The Mosaic World free porn video

I wrote this story largely as an excuse to play around with both virtual reality and multiple genres in one story. I don't think that it's one of my better stories, but I had fun writing it and hope that you find it amusing. The Mosaic World By Morpheus I paused in front of the gates of Virtutech Industries, frowning deeply as I did so. It certainly wasn't the first time that I'd stood there since it was the same place that I'd worked for the last two years, but this time was different. This time they'd just called me back from vacation, saying that it was important. "It had better be important," I muttered. At the moment I was less than happy about having my vacation cut short. I'd only been away for half of my two weeks and wasn't particularly pleased about that. However when my friend Deacon called and said that it was important, I knew that I'd better drop everything and come. My name is Steven Bryce, and I was a 31 year old single man. I was 6 feet tall even and pretty fit, though I thought of myself as somewhat average looking. But at the moment it was my job that was important. I worked as head of external security systems for Virtutech, which sounded a little more impressive than it actually was. For the most part, I supervised installation, monitoring and maintenance of the video and alarm systems in the compound, as well as managed the various guard shifts. Of course that just made me wonder what the hell they wanted me back so urgently for. Did someone break into the building? That was about the only thing that I could think of that would make them call me back. Within a few minutes I was heading towards the main control room. It was the heart center of Virtutech Industries, and not a room that I usually worked in myself. However it was the room that my friend Deacon worked from, and he was sure to know what was going on. As soon as I stepped inside the control room, I saw several people standing around. These were the techies... mostly computer programmers who kept all the systems up and working properly. My attention immediately went to the dark haired skinny guy with thick glasses. That was Deacon... probably my closest friend, and the head of techie group. "Steve," Deacon grinned, looking tired but relieved to see me. "I'm glad that you're here." I just glanced around the room again, noting that everyone was busy and looked quite frustrated. One woman who I knew was well known for her calm and professional attitude, looked as though she was about to have a nervous breakdown. She was cursing at the computer and about to pull out her hair. "What's going on?" I asked Deacon, not liking the look of things so far. "Well," Deacon started, glancing at the computer, "We've got some real problems..." "I gathered that much," I responded, waiting for him to continue. "It's the World," Deacon finally told me. "Something is wrong with the World... and we think the Core." I just stared at him for a moment, knowing that this was not good. Virtutech was the latest in interactive entertainment, a radical improvement on the virtual reality idea. It was based around some sort of crystal matrix computer brain that they called the Core, which created a completely realistic virtual world that people could plug into and interact with each other in realistic virtual settings. Needless to say, the virtual world was usually just referred to as the World. "But I don't have anything to do with the World or the Core," I thought aloud, looking curiously at Deacon. In fact, I knew very little about that aspect of the company, preferring to avoid it. Normally I loved virtual reality, video games and role playing games of almost any kind, but something about the idea of plugging my mind directly into a computer just didn't sit right with me. Perhaps it was memories of too many times hackers had interrupted my more traditional games. And though Virtutech had incredible security, I never wanted to take the risk that some hacker or bug in the system would deep fry my brain. "What's the problem?" I asked, trying to remain practical. "People are dying," a new voice announced shortly. I looked over at Mrs. Boskins, one of the head managers as she entered. She was a middle aged woman, though still rather attractive, even if a little too heavy around the waist. "Please let me," Deacon told her, then looked back at me. "We have serious problems." I just nodded, silently urging him to go on and knowing that Deacon tended to get into things at his own pace. "Where should I start..." "How about the beginning?" I suggested, deciding to push him a little, "That's always a good idea." Deacon nodded thoughtfully, "Yes... the beginning. That is where the problems started." "When we first created the world," Deacon told me, shifting into lecture mode, "We created a number of different worlds. Completely separate worlds with their own rules that people could plug into and interact in." Deacon paused for a moment, glancing at the computer before continuing, "But somehow the Core become confused and connected these separate worlds into a single world... THE World. Instead of being completely separated, they all became connected, but just as different Zones in the World geographically." "I've heard something about that," I mused. I remembering rumors that the whole mosaic thing with all the different Zones that one could walk between had been some sort of accident, though I hadn't believed it in the least. When they were programming something as complex as the World, I didn't think that they'd be able to do something like that by accident. It seemed too... controlled. Too planned. "Well," Deacon looked a bit embarrassed, "The second problem appeared several months ago... when new Zones started to appear on their own. No one seemed to have created them... but they would appear attached to the World anyway." "On their own?" I blinked in surprise. That didn't make any sort of sense. "My personal theory is that the Core was too complex a computer system," Deacon told me, "I think that it may have started creating new Zones itself, to expand what it already saw present and using information and ideas that our visitors have been bringing into it." I nodded at that, still not seeing what this had to do with me. Then I had another thought, "If this happened several months ago... how come no one shut the World down?" Deacon gave a quick glanced at Mrs. Boskins, the look on his face telling me quite a bit. The higher ups didn't want to shut things down, and I could guess several reasons why. Most likely, they didn't want to risk scaring away customers and the profits that came along with them unless they absolutely had to. "At first we thought one of us might be creating the new worlds," Deacon sighed, "But by the time we verified that it wasn't any of us, the new Zones had already been used and seemed safe." He glanced meaningfully at Mrs. Boskins again, "It was determined that though they were a glitch, they were perfectly safe... and could even be used like any other Zone." "How many Zones?" I asked. "Original and these new ones." "There are thirty six Zones total," Deacon answered matter-of-factly, "With eleven of them having appeared on their own as of now. And new Zones keep appearing at random intervals." This was definitely interesting, though still didn't explain the sudden urgency. And after I'd asked, Mrs. Boskins snapped, "The situation has changed..." "The problem isn't the way the Zones have all form a mosaic World, or even that new ones keep forming," Deacon told me, his expression deadly serious. "Those were just the early signs. The real problem started two days ago... when the system locked up." "I wish it were just locked up," another programmer muttered from several feet away. "That would be easier to fix..." "We got locked out of the Core," Deacon stated, obviously trying to control his frustration, "We have no access... well, extremely limited access." He took a deep breath before continuing, "Without that, we can't pull any of our visitors back out. There are over a hundred people stuck in the World." "Why not just unplug them?" I asked, trying to make sense of this whole thing. Deacon shook his head grimly. "The feedback from the sudden disconnect would leave them brain dead. Everyone in the World is stuck there. But even worse... the safety features aren't working. The players aren't being automatically disconnected when their Avatars die in the World." "What he means," Mrs. Boskins announced quietly from behind me, "is that if they die in the World... the feedback kills them for real." I stared at her in horror, then at Deacon who nodded his agreement. "We've already had almost a dozen deaths. And the longer they remain trapped in there... the more there are going to be." "Holy shit," I gasped, shaking my head in disbelief. Then I took a deep breath, "But why call me? This sounds like something for internal security." Mrs. Boskins and Deacon looked at each other for a moment before she said, "We've managed to keep this quiet so far... but we won't be able to for much longer. We have to get this taken care of and those people out before this goes pubic. Because once it does... it'll be a disaster." Deacon sighed, looking even more exhausted than he had a few minutes earlier. Then he looked at me, a guilty expression on his face. "We need your help to fix this," Deacon told me with a sigh, "but not because you're head of security. I'm afraid it was my idea so you'll have to blame me." "Please tell me what's going on," I sighed, not liking the way Deacon was dancing around the subject. It reminded me too much of the time back in college when he'd tried setting me up on a blind date with sister's ugly friend. "We found the source of the glitch that is locking us out of the Core," Deacon told me grimly. "It's in the World." Mrs. Boskins decided to step in at this point, "We need someone to go in and fix it. Someone we can trust." I let out a sigh at that. "Why do I have a feeling that this someone is me?" Deacon looked guilty at that, "I thought that you couldn't get anyone into the World..." "No," Deacon corrected me, "we can load people into it... we just can't bring them back out. Not until the glitch is repaired." "So it's a one way trip," I thought aloud, adding pointedly, "Unless this glitch is actually repaired." Deacon nodded tiredly again at that. "It's entirely volunteer." He glared at Mrs. Boskins who looked as though she was about to argue. "But I think that you're the only one who can do it." "Why me?" I asked, "As you know, I'm not a programmer and I'm not qualified to fix this glitch. I wouldn't know the first thing about doing so." "Don't worry about that," Deacon assured me. "But the reason we think it has to be you... Well... there are several of them." "I'm all ears," I sighed. "You're not limited by a character profile yet," Deacon explained. "You don't have an Avatar." I nodded at that, not having a character profile but knowing very well what one was. Before you could get plugged into the world, you had to create a profile for your basic character in there, which was called an Avatar. Once you used it, that profile became coded to your specific brain-wave patters, so that you and only you could ever use that specific Avatar. And by the same factor, anytime you went into the World, you would automatically be plugged into that Avatar. The only way to change that was to completely erase the Avatar profile from the Core and create a whole new one, which I heard was a real pain in the ass. "As I said," Deacon continued grimly, "there are thirty six Zones in the World, and we have no idea which one the glitch is in. So, whomever we send in there has to have access to ALL of the Zones." I nodded again, realizing that this would probably be a big problem in itself. Even once you were in the World, you couldn't just walk from one Zone to another. Not unless your Avatar profile had the additional parameters needed for whatever rules and system was set up in that Zone. And because adding all of these extra parameters was another pain in the ass... which cost extra, people just didn't have their profiles set for Zones that they didn't use. Most people only had their profiles set up to allow them access to maybe half a dozen Zones at the most. "And none of you have full Zone access in your profiles," I stated, looking at Deacon who gave a tired nod. "No," Deacon admitted. "Mine only has access to eighteen." "So you're going to create a new Avatar with full Zone access for me," I thought aloud. "Not exactly," Deacon sighted, pulling off his glasses and rubbing at his temple for a moment. Once he put his glasses back on, he told me, "The system won't let us create new profiles or even change any of the ones that we have. The ONLY thing that we can do with the Core is send people in with their pre-existing Avatars." "But I don't have an Avatar," I reminded him. "No," he frowned, "but we have found a full Zone access profile that someone created but hasn't been used yet... so it isn't brain coded to any user. We can insert you into the World with that." Letting out a sigh I rubbed at my own temples. "I see. I'm already on the inside so no one else will need to be brought in... and since I don't have an Avatar with only a few Zone parameters, I'm free to be assigned this full access one." "Precisely," Mrs. Boskins said, looking pretty grim. "There is another reason too," Deacon added, looking somewhat embarrassed. "It was one of the main reasons I thought you should be the one to go." I waited a moment for him to continue, then he finally added, "Your hobbies." "My hobbies?" I repeated without much understanding. I stared at Deacon blankly, not sure what practical use my hobbies would be. In my spare time... I was a couch potato. I sat around, watching lots of movies, mostly science fiction, fantasy and anime, though just about everything else as well. I was a ravenous sci-fi and fantasy reader, as well as devoured manga and comic books by the score. Of course there was also the role playing games and the like as well. In fact, that was how I'd first met Deacon. We'd met over a game of Dungeons and Dragons back in college. Then Deacon explained, "The whole World is set up for entertainment purposes. In fact, just about each Zone represents a different genre, most of which you are VERY familiar with. You might never have been in the World, but you already know all the genres... all their rules and how everything works." For a long moment I just stared at Deacon, half sure that he was joking, except for the fact that I knew for a fact that he wasn't. In a strange way, it made perfect sense. "So my countless hours of vegging in front of the tube are finally paying off," I sighed in resignation. I barely noticed the faint smug looks that Deacon and Mrs. Boskins shared, though I couldn't help wondering if they'd made some sort of side bet about whether or not I'd agree to go in or not. After this Deacon briefed me a little more on the problem then led me down the hall to the chamber where they'd plug me into the world. I was feeling extremely nervous as we did so, not liking the idea of what I was going to do but knowing that I didn't really have a choice. With my absolute fascination for all role playing and escapism which was so perfectly represented in the World, I knew that most people would think it odd that I'd never gone in. But the fact was, playing a game on the computer is quite a bit different. Sure, the World offers reality unlike anything else... but the fact was, I didn't like the idea of plugging my brain into it. Computers could be hacked or infected with viruses, and though I might have my game messed up, I was perfectly safe. But the thought of what might happen if something like that happened to the Core while my brain was actually plugged into it, and then fried as a result, was enough to give me nightmares. And though Deacon had laughed off my fears as technophobic, the current situation had proven them well founded. "I hate being proven right," I muttered to myself. A few minutes later I was standing in a small room, staring down at a chamber, which looked something like a rounded coffin. There were wires all around it, but it was done tastefully. With a grimace, climbed inside of it, putting on a strange looking headset and trying to lay down and get comfortable. "Remember," Deacon said, leaning over me, "I've created a virus that I'm sure I can sneak in with you. A seeker program. It will take on an appearance appropriate to whatever Zone you're in... and lead you to wherever the glitch is. Once you actually find the glitch, my program should be able to delete it and restore full access to the Core." "And don't forget," He continued grimly, "the safeties are off. If you get killed in there... it's for real." "Gotcha." I grimaced, then gave him a thumbs up. "I'll insert you into one of the more normal Zones to give you a chance to acclimate," Deacon told me, then paused to give me a strange grin. "Have fun... and be careful." Then Suddenly everything went black and the whole world vanished from around me. --- There are times when you are dreaming, and you know that you are dreaming, yet it feels so real that you begin to doubt yourself. This was a lot like that. One moment I was sitting back in the chamber, and the next thing I knew, I was standing out in the open, in the middle of a city. All the familiar sights and sounds of the city were there. I could see the skyscrapers, watch countless people milling around. I could feel the faint wind blowing on my skin and even smell the delicious scent of hot dogs from the nearby cart. I stood were I was for a moment, completely amazed at just how real everything around me felt. It wasn't at all like the cheesy virtual reality that I had sometimes imagined. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn up and down that I was still in normal reality, not plugged into some digitized virtual world. After I had looked around at my surroundings, I finally looked down at myself, already feeling somewhat strange and growing curious about the Avatar that I had been plugged in with. As soon as I saw my body though, my eyes shot wide in surprise. "Holy shit," I whispered. The first and most obvious thing that I saw was the pushing out from my chest that practically screamed out 'WOMAN'. And if that wasn't enough, a single glance over the rest of my body provided all of the proof that I had turned into a woman. No... that I had been inserted into the World... in a female Avatar. "Deacon," I spat, wondering if this was his idea of a joke. He hadn't said a word... so he was probably laughing about how I'd react at finding out that I'd turned into a woman. And that just made me suddenly wonder if maybe this had been the only unused Avatar available. "Bastard." At the moment I was wearing some sort of dark gray, professional woman's business attire, including a skirt, pantyhose and a pair of professional looking high heels. Strangely, I didn't feel the least unbalanced in those heels... and quickly realized that it had to be the Avatar parameters set for that particular Zone. Then I noticed the cell phone that was clutched in my hand. I held it up to look at it, seeing that it looked just like any other cell phone, but I could somehow FEEL that it wasn't. It was the program that Deacon had sent in with me. With a shrug, I slipped it into my pocket, feeling relieved that it had actually made it. Taking a deep breath, I looked around again, spotting a building with mirror finished windows just behind me. I immediately moved closer, stopping only once I was able to see my own image reflected back from those mirror finished windows. Or at least the image of the Avatar that I was using. The woman who was reflected back looked to be in her early to mid twenties, with reddish blonde hair that was tied up into a professional looking style. And though she looked quite professional and businesslike at the moment, there was no doubt that she was very shapely and beautiful at the same time. "Wow," I whispered, wishing that I could meet the real woman in the window. At least until I remembered that the Avatar may have... and probably does have nothing to do with the real person. The profile's creator could have easily been some fat ugly girl who wanted to escape her boring, everyday life. After several seconds though I thought of something else. It was so much effort to get parameters loaded for all Zones... and extra money as well, that it was extremely unlikely that most people just wouldn't do it. And if by some chance they did... they would probably add the new Zones one by one as they became interested in them. They certainly wouldn't create the profile with all that and not even use it. "Unless..." I mused to myself. Suddenly I remembered the expression on Mrs. Boskins face when Deacon had mentioned there being an unused Avatar profile. And then I knew... the Avatar had to be hers. It made sense since she was the sort to demand the absolute best in anything that she got... and then not even bother to use it even once. And the reason that she hadn't used it to come in to fix things herself... Well, that was pretty obvious. There was absolutely no way that she was going to risk her own skin on even the slightest chance that it wouldn't work and she'd be stuck inside. As I stood there, staring at myself, I had to fight back the incredible urge that developed to start groping myself, or to find someplace private where I could really check my body out. Instead I forced myself to remember why I was there. I had a mission to take care of and couldn't afford to waste time on things like that. So being as practical as I could, I turned away from the window and started walking. I kept a close eye on everyone around me as I walked, watching as everyone acted just like normal people. However I knew that there weren't that many people in the World. Not in the least. These were Core constructs... non-player characters. They were created by the Core to fit into the Zone and create the right feeling... just like the buildings. But damn, they looked and acted every bit as real as real people. I doubted that I'd be able to tell the difference even if I did run into someone else real... not unless they did something outrageous... like yelling out that the world was really just virtual reality. And then, even that could just be some virtual crazy person. "Amazing," I whispered to myself, feeling more and more impressed as I walked. For all intents and purposes it seemed as though I was in the middle of New York City. I had no idea what kind of Zone this really was, but it sure seemed like the real world. Maybe it was one of the early ones they'd created to try out the realism of the system. Or maybe it was designed to cater to people's desires to play the role CEO or something else that could only be done in that kind of big city environment. I neither knew, nor really cared. "I can't believe that I look like a woman," I said aloud, hearing the woman's voice that came from my throat. Of course I was going to have to get Deacon back for that little joke. Suddenly I paused, seeing something strange in front of me. Just a short distance ahead, there was a strange glowing red line on the ground. It spread out in with no real end in sight, though I hadn't even noticed it until I was almost right on top of it. Then it dawned on me. "The boundary." This was the end of the Zone... where it met up with the next one. It didn't seem any different though except for that glowing red line along the ground. I could see everything beyond the line the same as everywhere else, and a number of people walked back and forth through it as though it wasn't there. Perhaps to them it wasn't. It was probably only visible to real people. After hesitating just a moment longer, I took a deep breath and stepped over the line. As soon as I stepped over the line, I felt something wash over me. It was a strange sensation, and a feeling as though everything had changed. The first thing that I immediately realized had changed, was the weather. It was suddenly MUCH sunnier and warmer than it had been moments ago, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky when it had just been overcast. Then I absorbed that I was standing on a beach... in the sand... barefoot. I looked down at myself, startled to see that I was now wearing a red bikini... and was obviously still female. That last part wasn't the least bit surprising though considering that it was actually built into the basic Avatar. I was even willing to bet that I still had the same reddish blonde hair... unless of course the rules for this particular Zone called for something different. When I felt the long hair rubbing up against my shoulders, I reached back, pulling a few strands into my view and seeing that they were the same reddish blonde. It was only then that I noticed the frisbee in my other hand. However I didn't need to look closer at it to know that it was Deacon's program. Tearing my eyes from myself, I looked around again, seeing the swimmers in the water, the surfers, people playing volleyball on the beach and a number of other beach activities. Though I had no way to tell for certain, I thought that I appeared to be in California. "Hey," a muscular blonde guy called out to me, "Want to toss your frisbee around..." I frowned, seeing how much fun everyone was having and wishing that I could join in. "I'm afraid not," I told him, "I've got to get going." "C'mon honey..." the man pushed, though I started ignoring him. I held up the frisbee and realized that I could sort of feel it tugging me... back towards the direction I had come from. "Damn," I muttered, realizing that I'd been in such a hurry to get moving that I'd gone in the wrong direction. I looked at the glowing red line in the sand before crossing over it again, finding myself once more in what appeared to be New York, and dressed as a business woman. I had to admit, that Zone crossing thing was certainly an interesting way to travel if nothing else. "Okay," I held up my cell phone, "show me where to go..." And in response I could see an arrow appear on the face plate, pointing in a direction away from the beach Zone. With a shrug I started walking. --- I sat silently on the bus stop bench, just as I had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. Frowning thoughtfully, I looked around me, seeing the countless people that were moving around the busy city. Or at what looked like people, appearing to move around what seemed like a city. Keeping it all straight in that virtual World was incredibly difficult. "Hard to believe it's not real," I told myself. A short distance away, a woman was fighting with her child, who was throwing a tantrum for some reason or other. A man was flirting with a woman, while two elderly women were sitting on the side and gossiping about what appeared to be their grand kids. "It's too real," I mused. Then I turned my attention back to the street that was right in front of me, or more specifically, to the glowing red line that was stretched out right down the middle of the street. That was the dividing point... the boundary between two Zones. I watched as people crossed the sidewalk, walking straight through the red line without appearing to notice it's existence. Of course I knew the truth. These people, as real as they seemed, were really virtual constructs... created by the Core. And on the other side of that line, though it looked just as real as everything on my side, was some sort of illusion. An illusion which all these constructs were a part of... but I was not. Finally I stood up, deciding that I'd had enough of a break for the moment. It had been well over an hour since I had left the sunny beach world, and it was time to move on. I was just thankful that I'd thought about catching a bus to get across the Zone instead of walking the whole thing myself. That particular Zone seemed to cover about half of the city. Then I took a deep breath, not sure what to expect next and stepped into the street and through the red line. Again, the whole world seemed to shift around me, though not nearly so much as stepping into the beach world. "Interesting," I thought aloud, taking another look around. It was obvious that I was still in a city, and though my first thought was that I'd never left, it was also easy to see differences. The style of everything was different and the colors were off. Everything seemed a little brighter, a little more colorful. I was definitely in a completely different city. After I had taken in my surroundings, I looked down at myself again and was startled to see that I was wearing some sort of red and gold spandex costume, and I even had some sort of red cape around my neck. A cape that was really Deacon's program. Suddenly I 'knew' that I was called Solar Woman and that I was a super hero. I instinctively knew that I had super powers... all fueled by sunlight. I was ten times stronger than a normal woman, three times faster and that I could fly, not to mention release 'solar flares', bursts of raw solar energy. "Wow," I gasped, wondering where the hell all that had come from. But then I took a deep breath, realizing that it had to be the parameters for that Zone. It was the programmed parameters which was adapting me to the rules of the Zone and giving me all the necessary skills for my Avatar... or at least the character that my Avatar became... "I'm in a super hero Zone," I grinned, suddenly feeling extremely excited by the idea. I LOVED super heroes. I'd been a comic book fan since I was a kid, so the realization that I was effectively in one... and as a hero... or at least heroine, was exciting as hell. And though I knew that I had a mission, there was no way that I could resist taking advantage of that opportunity. With that I tapped into my programmed skills and abilities, and flew straight up into the sky. I had to fight back the urge to let out a howl of excitement as I went higher and higher into the air, stopping only once I was above all of the buildings. The view around me was completely staggering. My heart raced wildly as I did nothing more than just hover there for a few seconds, and then even more so as I actually began flying around overhead. It was the most exciting thing that I'd ever experienced. Then I noticed something in the distance below me. There were flashes of light, followed by explosions. And as I moved closer for a better look, I could make out several other costumed men and women fighting among themselves on the street. "A real super hero battle," I gasped in awe. There were what appeared to be four heroes, fighting an even half dozen villains. I could tell them apart because one of the heroes was dressed up in a heavily patriotic theme, while one of the villains was wearing skulls and another a Nazi symbol. Traditional villain markings. For a moment I was tempted to just sit back and watch the whole thing, but the excitement of the moment got to me and I found myself swooping down to help. For the first time in my life, I was actually in a super hero comic, and it would be a shame to waste such an amazing opportunity by just sitting back and watching. If I was going to just do that, I might as well be back where it was safe and reading the comic. Without a word I came swooping down and punched the swastika wearing guy as hard as I could, sending him flying straight into a wall. "Solar Woman," the patriotic hero grinned cheerfully, "It is good to see you..." "I thought this was my fight," a 7 foot tall and heavily muscled man wearing dark greens spandex, standing beside the patriotic one pouted. "But everyone wants to join in." "One is never alone when fighting evil," the patriotic hero announced, then charged straight at the villains again. The heavily muscled hero just shook his head, then held out his hand, "They call me Max Force." "I'm not really sure this is the time for introductions," I told him with a wry grin, glancing at the villains. "Oh yeah," he muttered in embarrassment, "I'm still not used to this." With that we both turned to the villains. Max Force picked up a car and threw it straight at one of the villains, then charged forward, punching at another. I watched for just a moment, then flew up, punching a woman with wings who'd started throwing knives at us. The fight was extremely exciting, and I almost laughed as the last hero, a woman with glowing blue hair swung some sort of quarterstaff made out of blue energy and hit one of the villains right in his crotch. He let out a loud howl and collapsed to his knees. "That's gotta hurt," I muttered, for the moment thankful that I didn't have to worry about that particular problem. Then when one man started flying towards me, his fists both glowing red, I unleashed a solar flare... right in his face. He let out a scream, grabbing at his eyes as he fell to the ground, smoking where his clothes had been burned off of him. If it hadn't been for some sort of near invulnerability, he would probably be hurting even more. It didn't take much longer for the fight to end, with the villains all caught and tied up. The unknown woman with glowing blue hair bowed towards me, then floated away on a glowing blue energy disk, not having said a word. The patriotic hero, whose name I still didn't know, was busy talking with the police who had shown up as soon as the action stopped. "I can't believe how real this is," Max Force announced from beside me. "I know," I agreed, giving him another look. "You're real too." Max Force grinned, then looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah. I've been coming here for months, but I don't think I'll ever get used to it." "It's my first time," I admitted, knowing exactly how he felt. Then I frowned, looking around and remembering my mission. I'd gotten so caught up in playing the hero there in that super hero Zone, that I'd almost forgotten that I was on a mission to save lives for real. If I didn't get to that glitch and get it taken care of, I didn't want to what that would mean, not only to everyone else who was now trapped in the World... but to me as well. "I've got to get going," I told Max Force quickly. I turned my attention to my cape, trying to sense which direction to go. Once I did so, I could actually feel it sort of gently tugging me in one direction. That was where I had to go. "What's the big hurry," Max asked, "You got to get back to your secret identity or something?" "No," I grimaced, pausing to take another look at him. Then I suddenly felt sorry for him, realizing that he was playing at a game, risking his life in fights with super villains in what he thought was just harmless fun, when in truth he could die for real from it. He was in real danger and didn't even know it. Just like everyone else in the World. "There's a problem with the World," I told Max, thinking that it probably wasn't a good idea to tell him, but knowing that he deserved to know the truth. If nothing else, it would keep him from risking his life like that. "There's a virus... or a hacker... or something." I shrugged. "No one can log out and I'm here to fix it." "No shit," Max gasped in horror, staring at me in disbelief. "You're shitting me..." But after he took a longer look at my expression, he shook his head, "You're not..." "I've got to get going," I told him, walking in the direction the cape was tugging. To my surprise it wasn't really very far to the Zone border. Max followed me the entire time, though I couldn't be certain why. I told him to be careful and not to get himself killed, then once I saw the glowing red line on the ground, I turned and said goodbye before stepping across. I instantly found myself standing in a forest, surrounded by nothing but trees... and what was obviously a walking path. For a moment I remained where I was, getting my bearings on my new environment and making sure that everything was safe. It was only then that I took the opportunity to check out my parameters for this Zone. I looked down at myself, seeing that I was wearing strange looking green and brown clothes. I had a leather belt on my side, along with several pouches and a sword that hung from it. The sword was also Deacon's seeker program. Closing my eyes I took a deep breath, thinking that from what I could see that it was fairly obvious that I was either in some sort of medieval Zone, or knowing the nature of the World, a fantasy type Zone. As I thought about it, my thoughts about it probably being a fantasy Zone were shown to be accurate as I suddenly 'knew' that I was an Elven mage. It was the parameters providing me with the knowledge and skills that I would need for that Zone again. Feeling curious I reached up to me ears and found that they were indeed pointed. I nodded absently, then concentrated and formed a ball of glowing orange light between my hands. A minor light summoning spell, which I somehow now knew how to cast, in just the same way that I knew how to fly and fire solar flares in the previous Zone. "Dungeons and Dragons it is," I muttered to myself, taking another, more careful look around and deciding that I was going to have to be VERY careful. I knew very well from the countless RP games that I'd played that in that kind of situation, strange monsters could pop out at almost any instant. "My favorite...." I added, though at the moment I wasn't feeling quite as excited as I might have otherwise. I had just taken several steps along the path in front of me when I heard something from behind. I snapped around, only to see a large creature. It looked somewhat human, except for the fact that it was about 7 feet tall, had grayish green skin and looked rather brutish. And though I'd never seen anything like that before, I suspected that it was probably either a troll or an orc. Or something else along those lines. My sword was in my hand before I'd even realized that I'd drawn it, obviously one of the parameters my new Avatar had for that Zone. And at the moment, I was quite thankful for it. "Wait," the creature held up it's hands, then blinked and dropped the club it was carrying to the ground as if to prove that it wasn't an enemy. I took another look at the creature, then the glowing red line right behind it. "Max?" I asked, suddenly noticing it's strong resemblance to Max Force. "Yeah," he nodded, "Figured you might need some help." "I appreciate the thought," I sighed, "But this is my responsibility." "Maybe," Max admitted, "But if what you said is right, then I'm in danger too and I've got every right to get involved." I rolled my eyes at that, but had to admit that he was right. "I don't know where I'm going yet," I pointed out, "and I'll probably go through Zones that you're not set up for." "Maybe," Max said again, shrugging as if that didn't matter, "But I'll go as far as I can. And besides...." he grinned, "I'm set up for twenty Zones." For a moment I just stared at him, seeing the stubborn expression that had formed on his somewhat ugly face. Somehow, I doubted that I'd be able to talk him out of coming along now that he'd made up his mind, nor was I sure that I wanted to. With just a shrug, I turned and started on my way again, with Max following close behind. After a few minutes, Max muttered, "Maybe I should get in character." He cleared his throat, then grumbled, "Me Maxham. Me big strong ogre. Me help save world..." I grinned at that, shaking my head faintly. Max... or Maxham as he seemed to call himself in this new Zone, was apparently having fun, even if the situation was serious. But then again, I wondered if he might just be thinking that I was playing some game of my own that was no more real than anything else. I hoped not. Max and I continued walking through the forest for the next hour or so without anything happening. I was beginning to get sick and tired of all the walking, first through the city and now through the woods. What made it worse was the realization that I had absolutely no idea just how much more walking I might have to do. Deacon's program only told me the direction to go... not how far. "So, are you married?" Max asked me abruptly. "If you're not... maybe we can go out to dinner some time... I mean, back in the real world." I nearly choked at that. "No," said carefully, "I'm not married. But you're certainly not my type and I'm pretty sure that I'm not yours either." Max looked a little hurt at that, "Hey, I'm not bad looking..." "And I'm not a woman," I snapped back at him, probably a little shorter than I should have, but the conversation was making me uncomfortable. "I'm a guy. Unfortunately, this..." I gestured down at my obviously feminine body, "was the only Avatar that I could use to get in and take care of this." "Whoah," Max gasped, staring at me with a look of surprise. I just stared back at him, even though I had to crank my neck a little to do so. Then I turned and started walking again, thinking that I'd just gotten rid of Max. However I couldn't help feeling a bit sad about that as well. It was nice at least having some company. However Max wasn't scared off and was quickly coming along with me again, "Sorry," Max told me, "I didn't mean nothing. I was just trying to..." He was obviously embarrassed, "Hey, can we still be buds..." "Sure," I sighed, "Why not?" "My real name's Max Bingham," Max told me. I hesitated for a moment before answering, "Steve. Steve Bryce." I glanced down at myself, knowing that I sure as hell didn't look like a 'Steve' at the moment. Max and I talked a little bit as we walked, though it seemed strange talking to such a big creature. Then again, that was nowhere near as strange as the fact that I looked like a beautiful woman. And at the moment... an elf woman at that. Suddenly I heard a bunch of noise coming from the bushes around us, only moments before I realized that we were surrounded. Men seemed to pour out from behind the trees, until there were at least a dozen of them around us, each of them armed with some weapon or another. "Not good," I muttered, quickly looking around and silently cursing myself for getting distracted. I'd played D&D to know that any trip through the wilderness was almost begging for an attack by bandits and the like. "Not good at all..." "All right," Max chuckled, lifting his studded club and grinning. I took a deep breath, pulling my sword out and reminding myself to be careful. Then I reminded Max, "Remember what I told you about the glitch..." "Oh yeah," he responded, losing some of his enthusiasm. "Give us your valuables," a fat man with a mace demanded with a smirk. Another man added, "And the elf." "Kill the ogre," another ordered. Knowing that I had better not give them the chance to think clearly and just shoot us with the crossbow that I'd seen, I jumped straight at the nearest bandit, slashing at him with my sword. It wasn't until he screamed and collapsed to the ground that I realized the possibility that he could be a real person. That any of them could have come into the World to play at being bandits. Not likely... but possible. "Damn," I spat, slashing out at another bandit, more to defend myself than to kill him. "Pointy eared whore!" The fat man who'd spoken first screamed out at me, swinging his mace. But before I had a chance to deal with it, Max was there, along with his rather large club, which hit the fat man along the side of his head with a sickening crunch. Max grinned, then started swinging again, more wildly than with any real skill. But with his size and strength, it definitely did the job when it connected. "Are any of you real!" I cried out, "Are any of you outside the World?" None of the bandits responded to that, at least not positively. Several of them had blank looks, while at least one seemed to think that I'd lost my mind. They were acting just like real people would if someone started demanding that back in the real world. However none of them showed any indication that they were just visitors. "Guess not," Max roared from beside me. I took a quick look around at all the bandits, realizing that we were taking them down one at a time, but we were still outnumbered and going to be overwhelmed soon. Especially if the guy with the crossbow or the one with the bow and arrow decided to start shooting. We were going to have to change tactics if we were going to survive this one. "Let me get a high luck roll," I muttered, thinking that I'd be rolling the die against the DM about that time. And with that I dropped the sword and began using the other ability that had come with that Zone's parameters. I started casting a quick spell, then let loose with a ball of fire, straight at the man with the crossbow. He let out a loud scream as it caught him straight in the chest. I didn't think that it would be enough to kill him, but it would definitely keep him from shooting at me. After taking a quick look to see how Max was doing, I started casting another spell, this one designed to take out more than just one of them. Then I let loose, firing an icicle barrage spell... a shotgun blast of icicles, piercing four of the bandits at one time, though I suspected that only one of them might die from it. However Max took quick advantage of their distraction and made sure that all of them would. Having Max watch my back like that was a definite relief, and it gave me time to work my magic once again. I threw another fireball at the man with the bow, and then had to jump out of the way as a man with an ax came straight at me. Not having time to use magic on that one, I pulled out a dagger and slammed it into his side. And before he could do anything else, Max had hit him over the head, finishing him off. "They're running," Max yelled out unnecessarily. All of the would be robbers who weren't dead or too badly injured had run off back into the woods. I let out a sigh of relief, but wasn't about to let down my guard just yet. Instead I picked up my sword, keeping it in hand until we'd made sure that we weren't in danger anymore. "What now?" Max asked, kicking at one of the dead bodies, looking somewhat uncomfortable. I just shrugged, "We rummage through their belongings for money and magic items." That was the standard practice from gaming. We did just that, though Max looked somewhat uncomfortable, muttering, "I can't believe how real it all looks." Then he told me, "I have to keep reminding myself it's just a game." I could only nod at that, knowing exactly how he felt. By the time we had finished rummaging through their belongings, what little there were, we found a number of coins, a few jewels and a strange looking magic ring that I assumed was magical. However as I had no idea what it could do, I cautioned Max from putting it on... or even handling it too much. After this we hit the road again, hurrying away as fast as we could in case the bandits came back with reinforcements. In hindsight, I realized that we probably should have done that right away, rather than wasting time looking for valuables. But long gaming habits were hard to break. To my great relief, it wasn't much longer before we came to a town. It looked exactly like I would have expected a village a fantasy world to look like. It was somewhat primitive, with most of the buildings being made of wood, and with a number of dirty looking... and armed people running around. The first thing that I did in the village was to look around, seeing that most of the people were human, though I saw two other elves, what was obviously a dwarf and something that I thought was probably a goblin. And with all of the people that I saw carrying weapons, I knew that it could get violent very quickly. "Try not to start anything," I cautioned Max, "Remember... if we die in here, we die for real." Then we carefully made our way to the largest building in town, which was obviously the inn. And in a gaming world, that would mean restaurant, bar and hotel... all in one. Not to mention whorehouse, but I wasn't aiming for that at the moment. To my surprise I was not only sore and tired from all the walking and fighting, but starving as well. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that it was all real. That I really was a female elf in the middle of a Dungeons and Dragons world. Since we had plenty of money from our encounter with the bandits, Max and I sat down for a nice meal... or at least what consisted of a nice meal in a place like that. It was a bowl of some sort of stew, a chunk of bread and a big mug of ale. I'd eaten much better, though I couldn't help but appreciate the realism. And my stomach just appreciated getting something in it. "I'm too tired to keep walking," I told Max, knowing that it would get dark soon. "We should probably stay the night and then get going again in the morning." "Maybe get some horses," he suggested, surprising me as it was definitely a good idea. It would save some good wear on my legs and I had no idea just how much longer it would take to get through the fantasy Zone and to the next. Once we'd finished eating, Max and I went upstairs, having rented a room to share for the night. It was my suggestion since I thought that it would be safer that way. Of course the room fit in with everything else, being small and grungy with a bed that was probably infested with bugs. But, it was what I expected. "Since we're here," Max told me, "I'm gonna go back down and have a few more drinks..." Then he added, "And maybe do some arm wrestling..." He flexed his arm, showing how big it was just before he left the room. Just a minute after Max was gone, I looked down at myself, seeing the womanly body that I'd been wearing for hours and hours... and what almost seemed like days. I let out a long sigh, once again wondering if it had been one of Deacon's jokes. I certainly wouldn't have put it past him to have slipped me in using a female profile when there was a male one available that would have fit the requirements just as well. Up until that time I'd been able to keep my mind off of my new body, focusing on the business at hand, though it hadn't been easy. But now that I'd stopped for the night, my curiosity started to rear its ugly head. There was time and opportunity, so I wasn't about to ignore either. With that I went and barred the door, then started to slowly remove my clothes. They came off rather easily, even if they were strange. I made a point of trying to remain objective, telling myself that it was a scientific experiment, though it really didn't help much. My new body... or at least the Avatar which appeared to be my body was undeniably feminine... and sexy. Of course I'd already seen that while wearing the bikini on the beach, but seeing it in all its naked glory was something else entirely. "Interesting," I commented, trying to keep the illusion of calm indifference but failing as my voice shook. I slowly ran my hands over my smooth skin, over my shapely breasts and then down my stomach. Every inch of it felt just as real as my own body though somewhat softer and more sensitive. And then... then I stared at the new equipment between my legs, hardly able to believe it. For several minutes I just stood there, silently staring down at my own body. I cupped my breasts and felt my new skin, but kept my hands away from my crotch, in spite of the temptation to check it out a little more. That was a bit too much for me at the moment. Then in spite of my continuing curiosity, I grabbed my clothes and began to get dressed again. I wasn't about to take the risk of Max coming back to the room while I was checking myself out, even if the door was barred. As big as he was, he'd probably knock the whole door in just by knocking. After I was finished I adjusted my clothes again, then felt the sword to see what direction it was pointing me to. I wasn't going just yet, but it was a good reminder of why I was really there, and what I had to do. Whatever the Zone and body I might appear to be locked in at the moment, the truth was that there was a glitch out there somewhere, and people in danger...and I was the only one who could fix it. --- When morning came I awoke to find the massive body of Max sleeping in the corner and snoring loudly. It rumbled through the room, making me wonder how in the world I could have possibly slept at all with that going on. Yet somehow, I had. I grimaced slightly as I moved around, stretching my body to get out the aches that had build up during the night. These less than comfortable conditions were something that most role playing games I'd been involved in or books that I'd read had overlooked. I guess that just spoke to how detailed the World was. Once I was suitably stretched I went downstairs and ordered a bowl of whatever the innkeeper was serving for breakfast. It turned out to be some sort of oatmeal, which was rather bland but at least filled my stomach. And of course, it was served with a mug of ale. "What I wouldn't give for a good German beer," I muttered to myself as sipped the nasty tasting drink. While I was just finishing off my breakfast, Max came down and joined me. We both ate in silence, and I couldn't help wondering if that was because he was suffering a hangover from the night before. I was strongly tempted to ask him... very loudly. However a bad tempered ogre with a hangover was the last thing that I felt like dealing with first thing in the morning. "I was talking to the locals," Max eventually told me, "and apparently there's this sorcerer called Parnek who's trying to take over the world..." Then Max grinned, "Or at least this Zone." I nodded at that. "A Sauron wannabee." That kind of thing was pretty standard in most fantasy worlds. There was always some kind of dark lord or evil sorcerer trying to run things. I thought that it was some unwritten rule or something. "Well," Max shrugged, "I heard some baron is calling for a bunch of heroes to go after some sort of magic amulet they can use against him..." "Standard plot," I told Max. "Parnek is the bad guy. Someone has a group of characters with different specialties... the heroes play Fed Ex... that is go and retrieve some item or other than can save the day. They face monsters, outwit traps and try to save the day." I paused, taking a long drink of ale, wincing as I did so. "This group will probably be mostly real people... with maybe a NPC... a non player character or two along for the ride. If they do manage to get this amulet and then somehow manage to defeat this Parnek, it probably won't be long before someone else steps in to fill the power vacuum... starting the whole thing over again." Max was silent for a few minutes as he thought about that, then asked, "Isn't that sort of what you're doing?" "Maybe just a little," I admitted, "But there are a lot of differences too. For one, I'm not trying to retrieve some McGuffin or other... I'm trying to deliver something." "Sounds like Fed Ex to me," Max pointed out. I shrugged. "But I'm just delivering it. That means, no fighting monsters, wandering dungeons and outwitting traps. And most importantly, there's no real bad guy to defeat. All I have to do is get this program to the glitch and it will fix the software error." I paused at that, remembering something else Deacon had told me and reluctantly adding, "Unless there's a hacker of some sort... in which case, the program will knock them out and fix things." "Sounds simple," Max told me. But after a few seconds, he added, "Things usually don't work out as simple as they seem." Though I didn't like to admit it, Max definitely had a point. It was the most inescapable law of nature. Murphy's Law. But there was little that I could do about that but continue as I was and hope for the best. After Max and I had both finished eating, we collected our belongings... what few there were, and left the inn. I'd rested long enough and had to get back to my mission. Who knew how many people might get killed in the World before the glitch was taken care of, and I wasn't about to delay any longer than necessary and increase that number. Max and I left the village and started down the road, this one much larger than the path that we had taken there. Several riders on horses passed us, making me grimace and wish that I'd thought to get one myself. Then again, I was pretty sure that I didn't have enough money to buy one since I'd already use up most of what I'd taken from the bandits, and it didn't feel right to just steal one from in the village, even if this was only virtual reality. We had been walking for about half an hour when I stopped, gesturing for Max to do the same. A short distance ahead of us on the road, there were a half dozen men wearing black armor, with a viscous style that almost seemed to scream 'evil warrior'. Most of them stood beside their horses, though two of them were still mounted. "Look at their headbands," Max pointed out. All of the men had red headbands on. "Some guys at the inn said that Parnek's men had red headbands..." At that, one of the men noticed us and yelled, "Halt in the name of Lord Parnek!" The warriors changed position, looking at us speculatively. Weapons were already being drawn, and it was only at this point that I noticed several people on the side of the road, chained to each other. My eyes narrowed as I saw the prisoners, recognizing one of them as a man who'd ridden ahead of us. "Two more slaves," one of the mounted warriors grinned, "The ogre looks strong... and the elf can satisfy our soldiers. Both will bring us good bounties." I grimaced, having expected that there would be more trouble if we remained in that Zone for much longer, though I sure hadn't expected it quite this soon. I was just thankful that it wasn't something like a dragon. But still, these guys didn't look like pushovers either. "Fucking Murphy," I grumbled, beginning to cast a spell. While I was doing that Max charged straight at them, swinging his club. And while the first soldier dodged to the side, swinging his sword at Max, I finished my spell and released it, firing a bold of blue light which hit him and sent him flying back. "She's a magic user," one of the mounted men called out a warning, "Take her down first." Suddenly I felt a burning pain shoot through my shoulder, then screamed in pain as I fell to my knees. I stared at the crossbow bolt that was sticking out of me for several seconds before I fully understood what it meant. I'd been hit... and I was going to die. For real. "BASTARDS," Max howled out, smashing one of the warriors right in the face, then yelling out himself as another one slashed at his back with a sword. But to Max's credit, he didn't go down. Instead he swung around, punching his assailant with a massive fist. I could hear something crunching at the impact. "Damn," I gasped weakly, trying to think clear enough to cast a spell, but it wasn't coming easily. I was in too much pain and on the verge of losing consciousness. And Max... he was injured himself and badly outnumbered. He wouldn't last another minute. Just then there was a brilliant flash of light as a blast of lightning came out of nowhere and struck the tip of one man's sword. He was barely able to even scream before he fell to the ground, apparently dead. A moment later, a second bolt of lighting hit one of the mounted man, just as he was about to swing at Max. Then a loud voice called out, "I would advise that you depart." I turned my head, surprised at the sight of an old man with a waist length white beard. He wore green robes and a wide brimmed pointed hat. In his hand was clutched a wooden staff, which was glowing slightly at the point. A single glance was enough to know that this man was a wizard... a worker of magic. He looked the stereotypical image of one. "Lord Parnek will destroy you for this," one of the men called out furiously. However none of the warriors looked as though they were ready to rush the wizard who had already killed two of their own with so little effort. "Do I look as though I fear him?" the stranger asked casually. The warriors hesitated at that, sharing nervous glances. Then they apparently decided that throwing their own lives away just to kill us wasn't worth it. They each looked at the mysterious magic user again before turning and rushing off. "Thanks," Max grunted, eyeing our savior suspiciously. "It's a good thing they left," the wizard commented, looking at his staff, "My lightning staff doesn't quite have enough juice for another use." I just winced in pain, feeling weaker and weaker by the moment. Everything was beginning to get blurry and distant. Before I realized it, the stranger was bending over me, looking extremely concerned. "Let's get this out...." There was a different kind of pain as he pulled the crossbow bolt back out, and how I stayed awake from that pain I had no idea. However I knew that I certainly didn't stay quiet. In fact, I was sure that my screams must have been heard all the way back at the previous Zone. I was barely aware of it has he put his hands to my shoulder and started casting some sort of spell, though I could feel a strange numbing cold sweep through it. And as the cold started to pull back, so did the pain. I looked down at my arm, feeling much more awake and clear-headed, though still very tired. It was healed. "One of my more powerful healing spells," the stranger told me. "Thanks," I grunted as I got back to my feet. I felt strangely exhausted, though perfectly healthy. I touched my shoulder, amazed at how normal it felt. "But who are you?" The stranger stared at me for a moment, then broke into a grin. "It's me... Deacon" I nearly choked at that. "Deacon?" I stared at him in disbelief. He didn't look ANYTHING like Deacon. Then again, I didn't look anything like myself either. "How..." "There wasn't anything I could do out there," Deacon told me with a frown, "and I was getting pretty frustrated. I thought that maybe I could do more in the World helping you." "But you said you don't have full Zone access..." I reminded him. "I don't," he admitted, "But I have access to enough that I might be able to come along and help out." I just rolled my eyes, "I appreciate the thought, but to be honest... that's not real bright. You know you can't bet out if this doesn't work. And then who's going to be able to fix things from out there?" "I know," Deacon sighed, "it was a little impulsive. But there are others out there who can take care of things." Just then Max cleared his throat, "I take it you guys know each other..." "Max." I introduced him to Deacon, then Deacon to him, "Deacon." "Nice to meet you," Max held out his hand. Then after they shook hands, Max sheepishly asked, "Do you think that you can fix this for me..." He gestured to the sword gash that he'd received in the fight. Once that was taken care of, I took a long look at Deacon, then gestured down at myself, "Why didn't you warn me?" I glared at him, standing there with my hands on my hips. Deacon gave me an expression of false innocence, "I just didn't think about it," he lied, "I mean... you've role played as a girl before..." "There is a difference between role play and being," I pointed out firmly. Then I abruptly gestured down at myself again and asked, "Mrs. Boskins?" Deacon gave me a look of surprise, "How'd you guess?" I just nodded at that, "Figures." After this I changed the subject and suggested that we get going again. I didn't want to be around when those goons came back with reinforcements. And as we started off again, I couldn't resist singing, "