The Digidream Chronicles

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Everything was going too fast.

Sarah tried to adjust her eyes to focus on something. Anything. But it was all a blur. Smudges of color danced frantically in her field of vision. Nothing was clear, nothing was quiet. For a second, she felt nauseous. Then things started to slow down.

It's kicking in, Sarah told herself.

She knew what this was, even when she hadn't experienced it during her job as a tester. It was time dilation — in the game, things happened much faster than in the real world, but her mind couldn't adapt to it instantly: it had to be eased into it.

Clearly, this is unfinished. There should be a splash screen here, some simple animation that I would have to watch as time dilation happens, Sarah thought. Players shouldn't be forced to enter the gameworld directly.

What else was still rogh and unpolished? So many testers worked at Digidream that any of them could only check out a small part of it. Sarah had been working on most scenarios, but only as an ambient tester — she knew nothing about main menus, character selection screens, weapons, armor, or the intricate details of leveling up.

She found herself in a small cornerless room with an ornate window through which part of the Enchanted Forest could be seen. The soft pink of the walls contrasted with the green foliage of the trees. The room was standing high, near the top of the trees; maybe it was floating in the air, Sarah thought. Beneath her bare feet there was a fluffy carpet. It was shaped like a curved triangle; the same shape as the room, she realized as she looked around.

The only thing in the room besides her and the small carpet was the window. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a voice came out of nowhere. It was a female voice, robotic, but kind of sweet.

"Hello, Sajya. Welcome to Anderworld. You can create your character now."

Sajya? What was that? She had never been assigned a name. When testing the different scenarios in her day to day job, she had just been a placeholder, a nameless character. Now she was suddenly someone, and had a name that seemed to be Spanish, Thai, Japanese, Arab and Celtic at the same time.

"But I don't want that name," she objected. "I want to be Sarah."

"The character naming option is not implemented yet," the voice said. "You are Sajya. It's a noble name. Please select your traits. Choose wisely."

As the selection menu materialized on the window's surface, which got just a tad darker to let her read comfortably, Sarah thought this was bad news. How will I find Mike if I don't know what his name is in the game? I thought maybe he would have chosen to keep his own name, but now I guess he's been assigned some fantasy name that I don't know.

"And what is your name anyway?" she asked out loud.

"I'm Alteria," the voice replied.

"Nice to meet you, Alteria. Please, tell me something. Is it possible to know the character name of another player?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah could almost hear the voice frowning.

"I mean, if I know someone's real name, is it possible to determine which name they are using in the game?"

"I'm afraid not," Alteria replied, but there was no trace of emotion in her robotic voice. "I'm not a guide anyway. I'm just here to welcome you and let you choose your traits. Choose wisely."

Sarah frowned. "But how can I choose wisely if I don't know what kind of scenarios I will be put in?"

Alteria's answer was immediate.