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.

Continue to Chapter 2