Digital Iris

1

She stared out the window from her bed. The sounds of beeping greeted her like it has for a year and a half now. Her amber brown eyes scanned the stale white room. Tile floors and blank walls isn't how many would imagine a girl's room. The only bright colors here is a vase of irises sporting different colors. They were a few things that she had personalized the dull space with. Fantasy posters featuring fairies, elves, mermaids, and epic medieval battlefield fights. Snow globes showing different major cities around the world lined the windows, shelves, and her end tables. And then there was a black cube that looked to have a sphere inside since round blue ends poked out on all faces. It was a gift from her cousin.

Her long straight black hair with bluish tint was currently being brushed by that very same cousin. This place she called home was one of the few places they saw each other at. After she placed the brush down, the girl with similar hair to hers walked over and picked up the cube. "You haven't played it yet?" The girl glanced over her shoulder with pale lilac pupiless eyes. Since she was standing in front of her now, she got a full look of her visitor's appearance. The girl had long straight hair cleanly chopped off at her lower back and aver her gentle doe eyes. "I swear the dream trial isn't scary, all it does is match you up with the best settings."

"I know, I know Hina-chan. But I have never played an MMO before. You said that the whole place is run by players? Even shops and guards?" She watched videos of people playing a few times and there were npcs everywhere. "How does that even work?"

"Well when the game first came out, people were hired to be the merchants and guards. Those people move on and by then the game was popular enough so people would be hired in game to take the jobs. The creators wanted to make it as realistic as possible. The quest givers are players from the company too or in the usual case, a mission board." She blushed and looked down. "I sound like a geek. I-I only know all this because of Naruto. He goes on rants about the game all the time." She handed her cousin sitting up in her bed the box. "Come on Kaiya."

With a sigh the amber eyed girl took out a long cord from her end table drawer and connected one end to the neurolinker on her neck. Everyone in their generation and two years ahead have the device. It looks like a metal collar with two circular parts on both sides of the front neck. It had a green light in the middle of both parts. At the name suggests, it reads the mind of the wearer and each one is registered with the DNA so everyone has their own. It connects everyone to the web, their bank accounts, and by using cord like the one she held, they can have private one on one conversations without others eavesdropping. The users can pull up a holographic computer at any time. It really was an amazing invention.

Kaiya connect her cord's other end into the rectangular slot on the side before laying down. "If I die, I blame you Hinata." She grumbled before laying down. After a long moment, she opens her eyes and sees that she was standing in a moonlit green field. She wiggled her toes on the dirt. Which was definitely impossible. It was even more odd that she felt everything just like in the real world. The slight breeze, the grass under the Ballston her feet. She gives her face a hard slap and winced from the sting. Yep, she felt that.

"Welcome." She looked around and saw nothing. When she looked down though, she saw a reflection that wasn't her. It was actually just a black figure. Then a man came out of the ground wearing a white suit. His short green hair looked rather messy with short spikes and he had dull yellow eyes. His skin was pasty pale too. With a wide smile he waltzed over and bowed dramatically. "I am Zetsu. I will be assisting you on your rebirth."

She rose a brow at the man. "That doesn't sound creepy or abnormal at all...." The black figure oozed out of the water and onto her foot. It was then that she realized that she wasn't wearing any clothes. With a yelp, she covered herself with her arms. "What the hell! You're an npc right?"