by BrainWalker » Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:02 pm
(That sounds about right. There's basically three interaction groups right now, and the only thing that's clear is that Enzo and Sam are closer to the classrom than everyone else. Whether it's Lauren and Emily or the other four that's next in line is up for debate, but I like CC's reckoning.)
"I guess I should get up."
Max was lying in bed after he and his entire room had been pulled through some crazy digital wormhole and deposited into an all-new, still all-virtual location. He was adjusting the position, size, and brightness of a fake window he had installed on the wall opposite the door to his room. He never could get the imitation sunlight to look quite right. This whole "digital existance" thing had taken a while to get used to, and he still wasn't entirely comfortable with it. He wondered if it would be different when he finally got out into the real world, into his android body. Would the warmth of the sun still feel the same on his face? Would his body feel like his body, and not some kind of borrowed virtual "shell"?
Would he still get that same rush from getting behind the wheel? Max thought he had come to terms with these questions over the past six months of training, but being one step closer to the real world brought them up again. They had told him pilot training was more intense than the rest of the classes, and now that the solo training was over, he was definitely ready to meet someone other than himself and the trainer AI. He knew he was excited to be out of training. He heard the voices of other children outisde his room, and he could sense the anticipation of meeting his new "brothers and sisters," but these feelings didn't feel quite the same as before. The beating of a heart, the tensing of muscles... it just wasn't there like it was before. It all felt somehow... fake. Of course, that's a consequence of living a virtual life in a virtual world, but it was a little unsettling, and something that Max often thought about in his downtime.
He wondered what his sister was up to.
"Well, lying here thinking about it isn't going to change anything."
Max thrust himself out of bed, standing up quickly and smacking his cheeks, announcing to the world "All right! Let's do this!"
On his way to his door, Max caught a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror next to his virtual closet. "Oh right, the new uniform!" He paused to consider his new look. He liked the idea of combining the camo of the light ranged class with the dark colors of the pilot class. His self-titled "nighttime urban camo" definitely looked cool, with its monocrhomatic blacks and grays and specs of white, but seeing it actually on him, he wondered how effective it would be as concealment. Especially combined with his dark, metallic blue gloves, boots, and... briefs. He wasn't entirely comfortable how everyone kept referring to them as underwear, but he wasn't sure how else to refer to them, either. What's with superheroes wearing their underwear on the outside, anyway? At least he was still himself. Slightly on the short side of average height, short, dark brown hair styled with a little gel. It was a vanity that he defended by saying he didn't like the feeling of wind whipping his hair around. This was, of course, a lie. Generally satisfied with himself, Max decided to head out the door and meet his teammates.
Except they were all already ahead of him. The hall his room was attached to was empty, and he could hear the other kids in the adjacent directory, leading down to the classroom. It struck him as kind of odd that he knew where the classroom was already, despite this being his first time in The Databse. Another unique aspect of life as a digital being. Looking up and down the Hall, he wondered if there was an "outside" to this Database place. An open area with grass and trees and sun where he could really stretch his wings. Suddenly, he really wanted to test out his flight capability. But in such an enclosed space... should he? "Why the Hell not?" he said to himself. It was a virtual space, he couldn't do any serious damage. He'd probably have to get a running start, though.
He wondered if he would be able to take that corner mid-flight...
Wait, no, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Max decides it would be a better idea to first see how flight feels compared to the training program. Before doing anything too crazy, he decides to try a brief sustained hover, ideally without bumping into the ceiling.