bloodsins | NOCTIUM INBOX

You're tellin' me you don't have to do all that... [he mimes typing with one finger] tappin' on the screen to spell everythin' out? Guess that explains why you're more talkative.

[But also: unfair!!! Do you know how long it takes him to type!!!]

...Why would I waste time with that when it can hear my thoughts?

[rip your typing skills though dear god]

...Kiiiinda creepy, but you do you. Glad you're havin' fun with it?

[Is fun the right word here...]

...Why is it creepy?

Havin' anything hearin' my thoughts sounds bad. I don't need anyone dealin' with the inner me or whatever; already went through that once and I'm not doin' it again.

Machines don't care. Other people might, though.

[...He says decisively, as though he likewise has experience with this sort of thing. And I mean, he didn't mind that experience, but...]

Other people have a tendency to care even when you don't want 'em to.

[Perhaps especially when you don't want them to.]

But yeah, I guess machines would be different. Never really thought much about tryin' to talk to 'em in the first place. What do they have to say?

It depends on the machine. Most don't say much. The ones we have don't say anything.

[They just accept input, at least as far as he's been able to figure out. Otherwise, it's presumably sort of like talking to Killy on a regular basis.

Anyway, here we are! Lucky Star is bright, loud, and...well, it's an arcade. There are several VR machines here and there, presumably they're programmed with various things to do on them. FPS games are likely among them; that's where we're going.]

You said you like guns. You'll like these.

[...I mean, the way he says it sounds vaguely like a threat, but that's just kind of how he talks...]

[Huh. Well anyway, here we are!! Vicious definitely seems interested now that we're here; he doesn't know what any of this shit is, but damn if it isn't loud and bright, and that's entertaining.

Of course, Killy's got good taste in entertainment, and that makes Vicious laugh.]

'Course I do - so it's a shootin' game? What do I need to know to jump in?

[He just passes over some of the apparatus required to use the VR portions of all of this; putting it on is something more easily demonstrated than explained, especially since he doesn't seem to really have a grand command over verbal explanation. And once the VR actually kicks on...well, hopefully that's something you find cool rather than alarming, Vicious, um. He'll be watching to gauge a reaction, granted, but god help us both if you think he'll know what to do if you do not actually care for this.]

[Let's be honest, you're probably going to have to help him put it on, he has no idea what he's looking at.]

Okay, so this is somehow gonna be a shootin' game? I'm really not followin'.

[But he's also not really complaining either, just deeply confused.

Well, at least until the VR itself kicks in, that gets a startled noise from him and he jolts a bit in surprise before settling.]

...Holy shit.

[It's a bit much and not what he was expecting at all, but given the way he's looking around, it definitely sounds like a good reaction.]

[He will assist with this where needed! It's not like he hasn't been touching everyone the whole time he's been here, this place gets the reluctance to physically touch people out of your system real fast...

That said, though - that reaction seems favorable, and that is a good thing overall.]

...It's really different, isn't it?

[He sort of wonders if this is similar to the experience of talking to the Authority in their portion of the network. Possibly? Who knows.]

This is... it's like it's really there!

[VR is a hell of a thing. Give him a bit while he just looks around in awe.]

How does it work— Actually, I don't care. I'm not gonna get the explanation anyway, might as well skip it.

[At least he recognizes it??]

[At least this is making Vicious' head explode in, like, a good way. As opposed to an aneurysm sort of way. Killy himself has only tried it a couple of times; the first time was an attempt to talk to whatever God may happen to exist here, and that was...decidedly not what he got, but that's okay.

Anyway. He'll get himself set up, it won't take long.]

Do a round with me.

[...At least you know better than to assume you're getting an actual explanation out of him.]

[Oh of course not.]

Sure thing, but teach me the basics first. I'm not givin' you a free win!

[He learns best by doing, sure, but having a baseline to work off of is kind of necessary.]

I wouldn't want one.

[The explanation that follows is succinct and to the point, but for the time being it will have to suffice; it at least covers the basics - how to shoot, how to shift weapons. How to, you know...move? All that fun shit. Look at all this quality RP.]

Got it?

[It's very quality!! But anyway yeah, that explains what he needs to know, and Vicious nods.]

Yeah, I'm ready to go! Let's dance!

[Do you need to do something special to start the game... Eh, screw it, he's going to go ahead and take a shot at Killy before cackling and moving away to see if he can find some cover. Surely this game will go well!!]

[Oh, it's going to go great. We are both aggressive as hell and this is a way to burn out just so much energy, holy shit. ...Even if we are, for the most part, not really going anywhere because such is the nature of VR. The point is that this is weird amounts of fun for something so relatively low-stakes? Killy likes the immersiveness of it, it's something to do with himself that isn't just wander Sumarlok in circles for the foreseeable future. He'd done a lot of wandering in circles back in the City; it's nice to have something else to do with himself.

Having an actual thinking opponent is also pretty great, actually? That's pretty fun in and of itself. Huh.

That said, though, the round will end eventually, and it takes him a moment to take everything off; it's weird, though, coming back down off of all of that, and he's actually sort of smirking to himself a little bit as he does so - it's an incredibly vague expression, to say nothing of an extremely unpracticed one, but still, he had a good time, all right.]

...Good game.

[Well, that was absolutely wild. It's going to take Vicious a moment to get all the gear off, and then after a moment of thought he decides fuck it, he's sitting on the ground until he gets his bearings again.]

It'll be even better next time, now that I know what I'm doin'. 'Course, I'm way better in person!

[He didn't exactly have time to figure out how to do all of his usual flips and awesome moves which was definitely for the best because he would've injured himself trying it.]

It's crazy that they can make somethin' like that that feels so real...

Yeah.

[...]

Good that you liked it.

Thanks for sharin'! I never would've guessed they had anythin' quite like this here!

[Mostly because he never would have thought VR was possible, but eh, whatever!!]

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