Arcayne: Journey to Ad Caelum

3|Truth Behind the Free Game

A tall woman in black, white, and grey overall attire materialized from pixels layering over another just after I heard the voice. Amber hair with brown streaks loosely stretched into a neat side bun. Eyes stared at me with attentiveness, her smile rather warm and accommodating. Like the first I found myself in, she seemed to hover slightly off the ground. It didn't take long for gravity to come back. Unlike mine, her fall matched the grace of a feather. It was similar to a kite gently floating downwards.

"Welcome to the Immersed Hub. " She repeated with her soft voice. Her stance radiated pride and elegance, hands placed in front, one palm over the other. "Is this the first time you have been Immersed?"

"Y-yes. "

I found myself small in shyness. My single answer felt like a sentence filled with broken words. All this was new to me. Games I played before were not that interactive with their players to this degree.

"Splendid." The woman clasped her hands with a smile. "I am Auxilia, your VIC's artificial intelligence guidance system. I will be responsible for executing all inquiries about Virtual Immersion and other related information. Before I give you the tour, you need to make your Immersion Hub Avatar and Profile."

Auxulia spoke too fast for me to comprehend but I got the gist of it, I think. "Um, can you please repeat it again? Y-your... um.... Voice was a bit fast for me."

She looked at me with curiosity. Auxilia's round amber eyes blinked a few times before she chuckled. "In short, think of me as your personal secretary within the IH."

With the snap of her fingers, a flat hexagonal screen appeared before me. Auxilia asked me if I preferred to use my voice to fill out my profile. Voice activation became the new basic means of filling out forms almost everywhere, except ones that still do the writing and typing sort.

I still preferred the old-fashioned way so Auxilia snapped a keyboard. The information needed for the form wasn't too much to make it look suspicious. I finished answering the form about fifteen minutes later. However, I was a bit suspicious about using my real name. Information was power and for all I know, I wasn't going to give easily. Auxilia assured me that every information I put was heavily encrypted and stored safe in Onyx Tech's servers. That was unless I gave personal authentication.

That had me relieved. Before they had the VICs, Onyx Tech rose to its top heights as one of the world's trusted anti-malware providers and game consoles. I used to play in one of their standard PCs back in my early teens.

Auxilia checked my form and asked for my confirmation. I gave her the go sign and the screen faded into pixels.

"Reed, please walk with me." Auxilia motioned me to her side. That's when she started her tour around like she told earlier.

Auxilia talked like a professional real estate agent. Her voice enticing but firm on keeping me focused to the features she showed me with her screens. The blank spacious IH could be personalized to my liking. Its basic decorations came in built within the system so it's free. If I wanted more, Auxulia told me to visit the Virealms. Another social feature Auxilia mentioned was the Invite, where others could stop by in my IH for any purpose I want. Auxilia's tour really caught me, almost tipping over my rush on Arcayne.

"Um... A-auxilia?" She was still on her tour guide self. Auxilia continued popping up translucent screens of every possibility. She also talked about guidelines and rules inside the Hub. I didn't want to sound rude by cutting her off her so I called her with a small voice.

Of course, she didn't hear me. Half-listening, I didn't really catch most of her words because I remembered why I had to play Arcayne. I needed answers. Orion owed me those answers. To be given a free game is nice, but if an old acquaintance give you a free copy of Arcayne, his probable car crash death on the news and the eerie text he left behind is another thing for me.