Percy had heard alot about VR gaming. It had been a full 2 years since it first came out in the United States. Of course he never tried it. Trying anything related to the internet was dangerous for demigods. He still remembered how Chiron once told him about the boy who searched up gorgons on the net and got a little more then he bargained for. The thing was, monsters could track internet signals pretty well, and the fact that Percy's body was going to be lying motionless and defenseless while he was ain some sort of virtual reality did not sit well with him.
"It's alright." said Kirito. "I've been setting up some major firewalls for the past hour. Monsters might be able to track signals, but that doesn't mean they can't be blocked with the right signals..I mean you've watched satilite tv right?"
Percy nodded. "Yeah, I guess.."
"Has a monster ever attacked while you've watched tv?"
Percy scratched his chin. "No, not recently."
Kirito grinned. "See, it's just a matter of disguising the signal to seem like another type, the monsters wont be able to track you."
Percy suddenly had an image of his half brother Tyson the cyclops with his mouth wide open going "Wha?" Yep, computer stuff was totally lost on Percy. His only talent, slicing stuff to bits with a sword.
As Percy sat down on the couch and put on an Amusphere, he watched Asuna help Annabeth into an Amusphere as well. How weird..what was VR gaming like, would it feel real at all? Darren definitely looked excited to do this. Hazel had come down from the ship to go in Asuna's stead, apparently, Asuna didn't want to have to convert her ALO avatar over, as it would involve taking a bunch of time to put all her items in storage from the game. Kirito already had an Avatar with items in GGO, so it was alright with him.
"Alright." said Kirito putting on his Amusphere and joining everyone on the couch. "Since this is all your first time, you'll probably spawn in a different part of the city. Just look for the tallest building in the city, the Administrative Building, and we can meet there..look for a black haired girl with gun and laser sword.
"Whose she?" Percy asked.
"Erm...it's not a she actually." said Kirito as he blushed slightly. "My Avatar type was pretty rare...and well..."
Percy held back a laugh. Dang! Who in their right mind would come up with a guy avatar that looked like a girl!?
"So anyways." said Kirito hastily in an attempt to change the subject. "We're gonna meet a friend of mine from both ALO and GGO, her online name is SInon. So if you don't see me, look for the blue haired girl with a huge sniper.
Darren began to fidget on the other side of the couch. "Oh man oh man oh man..this is going to be AWESOME!!"
"Right." Muttered Percy. "Let's just get this over with." He looked at Annabeth who gave Percy a small smile. At the same time all of them said. "Link Start!"
Percy's eyes seemed to do a number on him as he saw sudden bursts of color fly past him like stars from Star Wars when light speed was happening. His body felt like it was flyiing farther and farther away....
Percy opened his eyes. "Urgh...what the...? Where am I ?"
Percy opened his eyes a little wider. "Holy Poseidon...I...I...WOW!!"
Percy was surrounded by a massive city of metal steam punk and high tech skyscrapers. Nearby, roads with plently of cars seemed to run past him as the sci fi streets were filled with people of all sorts talking to each other, showing off intimidating looking military/hunter armor. it was like Percy had stumbled onto an appocalyptic version of New York that collided with Star Trek, Star Wars, and Call of Duty. (Percy never played Call of Duty, but he saw the commercials.)
"Holy Zeus this is freaking awesome!" Percy shouted as he ran through the streets, drawing stares from passerby as he admired how he could now run and jump around as much as he wanted without tiring out.
Several other players chuckled, "Must be his first time in VR..they all act like that the first time.."
That's when Percy noticed his reflection in the windows to one of the gun stores nearby. And when Percy saw what his avatar looked like, he couldn't help but remember the time he looked at that weird fabric back on Circe's island where he had been shown a more perfect looking version of himself.
The well sculpted features, the dreamy eyes..he looked like a more beautiful Percy, only his hair was more windswept and even blacker then it had been in real life. His eyes were no longer sea green, but a sharp electric blue that kind of disturbed him.
Percy whistled as he examined himself, looking at the simple white jacket and black pants he was dressed in. Just wait till Annabeth saw this..which made Percy wonder, what did Annabeth's avatar look like?
Percy looked up at the towering building that was peeking up from the center of the massive city. Might as well head towards the meeting spot.
After walking for about 5 minutes though, Percy couldn't help but begin to feel absolutely lost. While he kept on trying to walk to the center of the city, the twisting roads and dead ends seemed to be directing him in a circle around the city instead.
"Oh my gods..." Percy muttered slapping a head to his forehead. "How the heck am I supposed to get to the stupid administrative building!!?"
"Hello? You seem rather fustrated."
Percy turned around to find a girl a little shorter then him with short medium length bluish blonde hair. She had a brown short combat jacket on and long combat boots along with very short black pants and a large scarf. She had a long massive sniper rifle slung around her shoulder, if Percy's sluggish knowlege of guns held right, the sniper was called a Hecate 2, a gun originating in France. He knew because Camp Halfblood had one with celestial bronze bullets specially fitted for it.
The girl was looking at Percy with some concern. As Percy looked at the gun and bluish hair, she couldn't help but think he was forgetting something, something about..a girl? Hmm..
"Hello?" the girl said again waving a hand in front of Percy's face. "You okay?"
"Oh..um sorry." said Percy. "I've been trying to get to the administrative building, but I've gotten myself kinda lost see?"
The girl looked Percy up and down. "Hmm..no gear...one of the only guys in this game that hasn't tried to hit on me yet..I'm guessing you're new to this game?"
Percy nodded uneasily.
"Well then, I guess I could take you there myself." said the girl. "I'm headed to the administrative building myself to meet a friend of mine. What's your name?"
Percy began to say that his name was Percy, but then stopped, he tried to remember the username he had entered into the Amusphere for his character. Then he remembered that he really hadn't been that creative. "Er..Perseus."
"Interesting name to use as your login." said the girl. "I'm Sinon."
"Sinon.." Percy muttered. "Where have I heard that name...?"
Sinon chuckled. "You're weird, you know that? Come on, I'll show you to the administrative building."
As Percy followed Sinon through the city, she began to give him various pointers on the game. She told him that he wasn't the first beginner she ever showed around, and that her friend was also somebody she showed around once. Immediately Percy started to wonder if the guy she was talking about was her boyfriend or something, kinda how Kirito and Asuna had started dating in the virtual world. Then again, it had been a special situation.
That's when Percy saw it..a player who was wearing all black combat armor with a black high tech helmet obscuring his face. He had a large M-16 on his back and his body was really buff. The guy stood in Percy and Sinon's way, his posture seemed to exude an arrogance as Percy could feel himself starting to get angry for no reason. Sinon seemed to be feeling the same way.
"Who are you?" growled Sinon. "Just get out of the way already.."
The guy chuckled with a familiar voice. "All in due time little mortal. I gotta talk to pretty boy over here first."
The man took his helmet off to reveal a guy with a military haircut, a brutal face and dark wraparound shades.
"Ares!" Percy said stepping back.
"Wrongo boy!" said the war god. "I'm Mars right now..though I have to say, both my Roman and Greek selves love this game. The bullets, the bloodshed, the explosions. My kind of game!"
"You know this guy?" Sinon said uneasily.
"Little Shino Asada." said Mars grinning at Sinon. "You'll have a pretty interesting role in all of this."
Sinon backed off, looking scared. "How do you know my name?"
Okay, now that was going a little too far. If there was one thing Percy knew about ettiquete online, it was that people didn't tend to like revealing who they were in real life..privacy was everything. Right now Mars was acting like an online predator.
"Hey." Percy said. "Back off, what do you want here Mars?"
The god of war gave Percy a smile and removed his shades, revealing two empty eyesockets with miniature nuclear explosions going off in them. "Well, I'll show you...that's why I'm here after all.."
Mars waved his hand and a large motorcycle with steampunk weapons attatched to the front sprung out of mid air. "Well what are ya waiting for you two? We've got a plenty to see..especially Ms. Asada.."