001 | Accidental Video

[umisho]

Damn, the KB servers are down... what am I going to do with my time now?

[There's a bored-looking teen on the screen, apparently glaring down at some kind of tablet.]

I guess I could go help Aki with the robot. Or at least go watch her work and make sure she doesn't do something stupid again... huh. This wasn't here before. A duck?

[There's some fiddling with the tablet and the teen's eyes widen; seems like the comm found its way onto his device.]

What... what the hell is this? Who are all these people? And why can't I close this? Maybe if I restart my pad, it'll go away...

[About four seconds later, the feed goes dark.]

Comments

[dual_wield_hax]

Nope, sorry, still here. [Oh look, newbie.]

[umisho]

Well, you're helpful.

[dual_wield_hax]

I tend to be. [Not really but he'll make an exception.] Welcome to the duck, a community of interdimensional craziness.

[umisho]

Ha, ha. If this is supposed to be a scam, I'm about two taps from reformatting my pad. Try again.

[dual_wield_hax]

Try it. You'll just lose everything, have to start over again and be stuck with the duck. Worse, it'll show up somewhere else nearby. Like a mirror. Or a computer not even turned on.

[umisho]

Damn. One of those, then. What's the fee? A hundred grand? A million? I can't pay it, but I can include it in the police report.

[dual_wield_hax]

Your eternal soul.

Just kidding. This isn't a malicious file or anything. It really is an interdimensional place.

[Twisting his camera around, he showed off what appeared to be a incredible town with bustling people, all in sorts of different armor, monster-driven carts and people bartering around shops.]

[umisho]

Huh. Interdimensional. Sounds crazy. Looks pretty neat, though.

...Looks like an MMO, honestly.

[dual_wield_hax]

That's because I'm broadcasting from one. The VRMMO Sword Art Online. The details are grim so I won't get into that, but I'm stuck in here.

[umisho]

That sounds... unfortunate. What the hell happened, did someone decide to pull your souls out of your bodies or something? [Not that he's at all expecting something so sci-fi to actually be the case.]

[dual_wield_hax]

Combination of technology and neuroscience. And immersive VR. It's not really a good thing.

[umisho]

Wait, so I was basically right? That... that's pretty bad. Hopefully you get out of there soon.

...I guess I said a little too much. Sorry.

[dual_wield_hax]

Basically in a nutshell. I'm not sure how the VR tech works but it keeps a lot of people trapped in here.

[umisho]

Huh. Well, I hope you all manage to find a way out. Sooner rather than later, ideally. I'm sure things aren't too pleasant for you on this side.

[dual_wield_hax]

We'll figure out a way. We know HOW to get out, we just don't have the means to get there yet.

[text]

[shadow_spread]

I'm afraid that's not likely to have an effect.

[umisho]

Well, that's reassuring. Here I thought I would be able to get away from the unknown duck app with a restart. Crafty little thing.

So, what's going on here?

[shadow_spread]

It's an internet community that connects different universes and affects the user instead of their device.

Most people find it unbelievable.

[umisho]

I live in a world where the real world and the internet are blurring further with every passing day. It's weird, but it's not that hard to believe. Just means I'll need to be more careful with my pad.

[spiritually]

It probably won't go away even if you restart.. Mine stayed in my notebook for hours the first time and wouldn't give back my class notes until I responded.

[umisho]

Huh. Like, a paper notebook? People use those?

[spiritually]

I can't really afford a phone or a PC, so..

[ he's too busy buying food for his fatass cat and other friends. ]

[umisho]

I guess that's fair. I might be a special case with stuff like that, too, considering I've got a tablet I carry everywhere.

[spiritually]

A tablet?

[umisho]

Like a computer, but it's handheld, and it has a touchscreen. It's designed for when you don't need - or want - a big laptop or a huge stationary computer. And it's got IRUO. on it, too.

[spiritually]

[ Okay he got it for the most part up to IRUO. He just.. figures he should pretend he knows what's going on. ]

I live in a small town, so we don't have a lot of those around here at all.