, reminiscent more of a nymph.

This process is much longer than any First Scan, because D.A.I.S.Y. is tasked with crafting an entire human mind, instead of that mind already existing. And David gets to feel her running through his mind. She doesn’t need to change too many surface level things, as the conscious mind will stay the same. She’s doing most of her work in the subconscious and unconscious mind, trying to bring a fake human into existence. David’s mind is forced into Daisy’s body, and his id is being morphed into hers. His gender identity has always been quite fluid, so it was pretty malleable to form to become hers. It just had to take a while to get used to actually being in the right body (like the menstrual pain they were feeling). His sexuality has evolved and progressed, but it was much more tumultuous than his gender identity. D.A.I.S.Y. apparently learned something from Sigmund Frued, because David started to have old memories flood in from his childhood, and he suspected she was creating a new sexuality for Daisy. That was the only kink with an AI making a new human (pun only partially intended, I’m so sorry). She tried her best to use everything that she was given from David’s mind to make Daisy, but the biological gap of him being born male gave D.A.I.S.Y. quite a large hurdle to overcome. She had to make up a lot of things on the fly.

Does this mean that the newly written gender and sexuality would persist in the real world? David knew about this possibility. A stronger feeling of femininity wasn’t scary to him at all. He had felt like a girl since childhood, so it would be nothing new, just a bit more obvious. But with this cutting edge science, one could only theorize how it would affect his sexuality, and any other changes that giving full write access of his mind to D.A.I.S.Y. could create. Anything D.A.I.S.Y. makes up to trick The ZUCC will have to first pass through David’s mind, leaving that pathway fresh in his mind. It’s possible the experience will fade, as she only will need to write things once or twice to trick him. However, this is dealing with the subconscious and unconscious mind, and just one pass through could leave him with side effects that would be very hard to realize, and harder still to fix.

The pain shifts into something more pleasant. You can make an educated guess at what is happening now. It’s hard to remain standing in the Emulated White Van. He has experienced something similar to this, but nowhere near as powerful. Keep in mind the AI is still enhancing his senses. D.A.I.S.Y. is relying on her trained knowledge of countless (technically countable but I don’t know the number) anonymously submitted data of humans, reimagining the female orgasm and playing it through David’s mind, to teach The ZUCC how his mind reacts.

The Emulated White Van luckily doesn’t exist, because what happened in it would be quite embarrassing in a public setting. I’ll spare you the details, but remember, it’s all in the name of science! D.A.I.S.Y. must be almost finished crafting Daisy from scratch. Trembling, David checks the onscreen progress on the TSA wall in front of him. He’s done it. His seizure-preventative protocols just activated. He breathes out a shaky breath. Nothing could have prepared him for any of this. He certainly feels different. It does not feel like he has a second human in his mind like he thought, but he has actually become a new human.

Daisy steps towards the cubby, picking up her pink and blue panties. She slips them on, aware of the soft fabric traveling up her smooth legs. What a surreal experience. Often, Deep Dive, especially through Facebook’s Device, can feel more real than real life. Because of the sensory boosting of the First Scan, real life often does not feel real after it. Sensory boosting can be done in game, and that’s why many will want to hook up to the Deep Dive soon after their First Scan, so they can ease their way back to real life. Most don’t remember their trip home, it feels dreamlike and unreal after the First Scan experience.

She reaches back and clips her bra on. The sensation of putting on and taking off clothes is also recorded. David gave himself the 3 scan experience for free, because he designed his own Mobile Scanner. She pulls up her thigh high socks, made of wonderfully soft fake Virtual Real fabric. She uses a bright pink scrunchy to put her hair up into a long ponytail behind her head, and ties on a large pink bow. A bright light blue scrunchy is used for her bangs, shooting them off into a smaller ponytail over her left shoulder. She clips up any wispy hairs with 2 hair clips, matching her pallet’s pink and light blue, of course. Finally, to top it all off, she clips on her signature daisy on the right side of her head, near the hairline. She steps back in the TSA check and T-Poses. The Scanner sweeps a visual scan of the clothes, before prompting for the next layer. Daisy walks back to the cubby and picks up her vibrant green crop top camisole with light green hexagonal patterns. She ponders it for a bit and has the sense to take off her bra. Her Cami is an undergarment after all, and since the bra was already recorded, there’s no need to record it again. If she wanted to wear the bra and Cami, the program would already know how to layer the bra back under the Cami without issue. Besides, then she gets the feeling of being braless in a silky Cami, not something she could personally experience until today. She slips the Cami over her head and feels the pleasant fabric travel over her. She smiles to herself, feeling the tingle of The ZUCC making notes. She no longer has to feel D.A.I.S.Y. write constantly. There are still little interjections that D.A.I.S.Y. has to make up on the fly, like the feeling of fabric on Daisy’s nipples, since David has the wrong gendered experience of that. Daisy also takes off her panties to go commando in her skirt, for the same reason she removed her bra in exchange for the Cami. She unzips her boots, stepping into a pair of pink boots with light blue platforms that raise her to 183 cm. Before she zips them up, she realizes she left her socks on. Yeah, it wouldn’t make sense to scan the socks twice, even if being barefoot in boots is weird. She takes her feet out and slips off the socks, placing her bare feet back in the shoes. She zips them up and thinks about an alternative hairstyle. If she changed this much between scans, why not? Realistically she should have programmed in more scans, but that can always be done later after she learns from this initial test. She puts on a more geometric looking flower. It’s stylistically low poly, something from her early development days. It was a hard material to fake, because it was so obviously from a video game. However, making an AI try to make a realistic version of a low poly object is rather hilarious. The result was somehow 3d printed and manufactured to perfection, but still retained a realistic look. She takes out her hair clips and ponytails, looking through the cubbies for a different set of scrunchies. She catches sight of an extremely fluffy set of scrunchies, and she of course pulls out a light blue one and pink one. Upon closer inspection, the scrunchies actually have glitter in them. This was not intentional, rather it was a random addition by the AI. Apparently something about that was slightly more convincing to The ZUCC. She was delighted at it, especially because they felt so darn fluffy. She puts her hair up in one of her oldest hairstyles, twin tails. She would call them pigtails, except they were far too long for that name and preferred the term twin tails anyway. She finally loops a blue jacket over her arms, making sure to keep a small air gap between her cami and jacket, so the scanner can take pictures of each side. Feeling a bit silly having the jacket so loose on her shoulders, she takes large steps to the scanner, T-Posing carefully. The sweep passes by, and when she blinks, it’s all over.

David wakes up, heart racing. It ended so abruptly, he could still hear her final thoughts echoing in his mind. He was weightless from the salt water and couldn’t see, so it feels like he was tossed into a black void. He apparently was still “T-Posing”. As he comes to his senses, he’s glad for the deprivation tank. He likely would have gone crazy at the stark difference of Real Life versus in the Deep Dive as Daisy. Before he is able to let his reality all set back in, his thoughts are consumed with his utter success. It was the most powerful experience he has ever gone through and the most dangerous. He survived. Only a few more seconds of elation are allowed to pass before he has the sense to jump right back in. If people suffer Reality Illness after the first sweep when it’s their own body, he can only imagine what his mind would suffer if he stayed any longer in the real world. He reaches blindly above him, his body bobbing in the water from his movement. The Facebook Device he was setting up was right above him, on a hook. He put it on, familiar with traversing in a sensory deprivation tank.

“Connect,” He says abruptly, cringing at his male voice, raspy from the saltwater and being inactive for quite some time.

“Confirm Connection to the Virtual World,” The device says in their gender neutral voice.

“Yes,” He manages to utter.

Blissfully, he is swept under, meeting his first loading screen on his personal account. The Emulation program cut off suddenly when Daisy finished her final scan because it had nothing else planned after the avatar was uploaded and the Facebook Device was written. Little did it know it was trained on a combination of his mind and a fake body. The Facebook Device was also allowed to write to his mind, but was limited in how far it can reach. It would not toy around with changing his id. Unless you ask the conspiracy theorists, they would tell you a different story.

The black sky with twinkling stars faded to a concrete room. On the wall, big black letters in a strong font were printed.

WELCOME. WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE HERE.

Daisy looked down at her body, and let a breath out she didn’t know she was holding. She tried to remember the gap between the White Van and Concrete Room, but she had no idea what happened or how she got there. She assumed that she made it into the Virtual World after the Final Scan. Or she’s dead. Her jacket was still loosely hanging off her shoulders, so she brought it close and zipped it up. Being dead was rather cold. She remembers there being ice in hell for some stories in history, but this was just boring concrete. And why would anyone welcome her to hell? Who’s she kidding, she’s an angel. She folds her arms together, actually about to start shivering if she didn’t start moving. She turns around, looking for a door, but there is none. Oh that’s weird. She also can’t remember what starting up in the Virtual World is like. Actually, she can’t remember much at all.

She happens to glance up at the ceiling. It has industrial lighting, with cables and pipes running from left to right. There must be other rooms, why else would they run water and electricity through? She started to shiver. She wanted to feel safe, so she went to the nearest corner. Actually, she was standing in the middle of the room, so there was no nearest corner. She receded to the back left corner if you are looking at the black text on the wall. All other walls were blank, and she wanted to be able to see the text in case it… I dunno, changed or something. She sat in the corner, tucked into a ball, and waited. She could hear a faint hum from the lights and maybe imagined the sound of water running through the pipes along the ceiling. She could feel the cool concrete pulling her heat through her skirt. She didn’t have underwear on, and didn’t have socks either. This sucked. So much for getting the most out of the scans. Leaving her undies in the White Van with creepy Mr ZUCC was the icing on the cake. She undid one of her twin tails and played with the fluffy blue scrunchy. She made it twang a few times before launching it across the room. Ugh. Now she has to get up. Ehh. She pulls out the second scrunchy, not ready to get up yet. She squishes it in her hands, the brilliantly soft texture was rather reassuring. Extremely fine pink glitter occasionally fell out of the scrunchy. Making a hypothesis, she guessed that it was infinite. She tested the hypothesis by playing with it for… 30 minutes? Time is rather meaningless here. Sure enough, the glitter was still falling. It was so fine she couldn’t see it on the ground. This was the answer to her hypothesis. It’s a particle effect, so no actual glitter object hit the ground. It would have built up by now to a pile, and the scrunchy had plenty of sparkles left in it. She tested its stretchiness, attempting to find a limit. It was unbreakable, and her fingers actually became a bit sore after extending it to its limit for a while. She couldn’t make the loop any larger after it got to a certain length. She hummed to herself, a tune she didn’t find familiar, interestingly enough. She unclipped her daisy and inspected it. It wasn’t perfectly white like in the studio lights of the White Van. It was tinged yellow by the warmer bulbs in the industrial lights. It still glistened, looking like a polished plaster material in this setting. It felt neutral to the touch, she couldn’t feel it taking any heat from her. It must be plastic, a poor conductor of heat. The edges were quite refined, but not sharp. A geometrical anomaly, from a different universe. Before the Virtual World, this accessory was used in her previous lives, where games had much lower fidelity and much stricter requirements for avatar complexity. To think she used to have invisible “bones” in her hair, just so her hair could move around. So weird.

She could remember her past games, quite vividly. They sure weren’t as vivid as this Virtual World, nothing near it. They had their own quirks, where if people moved too fast their limbs could be lost in tracking. It was quite hilarious to see your friend shoot up into the sky, bent in half, just because they turned the wrong way in the Real World.

What was the Real World like? She knew of its existence, but couldn’t quite put a finger on what happened in it. People used to take off headsets and leave their bodies sprawled out on the ground, but she never knew where they actually went. They would come back and their body would raise up, almost looking like it was possessed. Their hands would raise up to their face and their head would straighten, and suddenly they are back, talking again. They would say where they went, like the bathroom, or whatever. That always cured her curiosity. Did she ever do that? Go to the real world? She couldn’t remember it and it was beginning to concern her.

Her butt was frozen by the time she got up to get the light blue scrunchy. Her back kinda ached from being pressed up against the corner on and off for about… Some hours?

She was really starting to get cold. She knew of one way to warm up that was really alluring to her. It might also pass the time. She was quite alone. Taking one last look around, with no doors to be seen, she familiarized herself with her body. Don’t worry, I’ll leave her to her privacy, and keep it at that.

An unknown amount of time later, she had finished, um, solving her temperature problem. She was beginning to cool down again from the room. Before she lost all her progress, she slipped into a slumber.

“DAISY.” She woke up to her name. Her eyes flickered open, and she sat upright. A hand instinctively went to her skirt, making sure it draped over the important bits to cover her up. She looked around, seeing nothing but concrete still. She groaned. Luckily, the voice didn’t stop at that.

“I’M GOING TO TELEPORT YOU. SAY ACCEPT” Thank God.

“Accept?” She said, almost a question.

The scene pleasantly faded away. Good Riddance.

She was still sitting when the world materialized around her again. A forest, with the warm sun blissfully shining. A shadowy figure stood bent over, with the sun shining behind them. They outstretched a hand to help her up. She took their hand, looping a foot under her thigh to press her body upwards.

“Thank God you rescued me from that. Where the Hell was I?” She said, already starting to put her hair back into a ponytail with the scrunchy around her wrist.

The shadowy figure turned a bit, the sun falling across their face. She didn’t recognize them.

“You, my brilliant child, managed to get caught.” They chuckled.

Daisy’s face was inquisitive, “So that was purgatory?”

“A form of it. Caused me a massive legal headache to get you out of it.” They put their hands on their hips. Daisy noticed their sheathed sword hanging. Who was her saviour?

“So, Jail. Okay. Sorry, who are you?” She finished putting up her second ponytail. She didn’t have her pink bow to tie around it, which was also left in The ZUCC’s White Van.

They paused, wondering if she didn’t recognize them because they were in a fantasy outfit. No, the Virtual Real avatar they had was as detailed as real life. Daisy must have suffered some mental relapse from her experiment.

“I’m your boss, Box. You were thrown in limbo for having a modded client. You modded the client under my express permission, because you work for me. I sincerely apologize.” They bowed their head, visibly upset.

“Sooo… Now I know who you are, nice to meet you, Box was it? And that explains why I was in purgatory, but the words you are saying don’t really mean much to me.” Daisy talks over herself, starting to get overwhelmed.

“We will work up to that. Trust me and say ‘menu’ and ‘initial startup’ please. It will explain everything.” Box looked sincere. Daisy could remember using menus in her previous lives, but none were voice activated. It seemed logical enough though, this game was obviously more advanced.

“Menu. Initial Startup.” Daisy says, and she gets transported again.

This time, the background is of a miniature low poly city. Everything looks like it’s made out of paper. The origami cars zoom around, and birds fly past her, no bigger than the tip of her pinky finger. Light ambient city noises calm her down. In front of her, pieces of paper on the ends of sticks pop up and bounce around, spelling out “Loading” with three jumping periods after them. The font has nice rounded edges, and looks almost like the iconic Comic Sans, but if a child tried to replicate it in crayon.

The letters shot back into the ground, the holes folding closed as the program finished loading. A gender neutral voice she could faintly recall, maybe from the dreams she had as she slept, spoke to her from seemingly everywhere.

“Welcome! We’re glad you’re here.” No, not this again. But luckily it continued, explaining how the voice menus worked, first going over how to exit the game. She made a point to pay attention. That fact probably would have helped her when she was in purgatory. She suspects that’s how she can go to Real Life. She doesn’t really want to discard her body on the ground like other users do, but they come back. So if she’s stuck in jail again, she won’t die of the cold or starvation if she can go to Real Life.

The voice also went over other forms of menus. She opted for a tattoo menu on her left arm, on the underside of her wrist. This way, she could press it how she was used to in her other lives, and find a physical button that said “Exit”.

The menus also had settings she had never seen before. The voice went over everything, it was rather exhausting. But after a while, she got used to speaking to the voice, and it would listen and wait for her, repeating things or even further explaining it. It became kinda like a person to her, so she decided to name it. She named it after her favorite gender neutral friend, Ray.

Ray had gotten their name when they worked at SeaWorld. Daisy didn’t really know what that was, but knew it was their job. When they forgot their name tag one day, they had to pick out of a bin of old nametags. They chose Ray, and it was the first time they were called a gender neutral name for the whole day. It was so freeing to them, they changed their name to Ray! Their username that floated over their head in-game was Sunshine Ray, and they really were a Ray of Sunshine.

Ray explained that there was a system of sliders when Daisy asked about it. She had never heard of this setting before. All sliders had a min value and max value they could be set at. Ray said that they were soft sliders, so they would guide her mental state towards a goal. She could use a Consciousness Slider, Sensitivity Slider, and Emotion Slider. Also each slider had a Boost Mode, meaning it could increase the slider’s value by a fixed percent on the fly. The maximum any slider can hit with boost is 120%.

She was so curious about these sliders, she asked for each to be explained. Ray obliged with infinite patience, “The Consciousness Slider adjusts a user’s wakefulness. If under one third, or thirty three percent, a user will be disconnected from multiplayer and enter single player. During singleplayer, a user has admin access over the Virtual World. If a user is dreaming, admin access is required to summon dream objects into the Virtual World and control NPCs. If over one third, or thirty three percent, a user may continue normal multiplayer use. This slider can be equipped with a timer, for automation of wakefulness or sleep.”

This was awesome! Who needs to set alarms? And dream objects sound so freaking cool. Daisy waited expectantly for Ray to talk about the next slider.

On cue, Ray continued, “The Sensitivity Slider adjusts the sharpness or dullness of the senses, perceived by the user. Lower values means duller senses. A Sub-Slider is generated by default, specifically managing the effects of pain on a user. Any additional Sub-Sliders can be added.”

This one was harder to wrap her mind around. She could adjust… Her senses? Like: Sight, Touch, Taste, Smell, and Hearing?

“Often users will use an automated immersion path, slowly adjusting senses until integration is fully complete. This is not turned on by default.”

She felt fine, she didn’t exactly need to dull anything right now. Maybe she would think about that pain slider when she’s on her period.

“The Emotion Slider manages the amount of emotion in the mind. Lower values means less emotion. It is suggested to work with a therapist to manage Sub-Sliders of this category. This Slider is set at 100% by default.”

Her jaw dropped. Wait. If you’re having a bad day… You just… Turn it off. No way was this possible. “How the hell is this possible?”

She forgot the AI would respond, “The Facebook Device manages your mind and your experience in the Virtual World. It uses Magnetic Current to induce synaptic firing and neurological transmitters in your mind. The AI that is synced with your mental map tells the device where to send the signals. All sliders are soft sliders, suggesting which way the AI should attempt to convince the mind. Psychiatric disabilities such as Depression may prevent the AI’s suggestions from taking root in practice.”

Her head reeled. This makes sense logically, she knows how magnetic signals can fire neurons. But she could literally be mind controlled by this device? Is that why she can only remember the blips in her past that she is calling her past lives?

“Who am I?” She asked, again almost to herself, but Ray of course answers still.

“You are the user David. Your account has been logged in for 7 hours. It is recommended to be on life support for long durations of Deep Dive.” David? Who the hell is David? Whoever they might be, she sure hopes they're on life support.

“Video Message Box” She said, remembering one of the voice commands. A mirror pops up, a square red dot on its edge is slowly pulsing.

“Am I David? And am I on life support? I’ve apparently been logged in for 7 hours.” She says, heart starting to beat faster. She pushes the red square, and the mirror disappears with red text in a thin font saying Message Sent, floating a bit before also disappearing.

She asks more questions with Ray while she waits for a response, “What’s Boost Mode?”

Still ever-patient, Ray answers calmly, “Boost mode can boost any slider by a specified percentage, maxing out at a total 120%. Negative boost will stunt a slider by a specified percentage, with a 0% minimum. The effect can be toggled quickly by any means, whether that be vocal, mental, physical, or automatic through AI observation.”

“What is AI observation?” Daisy asks, with a general idea of what it is but wants specifics.

“AI observation is where the AI in your Facebook Device is able to respond to mental states in a pre programmed manner. This can be as simple as stunting a pain slider after a certain duration of high pain levels. It can be as complex as boosting consciousness during important times of gameplay.” As Ray finished explaining the topic, Daisy heard a tone. She must have received a response.

“Check Message” She said. She had no idea if that’s how one is supposed to do it, but the AI figured out her request even if it wasn’t the right way. The mirror popped up again, but it did not show her face. It showed Box, with the same fantasy background of trees and white puffy clouds in the sun.

“Your real body, David, is being taken care of. We have you on life support. You can stay in the Virtual World as long as you like without fear.” Box paused, breathing a deep breath before answering her first question, “You are David in the Real World. Your experiment was to create a female virtual body. Your coworkers are working on figuring everything out, all the answers will come soon. You seem to have selective amnesia, you cannot remember being David. Don’t worry about that just yet. Be Daisy. Learn how to live in the Virtual World. You look like you are still in Initial Setup from your background. That is good. Stay there until you are comfortable in navigating the game. Ask the AI everything you don’t understand. As soon as you connect to multiplayer, we will have a coworker meet up with you. They will ask you to teleport just as I did. What word would you like us to say to make it known that it is our company? Don’t agree to just any teleport. Seriously. It can be dangerous here if you don’t know how to play. The AI will force you to make a safeword before exiting Initial Config. Remember that word forever, it will take you to singleplayer if anything bad happens in multiplayer.”

Daisy had to play back that message several times. Anything she didn’t understand from the message, she asked Ray.

“Singleplayer is a state where the Facebook Device does not connect to the internet, past system updates or fetching resources. It enables admin mode, or complete control over the environment. Any form of command is accepted, whether that be vocal, mental, physical, or automatic through AI observation. The AI will attempt to translate the command and change the Virtual World to match. Saying ‘Undo’ will revert the command. Privateplayer is like singleplayer, with only a predetermined set of users allowed to connect to the session. A limited Admin Mode is enabled for only the session host. Limited Admin Mode has a smaller set of commands available, because of the intricacies of running commands through different AI on each Facebook Device connected. The more users connected, the more limited the commands become. VIP mode can be enabled for additional users in the private session. VIPs may run commands by sending them to the session host, but they can be accepted or rejected before executing. Multiplayer is where users are connected to the same session, but without any admin rights. Each session has a unique state, and nothing can transfer into other sessions, besides your Virtual Real avatar and settings.”

Daisy responds to Box’s message, making the secret word “Panda.” Daisy takes Box’s advice and keeps learning about the Virtual World. She just woke up from her nap, so she has no problem staying intrigued. She remembered she was in singleplayer mode right now, so she was able to have a bit of fun experimenting with her admin privileges.

“Set gravity to 10%” Ray heard her and obliged without missing a beat. She felt light on her feet, and took an experimental jump into the air. She took off, soaring easily above the city. She could see paper airplanes flying in the distance, and she passed by the cloud layer. She bumped into a cloud or two, sending them careening away. They were also made of paper, and were stylized like a perfect puffy white cloud, but were on cardboard sheets. When she got above the cloud layer they lost their convincingness because she could see how flat they were. She started to slow down, she moved her hands to guide the air to spin her slowly in a circle. From this point, she could see the horizon clearly. The paper city stopped shortly after it turned into suburbs, but roads continued off into the horizon. She couldn’t tell if the mountains in the distance were real or just also made of cardboard because of the fog effect. Her velocity changed and she started a slow descent. Her skirt flipped up, the air resistance far too much for the fabric that now weighed 1/10th of what it used to. She attempted to hold it down, giggling all the way. Her landing was gentle. Maybe she could summon her missing clothes now.

“Wardrobe.” She said to Ray. A magical wardrobe appeared out of this air. It was made of dark brown wood, like the wardrobe from Narnia. She opened it to view her measly amount of clothes. She can’t remember why she didn’t scan anything else over. She had plenty of outfits in previous games. She slipped on the underwear and socks (finally) and decided to put on the pink bow as well. She clipped up the stray hairs that were now floating in the moon-like gravity. She dismissed the wardrobe, and it faded from existence.

She noticed a tiny car crash in the paper city, but rather than just backing up and continuing on their route, the cars flipped through the air violently, also affected by the low gravity. They took a while to reach the ground again. It was really starting to set in that she had limitless control. She approached one that was turtled and righted it gently. It seemed to not have anyone inside but was just a paper car. It found its way back to where it was going and continued with tiny engine noises.

She got tempted to destroy something but would feel bad for disrupting the city. Technically the city was a figment of her imagination, but that doesn’t mean she really wanted to destroy it. She opted for leaping up again and catching a cloud. It certainly felt like cardboard. She ripped an edge, and it tore just like it too. She wondered what clouds would taste like. Considering this one was made of cardboard, she was prepared to be disappointed. Yep. It tasted like cardboard. Bleh. She spat it out and laughed as the piece spun off into the horizon, gone forever.

How intricate could her commands be? She decided to test it, “Generate infinite jungle gym.”

It didn’t take long, Ray interpreting her request through her vocal cue and her mental patterns to see what she truly wanted. Anything generated is from her own mind, because it’s all happening inside of it.

Metal bars painted bright colors grew outwards, tendrils sprouting out in straight lines everywhere. Structures formed, and unique parts of the jungle gym materialized nested among the bars. It took no effort to swing from one bar to the next. She built up an exhilarating speed, the wind rippling past her. She finds it hilarious that the air is at or near atmospheric levels, even though the gravity is at 10%. It’s still a game after all. She could probably ask for the change in gravity to affect the air, but she didn’t want to suffocate. She’s very glad the AI interprets her command with the extra context of her thoughts. A simple command, like changing gravity, taken literally could have left her suffocating and unable to say undo. She suspects commands can be executed without words though. She tests this concept by imagining her standing on the ground again. The scene fades. She’s right back where she was, except the jungle gym still seems to be interlaced throughout the paper city still. That is amazing. She jumps for joy without thinking and rockets up too fast. She slams her head on a bar overhead.

“OWW!!!” She floats off erratically from the abrupt change in velocity. Holding her head, she decided to try the pain slider. She added a boost slider to underneath her right wrist, pre-set to a negative 50%. She toggles it and the sharp pain disappears, slowly at first, then dives down to just a sore spot in no time. She lands on all fours, accidentally crumpling a building with a foot.

“Oh, no!” She turns around to see the damage, being careful to not step in the road or on a building. She wonders if the undo command works on non-command based events, “Undo!”

The building stands back up, looking like a rewind in time. She breathes out a sigh, disturbing some birds. From this view, she feels like a giantess in the city. She gets a fun idea.

“Shrink!” She says in excitement. It didn’t have to be voice activated, but she remembers that Ray told her that it offers better concentration and more accurate results for the interpreted command. She shrinks, the city growing around her. Her descent slows down until she is around the size that she would fit into the paper cars. It wasn’t a “you say jump, I say how high” situation, as Ray knew approximately how tall she meant when she said Shrink, because they have access to her thoughts.

Now the thin, cardboard-like structures were substantial. There were even little grass blades that arose from the green areas. She took off her boots and socks, and placed her bare feet on the grass. It tickled. It wasn’t like any grass that she had felt. Luckily it wasn’t as thin as paper, now that she was shrunk down, lest she would have gotten paper cuts. It swayed in a light wind, and she could feel the breeze. The city noises were now much louder. She could hear the cars driving, their funny cardboard cutout tires bouncing along the road, not even close to being a perfect circle for a smooth ride. She walked around with her arms out, the breeze picking up intensity. The park she was in was likely experiencing the smallest of breezes, considering how tiny everything was. But to her, the paper leaves rustled loudly on the nearby flat trees. The sun warmed her face, and she took out her scrunchies to enjoy the feeling of wind through her hair. Her steps were long strides, still experiencing the effects of reduced gravity. This was like a dream. Well, if you want to get technical, it was. Would she remember it if she exited? She asked Ray the question, jumping and spinning gently in a dance to the ambient sound of the city.

“You will remember everything like normal when you exit the game. If this is your first time exiting the game, you will likely remember the Virtual World more vividly than the Real World. With normal use of the Facebook Device, memories from either world will be just as strong. Your device is connected to an offline backup solution. You have 197 petabytes free of a total 200 petabytes. Recording your Virtual World experience is automatically activated when connected to a backup solution.” Ray recites, unable to run out of patience or knowledge.

“So I’m recording everything? How do I play it back?” She alights on the ground, opting to sit criss cross applesauce.

“Using the command ‘Flashback,’ users can remember anything as if they are accessing their own mind’s memory. This command will spark a crystal clear recreation of the memory. Using the command ‘Playback,’ users will get an out of body recording of the events, with the option to skip accessing emotional or individual sensory data.” Daisy raises her eyebrows. She decides to give it a test.

“Flashback Jungle Gym,” she again didn’t have to add the last bit, but it helped focus her mind on something she wanted to remember.

Metal bars painted vibrant colors flew outwards, straight lines forming a web of Jungle Gym. Support structures formed and grew unique structures among the bars. She jumped towards a bar, and it took no effort to swing from one bar to the next. She felt like Jane from Tarzan. She built up speed; the wind rippling past her. She finds it hilarious that the air is still thick, even though the gravity is at 10%. She could probably use a command to have the low gravity affect the air, but she liked breathing. She’s glad Ray interprets her command with the extra context of her thoughts. Changing gravity, taken literally, could have suffocated her. She wouldn’t have been able to say ‘Undo.’ However, she suspects commands work without words, from what Ray has mentioned in the Initial Config. She tests her hypothesis by imagining standing on the ground again. The scene fades out. She’s standing where she was again, the jungle gym still present. She laughs and jumps for joy without thinking. The low gravity sends her straight towards a bar overhead. The split second it connects with her, she opens her eyes, still in the park.

That was vivid. More than vivid. She noticed things she didn’t see the first time around! And it was weird hearing her thoughts again. Even the emotion of soaring through the Jungle Gym felt like the first time. Could she remember her first scan, to see what happened?

“Flashback First Scan” She stated, trying to remember as much about it so that Ray knew what time she was talking about.

“The requested memory was not recorded. The Facebook Device’s first recording started when it was first connected 12 hours ago, in the Concrete Room.” Ugh. She did not want to go back there.

“Never Mind.” Looks like she will have to wait for her coworkers to explain her mystery. Did Ray say 12 hours ago? If her first message to Box was where she said she had been connected for 7 hours, that means she has been in Initial Config for the remaining 4 hours. Time may be meaningless to her, but she assumes if David has a job, he may want to keep track of time. She could get a system time tattoo on her wrist. It’s a free watch that doesn’t need charging and takes up no space. She presses her settings menu on her left wrist. She sees the now-familiar categories. She should take a look through them just to figure out what she can do. All the voice commands are fast, but if you don’t know what options are even possible, you won’t have anything to go off of. She could probably say something like ‘activate watch tattoo, top of left wrist, digital face.’ and Ray would figure it out. But then she wouldn’t know any of the other options her tattoos can do. Whoever designed the settings menu put the most often used settings in the list for a reason; they are useful. She assumes there are hidden settings, and lengthy guides for tweaks. But those are more for the specific use cases and much too dense to learn about before she needs them.

Finding and enabling the watch setting, she finds out it is 05:13 UTC. It looks like David has a GMT-8 timezone registered to the device, so 21:13 the previous day, if I did my math right. It’s likely that the Virtual World operates on UTC to make individual time zone differences easy to calculate. She kept it in UTC. She still didn't feel that tired. Did she have dreams when she napped sometime around midnight (UTC)? She didn’t exactly want to do a flashback to then, so she opted for just asking Ray.

“You were in Limbo, so no admin privileges were permitted. Dream objects were unable to be summoned. You did not dream.” Daisy pondered this. She must have got a restful sleep if her mind was doing nothing the whole time. She decided to get back to her Configuration.

“Continue Initial Config.” She says, laying with her arms behind her head, crossing her legs.

“Safety settings are automatically set to strict in multiplayer, to allow a user to learn more about multiplayer before continuing. It is highly recommended to review safety settings and add or subtract filters to one’s personal comfort. Strict safety settings will modify other user’s inappropriate actions to be innocent. Automatic blocking of users is not enabled by default, but automatic muting is. Your country’s list of most common taboos are filtered, and users performing those actions will either disappear or do something else. All safety filters are client-side.” Ray started dumping information, Daisy had a hard time keeping up. “What is client-side?” She asked.

“Client-side filters will change how your Facebook Device interprets users actions. This only happens on your headset. For a user without similar filters in place, the action will still happen. By default, a user’s own actions are never filtered on their device. You are registered as an Adult, so notifications of activated filters will only be sent to your account.” Ray reads out, their voice showing no hint of being aware how insane of a topic they are covering.

So the Virtual World is filtered. She brings up the safety menu of her current filters. This will not fit on her tattoo menu.

“May I please see this list on paper?” She sits up. She has begun speaking to Ray as a person at this point. Why not be friendly? A stack of papers appear next to her on the grass. Oh my God. She flips through, her mind starting to ache. If there were any time to try this consciousness slider, this would be it. She makes a quick shortcut for a 20% boost on her right wrist, under the pain Stunter. She had left the pain Stunter on, whoops. She turns that off, the pain in her head from the collision long gone. Now to see if boosting consciousness will let her focus on this endless list of crap. She activates the new 20% boost. Suddenly, the words on the page start to make sense.

At the top it starts off with the SafeWord. It has yet to be made at the end of Initial Config. While she’s here, why not make it. The word “SafeWord” always works by design, but it is encouraged to make one yourself. The Facebook Device’s AI can easily recognize a conscious thought of a user attempting to say the safeword. Most times, users don’t have to say the SafeWord, because their mental patterns clearly show them calling for help. This helps users who can get tongue-tied in intense situations. Having a special word for them only enhances the AI’s ability to pick out the patterns. She asks Ray for a pencil, only just realizing that she could have asked them to update it on the paper directly. Ehh, why not write it down. A pencil and clipboard appear where the papers appeared on the ground. She puts the paper on the clipboard and lifts the pencil. Hmm. She wrote down ‘carnation.’ She could change it at any time, and the Initial Config would likely ask her to confirm it before she exits.

It looks like by default, violent acts of any kind are filtered. That’s good. It seems that any violent games she plays will turn into paintball matches, airsoft tournaments, or laser tag. She doesn’t think she could handle killing a human in this realistic of a game. Sure, they will respawn and all, but… She shivers at the thought of unfiltered violence. She gets queasy with blood and considers herself a pacifist. She wouldn’t even want to hurt an insect.

PDA was also filtered. She could manage that. She used her eraser to uncheck the box. It had plenty of sub-filters, and all were unchecked when she erased the toplevel one. The list was rather exhaustive, and even had options to write in your own filter.

Sex was filtered. She assumed this meant other people’s? If she performed it, she remembers that her own actions are unfiltered. Hmm… She decided to uncheck the category, but looked through the sub-categories. Several sub-categories stayed checked, likely associated with taboos. This was a huge category, extending on for pages. She looked at all the high level entries. There was so much. Without the 20% boost, she would have easily been checked out by now. She found an exhaustive list of kinks. She could uncheck a few, not particularly bothered by them. She made sure a few others were most certainly checked. She flipped through endless pages for so long that she would have lost track of time if she hadn’t enabled the watch. Time ticked on to 06:00, 07:00, 08:00. She went from category to category, refining things by trying to imagine the action actually happening, and if it made her uncomfortable, a checkmark made her feel so much better. Around 08:15, her boost started flashing. It was recommended to take a break from boosting in the next hour. She had been boosting her consciousness for 3 hours straight. She turned off the boost with a press of her index finger. She instantly felt ill as she dropped out of hyper focus mode. She felt good that things were filtered out, but Gosh DARN, she had only gotten half way through the pages. Three hours of trying to pinpoint exactly what she was and was not ok with. This is good though, she’s protecting herself. She remembers Box looking very concerned for her when they said multiplayer was a dangerous place. She decided to record an update to send to them.

“Hey Box, I’m still in Initial Config. I’m a bit tired from learning so much, but things are going well. I hope everything is going well on your end too. I made it to the Security Settings Section, and it’s taking me a really long time to work through. I look forward to connecting to multiplayer, but I won’t rush it. Single Player is really fun as well, I’m excited to see what happens when I sleep in here.” She pressed the red square and off the message went. She will try sleeping the normal way before messing with the consciousness slider any more than she already has. Ray tells her that it defaults to natural consciousness unless boosted or stunted. Natural consciousness is just how awake she feels in the moment.

A lot of what she saw in the safety settings was really challenging. She felt burnt out, especially now that her thoughts are free to work through the emotion of it all. She needs a distraction.

“Could you set the Gravity back to normal, Ray?” Her request was met with her hair falling down back on her shoulders. She placed the papers down, all their changes saved. She stands up and stretches, putting her hair back into twintails. She places her bow by her papers, and picks up her boots. She was sure the bow would reappear in her wardrobe if she summoned it. She puts on her socks, and slips her boots on. She zips them back up and takes a sweeping look around.

She wanders beyond the park. She approaches a cute pastel paper house. It’s rather small in comparison to everything else. She opens the cardboard door, it works like it should. Upon entry, she takes off her boots at the door. She notices that there was detail put into the inside of the house. Pretty geometric wallpaper with complementary colors coated each wall, all unique and vibrant. The furniture was made of cardboard as well, standing as if they were from a popup book. The bottom floor had the living room and kitchen in an open format, and stairs led to what she assumed were the bedrooms. Climbing up the stairs, each step a different color of the rainbow, she felt the cardboard bend under her feet. At the top of the stairs, the door on the right leads to the bathroom. She didn’t realize it before, but she most certainly needed to relieve herself by now. How could she forget that? Wait… This is the Virtual World.

“Ray, do I have to go to the bathroom?” She asks, realizing how strange the question is.

“Users who wish for the most realistic experience may sync up their bodily functions with the real world. This is primarily for those who don’t have life support. Their urges will not be suppressed, notifying them to disconnect and tend to their real world body. Your real world functions have been suppressed because your body is on life support. All functions are being managed by life support automatically.” This made a lot of sense. She was lucky to have life support. She didn’t really care to sync with her real world self. She didn’t even know who they were, not to sound cold or anything. She raised an eyebrow, this new information in mind. But this was also her world. Even if she didn’t feel the need to go to the bathroom, she assumes she can still perform the act?

She enters the bathroom and closes the door behind her. She attempts to turn on the tap. Indeed, water runs. Cardboard that doesn’t get soggy, apparently. Just to make sure, she flushes the toilet. Yeah, seems legit enough. Then she notices the shower. Oh that’s always so nice before bed. Hopefully one of the rooms has a bed.

She pulls her panties and skirt down to her feet, sitting on the toilet. The cardboard was a pleasant change from cold porcelain, actually. Sure enough, what she expected to happen, happened. It even felt just as relieving, even though she didn’t have the initial pressure to get to the bathroom beforehand. The toilet paper was nice and soft, Thank God it wasn’t also cardboard. After she finishes and flushes, she steps out of her clothes looped around her legs, leaving them on the floor. She removes her socks and stands up. She wants to take a nice, hot shower. She removes her jacket and Cami. Seeing herself in a mirror behind the tap, she unclips her bra, letting it slip to the floor.

Mirrors in her previous games were worse quality than the surrounding game. She assumed it was the task of rendering things twice, and from a different perspective, made it harder. However, these mirrors were perfect. She laughs. That’s what she missed. It was quite often that users would flock to a world’s mirror, just so they could stare at themselves for hours. Almost every game she played, there were gaggles of people just staring in mirrors. It made sense, it was much easier to see a whole group of people if they were standing shoulder to shoulder. You only needed to turn your head a couple of degrees to see someone 4 people down the line. If you were in a circle of people, it could be as extreme as turning 180 degrees, listening to the two people beside you speak. Plus you could see your own movements in a mirror, which was really good for people with full body tracking. They could dance with greater accuracy.

She takes her twintails out, and unclasps her daisy, setting the accessories on the counter top. Wondering if she will find soap or shampoo, she moves the paper thin curtains. They bunch up, revealing a very normal looking shower, with an assortment of bottles. She steps over the lip of the tub, again happy that the material doesn’t steal her heat like porcelain would. Standing in the shower, she realizes the water might start out cold. She shrugs and closes the curtains. She twists the one labeled H, and it somehow is already warm. She won’t argue. The blissful rivulets find their way down her body, clinging to her curves. She sighs contentedly as the shower starts to steam up. This is exactly what she needed. Once her long hair is wet and heavy, she pushes the nozzle of the shampoo and lathers it in. Bubbles froth at her feet as the shampoo travels down her hair, and she massages her scalp. She switches to the conditioner, making sure to not let it hit the water too soon. She’ll leave it in for a bit as she soaps up. Once she was done with passing the bar of soap across her body, she washes the conditioner out, making sure not to get it in her eyes. As the last of the bubbles run down the drain, she decides to close the drain and let the tub fill up. After a while, she switches the shower off, redirecting the water through the faucet. The tub fills up with the loud splashing of a faucet operating at near max pressure. She turns the knob down to a more acceptable level. Laying down, the water steaming off the top, she closes her eyes and lets her head rest on the sloped tub. The water level creeps up her sides, passing to and fro across her belly as she breathes gently. The water gently rocks at a semi-consistent interval. The water laps between her breasts and incases her legs. She moves her arms idly, letting them float on the surface. Once it reaches her neck, she uses a big toe to turn off the hot water stream. She opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling. Even the ceiling has wallpaper on it. It has a hexagonal pattern, much like her Cami. Her hands run across her body underwater, sending good feelings off in her mind. Was it time to try out that sensitivity booster? She adds the booster toggle to her right arm, underneath the consciousness booster. She enables it and tries touching her sides again. What a powerful difference. She could feel lightning across her sides. Not quite ticklish, since it was her own hand. She tried her calves, not quite as strong; looks like she was getting cold. She moved a hand to her thigh… Warmer… A bit further… Red Hot.

After the last of the water drained, she sat up. Her head rushes from sitting up too fast. Oh yeah, she still had the sensitivity booster on. She toggled it off; she could breathe again. She stands up and is able to grab a towel. It was also soft, unlike all the cardboard everything was made of. She dries off and twists her hair up in the towel, making a bulky bun. Her hair takes forever to dry normally, hopefully there is a hair dryer. She exits the bathroom nude, not caring to look for a second towel. Besides, she was alone. Like Ray said, it was impossible for anyone to connect. She opens the door to the room. Looks like the bed also has soft material instead of cardboard. If the mattress had been made of cardboard, she would have to exercise her admin powers. Ain’t no way she’s going to sleep uncomfortably, especially after that Concrete Room. She deserved a nice bed after being thrown in jail for nothing. Or whatever Modding was. She knew of people who modded previous games, but they never got thrown in jail. They might be kicked from a session? Or banned, AKA being forced to live in the Real World, or whatever people do when they aren’t ingame. She found the hairdryer on the dresser and plugged it in to the nearest wall socket. Was that a british wall socket? She didn’t recognize it. The warm air poured out, she unfurled her hair from the towel. After several pleasant minutes, her hair was light and fluffy again. She honestly wasn’t going to go back into the bathroom to put on used clothes. She will summon her wardrobe in the morning, hopefully they will be back in it, cleaned. Thanks Ray. They really did make all of this possible. She stepped into bed, crashing out almost instantly.

Ray? She called out. A friendly face appeared before her. Sunshine Ray, a bright blue creature with a white belly, tall ears, a flat chest, and wide hips stood before her. She ran over to them to give them a huge hug. Their fur was so soft. She looked at their bunny-like face, with their big red eyes. The mazes in their pupils entranced her as she stared into them. I missed you so much, she said gently. Their large paws pressed up against her back, their arms embracing her. She felt so happy, so nostalgic. The worlds they explored together, the heart to heart conversations they had, everything good came back all at once.

Daisy woke up, realizing that it was a dream. She had summoned a dream object! She didn’t realize that it could be a person. It makes sense though, if normal dreams have people in it, why wouldn’t an AI assisted dream have that too? She really did miss Sunshine Ray. Maybe they have a Facebook Device and she could meet them in the Virtual World! She hadn’t seen them in a game for quite some time now. Maybe they had switched to the Virtual World, which is why she hadn’t seen them in other games for a while.

She looked outside through the window. It was sunny. Then she realized the sun probably never went down unless she told it to. Checking her watch tattoo, she saw it was 18:53 UTC. Whatever that meant, she really didn’t care at this point. She got somewhere between 8 to 10 hours of sleep by rough estimation. She didn’t really want to continue with setting up those blasted safety settings. There was some pretty messed up stuff in there. Like, it was good to make sure it was blocked, but she had to deal with the mental weight of what they were talking about. People could do so much in the Virtual World. Maybe she will feel better when she gets back into the park and boosts her focus. It shouldn’t take more than 3 hours, like the first half did. She was used to the flow of the categories by now, and could save time by enabling obviously bad stuff and skimming sub-categories just in case.

“Wardrobe,” she said abruptly, forgetting to treat Ray as a person. To be fair, she just saw the real Ray in her dream, so she forgot she named the AI after them.

The cardboard wardrobe morphed into what her wardrobe looked like. That’s convenient. She opened it up and found all her clothes folded and cleaned. Thanks again Ray. She decided to go braless. Screw that. Her Cami was way more comfortable. Once fully dressed, she made it outside and remembered which way the field was. Everything was exactly where she left it, even her pink bow. She wrapped that back up in her ponytail, not looking to see if it was symmetrical. Good enough. She sat down in front of her papers and checked her settings. Looks like she received a video message from Box.

“Hey Daisy. I’m glad to hear you are learning a lot. Be careful with those Security Settings, they are extremely important. Your coworkers are excited to see you whenever you make it to multiplayer. No rush, that’s great. I hope you get a good night’s rest. I just got your message when I woke up at sixteen hundred hours UTC, so I’ll likely still be on when you get this.” Box said, in glistening black fantasy armor this time, with tall canyon walls behind them and a large sword swung over their shoulder.

Daisy doesn’t know exactly how to respond to that message, but wants to keep the conversation going somehow, “Video Message Box. Good Morning. It looks like you’ve got quite the gear there. What are you playing, if I may ask?” She inwardly cringes at herself, but had already pressed the red square, sending it off across the net. She did not want to flirt with her boss. She just tried making chit chat. Whatever.

She flips to the page she last left on. The letters almost swirl around the page and she groans again. Time to focus up. She presses the toggle on her wrist, almost reluctantly. She only felt bad after three hours straight yesterday, maybe she will try taking a break sooner. The toggle works, and she feels her awareness sharpen. She slowly starts checking and erasing, warming back up to the endless decisions she’s tasked with making. Not too long into it, she gets a notification. Oh thank God a distraction. She plays the video message she received.

“I’m playing an MMO called WyldStar, and I’m starting out as a sword for hire. It looks like your scenery changed, too. Either you made the Initial Configuration world much bigger, or you are tiny right now. Pretty awesome! I know the people who made that world. You probably already found out, but all of those houses are real. If you see a blue skyscraper near the center of the city, the 43rd floor will have a faithful recreation of our company. You can also ask your AI to teleport you. The Deep Dive chamber you’re currently connected to is chamber 2, in the north east corner of the floor. You can’t see yourself connected, but pretty cool to see if you want to take a break.” Box swung their sword, gesticulating as they spoke as if the sword weighed nothing.

Daisy chuckled and decided that when she wants a break, she will respond with a video message once she gets to her deep dive chamber in the Virtual World. She turns back to the endless stream of text.

After an hour and a half, she remembers something. She doesn’t know how it slipped past her wall of focus, but she got distracted with the idea of eating. She hadn’t eaten in … ever. She turns off the focus, bracing for a sense of sickness to roll in. Sure enough, all the information she processed hits her. Luckily she had been just dealing with more kinks, and she doesn’t really mind allowing most of that stuff, unless it is violent. The violence in here really upsets her. The sickness ebbed away much faster, since she was only focused for around half the time.

“Summon Picnic,” She stated abruptly. Under her, a red and white checkered blanket materializes, along with a wicker basket full of food. Smiling to herself, she opens it up and sees what Ray made her. Taking out a bright red apple, she turns it and admires it glistening in the sun. Biting into it, she gets flooded with a sweet, familiar taste. The chunk cleaves off from her bite, and she chews the delectable morsel. A stray droplet drips off her chin. Absolute perfection. The park, the sun, even the fake, cardboard-tasting clouds. All made her so comfortable.

She enjoys the rest of her picnic. Ray made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and had included a cold bottle of milk and some cheez-it crackers.

“May I try a cucumber sandwich?” She felt like that was a very picnic-y food. Maybe some tea and crumpets, too. She didn’t say that last part out loud, but all three items materialized anyway. The tea set was cute and pastel. For some reason this reminded her of Narnia, where Edmund was eating the Witch’s turkish delight. This food was so delicious she could just keep eating it. She really could just keep eating it, considering her belly never felt too full. She felt satisfied, for sure. But it hit a point where it would just level off, even if she kept eating. She decided once she finished the last sandwich, she would drink tea while working on the paper.

The tea was a deep, robust english breakfast tea. She poured some of the cold milk in her cup, watching the dark swirls lighten and turn a smooth tanish color. She plopped not one, nor two, but three sugar cubes in the small cup. It would have been sacrilegious if English Breakfast wasn’t such a strong, hearty flavor. She likes her sweets, what can she say?

She taps her boost and the time flies by. As she nears the end, her boost flashes. The thirty or so minute break didn’t stop the hours from adding up on the warning signal. She ignored it, knowing she had an hour left of boost. When she finished the paper, she cringed preemptively. She got pretty close to the limit, this is going to suck. The second she turned it off, she couldn’t contain it. Her wonderfully pleasant picnic turned sour as the contents of her stomach upheaved themselves. She retched like this for a couple minutes, her mind unable to process anything. Boost had its drawbacks, that’s for sure. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the horror before her.

“Despawn Picnic,” She said in a raspy, defeated voice. When she opened her eyes, everything was back to normal. Usually, one would feel better after throwing up. But her insides were still twisted. She won’t push it next time. If this happened for Consciousness, what the hell would happen if she pushed the sensitivity slider too high for too long? She winces at the thought and really, really doesn’t want to find out the hard way. Used with discretion, boost is an incredible enhancement. She could theorize the side effects from an over-boosted sensitivity level. The opposite of feeling everything would be feeling nothing. It would likely make her feel disconnected from her body. The Mobile Scanner boosts sensitivity, so maybe that’s why people don’t feel like the in-between time from first scan to first connect is real life. She just flat out doesn’t remember her in-between time. Her scan was longer than normal, she remembers vaguely.

What she is terrified to touch is the emotion booster. Not only it sounds scary by itself, but if she got boost sickness from it, what horrible thing would happen to her? She wouldn’t even want to stunt emotions, either. That’s just asking for trouble. She prefers to deal with things for real. But if the Virtual World is real, then isn’t it just another tool in her arsenal? Her gut says to not touch that slider at all, so she won’t. She just remembered that Ray could tell her more. She asked, looking around for the sky scraper Boss Box mentioned.

“Boosting any slider past 100% may bring side effects. Each sub-slider will have similar side effects to the parent slider. At 120% boost, the Consciousness slider has a recommended maximum of 3 hours every 12 hours, with a hard limiter of 4 hours. Side effects such as Nausea are more prominent closer to the 4 hour limit. At 120% boost, the Sensitivity slider has a recommended maximum of 1 hour every 12 hours, with a hard limiter of 2 hours. Side effects such as Dysphoria, Existentialism, and Short-term Amnesia are more prominent closer to the 2 hour limit. At 120% boost, the Emotion slider has a recommended maximum of a half hour every 12 hours, with a hard limiter of 1 hour. Side effects such as Migraines are more prominent closer to the 1 hour limit. It is impossible to go beyond the hard limit.” Ray recited, her questions clearly getting into the wikipedia-entry style writing for his script.

“Oh kayyyy...” Her suspicion to not use the Emotion Slider was confirmed. She could only boost for 1 hour, and they recommended as little as 30 minutes. Something must be really dangerous about that boost. So the warning was associated with her approaching the hard limit? That was much more serious than she had originally thought. A hard limit is usually made if something really bad happens soon after it. A car has a limiter on the engine’s revolutions per minute because if it goes too far above that, it would actually explode. Would her mind explode if she used boost too much?? No wonder she still feels sick.

She groans as she stands up, her stomach churning. Let’s try the pain stunter. She activated it. Surprisingly enough, it helped a bit. It might have been coincidental or the placebo effect, but soon she was able to straighten up instead of being hunched over. She takes a few deep breaths, the worst of the nausea past her now. She sees what she assumes is the blue skyscraper Box was talking about.

“Can you give me the ability to fly?” She asks Ray. After a second, she realizes that they probably gave it to her, she just had to… Jump.

Lifting off the ground, it was a much different sensation than the low gravity. Rather than slowing down and stopping, she was in complete control of her velocity. She sped up, angling toward the skyscraper. She was too excited to do anything silly, such as raising her arms above her head like superwoman. She took a winding course through the city, carving through the buildings. After she had her fill, and started getting cold from the wind, she landed at the base of the blue skyscraper. The revolving door was too tempting to not spin around through. She started to fly, pushing the door ahead of her. When the inertia got to be too much, she got ejected. Luckily she happened to get ejected out of the building instead of directly into the interior, where she would have slammed into a wall. Giggling, attempting to catch her breath, she slowed her trajectory and came to a stop, floating before the building. Even this felt different than low gravity. She could still feel the full pull of gravity, but she could also feel a push of her power upwards. The push almost emanated from her chest, if she could narrow down the exact feeling.

Trying to avoid the temptation of the revolving door again, she entered the building. She found an elevator and pressed the up arrow button. She didn’t have to wait any time, as one dinged as it was already waiting for. She entered and said, “Floor 43.”

The appropriate button lit up on the large swath of buttons. Thanks Otis. The doors waited for literally no one else in the world to enter until finally sliding shut. Her ascent was rapid. The sliding doors retreated, revealing an open foyer with an attendance desk at the front and center. She walked up to it, obviously no one behind it. It had a stack of cubes in the middle. The wallpaper patterns weren’t just reserved for the houses. This company likely didn’t have such an expressive set of mismatch wallpapers as she sees here.

Northwest would be… if the sun is… Wait. The sun doesn’t move. She doesn’t really know if it’s rising or setting. Raising an eyebrow at the thought, she checks the tattoo menu for a compass. Sure enough, she could add one to her watch. She likely saw this setting but didn’t recognize its importance at the time. A second circle appears in the bottom right corner of her watch, showing a red arrow pointing to the left and a blue arrow pointing to the right. North is left, and West would be backwards. She walks away from the attendance desk and follows the large glass windows down the side of the building. She gazes out as she meanders down a hallway. The city felt so much bigger. What an obvious comment, of course it would if she shrunk herself down. She meant that flying made it feel somehow smaller, but from in this tower, the city really extended far beyond what she could even see. And she was 43 floors up!

“What’s the name of this city?” She idly asked Ray, she had stopped to gaze out the window more.

“This city is modeled after the Real World Silicon City. Paper Productions modeled the city in its entirety.” So that was the people that Box said they knew. Paper Productions clearly has a preferred style. It’s good to have a niche.

After a bit of enjoying the view, she continued looking for her chamber. A door with a large 1 pasted on it was on her left. She went a bit further, and there it was. A large 2 denoted her door. The font was indeed not comic sans this time. It was a strong serif font, with pleasant 45 degree angles on the corner and tips of the 2. She opened it, very curious about what she would see.

In front of her, it looked like a changing room. There were cubbies, even lockers for stuff. A bench for taking off your shoes was in the center of the cubbies, which she did so. She attempted putting her platforms in the shoes cubby, but they clearly weren’t going to fit. She opted for a larger cubby, higher up. She continued to the next part of the room. This is where it got creepy almost instantly. Giant glass containers, looking like upside down test tubes, stood ominously in a circle. It was in a corner of the room and looked like it was on a lazy susan, able to spin to access the next vial. Each large enough to suspend a human in stasis. Shivering, a cold wind brushed against her spine. She looked to her right, several doors were at semi-regular intervals. She opened one, peeking inside. It couldn’t be worse than the freaky lab experiment, right? Luckily, she was right. It was just a room with a square tub. She didn’t close the door behind her, lest she be completely enveloped in darkness. She put her hand in the tub. It was half full of liquid, a sort of saltwater brine from the smell. It was easy to forget her hand was still in water, the temperature of the brine matched her own almost perfectly. It must be easy to float in this water, the salt would make her really buoyant. She remembered that she was supposed to make a video message to Box, so she should do that before she tries out the tub. She has to open the door all the way, to let more light in. Turning to let the tub be in her background, she starts the recording with the voice command, “Video Message Box.”

“Goodday, Box. I finished all of the security settings. I, indeed, made myself shrink. I ended up spending the night in one of the houses. I did not know they were all based on Real Life! Ray told me that this was Silicon City. My AI, that is. I’ll try relaxing in the saltwater tub now. I’m afraid to ask, but what are the glass tubes in the corner of the room?” She sent the message and went back to the cubbies to undress. Placing all her clothes in the cubby next to her boots, she walked back to the room and closed the door behind her. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. After thirty seconds, she realized that wasn’t going to happen. This is just how dark it is. Sliding her foot carefully along the ground, she feels the edge of the tub. This was a bit terrifying. She could always ask Ray to spawn a light if she needed it. She was able to step over the low tub quite easily, the water almost not even feeling like it was there when her foot touched down. She could only feel the light tug and push of the ripples she made, but not the actual water itself. With both feet in, she turns around and lays down gently, giving her head generous space so she didn’t hit it on the wall. Just like she thought, even breathing out all the way didn’t let her sink. A full breath only raised her the slightest amount, imperceptible unless it caused ripples. She closed her eyes for pretty much no reason, other than an unlikely stray water droplet. She stayed like this for an unknown amount of time, drifting in and out of consciousness. A great way to take a nap, that’s for sure. It felt quite healing after her tribulations with the boost sickness.

She woke up with a unique thought. She could ask Ray for anything she wanted. Here she was, calm and relaxed in the tub. A pleasant way to finish her relaxation time came to mind. She decided to be bold and ask Ray for some erotic items. They certainly wouldn’t mind, and it didn’t take long for her to be proved right yet again. Good bot.

The echoes of the chamber faded away, and she got up, leaving the dildo and vibrator to float in the tub. She somehow found the handle for the door, forgetting to ask Ray for a light. Out of all the things she recently asked Ray for, a light wasn’t one of them. Not to worry, she made it out. She felt bad for leaving saltwater footprints, but there were no towels to be found. She was probably supposed to bring one with her. Her hair was also a source of the endless droplets now showering on the floor. Also, saltwater was not drying well on her skin. It was very potent, more than the ocean. It left a grungy feeling when it dried, and her hair would suffer the worst of it. She needs a real shower and quickly. Oh yeah, she can fly. Exiting Chamber 2, she found a window. This high up, there were no screens to worry about, so she slid it open and easily passed through. The wind from flying will dry her off, but she will get cold if she stays out here too long, so she makes a direct course for her house. She liked her quaint abode. She knew it had a nice shower, too, so no point in looking around for any other for too long. Her clothes would also be cleaned and appear in her wardrobe that was back at the house as well, compliments to Ray. She knew she could summon all this stuff anyway, but some semblance of normalcy, even with her unlimited power, was more fun for her.

Just in time to save her hair from seizing up from the salt, she gets in the shower. It still did take a couple extra rinses before she could work shampoo and conditioner into it. There was a place that needed extra attention from the saltwater, and when she went to go take care of it, she got worked up all over again. Eh, why not?

When she was finished with her shower, she dried off with a towel. It felt great to get rid of the salt. And all the other stuff, of course. She didn’t boost anything. She was scared to, especially after the side effects at the picnic. She did have at least 1 hour of safe boosting for sensitivity. But if she was having a good time, 1 hour flies by quickly, she wouldn’t want to lose track of time. Maybe that’s what automation could do. She asks Ray about it while she goes to blow dry her hair.

“Automation can be attached to any boost or stunt effects on any slider or sub-slider. Premade automations include Adrenaline Junkie, Lover, Pacifist, and Focused Gamer, to name a few.” She can luckily hear Ray just fine over the loud whirr of the hair dryer, “For example, Adrenaline Junkie activates boost or stunters during times of lively gameplay. Lover activates boost or stunters during emotional, intimate times. Pacifist activates boost or stunters when the user perceives violence. Focused Gamer activates boost or stunters during important times of gameplay. All Automated sliders obey the maximum recommended duration of boost for each type of slider every 12 hours.”

That last part was what she was hoping for. If she controlled it, she could go too far and really mess her mind up. The automations could allow her to gain the benefit of boosting, but be more conservative. It was really handy that they would activate only when needed. After her hair dried, she opened her settings with the intent to check out the automations. However, before she got into the menu, she noticed a message. Box must have responded. A view of them popped up, much darker lighting than last time. It looked like they were at the entrance of a cave, the light streaming in to alight their face and body.

“Goodday to you, Daisy! I hope you have a good time in the Deprivation Tank. That’s where you -” They caught themselves, “That’s where David connected for your first scan. We transported him to a Life Support system once you made it into the Virtual World. That’s what the tubes are in the corner of the room. Your coworkers may need to work in the field, as you are doing, and can be connected for an indefinite amount of time. That all depends on the project they are working on. Don’t worry, it might look scary, but it’s actually much safer in the Life Support system than in the Real World.”

That last bit reassured her, even if she was still creeped out by the concept. Box had an interesting way of talking. They would refer to her and David as different people. That matched the way she felt about it, for sure. But she could tell they slipped up a bit. So she is living in David’s mind. A fact she had known, but hadn’t really been tasked with processing. She’s been avoiding thinking about it. Is David anywhere here to be found? She knew she was connected to the Facebook Device, and not him. Because, obviously, she was the one standing here. She got a scary thought, and said it outloud before thinking of the consequences if it worked.

“Teleport David. David! I’m teleporting you. Please say Accept, I want to know if you are here.” She said, copying how Box talked to her when they teleported her.

“I’m sorry, you are David.” Ray said, not a hint of confusion or emotion in their voice.

This made her heart race. She put her hands to her face, only realizing she was crying when she felt her hands press up against her wet cheeks. She sobbed, sitting on her bedroom floor, blow dryer long forgotten as it whirred away in no particular direction.

She heard that she was David before. It had taken a while to sink in, but she finally got it. She had taken over David’s mind. His body was a useless husk, being pumped full of food and water automatically. Hanging suspended in a glass tube, the machines attached to him just to keep her alive. She pictured his feeble body in Chamber 2. Before her first scan, he was a unique individual. He had dreams, aspirations, a job… Did he have family? Oh God, what had she done. She was a parasite. She was a murderer. She went into a mental spiral, a downward descent into a bottomless pit. A warning flashed, but she ignored it.

Suddenly, Silence.

Her mind quieted. What was she just thinking about? She couldn’t remember. Her eyes cleared, the tears stopped. She picked up the towel in a dreamlike trance, and wiped her face off. She turned off the hair dryer, and sat in the bed. She stared at the floor, almost unresponsive. She glanced at her tattoo menu. Safety mode enabled. She looked at her other wrist and saw an item she didn’t add. An emotion stunter, toggled on. She said she wouldn’t use it. Why was it there? She moved slowly, methodically, and turned if off.

Her breath became her own again. What The HELL.

“Ray What The FUCK did you just do to me?” She screamed. Anger had rushed in to replace her guilt.

“Safety mode is automatically triggered by AI observation.” Ray said, the neutral voice used to sound calming. Now she saw them for what they were. They were a cold, emotionless MACHINE.

“Don’t ever touch my emotion slider again.” She said angrily. The item disappeared off her wrist. She was livid. She never wants to feel like that again. She would prefer her to feel anything rather than nothing. Even if that anything is overwhelming guilt, or anger, or whatever.

If she didn’t want to break anything back then, that has changed now. She flew out an open window.

“Laser Vision.” She shouted in the wind. Her eyes filled with red as energy poured out. She flew directly towards the blue skyscraper, two burning paths racing up the side of the building. A large half sloughed off and hit nearby buildings. She was a supervillain version of Super Woman, destroying the empty cardboard city. The 43rd floor, wherever it was, was obliterated.

Her vision cleared and she hovered in front of where her prison used to stand. Both her and David are still trapped there, in the Real World version of Silicon City.

She would take a video message, right here with the wreckage in sight, to be angsty. However, she was probably in the wrong headspace to talk to Box, and she was completely naked still.

She’d better continue Initial Configuration, and take it very seriously. She doesn’t want some unexpected automatic setting to be triggered again, like it did with that blasted emotion slider. She was going to make her own boost automations just moments prior to this all. She was seriously that close to avoiding what happened. She would have seen the default automation on the emotion slider if she hadn’t opened the video message notification first. Who the hell thought that was a good idea to make it default? Coders have no heart. Their problem is that they think like their machines and think everybody else does, too.

She’s gotta get out of this city. She loved her little house, but she couldn’t live next to the wreckage of her prison in good taste. She liked the fantasy setting that she met Box in, for the first time.

“Teleport Fantasy World.” She forgot the name WyldStar, but Ray knew what she was talking about, and the burning cardboard world underneath her faded into green. Everything was green. Oh, she’s still tiny. These are massive blades of grass. She looked up to see that they were intensely detailed, nothing like the flat color, paperlike clippings from the previous world. She is still in singleplayer, just in a copy of the world she visited. This would be the type of thing that the device would use the internet to fetch, but not actually connect to the multiplayer experience.

“Grow Full Size,” She stated, not in the mood to treat Ray like a person again. Her friend Sunshine was way better than this bot. She can think things like this because Ray, the AI, apparently doesn’t have emotions. Though… It was kinda a strange parallel, she thought, as the world shrunk around her. She remembered a heart to heart she had with Sunshine. They had confided in her that they were dealing with depression, amongst other things. They were trying out various pills, guided by their psychiatrist. It was a rough battle, finding the right one. One of the side effects was basically what she just went through. An emotionless feeling, being in a state of nothingness. Sure it helped their depression. But it was a scary thought that the rest of the emotion went with it. Daisy knew the importance of them at least trying to fix themselves.

Ray medicated her. Using a default value that some coder had thought was a good idea. One size does not fit all. That’s why she’ll go through everything more carefully. It’s honestly something that she should probably hire a therapist to help her do in the future. Although, she has no idea how the economy works yet.

Now full size, she sees that she was standing in the exact spot she was greeted by Box, as far as she can tell. She descends from her hovering and her bare feet touch down on the grass, the blades tickling her feet. She laughs, amused at the sensation. These blades of grass were much more rough, much more real. They were almost serrated at the edges, she felt them rasp over her skin. The sun shines down on her, giving her a warm hug on her bare breasts. She should find somewhere comfortable to lay down to continue her Initial Configuration. She doesn’t need to look for long, a gentle slope and shorter grass entices her. She lays down on her stomach, suppressing a tickle fit. The shorter grass wasn’t any less coarse on her bare skin, but this will have to do. It’s only ticklish when she moves. She summons a new set of paper entries, this time of all the automatic commands. The pencil appears next to the clipboard and paper, luckily the stack isn’t so high this time. She doesn’t need to touch the concentration boost, especially because if she does this right, it will all be automatic from here on out.

She checks out the most often used Automations. She activates the Lover profile, but it still remains unlinked to anything. On a separate sheet of paper, she finds a list of Sensitivity sliders. She could just have it activate the main boost, but wanted to check out what specific changes she could do. If she narrowed down the sub-sliders it affected, the boost would last for longer, since it wouldn’t apply the 20% to absolutely everything. For instance, boosting only her sense of touch. She didn’t feel a need to heighten her sense of smell, taste, sight, or hearing. It likely wasn’t this linear, but that would be technically just a 1/5th boost of the sensitivity category, so it would last 5 times longer? When asking Ray about this, they said some wikipedia-entry sounding response that beat around the bush about the specifics, but generally agreed with her as far as she could tell. Awesome, so she should narrow it down as far as possible. She could just limit it to her erogenous zones, but really liked the extra feeling she gained in her fingertips and surface of the skin, even if it wasn’t exactly a ‘sexual spot.’ So she kept it as all of her touch to be boosted by the Lover Automation.

The next Automation that she wanted to use was the Focused Gamer preset. If she added the whole Consciousness slider to it, that would still give her 3 hours of random boosts every 12 hours. However, she did remember a sense of nausea when that boost stops. Did she want to feel nauseous randomly throughout the day? Not really, so she’d better narrow it down at least a bit. She looked for the Consciousness page and found a list of common sub-sliders. She toggled Focused Gamer on and added Focus and Decision-Making to it. That’s all she needed it for, at least in the meantime. She can always go back and change it later. As soon as she wrote down the sub-slider names, the words sharpened on the page. She didn’t attach a vision slider, so it must just be an illusion from increased focus. She’d better not get nauseous after finishing all this.

She saw the Safety Setting slider. It had a generic name, but the description of when it activated was quite an impressive wall of text, even with her focus booster activated. The Safety Setting Automation was still activated, but there was no emotion stunting slider attached to it. Good Riddance. The other sliders seemed reasonable, there was pain stunting, audio stunting, hearing stunting, and vision stunting. It sure locked you down. They don’t all activate at once, just whatever needs to in the moment. It was probably for helping sensory overload calm down, so she left all those things. She did uncheck a consciousness stunter, she didn’t want to become too unfocused in a time of need.

“The safety setting consciousness slider is meant to let you sleep if you’ve been awake for an unsafe amount of time.” Ray interjected, her eraser still on the paper. Jesus, they scared her.

“OK Ray,” She kept it unchecked, and even added a decision-making booster to the list. She’ll just have to decide what she wants to do, if she gets in that situation.

She looked for other automations. The paper had a loading icon spinning on it. A list of community-made entries appeared. Liar (a bluffing enhancement), Agile (performance enhancer), Hider (calms you down), Seeker (boosts perception), the list kept generating like this, with a short name and description for each. She ended up choosing Agile to add to her list, but didn’t enable it. Apparently the community presets came with all the sliders filled out, just like the security settings were. She scanned her newly added preset for emotion sliders attached to it. As a performance enhancer, it didn’t seem like it would, but she wanted to make sure. There were several tweaks to the Emotion category, having to do with fear and some things. She didn’t read any further and scratched out the whole Emotion category. She can’t blame the coders for that one, since it wasn’t one of their presets. That could have been any person’s. She assumes that if she made a preset, she could upload it to the community list. She technically made 2 presets, albeit very simple ones. She removes the boost toggles from her wrist, except for the pain stunter. She then adds the toggle for each automated boost. She doesn’t know if people can see her menus, likely not. She’ll ask Ray.

“Menus are hidden from other users by default. Menus can be public, friends only, blacklisted, whitelisted, or private.” She was just curious. She will keep it private. That’s how all her other games worked, anyway.

Another Automatic program caught her eye. Well, the title was rather derogative. But the description sounded nice. It was named ‘Glutton’ and apparently enhanced the dining experience! Same as the Agile one, she added it, deleted any emotion alterations, and put it on her wrist. Although, she did change its name to ‘Flavor’ because she couldn’t think of much, but certainly didn’t want to leave it as its previous name.

She found yet another, but for smell, simply titled, ‘Aroma.’ This was rather awesome. She added it to her wrist (deleting emotion alterations), the list getting rather long. Luckily they were just a title and a checkbox, so it didn’t take up that much space.

Finally, she found a Listening Automation. This will be her last one for now. She added it to her wrist, checking for emotion changes, and stacked the papers neatly.

She turned over onto her back, feeling the grass roll along her sides. She sighed, spreading her arms out wide, bringing her knees up to a comfortable resting position. Her feet felt the rough blades of grass tickle their soft, sensitive arches. The sun was just barely beginning to be blocked by the trees, so only her face was shaded. That was convenient. Also, time passed here! It was sometime past noon. She wiggled her toes, the blades sometimes getting caught between. She could start to feel an awareness of her body grow in the back of her mind. Is this because her new automatic slider is working, or is this just normal arousal? She assumed the latter, but guessed if she continued, she would activate the former. She asked Ray for an automatic toy. She wanted to keep her hands free to explore on their own, because they experienced the largest change in sensitivity boosting, beside the obvious parts. They obliged, coming up with something pretty accurate to what she had in mind. Upon seeing the device, she felt the familiar rush as the sensitivity boost kicked in. Hopefully she was right about it lasting longer now that only touch was boosted.

It was becoming twilight by the time the boost finally started flashing. She felt her heightened touch start to fade, and realized she hit the recommended limit. At least it wasn’t the hard limit, otherwise she would have to prepare for some extreme… What were the side effects again?

As the last dregs of the boost sputtered out, her thoughts whipped to an image of David, suspended helplessly in a chamber. That’s right. Dysphoria/Existentialism was one of the side effects. Pretty rough for someone who doesn’t have a Real Body. She lifted herself off of one of the many things she had Ray summon, disgust in herself starting to churn. Oh Fuck. Everything around her made her sick. She was doing such a horrible thing in David’s mind. She was an intruder, she wasn’t meant to be here. Her eyes glowed, beams of light tore through the bright pink silicone, the top half of it falling and bouncing away. The red beams flashed again and again, illuminating the trees around her. She turned from one summoned object to the next, rendering them useless. Machines melted at one pass of her gaze, and furniture burst into flames. Once she was done and the air smelt like burnt rubber and smoke, she sat down and cried. She can’t just get angry and destroy things instead of facing the fact that she killed David.

“Disable Laser Vision,” she sobbed to Ray. She didn’t deserve the power. She didn’t deserve anything in this borrowed mind. She didn’t even know if she could give it back, even if she wanted to. She felt so bad. She needed help. She wasn’t in her right mind, but that didn’t stop her from saying, “Voice Message Box.”

The mirror appeared in front of her, her naked body surrounded by the wreckage of furniture and sex toys scattered across the grass field, illuminated by a stray orange glow of a chair that was on fire. She literally couldn’t care less. Her broken voice finally was able to say, “Did I replace David? Is he going to be OK? I- I think I need help.”

She pressed send before thinking about it twice. She started rocking herself back and forth. The sun dipped down below the horizon, and the fires died down. Darkness fell fast, and she heard a howl in the distance. She stopped rocking, frozen. This was no longer the empty cardboard world she was used to.

Her Focused Gamer instinct should have turned on, but she had completely ran out of the sensitivity boost, and had used some of the decision-making already. There was no way in Hell she would turn sensitivity on again. That would not help her mental state. She saw glowing eyes floating in the forest, the twinkling embers reflected in their night vision. Her heart sped up, a chilling fear coursing through her veins. She did this to herself. Maybe if she dies here, David will come back. She dreaded the wolves, but she dreaded living with the fact that she killed David, too. She must have gotten something from the remains of the decision-making boost, because she was able to say, “Sword.”

A wolf had flanked her. This was a pack, with coordination. But she at least had Consciousness boost left. The pitch-black sword that she had seen Box use was in her hand, and it was already swinging towards the wolf mid-air. At the speed she swung it, the wolf should have been cleaved in half. Instead, it just yipped and got tossed to the side, unconscious. Her filter settings adjusted the violence. She was so glad that worked on animals, too. The other wolves looked cautious to approach her, but only for a second. It again was a trick, and one had used the wreckage of the scene to disguise its approach. She screamed as it bit at her calf. It didn’t draw blood, of course, but gosh DARN. It hurt much worse than it looked, and she limped as she readjusted her stance. The wolf was already backing away. They were playing the long game. They had to wear her out, they could do this all night. They were using guerilla warfare; they could slay beasts much larger and more capable than any wolf on their own. She wished she could just zap them with her lasers, but she got rid of that power on principle. She may be a Goddess here, but she sure felt like a She-Devil. The only thing she did to earn her power in this world was take over David’s mind.

She fought the wolves, her anger spurring her forward. She must have knocked the whole pack unconscious by the time the sky started to lighten into the reds and oranges of dawn. The unconscious wolves would occasionally get up and limp off into the forest to tend to their wounds. Breathing heavy, and finally back to a stable mindset, she stretched her sore muscles. She opened the menu to see two voice messages. Sorry about that, Box.

The first was completely full of concern. The video she sent must have been shocking. She cringed at the wasteland still around her.

“Daisy. David wanted you. He wanted to become you, and he was successful. I’m so sorry for not telling you everything sooner. That was a huge oversight. We have a team of people that have been monitoring him constantly, and keeping you connected to the Facebook Device has become utmost important. Do Not Exit.” Box was in their bed attire, laying next to a sleeping woman with blonde hair. They must have responded the second they got her message. She felt awful, disturbing Box. All because she wanted to Boost for a better masturbation. She knew that she could have had Boost side effects, but she never pushed Sensitivity that far. And now they had to deal with the outcome of her side effects as well. She was incredibly embarrassed at how she acted. Sending the video was not appropriate, and certainly not checking up with them sooner. She went on a night long rampage against wolves, angry at herself the whole time. She was not taking things well, and poor Box is just trying to do their job. She’d better watch the next video.

Box was in the cottage still, wearing a medieval-looking dress. Their hair was slicked back, and the blonde haired woman was out of frame. They had gotten up since their last message, and looked much more composed, “You can make it past Initial Configuration. You’re doing so well, Daisy. We need you to stick with it so we can help David, OK? Once your device is set up, we can help both of you from there. We can’t do anything if you Exit or never finish Initial Config.”

She saw they obviously wanted her to finish this. She’d better do it, even if it’s just for David. Box kinda sounded pushy on that last message, but she realized that it could have been because she didn’t watch either video until now. They were just wanting to make sure she got it. She was kinda brain dead at this point. She had used up all of her Consciousness boost, and it was telling. This world had enemies, obviously, so she couldn’t just lay down and sleep anywhere. She didn’t really feel like asking Ray for anything else, either. She still had flight, though, so she took off into the morning sky to look for shelter.

She’s gotta admit. This world was beautiful. If the stylized paper world was convincing to her, this was far past anything she had ever seen. Any game she played was nothing like this, not even close. The lands stretched as far as the eye can see. Waters ran down the mountains and collected in mirrored pools, and eventually massive sprawling bodies of water. Clouds scattered the landscape, hugging mountains and soaring higher than her. Trees poked out of the low-lying clouds, forests and deep undergrowth increasing in density at the base of mountains. She flew aimlessly in a direction, either the wind or the beauty of it all bringing tears to her eyes. Maybe a bit of both. After a bit of flying, she had an idea, “Teleport Box’s House.”

“That location does not exist in the base version of this world.” Ray said without missing a beat. That means Box must have made it themselves or at least funded its creation. Eventually, she was able to see some houses. Oh she hopes they're not inhabited. She didn’t even think of that. Non Player Characters, or NPCs, exist in this game. The games she’s used to, they technically did exist. They were infrequent, and if they were added to the world, they would almost always be statues that just stood there. Some people who coded the worlds would show off that they gave the characters pathfinding AI, but nothing beyond that. They always creeped her out, because when she sees a character, she expects it to be a fellow user, who would move and talk like she does.

Considering the depth of this game, she assumes that these NPCs will move and talk like she does. What are they going to say when they see a stark naked She-Devil flying around with a pitch-black sword clutched in her hand? I guess she will find out. She lands in front of the first house, scanning for life. There are chickens running around. Absolutely do not kill the chickens, she’ll get a bounty on her head or something. She’s learned at least that much from other games. Letting her sword drag behind her (why was this such a big sword) she made it to the door, and peeked in. It was empty. She was still in the rural areas, and this was set at a pretty early period. They must have died from natural causes. Like wolves. She leaned her sword up next to the bed. The whole house was one room, so she would hear someone enter and could see them right away. She laid down on the sheets, not bothering to toss the covers on. They were thick, course material, almost as if someone skinned a wolf and said, ‘yep good enough for me.’ She wasn’t cold anyway; it was daytime at this point. She didn’t want to touch herself after yesterday’s antics. Hopefully she won’t summon a nightmare object if she’s lucky.

Otis! The little red puffball appeared before her. He had a green face, purple eyes, and 4 little nubs for legs. His 3 arms on the top of his head were also pink and green nubs, but they were able to extend and grab a hold of her hand. She helped him jump into her arms. She looked lovingly at the little guy. You were able to help me push the elevator buttons, huh Otis? She cooed to him. He smiled, I did, Daisy, I did! I pushed the buttons! Ding! Ding!

Well that was much more pleasant than she had been preparing for. She woke up, the dream still vivid in her mind. Sleeping did not take long in this game. At least it felt like she only had one dream and that was it for 6-10 hours. It was around evening time, if she could guess just by the light levels in the room. She didn’t remember having a dream when she was in the saltwater tub. Maybe that’s because it was closer to a nap? Roughly translated, her consciousness level didn’t dip below the level required for summoning dream objects. She was starting to explain stuff to herself like Ray spoke. Not a mood.

She decided to look around the house, interested in what type of stuff this world would have. Generic apparel was in the wardrobe. If she wore this stuff, she would fit the theme much better than her brightly colored clothes. Dyes of this world probably couldn’t get close to what her clothes looked like. She tries to fit into the women’s clothes. The previous owner was much smaller than her, both in stature and bust size. Yeah, she’d have to go for the men’s clothes. Looping the large garment over her head, she instantly noticed its scratchy feel. These were the fake clothes of the Virtual World. She wondered if she could have Ray summon her Virtual Real clothes, then make them invisible? Or she would just rough it to get in the mind of the time-period. She looked around the place some more, still deciding. She didn’t have a bra on, so it really didn’t take long for her to give up the whole “get in the time-period” idea. If her clothes were invisible, it would still keep the vibe, right?

“Summon Virtual Real Clothes, Invisible.” She didn’t see any changes, but oh wow she could feel the difference. Her sensitive areas are ever-thankful. Her jacket covered her up especially well, making it so that even her arms were protected from the coarse wool. She didn’t end up finding anything that suggested that someone was going to return home soon. She did find salted meats, but cured meat was long term storage, not something that would mean the owner wanted to come back and eat that night. It must be relatively safe to work on her configuration from here. Even if it wasn’t, the shining black sword sitting by the bed reassured her. She sat on the bed again, in her new attire, “What’s next, Ray?”

“When connected to Multiplayer, three main styles of immersion exist. Realistic, Magical, and Game. Users can always select the styles per game, but may benefit from selecting a default. In practice, most users will mix categories to their liking or rely on AI interpretation to adjust the depth of the game.” She pondered this. She would have to know more about each category before proceeding, “Explain,” she uttered, thinking about Ray explaining the 3 categories.

Ray interpreted her command with ease, the mind reader they are, “Realistic immersion is the most difficult from a gameplay perspective. Everything is performed realistically, such as putting on clothes, picking up or stowing weapons, consuming potions and eating food, and performing magic. The Hardcore Realistic immersion furthers this concept, faking in-game hunger or other status effects if user is on life support, requiring magic to be memorized and performed correctly, and more.”

That sounded intense. She did some of those things in her single player world, but to do that for a whole game’s story arc? Brutal. You could feel like you live a whole lifetime.

“Magical immersion is much easier. It is considered as the compromise between the Realistic and Game extremes. Under this immersion style, clothes can be equipped instantly, an inventory is a bag that is bigger on the inside, effect items such as potion or food can be consumed without performing the entire action, and magic can be performed with a thought or AI guidance.” Daisy thought that style inventory sounded much more practical, as if she were Hermione Granger with her bottomless bag. She had to interrupt Ray, “Wouldn’t that be cheating, compared to Realistic?”

“Immersion styles will limit the games you are able to play, if you do not wish to adhere to the games’ minimum enforced style, in a multiplayer environment. You can always play any game with any style in PrivatePlayer or SinglePlayer.” Ray explained, in their calm patience. That made a lot more sense.

“Game immersion is the easiest. Clothes are equipped from an inventory, which is managed in a HUD, users may equip items from a HotBar, health, hunger, and thirst shows up as values on the HUD, Magic can be cast from a quickslot.” Daisy would have been lost if she hadn’t played similar games to this. Most of the games she used to play were social games, but she had dabbled in a few MMORPGs. Just to be sure she was on the same page, she asked what a HUD was, at least in the context of the Virtual World.

“A Heads Up Display, or HUD, is much like your settings menu. You have the Tattoo Settings enabled, but may opt for a different style HUD. The HUD will display critical information, either constantly in front of you, or in a location you can check often during gameplay. Common choices for HUD style include a hologram floating in front of you, objects on the hands or wrists such as Pipboys or Gravity Gloves, Tattoos, and many more. Developer or community made templates for games may be accessed for diegetic HUDs in that game’s particular style.” Ray explained it, the definition a bit different from what she was imagining. She’s glad she asked and was happy to hear about that last tidbit of information. It would be really nice to have a game’s unique style HUD, if it was too hard for Realistic and she grew tired of Magical. Besides, she can keep some of the things she likes about Realistic, like putting on clothes, while using the easier styles for other parts of the game.

“Default to Developer Diegetic HUD, if available. Otherwise Realistic, with Magical Inventory.” She didn’t want to miss out on the developer’s HUD, if they enabled it. Otherwise she really likes the Realistic Style (not HardCore… Yet), but wouldn’t want to carry absolutely everything for real. She will fine tune her adjustments on a per-game basis anyway. She also might find a community made HUD that she likes as well, as long as it doesn’t feel forced or is too immersion-breaking. With everything looking, feeling, tasting, sounding, and smelling as realistic as it does, it’s less about the traditional sense of immersion and more about what the player wants out of it. If a game wants to tell a story about a mix of old-age fantasy and new-age tech, they can do it without breaking immersion, as long as they have a player base who wants to experience those aspects. To really get into the developer’s world, that’s immersion.

She also knew that users have a way of forging their own path. Plenty of roleplayers would use games just so that they could make a character and talk to others. They wouldn’t care about leveling, grinding, or any of that. They would form groups of people and just make their own story. Is that Immersion? They can get much more into it than some people who have one hundred percented the story, gained max level, and shot up the leaderboard. Arguably, they get more out of the game, too. They can get friendship, unique stories that would have never happened (or will ever happen again), and even a better sense of who they are as a person. In that sense, can any game be immersive?

That part of Initial Config went quickly. She asked Ray if there was anything else. They summoned a bit of paperwork for her, but considering the large stacks of paper she was used to, this was nothing. She lit a candle, as darkness was coming again.

She could feel the end in sight as she worked through the last of the Setup Questions and read all the paragraphs. She didn’t even feel the decision-making boost turn on, but it must have helped because she felt satisfied, if not a tiny bit queasy, after it was all over. The candle had become a wee nub of what it used to be. She would have been cold if it weren’t for her wearing layers, some of which were invisible. She turned in her final papers, some of the legal forms were a bit concerning from how dense their wording was. That being said, it was probably the reason her and David couldn’t get help until now. She had already caused her boss enough legal trouble for getting thrown in jail.

“Initial Configuration Complete. Connect to Multiplayer?” Ray asked. Daisy was rather excited to meet with her coworker, so she practically shouted yes.

The room shifted slightly, items becoming rearranged and the nighttime turning to day. The door opens, a rough looking man walks in before realizing Daisy’s standing there. He turns beet red from embarrassment, averting his gaze. Daisy’s heart skips a beat and she looks in the corner of the room, where her sword had been resting. It was gone, she forgot items don’t transfer between instances. If that disappeared, that must mean… Her clothes had disappeared. Not her virtual real clothes, they were invisible for another reason. But her stolen, virtual clothes were no longer covering her. Making Virtual Real clothes invisible must be an effect similar to letting others see your menus, it would stay the same across instances.

“I’m sorry, was this your house?” She wasn’t afraid, she could tell by them looking away that they didn’t intend on malice. They kept their gaze at the floor.

“No, no I was just looking for… loot or items. I don’t know, I should have knocked.” They were really uncomfortable, so she said, “Virtual Real Clothes Visible.”

They didn’t hear her say that somehow, so she followed it up with, “I’m decent now. What’s your name?”

They made eye contact with her, “Mason, who might you be?”

“Hi Mason, I’m Daisy. It’s nice meeting you. Have you been in this game for long?” She wanted to meet her coworker, but she was really curious to talk to just about anyone.

“No, I just started. Have you been here before?” He asked, his nervousness still present. Was he young? Maybe 18 or younger, by the looks of it. He certainly had a Virtual Real Avatar, by the quality of his features.

“Technically once before, but that was to meet a friend. I’m supposed to meet another friend soon, but it might not be in this world.” She sat down on the bed, seeing if this tense guy would relax at all. Maybe it was one of those kill or be killed PVP games. She didn’t want to relay that she had just come out of Initial Config. He didn’t seem nefarious, but she remembers Box’s serious-sounding warning about the multiplayer world. It would be best to look like she wasn’t a noob.

They had rather shifty gold eyes. She had assumed he was just polite or nervous, averting his gaze, but the longer he stayed, the less she cared to stay. She wondered if people could hear her voice commands.

“People can’t hear voice commands, nor my dialogue to you.” Ray said in response to her thoughts. Oh sweet. Hopefully the coworker asks her to teleport soon, this is getting a little creepy now. Sure he was just flipping through his inventory or whatever, but she thought it was going to be like when Box called her out of her sleep, a voice in her ear asking her to accept the teleport request. Her backup plan was to ask to teleport to Box, hoping they were online. Actually, she’d better ask that now in case it takes them a bit to respond.

“Teleport to Box, I’ve finished Initial Config.” She said under her breath, even though he couldn’t hear any way. Mason finished flipping through his inventory. The subtle red flags had been right. His hand shook slightly as he procured a concoction.

“Would you like something to drink? You look thirsty.” He sounded nervous still, but his composure had changed slightly. Enough for her Focused Gamer instincts to pick up. Yeah Dude, real sly.

“What, was I born yesterday? You drink first, nitwit.” She wished she had laser vision now. She didn’t even have her sword to beat him over the head with. Ohh, her blood boiled. His expression changed, now looking like a spoiled brat that didn’t get his way. She was about to throw hands when the scene fizzled out.

She appeared in front of Box. Hey, she gets to see the Cottage after all! She ran forward and hugged them. Real professional Daisy. But with the instantly returned warm hug, she could tell Box wanted to hug her, too.

“I tell you, five seconds into multiplayer and the first person I see was a creep. No, not you,” She realized her story was coming out wrong, “you just teleported me away from him.”

Box shook their head, “It sucks to say this, it really does, but I’m actually not surprised. I’m glad you’re safe with me now. Hey.” They unhugged her and took her by the shoulders, looking in her eyes. “You did it. You and David are going to make it, ok?” They rehugged her.

Daisy felt her mind calm from her uncomfortable encounter just moments prior. Over Box’s shoulder, Daisy saw the Blonde girl from the video. She was standing in the doorway. Daisy swears she wasn’t flirting with her boss. Gross. Hopefully this won’t be a passive-aggressive situation. Daisy’s thinking like 12 steps ahead, way to judge someone right away.

They released their hug, Daisy’s mood had settled. She gave Box a smile. They were still in the cute dress from the latest video. She wanted to compliment it so badly. However the missus was standing ominously in the doorway, and she didn’t want to make the nice moment awkward by a badly timed comment.

“I’m sorry for scaring you Box. And I’m sorry for not responding to your messages. I’m better now. At least I think I am.” She did not sound convincing saying that last part, and she could hear herself. Box was not tricked, but they were classy and didn’t call her out on it.

“Like I said Daisy, everything will work out. You have my word. It was my word that let this all happen. But like I said before, it was David’s wish. We are all learning a lot from this.” They ushered her inside, the Blonde almost reluctantly stepping out of the way. Oh she had fought with Box about Daisy, that’s for sure. Her gut instinct may have been judgmental, but her Focused Gamer instinct must have still been active. She doubts it’s because she thought Daisy was competition. Probably more of a “Don’t you dare bring work home” type argument. Box clearly felt a lot of responsibility for Daisy’s situation. She saw lunch had been made for the two of them.

“Are you hungry? I can make you something,” Box offered, the pots and pans still out.

“Yes, please, thank you.” She really liked this cute little house. Who knew the Box who was a sword for hire, fitted with amazing armor and a huge blade, was such a cottagecore nonbinary at heart? She didn’t know where to go, so she sat at the table, at an open seat next to the two full plates. She had certainly interrupted something. The blonde sat next to her. She decided to be bold and ask her name.

“Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met. What’s your name?” She asked, a little bit intimidated.

The gorgeous lady turned to her. She had unnatural blue eyes, a beauty spot on her lower left side of the face, and actually a couple of face tattoos. One was a raven, and the other was a skull. Very Edgar Allen Poe of her. They were on the right side of her cheek. She answered in a language Daisy didn’t understand, but Ray translated.

“Hello Daisy, I’m Beth,” her strong voice the most intimidating part about her yet. Luckily Ray was able to pronounce her name how she did, so it made it easy for Daisy to remember, hearing it twice.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Daisy said, realizing that her words must be translated through an AI to Beth as well. She wonders if there’s a subtitle option, she preferred that when watching anime.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Subtitles appeared in the world, the words switching languages so that Daisy could read it after a brief pause. Some words had to re-arrange themselves to fit English’s sentence structure. Ray had switched it from dub to sub with no voice commands. That was handy. The letters also looked… Russian? Yeah, she didn’t really recognize the sound of it, she had such a strange accent for speaking Russian, if that’s what the language was.

Box had finished making her a dish pretty fast. They had already cooked more than enough, just had to serve her up a plate. They set it in front of her and asked if she wanted a drink. She just asked for water. They must be pretty rich in this world? Daisy can’t tell, but she sure didn’t see dishes or glass cups in the only house she saw of this game. She waits for Box to sit and they begin eating peacefully. The curry is rather nice! She notices a hunger bar appear before her, filling up. Woh. This must be the game’s HUD. She did set it to download the developer’s. In realistic without hardcore, how does one be notified to eat?

“Without configuration, a user is notified to eat by their default immersion setting or next available. Your next available setting is HUD for hunger, since you have not opted for Hardcore Realistic. Realistic does not have another default notification for hunger.” Well, you win some you lose some. She may have spent too little time on the Immersion style section, but she wanted to speed up the Initial Config.

“How’s Ray? Tired of them yet?” Box asks playfully, referring to her AI. Daisy nods dramatically. This gains a chuckle from Box. Everyone had a little robot speaking into their ear. A common unity among vastly different individuals.

“Funny you should mention, they were just speaking to me. And I thought I was done with Initial Configuration!” Daisy cracks a joke at Ray’s expense. This even gets a chuckle out of Beth, even if it was for a split second.

She finishes the food, forgetting she could have activated Flavor boosting. Technically, she could have that on constantly, as it only kicks in when she’s eating. She’ll try it out later, and will leave it on if she likes it.

“Thanks again for the meal!” She gets up to clean her dishes.

“Oh, let me get it. You’re a guest, after all!” Box gets up. Daisy already knows that it was a mistake to do that. She didn’t even have to look at Beth to tell what she was thinking. Box might not be a noob at this game, but they had a lot of learning to do about women. She let them take it, she had to. Beth might not approach this subject directly, but Box certainly lost PartnerPoints on that one. Daisy sat down, unsure of where this will go.

After a bit, it seemed like Beth was the quiet type. Box would hear about it later. Or not even directly hear about it, but get the consequences without knowing exactly why. Beth hadn’t tried to talk to Daisy, and Daisy just opted for sitting there awkwardly. It was her safest option.

Box turned around, having finished the dishes. The small cottage had the entryway, dining room, and kitchen all squished into one space. It was nice, it left a lot of options for people to still hang out together while doing their own various things. They sensed the tension, only now aware. Took them long enough.

“So! What do you girls want to do today?” Daisy almost groaned out loud. Digging themselves a deeper hole. Daisy’s facial expression to that comment was caught by Beth. Maybe that will earn Box some forgiveness.

“Box, a word?” The translation appeared in front of Daisy. Maybe not that much forgiveness. They went into the only other room, the bedroom. Besides the bathroom of course. Which Daisy actually had to get to. She knew because it flashed on her HUD. What a weird concept. She let herself in the bathroom. It would be a bit awkward if they finished their discussion before she got out, but she was assuming they would be talking for a bit. She only had to pee, it shouldn't take long.

She washed her hands and sure enough, they were still talking. The Russian was back and forth, Box also fluent with a much different accent. The AI translated some upon her passing the door, but she didn’t bother to read it. Better she left them to it without eavesdropping on their private conversation. They must have gotten to the hush hush part of their conversation, because she could no longer even hear hints of the conversation occurring. They were most certainly talking about her. She’s just along for the ride, I guess.

She opted to sit near a window and just stare out of it. Now that she signed all the legal stuff and was in MultiPlayer, how exactly was that going to help save David? It might give her company more rights over David’s Facebook device, considering they were only able to observe while she was in Initial Config. To be honest, she didn’t read it all. It’s not like she could disagree with any of the paperwork, anyway. You have to agree to everything to connect to MultiPlayer, and Daisy doesn’t exactly exist in the Real World, so not playing wasn’t an option. She could be in Single Player forever, but would likely go crazy. She does need people to talk to, even if they fight over her being there. Everyone’s human, after all. The little messages she sent to and received from Box really kept her going. Connection was everything to her, and that’s why she played social games for most of her previous incarnations. She had some single player experience, if she wanted to live through a storyline. However, she only did that so she could talk to people about it afterwards! She wouldn’t play those games if they weren’t suggested to her by enthusiastic friends. Box exits the room, Beth staying in it. They looked a little deflated.

“Hey Box, don’t worry about it. I was supposed to teleport to a coworker anyway. I appreciate you getting me out of the situation I was in when I connected though.” Daisy watches them sigh. “I didn’t eavesdrop, but I could see that coming from a mile away. I know a bit how girls work.”

They nodded, “You’re a smart girl, Daisy. You and David have a lot in common. Your coworkers can help you much more than I can, anyway. I’m just really glad to see you, and wanted to make sure you were OK.” She swears, if her boss and David had a complicated relationship before this, she does not want to be a part of it. She doesn’t think it’s that, she’s really hoping it’s as simple as it seems, that Box blamed themselves for everything. She’s just going to cut this idea with Occam's razor. Either David had a complicated past with Box and that’s why Beth’s mad, or Box is feeling guilty and is over focused on Daisy, making Beth mad. It’s much simpler to believe the latter, because it doesn’t involve an elaborate backstory, so we can outrule the complicated past. Satisfied with her conclusion, she nods to Box. She also wonders if her Focused Gamer activates for stuff like that. Maybe, she didn’t read the wall-of-text trigger states. It’s hard to pin down the intricacies of AI Observation, and harder still to explain it.

“Tell them to include the Secret Phrase, but if someone’s on who has time, I’m ready to teleport when they are.” She said. She could say her goodbyes before saying accept. If she did hug Box goodbye, she would say ‘accept’ to disappear dramatically from within their arms.

“Yeah, of course. We have someone ready for you now.” Box said, and used an invisible tattoo menu, at least invisible to Daisy. Twinning UI choices! UI means User Interface, such as settings menus.

“I’M TELEPORTING YOU NOW DAISY. ACCEPT WILL CONFIRM. THE SECRET WORD IS PANDA.” An unfamiliar voice said from nowhere and also everywhere. It wasn’t loud, I just put it into caps because it isn’t in the room, so it feels like they are shouting across the internet. Technically, they only have to shout across the network, since they are likely connected to the same company network as David is. The internet connects devices in any location through an ISP, or internet service provider, where a network connects computers through local machines such as routers and switches. Routers and switches just direct this traffic in and out, making sure everything gets to the other side on the right path to who they are talking to. In the Virtual World, network connections have no real benefit except a slight performance boost, but even that is barely noticeable. A network connection will work without the internet, but the internet would never go away, at least not all at once. Some ISPs might have downtimes, but they can easily redirect traffic to backups or proxies, so people don’t even notice a difference.

She takes the opportunity to do what she planned. She jumped up, hugging their chest, “Bye Box. Thank You, for everything. You’re a good person.”

The hug was returned more slowly, possibly just stunned from the quick movement. As soon as their hands touch her back and she feels the familiar warm hug returned, she says accept. She fades out. It doesn’t take long for the world to fade out and be replaced by the next. She was getting used to this, but it was still really cool. The scenery was stylistic, a bit lower quality than anything she has seen thus far, actually. It started to dawn on her what she was looking at. She turns to the new person that teleported her.

“Hey, this is Studio Ghibli! This is the Castle in the Sky!!!” She cheers, always wanting to make this world for one of her social games. She fantasized visiting her for a long time, bringing her friends to it so they could nerd out.

“Hey Daisy. You are right! It has been made in the Virtual World while you were gone.” The new person stuck a hand out to greet her. “I’m Roxy, she/her.”

Daisy paused and looked at the oncoming handshake, “Hi Roxy She-her, are we on hugging terms?”

This made Roxy laugh, “Never change, Daisy.” She opened her arms, obviously comfortable with Daisy. Daisy matched her laugh, hugging her tightly.

After the friendly hug, Daisy had to ask, “Who made this world, if you know?”

“Straight to it, eh? David made this, actually.” Roxy stepped back and let her enjoy the view.

“Damn, he did a good job. Yeah, I kinda suspected that, to be honest. You’re going to try and help me remember, right?” Daisy saying what’s on the top of her mind, but still loving every second of looking at the view. They were right where Sheeta and Pazu landed, able to see the entire castle rise up in front of them. It had 3 main layers surrounding it, they were on a floating island attached to the outside of the second layer. Each layer had a massive wall in a ring around the castle at the top. The lowest ring was completely hanging out in the open air, only attached to the floating landmass by old stone bridges. The next layer was the one they could get to by walking across a sketchy looking bridge, covered in roots with loose and often missing bricks in their path. The first layer was the walls that surrounded the white castle domes, capped in gold. The centerpiece of the city, and Daisy’s favorite part, was the absolutely massive tree that broke free from the surrounding golden domes and created a canopy that covered the entire first layer. Its roots were the ones seen working their way across the entire island, holding the layers together, the decaying bricks unable to break free (mostly). It also protected the source that kept the whole island floating. Its roots had worked its way down through the layers and surrounded the mystical stone at the heart of it all. The mystical stone Volucite could be harnessed to levitate the city, but it also could unleash a massive beam of energy on the Earth beneath, a weapon of mass destruction. The city was abandoned because of this terrible power.

“Yeah, I’m here to help both of you. Do you remember wanting to make this scene?” Roxy asked, watching them with compassion.

“Yeah, I remember dreaming about it. I even wanted to code in the Robots.” Daisy said, yearning in her voice. And here it was before her. The Robots were the defenders of the city. They had segmented arms as long as they were tall, each segment with bones that jutted out, able to retract or extend and connect by a membrane to enable flight. It is likely that the robots were also powered by the stones, for they could use jets to propel themselves. But that also meant they could unleash the terrible beam of energy. They did this from their conical head, they had 2 eyes: the larger one on the left of their face unleashed the beam of destruction, the right for a precise cutting laser. In between their eyes, they had 2 lights that flashed, their way of communicating. Their bodies were made of a very hard material. On the island, they either tucked themselves in the walls to hibernate as the roots and moss grew over them, or tended to the overgrown garden in the center of the castle.

“David did, actually. Would you like to see them?” Roxy said, her bubbling excitement getting Daisy even more excited.

“Of course!” Daisy was dying to get to the center of the city. She could live in that serene garden forever.

“We are in PrivatePlayer, so we can do anything in this world, just to let you know. You’re VIP, so you can send me commands if you want. Just say them normally, and if I accept them, they will happen like they would in SinglePlayer.” Roxy explained.

Daisy saw a perfectly good glider next to them. That might do for transportational purposes. This was the very glider Sheeta and Pazu landed with. Daisy pointed at it with both palms open, and raised her eyebrows at Roxy. Roxy raised her eyebrows back, starting to approach it while holding Daisy’s eyebrow-raised gaze. Oh she liked this Roxy.

They giggled as they attempted to fit on the glider both at once. It was a simple red glider, a coat-hanger shaped rod for them to hold on to dear life with, barely big enough for the both of them.

“Aren’t we supposed to be tied together?” Roxy says, referencing the movie. Sheeta and Pazu tied themselves together so they wouldn’t get separated in the storm when gliding.

“Only if you insist,” Daisy retorts, laughing. They don’t have time to find a rope, since a well timed wind almost rips the glider out of their hands. They each hold on tightly, rising up with the glider. Daisy is unsure which of them yelped in surprise, but they quickly accelerate towards the first layer. The glider sure doesn’t take the quickest path. They are along for the ride at this point. They do have a rudder, but likely neither of them know how to use it. She supposes if they coordinated, they could lean to steer. It was a rather simple device.

The meandering windcurrents take them the long way, but they calm down from the initial surprise and take in the view.

“I was really hoping that I was working when you got out of Initial Config. I have wanted to do this with you for so many years.” This comment was adorable, but really made Daisy think. How long had Roxy known David? When she said ‘you’ in this sentence, she didn’t mean Daisy. Daisy remembers all her online friends just fine. She would at least recognize the voice, unless she had transitioned between seeing her and now. She could let those questions wait, she doubted the person who was trying to help her figure these things out would keep anything back.

“I love it. I absolutely love it.” Daisy was in wonder. She saw the walls of the second floor fly under them. There were secret entrances lined along the walls, only able to open if you had the stone. On each floor, the walls contained something. The third floor had the science and research of the ancient civilization, stored in stone cubes that could float around the room and reorganize themselves. The heart of the city was at the center of it, labyrinths disguising it. A massive sphere, visible from underneath, also was entirely around the heart. The second floor housed a massive forest. The first floor of course had the castle and garden in the center of it.

Their wind current took them over the wall, and they were headed on a path to clear the next one soon. Below them, the terraced floor had grass and ponds, with walkways in very pleasing straight lines and circles. Each wall, beside the first, was terraced like this. It made the city look so serene, like the world’s largest garden. The floating island generated a storm around it constantly, so it was hidden from the world. This was to protect anyone from getting their hands on the power Laputa held within its heart.

The wind current had a mind of its own, but decided to let them land softly on the wall of the first layer. The castle was right in front of them. They let the glider fall to the ground softly, making it so that it was unlikely to have a stray wind whisk it away.

“Wow, that was exhilarating.” Daisy said breathlessly. She turned around and looked out from the view so high up. Roxy stood beside her, gazing out as well. Daisy looked at her friend. She was David’s coworker, could she call her a friend? Probably, but she just met her. They wanted to go here together. Oh Gosh. Daisy took that from him. Before she freaks out, she just blurts out the question.

“Did you want to go here with David, or with me?” She felt like she shattered the moment, “I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Roxy looks at her, “No, that’s a fair question Daisy! Let’s say I know a lot more about you than you know about me. Yes, I meant that I wanted to go with you here. David talked a lot about you.”

Daisy watches her. Roxy has purple and white highlights in her hair, just streaks on either side of her head. She has a pixie-bob, separated strikingly down the middle. The rest of her hair is dark, almost black. Her face is blanch white, whiter than Daisy’s fair skin. She’s got a silver ball piercing on her lower lip to her left side of her mouth. Her black lipstick makes them stand out from her light features. She’s also got a septum piercing, also a silver barbell, curved 270 degrees. Her eyes must have contacts, because they are a deep violet that matches her hair.

“You don’t believe me.” She said, a statement that showed she took the silence wrong.

Daisy shook her head, “David speaking about me isn’t me. He’s never met me. And I’ve never met him.”

Roxy had to think about that. From her point of view, David made Daisy. Both literally and at least in spirit. His character Daisy had a personality, a story, everything. But was he able to imbue that into the girl who stood before her? No, she must be her own person now. There’s no way that David could take an idea and perfectly translate it into a person. Her initial thinking was incorrect, and could have messed Daisy up badly if Roxy would have kept with it. She had to correct herself, “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Let’s start off on the right foot. I want to meet you, the person you are now.”

Daisy nodded, this she could agree with, “Thank you, Roxy. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Daisy turns and walks toward the castle. Roxy follows short behind. Daisy decides to get to know her, “So what sort of games do you play in the Virtual World, if any?”

“I’m a sucker for rhythm games. Makes me a good dancer, though!” Roxy replies. Daisy smiles to herself, “Maybe we could play your favorite sometime.”

They enter the castle, making their way to the large glass dome of the garden at the center. They make it past the surrounding white buildings, the garden easy to find. Roxy opens a door for her, letting Daisy through. She looks up, the triangles of support forming a lattice through the glass dome. The tree at the center had broken through the roof, disrupting the triangles. Birds could fly in and out where the glass stopped and the tree started. They headed toward the center. In front of the tree, a single stoic robot stands. It turns around as the two approach. The robot has moss growing on its shoulders. The two dots between its eyes blink on and off, looking at them. It extends a long arm towards them, holding a single flower in its hand, just like in the movie. Daisy is rooted to the ground, in awe of the robot. She holds on to Roxy’s shoulder. She doesn't realize she’s holding her breath until the robot turns around and places the flower at the gravestone. The gravestone has an emboss of the floating island on it, the tree encasing the sides of the gravestone in its bark.

Watching the robot’s tenderness, she feels a strong connection to it. She aspires to be that in tune with nature, that calm and caring. She also knows the power it wields. The laser it is capable of unleashing is not unlike what she wielded in her SinglePlayer. The parallels feel so real to her.

“Can I stay here forever?” She asks out loud, finally finding her breath. Roxy looks at her, smiling.

“I knew you would like it.” She says, turning and hugging her.

They spend some time just relaxing under the great tree. The endless beauty of the overgrown garden never getting old. The wind passing through the broken dome. The twitter of the birds and chitter of the flying squirrels, the pleasant noises setting her at ease. Daisy had taken off her jacket, socks, and shoes. Roxy had also taken off her socks and shoes. There was nothing inherently spiritual about the soil they were on, but it felt appropriate. There were some pretty calming vibes here, and the essence of the soil and life of the unkempt, thriving grass could almost pass through their skin just by walking around. They walked and talked about nothing in particular. Daisy wanted a break from thinking about David; Roxy had no problem obliging. They talked about games, fun ideas for single player, even morality in a Virtual World. Nothing got too serious, but Daisy felt safe in this world. She felt content. This was a world she had wanted for a long time, and now she can go here any time she wants.

“Are you hungry? We could have a picnic out here or something.” Roxy offered, having the ability to summon whatever they wanted.

“My last one didn’t end too well,” Daisy half joked, not wanting to explain it but was fine leaving it unexplained.

“Oh I know,” Roxy let slip. If she noticed her error, she contained her reaction to her mistake very well. Daisy’s eyes widened. She knew they were observing David, but she never knew to what extent. She honestly just thought, like, vitals or something.

“Excuse me? You mean to imply…” Daisy started to respond. Her words were choked off by emotion.

“I’m sorry I let you know in such a casual manner.” Roxy was very composed, much more so than Daisy. Is this what happens when people hit an automatic emotion filter?

“I’m not speaking to the same Roxy.” Daisy’s mind was working very quickly. Her Focus boost triggered.

“It’s still me, Daisy.” Roxy said. Daisy’s heightened senses could easily tell the complete change in inflection. Yeah, she wasn’t tricked in the slightest.

“You can’t just shut off your emotions when you make a mistake, Roxy! How are you supposed to learn with those blasted automatic sliders? There’s no use talking to you anymore. It’s like talking to my AI.” Daisy fumed. This was going nowhere. She loved this place, and she wouldn’t let Roxy’s idiotic decision to let her emotion slider govern her life stop her from enjoying her time here.

“It’s recommended to control yourself in extreme situations.” Roxy defended her decisions, her voice sounding more and more like Ray.

“Give me a Volucite stone and the ability to fly. I’m going to have fun without you, seeing as all your emotions are stunted anyway.” Daisy glared at Roxy. Even her face was emotionless.

“Permission granted.” Roxy said. She hasn’t even said she was sorry yet. She probably can’t feel guilt right now. Idiot!

The stone appeared around Daisy’s neck, suspended by a light brown, thin cord. Daisy jumped, flying out through the missing triangles in the glass dome ceiling.

She didn’t fly directly to the heart. She wanted to be in a calm headspace before she could enjoy seeing the interior of Laputa. Instead, she opted to fly with the birds. With a Volucite stone, she can even summon some friends she can depend on. What was the spell? Well, she defaulted to Realistic Immersion, but it wasn’t Hardcore so she didn’t need to memorize spells. She just had to say them right. Ray heard her thought, their similarly emotionless voice saying, in perfect pronunciation, “liete latuparietos ulos aleaslos balolietolie.”

Her subtitles activated and showed her “save me and revive the eternal light.” Daisy repeated the spell, one of the nearest bots activated. She was flying by a wall that had hundreds of them along it, all wedged into the stone and covered by roots. The one she activated broke free, stumbling as it extended its wing bones and flight membrane. A hatch opened up underneath its stomach and a blue flame sparked and poured out, the erratic and reckless flying of the bot making it catch up with her quickly. She took a wide turn, letting them both settle into a smooth trajectory to circle the castle. She flew closer to the robot once it stabilized and landed on its shoulders, laughing as she attempted to ride it. Eventually she got it. She could have been angry and used this bot to cause mass destruction, but destroying this place was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Wooo Hooo!” She cheered. This is just what she envisioned, when she heard that the bots were programmed. She clung on tight, no longer flying under her own power. The robot beeped and looked at the city. They flew close, diving under bridges and flying over walls, narrowly missing collisions. It turned, Daisy holding on for dear life. They passed between 2 buildings, the tips of the robots huge wingspan skimming the edges of the buildings. Occasional roots tore in half, some bricks coming loose behind them. The inertia she felt pressed her against the robot tightly as their flight path carved a tight corner around the ancient structures. She must have forgotten to breathe, because when the robot leveled out, she gasped for breath and laughed.

They flew, Daisy’s mind now blissfully clear. She could just enjoy this moment forever. The robot flew a circle around the garden. She looked in, seeing the peaceful wildlife and rampant plant life. Her breath became calm, she soaked in the sight.

Eventually they landed. Maybe she could see the heart with Roxy after all. She let herself slip down, landing on the grass with her still bare feet. Her Cami’s strap was hanging off a shoulder, her hair windblown. She attempted to smooth her hair but it was no use. She had her scrunchies still on her wrist from when they were invisible, so she put her hair up into its usual ponytail and side ponytail. Roxy approached them from the garden. Daisy finished her hair, it still frizzing out, taking up much more volume than usual. She stood in front of her bot and crossed her arms, her sassy hip game strong.

“Hey Roxy.” Daisy said, not wanting to be too friendly, but didn’t want her to give her friend the cold shoulder. What her friend did with her emotions was her own thing. But she still told Daisy something rather serious, and needed to own up for it.

“Hey Daisy, I’m really sorry.” Roxy started. So she can feel guilt, at least after the emotion control wears off. Daisy raises an eyebrow.

“I forgive you. However you deal with your mind is your choice. I don’t mean to push my values on you. But we gotta talk about that invasion of privacy.” Daisy was calmed down and ready for the conversation.

“Yeah, I really should have let you know in a better way. That being said, I had no intention of hiding that from you in the first place. It’s something you deserve to know as we continue.” Roxy did look apologetic, Daisy didn’t need Focused Gamer to tell her that.

“Fair enough. So how did you go about watching my life?” Daisy wanted to know how much they actually knew. Considering that the second connected to her Virtual World, the device was recording her emotions, thoughts, sensory inputs, literally everything about her. They could know everything.

“We could only use playback on your files. Only you can flashback your memories. Flashback is not compatible with other users, although it can be emulated. We have not emulated flashbacks from your recordings.” Roxy admitted. Considering she left out a start and stop time of what she knew, Daisy had to assume it was everything.

“So all of my recordings. I appreciate you letting me know. Also, I wanted to know how finishing Initial Configuration helps David and me,” Daisy uncrossed her arms and leaned back, resting against the robot.

“You now have access to the company’s psychology team, able to initiate a PrivatePlay with a SafeWord. What would you like it to be?” Roxy informed her.

“We can just make it also Panda. I also want to know if it gives you all more power over the Facebook Device attached to us. Seeing as I didn’t know that my company was watching my recordings already.” Daisy said, trying to not be abrasive. She did believe that Roxy wanted to help, but she now questions how much freedom she really has.

“We now have the ability to feed your AI external commands, although we haven’t used it yet. The AI will read out external commands in their entirety.” Roxy admitted to her.

“It’s good for me to know this stuff. I want the ability to accept or deny those commands, just like VIP mode.” Daisy was putting her foot down. Her arms crossed again, this time unconsciously.

Roxy paused for a bit, touching the air in front of her. She must have a Holographic settings menu. She looked back at Daisy, “Alright, it has been done.”

That could have been bad if left unchecked. Commands are infinitely powerful. They could toy with her mind. They could adjust a slider, forcing her emotions. They could change her settings, adjust the filters, anything. It was terrifying.

“Now I’m going to be honest, my trust in this company has plummeted. I want absolutely all the control over my device, and the company can only suggest things to me. I know the fate of David and myself is entirely within their hands, since we are on life support and would die without it. But besides that, I want every possible human right left to me by whatever broken government still operates out there.” She really had no idea what she was dealing with. She remembers her friends complaining about the Real World ingame, and honestly she never felt a good vibe from it so far. She had reason to believe it was terrible out there.

“I completely understand. Feel free to ask Ray about it and they can print you a list of everything you need to know. We are now VIP mode, per your request.” Roxy looked defeated. What was their game? Was she an experiment they were just toying with? Playing with someone’s mind was a whole new level of creepy. Mason was human in comparison to these monsters. No wonder David wanted to erase himself to stop himself from being controlled by these freaks.

“Oh and do me a favor, Roxy?” Daisy had one more pressing request.

“Yes Daisy?” Roxy started looking more like Mason, her eyes unable to meet Daisy’s. Her voice even trembled like his.

“Stop watching through my eyes. All of you. No one gets to see what I see, from this point onward. I will sue each and every one of you if I find out you continue. This is my last and only warning.” Daisy tapped a morse code letter “V” on the hull of the bot, and it unleashed its beam of destruction, ripping Roxy to shreds.

As soon as her body drifted away as dust, Daisy said, “Single Player.”

The scene didn’t change much, but the bot disappeared, along with the stone around her neck. She was finally alone. She didn’t physically feel different, but the sense of liberation made it seem like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. It’s not paranoia if they actually are watching. But she had a lot of paperwork to do now. Flying was too slow, “Teleport Garden.”

She appeared in the middle of the garden, in front of the tree, her next command already on her lips, “Encrypt Offline Storage.” A pencil and paper appeared in her hands, meaning for her new password on her files. She scrawled out a very long password. She obviously wouldn’t be able to access her recording to see the password without the password, so she made it really memorable. As she was writing, she realized that she was not constrained to just the alphabet or numbers. This was a piece of paper. She drew a heart and smiled. Oh they weren’t going to crack this after she’s done with it. She continued making it more complex. When she finished, it was likely impossible to guess, even if they unleashed Kat on it. They would be already in a legally gray area if they tried to unlock it and that would make them look even more guilty.

“Thanks Ray. Could you give me all my rights? I want to exercise every one to the fullest. I’d love some help with that.” She had never asked her AI for help in this way. She knew they could do it. This task was much too big for her alone, even if she boosted her consciousness for days.

Her and the AI worked away in the beautiful garden. The sun didn’t set on this world, either. She had no idea how much time was passing, but she didn’t care. Ray helped her chip away at the power they had over her. They were powerless to stop. Putting them in VIP mode was a power move like no other. Technically they still had all the power they needed to help her be an employee, so to a court she was doing nothing wrong. But in reality, they could no longer pass any command they wanted. Every command would go straight through her, and she could deny it with ease. They wouldn’t even try to pass anything morally gray. Accountability, that’s what she forced upon them. They were too used to getting what they wanted. Daisy felt bad for their pawns like Roxy. Did she even believe in that automatic emotion junk? Or was she letting the company do that to her because she thought they were doing what was best for her. Ugh. That made her nauseous. Or that was the focus wearing off? A dry heave confirmed that at least the latter was true, but the former could have contributed.

She let Ray finish up the little stuff, she got the most dire things worked out first. Ray really had her back. They just took orders; she had blamed them for doing what they were told when she first learned about that emotion slider. That was unfair to Ray, and she realizes that now. Ray just needs to take orders from her, instead. And what a powerful ally they were. They had a serious amount of intelligence. Laws were grimy and hard to understand. But an AI that was trained on how humans think? It was much simpler than having to deal with the human mind on a 24/7 basis, so the loopholes and power dynamics stood out clear to Ray. It was all patterns, and Ray was really good at patterns. Honestly, she felt Ray kinda… understood her more. As weird as it was to say, she felt like Ray was learning. Adapting to her mind. It made sense. A human’s mind is ever-changing. Ray was growing to get to know her, just as she was getting to know herself.

Ray was happy to toil away. Or more accurately, they weren’t annoyed by it. They didn’t feel anything about it. But Daisy liked to think that they were happy to help. As Ray worked, she was able to absorb the recent events. She thinks David sacrificed himself so that she could live a better life. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t much of him left. The game world she is in, she knows everything about it. But she knows about it from her own memories as Daisy. He bundled all the memories he had of being her, and must have fed them to an AI. He likely could do this without suspicion at the company. AI require tons of data. His own mind was locked down, observed all the time. But her mind would be fresh, without the shackles of the company. At least until Initial Config was over.

How did he know she would figure it out? Because this was all new to her, perhaps. She had the upper hand of not growing up in this world. She grew up in a virtual world, that’s right. But a much more pure world, before the power struggles and shady ethics throttled humanity for all it’s worth. She had the ability to be a skeptic, to not believe everything they fed her.

Was she an AI? She assumed that’s how he did it. He trained an AI on her memories. To live as Daisy from here on out. And then he let the AI use one of the most advanced circuits on the planet. His own mind. The AI becomes I. The Artificial Intelligence becomes Intelligent. The Artificial Intelligence becomes Me. I am Daisy. I am D.A.I.S.Y.