by Mason Roth
Who do you best relate to?
A. Men
B. Women
She tapped A again. Despite being a woman herself, Piper had no strong love for her own gender. She felt like she didn't fit in with most other women and that they judged her for it. She only had one close female friend, if she could even still call her that. She lost touch with Gretchen after college, ashamed to confess to the now school teacher what she had become. Men, on the other hand, were easy. As long as she indulged in one of their interests, they saw her as a goddess among them despite her average looks and below average life.
People Should-
A. Look out for themselves
B. Look out for others
This test is making me feel like a real cynic. Ideally, people should look out for each other. But, Piper knew the world was more cruel than kind. If she didn’t look out for herself, no one else would.
I Would Rather Be-
The words on the screen flickered and glitched. She hadn’t gotten a chance to read the original answer choices but she knew they had changed. She swallowed hard and read the question again.
I Would Rather Be-
A. Piper Blackmoore
B. Somebody Else
A cold sweat broke out across her forehead as she read her own name. At no point had she provided the Institute with her name. There hadn’t even been a sign-in sheet. When she registered online last night, it was just a button. The site hadn’t even asked for an email address. Did they get my name from my IP address? Yeah. That had to be it. But even so, how connected did these people have to be to pull her name with such minimal information?
She shook her head and turned her attention back to the question. Her hand hovered over her own name. It seemed like a mindless question. Of course, she wanted to be herself. Yet, she still hesitated. Did she really want to be herself? What was so great about being Piper Blackmoore? She dropped her hand as nothing came to mind. Absolutely nothing. She had nothing going for her. No real job, no real friends. And if she was being honest with herself, no real life. She felt resigned as she clicked "Someone Else".
The words faded from the screen but were not replaced by a new question. Suddenly, the screen flashed green.
"Congratulations!" Piper was startled as Candace’s face appeared all around her. The black walls were actually screens that all illuminated with Candace's face. "Congratulations, Piper." Despite already reading her name on the screen, hearing her own name startled her. "You have been selected." Piper's mouth hung open. How the hell had she already been selected? All she had done was answer five pointless questions. How could anyone get a read on her from just five questions? Her expression darkened. It wasn't just the five questions. There was no way. Candace had been watching her every move since she entered the building. She already had all the data she needed. A strange electronic fanfare played as Piper got up from her seat. It was Candace continued. "You are the 20th participant. You will meet the others in a moment." The barely tonal 8-bit tune cut off unceremoniously.
The screens went black again and Piper was alone in the dark room. She jumped as the wall parted again to reveal another dark corridor. She looked back forlornly at the hallway she came from. It wasn't too late. She could still turn back. She thought again of the questionnaire. She answered truthfully. She had no desire to be herself or live her life. She had nothing to go back to. So what did she have to lose? With a heavy sigh, she continued down the path without looking back. This hallway was shorter than the last and she soon found herself in a bright room with real live people.
For whatever reason, seeing people that were not Candace and were not confined to a screen was the most unsettling of all the experiences of the day. Sure, she had seen an infinite amount of people on the subway, but that was different. Impersonal. Aside from an "excuse me" here and a "pardon me" there, this would be her first time interacting with other living, breathing humans face-to-face in over a month. And she was terrified. Their wide eyes turned to her as she entered the room. Piper felt slightly better to see that they looked almost as afraid as she was.
Piper was surprised to see the people had a variety of ages. She expected almost everyone participating in the study to be thirty-something year old men - the age group she generally gamed with. Yet, she saw a few men and women well into their sixties, and one boy near the back looked barely sixteen. That can’t be legal. She was both surprised and perturbed by the number of women. Although they were all there for the same reason, she couldn't help but feel like they would judge her for being there. This is ridiculous, Piper thought. No one cares about you. She didn't mean that in a negative way. Reminding herself how no one cares actually calmed her in social settings. Everyone was concerned enough with other people judging them to have the time or energy to judge others.
What was odd, and not just due to Pipers own neuroses, was that everyone was dead silent. No small talk passed among them as they sat in a perfect circle in the center of the room. It couldn't be that they were all as antisocial as she was, but the foreboding atmosphere of this entire experience. Piper took the lone empty seat next to the suspiciously young boy and awaited further instructions. She found it difficult to sit still, and Candace was eerily absent. She had come on so quickly before, why was she absent now? As Piper pointedly stared at her shoes, she felt someone staring at her from across the room.
If he was older than her, it was only by a couple of years. His dark eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he stared at her face. He seemed to be studying her, weighing her strengths and weaknesses as his eyes flickered across her face. What's his problem? She attempted a small smile to let him know she noticed him staring, but it did nothing to deter his gaze. She shifted sideways in her seat to block him and scrolled idly through her phone. No messages, as usual. As she sighed in frustration, Candace appeared before them. But, she was like no other Candace they had seen thus far.
Candace appeared full body before them. Though this was an improvement from just her face on the screen, she was still far from real. She appeared in the center of the room in the middle of the circle of participants. Piper could see the man that was staring her down right through her pencil skirt. She was a hologram.
"Congratulations on being selected." Candace gestured at the participants emphatically. "You all have met some impressive standards!" Through her praise, Piper could feel mocking in her pandering tone. "In just a few moments, you will enter the VR world of Rookstorm, provided to us by designers on the cutting edge of the industry, Key Media.”
Rookstorm? The game had been teased by Key for over seven years. It was popular belief in the most gaming circles that the game would never be realized. It had become a running joke in the community, and she smiled thinking about how wrong everyone was. It was an ambitious undertaking to say the least. An expansive open world VR MMORPG, Rookstorm was said to combine the inventive imaginations of steampunk and high fantasy. Piper felt her fear melt away as she imagined the wonders she had in store: A fantastical world in a game of legends, and she was going to be one of the first 20 people to try it. They could give her creepy tests all day; it wouldn't matter if she got to go to Rookstorm.
"I see some of you have heard of it", Candace smirked as she surveyed the excited glances and whispers spreading throughout the circle. "In Rookstorm, the world will be your oyster. You may explore where you want, interact with who you want, collect and kill what you want. Your only goal in regards to this study is to find as many people from this study as you can. We will be collecting data on your interactions with them and non-player characters, or NPCs. Take a look around this circle now to see who you will be participating with.”
Now that she had an actual objective, Piper lifted her head and studied the participants with more than a passing glance. There was the man who was staring at her - his dark eyebrows and strong jawline stood out on a man with his small frame. The young boy next to her with the round nose and equally round eyes seemed to shiver. The wom
an on the other side with similar features and long dark braids squeezed his hand. They were definitely related. There was a group of large, older men sitting together whispering and pointing out different participants. They gave her the heebie-jeebies and not just because of their scraggly neck beards. A woman in her mid-fifties sat beside them. One of their wives, Piper presumed. The woman rolled her eyes at the scheming men. Piper concluded she was forced to come along. Everyone studied one another, with the exception of one participant. A tall woman sat hunched in her chair to the left of her. She hadn't looked up from her phone since Piper entered the room, and her smokey eyes held an expression of the utmost boredom. Piper couldn't fathom why, especially since there was a holographic woman right in front of them. The hologram in question, as if she had heard her thoughts, suddenly spoke.
"Now," Candace said. “Regarding the question of your reward.” Everyone in the room perked up instantly, including the brooding tall woman to her left. Candace continued, "For each participant you find during your stay in Rookstorm, you will be awarded one thousand dollars.” Piper's mouth hung agape. "Which would of course mean the max payout is -" "Twenty thousand dollars" everyone murmured in unison. That was life changing money. Piper only needed a little over a grand, but twenty grand? That would be a start to a nice happy little life path. She could go back to school and get that graphic design certificate she'd always wanted.
"Now, now", Candace warned. "Finding all 20 participants will not be easy. You will randomly spawn in different areas of Rookstorm." Ah of course, the catch. But it was no matter. Even if Piper only managed to find two or three people, that would improve her situation considerably. "Finding the others won't just be a matter of distance," Candace cocked an eyebrow at the participants. You will also be faced with the many dangers of Rookstorm: Beasts, goblins, and even Dragons." She paused for dramatic emphasis. For a hologram, she sure was a ham. "I'm just kidding." She announced. No one laughed. "You won't be encountering anything larger than a pixie." Piper sighed. She'd rather not play the watered-down version of this legendary game, but the prospect of nineteen thousand dollars overrode her disappointment. As Candace concluded her last statement, the ceiling rumbled. Small openings emerged from the white ceiling tiles and black wires descended towards the participants. VR masks plopped gently into their laps… "Ladies and gentlemen, please put on your virtual reality masks. You will enter Rookstorm momentarily." Piper mirrored the rest of the room and secured her mask over her eyes. Through her mask, Piper saw Candace raise her hands ceremoniously before her vision went black. "Best of luck to you."
Chapter 3
Green words appeared in front of her eyes. Welcome to Rookstorm. To enter the game, you will need to verbally sign a non disclosure agreement. Do you agree to not talk about, post about, distribute, or disclose ANY information about today's study? Please keep in mind that this contract is legally binding.
"Yes?" Piper answered questioningly knowing full well she was going to brag to her online friends the moment she got home. She was surprised this was the first time she had been asked to sign something since she got here. The screen flashed with new words below the contract.
SAY: I (YOUR NAME HERE) consent to this contract.
"I, Piper Blackmoore, consent to this contract.” Like a blindfold being lifted, her world immediately filled with color.
Cobblestones materialized at her feet and smoke filled the air as an airship passed overhead. She felt the wind on her face as she whirled around in awe. She was at the edge of a small town. Grassy fields blew behind her as she faced the crooked steam-filled town. The graphics were incredibly realistic. She walked up to the side of a building and touched it. She felt the steam pipes and the vibration as clockwork ticked beneath it. She hadn't realized she had moved from her seated position in the circular room, let alone put on VR gloves. It was eerily real but she was ecstatic.
She looked down at her own body. Had her appearance changed? Her clothes certainly had -her jeans were replaced by fitted brown trousers and her blouse by a high-necked shirt and corset. She felt the leather material of the corset, but was thankful that she did not feel constricted by it. The user interface popped up in front of her eyes while she examined herself. Your class was determined by the questionnaire, it explained. Piper Blackmoore: Gunslinger. She blinked at the words. In almost every game she owned, she played a healer or support character. She was not sure of all of the mechanics of this game, but she knew that a gunslinger was a damage dealing character on the front lines. But, sure enough, she looked down to find two flintlock pistols strapped to her hip.
She lifted one out of her holster and weighed it in her hands. Despite its dull wooden and bronze look, she enjoyed the heavy feel of it in her hand. Almost instinctively, she cocked it and straightened her arm to aim it into the field. She closed one eye and squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out across the field and close by, a flock of birds lifted into the air to flee - at least she thought they were birds. As she watched them disappear into the sky, she could have sworn they had bat wings.
She had never fired a gun before, but the kickback felt realistic. She could even smell the gunpowder. What kind of technology was this? How could she experience nearly all her senses when she had just put on an audio-visual mask? She shook her head and noticed that her hair was now loose. She could have sworn she tied it up. But now was not the time to worry about hair or senses. She had to find the other participants if she wanted her payout. She turned on the flat heel of her new knee high boots and strode into the village.
She walked down the narrow, winding path. As she passed the shops, she wondered if she had any resources other than her weapons. As if it had read her thoughts, the UI popped up in front of her face once more:
GP: 50
Armor: None
Weapons: Basic flintlock pistol (2)
Inventory: 0
Well, at least she wasn't broke. The shop windows had tantalizing weapons, potions, and armor sets, but she decided to save her money for now. She needed to focus on finding the others. What did they look like again? She tried to picture them in her mind's eye.
There was the brooding girl with the smoky eyes, the girl and her way-too-young little brother, the small man with the dark eyebrows a couple of older neckbeards and... who else? There were twenty people including herself, and she could only remember about five. What had the others looked like? With this much on the line, why couldn't she remember? She kicked at the ground in frustration and kept walking. The small town which she learned was called Smekt, was devoid of any actual people. She marveled at the well-dressed gnomes and sooty half-elf alchemists, but there was not a single player character to be found.
At the edge of the cobblestone streets of Smekt, a gnome in a three-piece pinstripe suit and a top hat stood in the middle of the road with a yellow exclamation point over his head. Piper snorted. In such a realistic world, the obvious game mechanics were a little silly. With no other leads, she approached the dapper gnome. "Well met, traveler!" He said in a very affected, debonair tone. "May I interest you in a proposition?" Piper waited for the dialogue options to appear in the UI, but none came. The gnome blinked at her expectantly.
Piper sucked in a deep breath. There was no way the AI was advanced enough to hold an actual conversation. "Um... can you hear me?" she asked tentatively." He stroked his long gnomish ears.
"I do believe they are in fine working order, Madame." Piper's eyes bulged. Not only could he hear her, he understood her and had the ability to be sarcastic. No wonder Key took their time releasing this game. It was a both a work of art and a technological marvel. She coughed.
"Excuse me," she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, embarrassed. "What is your proposition?"
"Oh joy!" The gnome skipped with glee, revealing a curious wooden leg which clunked less than gracefully on the stone beneath him. "You see," he continued, "It’s this leg of mine. This one here is just a poor imitation of what I once had," he annou
nced forlornly. "I had a lovely automaton leg, just lovely. Bronze pipes, satin finish, just lovely." He trailed off and looked behind him into the open grassy field. “Those pesky doffles.”
"Doffles? Piper asked. The man's story made less and less sense the more he talked. "I don't know what you mean."
His beady eyes peered out under his tiny spectacles. He studied her before laughing uproariously. "You certainly must be new to Rookstorm if you have never seen a doffle! They're these pesky little birds with ugly bat wings. They're scavengers and build their nests out of whatever they can find... including my leg! Are you sure you've never seen anything like that before?" He asked quizzically. "Now that you mention it," Piper mused, I did see a flock of them right outside the outskirts of Smekt." "Oh happy day! happy day!" The gnome rejoiced. "I am afraid I've been rather rude. My name is Cornelius.” He bowed deeply. "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
"Piper." She extended her hand and bent down a bit so he could reach it. He was only about three feet tall after all.
"Now Piper, for the matter of your payment..."
Piper cut him off. "Sir, if you don't mind, I'd like to be paid in information if at all possible." She had a goal in mind and decided to play to that strategy rather than accumulating in-game wealth. She had much more use for real world money. "I was wondering if you had seen any other humans around? Particularly ones like me, who seem new to Rookstorm."