This is a story about a world in the near future, where an adult-oriented medieval fantasy full-body virtual reality MMO/virtual world (try saying that ten times fast) has become massively popular. While it is loosely based off of a mixture of MMOs, virtual worlds, medieval fantasy, anime series, and real-world western culture and etymology, I did try to include my own spin on it.
Some time has been spent working out aspects of the world before writing the story, which is not meant to fit a single genre or fetish. Be it bdsm, romance, action adventure, furries, comedy, non-consent, fantasy lore etc., you can expect to find many things you like and perhaps on occasion some things you don't like.
This isn't a story for the sake of smut, or even a story for its own sake. It's a story for the sake of its world. If you want smut however, there will be some, but it's going to be a slow burner to start with. On that point, more chapters will come, but possibly quite slowly as my personal life can be demanding.
Please don't be too harsh on my writing. I have never had an editor and this is only my second (and most ambitious) story.
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Prologue:
The receptionist hummed nonchalantly, drumming her flawless fingernails on the glass surface of her desk. These long evenings were such a drag. She'd sometimes wondered if there was any point to her shift at all, as people rarely ever logged on at night, and she was yet to see anyone log off during one of her shifts. God these new servers must be good. It sounded like once plugged in, no one ever wanted to leave again.
She looked out of the window, sighing as she watched the heavy rain beating against the glass, the sound drowned out by the thrum of the processors at the back, whirring furiously. One of these days... One of these days she'd be able to afford an account, and she'd never log off. Ever.
A sudden squealing made her start and she turned to see the sliding doors open and a dark figure walk in from the night's darkness, their wet hair being tussled and dried by the jet of hot air at the entrance. Knowing this would likely be the most thrilling thing to happen that night, the receptionist put on her best fake smile.
"Hello there! How may I help you tonight?"
"I would like to purchase an account."
"Of course!" answered the receptionist, busying herself with selecting the right forms on her tactile desk. "Here we go, so does that indeed mean that you would like to have premium access to our latest servers and impending updates?"
The figure nodded.
"Very well," she continued, dragging the virtual form to the far side of the desk and flipping it over. "We will just need you to read this contract giving you complete access to one pod only at any one time. Once you are done, just sign it with your fingerprint and the sum will be transferred immediately."
Another nod.
The receptionist could hardly keep herself from sighing out of exasperation as she patiently waited for her client to go through the contract in much detail. God this was dull.
Finally she received a third nod as the figure placed their index carefully on the bottom of the contract and the digital desktop made a chiming sound. She then swept the contract back, checked the transfer had been made, and flung it at the cabinet icon where it automatically filed itself.
"Now the system has your details and will transfer a copy of the contract to your digital surface or equivalent personal device. To log on, all you need to do is step through that door, which works via facial recognition, and step into one of the open pods. They are all automatically cleaned after use to uphold the highest standards in hygiene, and have retina scanning activation."
The new account holder nodded one last time, and walked through the door without saying a word, leaving a very annoyed and envious receptionist in their wake. They were now in a large dark room full of pods arranged in long rows, most of which were occupied. It didn't take long to find an empty one, though, and they walked right in.
A blue light passed over the new players' face as the pod closed around them, and a small screen lit up asking for them to strip and to place their clothes in the small container to their left. Once this was done, the container retracted into the floor and the insertion process began.
A slim virtual reality mask was molded to their face, isolating their airways to a tube split in multiple parts. Braces then clamped around the arms, legs, waist, wrists and ankles right before the floor retracted and metallic arms extended to cover the entire surface of the now mechanically supported body of the player with a gelatinous substance that molded itself to their every inch.
It was the same polymer based substance as that of the headset, which started by appearing liquid as it molded itself to the body before plasticizing and adapting to its texture. The wireless sensors within the substance then activated, producing an accurate 3D map of the surface of the player's body and connected to the extremities of the nervous system so as to be able to simulate skin-related sensations.
Finally the jelly-like product on the underneath of the player's feet was attached to flat supports controlled by mechanical arms that would lock when reaching floor level, allowing the player to stand again. Another couple of minutes passed as a number of other braces were set into place, the main processor unit was activated and the outer nervous system was synced up to it.
The screen on the 180-degree virtual reality mask finally activated, with the message "Insertion process complete". The rest was now up to the player.
[...]
Chapter 1: Welcome to Prometheus 2.
"Welcome to the Extra-virtual Massively Multiplayer Arenas, also called E.M.M.A!" started the small flying droid as it flitted around the player in a blank virtual world. "Before we determine the exact abilities of your avatar, you must first choose its gender, name and appearance!
"First of all the available genders are as follows: Male, Female, intersex, genderless, male transgender, female transgender, male hermaphrodite, female hermaphrodite, neutral hermaph..."
"Female." Says the player, cutting the droid off.
"Very well Ms, As for your..."
"You may call me Miss" interjects the player.
"Yes miss, if that is your preference, I will opt for the traditional title. Now as for your sexual preference and other gender related issues, they are up to you to express however you see fit. E.M.M.A's settings only assign name and gender to account statuses. By the way, what would you want your avatar name to be?"
"Isabelle."
"Would you like to add a last name? Middle name? Nickname?"
"No."
"Very well Miss Isabelle," Says the droid, scribbling on a notepad that seems to have magically appeared in its comically small hands. "It is now time for you to create your avatar's default physique. Please give me a rough description to start off with."
"She must look like a young woman, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a slim build...
"And large breasts?" Adds the droid, smirking "are you sure you do not want a more visually original avatar, miss Isabelle?"
"You are being impatient. And no, the breasts should be reasonably small, to fit the build. Make her face very cute and her head slightly larger than life."
"There is an anime setting if you want Miss. It would fit the proportion better and make the overall appearance more unusual."
"Then style her like in a anime."
"How about clothing, Miss Isabelle? You may change all of this later of course, but it's best to start off with something you like. A popular choice for players with avatars like yours is a schoolgirl outfit."
"No, a sharp looking cocktail dress will do. Something nice but nothing too formal."
"Very well miss Isabelle." Replies the droid, dropping his pad and clapping his hands together.
A mirror suddenly appears in front of Isabelle, showing the image of a drop dead gorgeous anime woman with her blond hair made up in elaborate curls, with huge, bright blue eyes and wearing a knee-length iridescent red dress that starts around her shoulder and hugs her torso to midway down her waist, where it spreads out in long folds that appear so straight and solid that they could have been made from shards of broken glass.
As Isabelle tilted her head slightly, she notices that the reflection's head tilted as well, and suddenly realizes that this is already the shape of her virtual avatar. She looks down at her long slender arms and her small hands, opening and closing her fingers in front of her face. She really couldn't tell from the sight that they were virtual images. She then ran her hands down her dress, feeling the fabric. It felt soft and rich, and was most likely silk. The quality with which E.M.M.A was simulating her sense of touch was quite extraordinary.
"It's quite good," Isabelle finally told the droid, "But there are some details I want to change. Make the dress less aggressive in it's shape, and it needs to fit the eye color, which I'd rather were green. I'd also rather have loose hair, and make it slightly wavy, but not curly. Make it a little longer, and the dress as well... Oh and make the eyes a tiny bit bigger, they look quite nice like that."
Once those details had been modified, Isabelle was now staring at a beautiful girl with long blond hair framing her huge green eyes and cute little nose. She wore a broad smile and a frilly green strapless dress that matched her eyes and went past her knees. It was all quite tasteful, with a very subtle cleavage and fine silver frills along the edges.
"Would you like some shoes as well Miss Isabelle?" Asked the droid. "And might I also recommend some underwear? Please remember that I cannot add things to your avatar without your permission."
