Eternum

Vira watched the police officer take off. She was still thinking about the young man that attempted to rob her; she had thought he was a NPC the entire time until that comment. There had to be some way to tell between a player and just a AI right? If nothing else to group up with other people but she didn't know how.

She pushed those thoughts away to focus on the person who saved her. Ness was it? He was handsome but like before she was unable to tell their nature just yet but if he was a player she wouldn't mind finding out.

Vira went over to Ness. "Thank you for saving me. My name is Vira Nakeen, may I have your name?"

Ness looks over to her. Vira Nakeen was every bit as good-looking 'In Person' as she was on the tv "I know who you are, miss Nakeen. A friend of mine likes to listen to your music." he says as he holds a hand out to her "I'm Ness Burger. A player like yourself and that guy the police hauled away." he says, nodding to where the police had gone off to.

He looks around to the seam and fog covered black and white noir streets "Can I escort you to your destination?" he asks as he holds out an arm to her.

It was a relief meeting another player. She didn't mind just exploring but she'd be the first admit she was very lost of what to do besides the basics from the tutorial.

At offering his arm, she accepted it and went along with it. There was nice defined muscle there, but she tried to ignore it. "I would like that. Only issue is I don't know where I'm going." She joked lightly. "What is the name of your friend if you don't mind me asking? I wouldn't mind signing something for them when I get the chance if you think its something they'd like."

Ness shrugs "His name's Kitt. He says your slow, moody music calms his circuits after a long day." he explains.

He could see a few other people and some NPCs wandering around "So, what are you thinking of Eternum so far?" he asks. He didn't stair or leer at her figure, as he had seen her in tighter outfits on stage and in public before.

Vira was confused by the comment of what he said. Did that mean his friend was a android or something along those lines? It's the only way something like that made sense.

She put it on the shelf for now to answer his question. "On first impressions, its very interesting. If I didn't know I was already in a game I would think I ended up in the past or some other world. The NPC's seem very well done.." Vira trailed off. "I wonder how self aware are these NPC's? It could raise ethical concerns depending."

Vira of course had no clue Ness Made the system, so she just talked to them at the moment like a regular player.

Ness nods "They seem to be a form of pseudo-AI. Have you noticed how they seem to be largely reactive instead of active?" Ness explains "From that, I would say that they don't seem to be aware that they are in a game..." he holds up his hand "Otherwise, they would see that a chromatic environment is not the norm." he points out "Still, we're here to beta test the game, so let's be sure to leave feedback for the programmer." he reminds Vira "So, where are we off to?" he asks.

At this, she was finding herself somewhat lost and gave a sheepish look. "..I suppose it be a bad time to say I was so excited to jump into a Noir setting like the movies I haven't given it much thought. Maybe somewhere to eat to see how food is in here?"

Ness nods as he turns and starts leading her in a different direction "The food is era specific and while it'll also Taste like food of the time, it won't fill you up." he explains "Meaning, if you're hungry, you can eat and eat and not get full." he points out "I believe the developer did that so a person wouldn't get addicted to whatever world they find themselves in." he says.

Vira didn't see a issue with that. She could already tell how such a world could be addicting, espeically if they didn't have the best real life waiting for them when they got back. She knew she was very blessed with how her life had been but not everyone had that even in their later years. This world being a form of escapism was something she respected the people in charge for the game for thinking of.

"That makes sense." She said, sorting her own thoughts. "I wonder if it kicks you out after a certain time frame regardless."

Ness nods "Yes. After an hour of being AFK, as it were, you'll be automatically logged out." he says "I'm sure the developer wants to try and make it as hard to get addicted to this game as possible. I know I would." he says as he stops at a crossroads "Okay, so according to the map here..." he nods to a map of the city "We have fine dining to the left or a dinner to the right. I'll pay for either so don't worry." he offers.

"It makes sense you'd need money in a world like this. Just hopefully its not too grindy like other games since its not suppose to addict you.." At the comment, she mulled it over before nodding. "The fine dining then please, if its not too much trouble." Besides, she did want to get to know them.

After walking for another fifteen minutes and just talking about nothing in general, they come across a building that looks like a club called The Sky-line Club "And here we are." he says "It may Say it's a club, but it's not all rave music and drunk 20-somethings. It's a refined establishment for refined guests." he says as he walks up to the maître d "A table for two, please." he says.

The man gives Ness a weary look, before taking two menus "Right this way, sir." he says as he guides them to a small table "Your waitress shall be with you in a bit. In the meanwhile, what can I have them bring you to drink?" he asks.

Ness looks at the drink's menu "A Burbon on the rocks will do for me." he says as he looks to Vira "Order whatever you wish. You can turn off then inebriating effects of alcohol in the settings menu if you won't want to get buzzed." he tells her.

Vira was a bit surprised it was That in depth but at the same time it only made sense considering how much they went out of their way to make things feel real. "I'll just have whatever the popular wine is today in this establishment." Her knowledge was lacking in certain things in this time period.

Once they were gone, she turned back to Ness. "Something you said caught my attention. When you mentioned your friend you said something about circuits. Are they some type of cyborg or something?" Full on androids and everything seemed a work of stories, but then again Paragon was a thing. Not that she minded, it was just more interesting in her mind.

Ness shakes his head "Na. Nothing like that. He's a sentient autonomous robotic being." he says "He thinks, has feelings and emotions just like any normal person and when he has a stressful day, he likes to listen to either classical music or your line up." he tells her.

The waitress comes over with both of their drinks "Hello and welcome." she says as she sets their drinks down "Have you had a chance to look over the menu yet or do you need more time?" she asks.

Ness already knew what he wanted "I'll have a medium rare steak with a fully loaded baked potato and a Ceasar's salad on the side." he says as he passes the menu back to the young woman.

That was a very different answer then what she had been expecting and a new one for her. Then again aliens were obviously a thing and technically even the people of Earth were aliens to the people of Noreal and visa versa.

"Well, I would like to meet them one of these days." It be very interesting to meet someone like that. For her order, she decided on another variation of the steak. "Is it possible for them to connect to this world?"

Ness nods "Yeah. I can ask him if he would want to connect on up. Though, I suspect that once I tell him it's to meet you, he'll hook up as soon as he can." he chuckles "Though, it's best to meet him in person to get the full effect of seeing him for who he is." he explains "However, since we're basically strangers, I wouldn't recommend dropping everything to fly to Tokyo to meet someone you've only encountered in a game." he chuckles again.

Vira hadn't really given too much thought about a boyfriend or anything since her break up with Kiro. She literally only ever had two boyfriends in her life, with her very first being from high school. Ness did interest her enough to break of their usual more shy nature when it came to such things. Besides, didn't know until you tried right?

Vira gave a shy smile at the end. "..Well, that's the thing about strangers isn't it? They eventually aren't anymore. I wouldn't mind getting to know you more if you're fine with it. Even if its only through here for now."

Ness nods "Well, if we're getting to know each other, I figure it's only fair to let you know that I'm the developer of this virtual experience game." he says to her "Ness Burger, chief creative consultant, lead designer, and head engineer of Paragon Corp at your service." he says with a slight crooked smile.

Vira's eyes widened slightly in surprise. She was talking to the person behind this the whole time?! How did she not pick anything up? Though thinking about it in hindsight he never said anything that would completely tip them off or knowledge a player wouldn't know.

"Nice to meet you in full in a sense. Well, virtually anyway." She said with a smile. "I had no clue who you were this entire time, but regardless secret is safe with me if you want to keep it hidden as not be pestered by people. I know more then most how that can be.."

Ness nods "I would appreciate it." he says as the waitress comes back with their meals "If people knew I made this game, they would be pestering me for free stuff. Speaking of which..." he opens up his menu and taps a few buttons on it before closing it.

Vira gets a notification that she had received a new item in her gift section "I just sent you over my gun, just incase you run into anymore grumpy players or hostile NPCs." he says to her "Also, have you adjusted your pain tolerance in the options settings?" he asks "Most set it to zero or minimum." he tells her. He has his set to default. With everything he's been through, it would be just like his normal life.

Vira blinked. She hadn't thought of that but to be fair she just assumed pain was either gone or non existent by default since this was just a game for fun. Who would want to feel intense pain just like the real world?

The young woman never the less, went to the menu. "Thank you for those. And I haven't. I didn't even know pain was a thing here. I'm honestly not sure if its a good idea. Since its so life like it might even cause harm in the real world. The mind is a very powerful thing. That seems like a potential lawsuit waiting to happen in my opinion if not careful."

Ness nods "Which is why I have the option to turn it off or turn it down." he says "It's the same with other senses as well. You can turn down or off the sense of smell, taste, touch, or pleasure. But you raise a good point. I shall have Irileth explain all of this in the tutorial and explain how to change those setting." he assures her.

"Also, not all pain is bad. Say you have your pain turned off and you start getting attacked, how would you know? There are no life bars in this virtual experience. So what can kill you in real life can kill you here. You can take steps to avoid that, like equipping armor or using spells or certain technologies, but the result will still be the same if you get shot in the head with no protection. Game over." he says to Vira.

Vira supposed so, but she was beginning to see how such techology could go wrong but thankfully Ness seemed to be thinking ahead in terms of fail safes. It wouldn't be like those shows where people got trapped into a virutal world and could die there as easily.

"So what happens when you die in game?" Vira asked. "Do you have to make a whole new character or would NPC's go on as if nothing happened after you respawn somewhere?"

Ness shakes his head "You don't make a new character. You Are the character." he points out "What happens, depending on the server, is you typically loose all your items and you drop down in levels. What level the creature or player is that killed you will determine how far in levels you drop down in." he explains "You also have a mandatory half hour cool down from re-logging." he says "I may shorten that time in the future."

"That's fair. I know very little about game design or balance, just giving my impressions." Which more or less the point since this was a alpha game. "So do you have the option to change your looks to look like a completely different person? It would help for those wanting to either keep anymous or actual roleplaying."