retrospec | (no subject)

Status report from the field teams? Same for the rescue teams. We have people out in both locations and from where I'm sitting you guys are moving pretty fast.

The layer itself isn't at a risk of collapsing just yet, but I don't really want to take a bunch of chances.

Also my office has since been taken over by Whistler's Mother and I can't get her to leave, so it looks like I'm temporarily moving. Again. Anybody else having this problem?

Report to me with anything you need. The map on my system's filling out as much as it can, but I feel like I'm missing pieces.

Keep each other posted. Oh, and heads up? Looks like tech had one more batch of testers they were going to bring in, so...if you see anybody new? Try and get them up to speed.

Zee Carlisle
Hiring Manager
Retr

spec Incorporated

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[Li-Na shrugs one shoulder and takes a small sip of her latte]

It wasn't something she dwelt on. Her brother raised her instead and they were very close. I think he was at least... twelve years older than her. He was very protective of her and had absolutely no qualms over showing affection for her. To a rather embarrassing degree really.

Eheheh... At least it sounds like they loved each other.

[It's hard not to think of her own brother here, although another thought niggles at the back of her mind.]

I think my past self had a sister, too. I remember calling her "nee-chan." But I don't remember very much about her.

Yeah, they loved each other a lot. They were separated for a few years, but he did everything in his power to be reunited with her.

[while Li-Na recognizes the term of endearment as Japanese, she's a little fuzzy on it's exact meaning]

'Nee-chan'... is that for an older or younger sister?

Older sister! But I think we might have looked a lot alike? It's hard to tell since so many of my memories are from VR, but...

Either we were really close in age, or... we might have even been twins.

Wow, twins would be neat. But yeah, I can see how it would be a little hard to figure out a close age difference without someone mentioning it specifically.

[though she's a little curious about something else Yuuki mentioned]

What do you mean by VR though?

Virtual reality! I think we were playing a bunch of different games that looked and felt super real, even though they were just virtual.

I still have no idea how they managed to make something so realistic, though.

I guess your world's technology was more advanced than ours. Or maybe VR there works different from how we think about VR here. There was a lot of weird technology in my past life too, and I don't really understand it completely myself.

It definitely seemed pretty advanced! I don't remember how they did it, but you could even feel and smell things in those games. That's waaaaay beyond games nowadays, that's for sure.

Feel and smell?

[Li-Na raises her eyebrows as she sips her latte]

That is really impressive. Do you know if they ever used it for anything other than entertainment? I know I've heard about virtual reality being used for therapy purposes here. Like for helping patients with PTSD or mobility issues.

Not that I remember? [Though that might change after this conversation.] But it makes sense that you would, huh?

So far I just remember playing it for fun with my friends, though. Or at least, my friends and my sister?

Well, using it for fun isn't bad. We are always looking for ways to make our entertainment more immersive, like 3D glasses and seats that vibrate at the movie theaters.

That sounds like it would be fun though.

I'd love to be able to experience games for real like that! I'm almost jealous of my past self's technology... if it weren't for the danger.

[Which brings up another topic...]

Actually, it seems someone used the technology to kill people. I don't remember if I was involved, or anyone I know, but... If I remember that it could be used that way...

[It's... pretty much guaranteed someone died from it, right?]

[That gets an eyebrow raise from Li-Na. Because, yes, that does kind of sound like someone might have died]

You mean that the technology itself, whatever they were using for the VR could cause a death? That's a little scary.

[and it raises a whooooole lot of questions on just how that could happen, but since Yuuki doesn't know, it'd just be speculation]

Yeah... Something about how if they removed the headgear or the player died in the game, it would kill them in real life. It was all this one incident surrounding one game, Sword Art Online.

[Well that is all kinds of horrifying. Li-Na leans back in her chair a little as she digests that bit of information.]

Yikes.

['Yikes' is such a great word, in Li-Na's opinion. Very versatile. If you have the emotion in your voice right, everyone understands what you mean.]

But don't avatars die all the time in video games? And then you either go back to your last save point or you have to start the game over.

[It kind of makes Li-Na think that maybe more than one person might have died...]

That's how it usually is, yeah. Especially in MMOs - big online games. You just respawn in the last town you were in or whatever.

Having to make sure you didn't die in the game would be really tough. There's a lot of bosses that you have to feel your way through and experiment with different strategies, and usually the whole point is to have someone on hand to heal or bring people back while everyone whales on the boss.

Having a healer around is definitely the preferred strategy.

[Elliot is like... okay, maybe not her most favorite person in the world, but he ranks pretty high. Not counting family though, he ranks right after Noah.]

I can't imagine what a shock that must have been. Realizing something you were doing for fun could kill you. It's one thing when it's your job to do something dangerous, but it's something else when it's a game. Games are supposed to be fun.

Right? It's just so twisted. Taking something that's meant to bring happiness and killing people with it instead...

I don't remember if I got involved or anything, but there had to have been casualties if I remembered that much.

Whether you got involved or not, I hope someone was able to put a stop to it.