READ NOVEL ONLINE 4
“Well, with that all signed off, it’s time to get you out and into the wider world!” the woman who’d been helping me said, standing up out of her chair.
“Oh, is it all done now?” I asked, excitement mounting within me.
She nodded. “Indeed it is. If you will just give me a moment, I will begin the process to transfer you into your new body. I will be there when you wake, don’t worry.”
“Thank you,” I said, feeling a little shy about it all now. I think it had just hit me that she was a real person and not just an AI. Well, a real person within the game… which meant she was an AI or maybe a SAI, the latter meaning that she actually was a real person, but she was acting as a character. Goodness, this was confusing.
She smiled, concentrating on her holographic pad as she tapped away at buttons. Then, with a final flourish she gave me another big smile and pressed down purposefully on a big button.
My awareness went black, and I lost consciousness, if only for what felt like a brief moment. Everything felt fuzzy then, but not fuzzy like my new tail. My brain felt heavy and strange, and I shifted at how uncomfortable it was.
The feeling faded with the movement, and I heard a voice say. “Ah yes, good… another successful integration. Welcome back to the land of the living, Alia.”
It took me a moment to realise that it was the same woman speaking that I’d been talking to in VR… or… VR within VR. Anyway, she looked pretty much the same, light brown hair up in a ponytail and brown eyes.
“You got out of VR fast,” I mumbled, followed by a gasp as I felt myself speak properly. They must have dumbed down the sensations and realism of the in-universe VR, because this was the real thing. “My body feels different!” I exclaimed, adrenaline forcing my eyes to focus on her through the haze.
“It is real now,” she nodded, and again gave a wink. “To avoid confusion about… what is reality, what is reality, and what is virtual, if you take my meaning.”
Ohhh… that totally made sense. They’d reduced the realism of the in-game VR so that we could all tell the difference. I was also clicking with my body again in a big way, my mind filling it out like you settled into bed after a long day of work. Comfortable, was the word… this body felt comfortable.
I was inside some kind of pod thing, but not a VR pod. It was white, as was the room outside it. White and sterile, like a hospital, fluorescent lights hanging above, although they were dimmed to a manageable level.
“Just checking the readings to make sure there isn’t anything isn’t wrong under the hood, give me a moment,” she told me with another friendly smile. The type of friendly smile that employees gave to customers.
Ah well, I was focused on something else, namely… breathing. The way this body moved was just… different, and I was reveling in that feeling. I think I really liked being small, it was just better.
“Everything is green, we’re good to get you shipped out!” she said, motioning for me to leave the pod.
I did as she asked, if a little shakily. This body had evidently never moved before. Once I was out, she had me put on some underwear, because I was naked… then she made me do a series of stretches and a bit of light exercise. Just making sure I was all functioning in the motor skills department.
Once that was done, I was led out of the small room we were in and down a corridor to another one, where I found myself rather suddenly in a clothing shop. No, that wasn’t right… it was like a high end clothing shop and a hospital room had a baby.
“Wow, this is a lot,” I laughed, feeling slightly intimidated.
Helpful woman gave a small sound of amusement, and launched into her next speech. “You may choose any three outfits from this room. One you will wear out of here, while the other two will be stowed away in your kit for storage. I suggest at least one set of formal clothing, and do not worry about casual wear, a set of loose pants and shirts will be in the care package when you need them.”
“Alright… this is going to take me a hot minute,” I told her, staring at the room full of women’s clothing that I had no idea how to navigate.
I gravitated almost immediately to the clothing I was familiar with. Girl’s hoodies looked about the same as guy’s ones after all. Just with more pink and purple. I guess the future still colour coded gender.
I leafed through a bunch of different hoodies, and pretty much all of them would have been fine, but I stopped when I came to a hoodie with a motif that was very similar to my cyber thief one. The bunny looked so cute, and it moved ever so subtly, blinking and smiling a little.
The rest of it was a dark purple, almost black, while the bunny itself was neon pink. I kinda loved it, and whisked it off the shelf right quick. Ah, I’d gotten ahead of myself again. I needed stuff to wear under it before I put it on. Okay, so I was a cyberpunk chick… what could I find that would fit that?
Wait, I still had the outside internet in here! Pulling up a browser tab really quickly with a mental command, I did an image search for cyberpunk girls. Oh geez, okay… apparently they didn’t wear a whole lot of clothing.
When they were actually wearing pants though, it seemed to be the tight plastic kind. Plastic clothing felt gross, I wanted softness… so I guess I’d just find something soft that was also tight. Or… this one picture had a girl wearing really baggy pants! I liked that! I was going to find really baggy pants.
I discovered a pair of black cargo pants that fit the bill nicely. They even had exposed zippers for that metal accented look, and the tag said they had lighting built in, which I would mess around with later.
Grabbing a graffiti style shirt to go with everything and some big chunky goth boots, I headed for the changing room. Hell yeah, I was going to look so wild after this!
Unfortunately, getting all this stuff on was hard, because it meant… touching my body. I’d never touched a girl’s body before, and now it was my body I was touching. I kept looking up into the mirror and having a heart attack as I saw a half naked girl getting dressed, then I realised that she was me and… well it was a lot to mentally process. I hadn’t really known what I was getting into when I picked a female character.
Still I got it all on and took a long look in the mirror. Makeup would be the final step, that winged eyeliner would work super well with the outfit, but I’d need a lot of practice before I could get it to look good.
When I exited, I realised I still needed to choose two more outfits. I guess I’d just pick a different pair of baggy pants and another hoodie. I wasn’t too fussed right now with having a big wardrobe.
It was as I was doing this that I spotted something that caused me to pause. A black cocktail dress that was just a little on the gothy side. A pleated skirt, tight waist and chest area were complemented by short mesh sleeves and collar area. It was cute, and slightly gothy… and also kinda formal…
I picked it up off the rack and rushed for the changing room like I was shoplifting it. It just felt so naughty to be putting it on. I was a guy outside all of this, but I was about to put on a dress! My heartbeat was racing as I carefully took my casual cyberpunk clothing off, and I stood naked for several minutes just staring at the thing in apprehension.
Finally, I shimmied my way into it with my eyes closed, only taking a tiny peek every now and then when I got stuck figuring it out. When I was finished, I carefully opened my eyes… and then forgot how to breathe.
Holy crap, that was a lot of cute girl. That was a whole lot of cute girl in a dress. I was a whole lot of cute girl in a dress.
I took it off as fast as I possibly could and rushed for the safe and comfortable cargo pants and big hoodie. My heart was racing and my brain was all addled and I had no idea why, I just knew that I both liked and was terrified of that dress. I would get it… but I wasn’t going to wear it.
When I left, the helper woman was there with a canvas satchel, which she handed to me. “This has various things you might need, as well as a small makeup kit and sanitary items.”
“Oh… thank you,” I blinked, surprised that she’d been proactive like that.
Taking the bag, I opened it and had a look. One thing jumped out at me above the rest. A phone.
Pulling it out, I asked, “How come I need a phone? Don’t I have like, cyber eyes or whatever?”
With a chuckle, she pulled a phone out of her own pocket. “A good amount of the time, having a glowing window in front of your face wherever you look is rather annoying. Some can get used to it, but most prefer the simplicity of a phone to access the galactic net.”
“Okay, that makes sense,” I replied, placing the phone into my pocket.
“That phone is already registered with your new identity, but you’ll still need to customise it to how you’d prefer it,” she smiled, showing me how her own one had a cute biometric lock screen with a dog icon on it. Guess her little friends were doggos.
“Alright... cool,” I said quietly, putting the bag over my shoulder and fixing the strap in place. “So uh, what happens now?”
“Now, I take those clothes you aren’t wearing off your hands and put them in your kit, then you’re free to head out into Spaceport Halifa,” she said, holding her hand out with another amicable smile.
“Oh, cool… thank you,” I replied, carefully placing the other clothing into her outstretched hands. “You’ve been really helpful. So yeah… um… thank you.”
“Good luck out there, Spacer Alia,” she told me with a genuine smile.
