The temperature in the room seemed to fall even more as Kai listened to the words coming out of her mouth in a nonchalant way. They stood between them like a frosty barrier for a moment, then Lex smiled.
“So, what brings you here this early? We usually don’t start before nine. Well, obviously, I do, because I don’t have a life.”
“I thought I’d come early and create my avatar.”
“I like your initiative! And look at you… you even managed to put on the gimp correctly by yourself. Some people need days until they get the hang of it.”
Lex jumped off her desk and grinned.
“You’re such an adorable little gimp.” Kai’s cheeks turned fire red, and she burst out laughing. “Come on, I’ll plug you in and upload you into the character editor.”
He walked to the alcove assigned to him and took a seat while Lex activated the complicated machine. It came to life with a soft humming sound, and lights of various colors and shapes sprang on all around him. The whole machinery reminded Kai more of a jet cockpit than a VR docking station.
“Alright, sweetie-pie, you’re good to go,” she said after a moment. “Do me a favor and keep away from bombs and trapdoors this time.”
“Which side were you on?”
“Huh?”
“In the bet with Topher?”
Lex grinned then shot him into VR before he could say anything more.
***
Welcome to the Helltek character editor, Kai!
He found himself in a brightly lit room with stylish furniture and an oversized mirror covering an entire wall. The location seemed like a dressing room in an expensive designer boutique. One of those places in downtown that he had passed by so often, knowing he would never set foot inside. Although, if he was honest with himself, he would have had no idea what to buy in such a store anyway. He was perfectly happy in jeans and nerd shirts.
Please select your personal styling assistant. Do you wish to be served by a male or female associate?
The question caught him off-guard.
“Um… female?”
He could have slapped himself the moment the words left his mouth. What was he thinking? Surely Lex was watching and would make fun of him if he behaved like a dork in here.
Too late.
A beautiful, blond woman in an expensive-looking dress materialized in front of him. She looked so perfect that she reminded more of a Barbie doll than an actual person.
“Good morning, Kai,” she said in a silky voice. “I’m Elle, your personal styling assistant. I’m here to help you choose the avatar that will be your VR persona from now on.”
“Hi,” he answered, not knowing what else to say or do.
“Feel free to ask me anything at any time,” the NPC said. “I’m here to help.”
“Ok.”
“First, let’s decide on your sex. Would you prefer a male or female appearance in VR?”
“Male,” he answered, surprised by the question. Yes, of course, it was customary in games that some people chose an avatar of the opposite sex. His friend Stan was a prime example of that. Kai had a couple of female avatars himself. But in a professional environment, that would seem odd to him.
It was only now that he noticed that he couldn’t see a reflection of himself in the huge mirror.
I’ve been a vampire all this time and didn’t even notice, he thought with a smirk as the default avatar that he had seen yesterday appeared in the mirror.
The person looking back at him was naked but for his underwear. Although it was a generic default character, it still had a much better shape than his real body.
“Please select your height,” the assistant said when a scale appeared next to him in the mirror, ranging from 5’ 5” to 6’ 5”.
Only 5’ 7” in real life, Kai selected 6’ 0”, which always had been his dream height.
“Now choose your preferred frame.”
Six different body types appeared in the mirror, from skinny to athletic to overly muscular to fat.
For a second, he was tempted to select the overly muscular one, but then he decided to go for the athletic build. His avatar in the mirror adjusted, and he already liked what he saw.
“Would you like to have a penis or a vagina?” the NPC asked next.
Kai almost jumped back when he saw two versions of the body he had just chosen. They were both naked now, and one showed male and the other female genitals. He was grateful that the Helltek avatar system didn’t feature blushing as he pointed at the penis.
“Please select the size and shape of your genitals,” the NPC said, unmoved.
Kai saw himself confronted with five different shapes of penises and quickly pointed at the one in the middle that seemed average to him… well, maybe slightly above average.
He could only imagine Lex and Topher laughing their asses off as they watched him feeling awkward while using this editor software.
As soon as he had picked his size, he noticed – relieved – that his body was dressed in underwear again.
“You will be able to adjust your facial features, your skin, hair and eye color,” the assistant said. “Before we continue, I would like to inform you that it is customary at Helltek to choose a virtual appearance that resembles your real-life one. You are not required to do so by any means. However, please note that over 99% of Helltek employees use an avatar based on their true self.”
Kai already had noticed that and, of course, would follow everyone else’s example.
There goes my beloved Viking persona, he thought with a sigh.
“With your permission, I will access the employee databank and upload your picture into the Helltek avatar editor,” the AI continued.
“Sure, go ahead.”
His reflection in the mirror began changing until it showed Kai’s face on the body he had just created. Looking at himself, he was stunned. Since when did he look so good? Or was it the more athletic body that made the difference?
His unasked question was promptly answered.
“I took the liberty of optimizing your appearance according to contemporary beauty standards,” the NPC said.
Dang, not quite him after all.
Studying his virtual reflection, he noticed that his skin was smoother, his face more symmetrical, his nose smaller. His hair shone in a perfect black, and he had a different, highly fashionable haircut. Kai smiled at himself, showing sparkling white teeth that would have made any model in a toothpaste commercial jealous.
“Would you like to make any adjustments to your appearance?”
“No,” he replied. “This is perfect. You did a great job on me!”
She smiled, yet it was without any warmth or soul. “I am excited to hear that! Let’s pick some clothes for you then. You are free to choose from more than three hundred different styles and over ten thousand pieces of clothing.”
Instead of the mirror, a collage of various different styles appeared in front of Kai, ranging from fashionable suits and formal attire over casual streetwear styles to outfits resembling famous video game, anime or comic characters.
Kai instantly felt overwhelmed.
He had no real sense of style and was unsure what to pick. His first impulse was to pick something casual, similar to what he liked to wear in real life. But then he realized that was a stupid idea. Here, he could be whatever he wished to be. He could dress himself in attire he would never be able to afford in reality. He thought about how incredibly cool and badass the guys from Level Ten Alpha had looked and what an impression they had made on him when they appeared.
Kai began trying different styles. Whenever he picked something, it appeared on his body. He tried a tuxedo, a designer suit with a hat, a neo-punk outfit, and dozens of different styles from video games and anime. He even tried to dress up as Batman but felt embarrassed the second he saw himself and quickly switched to another style. The more time he spent with the clothing editor, the more insecure he felt.
Who would have
thought that endless possibilities could cause such a headache?
It turned out that it was much easier to pick something if you were limited by money and imperfect body proportions. If you could choose from anything, how were you ever supposed to make a decision?
He realized that he had no idea how much time he had already spent in there. 20 minutes? An hour? Two?
No matter how long, he should probably hurry up. After all, he was being paid for bug hunting and not playing fashion model. But what to choose?
“If I may offer assistance,” the NPC said. “It might help if you try to think of who and what you would like to represent with your virtual self. Would you like to appear fashionable? Sexy? Cool? Extravagant? Badass?”
“Badass,” Kai answered without hesitation.
The display changed to a variety of superhero and game character costumes.
Looking at them, all of a sudden, Kai knew exactly what he wanted.
“Do you have the combat suits from Behind Blue Eyes?”
The assistant flashed her artificial smile.
“But of course.”
That same instant, Kai was dressed in the iconic black suit.
He grinned, studying himself in the mirror. Could anything be more badass than that?
***
“There you are,” Lex said when he opened his eyes back in reality. “I thought you would stay in there forever. You’re worse than most girls.”
“I’m sorry,” he said while she unplugged him. “I had no idea how long I was in there. There was no timer or anything.”
“Almost three hours,” she said dryly.
“Ugh… shit.”
He sat up and saw that all other VR pods were occupied. The rest of his squad was doing what they were paid for: testing.
“Should I join the others?” he asked.
Lex shook her head, her wild hair flying. “There’s no point now. They’re in the middle of a campaign. Topher took your place.”
“Oh.” Kai felt embarrassed.
Lex waved her hand, walking back to her she-cave. “Don’t worry about it. It’s good for him if he joins the testers from time to time so he doesn’t forget how the actual job works. Why don’t you go upstairs, grab some coffee and get some UV light? You can join the others after lunch.”
He smiled. “Thank you.”
“Down the hall, then turn left, and then left again,” Lex said while Kai walked to the exit. “You’ll find the elevators there.”
Kai nodded and opened the door. Just before he could leave, she called after him.
“Oh, and Kai… nice choice in there.”
He beamed.
“Thank you! It was a tough choice with so many options to pick from. But I simply love the outfits from the game.”
“I’m not talking about the outfit. You basically picked another gimp suit, just a little bit cooler,” she said with a mischievous grin. “I’m talking about your genitals.”
Kai felt hot blood rushing into his cheeks and fled the room, her laughter following him.
***
His cheeks burning, Kai hurried away down the seemingly endless hall. Had Lex really watched him in the character editor, or was she just messing with him? Although it had been explained to him that the operators watched and monitored everything a squad did in VR, it still felt like an intrusion into his privacy.
On the other hand, he should have expected something like that. After all, he had noticed more than once by now that people inside Helltek showed a very different attitude to anything he’d ever seen before. Was it the constant danger of the job that made people become like that? So hard-boiled and blunt?
He was so deep in thought that he, of course, took the wrong turn and ended up at the infirmary instead at the elevators.
“Crap…” he scratched his head.
Why did everything look the same here? And why did no one bother to put up signs? This was almost like a dungeon in a game.
For a moment, he considered going in and saying hi to Nell, the friendly nurse. But he was interrupted by excited voices coming down the hall toward him. Turning around, he saw three people and a stretcher. Two young men and one woman, dressed in scrubs, were rushing to the infirmary. A motionless figure in the black tester suit lay on the stretcher.
“We’re losing him! We’re losing him!” one of the medics yelled. “Brain activity failing!”
“God damnit!” the other man cried out. “Not again!”
“Out of the way, idiot!” the woman snapped at Kai, who was standing there in the middle of the hall, staring – like an idiot indeed.
Kai jumped out of the way and let the medics pass and enter the infirmary. He caught a glimpse of the man lying on the stretcher. He was hardly more than a boy, by the look of him, three to four years younger than Kai. His eyes were wide open, yet they stared into nowhere, frozen in terror. Crimson ribbons of blood ran down from his nose and dripped onto the floor.
Then the group was inside the medical facility and the door shut.
“We need Dr. Simmons here now, where the fuck is he?” he heard an agitated voice from inside. “Patient is flatlining! Prepare the defibrillator!”
Kai remained motionless for a moment and stared at the closed door. His body was ice cold while his mind tried to process what he just had witnessed. Was that poor boy in there dying? What had happened to him?
The realization struck him like a frosty whip. What he just had seen was the other side of Helltek. The dark side. The ugly side. The deadly side.
He had no idea how long he stood there, eyes wide in shock, until he finally got a grip of himself and moved on. Just before he turned the corner, he heard steps behind him. Looking back, he saw a middle-aged man in a white physician’s coat and a nurse hurrying toward the infirmary.
Kai could only hope they came in time and that the boy would make it.
Trying to shake off the image of the pale face with blood running down its nose, he eventually found the elevators and entered one of the cabins. With trembling fingers, he pressed the up button and leaned against the wall as the elevator noiselessly set itself into motion.
That could have been him on the stretcher. Yesterday, or anytime in the future if he was unlucky.
Yes, the job was fantastic and the benefits stellar, but was all of that worth it in exchange for risking his life?
The elevator arrived on the ground floor. Kai stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air. The sun was shining and warmed his skin as he approached the glass structure housing the main cafeteria. The pleasant warmth and beautifully designed compound made him feel a bit more at ease.
When he arrived at the cafeteria, what he had experienced down in the Bowels almost seemed like a nightmare and something that could never actually happen here, in such a pleasant environment. Yet, deep inside him, a chill remained. A nudging doubt. Fear.
Is this really worth it?
He asked himself the question again while entering the cafeteria.
It was still too early for lunch and not many people were around. Only a couple of testers and other personnel sat spread around the huge dining area at tables or in lounges. Some alone, others in small groups. Most were dressed in the black tester suits.
After what he had just witnessed, Kai wasn’t hungry at all. His stomach felt rather like a cramped, ice-cold knot. And the thought of coffee made it cramp even more.
For a moment, he stood in the entrance area of the beautifully designed, ultra-modern building, not sure what to do. Then he realized that he must look like a total moron and set himself into motion.
Kai approached the hot beverage station, which was labeled as such with a huge 3D hologram of a steaming cup circling above it. He wasn’t in the mood for coffee, but maybe they had some green tea.
Studying the display, he decided to go for hot cocoa instead. It was a rather childish and totally not cool beverage, but no one was around to see what the machine filled in his cup, and he felt that
this was exactly what he needed after the incident at the sickbay.
Smelling the hot chocolate pouring into the cup, he instantly began feeling better.
Kai grabbed his beverage and took a sip right in front of the machine. The hot liquid spread a pleasant warmth in his stomach.
Sunken in thoughts, he turned around abruptly – and bumped into someone who was stood behind him.
The unexpected collision made him drop his cup and spill the warm liquid all over himself. A delicate hand rushed forward and caught his cup in mid-air before it could hit the ground and create an even bigger mess – with an agility and speed like he had never seen before.
Kai looked up and only now saw who he had bumped into. He froze and his heart seemed to stop for a moment.
It was Rogue.
She wasn’t dressed in the extravagant clothes he had seen her in the day before but was wearing a tester suit instead. Well, at least, Kai assumed it was the model the Level Tens wore, as it looked completely different from the gimp suit he and everyone else was wearing. With its mixture of silver and black and shiny fabric material that reminded him of chitin, it was more like something astronauts in sci-fi movies wore.
However, it was as tight and form-fitted as a second skin and displayed her slender body in a breathtaking way. She was taller than him, at least 5’ 9”, and he had to look up to see her face.
When he did, it was as if the sun had appeared behind thick clouds after a month of non-stop rain. It hit him like a lightning bolt and filled him with previously unknown warmth.
Alice’s face was slightly different to her virtual one but even more beautiful. Its delicate features and pale skin had something elfin about it, framed by her long white hair with the black tips. Dark blue eyes shone down on him. Eyes that were so deep, he instantly felt like drowning in them, and he didn’t mind at all.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” she said, and recognizing her voice sent shivers down his spine. “I hope I didn’t burn you! Are you ok?”
He tried to say something but no words left his mouth, so he simply nodded like a total dork. It was only much later, when recalling the encounter to the very last detail, that he would realize that she had caught the cup with an outright impossible speed.
Cyber Squad - Level 1: A Gamelit/LitRPG Lite Cyberpunk Adventure Page 18