Unhandled Exception Occurred (Closed for Alexavious and JadeKnight)

[Alexavious]

"Heal heal HEAL! Oh come on, one more hit! Go Go... GO! Come on! Yes! YES! Is that it??! Is that... he's dead! He's dead! Ahaha!" Ellie threw the controller down with a loud thud against the wooden desk, shaking the camera and the whole computer. Momentarily her eyes widened and her lips pursed as she quickly re-adjusted the view and gave her audience a cheeky smile. The end cutscenes were playing so she held up a finger, pretending to quieten her audience as she turned to watch the screen.

When it finished, the screen flickered to darkness before the credits began to roll and Ellie comically dropped her jaw as she shook her head. "What a game. What a game! You know, this has to be one of my all time favourite horror games. It really had that right balance of inventory management to real atmospheric depth where I always felt on the verge of running out of items but never enough to get stuck and have to reload the game. Yeah? What did you guys think?"

She paused, her eyes scanning the rapidly moving comments pouring in. Her moderators were doing a wonderful job as always because they were all just so incredibly wholesome and heart-warming. "Aww, thank you guys. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I really hope they take this on, you could really see a sequel in it right?" More comments, her eyes practiced enough to speed read whole paragraphs in the fleeting moment before it whizzed on. "True true. Wow. Well, I'll be posting a full analysis of the entire game in my wrap up session for my Patreon subscribers as well as the usual highlight real and bonus scenes. Don't forget to hit the Like and Subscribe button, check out my page for my videos that I've done. As always, I love you all and I'll see you in my next stream. Bye bye!"

The video feed cut with the last lingering image of Ellie blowing a little kiss to the camera. She threw herself back in her chair with a massive sigh and a wide grin. The rush of being in front of thousands of people and concluding an epic thirty-four video saga still sat warmly in her chest and sent tingles down her spine. It had been the highest viewership for one of her streams all year! Of course, Ellie was under no illusion that they were all there for the game, the outrageous cosplay outfits she always wore on her live shows helped immensely. Today she had been dressed as Theresa Bridges, who only appeared once or twice in the entire game but had quickly become a Meme for her broken attire and shocked expression. So naturally, Ellie had donned a tattered white lab coat over a torn white tank top that left little to the imagination while being just conservative enough not to de-monetise her on the video platform. Her curly red hair had started off tamed and pulled back into a pony tail but six hours of streaming and sweating had taken its toll and the curls were fighting back once more. Ellie had swapped out her usual slender glasses with contacts and made up her face with trauma lines and blood, intentionally smearing red lipstick to one side just how Theresa looked in her debut scene.

Luckily, with the combination of filter software and Mods working tirelessly, most of the derogatory comments and shout outs to the amount of cleavage and flesh on display were removed before she could see them. It was a shame she couldn't have the same thing when she went out in public.

That thought reminded her of the next video she needed to record, and it needed to be now as she would need to leave for the airport soon. Quickly, she stripped off the costume from her petite frame and leapt through to the bathroom to begin rummaging through the random mess that littered the sides. Used lipsticks and various make-up applicators, mascara brushes used once and forgotten, what was probably hundreds of pounds of premium foundations and concealers strewn across the floor. Finally she found the face-wipes and tried to urgently go from scared Theresa back to Ellie Masters.

When she was properly dressed in an oversized pink hoodie and black leggings, she moved through to her second recording setup, one she used for her twitter and Instagram updates. She quickly tweaked a few settings, took one last look at her reflection and jumped right in.

"What's up guys, El here with an exciting news beat. All month I've been raving about a new opportunity to try out System Reloaded's brand new venture into the gaming world with their mysterious new product simply called The-One. Now I can't tell you anything more about it, because they're lips are sealed, but they've said that I can record any behind-the-scenes footage that I would like and post it upon reveal at this years E3 convention. Hey! There's even a chance for one of the gamers to appear in all their initial promo footage at the convention and all their marketing for the first three months! How fucking cool is that! Ok seriously, I have to go, my flight to the beautiful Leichtenstein in Switzerland is mere hours away people! Whoo! So crazzeeee! Alright alright, as always, I love you all and I'll see you soon. Bye bye!"

Done. The video files were sent off to her editor and soon she was out the door.

---

The building had so far been, rather disappointingly, somewhat ordinary. Ellie had been led through the mundane lobby, sparsely decorated with a few stills of System Reloaded's rather meagre hit 'Battle Guns' and they're even less popular family simulator murder mystery 'Who, me?', and into the back offices where a handful of developers still worked on-prem amongst hundreds of empty desks. The man leading her was unkempt and smelt of vaping fluid and sweat, looking like he had probably slept here. Yet he had immediately promised that looks could be deceiving as soon as they'd met. At least he was enthusiastic as he almost skipped along hallways and down stairs, idly chit-chatting about how he'd seen all of my videos and what his favourites were. He was almost exactly her target-audience but it didn't do much to put her at ease.

Finally, they emerged into a waiting room of sorts. Mostly it looked like a server room, and the temperature felt like one too. A cluster of red poofy seats sat in the middle, as the walls were stacked with box after box, flickering red and green lights dancing everywhere like a crazy disco.

"The others will be in shortly and then we can begin." The man, Ellie had already forgotten his name, said before giving her a wiry green and disappearing the way they had come. Ellie immediately whipped out her phone and began to record her first behind-the-scenes video...

 

[JadeKnight]

Hanz Switlz was a well known computer game reviewer for Gaming Tech Swiss, a popular gaming magazine within Switzerland. He wasn't celebrity famous level, as he didn't try to hog the spotlight. He didn't really want the spotlight, but he tolerated it to the best of his ability. He did enjoy his job very much, so when the invitation was sent to the magazine, he was the one chosen for it.

Hanz was in his mid forties, but loked a little younger than he actually was. He took very good care of himself, keeping in shape. He wore a short crewcut in his brown hair and brown eyes to match. He dressed casually for the game test, a short-sleeved red polo shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black sneakers. Although System Reloaded wanted to keep everything about the beta a surprise until the testers arrived, Hanz had managed to get a tiny bit of information that it was going to be some sort of deep dive cutting edge VR. Despite getting this, he wisely decided not to spread any information to not disappoint anybody, especially himself. He was looking forward to it though.

It was shortly after Ellie arrived that Hanz and a handful of other play-testers arrived, being led by a professionally dressed young woman. She smiled for a moment to the group before giving a little wave to the cool waiting room.

"I believe there are a just a couple more to arrive and then we will get started."

In addition to Hanz, there was another journalist, two more Streamers like Ellie, and a lucky young player who had been chosen from a contest that System Reloaded had hosted. Hanz went to one of the been bags, notiocing Ellie as she moved around with her camera and filmed everything, narrating as she went. The others began to talk excitedly as they waited to get started.

 

[Alexavious]

Signing off, Ellie slipped her phone back into the pocket and took up a comfy looking seat by the wall. She avoided the bean bags with a vengeance, knowing how much of an ass she' d make of herself trying to get up out of one of those things. She discreetly viewed the rest of her 'competition'. She only recognised one other, a streamer she had seen but had never talked to by the name of Damien Demon. A youngish, fresh faced man wearing a black-beanie and a thick blue hoodie. Ellie rolled her eyes as she spied the System Reloaded logo on the front of his hat, no doubt trying to ingratiate himself and win that promotion deal by selling himself.

Perhaps she was just bitter that she hadn't thought of that!

The woman who seemed in charge, returned with the last of the arrivals, a surprisingly elderly gentleman judging by his grey hair and old-fashioned suit, and... Zhang-Li - the current League of Legends eSports Champion! Ellie's eyes widened as she was immediately star-struck by the gaming celebrity who had just walked into the room. She'd watched his final, live, and he was incredible. Yet he seemed so normal, with trimmed black hair and a stripped shirt and jeans. He stood against one wall as the elderly man took a seat. The woman stood in the centre and began to address them...

"Welcome, my name is Lindsey and thank you everyone for joining us on this incredible next step of the S-R journey. A couple of years ago, S-R was approached by a Team of joint specialists from the United Nations, representing the Office of Outer Space, the World Health Organisation and NATO, to help design and implement a series of games on their new development in the world of Virtual Reality. Imagine a world where Astronauts, Soldiers, Doctors and Surgeons can be trained in seemingly real world scenarios and achieve real hands-on experience without ever leaving their seat? That's what you'll be testing today. The world's first true immersive video games. Right through these doors is a serious of booths that will be your capsule to the digital world. Our expert team will guide you through the process, show you where you can store your things and get you on your way. Are there any questions at this point?"

"So you didn't build this yourself?" Asked one of the reporters. Lindsey calmly smiled her best corporate smile.

"No, but we did design and build the games upon the platform, just like any other console."

"Are the games going to be better than your last ones? Battle Guns really sucked..." came another gruff voice. Lindsey barely batted an eyelash.

"The games have been built from the ground up by a bring new team that System Reloaded acquired for this task only. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised. Any further questions?"

 

[JadeKnight]

Hans smiled a little as he looked over the others. He recognized the young men as popular streamers, chuckling softly at the one who was showing off his support for the company they were testing for. He didn't know the older gentleman in the suit, figuring that the guy was probably a curious investor. His gaze did linger on Ellie for a few seconds, looking her over. He did like the company of younger women, redheads the most. His attention was pulled away as the spokeswoman began explaining things.

"So what is the difference between this style of VR and the other type?"

The woman gave a little smile for a moment, the hint of a grin showing.

"It's really something that should be experienced and not explained. Though I could say it is a bit more involved."

Zhang-li raised his hand for a moment before the woman pointed to him.

"Will our play be streamed?"

She shook her head for a moment.

"No, but you will be monitored closely for any signs of trouble, either in-game or outside. Recording will be done for future development, which you will get later if you like. Any other questions?"

 

[Alexavious]

There was silence as everyone glanced between each other. An excited charge hummed through the small gathering as Lindsey smiled brightly at everyone. When she was happy that there were no more questions, she nodded and gestured to the door. "Very well, please follow me."

The woman's high heels clacked down the hallway as she led the group down the corridor. Ellie couldn't help but glance into any open doorway but was disappointed that it was just banks of computers and various ordinary looking people working away. No game testing, no secret development, just an office with people working on emails or documents. She and the others all crowded into a large elevator and started heading up to the top floor. Ellie hadn't quite realised just how large the building was.

"Welcome..." Lindsey paused dramatically, her dark red painted lips curling into a self-satisfied smile, "to the flight deck." As the doors opened, Ellie was genuinely impressed. The corridor and room beyond were bathed in electric blue hues, the walls plastered in cables and glass. Panels and desks surrounded a bank of large pods and even gentle plumes of smoke swirled around the uniformed technician's footsteps as they moved about. It was like a scene pulled from every sci-fi film ever. There were audible gasps and murmurs of excitement from everyone as the guests stepped out but then it quietened as the cracks began to become more noticeable. The cables were stuck on with glue, the smoke was just coming from a branded "Gear4Music" smoke machine, the panels were lit up with artificial lights masking a standard keyboard and mouse.

The pods though, now they looked cool. Sleek black metal, like shiny dark teardrops, with a cream leather interior. It was at such odds with the tackiness of the rest of the room that it was immediately clear that Systems Reloaded did not create these beautiful machines. Lindsey confidentially stepped forward, beckoning everyone forward. As Ellie and the others descended the couple of steps into the foggy pit, the technicians began to single people out. A happy looking man named John, with dark grey curls and one of those fashionable handlebar moustaches, took Ellie to one side and asked her to empty her pockets and remove any piercings. Luckily, Ellie had removed the more intimate nipple piercing before she'd arrived. She slotted her bag, watch, rings and earrings into a box by what she assumed was her pod. It was twice the size of her, standing almost tall enough to reach the vaulted ceiling.

She took a glance around, the others were all doing the same and some were even clambering into their pods. She caught eyes with an interesting man in a red shirt and smiled at him somewhat nervously with that look of 'what the fuck is this?!' across her brows.

 

[JadeKnight]

As the group was led to the flight deck, Hans took his time looking around. It did look well setup for them, a bit of variation from other companies he had visited in the past. After all, there was only so much arrangement of the computer equipment that could be done. As everyone was getting ready, Lindsey spoke again.
"You have four hours today and tomorrow to play with things. Your chosen avatars are already setup, along with your names to keep things simple. Once everything is in place, just relax and enjoy yourselves."

Once he was in his pod, Hans glanced around at the others. Seeing Ellie's nervous smile, he gave her a thumbs up before being completely enclosed. A soft white glow illuminated the inside of the pod. He looked over the only piece of equipment, a large helmet with an attached face mask. It was designed like a fighter pilot's setup, with the breathing hose attached to the side of the pod.

He took a deep breathe for a moment before putting the apparatus on. It fitted snuggly and fully enclosed his head, the mask completely blacked out. While breathing normally, his eyes closed as he drifted off to sleep due to sleeping gas. Once he was out, a clear liquid filled the pod up to the underside of the mask. It had enough density to keep him upright and stable.

His vision soon went from darkness to white light, but it didn't feel as if he had opened his eyes normally. It just seemed as if they had always been open. He noticed that he was in a large conference room, sitting at a large round table. Though he didn't see it, his first name floated above his head. As he placed his hands on the table, he was surprised by several things. The surface of the table felt solid and cool beneath his large paws. He gave a little smile at the pleasant surprise, seeing how detailed his chosen avatar was. He continued to look at his paws as the others appeared around the table.

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[Alexavious]

Following everyone else's lead, Ellie also stepped into her pod. She felt so diminutive surrounded by the smooth futuristic walls. Had someone built this or did they find this on a fucking alien spaceship? What the hell was she just about to do? Momentarily she regretted signing all those waivers and paperwork that she didn't really read. The pod closed, illuminated only by the soft white light. She hesitated, staring at the helmet but not quite sure she actually wanted to go through with this. Something in the pit of her stomach was saying this was a very bad idea.

"It's ok dear, just slip on the helmet to get started..." came the patient voice of what Ellie immediately recognised as Lindsey yet the sound was source less, echoing around her. She opened her mouth to speak but found she didn't really have anything to say. She was in this far, it'd be silly to back-out now. Slowly she reached up and pulled the helmet off the wall. A smooth white dome, less spacey and more... jet fighter. She guessed that practicality outweighed aesthetic when it came to the actual operation of the system. It was snug as she slipped it over her head, almost like it was designed just for her. The face mask strapped under her chin and smelt... fresh. The air coming through the pipe attached to the mouth-piece was sweet, like a grassy meadow. Of course it was pitch black, but fancy colours began to dance across her vision.

Ellie wondered if this was what a deprivation chamber felt like, as her body unwillingly relaxed as she drifted off to sleep. It was like falling, as if she had slipped through a hole in the floor, the darkness slowly becoming a brilliant white light that was almost blinding until...

There she was, sitting in a room. Had she always been here? Was this a dream? No, there were others here too. It was like one of those stereotypical lawyers meeting room, all old oak and plush fabrics. Everything felt so real, the grain of the wood, the squeak of the leather beneath her posterior, how, how had they achieved this? Was her mind filling in the blanks or had they really programmed how the wheels of her chair shifted and stuck in the thick carpet?

Then there was her hands, incredibly slender clad in black leather. Her pale arms peaking through metal embossed leather bracers that ran all the up to her shoulders. Her creamy, muscular thighs peaking out beneath a cut white leather skirt. It wasn't even a skirt, it was two long pieces of fabric that barely covered her. What had she been thinking when she chose Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, if she'd known she was going inhabit her avatar, she'd have picked something a little... beefier.

The man across the table had the right idea, his bestial form was beautiful. Half man, half white tiger. The name Hans hung above his head, clearly visible and softly glowing. She gave him a bashful wave.

 

[JadeKnight]

Hans gave a bit of a smile to the young woman who had waved to him from further down the table. His white fangs showed for a moment as his lips parted. He wasn't sure which of the testers she was, figuring her to be one of the two females who had came. He did recognize the avatar she had chosen, finding it a fitting choice. He really didn't have a chance to do much more than wave back as the rest of the testers began to appear.

The other journalist and other female, had picked a green haired fairy to use. The name of Shasa appeared above her. Damien Demon had chosen to create a blue, muscular demon as his avatar. The System Reloaded contest winner had chosen to just go as himself, including sporting the System Reloaded merchandise. The final three to join had also chosen to have their avatars look like themselves.

The rest seemed to be confused by the realism of everything just as much as Hans had been. They were barely given more than a few moments before Lindsey's voice seem to come from nowhere, but all around them.

"Things may seem to be strange, but you will have time to adjust. Today's session is going to be a quick game so that you can familiarize yourself with the system. We have a variety of games that you can vote on. They are all multiplayer, ranging from only two people to all of you. First things though, I will take you step by step on how to use commands."

Lindsey took them step by step through the process of bringing up the main control menu, how to privately message each other, talk to any of the moderators, and if they decided to quit early, how to exit. Once she was finished, a dialog box popped up in front of everyone. It showed four different games they could choose from to play, an outer space adventure suited for four people, a rpg style castle dungeon crawl, basketball, or a free for all shooting match. A message was listed on the bottom that any open slots in the games would be filled by bots.

Hans hmmed for a few moments as he looked over the list for a few seconds. He gave a little nod as he picked the dungeon crawl before sitting back and waiting, watching the others choose their games. Though the back of the pop-up was opaque, the list was in the same order for everyone. Thus it wouldn't be hard for anyone else to figure out what he had chosen.

 

[Alexavious]

Dutifully following the instructions, Ellie learned all the skills to using the commands menu. It was so cool, with a few unique gestures, she was able to browse the options through the floating pop-up. There was one confusing moment where she was trying to exit out of the private message menu but the selection was frozen. She swiped her hands a little frantically through the pop-up until finally it released. Ellie looked around but no-one else seemingly experienced the glitch.

She moved onto the game selection, holding her hand over the free-for-all shooting game. A small additional window appeared in the air showing a very brief demo of the game... and Ellie's eyes widened as she recognised the toy like graphics and the confusing map layouts as Battle Guns! Ellie shuddered and quickly dismissed the demo. Figured they would try and leverage their poor excuse for a shooter into a new platform. Ellie easily dismissed the basketball game, she wasn't very good at e-sports so that just left the Space Adventure or the Fantasy Dungeon Crawl.

Both were appealing, and she quickly looked around to see who else was choosing what, and saw Hans select the dungeon crawler. Nodding to herself, thinking how cool it will be to see the giant white tiger man hack-and-slash through monsters, she also selected the game.

The conference room seemingly dissolved away, leaving a spectral light and glowing geometric shapes that surrounded her as she floated weightlessly in what she assumed was a loading pattern. Slowly the patterns begin to rise 'up' and looking below her feet, she watched herself drift down towards what appeared to be some kind of cobbled basement.

She 'landed' and looked around. Damp stonework underfoot set out in roughly a 20 by 20ft room, dominated by an oak wood table in the middle covered in scrolls and maps. Along the stone walls hang flickering sconces that illuminate the various equipment - swords, shields, spears, bows, armour that covers the rest of the walls. With wide eyes and a happy grin, I quickly move to the long steel blades that glint in the fire light...

 

[JadeKnight]

The only other person to join in the dungeon crawl was Zhang-Li. The two men floated down after Ellie to the starting room. Hans chose the role of a barbarian fighter while Zhang-Li. Hans pulled down a large steel earthbreaker as his weapon of choice. He was surprised and interested at the feeling of weight to the weapon. He took a couple of practice swings while speaking.

"An army buddy of mine told me how they use a system similar to this VR to train with. It's more sophisticated than normal VR since it utilizes your mind as well to fill out everything the basic programming isn't able to."

Zhang-Li was still deciding on his role, pausing for a moment to glance at Hans.

"Maybe they're using the same system here."

Hans shrugged for a moment before donning some steel full plate armor, which seemed to conform to his avatar.

"They could be. Or it could be a watered down version."

As they continued to select everything, a bot appeared in the room with them. The bot was created as a female elven ranger.

 

[Alexavious]

Still pouring over the various blades, Ellie jumped a little as soft male voices filled the chamber behind her. She turned and grinned at her two companions, expecting Hans but also incredibly thrilled that Li had joined them. Trying not to make a complete fool of herself, she listened and watched as Hans easily picked his class, weapons and armour as if he'd been doing this for years. Clearly a veteran at fantasy style games.

Ellie herself had only dabbled, though she was familiar with the stereotypical classes. As she turned back to the various blades, she added to the conversation over her shoulder, "I think that woman, Lindsey, said that this like some joint venture shit between the military, WHO and NASA. We're just some free Alpha test to whatever next gen VR training thing they'll be using for their soldiers..." she finally settled on a glowing longsword belonging to the Paladin class. Various other set pieces began to glow in her vicinity to indicate choice armours and other equipment. "...You know... not that I'm complaining..." she said with a giggle, swinging the blade around as it gave a soft hum.

With her armour donned, sword strapped to her hip and shield in hand, she returned to the centre of the room to begin examining some of the paper and scrollwork as the Bot popped in. The Elven Ranger was stunning and so... life-like. She shifted about, eyes scanning the room and even reacted to movement with shifts of her head or eyes.

Seeing the options that others had selected, Zhang-Li settled on the Wizard Class, throwing a robe over his form and grasping a twisted Oak Staff with a glowing blue/green crystal on the top. In his other hand he hefted a heavy looking tome, presumably containing his spells.

When the others joined her at the table, Ellie flashed them both an eager grin. "I'm Ellie." she introduced, though her smile faltered as she glanced upward to where she remembered her name was, "though obviously you know that. I'm a streamer, influencer, model, gamer, all that stuff." She glanced at Li and held up her hand, "You need no introduction obviously. I saw your championship match, your teleport double kick double kill was insane! I mean..." she trailed off, realising she gushing, just like she didn't want to and while Li was smiling politely, it was clearly something that he'd heard time and time again. "Uh... but... Hans, is it?" she said, turning to the White Tiger now dressed in silvery plate mail and hefting a wicked looking heavy Hammer.

 

[JadeKnight]

Zhang-Li smiled for a moment when Ellie offered her hand, shaking it for a moment.

"Thank you. It's always nice to meet a fan. I'll try not to hog all the glory. This just a break for me right now. I was getting a little burnt out, so this should be a refresher for me."

He let her hand go before turning away to let Hans have his moment, opening his spellbook to see what spells he had to work with. They had given him only a couple of low level attack spells and a healing spell to play with. The Oak Staff also had a basic attack for him to use. Hans hefted the hammer, leaning it against his right shoulder. He held his other hand out to Ellie, which was easily large enough to engulf her smaller one. The underside of his palm and four fingers was smooth and soft to the touch as he held her hand for a few seconds before letting go.

"Hans Switz. I work for Gaming Tech Swiss magazine in Zurich, Switzerland. I play the latest up and coming video games and write a review for them. I've been working with the company for about ten years now."

He decided it would be best for them to get started, so he gave a motion for them to start following him. He lowered his hammer so that he was holding it defensively in front of him, leading them down the dimly lit corridor, talking as he walked.

"It looks like you were the only other one to take advantage of the avatar option Ellie. Lightning was a pretty badass female to choose. I-"

Hans was interrupted by the start of their first battle, a couple of arrows flying past his head. His grip tightened on his hammer before lifting it as he ran forward towards the small group of five goblins that had appeared a few feet further down the corridor.

 

[Alexavious]

The giant paw in her hand felt so real it was beyond insane. Her own hand was more slender than usual and it just disappeared into this soft furry grip. She gave it a firm shake and beamed back at him. Gaming Tech Swiss, she couldn't really say she'd heard of it but then if it were based in Zurich that wasn't surprising. Still, she promised herself she'd see his review once this was all done, wondering if she would feature in it at all. That would be good publicity!

Eagerly, she followed Hans down the corridor, with Li taking up the rear. Before she could respond, the battle had begun. Hans dived straight in and even Li began to hurl spells, tucked into the corridor they'd just exited. Ellie hesitated, stunned by the sudden ferociousness of the Goblins. The sword felt heavy in her hand and all memory of how to use any of her abilities fled her mind. Luckily, the boys seemed to be doing just fine without her, as she found herself pressed against wall.

'Why am I this... scared?' Ellie thought to herself desperately. She guessed she had a quite defence and methodical playstyle when she normally gamed but everything just felt so... real. The armour pressed into her shoulders, she could feel her heart racing, she felt... lightheaded. Just then, two things happened. A light, disembodied voice spoke as if whispering in her ear, "Ellie, are you ok?" it said, filled with concern. The second thing was a Goblin had broken off from Hans aggressive attack and had made its way, to where Ellie stood. It snarled and flashed a rusty looking dagger as it prepared to strike.

Ellie squeaked. She had never squeaked before in her life, but her gamer instincts kicked in and she wildly slashed with her blade, all the while shouting back to this voice in her head... out loud... "I'm OK! I'm OK!" It seemed there was some element of computerised assistance because the blade managed to connect to the squishy middle of the creature and it splattered across the wall.

Filled with a sense of accomplishment, she glanced over to the others and found that there was a steady pile growing at Hans feet. Bodies littered the floor where Li was striking them down. Taking a deep breath, Ellie let out a rather feeble roar and charged in to help.

 

[JadeKnight]

Hans' first strike was a wide sideways swing against the center goblin in the group. He was a bit caught off guard by the sudden feeling of solidness as the maul's large head connected solidly with the goblin's face. He fully expected to just pass through the creature and just have the hit register as connecting. Instead, he heard the crunching of bones as the side of the goblin's face caved inward. The creature screeched with pain as blood and teeth flew out of it's mouth. A couple more swings left the goblin headless on the ground.
Li and the bot finished off two of the goblins while Hans finished off the last one as Ellie ran to join them. The air was filled with the smell of copper, which Hans could also taste from some that had gotten into his mouth. He took a deep breathe to calm himself down, resting his weapon against his shoulder.
"Well, that was quite the rush. I would suggest this could be a regular workout, but that's probably not possible. After all, I don't think we can move around outside the game."
Hans lifted his free hand, looking at the bit of green blood for a moment. He chuckled for a moment as he looked over at Ellie while Li looted the bodies.
"You ok?"

 

[Alexavious]

The last goblin collapsed and the room fell momentarily quiet, though Ellie's head was filled with the pounding beat of her heart. She still gripped the sword tightly, her eyes darting around the room for any more assailants. When none presented itself and Hans words of concern reached her ears, she lowered the sword with an explosive breath.

"That was... intense! I mean I know this is room one and everything but they were so... real and... ugh I got some in my mouth..." She spat onto the floor, her saliva mixed with green flecks. She glanced over at Hans and just gave him the biggest grin, "Seriously though you were awesome, like you've been doing this for ages." Weirdly, she felt no need to compliment Li. Perhaps she was drawn more to the open and talkative nature of Hans, or perhaps he was just easier to talk to because he wasn't a minor celebrity.

"Oh and uh... Final Fantasy Thirteen is like seriously under-estimated. The gameplay might be linear but the characters are awesome! I've cosplayed as Lightning before but I never thought I'd get to be her! What's your avatar from? He's cute..."

 

[JadeKnight]

Hans chuckled for a moment at her compliment to him.
"I was an avid gamer before I became a reviewer and critic. I started game reviewing about five years before all the pay for streaming trend started."
Although he knew most streamers used streaming as their job lately, it had just started as a bandwagon fad. Like any new fad, it had made a few get rich quick before everyone else went for a piece of the pie. He looked down at himself for a moment before glancing at her.
"This guy? He's not really special. There was an old cartoon I used to watch as a kid and he was one of the main characters. A bunch of animal superheroes, but the name escapes me at the moment. He was supposed to be strong like Superman and have fur like steel. It only aired for a couple of seasons."
While the two of them talked, Li had been talking to the bot. He was using it like his personal camera, even if there was no reason to. He wasn't trying to ignore them, but using the opportunity to explore things in depth. Noticing Hans looking his way, Li gave a nod to the show he was ready.
Hans raised an eyebrow for a moment at the gesture, not expecting to be the leader. However, he just shrugged and started down the hallway. After a few turns, they came upon a pair of plain chests side by side in the middle of the hallway. Hans chuckled for a moment.
"Who wants to bet on which one is the mimic?"

 

[Alexavious]

"It suits you..." Ellie murmured, finding her hand twitch as she wanted to sink her fingers into the soft fur. She'd always loved big cats, never thought she'd see one walking and talking right in front of her. She tried to think of what the cartoon might be but nothing came to mind.

She followed along, her eyes darting all around the corridor. The slick stonework was so real looking, and when she touched it, she could feel the cold damp that clung to her fingers. As she trailed her hand along the bricks, she noticed one where the textures were wrong. Narrowing her eyes she stopped, falling behind the party as her brown furrowed. It was like when a wall fails to render properly in a dodgy video game, slightly out of focus but perhaps not enough to notice unless you happened to be examining things just like she was.

Curious, Ellie reached out and touched it, expecting her digits to pierce the blurriness and perhaps just feel a flat surface but instead there was a flash of light, a moment of distortion and weightlessness that sent her reeling and her ears were filled with the sounds of gratuitous moans and groans of ecstasy. It was gone in a fleeting second and I was back in the hallway, the brick properly rendered. What... the fuck...

Seeing the party had moved on, I brushed myself off and quickly followed, my mind still processing everything that had happened. I slipped to the side of the room as the corridor opened up into a chamber and looked between the chests. The word mimic had me gripping my sword tighter. In certain games, a very hideous monster could not just lurk inside a chest like this, it could BE the chest, just waiting for an adventurer to try and open its large mouth looking for treasure.

"What's the play?" I whispered, as if sound could trigger it.

Li silently moved to the opposite side and began to prepare a spell. The bot seemed to take direction and knocked an arrow. All eyes fell on Hans...

 

[JadeKnight]

Hans just chuckled for a moment at her whispered question.

"That's really a no brainer. Right?"

He glanced back at them for a moment, a grin showing his white teeth. Li gave a nod in agreement, lifting a hand as he prepared for a moment. Hans turned back towards the chest, grabbing and flipping up the latch. He noticed there was a slight delay in sound as the lid creaked open to reveal it's contents. Inside the chest was a new bow for the archer, a new shield and sword set for Ellie, a couple of magical rings, and a small pile of gold.The gold was useless currently, so Hans ignored it as he glanced over the contents.

"Some new equipment for you three."

He stepped to the side for a moment, letting the others grab what they wanted while he looked at the other chest. It was identical to the other one, except for a slight wavy look that seemed to give it a out of phase feeling. He stepped forward and decided to give it a swift kick. The chest was very solid against his foot, rocking the chest back a little. On cue, a dark green sinewy arm shot out from the left side of the chest. It struck swiftly, clawing down the side of Hans' face. He winced at the pain, stumbled a little. Asecond arm grew out of the other side of the chest before rising up on a pair of four foot tall legs. The lid opened to reveal a row of sharp teeth along the edges before screaming and charging towards the group.

 

[Alexavious]

Interestingly, as Ellie hefted the new sword, she could see a list of statistics and descriptions of the magical affects floating in the air. Similar to how she was able to choose this adventure, a semi translucent panel that scrolled back and forth as she examined the materials. The new items were marginally better, and she was in the process of re-reading the information on the shield when the sound of the creature's scream sent her heart into overdrive.

As the others jumped back into their ready stances, Ellie immediately tripped over her own feet, landing with a metallic clang. Fortunately, she was able to pull her shield up with a squeal as a clawed fist came down on top of her. The strength of it was shocking and her arm ached, radiating a surprising amount of pain up her muscles to her shoulder. Seriously? She had assumed when fighting the goblins that pain wasn't really part of it but now she could see the creators weren't missing anything out. As the pressure lifted, she was able to scramble backwards as the others engaged, rising to her feet. Taking a deep breath, the battle was on.

Together Ellie and Hans flanked the creature, desperately trying to avoid its wild swings. A long wet tongue lolled out of its mouth, swinging saliva along with its clawed hands. It barely registered as Sword and Maul took chunks out of it, as arrows pierced the wooden chest of its body. It only briefly flinched when a fireball summoned from Li's hands burst hot flame across its 'lid'.

Suddenly it leapt, spinning around like a great ballerina of death. Its foot connected to Ellie's breastplate and sent her flying back. She landed with a ringing in her ears and the breath rapidly escaping her lungs, yet she barely had time to recover as two large hands wrapped around her middle and hefted her easily into the air. Ellie screamed, the sword having slipped from her grasp, as she struggled to prise the long fingers off her armour. Then the air turned fetid and foul as she was brought eye level with the open maw of the chest. It seemed to her that the curve of the mouth turned upwards into a vicious smile as the tongue flapped with excitement.

"HANS!"

 

[JadeKnight]

The battle was not going in the direction that Hans wanted it to. With the way the mimic was acting and made, it seemed to him that it had been created as a mini boss. It was definitely a tough battle for them to handle. Not something he expected to face in the second battle.

"Hold on."

He heard Ellie call to him as the thing lifted her up to take a bite of her. He paused for a moment before grasping the maul tighter before lifting it over his head. With a roar, he brought his weapon down with all his might he could muster. His body vibrated from the solid hit as the mimic's mouth was forced close and the entire thing went to the ground. Hans got a lucky blow, caving in a good portion of the creature as green ichor splattered everywhere. The mimic's hands tightened around Ellie for a moment before going limp as it released her.

Hans gave a couple more swings for good measure, smashing the mimic and splattering more blood. He stepped back for a moment, panting a little as he took a few moments to catch his breathe.

"Not that I am complaining, but how much long do you thing we have?"

He shouldered his maul once more before reaching a hand out to help pull Ellie to her feet.

 

[Alexavious]

Taking his hand, Ellie exhaled harshly. "Fuck" was the only thing she could manage as she looked down at the dead mimic. She was starting to see that this "game" was a mismatch of ideas and features from other games. The Mimic was so 'dark souls' that it could have been lifted right from the game itself. It was still cool to see it up close, but hardly original. As she cast her eyes back to Hans, she realised she'd been lost in thought, still holding onto his hand. Ellie snatched it back with a start and blushed furiously, unaware that even her avatar blushed with her.

The Archer Bot and Li were already moving off towards the next archway, a set of stairs that descended down leaving Hans and Ellie momentarily alone. "Not sure, I don't remember them saying. I think we can leave anytime though." She gave the mimic a little kick, which impacted with a squishing slap. "If you scrape past the surface bells and whistles, it's a pretty weird game. Though, not surprising with who made it..." as soon as she said it, she eyed around the room, wondering if they were listening in. She sighed and smiled up at the big white tiger. "Thanks though, I hadn't expected it would be so... painful?" She shook her head and gestured towards the stairs, "Lets at least get to the first proper Boss and see what we want to do..." She took a step and her eyes widened and she glanced back at Hans, "I mean... you know, if you wanted to stick together that is.. you don't.... you don't have to."

 

[JadeKnight]

He thought it was cute and a nice touch at seeing her blush as she pulled her hand from his grasp. He didn't remark on the whole thing, letting her have a little breathing room for the time being.

"I think there was something about a time limit, but they didn't seem to give us any way to telling how much time has passed. Not that I am complaining about it."

He lifted his maul to rest it on his shoulders once more, taking a breathe for a moment as he nodded. He grinned for a moment as well.

"I see no reason why to stop going together now. After all, it would only be right to see things through the end at this point."

He lifted his free hand and placed it lightly on her head for a moment, giving a little pet before pulling away. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but it felt like something he should do at that moment. He gave a gesture forward with his chin as well.

"Lead on so that we may slay the great beast."

He let her get a little ahead of him, taking in everything from behind. They had definitely did well on the graphics, giving Ellie a very feminine figure even with the armor she wore.

"Care to compare notes once we get out of here? The next session they have us going for isn't until tomorrow afternoon."

 

[Alexavious]

With a beaming smile coming to her face, she threw him a more confident wink. "Sounds like a date." she chuckled before pushing forward. That sort of comment could get her into trouble but she couldn't help herself. Ellie had to admit, she had a weakness for strong gamers and so far Hans had put on a tremendous display. Who doesn't like to be rescued?!

The stairs wound down and the walls changed, growing danker and covered in a sticky film. It was pretty obvious what they were about to face next and Ellie visibly shuddered. Spiders? Really? Why'd it have to be spiders? As they rounded the final bend, Ellie's eyes widened as she caught sight of Li and the Archer bot. The female Elf was stood against the wall, looking off down the corridor in a state of readiness, as if she were about to reach for an arrow at any moment. Li, on the other hand, was on his knees investigating the Bot's anatomical accuracy. He had managed to crawl up under the skirts and god knows what he could see or feel up there but he was certainly breathing heavily.

Ellie crinkled her nose in disappointment, if only because the Bot had no real say in the matter. The beautiful Elf turned her sharp features back towards them, showing no recognition or concern about what the player might be doing to her. "Ahem..." Ellie coughed and Li shot back, his face like a beetroot. "Find something, did we?" She tried her best to scowl but it came out more of a smirk, mostly because she was now curious too. Just how far had the developers gone?

Li shook his head, pulled himself up right and quickly darted out of the corridor into the next room. There was a moments pause before it dawned on Ellie that going on alone probably wasn't the wisest move. "No, wait stop, stop!"

As the group finished the last few stairs, Li was already in the middle of the next chamber. It was more like a hall, with a vault ceiling filled with shadows and webbing. "Uh, guys? What...?" Li called back, not finishing his sentence. Peering around him, Ellie and the others were met with the sight of a large naked woman, arms bent back as she clung to the wall. This one was definitely anatomically correct, if not several sizes larger than she should be. Her eyes were rolling back into her head, dark hair falling about her face, as if in pleasure and her mouth hung open in what appeared to be silent moans.

Ellie paused, her mind immediately going to the bits and pieces she'd seen and heard like the crack in the hall. She came to a stop only a few feet in, screaming "Stop!" but Li was approaching, clearly fascinated. There was a loud crackle, like someone playing with the knob of a speaker, the loud sounds of sexual moaning filled the chamber so booming that Ellie had to cover her ears and then it changed to a screaming hiss and the woman was gone, replaced by a huge spider that was leaping from the wall. Descending all around from those shadows came other large spiders, trailing down on their thick, vine like webs.

"Well... fuck..."

 

[JadeKnight]

Hans chuckled about Li's actions with the bot, but he didn't say anything. He was curious about the details as well, but such questions could wait. He followed the pair, pulling up short as the sight of the naked woman. The details were pretty well done, although the high pitched crackling and moans made him wince during the transformation.

Psyching himself up, Hans readied himself for the battle. After directing Li and the bot to concentrate on the smaller spiders, he had Ellie take on the role of healer. She seemed unsure at first, staying near Hans to help him. Li and the bot worked well together, fending off the spiders pretty well. Hans didn't notice that their blows didn't always land, phasing through occasionally.

Hans and the spider woman traded equal blows for damage, which he felt on each hit. There was always a lingering sensation of pain after each hit that went away quickly. He stumbled during one heavy attack as the hammer phased through the spider to hit on the floor. This left him open as one of the smaller spiders dropped towards him. Ellie cried out in warning before stabbing at it with her sword. The spider hissed in pain as it was struck, tumbling to the side. She quickly finished as Hans thanked her.

It only took a little longer to finish the battle, leaving the trio winded. As their surroundings faded away, floating credits appeared in a slow upward scroll. The final words to show were Congratulations.

It was a few moments before Hans found himself blinking his eyes open, feeling the cushion of the seat beneath him in the dry gaming pod. The voice of their female hostess came softly through unseen speakers.

"The pod will open in one minute, so please close your eyes to adjust to the light. Please take a few moments to readjust to everything once the pod opens."

 

[Alexavious]

The final spider fell and they barely had any time to celebrate before they were thrust into the credit scene. Ellie tried to read them, more interested in the titles than the people's names but interestingly there wasn't any mention on who had created the technology platform. Only generic titles like graphics designer and production manager. Then they were gone and Ellie was slowly awakening inside her pod.

Her skin felt clammy and her clothes were ever so slightly damp as if she'd been soaked and rapidly dried. Quickly, she pulled the mask from her face and rubbed her eyes in the dim light. Then the pod cracked like an egg and she immediately slammed her eyes shut as brilliant white light stabbed at her. It seemed to take her ages to re-adjust her vision and when she could finally see, the same handlebar moustached technician was waiting patiently, extending a helping hand towards her. By the time she took it and began to step from her pod, most of the others were out already. Ellie cast her gaze around the room but it dawned on her that she didn't even know what Hans looked like in real life. She spotted Li but of course he wouldn't recognise her. Ellie also noticed a few of the technicians were no longer smiling, a few had gained some hard looks and sweaty brows, their faces lined with stress.

She was directed back to the top of the flight deck where Lindsey was waiting. When everyone had gathered, she smiled at everyone like we were children, an expression she no doubt practiced in the mirror. "Thank you everyone for joining us in experiencing our leap forward in live gaming technology and training. We all hope you've had an exceptional time and that you'll join us for our next session tomorrow afternoon where we have something even more special planned. Of course your hotels and transport have all been paid for and are ready for you to check in. You're welcome to dine in our lounge but we ask you not to enter any of the active office spaces. Once again, we'd like to extend our warmest gratitude for you joining us here today. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or speak to any of our technicians before you leave."

As she stepped back there was general murmuring amongst the crowd as people slowly filtered out. Ellie followed idly, her mind already writing the script of her next vlog, trying to memorise every detail about her experience. As she went over the last battle fighting side by side with Hans, the thought of the man distracted her and she once again tried to scan the crowd. A few people were right down the end of the corridor on their way out, a few were in the lounge waiting area and even a few still milling around in the Pod bay asking more technical questions from the exasperated men and women in white.

Summoning up her loudest streamer scream from her only slightly exaggerated horror streams, she let out a loud yell... "HANS!" Those immediately around her scrambled back with confused and almost frightened expressions at the sudden outburst and Ellie could only grin and hold up her hands in apology...