Aetoria

Mackenzye stood in her new game room, the technicians leaving as the last of the Soul Transfer tech was hooked up. The tables upon which they were meant to lay on sat in a circle the feet all pointing to each other. She had paid for a total of seven hookups. One for herself and her six friends. Pleased that it was all up and running she sent out the text messages to invite her friends over.

Three Hours Later...

The door bell rung and a stout man dressed in a pristine black tuxedo answered the door. His face wrinkled with age still held a masculine beauty that spoke of his looks in his youth. "Welcome Young Masters. Her Lady is in the play room. Refreshments will be served once everyone has arrived."

With a wave of the hand he beckoned them inside. The inside of her home was lavish, the main foyer leading to a grand staircase that led up to the main floor where the lounge and library were. At the base of the stairs was a small oak door that led downstairs to Mac's piece of the house. On the other side was a world she kept to herself.

The door would open up to a silver pole that led down into the basement. Once one slid down its length they would land into a replica of the batcave. The large Master computer online good for streaming movies and basic search engines. Nothing like the comic version. In the display cases were some of her top characters. Catwoman. Nightwing. Harley Quinn. Joker. Robin. Just to name a few.

Where the Bat Mobile should have been was an elevator that took one further down into the basement, opening up into Superman's Sanctuary. Behind the display glasses were replicas of the species her kept. Down to an all white great Dane that she named Kyrpto.

Walking the white hall lead into the game room. The Soul Tech placed at its center adjoined to a lounge that had a wall of televisions where Mac, herself, sat playing Ark: Survival Evolved.

She turned and smiled at her friends, "well don't just stand there. Help yourselves." Her right hand waved through the air in gesture toward the marked injection guns that held the chips needed to log into the tech. One already laid empty.

"I figured you guys would want to play opening night. So like the angel I am, I made sure it was here for you. You can all thank me in game." Her smile was radiant though she had been the one that wanted to play. And did nit wish to log on alone. Nor did she want her family to know she was really into this sort of thing. For now they assumed she bought all this for her friends.

"Well. Hurry up. It's almost time! Food will be down soon. Let's get this party started!"

Getting into place I relaxed my body and awaited what would come next. Excitement made me a little rigid but I managed to not shake in excitement.

Eren made his way into game room and looked around what Mackenzye would call a 'game room' to him however this was something more, never had he seen such a room, almost like it had been super sized like everything else within her house.

Nevertheless, he made himself comfy and looked at Mackenzye and chuckled " I ought to say.. I knew you were wealthy just not this much.. How much was all this?" Eren asked her casually, curious to know.

The amount of wealth her friend displayed was entirely unhealthy if a bit unfair, Luna thought as she was lead down the halls. She supposed it wasn't too bad, after all, this was Mackenzye's whole world. Boundless amounts of wealth were normal for Mackenzye while Luna found it occasionally jarring. Sometimes it even made her wonder why she was even friends with her. They could be so different at times but perhaps the theory of "Opposites Attracted" held some truth to it.

As she entered the room via the pole, Luna couldn't help but gawk at how much just everything was. It was as if she had entered the comic world for real. Strolling casually through the display cases and eventually down the halls of Superman's sanctuary, Luna was more than pleased when she had finally found Mackenzye. She swore if she had to walk down another exact replica of some superhero's fortress or home, she was gonna get seriously lost.

Luna supposed she was happy that Mackenzye didn't seem to favor the Marvel superheroes, well at least from what she had saw. She didn't think she could handle walking through the Xavier Mansion or Stark Tower.

Once she gazed at Soul Teach gear, however, she smiled and was more than eager to try the game out. An avid gamer herself, she tried to calm down the excitement she felt and speak like a proper person.
"This is wonderful Mac. I really appreciate it,"

Floored didn't even remotely cover the feeling of awe that sent Astrid's mind into a haze as she wandered through the mansion - keeping up with the others out of mere necessity when all she wanted to do was explore. It seemed that her good friend Mac lived like a supervillain, and the irony of owning the Batcave was not lost on her. I mean, how many basements could a person have? Sliding down the pole into - you guessed it - another basement, shook the young woman from her trance. She was proud of herself for staying with the pack and not wandering off to see what other marvels they housed here. What could she say? Exploring was her thing; and it was apparent on her criminal record of trespassing charges, sprinkled with the occasional breaking and entering for good measure. Her curiosity was definitely going to be the death of her.

When she saw Mackenzye, the wide-eyed trance immediately broke for her usual grin. "Did you know that you're actually a cartoon character? Like, that's what this house is. I'm pretty sure that you're raising dinosaurs and teaching them tricks somewhere in this house," She thought aloud as she let herself wander around the final room, trying to make sense of the Soul Transfer equipment.

She was excited - very excited. Without Mac, there was probably no way she'd ever get to test out this caliber of gaming software. It wasn't necessarily that she was very into video games, but the mystery that surrounded this one drew her in more than anything had ever. She had one goal in this game, and one goal only: to raise some hell.

Eren looked at his friends as they looked about themselves, he looked down as a grin crossed his face and a small, quiet filled the room "Not everyday you can walk into a mansion" he said and whispered to himself 'unless your Astrid', sure he found this group a bit bizzare sometimes as it varied from wealth to criminal, almost as if he was in the breakfast club of his time, but he didn't mind it that much

Mac laughed as they all funneled in her gaze sweeping over each of them as she gave an exaggerated role of her eyes, "Astrid. I wish. That would make life so much less...complicated." Mac was aware of her wealth and try as she might it could not be ignored nor could she make it go away. So she spent it on whatever came to mind. And sense 'no' was not an option in her parents vocabulary. Her game room existed.

Her smile softened as she looked at Luna, "you're welcome. I know you guys wanted to play and...I didn't want you feeling left out."

With a sigh she turned her attention to the table with the injector guns on it. She picked up the first one and walked over to Eren, "lemme see your arm?" Mac waited for him to roll up his sleeve before placing the nuzzle to his skin and pulling the trigger. Letting the tracker device enter his body.

"This thing is going to monitor our vitals and stuff. Make sure we are okay and safe while we are in there. Godfrey, my butler, is going to be the one monitoring us. So he will pull us out if we happen to get too stressed or our bodies cannot handle it."

She placed the gun back down and went for the next one as she approached Astrid, repeating this process until everyone was implemented and ready to go. She, herself, took a moment to sip on some sparkling cider before going into the room with the SLT tables.

"Okay so. When you get in, supposedly it calibrates to you. So whatever machine you pick is yours. Lets all meet up in the square or whatever passes as the square, okay? Oh and...we should all make a guild or something. That would be cool. We are so going to kick ass in this."

Too excited to do much else she went back to the refreshment table and took a cookie, nibbling on it as she regarded her friends, "So have you guys thought on what classes you are taking. I am going to be a healer I think. So a cleric for this game. Any of you have any ideas of what class you are going for?"

With that said she was eyeing the clock, log in was in twenty minutes and while she wanted to shoot the breeze she didn't want to miss the opening of the game. Making her way back to the SLT room, she moved to lay on a table and beckoned them to do the same. When the conversation had reached a reply from everyone she clapped her hands to gain their attention.

"Okay guys. It is time! Lets all get ready and log in. Calibrating should take like...five seconds."

As they were laying down, Godfrey had made his way in unheard and seen, there was an employee entrance somewhere, and was making sure all the connections were properly fixed and they would have someone to monitor them. When they laid down, he operated the controls to boot up the system which slid them under the scanner for the game.

The screen would come on before their eyes as a light blue screen with a red scanner that went unseen. Shortly after the urge to sleep would sweep over them as the machine searched their 'soul' for the information needed to project them into the system. As they slept the calibration was done.

Soon everyone would wake up in a brightly lit cathedral, to which an AI stood ready to greet them all.



Her voice was soft and warm as she spoke. "Welcome back, adventurers. Please. Make your way through Despion to the Guild Hall. Where we will work very hard to get you settled. Your return could only mean that there is hope for us still."

With that a hand would wave to the door which led out to a small village.



Straight through the village was the Guild Hall at the center of the town. AI's walked about but they behaved like normal people would. Only the adventurers were aware that they were inside of a game at all. However, any memories of the outside world beyond the game was not present.

Inside people were depositing money into the bank and making requests on the Adventurers board now that they were here.

A guild girl stood by the desk of oncoming adventurers and smiled brightly. "Hi. Welcome to Despion. Please fill out this paperwork, pick out a class and you will be all set. Level one gear will be provided to you as well as a minimum of 100 gold to start. Please remember that your class can be changed with the proper paperwork."

A small sheet of paper was provided that would be the players way to opt into the game. Once signed a bright gold shimmer would engulf the player, giving them level one gear of their class of choice.

Mac awoke and shook her head as it felt foggy, seeing the female ushering others away she was soon to follow as the woman spoke to them directly about adventures. She knew she was one and which kind, however that was all she knew. Turning to look around a few faces looked familiar and she smiled as she approached them as they woke up.

"Hey, guys." She looked as she always did as she grinned at them. When each was present, they would make their way as instructed. "I am so excited to get started. I cannot wait to see what sort of Quests are out there!"

Once they reached the Guild Hall, Mac took her paper and filled it out. The shimmer of gold shocked her as she gasped and stood in a very simple robe of white and blue, marking her as a Cleric. A squeal of excitement passed through her before she stepped aside and waited for the others.

Eren rubbed his eyes as he awoke, he looked at everyone with smile as he made his way to his feet and followed the AI's to the guild hall, he found it weird how simple it was to be able to get going but he didn't care and instead got it done quickly.

He'd been given some cape with a hood, a small holster for a dagger, finally he was given a short bow a request but it didn't come to surprise as he had just started, nevertheless he had now been made an assassin as his form said, guess slow and steady is how he liked playing his game.

He waited for the others and looked at Mackenzye "Really a robe?" He chuckled quietly "Whatever, i'm coming to you when i'm close to death i guess" He smiled and took in the scenery of the guild hall

The world was like something she had never seen; So bright and full of color, sounds and smells unknown and new. Never in her wildest dreams would she trade this experience for anything in the world and Luna found herself gazing at how realistic everything was. What had the world before even been like? Could it even compare to this? Making her way through the various NPC's and other early adventurers, her smile couldn't possibly get any more genuine and wide.

Through the Guild Hall and approaching the desk, Luna took her time selecting everything and marveled at herself when she was done. She looked similar in nearly every way, besides the pair of fluffy ears and tail that now accompanied her person. It was a hard choice when it came to classes and eventually, she settled on assassin as she was unable to resist the appeal of heavily roleplaying as a Ninja.

In fact, the starter gear that was given to her almost reflected that desire; it was light and easy to move about in but also appearing to in a more eastern fashion. Her weapon, a single curved dagger, lay strapped to her side for easy access. When she eventually approached her friends, Luna moved with careful steps, a bit cautious in their judgment of her class. Would it be so wrong to live out one of her fantasies?



"Mac, you chose Cleric?" Luna couldn't help but comment on her choice. She supposed it made sense for Mackenzye in a vain sense; everyone would have to clamour to her for healing and to stay alive. They would seek out her attention and in return, she would thrive in it like she always did.

Maybe that was why Luna had picked Assassin over any other class. She did not do too well under everyone's attention and would prefer to hide away and seek quite if possible. A perfect fit for a ninja, she thought. Silence and solitude.

"This makes two assassins then," She added as she glanced at Eren. This would be an interesting party dynamic, indeed.

Eren nodded at Luna with a smile, looking at her attire and how different it was to his despite him being the same class "Heh yep two assassins" he said as he looked at the two slightly hoping for someone to be a different class.

He sighed and got up, stretching out slightly "While we wait for the others i'm gonna give myself a tour of this place, feel free to tag along if you want" He said as he began to wonder out of the guild hall.

Mac felt a little foolish in her attire as her legs were left quite bare with the fabric falling between them and behind them. On her hip she had a yew wand and her inventory housed a few simple potions.

"I thought a support role would suit me best. I am not that good on the front lines. And even worse as a DPS. So...healer."

She spun once to show off her robes before her gaze swept to Eren and she grinned, "I actually agree. We should explore a bit while the others are coming and such."

Following behind him she smiled at Luna, "Two assassins. Can't wait to see what you guys can do." She was excited, more so than normal as she nearly bounced as she walked.

Eren glanced back at Mackenzye and nodded "Hm yeah I hope having to assassins will be a good decision." He then looked at luna and smiled "Just don't hold me back" He said in a teasing way

As, they looked about Eren came across a market of sorts and decided to take a look at what was useful for any sticky situations.

Was it their eyes that made her uncomfortable or was it their words? Luna couldn't decide and suddenly wished that she had waited for everyone to leave before she had picked her class. She had been selfish when choosing, picking a DPS roll over anything else. Perhaps she should've played a more tank roll or another healer class. What if someone else picked assassin? How would their party function with three DPS and one healer?

Gripping the hilt of the dagger she had been given, she took a deep breath. Her decision had not been wrong and things would go great. Besides, two DPS meant that they could put out much more damage to monsters than most.

Walking alongside Mackenzye and Eren, Luna kept her mind busy by watching the various NPCs and new adventurers browser the market stalls. They only carried so much gold currently but she was sure when they got a chance to do quest, they would get enough to buy many great items and be even stronger.

"When do you think we will get to go on a Quest?" She asked them both in general, trying to make idle conversation. Occasionally, her fluffy feline ears would twitch at the different sounds that greeted her as they pass through the crowds.

"Do you think we will be any good?"

"Hopefully when everyone picks a class" Eren said bluntly, slightly annoyed of the on-going wait for the others. He sighed and looked at them "I wouldn't going solo on a quest however" He smiled and decided to continue to roam the town, looking at other people who had started to enter into city