[PP-F01] The first day <Day one Thread>

[Jinx 0]

Alisea Dariem was mostly aware of what was happening, even in her zoned out state. The video game her parents had talked to her about had been released, and she knew their hope. Maybe it would bring her senses back, or something along those lines. It was an interesting theory, and so, the jinx was somewhat excited for it. Sitting on her bed with her eyes closed, the nervegear on top of her head, she waited for her parents to sign her in. AFter all, that amount of information and flashing lights, if she wasn't focused, could shut her down.

"Honey, it's all ready to go" Said a female voice, one Alisea instantly recognized as her mother "You're signed up, and the nerve gear is turned on. All you gotta do is activate it by saying 'Link start'" 

Alisea didn't reply as light started to dance in the blackness of her vision. "Thank you...." The girl whispered, in Russian, before taking a deep breath "Link...start" she said softly, opening her eyes as she was drawn into Sword Art Online. However, there was a tad delay for the girl. Character creation. Alisea was hit with a huge barrage of choice, and with loud noises and a lot of light, what many players took mere minutes to do, Alisea Dariem took nearly an hour to pick her appearance, which at the end of the day, was her own, as well as imputting the account name 'Jinx'. 

The blue light flashed as she spawned in, this being a period of time before the speech that would destroy the lives of everyone trapped within the game. The town of beginnings had people in it, although a large number of them were out in the fields. But that didn't concern the girl, for in those seconds of spawning, like a switch, her mind turned on. And her mis-matched eyes started to absorb everything she could see, cataloging it mentally. But even as she did this, a panic set in. She knew she was on a time, and had to get it done soon and relax..or else...

@Stryder

[Stryder 0]

It had been a rough year for Sky, his family had moved.... Yet again. He was now in Japan, and lucky him a new gaming system had just been released. It had taken forever, he had heard about this back when it was in Beta, and he had desperately wanted to get involved in it back then but he wasn't lucky enough. But now, he had gotten to one of the first 10 thousand shipped out! He was going to be in this game for a LOT longer then most, and he would have such a great head start! He got home, his parents having given him enough money to buy it, plus all the gear. He knew he was going back to Australia in a few days, but he could set it up and play it now! He did so, logging in. 

"Link, Start!" He said, his mind detaching from his body as he was dragged into the game. He looked around him, the amount of customizations he could do, insane. He realized before hand he had to do a callibration, which felt weird, but he was done with it already. He quickly selected his appearance, choosing to make himself, well, close to himself. The only change he really did was his hair style, eye colour and height. He was a bit taller then he actually was, and his hair was done up in a ponytail instead of being let loose like it normally was. 

He selected his username, Stryder, which he used for every game he ever played. He opened his eyes, appearing in the town of Beginnings, noticing dozens of others warping in then leaving to go hunt in the plains. He had selected a straight sword, as his main weapon to start with. He liked the idea of it, he wasn't the kind to haul around a humungous axe or soemthing. 

He had no idea waht we was going to do now, he was here, and he had hours, upon hours of time to dedicate to this game... And he was ready to enjoy it!

[Jinx 0]

The amount of information the girl was taking in. The environment, the players around her. Everything. It allowed her mind to make leaps in terms of the design, the nature of the game itself. For example, she noticed no player was a mage, and given she didn’t remember the option. It meant that the only ‘class’ in the game was warrior. The girl hadn’t done any research on the game, and therefore, had no idea ‘magic’ was an option. Until that moment.

However, after nearly a minutes of standing and watching, the girl felt a pulsing feeling in her head and, in mere seconds, went from standing up, to collapsed on the ground, her eyes clamped shut and her hands held tight over her ears.

In her interest to learn what was before her, she had been focusing too much and the information, in all its abundance, had hit her mental wall. Her mind shut down and the girl reacted the only way she knew how to. Collapsing in on itself.

 

[Stryder 0]

Sky couldn't believe the sight of everything he could see. It all seemed... so real. He had dabbled in Virtual Reality once or twice, but he had never done full immersion. No one had, except for the beta players of SAO! Everyone else was doing this for the first time in there lives... ANd it was incredible! He felt his entire body moving around, not with some stupid controllers, but just, he was actually in this game! He started walking around the town square, where everyone had spawned, and before long found himself seeing dozens of players. He wondered what they really looked like, because not many people would choose more or less the same appearance as themselves! Before long though, a certain person caught his attention, a young girl who... collapsed? He wondered what could be happening, from what he had understood pain wasn't a factor in this game... He ran over to her, smiling.

"Trying to draw attention are ya?"

[Jinx 0]

The girl was breathing deeply to try and cope with the sheer data that had run into her head. The data that had caused her a sensory overload. She knew the methods to calm herself, and now simply had to implement them.

The girl breathied slowly and spoke words out. The words she did speak were from a variety of languages, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin and even English, saying one or two words before moving onto the next language in a sequence. Slowly, the girl moved from being curled up on the ground, to sitting normally. However, her hands still covered her ears, a finger in each of her ears with her eyes shut tight.

Eventually, the girl heard someone speaking. It was a dull noise, weakened by the fingers in her ears. But she continued to speak to herself, soft words that flowed easily out before turning to face where she thought the voice came from. But didn’t open her eyes “…huh..?” She asked. There was just one slight issue.

She hadn’t been speaking English. She had asked her question in Chinese, the Mandarin variation.

[Stryder 0]

He was a little weirded out by this girl, she had a little bit of an issue, she was speaking Chinese? He had been to china, but he was only there with his family for a buisness trip, he hadn't actually learnt how to speak it, only enough to recognize the language. He scratched his head, trying to make sense of whatever she had said, but was unable to even understand it. He sighed, before trying again.

"Ummm, my names Stryder, and yours is?" He asks, before adding "Preferably in English, or basic Japanese?" He said to her, noticing she had her eyes closed. He had no idea if she would freak out if he tried to pick her up or not, so he didn't try, but he did place and hand on her arm, trying to guide her to  the side a little bit so she wasn't having, well, her little breakdown, in the middle of the open. He wondered how young she was. She was probably younger than twelve, considering she was having a breakdown. She must miss her mum, or something along those lines, only thing he could think of.

[Jinx 0]

The girl frowned, despite covering her eyes. She could hear something, although she couldn’t place the words together. But she didn’t understand how they didn’t understand. She didn’t ask any questions they wouldn’t be able to understand….

She felt an army placed against her, and she felt a panic rise within her. When she was coming down from an overload, she hated being touched. She opened her right eye, the red iris looking right at the boy standing before her.

“Don’t touch me” She snapped at the boy with her few seconds where her sensory input was lowered to the point where she could manage the flow of information. She let out a slower breath. She could feel the sharpness of her own mind started to dull…

And it would be visible in her eyes. The colour would almost seem to dim out as her focus left, but it was there for a bit.

“It’s…sorta pretty isn’t it?” she swapped to Japanese as she leaned back, but kept her fingers in her ears and only a single eye open

[Stryder 0]

He was shocked at her reaction, she snapped ath im, his hand immediately moving away as he took a step back, holding back a growl and a snap back at her.

Geesus, i was only trying to help you psycho

Her eye opened, one of them, a red colour staring at him. It was a little scary, the red kind of being a little intimidating, if she wasn't a young child he would have been a lot more worried. She seemed to be having trouble with something, though he couldn't tell what. Then, she went from chinese to Japenese, luckily the one language he had picked up, since he had stayed quite a while in Japan while on the most recent trip, it having been months here. He wasn't an expert, but he could get by.

"It kind of is beautiful, its amazing being in a game where our entire mind and body was brought into another world" He said, replying in Japanese, then in english saying "You can speak a lot of languages can't you, you seem to snap around. My names Stryder, mind if i get yours?" He asked, speaking normal volume and hoping she heard him.

[Jinx 0]

The girl kept her single eye on him, although it has lost its edge that had been there at the beginning. Some of the words he was saying came through, and the girl frowned as she translated. Name.

“Stryder…” She said the name, at first, in Japanese, before saying it in a combination of languages including English and Chinese. Before after nearly a minute before looking at him “I’m Alisea…” she said in Japanese as she slightly removed her hands from her ears, very slowly as to not be hit by a large wave of noise. She looked around slightly as she stroked her long hair.

She leaned back as her mind roamed, as well as her eye that no longer seemed to notice the boy in front of her “I wonder how long it’ll take…” she muttered out loud in English before suddenly turning to Stryder

“Are you a guy or a girl?” Once again, the girl had reverted back to Chinese. 

 

 

[Stryder 0]

Alisea? That... didn't sound like a player name, that sounded like a real name. He was very confused as to why she would do that, before realizing she must be quite new to games. She didn't realize that you didn't need to give people your real name. He simply sat down next to her, smiling at the peculier girl. He really wanted to figure out her deal, especially when she asked how long something would take, and, then she spoke... Chinese.... again.

"I'm sorry, i don't speak Chinese, i only know how to say 'Hello, nice to meet you'" He said, the last part in a very rough, Australian accented Chinese. He then mentioned her name 

"It's nice to meet you Alisea, i'm assuming thats your real name, though you didn't need to tell me it, i meant what your in game name is. In games, most people go by there account names, not there real names" He said to her, a small grin on his face. He wondered why she kept leaping between languages, he only spoke Japanese and English, with a few small words here and there, but  so far... he was intrigued by this young girl.

[Jinx 0]

The girl frowned as the boy spoke to her, but she moved her hands back to her ears as his voice was too loud! Even with him speaking normally, the noise was pushing up for the girl. She shook her head, before her brain heard something she recognised. Chinese!

That was enough for her to listen to most of what Stryder was saying, and she couldn’t not frown.

“Huh, that’s weird” she said slowly in English “I thoughts names were all the same…” She shrugged before frowning

“I don’t remember” She muttered, swapping over to Japanese “I can’t remember what name I wrote for my account..” She looked at Stryder, and in many moments of inattention, opened her left eye. Her golden left eye.

Her reaction, was instant. With her second eye open, the amount of information hit the girl like a truck. Depth perception alone was enough of an information wave, and barely a second after opening her eye, it was as if the girl had been shot by a rifle. She grabbed at her eyes, buring her face in her arms and twisting her entire body…Into Stryder, her head ending up near his arm.

[Stryder 0]

Sky smiled, glad she had FINALLY started talking english again. He could actually understand what this girl was saying, which was nice. She had a nice voice too, but she still seemed quite young to him. He didn't want to ask her age though, from her wordsa bout the name for her account, it told him she was a novice gamer. She wouldn't know what she should and shouldn't tell others in a game, and he didn't want to take advantage. Before he really said anything, her eye opened up, and with that Sky's interest was peaked. She had odd eyes, and this one was golden. It was kind of beautiful, until suddenly she flipped out, grabbing her eyes and trying to shield herself, and then she... Basically tackled him, her head ending up under his arm. He didn't know what to do, she had just snapped at him before for trying to help, and now she was under his arm? He really didn't know what to do here.

He decided to place a hand on her upper back, trying to be gentle as so she might not freak out, or think he was trying anything.

"Don't worry about it, i'l show you how to check what your name was, once you have calmed down" He said to her in English, not wanting to mistake a word in Japanese. He was worried for her, she seemed to not be handling this very well.

[Jinx 0]

The girl could hear her own breathing, and did her best to slow it down. She couldn’t be freaking out like this, and yet, the information overload always got her into the same state. She was so internal that she had no idea what her body was doing, had no idea she’d basically tackled the boy she’d been spending time with.  

Much like when he found her, he’d hear a barrage of words, in different languages. The girl used them at a catalyst to calm her brain down, to help manage the date flow. By using her languages, and splitting up whatever she saw in lanauge. She would deal wth Japanese first, then move onto English. By splitting up the data, and managing it, she could ‘cope’ with a sensory overload…somewhat.

After many minutes, the girl uncurled, looking at Stryder with her red right eye. “I…we can check..?” she spoke in English this time. She frowned with her single eye at his idea. How do you ‘check’ your name in this game?

[Stryder 0]

Once again, her languages spouted everywhere. He didn't even understand much more than a few words here and there. She was being so, wild, and uncontrolled with it that he couldn't piece anything together, even when she spoke in English or Japanese! He simply sat there, letting her shelter herself on him, which gave him the time to try and descenr her age, though he knew he was unable to do that, especially since for all he knew, he could be holding some 30 year old man who was faking it and being a pedophile, he didn't know due to this being a game... But he couldn't help but feel bad for this person, and he had a feeling it wasn't some creep, he had dealt with enough of them. After awhile, she pulled herself off, keeping one eye covered up, her gold one, with her red one showing. He smiled, nodding to her. He went for her hand, though made sure to wait to see if she let him first. He raised her arm, her right arm, and swiped across in front of her, a menu showing up. He had a look at it, seeing her name on the interface. 

"Seems you called yourself Jinx, Alisea, in future i would introduce yourself as that. You don't know who is behind these avatars in a game where most of us don't choose to look the same as our real selves" He said in a kind and soft voice, noticing earlier that she was trying to block sound as well.

[Jinx 0]

The girl saw his hand move towards her, yet it was slow. She was very hesitant to let him touch her, although she couldn’t place on the why. Something about his appearance, but she couldn’t place it. Was her mind, trying to be active? She pushed the ideas away by exploring her own mind, after all, she didn’t want to have another overload…they hurt!

She felt him take her hand and..! She jolted back as the menu opened in front of her. Where did that come from?! It was a moment of panic, before it became clear and the girl drifted her body side-to-side “H-huh..” She said, resorting to Japanese “And I thought it asked me a name I liked…” Her eyes roamed, and sure enough, she found a green bar and the word ‘Jinx’. That was her name?

“Seems like a shame, to hide who you are..” She muttered in Japanese, speaking very quickly, seemingly not having noticed that the boy was speaking softer for her “..wait, does that mean you’re a girl too…?” She asked Stryder.

[Stryder 0]

She seemed to be worried when he was going for her hand, and obviously having some sense of fear about it. He really couldn't place why, but that made him believe she was actually a girl. Why would some old man be scared about someone grabbing his hand? Only a young shy girl would think that. He was glad that he was actually helping a girl, and not some creep. He listened to what she ahd to say, about her name, and about hiding who you were... Then she asked if he was a girl too, which caused him to laugh, a little loud, though he quickly reigned it in, trying not to hurt her, as he had noticed she was blockign sounds as much as she could.

"No, i'm not a girl... I'm a boy. And its just something you might need to learn to do. A lot of time, people play games like this to escape who they really are. Here, in this massive expanse you can be whoever you want. One of these buff warriors might be the nerd in class who gets picked on every day for being so short and skinny, they might need to feel powerful. By bringing real life into the scenario, your taking away the reason they play these games" He said, before snapping out of the philosophical moment he had snapped into, not realizing he had been speaking fluent japanese for the first time in a long time, having converted to speaking Japanese around her, since she spoke it more than english.

[Jinx 0]

Alisea didn’t understand what the boy meant. Escape who you were? Why though? Why would you resort to a game to escape, when you could do it inside of your own head whenever you wanted to? She didn’t properly get it…

Listening to his Japanese, part of it brought a calmness to the girl. She had always loved languages, loved how hard they were to learn and master. To hear the language she had been raised on, primarily, acted as if to calm her, even if he did laugh too loudly for her.

“I think they’re silly…why escape the only thing you’ve got…” She mutters in Japanese, before swapping over to Chinese once again “Still, if it makes them happy, who am I do say…” She lets out a sigh and leans back against the building behind her. She rested a hand on her hip, before flicking her hand and opening her menu. She frowned at it as she tried to read the words, trying to focus while her brain refused to do so. She even raised a hand to cover her eye. She may have been distance, but knew that until she did something about her left eye, she’d keep accidentally opening it.  

[Stryder 0]

She seemed to calm down a little bit when he spoke Japanese, making him decide to keep speaking it. She obviously preferred it over English, and as those were the only two languages he could speak, and since she was having a hard time.... well, adjusting, he knew he should keep it up. He heard what she said in that language, before she switched over to Chinese, again!. 

I might need to learn Chinese if i keep running into this girl

He noticed her trying to read something, looking over her menu, and shortly afterwards covering her eye up. She had been doing that the whole time, and now he wanted to know why she kept covering her ears, and eyes.

"Hey, if you don't mind he asking, why are you covering up your gold eye?" He asked in Japanese, not wanting to continue the previous conversation about why to not give real infomation out until he knew why she was so, out of it. So far she had continually seemed to snap in and out of some stream of conciousness, like she was.... Well, not like she was panicking. At this point it seemed like something else, and he really didn't know what. He sat next to her, keeping his hands to himself at this moment, just looking at the poor girl.

[Jinx 0]

She looked over the menu, committing pieces of it to memory where she could. The important stuff she memorised in Japanese, while the less important parts were filtered through English, Chinese and even bits in French, German and Russian where she felt the need. Still learning this menu would be,….could be, maybe?

She frowned. What had she been thinking? She shrugged as she allowed her brain to move onto other ideas, but kept her menu open in front of her absently. She frowned a little, right as words came around from the boy again. Asking her about….her eye.

A small sign came out as she started just speaking Japanese, at first seemingly very unorganised “I have, can’t focus properly so…” She glances around with her eye “I try to limit what I see, what i….hear” She went silent, trying to organise her thoughts in a coherent manner “When I get too much..input, sound, lights…I struggle to cope…the information too much…It, overloads me…” The last part of her explanation had swapped to English. She let out a sigh . Her head was hurting, and the words just weren’t coming to her like they normally would.  

[Stryder 0]

He listened to her trying to speak, managing to stay in Japanese, for what felt like the first time since they had started talking. She couldn't focus, and she seemed very, flustered? No, that wasn't it, more like disorientated and confused. She was trying to glance around, while he was listening to what se was saying. Then she said it overloads her, which was in English. He then assumed she was hypersensitive to sound, light, everything, and from the fact she knew a few languages told him that she was smart. Maybe she couldn't handle the infomation? Like some kind of super genius. 

"If you need to limit sound, and lights... Why don't you wear a patch over your eye while in game? And get some earphones? This game isn't based in our current age, there is no -music earphone- thingies, but i'm sure that somewhere there would be some mufflers" He asked her, giving a warm smile. He had a feeling she already knew all that, but still, she was obviouly in pain right now, and he didn't like leaving someone like this. He had as long as he wanted to play this game, no harm in taking an hour or so out of his time to help this youngling get accostomed to this place.