The door nearly slammed behind her as she stepped into her room and fell down onto the feather-filled mattress of her bed. Her brown eyes, like warm chocolate flecked with gold, stared up at the ceiling as she lay there. She could hear the sounds of rain pattering against the windows and roof of the large home she shared with her parents. “I am so bored.” No sound left her lips for the sentiment. The thought only echoed through her own head. Isabella had not been able to utter a word since age three. Rolling over on the bed, she pushed herself up, only to walk over and sit in the chair before her computer. She turned the machine on and stared at the screen for a few moments. “Do I even want to do anything here?” Sure, she could go shopping or out to a movie; anything to cure her boredom, but the rain made things messy and she had no desire to be out in it. As far as she was concerned, she was stuck at home, for the time being. So, she may as well make the best of it. Giving a shake of her head as she expressed a soft sigh, the light escaping of air making no actual vocal tone, she accessed her email, deciding to check it, since she had turned on the computer anyway. There was little there for her to find. A few spam messages and in her inbox one single message. It was from a sender she did not recognize. Pondering for a moment, she started to delete it, before curiosity got the better of her, and she clicked the link to open the message. ~Welcome, you have been invited to be a part of Terrasphere. Open this email in your VR adapter to download and install the client. For your personal safety, do not post about Terasphere on social media or admit to connecting to our server online.~ “Hmm. Well, it could at least make the time pass a little faster, no?” She raised a brow with the rhetorical thought and ran a hand through her thick, wavy, black hair. Clicking the necessary places to shut the computer back down, she made her way out of her bedroom and down the hall to the room her parents had allowed her to set up for gaming. Taking a few moments to make sure her VR equipment was set up, properly, she settled onto the softly cushioned lounge sofa in the room and pulled the visor onto her head and over her eyes. As she settled back onto the sofa, she clicked the machinery on and allowed herself to relax as she took her time to locate and open the needed email. Accessing the download for the client, she allowed it to go through the necessary process. “Wonder if this is really a good idea.” She thought. Laughing at herself for seeming to be worried about a game, she accessed the client. It was only a matter of a moment, before she found herself slowly slipping into darkness. ----As her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her, she realized she was in an empty room; or, well, almost empty. Not far from her, she could see what appeared to be herself, only the model, as she chose to think of the obviously unreal thing, was gray; devoid of color. She stepped over to it and reached her left hand out, letting her finger trace its cheek. The thing seemed to be made of some sort of mold-able substance, and she smiled, to herself, as she thought over how she could make the model look. Her hands began to work along the surface of the gray material. She took her time to smooth and shape each area of the model's face and down to its neck. From there she moved to its shoulders and arms. After finishing each individual finger, she started on the shape of the chest and torso, moving down to the hips and along the legs. She molded the toes and put the time and effort in for each single strand of hair. She even took the full time to stretch and form each eyelash. She formed clothing that wrapped around the ample figure like that of an Egyptian princess. The hair, dark and long, was styled much the same way. By the time she was finished, the overall effect was beautiful. The model had become a deeply tanned beauty with a curvy figure. The eyes were a deep, bold, fierce blue. Just looking at the figure was enough to cause even Isabella, its creator, to wonder just what hid behind them. In her hands, she still held a good bit of the mold-able material. Her dark eyes scanned looked it over, slowly. Pondering over it for a moment, she began to mold the substance. She took some time with it. She pulled places here and formed places there. By the time she was finished with the process, she had formed an instrument; a lute of sorts. She wasn't certain exactly how this particular piece might look in the game or if it would even make it in, but she was quite curious to find out. Placing it on the lap of the model, she turned to a screen she could see near her. It took her only a moment to choose the options she needed to in order to complete her character: Personality traits, skills, etc. Once completed, she lost sight of the model as it slowly seemed as if she fell asleep. ----She woke up sitting on the ground. The confusion that filled her wide, deep-blue eyes for a moment was apparent, as she glanced around herself. She recognized nothing. Before her stretched a wide, grassy field and behind her she could feel the hardness of rock. Where was she? “That's right.” She thought. “The game; Terrasphere.” Blinking she went to stand, only to feel a few pebbles and some dirt fall to hit the top of her head, before a heavy item banged against the top of it. Reaching up to rub her head as the item fell to the ground at her feet, she looked down to see what it was. There beside her feet lay a lyre. Made from bone and metal, the thing was beautiful and sinister all in one glance. Its back brace was a femur. Its front bow was formed from some sort of metal with a bluish tint and filed into a bladed edge. She bent down to pick the instrument up, before straightening her stance and glancing around, wondering where she should head to start her adventure. @Zander Atlas
It was the last class of the day and for that he was more than happy for. Today was a special day after all, and all he needed was to finish this last class and the rest of the day belonged to him. He thanked everything that he had not chosen to taken night classes-- had he well that would have been hell today. Of course, he could have always skipped out on his classes. His friend, Lyon, would tell him over and over how he shouldn't have to go to classes if he didn't want to. He was smart enough and could brush through the classes with his eyes closed. He didn't want to go that route though, this was about being normal. What was normal anyways? This was normal compared to the life he had lived before. He had to hide a small frown from forming upon his lips as he thought about what life had been like before he had come to Stanford University. He didn't have friends, they were more like mindless people who was either being paid to be his friend or they did so out of fear or pity. He didn't know what a normal life was like than. He was glad that all of it was behind him. "As long as you're happy, Vlad." That voice would have been enough to make him smile, had it not been for the bitter thoughts behind it and that name. He hated the name Vladimir with a passion and that was why he went by a different name now. "Earth to Henrik" he was being poked roughly in his right arm. His shaded gaze made contact with that of Lyon. "So are we still going out to celebrate or are you going to day dream some more?" That was when the shades was removed from his eyes and the almost musical chuckle came drifting into his ears. "Don't be silly, Lyon. Rik here would sooner celebrate for his twenty fifth birthday ." He saw it, but he felt sick. "Give those back, Reseca" he half snapped as he reached out to grab his glasses back from his other friend. He quickly slipped them back into place. The sickness was all in his head, but he couldn't help himself. The sunglasses were important and he couldn't be without them. "You know Rik, it isn't like you can't see without them. It won't kill you to leave the shades off. Don't tell me it is because you have constant hangovers." He didn't answer which lead to Reseca half bouncing up and down. "I knew it! I knew it!" He gathered his things and got up. "It doesn't matter" he brushed pass Lyon who was standing before him and went down the steps to get to the door. "I'm going to head back to the room. I'll get into contact if I feel like heading out." He could half hear the pouting. "Come on Henrik you knew we were only joking. Also aren't Russian's meant to love to drink at any moment they can?" He didn't answer as he headed out of the room and finally towards his dorm. He had a roommate, but they ended up dropping out half way through the semester and no one had even dared to take their place. He had a feeling there was some rumour going about him being the reason why his roommate had dropped out. Russians were meant to be scary, and hell if anyone actually knew the truth about his family, well they would think he was scary. Though that wasn't the life that he had wanted to live, that was why he was here. That was why he tried to put everything into his studies-- it was amazing he had found friends in Lyon and Reseca as he had. He half flung his bookbag onto his bag and went to go sit down at his desk where his laptop was waiting for him. He went and checked through his email, maybe there would be something there from one of his professors. Then there it was, it was a email that he felt compelled to open and skimmed over the message for Terrasphere. He shrugged as he continued read, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. If he didn't like it, he could just toss it to the side. After all, Lyon was right he did have time to goof off sometimes. His studies were important, but maybe some fun would do him good. He followed the instructs and soon that led him to being transported to a empty room. No there was someone else there, but they weren't moving. Maybe this was actually some experiment that he was taking part of. That actually made sense the more he thought about it. He walked up to the model. So it was asking him to mold his ideal form. He chewed upon his lip slightly as he pondered over it for a minute before the thought came to him. First he started with molding the hair, pulling the clay like substance down to form slightly longer locks than what he currently had. He took his time forming a piece of art. The model he made shorter than his normal height, but no one would want to mess with him. He didn't know what had come over him, but he got carried away with the process, He plugged in the needed information and that was when the room changed before his very eyes. It was quiet here as he opened pale green eyes. Silver locks came into his line of vision as a slight breeze came by to move them. Where was he exactly? Right that email said this place was Terrasphere. This was like no experiment he had ever taken part of. Did it make him a bad person that he molded this character so? He forced himself to stand, his eyes... he reached up to check his face but found no sunglasses. He took in a breath... it was just a VR experiment, nothing more nothing less. He could quit at any time. If he didn't like this character, he could just shut it off. Though the question was where was he? The place looked pretty, though it was like no where on campus he had ever seen. He might have just stood there for a good deal of time had it not been for what seemed to be a spark of flames dancing within his sight. It was almost as if it was acting like some shining beacon. He forced himself to keep moving forward. He wondered what he might find on his way. Might as well try to enjoy himself as much as he could during this experiment. "Wonder what might happen here" he spoke more to himself although he spoke out loud.
She had taken to walking across the field she had found in front of her, after looking around the area she was in. the landscape was indeed beautiful; definitely nothing like what she ever saw in the real world. It seemed, so far, that at the least, this Terrasphere would have some beautiful places to explore. It might be something worth spending some of her time on if it meant helping to cure the boredom she often felt in the world she was used to living in. “I wonder what sort of wonders will be found here.” She thought to herself as she made her way through the field. The tall grass around her seemed to bend and flow with the breeze that moved through the air; much in the same way that the flowing cloth of the ivory dress and veil she wore did. Her hand grasped, gently around the back brace of the lyre she held, as she watched the area around her. Occasionally she looked down at the lyre as if studying it. Why had she formed it anyway? Ah, that's right. She had taken Harmonic Magic, and an instrument seemed to be logical. At least in her mind, it did. Her logic told her, as she had found in many other games, that she would need a way to communicate. What better than body language and music? As she pondered over the thoughts in her mind, her fingers strummed against the strings of the lyre. The few notes that left the instrument ringing clear through the air. The sounds held an almost haunting tone, but they were beautiful. “I wonder if the music comes pre-programmed or if I have to do this alone.” She thought. She had stopped a way into the field, the fingers of her right hand leaving the lyre's strings so that she could open the palm menu for the game. “So glad I actually took the time to read up on some of how this works.” She thought as she looked through the information on her chosen masteries once more. None of the information actually seemed to give specifics on how they worked, but there was a setting to allow the game to help a player along, while they felt the need for it. She activated the setting and closed the menu, before returning her fingers to the lyre's strings. Instantly she could feel a difference in the way her fingers moved. The notes that they began to bring forth from the instrument soon bled into chords that created a beautiful, haunting melody. The song was almost infectious as her hips began to sway with the beat of the slowly moving tune; bringing her to nearly dance through the tall grasses of the field. As she moved through the field, she was slowly becoming lost in the haunting music that flowed from her fingertips. She could feel every note. Her intense blue eyes still glanced around her from time to time, though. After all, she didn't know what may or may not be waiting for her in the wilds of this new world. Surely an area so beautiful, and one set for new character spawns at that, couldn't hold much that was too dangerous to handle. Right? One could probably see very little flaw in that logic, but then, most players starting in a new game like Terrasphere would have the same way of thinking. She was no mere player, though. She had learned early in life that sometimes even the least dangerous looking of things could be the most apprehensive. With her father's line of work, it was hard to not know the dangers that lurked around the corners everywhere, even if she was protected enough to not have to face them often. There were times, though, that things had happened. Times that she had been forced out of her comfort zone and made to participate in darker parts of the world. She hadn't minded it truly. No, in fact, she had thrived in it, but she still had no desire for that to be her life. Perhaps that was the appeal of Terrasphere. Here she was starting fresh. Not just a new life, but an entirely new persona. Even she had no full grasp of who she might actually be, yet. These thoughts filled her mind as her music filled the air, her steps seeming to not even touch the ground now, as she lithely made her way through the field. She had actually lost focus on the world around her for a moment. She began to let herself become engrossed in the music; not bothering to see if anyone might happen to have been around her, nor, at first, did she hear the heavy growl that cut through the notes of her song. That was, until it sounded again, only closer. She stopped in her tracks, her fingers slipping on the strings of the lyre. The resounding off-key tones bringing her to scrunch her nose in disgust as the noise hit her ears painfully. Her intense blue gaze locked onto the large creature the resounding growl had come from. The wolf was huge. She had never seen anything like it, but its head lowered and it seemed to cringe back with the off-key tones, as well. Though just as quickly, it seemed to become angrier, its body hunkering as if it were getting ready to pounce, as its maw opened and it growled again. Her hands moved on their own. Her fingertips slid across the lyre's strings. She could only hope to buy herself some time to think, as the wolf cringed again, with the harsh sound of a discordant tone.
What was the point of this experiment, the world was well made-- but he wasn't grasping what this place was really for. Was it like the Stanford Prison Experiment or was it something less sinter in nature? No, it couldn't be like the experiment that had happened what seemed like so long ago in the basement of the very university he had found himself attending. There was lore behind it, and he found such an interest behind it and morality that went into it or rather the lack of it all. Though was that experiment anything like the one he found himself partaking in at the moment. This game had to be nothing more than some experiment, but who was running and what was the data going to? If he kept moving he might hear the announcement stating that the experiment was now over and he could take off the VR unit. Anything was possible. He should use this as a way of starting a new, use this rare experiment or game or whatever it was to start a new. He had been allowed to mold this character into the image he had wanted, he had been allowed to pick so much-- but what was it for in the long run? Then there was the spark of flames that he had seen, it had caught his eyes and he had gone towards it. Now, he had paused where he was. The flames no longer sparkling as if they were some beacon calling him forward. Well this was just great-- what was he supposed to do now? Standing out in the middle of any place was a stupid move. This place seemed real enough, meaning he might as well move with the flow or else something might actually happen. He couldn't help but feel that feeling forming in his gut that told him he needed to keep moving. He could just shut the thing down if he didn't like it, what could the harm really be. He would continue and just let this world take him and do what it wished to with him. No harm in trying new things. If he hadn't believed in such logic then he wouldn't have even come to America in the first place. He wouldn't have tried to make friends, though he was rather bad at it. This was a chance that he could do what he wanted and no one had to know who he was on the outside world. Hell, he didn't even have to try to keep out of the light. This character wasn't his real face , it wasn't just changing his name-- he had changed everything about himself and now he could do what he wished. Though what if that was what they wanted him to think? What if they were watching and waiting for him to do something so stupid that it would make him fall into that person. What if he lost his morality because he had started playing with this. No, he needed to keep going! The higher power or whatever wouldn't strike him down if he just kept going. He swallowed slightly at the thought, he was slightly sweating just thinking of that greater being. What if it was watching right now. What if not playing this right resulted in his father or his men finding him and taking him back to Russia. What if it resulted in someone dying? By this time his heart was pounding against his chest and he forced his feet to continued to move and take him through the field. The slight breeze doing nothing to cool the cold sweat that had broken along his skin. Was this fear? Why did he fear an experiment? Fear a game? It was stupid, yet he couldn't stop the thoughts from multiplying in his mind and his imagination running wild as he continued. He could see the flames again. This was an odd place for a campfire, that had been his first thought. Though it seemed to grow bigger the closer he came to it. Burn higher and brighter! A smirk actually seemed to cross along his lips as he watched the fire dancing. It was growing bigger the closer he got to it. He wanted to watch as the fire burned everything around it down and left nothing but ashes-- but aside from that not a single trace would remain of what was once there. It was strange why there was a strange fire burning within the field, though anything could happen. Maybe someone had upset the great God of this place and it was going to burn everything down now and make it into some kind of Hell. Though that thought did somehow ironically excite him. He could hear music, it was growing closer. It was strange and haunting and he wondered if the other was a player in this little game. Or perhaps they were someone who had come to appease the mighty Gods! He couldn't help but want to take the fire with him though. Though it was only a thought as his feet took him closer to the sound of the music . Though by the time he had gotten to the source, it had stopped. There was a wolf, and it was ready to pounce. It looked blood thirsty and the girl was its target. Had she maybe been the one to cause the fire and the wolf was the mighty UMA. Maybe this place would get his interest after all. He knew how the wolves of Russia could be-- this one couldn't be that bad. The girl was trying to stop the wolf on her own, her fingertips slid across the lyre's strings to produce a note-- it was unpleasant. He crinkled his nose and he heard the growling grow stronger. It wouldn't last for long. As it was the wolf was pouncing forward. Fuck it! He didn't think as he went to slam his body into the wolf mid air before the thing could bite into the lyre playing girl. "Are you fucking stupid?! Stop playing that thing and run!" At least she had something, what did he had... nothing. Good going there on his part. The wolf snapped at him and he thought of the fire. He heard the yip as he saw the sparks dancing before him. He landed on the ground on his knees, green eyes directed upon the flames and the wolf. "Oh mighty UMA don't be mad" he bowed his head , he couldn't stop himself as the flames grew brighter before his eyes.
