paradisa | o6 | Dictated

Entry tags:

zack fair

o6 | Dictated

[Angeal Hewley]

Cloud's gone.

[/Angeal Hewley]

[About an hour after that filtered message, Zack addresses the journal without a filter this time. His voice is that mix of neutral and tired that marks familiarity of having to bring the 'not coming back' message to people waiting for their friends and loved ones to come home. Such can be life in SOLDIER.]

For those who knew him, Cloud Strife has gone home.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I arrived yesterday. It's that easy to tell, isn't it?

Nah. It's more that someone who's been here a while wouldn't have asked the questions you do. [A pause.] I'm Zack. Zack Fair.

Doesn't that amount to the same thing? [She chuckles.] I'm Asuna. It's nice to meet you.

Should a person assume all who are ignorant in some aspects to be new? That's dangerous thinking. [But it's okay, he'd rather focus on someone else than his own loss.] Nice to meet you too. Settling in okay so far?

That's a good point, but it would have been correct this time.

Ah, it's going to take getting used to, especially since it's my real body here.

Well... Yes, you do have a point.

[Okay, Zack has seen some weird stuff in Paradisa, but that makes him ask.] Real body?

Mhm! I'm still dressed like my Avatar, but... it seem like it's actually me!

...Sounds like you come from a pretty interesting world.

It depends which one you mean.

Which one do you want to talk about?

The one I really remember right now is the one I was trapped in.

Cages aren't ever fun. Tell me?

It was a little freer than that, but...

Back home, there's a thing known as a VRMMORPG. It's basically a virtual reality game that people can play, and this one was the first of its kind. Ten thousand people logged in, and they weren't able to log out. I've been there for two years now, fighting to get to the top floor and beat the game.

Not all prisons have bars. Look at this place.

[But that is ~~a canon as weird as Zack's~~ an interesting tale! Also she is pulling Zack's attention away from brooding, this is a good thing.] So you've gotta basically tie up all the ends in this game before you can return to your actual life?

I haven't really been here long enough to be able to tell yet.

It's sort of like that. There are one hundred floors to Aincrad, and each one has a boss fight. We have to beat all one hundred to clear the game and go home.

Mmn. I'll try not to color your judgement too much then.

And let me guess: it gets harder the higher you go?

[That makes her giggle before she's able to continue.]

Y-yes, it does. After two years we're only to floor seventy-five, and it's been even more difficult lately.

[There might be a slight smile on his end. True laughter, the kind that joins with another's, is still a ways off for him. But the conversation is helping.]

That's still progress. Who's 'we'? You don't mean all of those other ten thousand people, do you?

[Sadly, the laughter dies at the next question. and her tone sobers.]

There were only about six thousand left, actually. It was made so that if you die in the game, you die in the real world, too. Many have settled into lives there, but a fraction of us still fight to try and clear it. That's who I mean.

[Whoops, foot in mouth there. Way to go, Fair.]

I'm-- I'm sorry to hear that. I can't-- It's hard to believe something could be made so powerful that death in the game doesn't grant you freedom from it.

[But now her questions of people settling here make more sense.]

It's simpler than it sounds. To enter the virtual reality, the player puts on NerveGear, which is like a helmet that connects to the brain's nerve system somehow. If they die in game, it sends a signal so they can't ever wake up again.

Heh. I'm glad some of the people where I'm from can't get their hands on something like that. It sounds too powerful a tool.

I know what you mean. I really wish people hadn't died, but I don't want to give up my time there. I've learned a lot and met some amazing people.

But they'll all still exist when you get out, right? SO you could find ways to keep in touch?

Of course! I just mean that I don't wish it never happened. There's good coming from it, too.

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