A Reality of a Different Color

Deciding against the transformation abilities, you go for a head-on attack strategy. The Attack ability, of course - you guess your companion doesn't automatically attack opponents? That sounds annoying, but you kind of get it. Flare, because it's not only an AoE blast, but also the only direct attack option you have. And Swap for the strategic options (and because teleportation is awesome and you're just dying to know how that's going to work in an ARG game).

And of course you go for the Matrix-y leather. Wizards and dragons are cool, of course, but what really caught your eye in the ads were all the futuristic science-fantasy parts.

Satisfied with your choices, you tap at the floating Create button. The interface dissolves into violet sparkles.


The almost melodic voice startles you until you remember that you are, in fact, wearing an earpiece with a speaker.


A violet-hued HUD shimmers into view, showing what looks like a couple of status indicators and a skill bar with your Abilities. Unlike the character creation screen, this interface stays in the same place in your field of vision instead of in space - which you'd expect from a HUD.

The empty vertical bar along the side glows brighter for a moment.


The large violet circle at the bottom of it glows brighter for a moment, this time.


This time, when the voice pauses, the icons representing your Abilities glow, along with the five dots lined up under them.


The smaller circle below your Energy Pool glows for a moment.


The HUD disappears in sparkles.


You wait a moment longer just to make sure it's actually done, then tap your MRD. The HUD comes back up into view, and you select your companion's EP circle to see what it's got.


Mirage, huh? You're not sure which parts are from your Color and which are from your Class, but illusion and transformation seem like the start of a pattern…

Now that you know that "your own Violet energy" basically means sacrificing health for damage, Flare seems a lot riskier than you were expecting. Still, a five meter area of effect attack is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you wind up in a mob.
Well! You're in the game. What do you want to do first?

[] Head out to the nearest park to look for other players.
[] Wander around your neighborhood looking for something to fight.
[] Write-in

And what will you want to name your companion?

[] [Sprite] Write-in

[X] Head out to the nearest park to look for other players.

The first thing to do, you decide, is head into town to look for other Chromata players. The game's been out for a few days so far: maybe someone there will have some tips to give you about how the game works. Plus, you don't get a lot of chances to hang out with people who share your interests and hobbies these days.

The best place to start, you decide, is at Ferriman Park, the closest park to your apartment. Plenty of people hang out there, and if there's one thing you've learned, it's that open park spaces tend to be hot-spots of ARG activity. Anyone playing the game there is probably going to be younger than you, but that'll be true just about anywhere. And hey, you're not that old yet.

You start to head out the door - then hesitate, realizing that even if you're not looking for a fight, there's no guarantee one won't find you. It's better to be safe; you don't want to be caught out without your Sprite companion, since without having it summoned, you literally can't do anything.

Selecting the companion EP circle, you "tap" it again. A pop-up appears in front of you.


Oh, right, it still needs a name. You think about it for a moment, but the only thing that really comes to mind is the star icon for Violet. They're going to be the same color as your character, so that's all you really know for sure about it, anyway.

Going through all the star-related words you can think of, you settle on Nebula and enter it in.

Your Sprite appears in a swirl of violet sparkles and hovers in the air next to you: an entirely androgynous pixie-like fairy about two feet tall, with translucent insect-like wings and features that remind you of a chibi-style anime character. It's watching you expectantly with large, shining eyes.

It's adorable.

"Hi, Nebula."

Nebula replies with a completely incomprehensible string of musical chirps and flutters around you in a circle.

Right, you're going to the park. You head out the door and out to the nearest bus stop to wait for the Route 12 - that's the one that goes to the park. The wait is uneventful, and at first it seems the bus ride will be too. Halfway there, you're sitting there, staring out the window, when you hear a muffled roar in your earpiece. Turning reflexively towards the sound, you catch a glimpse of a giant, glowing white leonine monster on top of the fire house - ironically, being set on fire. The stream of flames is coming from the sidewalk across the street and you crane your neck around just in time to see someone in brilliantly red, slightly glowing mage robes shooting flames from their hand before the bus turns a corner.

They must have been an Astralist. You still can't believe how real it all looked.

The woman across the bus from you is looking at you oddly and you realize you're grinning like an idiot. Coughing into your hand, you spend the rest of the ride trying to get your expression back under control as Nebula chimes happily in circles around your head.

The first thing you notice when you get off at Ferriman Park is a glowing rainbow C floating above the picnic area. You're not sure what it means, but it's obviously a major part of the game so you head over there.

The picnic area is pretty popular at dinner time on a summer evening; half of the tables are occupied and the grill is in use. Two of the tables look like Chromata players, marked by the holographic outfits overlaying their real ones. Aside from the quick glimpse out the window, it's your first good look at how the game graphics interface with reality. And you're impressed by the result; it looks like the character's outfit is what they're actually wearing.

You take a quick look down at yourself and realize, yeah, you're dressed like your own character in your own view, too, although you can see your jeans and shirt faintly through the projection.

But you came here to talk to people about the game, not just wander around staring. One of the player-occupied tables has three people: one in dark red Harry Potter-like wizard robes, one in black… something, it's hard to tell the details of something that dark from a hundred meters away, and one in the lace-up vest and trousers you had as an option, but green. A green cat-like creature is lounging on their table. You're pretty sure they're friends and are playing the game together, what with each having a different class and color.

The other table only has one person, wearing orange robes a lot like the Red Astralist setting that lion thing on fire. But his robes are detailed in blue instead of a different shade of orange. If he has two colors, he must have gotten to pick a secondary color already - which makes him at least level five, and the highest level player you've seen so far.

Who are you going to talk to first?

[] The lone Orange Astralist
[] The three-player party
[] Sit at a table by yourself and see if someone approaches you