VR Girls/1 Ty

Chapter 1

Ty swiped his credit card and nervously entered his PIN. It accepted, and the blood rushed to his face as he got handed the bag by the cashier. She seemed nice, but he didn't make eye contact with her for longer than a few seconds. He normally stays home, and never, ever shops in person. However, this wasn't something he was willing to get shipped to his house. The new VR console got released at midnight, and he had been standing in line since 8pm yesterday. The bright noon sun now shined down upon him as he opened the door to exit. Still swathes of people were waiting patiently. The difference between this generation VR console and the last generation console was immense. They had finally achieved deep dive.

This was no easy task for Ty. He had to save up for this. The system was incredibly advanced. And to think all that science fit into such a small, light package... The bag that dangled from his hands suddenly felt so fragile, so delicate. He hugged it gently to his body as he unlocked his car. He began driving home, the package on the passenger seat, buckled up. The drive was short, but felt like an eternity. He drove so carefully, not wanting to mess this day up. It was the day that was marked on his calendar since they announced it half a year ago. He pulled up to his quaint apartment. He lived alone, so the house was quiet and cold when he unlocked the door and entered. He locked the door behind him, and went immediately to his room. His room was already set up to allow him to install it. He didn't need a user manual because of how many videos he had watched before today. He was very careful when setting it up. He couldn't let his excitement get ahead of himself.

                        Power.
                        Check.

He plugs an Ethernet cable into the system that lays on the bedside table, and then connects the headset to it as well.

                        Internet.
                        Check.

He puts the VR headset over the correct locations on his cranium and lays down.

                        Vitals.
                        Check.

The system overrode his vision. There was a white, androgynous robot standing in-front of him. Nay, this was a mirror. His body was the default avatar. A prompt came up, asking him to move his arm. He did, and so did the robot. However, in real life, nothing moved.

                        Paralysis.
                        Check.

Suddenly, and jarringly, the scene switched. The mirror was still in front of him, rooting him to the body he is inhabiting. Beside him, concrete walls appear. Hallways branch off, and on the mirror, a prompt pops up. This is what he was waiting for. It said "Create a new character?" and his hand hovered over the comically large YES button. He pressed his robot hand to the glass, and to his surprise, could feel the cool, smooth touch of the glass. The mirror solidified and turned into a door that opened for him without a handle. He entered a room of robots, just like the one that he was placed in. These were the templates. A narrator voice spoke over the PA system.

"Please select your template. Use the central computer in the middle of the room for more unique templates, or narrow down search results for a specific pre-made template." It's voice was neither male nor female, but not robotic either. It was smooth and organic, but so ambiguous that one could not imagine how the person speaking would look like.

There were six basic templates. To his left, the 2 male templates. A youth and an adult. Right in-front of him, behind the central computer, were the two androgynous templates. Again, a youth and an adult stood next to each other. Finally, his sweeping glance of the room came across the female templates. He approached the youth. A computer sat beside it. This is where he would craft his avatar.

He sat down at the computer, glancing over at the small, female template. He was going to make her perfect. This is how he would look like, virtually, for a very long time. Sure, it would vary in style by what game he plays, but he planned to keep this character for the long run. On the computer, it starts out with a few basic questions. He will certain dive deep into the settings in order to craft the perfect character, but he can savor it by starting out with the basics.

                        Character name: Amy

As soon as he typed it, a name tag appeared above her, floating and semi-transparent.

                        Height: 5'2"

Again, right when he pressed enter, the template updated to match the new information.

                        Weight: 100 pounds

Some weight was redistributed, but it was a small adjustment.

                        Chest: 34

His character template grew little perky breasts at this input, as it was flat chested prior to this change.

                        Waist: 25

Her waist became slimmer to Ty's delight.

                        Hips: 33

At this, his character did change a bit, but it was not like he wanted. He went back to that entry and changed it to 34. It was a slight change, but her curves were now accentuated. Ty could feel the blood rushing back to his face. He couldn't have anticipated how realistic everything would be. It felt like he was actually here, sitting in this room. He could feel the cold metal chair beneath him, even the dusty concrete underneath his feet. He looked over at the template, and could see how the lighting from the industrial lights above them glistened off the default texture of her. He supposes that's what he should change next. With skin, he would be able to get a better feel for how she really will be.

                        Skin Tone: Fair

The template updated, and a flesh color spread over her as it adjusted to match the settings. He leaned in close, entranced to see that the skin looked so realistic already. He took her hand and faced it upward, seeing the wrinkles and fingerprints. At his surprise, even him touching her felt real. He could feel the underlying bones in her arm, and her skin was pliable and organic. He couldn't help an astonished laugh at this discovery. All of this was happening in his head. But he could so easily confuse this for real life. It was magical.

                        Racial Preset: Caucasian

This generated her face, hair, and genitals. Almost all of it was incorrect, but it at least got him closer to creating her. He will have to adjust the specifics. He cringed at seeing a preset naked. This was not her. Sure, it had her height and weight, but it was awkward seeing a pre-programmed loli. It was most likely based on averages or even genetics, but Ty hoped that no one stuck with presets. This was supposed to replace real life, allow for creativity in making exactly how you want to look. How you wish to see yourself. Who you wish to be.

Before it got too awkward, he had to focus on creating Amy. He should adjust the parts that are clearly not Amy right away. He clicked through the copious amount of menus and adjustments that now lay across his screen. He rounded out her face, the preset jawline disappeared. Her eyes lightened up to a bright blue, almost fluorescent. Her hair went from a dirty blonde to golden locks that shimmered and almost sparkled under the lights. He made her small nose, and added the cute little bump on the bridge of it. The presets thin lips, that made Ty uncomfortable, plumped up to their healthy heart shape. Not too plump, but certainly better than what it was. Her eyebrows were much lighter than that. She was quite self-conscious of how close they were to being invisible, but a bit of makeup can fix that. Her earlobes were not supposed to be attached, and clicking an option on the computer fixed that quickly. He thickened the earlobe, as they were supposed to be rather plump, and added Amy's two piercings on each.

Now, when he looked at her, he could scrutinize tiny differences, but it was much more bearable to look at. Her hair, for starters, was still much too short. He found a slider, and cranked it up as far as it could go. Her hair extended down her back and past her butt. He realized he set it too high when it passed her knees and backed it off to just under her thick thigh.

The thigh area was all wrong, as well. He added a thigh gap, and plumped up the lips of her pussy. She often gets little accidental camel-toes whenever she wears anything tight. And her hips are big enough to make most things she wear tight in that region, he chuckles to himself. Now with her much easier to look at, he fixes her breasts. They need to be supple and perky, but the nipples are actually supposed to be smaller than that. And they are supposed to be less vibrant and more flesh colored, almost blending in with the breast around it. The breasts should also be a bit closer together, they happen to form a bit of cleavage if she wears anything loose enough or low enough to display it.

Ty can't have anything wrong, and works on fixing all the imperfections that the template has. It still had major flaws. The hands were too big, the feet somehow too small. He honestly hoped that the preset was auto-generated and not crafted by a human. If someone did make it, they must have had little care and attention to detail. It's interesting that they focused more on an amazing set of adjustments and settings instead of presets. Usually with MMORPG games, it's the other way around. However, Ty is glad for the insane amount of control. He was able to add how her left foot is just a bit bigger than her right, and even make her nails the proper length. Everything about Amy, Ty was able to recreate. He hadn't felt the time passing, but the game actually started to warn him that he had spent too long in it, and informed him to take a break to eat. It will force him out in 45 minutes. Not to worry, he almost finished how she physically should look. He can dress her up when he gets back from dinner.

Saving his progress one last time, Ty navigates to the computer to log out. Sure, he could say the safeword to log out quickly and immediately, but he wants to gradually be brought out of the game the easy way, at least for the first few weeks.

Ty blinks his eyes. It's like waking up from a dream, except instead of the usual fading away of a normal dream, this one is etched into his mind, so fresh that it's stronger than his actual memories. They always talked about it, the beta testers, but you can never fully understand until you experience it. The last image he sees in his mind is his recreation of Amy. He can so vividly picture how he made her that he can still point out some imperfections. He writes them quickly down on his phone so that he doesn't forget to change them when he gets back, and goes into the kitchen to make himself a late dinner.

He looks at the clock on the microwave as he enters his dark kitchen. 11pm. He had spent almost 11 hours on just creating Amy. Seeing that it was launch day, that didn't matter, as the multiplayer won't actually be accessible until the following week. This 7 day period was meant for last minute patches and for everyone to create their character, or multiple characters, if they prefer. Ty would not be one to create multiple characters. It was not only discouraged from a psychological standpoint, because it was able to cause an identity crisis, but it would also make Ty feel uncomfortable to dishonor Amy like that. She was much more than just a playable character.

He is too excited to get back to the system to make himself a full dinner, so he heats up leftovers from yesterday. They need to get eaten either way, he thinks to himself as the buzz of the microwave reheating the food fills the apartment with noise and light. He doesn't turn on any other lights because he doesn't care enough, and his eyes are already adjusting to the darkness. The moonlight streams through the window at the far end of his apartment, bouncing around enough to give a dreary ambient light. The microwave chimes and he opens the swinging door, lazily grabbing the plate and setting it down on the table. He doesn't close the microwave, so that the light won't turn off. Then he would have to readjust to the darkness again. He has far too much experience with staying late up like this. He often forgets to eat when he gets invested in something, so this is a common occurrence and will most likely continue to be one.

He eats the food, and the awkwardly warm and awkwardly cold parts clash in his mouth. Just like usual, the food has a very muted taste. But to him, most food is muted. He doesn't really get excited over food. He likes things with far too much sugar in it, but other than that, food is just to fill his belly when he is hungry. He is almost never active, so it's a good thing that he doesn't focus on food too much, lest he become overweight. He doesn't starve himself, or at least doesn't mean to, but just eats enough to stay the same.

In his real life, sameness is comfortable. He knows what to expect when he goes to work. He knows exactly what to do. Mediocrity is easy to navigate. It's easy to be absorbed in the droning on of everyday life. Nothing surprises him, and that's a good thing. It leads for a calm life. Even the few classes he is still attending in college are easy. They don't challenge him, they just challenge his ability to memorize. And because there is an obvious formula, a predictable pacing, it is very easy just to fall into line and do what he is told. Tests become easy to study for if you've taken enough to learn every trick in the book. But what makes all of it worth it?

The system. Virtual Reality. In comparison to his own life, it's colorful. He is living a black and white life in the real world, but the second he connected to the system, it all became worth it.

Amy.

Just the thought of her. It still feels like a dream that he can see her again. Not only that, but because of virtual reality, she can live a thousand more lives. And he gets to be a part of that. He gets to become Amy and they can go on infinite adventures. It's all so much.

Ty breaks down and cries. He doesn't feel emotion in real life too often. If his life were a rollercoaster, it would be quite boring, because it doesn't go up and down. His emotions are as constant as the march of time. But when he thinks of Amy, he can't help it. It triggers a part of his mind that is still able to feel and express emotions. He is happy that VR has reunited them. He remembers her fondly. He remembers everything about her. Enough to spend hours recreating her and still need more time to perfect how she was.

He finishes his food, his damp cheeks make the last few bites salty. His mind starts to adjust to real life again, and is hit with a wave of tiredness. This wave, he cannot ignore. It floods his thoughts. He had been awake since yesterday, and standing in line for 16 hours was draining enough. He had been recharged by his excitement to enter the game, but now that he is out of the game, his energy vanishes. He stumbles into bed, not able to even brush his teeth and passes out.

Continue to Chapter 2