Drowsily, you gain consciousnesss against the foregin dark. Your entire body feels as though it's been carbonated with too much sugar.
[[BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP]]The sound continues to reverberate like a diesel engine falling off a dam. Your unnerved brain sloggishly begins to snap on. Erm..
[[SCREAM]]
[[FIGHT IT]]AAAAUGHHHHH!!! You suddenly jolt into awareness in what seems to be an upwards direction, breaking free from the omnipresent noise, which curiously stops as if on cue.
[[OPEN EYES]]
[[SMELL SURROUNDINGS]]ERMM! You clench your mind against the raging noise, but it continues to pervade you; smashing through your once peaceful reality and crashing into your vibrating skull...
[[RELAX]]
[[SCREAM]]You blink open your eyes against the foggy, dark nether.. *FISHZZ*-- Bright yellow LEDs obscure, filling your vision but then promptly fading away as you adjust to your surroundings. You are standing up inside of a light grey prefab cubicle with your desk before you.
[[SIT DOWN]]
[[TAKE IN THE SIGHT OF YOUR DESK]]
[[INSTINCTIVELY REACH FOR SYNTHETIC COFFEE]]You inhale deeply with vigour, using your nose like never before. Your brain stutters to process the information. It returns the aroma of plastic spray-coating and synthetic coffee...
[[OPEN EYES]]Ermm.. you unclench your mind and the noise increases in intensity, banging now. Your ears begin to throb, and then you are not aware as your mind blanks out into the plane of nothingness.
[[You cannot do anything in a coma.]]Don't you get it? Unconsciousness means you are for all intents and purposes dead. I can't intervene here.You lower slowly into your automold chair, relived to be free of the noises's grip. The chair conveniently adapts to your form. Your unnerved brain aches for coffee substance...
[[TAKE IN THE SIGHT OF YOUR DESK]]You rub your eyes. Your desk sits neatly orgainzed, with a holocode-file rack to the left and spilled synthetic coffee to the right. A lectos brand mixed-reality headset sits quietly in the center atop it's charging pad. Light, calming humming radiates peacefully from the yellow LEDs striped along the cubicle's corners.
[[DRINK SPILLED COFFEE]]
[[PICK UP LECTOS M-R HEADSET]]
[[GRAB A HOLOCODE-FILE FROM THE RACK]]You are fully aware now, but still feel the instinctive need to have a cup. Standing, you reach out vaguely to your left for your cup... ...but only trip shakily backwards, falling conveniently straight into your automold office chair, which responsively adapts to your form.
[[TAKE IN THE SIGHT OF YOUR DESK]]You reach to the right for the cup, making contact. It feels slippery with the sad remains of once-warm coffee, and falls out of your hand into a puddle spanning the entire back left of your desk. Any cravings you had for a cup vanish.
[[PICK UP LECTOS M-R HEADSET]]
[[GRAB A HOLOCODE-FILE FROM THE RACK]]You reach over to the right, grabbing a random holocode-file. It bends a bit as you pull it out, relecting the yellow light.
Black dots in psychedelic patterns ring it's small, thin circular surface, and a label along the edge reads: MOLLUSK SOLUTIONS (C) EMPLOYEE HELPER AI -- FIT FOR VIEWING IN SMALL SPACES.
[[PICK UP LECTOS M-R HEADSET]]You reach for the headset, taking it from the charging pad where it rests. It is almost featherweight, and it's acrylic coating feels smooth in your hand. You carefully turn it over front-facing, and the glass on the front glints in the light.
A light glows green on the bottom, indicating it is charged.
[[PUT IT ON]](enchant: ?page, (text-colour: white) + (background: black) + (font:"Trebuchet MS"))You put the headset on, and the strap automatically adjusts to your head. You hear a near-mute clicking sound and the headset boots on, displaying the blue and yellow lectos brand logo across your vision; this quickly dissipates after a few moments.
A box sizzles up on the wall before you prompting for voice authentication.
[[MAKE A STATEMENT]]You mutter something about spilled drinks, and the box shimmers green, displaying a check before vanishing -- only to be replaced with a wall of apps that wraps around you.
[[FIDDLE WITH APP WALL]]<!> this part of the story is unfinished <!><!> this part of the story is unfinished <!>You pinch your thumb and index finger together on the app, sending your brain tactile feedback that it greatly appreciates. The app expands into a large ring, which passes around you, seamlessly transporting you into a simulated room and sealing off your cubicle's presence with fizzling pixels.
The room is simple and furnished with only a green fern in a virtual pot -- banks of antique-stylized computer monitors line the tan curved wall before you, each used to display an individual feed from your office building's surveillance cameras.
You stare expectantly at the feeds -- they are all pitch black. Strangely, there are no error messages in sight.
[[RELOAD APP]]
[[CHANGE TO PING PONG APP INSTEAD->GUESTURE AT PING PONG APP]]
[[CLOSE AND BOOT UP INTERNET PORTAL INSTEAD->GUESTURE AT INTERNET APP]]You attempt to use the sketchcad app, but it is greyed out -- it appears to have been updating, but is stuck in limbo. Possibly due to the internet connection being down at the moment for some reason or another.
[[GO BACK TO FIDDLING WITH APP WALL->FIDDLE WITH APP WALL]]You reach out and swipe at nothing with your hand, and the apps scroll around to the right.
*MARKIN CORP(c) BUILDING SECURITY CAMERA HUB - SKETCHCAD - INTERNET PORTAL - PING PONG...* the other titles fade at the edge of your peripheral vision.
[[GUESTURE AT INTERNET APP]]
[[GUESTURE AT PING PONG APP]]
[[USE MARKIN CORP (c) BUILDING SECURITY HUB]]
[[GUESTURE AT SKETCHCAD APP]]<!> this part of the story is unfinished <!>