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."
