Thread: A New Life: Cataclysm || ƒeral x Denna

Solar panels and nuclear energy and hydraulic electricity - too little, too late. The world humans knew and loved was ravaged by the fury of nature scorned. In the far-off galaxy, light years away, Earth laid in ruins. But human ingenuity knew of no bounds, surviving even the death of a planet. Fleets and fleets of sturdy spaceships, small but self-sustaining, were launched one after another during the final dying breaths of mother-Earth. To seek, to colonize, to start anew on new planets in the distant galaxies. With a travel time estimated in the hundreds of years, the designers of Project A New Life knew they had to entertain the ship's inhabitants and groom the future generations they would sire. With space and supplies being extremely limited on the ship, a virtual diversion was formulated, linked with each ship's central AI. A game, with consequences far beyond. Intended to prepare and socialize the ship's inhabitants, achievements accomplished in game can translate into real-world currency and prestige. All in-game characters are technically anonymous, but one look at who's doing the grunt work of ship cleaning, and who, relaxing in their chambers and gaming more, spelled out all the difference. Generations came and went on the ship, and with each, constantly shifting meta and the the development of new strategies. While the first generation hardly explored a quarter of the map, each additional generation broke more ground, came up with better and cleverer strategies, established and solidified alliances and factions...In short, A New Life accomplished its designer's aim of socializing its future settlers, teaching through the most hands on of lessons. As to be expected in a system like this, there were those who thrived and those who barely survived. Those who failed at the game were given the most menial of jobs on the ship, deemed incompetent for the goal of future settlement, and sneered at by their peers. And those who excelled were hailed as legends, their stratagems discussed in the mass halls, their builds copied. In short, the winners created the meta. Raine was a winner, the winner, even. She didn't flaunt it - no one on-board knew precisely who her in-game avatar was, but there were guesses, whispers. The fact that she never worked. That her latest dinner was freshly grilled jumbo shrimps and served with desserts. That she had one of the nicest rooms on the ship, more lavishly decorated than even most of the well-established adults. There was speculations. Perhaps she was Chaos. Or Queen. Or Lancaster or Wing. But speculations were merely that, lacking evidence with the player herself remaining silent. Who was she truly? Only one person on the ship - her step sister - knew. Raine's current character was Zel . Even the wilder guesses didn't place the young twenty-two year old as being the leader of Venture, one of the best-known guilds around. After all, Zel had held that post for six years, and most expected her player to be at least middle-aged. In addition for being famed for simply surviving that long in a game where death equaled deletion and new character creation, Zel was known for her fiery flame mane and equally intense personality. The leader of Venture was perhaps best recognized by her vibrant, nearly glowing viridian eyes and the thin scar that marred her left. A tribal tattoo of faded black ink, as well, traversing the expanse of her left side, stretching from breast to hips. She usually wore leather, and preferred to duo-wield curved blades too large to be considered daggers and too thin to be swords. A deceptive appearance, all things considered. The game was designed to give players options in customizing their appearances, and while dropped or crafted gear had a set look, it cost relatively little to transmogrify a desired look over one's armor. What appeared like a flimsy leather corset, stylized to be intentionally provocative, actually had enough defensive stats to make a full-plate tank jealous. Given that one player could only maintain one character at a time, Raine had taken a painstaking amount of time personalizing Zel. Zel was only her third character. It spoke to the young woman's intelligence and understanding of the meta to finalize a masterpiece on her third try. And to keep it going, and going, undying and increasingly powerful with each passing day. In term of appearances, because of how young she was when Raine created Zel, the two looked almost nothing alike save for the color of their eyes. But whilst Raine's eyes were best compared to an aged forest, serene and calm, Zel's were glimmering and bold, complimented by the tilt of brows and the challenging curve of lips. She wore a triumphant smirk, spinning a blade with lackadaisical gaiety, the other poised with razor preciseness over the throat of the idiot that dared challenge her to a duel. Yield, She demanded, pushing in a millimeter further to draw a line of crimson. ... What the fuck? Raine pulled off her virtual helmet, blonde hair spilling everywhere as she was suddenly and forcefully disconnected from the game. She sat up on her bed in confusion, blinking wearily and glaring at the helmet in hand. Did the game just malfunction? This has never happened before. What was going on? ATTENTION. ALL PERSONNEL. Over the intercom, the robotic voice monotoned, the ship's AI breaking the silence in a rare announcement. A NEW LIFE WILL BE DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE FOR THE NEXT FOUR HOURS. PLEASE CARRY ABOUT AS NORMAL. The blonde ran a hand through her hair, grousing loudly. Fucking maintenance. It wasn't the first time the game has been temporarily taken done to fix a thing or two, but those were usually scheduled, and over in the span of half an hour or so. What the hell was this? She flopped back down onto her back, laying sprawled out for a few seconds longer. This was so stupid. This game was basically the only entertainment on deck, what was she supposed to do for four hours? Finally, with an aggravated sigh, she got up again, pulling her hair into a ponytail and heading to the door. Maybe Celes could provide some amusement. She figured, heading down the hall and turning left, toward her step-sister's far more humble, but still nice cabin. At less than half the size of Raine's, it was still probably something Celes could have never afforded on her own, with her erratic strategies and haywire plans. But with Celes being her only living relative, Raine figured it was her job to look after the rambunctious young woman. She pressed her fingers to the input panel, letting the computer scan her bio-metric signals and alert the younger to her presence outside the door.