Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
07-27-2010, 12:55 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.
Karen slowly picked herself off of the ground. The annoyance of having on two different occasions been threatened at close range with a sharp object to her neck was beginning to die down. She wasn't an emotional person at heart, but even she had her limits.
"So, anybody else want a go? My neck is right here." She commented sarcastically.
Lloyd slowly ventured into the room, gazing at the wreckages Karen and CHARLIE had caused.
"So, about this game of yours. You really can't tell that this is real?"
Karen was silent as she tore her sword from it's lodged state. She rested it onto its place on her back.
"A game that utilises consciousness wouldn't leave pixels sitting around, if that's what you mean. So technically, no. If you're bent on pretending not to know, or maybe you really don't, but Legends of Fate was totally realistic in every way. You could feel the bark of a tree, the heat of a desert, the cold wet rain that fell. The only thing that it didn't have was pain, which is a small blessing."
Lloyd seemed to get an idea at that point.
"But if you feel pain now, wouldn't that prove this isn't just a game to you?"
Karen actually took this train of thought seriously. Sure, she hadn't been hurt yet, but during the game she'd take damage eventually. What if it hurt? Would that mean there's no safety system? Or worse, that what Lloyd said is true. She stared at the Charlie and the plant creature. Was it just coincidence that they could make characters like that? She began to doubt everything she had built up inside her head. Her own existence. If this was real, how could she use magic, or wield her sword? She even wore the clothes that her character wore.
"If that time comes..." She eventually muttered, "then I'll take what you say seriously. But right now, I know what I want to believe. My head tells my this can't exist in reality. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."
Lloyd seemed to be irritated by her response. She didn't mind. She would feel the same in his shoes, watching someone attempting to believe a struggle for survival was just a VR game. She was fighting a losing battle with her excuses.
The largest doors of the room opened. Charlie was the first to pass through them, seemingly ignoring the other three.
"I suggest you go next Lloyd."
"Why, so that I'm behind the killer robot and not you?"
"No. To make it so that the floating plant thing isn't directly behind you."
Lloyd stared at Reudic for a brief period, and seemed to agree that he'd take his chances with the giant killing machine. Karen followed just behind him, and motioned for Reudic to follow. The corridor was just average. No traps or holes, just a walkway towards the next room.
"A little too easy, don't you think?"
"Just for saying that something bad will happen soon."
Karen shrugged, she could handle it.
Probably.
At that time, an intercom system crackled into life.
"Accelerating laser wall to *crackle* error in speed calibratio*hsst* Messy floors *static*"
Is incomprehensible as the announcement had been, sure enough, bright red beams of light shone vertically, obstructing the doorway they had just passed through, and was advancing in their direction.
Karen dove behind Reudic and shouldered it in the direction of the exit in an attempt to rush the oversized rosebush. She heard Lloyd yelling "I hate it when people jinx it!" As he and CHARLIE got the message pretty clearly and were making their way down the long corridor pretty fast. Karen looked at the beams. They were slow now, but something told Karen there was more to it. They would get faster. They would outrun them all. It was just speculation on her part, but she couldn't shake the feeling. If she ignored it, they could all be minced. She had to find a way to stop it, and fast. The housing for the lasers must be able to move on some sort of rail housed underneath the floor and above the ceiling. Karen gripped her sword and swung it off of her back. She rammed it down into the floor. The sword barely cut two inches deep into the dense metal. She needed a wider swing, or at least a strong technique, which few would manage in such a situation. She began to back off, and the lasers, as expected, began to climb speed. She turned her back and sprinted down the corridor, sword poised by her shoulder. She slammed her foot to the ground, forcing her body to stop, and used the momentum to swing her sword through the ground in an arc. The sword broke through the metal plating, and Karen forced it to rip through a large part of the floor. She forced magical energy through her arm and into the sword, expelling it through the tip of the blade as it left the floor. The cut seemed to continue ripping after her sword left the floor. Karen saw several layers of electronics, but couldn't discern what was what. With the lasers catching up, she hastily tossed several Fireballs into the mix, causing minor bursts and explosions inside the floor. She raced down the hallway as the crackling electronics began getting louder and louder. She turned her head to look back, and saw that the lasers had stalled short of where she had broken the floor. However, new beams sprouted from the walls, and began racing after them in their place. She tutted and put on another burst of effort. The wall spanned to the left suddenly. She didn't even attempt to slow down; she leapt sideways, planted her feet on the wall, and leapt again down the next corridor. She heard a loud rumbling back the way as she ran. She had a creeping notion in the back of her mind that was telling her 'Setting fire to dangerous modern equipment wasn't the smartest idea you've ever had. I mean, it'll probably explode now. Lasers you might have a chance to outrun, but an explosion?'
"I really, really hate modern settings" Karen groaned as she ran.
The ground shook violently, causing her to stumble onto the floor. She could hear the blast travelling through the corridors now.
"Damnit" She said feebly. This was how her adventure ends, sprawled on the floor, taken to oblivion by a blast she caused. How bloody ironi-
"Get up you idiot!"
Karen felt a hand grab onto her arm and pulled her sharply to her feet. Lloyd was practically dragging her down the corridor.
"Why did you stop?" She asked, dumbfounded.
"I dunno! I'm not making a whole lotta sense right now! Now shut up, you'll bite your tongue!"
Karen began to run once more, staring at Lloyd's back. He had selflessly stopped and came back for her. Why? He had no clear reason to. She was someone that should be a target, not an ally.
Her thoughts changed to the game. If she was really in danger, then she would have actually bit the dust had he not come back. It reinforced the facts.
This was for real
The exit was fast approaching, but Karen could feel the blast catching up at a tremendous speed. They wouldn't make it.
"Forgive me, Lloyd!"
Karen slammed her palm into Lloyd's back, and hit him point black with a Tracker Bolt. His feet left the ground as his body spiralled out of the corridor. She summoned fireballs into her hands, twisted her wrists so that her palms faced backwards, and detonated them. She felt her body lurch forward with momentum, just before a strong force slammed into her back, sending her toppling through the air. It was all noise and light and a lot of spinning from then on.
She slammed into the ground. Dead or alive, she couldn't tell. She felt the effects of shock seeping into her.
A voice. Lloyd's? She couldn't tell; her ears were still ringing. After a few minutes, she sat up, letting a sharp headache run through her head.
"You in one piece?" He asked casually.
"Yeah, think so." She replied.
Her body seemed fine. Her back ached, but she didn't feel burnt our torn up anywhere. But as she checked, she noticed blood trickling down her left arm.
"Doesn't look deep, just a scratch. Must have been some shrapnel from the walls. Hey, you listening to me?"
Karen couldn't hear his words. She was scared. For the first time in years, she was afraid for her life. The images of the accident flashed through her mind. She could die. Physically die. Her arm hurt. It was actual pain, pain she hadn't felt in what seemed like years.
"I get it now. This... it's real" She sputtered. Her emotions were becoming havoc. She didn't know how do deal with the situation, so she curled into a ball and said "Leave me alone for a bit."
And she said nothing more.
Karen slowly picked herself off of the ground. The annoyance of having on two different occasions been threatened at close range with a sharp object to her neck was beginning to die down. She wasn't an emotional person at heart, but even she had her limits.
"So, anybody else want a go? My neck is right here." She commented sarcastically.
Lloyd slowly ventured into the room, gazing at the wreckages Karen and CHARLIE had caused.
"So, about this game of yours. You really can't tell that this is real?"
Karen was silent as she tore her sword from it's lodged state. She rested it onto its place on her back.
"A game that utilises consciousness wouldn't leave pixels sitting around, if that's what you mean. So technically, no. If you're bent on pretending not to know, or maybe you really don't, but Legends of Fate was totally realistic in every way. You could feel the bark of a tree, the heat of a desert, the cold wet rain that fell. The only thing that it didn't have was pain, which is a small blessing."
Lloyd seemed to get an idea at that point.
"But if you feel pain now, wouldn't that prove this isn't just a game to you?"
Karen actually took this train of thought seriously. Sure, she hadn't been hurt yet, but during the game she'd take damage eventually. What if it hurt? Would that mean there's no safety system? Or worse, that what Lloyd said is true. She stared at the Charlie and the plant creature. Was it just coincidence that they could make characters like that? She began to doubt everything she had built up inside her head. Her own existence. If this was real, how could she use magic, or wield her sword? She even wore the clothes that her character wore.
"If that time comes..." She eventually muttered, "then I'll take what you say seriously. But right now, I know what I want to believe. My head tells my this can't exist in reality. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."
Lloyd seemed to be irritated by her response. She didn't mind. She would feel the same in his shoes, watching someone attempting to believe a struggle for survival was just a VR game. She was fighting a losing battle with her excuses.
The largest doors of the room opened. Charlie was the first to pass through them, seemingly ignoring the other three.
"I suggest you go next Lloyd."
"Why, so that I'm behind the killer robot and not you?"
"No. To make it so that the floating plant thing isn't directly behind you."
Lloyd stared at Reudic for a brief period, and seemed to agree that he'd take his chances with the giant killing machine. Karen followed just behind him, and motioned for Reudic to follow. The corridor was just average. No traps or holes, just a walkway towards the next room.
"A little too easy, don't you think?"
"Just for saying that something bad will happen soon."
Karen shrugged, she could handle it.
Probably.
At that time, an intercom system crackled into life.
"Accelerating laser wall to *crackle* error in speed calibratio*hsst* Messy floors *static*"
Is incomprehensible as the announcement had been, sure enough, bright red beams of light shone vertically, obstructing the doorway they had just passed through, and was advancing in their direction.
Karen dove behind Reudic and shouldered it in the direction of the exit in an attempt to rush the oversized rosebush. She heard Lloyd yelling "I hate it when people jinx it!" As he and CHARLIE got the message pretty clearly and were making their way down the long corridor pretty fast. Karen looked at the beams. They were slow now, but something told Karen there was more to it. They would get faster. They would outrun them all. It was just speculation on her part, but she couldn't shake the feeling. If she ignored it, they could all be minced. She had to find a way to stop it, and fast. The housing for the lasers must be able to move on some sort of rail housed underneath the floor and above the ceiling. Karen gripped her sword and swung it off of her back. She rammed it down into the floor. The sword barely cut two inches deep into the dense metal. She needed a wider swing, or at least a strong technique, which few would manage in such a situation. She began to back off, and the lasers, as expected, began to climb speed. She turned her back and sprinted down the corridor, sword poised by her shoulder. She slammed her foot to the ground, forcing her body to stop, and used the momentum to swing her sword through the ground in an arc. The sword broke through the metal plating, and Karen forced it to rip through a large part of the floor. She forced magical energy through her arm and into the sword, expelling it through the tip of the blade as it left the floor. The cut seemed to continue ripping after her sword left the floor. Karen saw several layers of electronics, but couldn't discern what was what. With the lasers catching up, she hastily tossed several Fireballs into the mix, causing minor bursts and explosions inside the floor. She raced down the hallway as the crackling electronics began getting louder and louder. She turned her head to look back, and saw that the lasers had stalled short of where she had broken the floor. However, new beams sprouted from the walls, and began racing after them in their place. She tutted and put on another burst of effort. The wall spanned to the left suddenly. She didn't even attempt to slow down; she leapt sideways, planted her feet on the wall, and leapt again down the next corridor. She heard a loud rumbling back the way as she ran. She had a creeping notion in the back of her mind that was telling her 'Setting fire to dangerous modern equipment wasn't the smartest idea you've ever had. I mean, it'll probably explode now. Lasers you might have a chance to outrun, but an explosion?'
"I really, really hate modern settings" Karen groaned as she ran.
The ground shook violently, causing her to stumble onto the floor. She could hear the blast travelling through the corridors now.
"Damnit" She said feebly. This was how her adventure ends, sprawled on the floor, taken to oblivion by a blast she caused. How bloody ironi-
"Get up you idiot!"
Karen felt a hand grab onto her arm and pulled her sharply to her feet. Lloyd was practically dragging her down the corridor.
"Why did you stop?" She asked, dumbfounded.
"I dunno! I'm not making a whole lotta sense right now! Now shut up, you'll bite your tongue!"
Karen began to run once more, staring at Lloyd's back. He had selflessly stopped and came back for her. Why? He had no clear reason to. She was someone that should be a target, not an ally.
Her thoughts changed to the game. If she was really in danger, then she would have actually bit the dust had he not come back. It reinforced the facts.
This was for real
The exit was fast approaching, but Karen could feel the blast catching up at a tremendous speed. They wouldn't make it.
"Forgive me, Lloyd!"
Karen slammed her palm into Lloyd's back, and hit him point black with a Tracker Bolt. His feet left the ground as his body spiralled out of the corridor. She summoned fireballs into her hands, twisted her wrists so that her palms faced backwards, and detonated them. She felt her body lurch forward with momentum, just before a strong force slammed into her back, sending her toppling through the air. It was all noise and light and a lot of spinning from then on.
She slammed into the ground. Dead or alive, she couldn't tell. She felt the effects of shock seeping into her.
A voice. Lloyd's? She couldn't tell; her ears were still ringing. After a few minutes, she sat up, letting a sharp headache run through her head.
"You in one piece?" He asked casually.
"Yeah, think so." She replied.
Her body seemed fine. Her back ached, but she didn't feel burnt our torn up anywhere. But as she checked, she noticed blood trickling down her left arm.
"Doesn't look deep, just a scratch. Must have been some shrapnel from the walls. Hey, you listening to me?"
Karen couldn't hear his words. She was scared. For the first time in years, she was afraid for her life. The images of the accident flashed through her mind. She could die. Physically die. Her arm hurt. It was actual pain, pain she hadn't felt in what seemed like years.
"I get it now. This... it's real" She sputtered. Her emotions were becoming havoc. She didn't know how do deal with the situation, so she curled into a ball and said "Leave me alone for a bit."
And she said nothing more.