Nankadai, Osaka was a curious place. It was built in the middle of an older area of the city, a prefecture to bring the future to an aging population. In some ways it was the Osaka answer to Akihabara; though if I was honest, I'd prefer to go to Tokyo. It was the home of the smart device, rather then the gizmo for the tech-savvy or the discerning buyer. I wouldn't be buying a Famicon here.
But for my current purposes, Nankadai was probably perfect. Midori just grinned as she skipped ahead of me, spinning and smiling as we walked from the station.
"When was the last time you hit the city?" She called, hands folding briefly behind her back. I just shook my head, slowly hobbling after her. I wasn't as fast as I once was, but there wasn't much I could do to move faster.
"Before." I left it at that. "You know, some ramen for dinner might not go wrong."
"I know a place." Of course Midori knew a place. She got around a lot more then me. "Two places, actually."
"That have your seal of approval?"
"Aya, aya." She nodded. "Nice, cozy and good ramen. That is a nice evening." She held up a finger for a moment, grinning. "Ahem. You must cut back on the ramen. You are no longer young and need to watch your calories." Her voice changed into something deeper and haughty, and I just rolled my eyes.
Midori loved her food.
"That bad huh?"
"Aya." She clicked her fingers, slowing her walk to match my pace. "It's not too far, is it?"
"I can do it. Just give me time." Midori nodded, skipping ahead again as she stopped by a vending machine. A moment later she was back with a watermelon soda in hand. "Thanks."
"No problem."
The streets were futuristic. Filled with lights that lit up as we approached and the gentle hum of cars. I did my best to stay well away from the road. I looked at the cars and I just…
I couldn't explain it.
The store Midori led me to was named Hideo Electronics. It was well stocked, but it also gave me the feeling of a shop that hid itself for the sake of being mysterious. There were way too many patrons for it to be unknown, though. In the back, I could see stairs, both up and down. Down led, unsurprisingly, to the adult section.
I rolled my eyes. That didn't surprise anyone.
"Huh. Seems to be a complete package."
"It is." Midori agreed. "Come on, come on. Isn't it cute?" She lifted a pair of cat-ear headphones. I just rolled my eyes.
"No."
"But it'd look cute, nyah."
"I have dignity, Midori-chan." She just stuck her tongue out at me. "Besides, its just a headset. I need a neura-link, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. Any thoughts on what?" The walls were stocked with entirely too many different models. Neura-links were all the rage among the richer or more discerning gamers, but it would be impossible to deny their usefulness. Not needing a controller or a keyboard to operate a computer? That was very valuable.
Especially to me, given I had one arm.
"Something with a high poll rate, I think."
"Could give you a headache."
"Maybe, but have you tried to type one handed?" Midori blinked.
"All the time."
"And how often do you add your second hand on accident." Her lips formed a brief 'o', before nodding.
"I getcha."
"Besides, something that responds to high actions a minute works well. Hopefully. Maybe." I didn't sound as confident as I was hoping, I realised. I bit my lip, thinking on it all. I hadn't actually used a neura-link before, after all. "I used to press a lot of buttons on the right side. Does that help?"
"Yeah. Gimme a moment." We slowly made our way down the aisles, Midori's finger tracing over headbands, wristbands, headphones, scarves- "Has to be a scarf or a headset."
"Why?"
"Headbands don't look like they do multi-poll." She paused, snatching up a display headband. Along the back of the black plastic was a long blue band. "See this, it does the scanning. We need one with two, not one." Another pause. "Or three. Maybe three is better."
"What difference does it make?"
"Personally? Got no idea. I still play analog." She retorted. "But think of it like the number of hands you can put on the controller. One band, one hand. Three bands, like three hands."
"I see." I grabbed a headband box, flipping it over. The back was far more informative then Midori's attempt to explain. "… Huh. Lists the World on the back as compatible software."
"Oh? Anything else?"
"Anyone still play Relic Online?"
"Besides Taichi? Probably not. I don't think he plays it anymore either." Midori answered drily. "So, what are yo-"
"Something like this." I picked up another box. They headphones were almost comically large. "One of these around I can try on?"
"Heh. Now we're talking." The headphones were silver overall, with three blue bands. One along the headband that held the cups of the headphones in place, another one ringing each of the cups. "What's the jack? Could it work with your flip-comp?"
"Uh…" I bit my lip, glancing away. "Mine's broken."
"Oh." Midori got the picture immediately, pulling her's out. "Well, we got something to check right here, huh?"
"Yeah." That I still needed to get my comp fixed was annoying. My phone survived, but I'd honestly have rather lost my phone then my comp. "Um-"
"Come on!" Midori seized my hand a moment later. "This way, I see the display models. Let's see what you like."
It didn't take long before I'd found a nice, big, soft pair that I liked. For a shopping spree, we bought surprisingly little. I was okay with that.
The hot ramen also cheered my spirits up.
-
The Oracle of Twilight predicts a radiant future.
Welcome to the World.
The start menu of the World greeted me when I got home, the splash screen glowing across both my monitor and the television on my wall. It reminded me of days that had happened so very long ago, and brought a wave of nostalgia I almost couldn't bare.
"Tadaima." My apartment wasn't exactly big. Really, it was just my room, a bathroom and a small kitchenette off to the side. It wasn't much, but it was plenty for just me. I took a swig of my water bottle as I took my things over to my bed, dumping my newest acquisition on my bed and sitting down.
My artificial leg went on the bed a moment later. It had gotten uncomfortable over an hour ago. The box ripped open a moment later, and I started assembling the headphones silently.
Midori: We on tonight guys?
Vincent: I'll be on in an hour. Just about to head home.
Yan Chun: Can't tonight, sorry. My sister needs an extra pair of hands.
That was almost an hour ago. I pondered for a moment, before adding my own two cents.
Eiko: Won't you be home in like three hours?
Midori: Two and a half.
Midori: But I have a comp and my headset.
That got a giggle out of my throat, as I slipped the headphones on. The viewing visor flipped over my eyes with a click.
First time user. Calibrate?
I just grinned.
-
"Welcome to the dazzling twilight dream, o' valiant hero."
The welcome message was like music to my ears as my world morphed around me. The visor, where it had once shown my computer screen, had morphed into a portal travelling down, down, down, until cement came up to meet me. The neura-link felt alien, but at the same time, so very right. My avatar flipped just once in mid-air, before the blades on my heels tapped down on the cement with a gentle click.
I could immediately see why some players, RPers mostly, vastly preferred the Neura-link. It wasn't quite like it was my own body, but I could almost pretend I had an arm and a leg while the game was running. My gaze went to the right, and my arm lifted as if to greet me. Menu's lit up and faded away with a thought, and I lamented the reappearance of the EXP bar, something that I hadn't seen in over a year.
It was a reminder that I had to get to max level again.
"Hey! Kail!" My head snapped up and I took in my environment properly for the first time. I'd been away so long that I'd been logged back into the Chaos Gate plaza. I wasn't even sure where I had actually logged out, now that I thought of it. The plaza was an old stone monument in the forest, peaking out over the roof of the treeline beneath us. The stone steps down reminded me a bit of a pyramid, but my gaze fell on the two forms making their way towards me. One was waving, both were grinning.
The M2D was good at conveying the users emotions, after all.
"Hey yourself, Kite!" The form on the left, waving at me, reminded me very much of the player behind her, a young girl in almost neon-green pants and a orange jacket, the symbol of the wave burned into its side in gold. Her hair was green, almost blue, framed like bangs around her head. A much older design, one originally used by a sibling if I remembered right, but then again, Midori was always partial to green.
The other was a man. His avatar had changed a little bit since the last time I'd seen him, but a glance at him confirmed that he was, in fact, Edgegar. Vincent's avatar was wrapped in bronze and gold armour, cloth flowing from nearly every joint, and punctuated by the huge axe that was slung behind his back.
"Rolling out the welcome mat?" I noted, taking a small bow as my great cloak draped around myself. Kite shook her head, while Vincent just groaned.
"We tried. Friday's are just a bad day." He answered. "That's the thing with world-wide releases. Time just doesn't work that way."
"It's fine. It'll be like newb times." Kite snickered. "No need to pretend our glorious returner here knows how to play. Or what the expansion a- hey!" I reached over and seized the brat in a headlock, immediately grinding my knuckle on her head. The Neura-link almost made me feel like I was actually doing it, almost. It was like a phantom feeling I couldn't quite shake.
"Are you trying to give me flak for not hovering over the patch notes for hours?" I sneered. "Or did someone peek in the data mine again!?"
"Mercy, mercy! No spoils I promise!" Kite cried in horror. "Aaaah! Edgegar! Please! She's killing meeee!"
"You'll be fine." Edgegar retorted gruffly. "She's been jumping off the walls with excitement. Hasn't been the same without you."
"Mmm." I had to admit, I wish more of the guys were here, but that wasn't that big an issue. "The twins? Jekyll? Either of them on?"
Jekyll has an exam and…" Edgegar trailed off, probably checking his friends list. "The twins haven't logged Gatoh on in a week. They must be busy." That didn't surprise me. The twins were almost inseparable sometimes, but they also got on each others nerves when they were stressed. They were probably taking a break.
Given new launch blues, probably for the best.
"Oh, oh! Where to first? New adventure? Or do you wanna see the trophy? Or-"
"I'm sure Ovan wouldn't mind you popping in and saying hi." Edgegar just ignored Kite.
"You guys aren't in a rush?"
"I've spent all day dealing with jackasses. I wanna unwind."
"What, like Kite?"
"Oi!"
[ ] Get started on the end of Expansion Quests for Knights of Force. You hadn't done those yet.
[ ] Visit the Guild Plaza. You wanted to see how it'd changed in your absence.
[ ] Catch up with the Twilight Brigade.
