Snippet #2415999

Audrey stood in front of the nerve gear, staring at it blankly for a moment, before she began to flex her arms, doing a small warmup to get her blood circulation going. She had become slightly paranoid after having read cases of blood clotting resulting from long periods of inanimity, most commonly seen in people who engaged in VRMMOs for over ten hours. After pulling up and flexing her leg muscles as well, she lay down upon her bed, touched her nerve gear almost lovingly, and then sighed. It would be her last time on Aethia Online; she had resolved to concentrate with all her might on writing her thesis, so this was going to be a kind of farewell to the game and to Iolanthe. Closing her eyes and plunging her head into the nerve gear, she connected.

Everything was blurry at first - a soft bed beneath her, a shallow and dark ceiling above, and sweet smells with pungent whisps mingled into an odd mixture - all familiar sensations of her small cabin. Iolanthe blinked twice before her vision gained its accuracy, and slowly slid off her bed. She would miss her home, this cabin filled to the brim with odds and ends, strange artefacts, ancient books, vials of ink and monster blood, the clutter relaxing and refreshing when compared to Audrey's neatly-kept room. Well, since this would be her last day of existence, she would travel through Aethia, visiting her favourite places.

She walked out of her cabin and into a busy main street within the city. Having made sure that the sign on her door announced that the fortune-teller's den was closed, she began to walk in the direction of the main square. As she was slowly making her way to her destination, she noticed that the tower of a man ahead of her - was he taller than even 1,90 m? - who was walking briskly through the street, pause for a moment. Curious, she followed his gaze to see that several people were having some sort of fun, one of them jumping and grabbing people from the street. Distressed by the idea, she hid herself in the shadows of a nearby building and began to observe them. Watching the actions of others never gets old! she thought to herself as she smiled faintly and rested her chin on top of her upturned wrist.