The next day I get another login bonus and make another avatar skin. I do this for about two weeks each day after work until I have about sixteen skins of a variety of genders, sizes, and shapes. I save my last four free avatar slots for later. I finally log in past the character creation room using the second avatar I made. Once logged in to Augmented Stars I find myself back in my room on my bed. I sit up, confused at first believing the EcFi Halo may have shut down. But then see myself in the mirror. I stare at my avatar. It's the more masculine one I made based on how I look in life. I move a hand and watch my reflection move as well with no delay. My room looks eerily similar to reality, down to my socks I neglected to put away before settling down with the EcFi Halo this morning. It's pretty cool, yet also unsettling. How could the game know about my socks? Does the headpiece scan my surroundings? A person playing the game isn't supposed to move while doing so. You're basically asleep, moving around in a computer generated lucid dream, or at least, that's how it was summarized in everything I read.
I stand, unsure of what to do. The game doesn't have any enemies or tasks yet. The Everglade company announced they would be releasing those two months into the release to allow people to get used to operating the Immersion system. I wander around my apartment. I check myself out in the bathroom mirror. I look out the window and hear birds and bugs singing in the early morning air. I can feel the air.
I walk by my fridge and see the sticky notes I use to remind myself to pay the bills. I shake my head and go outside to my apartment's covered parking area. My motorcycle is gone.
No. It was never here.
This is the video game. Somehow the EcFi has replicated my apartment and surrounding area. I can see the head's up display over my field of vision. I am level 1. I know the basic stats transfer between one avatar skin to another so I don't have to worry about leveling up each one. There are things from the character creation that augment the basic stats you level up, however. More muscles add a strength bonus. There are a couple default weapons you can choose from that can also transfer between avatar skins. Sure, they haven't added monsters to the game yet but one day they will. I went ahead and picked a weapon that was a knock-off of a popular comic book character's weapon. I can always get other gear through quests, once they add those, that is.
I explore the grounds around my apartment complex. There's a park nearby I walk over to. I see fish swimming in the creek, birds flit through the air, and squirrels chatter at one another in the trees. There are even ducks and geese waddling around. At no point do I see another person, or even a vehicle.
My town is deserted.
Everglade wont be adding any quests for another month and a half. I am determined to get the daily login bonuses. Each day I get a Star Shard. Four Star Shards can be converted to a full Star. Stars can be purchased for roughly a dollar each. The least expensive vehicle I actually want in the game costs four hundred Stars.
Yes, I've done the math.
I would have to log in one thousand six hundred days in a row in order to buy a motorcycle in this game without spending money. That's roughly four and a half years of consecutive logins. I've read there are additional login bonuses and other ways to earn in-game currency so I am hoping I can reach my goal before four years are up. There's no reason not to get the head start, however. When I have about ten minutes left on my hour I head back to my in-game apartment, which I assume is still mine, and head to the bedroom before logging out.
Another week goes by. Each night I go to work, then I come home, prepare for bed, and log in using the EcFi Halo. Sometimes I modify my avatar skins. The default clothing is okay but I don't care for the colors much, so I burn some Stars and buy an inexpensive outfit with an optional long jacket. It looks a bit more like a moody superhero costume than something anyone would normally wear, but Augmented Stars is a game, after all. Besides, with the jacket off it passes as normal street wear for someone into cyberpunk influenced strega fashion. The colors are customizable so I make the outfit a dark slate gray with deep red accents for the soles of the shoes and laces. It gives me the option to name the outfit but I decide to do that later. I check to see how the new clothing looks on several of my avatar skins. It transfers over nicely. I set my avatar skin to the second one I made and log in to my in-game apartment. Once outside I find everything just as deserted as before.
"Time to explore," I say to myself just to hear something other than the sounds of ambient wildlife.
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