Load Custom Character

by Tyler R Lee

  “Really,” Peter mumbled, looking down at his feet. Despite his high marks, Peter was never one to think highly of himself or his work. His self-esteem was always low and his life seemed to enjoy keeping it that way.

  “Yes,” Yoshitsune said, frowning slightly as he noticed Peter looking away. “I must say, for a high school student, understanding escapism through art is quite advanced, as is writing about it with such an understanding of.”

  That perked Peter up a bit. “So, my paper is why you gave me a really expensive and popular piece of tech and are personally meeting with me?”

  “Virtually,” Yoshitsune corrected. “But yes. In your paper, you wrote with such passion for not just video games, but also for comics, film, literature, drawing, painting, and other artistic endeavors being used to create your own world. Most of all, you wrote with such a knowledge of using art to escape reality to be what you want to be. But not just knowledge. I sensed a want, a need for it. Am I correct?”

  Peter didn’t answer at first. He remembered how much he enjoyed writing that paper. He remembered how easy it was because he just had to write how he actually felt. Anything that could help him escape his lonely, stressful, anxiety ridden, bullied life was a welcome thing. “Yes,” was all he said.

  “Which is exactly why I created The Emerser, why I designed Our World. Don’t you see, Peter. This combination of hardware and software allows one to escape their own life and make it whatever they want. They can be strong, they can be powerful, they can have friends, or they can be by themselves in a vast fantasy world that is theirs for the exploring. Yes, the implementation we have discovered for the virtual reality tech in medical and educational fields are vital. But, creativity, is the core.”

  When Peter didn’t respond and just stared, contemplatively, Alexander continued. “My father, Riku Yoshitsune, founded New Wind Entertainment in Japan when he was a young man. He believed that innovation through imagination was the key to making a meaningful product. Meaningful, not just profitable. Eventually, he moved from Japan to America, and established a new headquarters. It wasn’t long after that he met and fell in love with my mother, Maria.

  “From a very young age I wanted to go into business with my father. I shared his ideal that imagination was one of the most important qualities in design, and believed that the ability to dream was essential, and the tools to create that dream were even more so. After I graduated college, I went to work for him full time. When I was twenty-four years old, my father passed away and I became the head of New Wind Entertainment, but I never forgot what ideals he held for the company. And it is with those ideals that my greatest masterpiece was envisioned and created: the combination of The Emerser and the game Our World.”

  Peter still didn’t say anything, but he smiled. Finally, after a moment of silence, he asked, “So, you’re really Alexander Yoshitsune?”

  “I am, indeed, my boy,” Yoshitsune answered with an exaggerated, sweeping bow.

  “Well...you don’t know how much it means that you did this for me. Thank you so much, Mr. Yoshitsune.”

  “Oh, I think I do know what it means to you. Which is exactly why I did it. You, Peter, can appreciate this gift more than most, maybe more than anyone. If anyone was going to have my greatest creation, it was someone like you. And please, call me Alexander.”

  His words made Peter blush. He had never been talked to in such a positive light, aside from a teacher occasionally for doing well in class. This was different, though. Alexander recognized how Peter felt, and understood that he wanted this system, this game, for more than just play. He wanted it for at least a bit of a reprieve from his life. It was nice to have someone see that.

  “So,” Alexander said, breaking Peter from his contemplation. “What do you say we give your new system a test drive?”

  Peter smiled wide. “Hell yeah!”

  The game designer shared Peter’s smile. “Alright, first, the boring part, but I feel like you will appreciate it. Let me explain how The Emerser works. Walk with me.”

  Alexander started walking towards the infinite white, and Peter ran after him to catch up. When he did, Yoshitsune started explaining. “This may sound like an odd question but it connects. You know about REM sleep, yes? Or Rapid Eye Movement sleep.”

  Peter, indeed, thought it an odd question, but he answered. “Sure. It’s the phase where we get our rest, right?”

  “Correct, but it is also the phase where the body has the propensity for dreams. As you sleep, your brain moves between REM and non-REM sleep modes throughout the night. Each cycle moves towards more REM focused sleep.” Peter knew most of this from biology class, but he kept listening, intently. “When the brain is in an REM stage, it paralyzes your body so you move less, but, paradoxically, it also features many similarities to wakefulness; your brain and all of its neurons fire off with the same intensity as when you are awake. This is also the state when you experience vivid dreams.”

  Peter thought he saw where this was going and found it quite fascinating. He wondered how much he would get made fun of at school if he even attempting to talk about this. Alexander took a breath, then continued. “The Emerser, utilizes this stage for its own uses. The headgear stimulates the brain through subtle, pulsating waves that simulate REM sleep. This way, your body doesn’t risk moving too much while immersed in virtual reality, but it allows your brain to be fully taken into the virtual world.”

  “That’s pretty amazing.”

  “Thank you. It is fitting, as well. My greatest creation, the ability to let people live out their fantastic and heroic dreams lay in just that, their dreams.”

  “Now,” Alexander said as he hopped in place, turned towards Peter, and clapped his hands. This brought Peter to an abrupt and startled stop. “It is time for a wardrobe change, my boy.”

  “Oh...yeah, I suppose,” Peter said as he examined his plain clothes.

  “You can’t go running around Our World dressed like that. Let’s get you into character creation!”

  Peter grinned wide at the prospect. “Sweet! How do I go about this?”

  “Well, first, before you decide on what you should wear, you should probably decide on your class and how you plan to approach the game.”

  Suddenly, the white room slid to the side in a rush and they were on a large cliffside overlooking a vast expanse of fields. Peter looked, mouth agape as he swore he felt the wind on his face as he watched his shirt and pants flutter in the breeze.

  “I assume you know the basics of the game?”

  “Oh, yeah. Absolutely.”

  “Great. So, choose your class.” Alexander waved his hand as if pulling something in from the side. Then several fully outfitted characters appeared side-by-side, each outfitted and armed with their own unique set of armor and weapons. It was amazing, to say the least

  Peter looked on at the several different class and combo-class options at his disposal. He slowly walked by each, looking them up and down, examining them, occasionally reaching out and touching the representation, which would cause a small screen to pop up beside them giving details to each class.

  “Take your time,” Alexander said. “This might be your most important decision for the game.”

  Peter continued looking, and even started mumbling some of the descriptions out loud. “Warrior. Specializes in close-quarters combat with a variety of weapons. Can be played as either a powerful Strength-based character or a fast Dexterity-based character. Spellcaster. Utilizes magic through a Willpower-based character build. Can specialize in many types of magic, including elemental, destructive, necrotic, and others. Ranger. Utilizes a Dexterity-based build. Can specialize in bows, dual-wielding, or many other types of weapons. Also specializes in tracking, animal companionship, and minor stealth.”

  There were so many options at his disposal, Peter started to feel a bit overwhelmed. He looked to Yoshitsune, afraid he was taking too long, but the game designer merely looked on, patience and a bit of pride paint
ed on his face. Finally, after looking at all of the options at least twice, Peter walked back to one he had lingered on a little longer than the others. “Martial Artist. Utilizes a Strength and Dexterity combination build. Specializing in hand-to-hand combat instead of weapons, and on speed instead of armor, this class offers a unique and challenging approach to the game.” Peter stared at the representation of the class; a solidly muscled woman with a long, black braid stared back, clothed in slightly tattered robes and pants, bandage-wrapped hands, no shoes. A serene look upon her face met Peter’s gaze. “So,” he begane, speaking to Yoshitsune but not moving his gaze from the monk like figure. “This class doesn’t use weapons? Or armor? It just uses its own strength, its own hands to fight?”

  “That is correct.”

  That was perfect for Peter. As he touched the representation again, another box popped up next to the martial artist. It was small and simply asked, “Is this the class you wish to play as?” Without anymore hesitation, Peter touched the “Yes” and watched the other classes all slide into the martial artist and disappear, leaving only the boy’s choice.

  Peter then noticed his white shirt and pants begin to glow, he looked on with wide eyes as the light grew brighter and, momentarily, took in all around. Then, it shrank back in an instant, leaving Peter wearing the same thing the martial artist had been wearing, all the way down to his lack of shoes and braided hair. Peter, blown away, looked to his bandaged hand and tattered robes, then touched his single long braid.

  “Excellent choice,” Alexander congratulated as he clapped a few times. “I think you will, indeed have a lot of fun with this one. Now, how about we make you look exactly like you want?”

  Peter smiled wide again and shook his head in the affirmative.

  “Alright, just touch the piece of clothing you would like to change, or say it aloud. You can also say ‘hair,’ ‘skin tone,’ ‘height,’ ‘body type,’ ‘eye color,’ etc.”

  “Oh, I can knock a few of those out right now,” Peter said. “Height and body type I’ll just go with mine. Do I have to say it?”

  “No. Aside from the hairstyle, which was part of the martial artist look, everything bodywise is how you look in the real world. The game treats that as default, so you can just leave those things alone. If you change something but want to go back to your actual look for that specific attribute, you can just say ‘height, default,’ and so on with anything you want to look like you do in reality.”

  “Great. Easy. Well, I’m fine with my own height and body weight, and the rest of me, really.” He then touched his hair again. “Well, maybe I’ll go with something different for my hair, but also different from my actual haircut. Hair.” When he spoke the word, a mirror-like screen popped up in front of him.

  “Swipe left or right to see how you look with different styles,” Yoshitsune offered.

  Peter quickly settled on a hairstyle that wasn’t so different than his naturally short, raven-black style. It was a bit longer, hanging down to just under his eyebrows. “Alright, now onto the more fun items.”

  After a bit of shopping around, Peter’s character was fully dressed in his preferred attire. His top was a light blue vest trimmed in green around the shoulders, collar, and bottom edges that hung down to just above his knees on the sides and in the back. It zipped up in the front, with the zipper starting at his belt line, causing the vest to open up and not hang down in front. His pants were simple, black, martial arts pants with the same green trim from the vest, belted with a black martial artist sash. The legs of his pants were tucked into his shin-high, brown, ranger boots. His arms were bare, but he had chosen a pair of fingerless martial arts gloves that he said reminded him of “Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter,” though he changed the color to blue to match his vest.

  “Wha’da’ya think?” Peter asked as he turned and examined his attire, clearly happy with his choices.

  “Stunning,” Alexander said with a smile. “Now that the trivial and the cosmetic are out of the way, I think it is time to teach you how to play the game.”

  Peter looked to Alexander. “I even get you for a combat tutorial,” he said with a grin.

  “I’m already here. Why not?” Alexander responded with a smile. “Now, first, let me explain how the system works. I’m sure you understand what the game is and how it is played, so I will simply focus on, as you said, a combat tutorial. Though, I’ll leave the actual fighting to you after we finish. Tell me this, do you know about the four basic attributes that determine your stats and how your character handles combat?”

  “I think so. Basically, Strength is how hard you hit and how much damage you do, Dexterity is how fast you are and how hard it is to hit you, Constitution is how tough you are, and determines your stamina and health, and Will determines how well you cast spells.”

  “Correct, for the most part. As you know, each class as their own set of special abilities. The martial artist is no different. You have several special abilities at your disposal, and more will unlock the more you play. For instance, martial artists have an ability to use block, even though they wield no weapons or shields to do so. You essentially block with your hardened and toned limbs, taking only a small percentage of the total damage.”

  “Cool,” Peter said with a wide grin as he examined his forearms.

  Indeed. Like most RPGs, you gain experience points, or XP, from defeating enemies, finishing quests, and few other ways. Gain enough XP and you level up. Now, your basic attributes go up on their own at a predetermined amount each level. However, certain smaller, some would say more important stats increase the more you use them, not just when you go up in level.”

  This seemed to confuse Peter. “What do you mean?”

  “For instance, your strength, dexterity, constitution, and willpower are predetermined by your class and go up a predetermined amount when you level up. You have no control over that. However, let's say you used that ability to block with your limbs quite a bit. The more you use it, the stronger you become in that area, and eventually the damage you take would go down. The same could be said with physically attacking, be it with fist or sword or hammer or whatever. The more you do it, the better you become at it, and the more damage you are able to inflict. Basically, think of it as real life. Any skill or ability you use, you get better with it the more you use it, making it a more effective tool for you to use. And, when you push it far enough, you may unlock other abilities locked behind.”

  “Oh, I got it. That’s amazing.”

  “That is how play is customized individually to each player. How you choose to play determines how you grow.”

  Peter took in everything Yoshitsune was telling him. It was all amazing and he couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel himself. He looked to his own fists, gloved in his chosen attire, and then looked to the environment, indistinguishable from the real world when immersed in it as he was. He was here, and he was finally his own person and could be what he wanted without fear of rebuke or being chastised for what he wanted or what he believed. He was here to have fun and, ironically, he thought, to experience life.

  “Well,” Alexander said, a somber tone on his lips. “I believe that is all I have for you. It is up to you know to do with the game what you will.”

  Looking back at the man who, in such a short amount of time, had helped him and showed him more kindness than anyone ever had, Peter felt sad that they must part ways. Without hesitating, he walked up to the man and extended his hand. “Thank you, so much, Mr. Yoshitsune. Alexander.”

  “You are welcome, my boy,” the man said as he grasped Peter’s hand firmly. “And thank you for understanding what my creation truly was made for. I know you will enjoy it.”

  As Alexander walked away, he turned abruptly and said, “Oh, I almost forgot. I assume you registered an account with Our World during the installation process?” Peter nodded. “Good. If you want, make sure to sync your GamerTacs account to Our World if you like. That way you can find other peopl
e you have friended online in other games. Chances are they play.”

  “Oh, great,” Peter responded, a bit taken off guard. He hadn’t even considered making friends when he started this up. But, he enjoyed the company of his few online friends, so he decided he would take advantage. He pulled up the system settings menu in front of him--he smiled at how much in enjoyed pulling menus out of thin air in this game--and synced his GamerTacs account. A few names highlighted, showing they were apart of this game, but the two he focused on were Lysander and ShieldBro. These were two he had spent a great deal of time with in other games. Perhaps he would look them up later.

  “Oh, something I must apologize for,” Alexander said through a grimace. “During a normal setup, you would have been able to turn this feature off, but since I helped you with the setup, we skipped it. The feature is, when you log in to Our World for the very first time, it sends out a message to other players within a ten mile radius of where your current location is. It is a feature that encourages players that live in close proximity to meet up and possibly become friends. My apologies if you didn’t want that to happen.”