Second Life?

THE FIRST CHAPTER IS COMPLETED.
Last story update: 12:36 AM on 05-13-2005

I write a bit. Got bored. Wrote this.

Like it/Hate it. It's here now.



You know, people take reality for granted. No, Really! They do… Take for instance the day I was surfing the net, and tripped over a site called SecondLife.Com.

Well, the site didn’t say much about it, except that it was some kind of online 3D game that you could create stuff in.

Boy! Was that an understatement or what?

Anyway, the last thing I remembered was installing the setup file that they offered, and punching the ‘login’ button.



I must have blacked out, and was looking around for several moments before I figured out I wasn’t sitting at my desk anymore. I wasn’t even in my house anymore…

Dear Lord… I wasn’t in MY BODY anymore…

I didn’t know whose body I had gotten, but it was wired weird compared to mine. My hands weren’t mine anymore, and my body felt funny in ways I could not even begin to describe. Even stranger, while standing didn’t take much effort, I couldn’t figure out how to sit down. Considering the shock, I did what any person would do under the circumstances.

I panicked.

Well. That lasted me a few minutes, and allowed my brain just enough time to realize that it wasn’t working before forcing me to switch tracks to curiosity.

Ok. I was not in my body, I was in a strange place, and…

Hello? Where was I?

As I looked around for the first time, I mean actually LOOKED, I realized I was near a shoreline. Water seemed to disappear into the distance, and the horizon looked a bit strange… I was standing on a circular platform, and it was surrounded by a rope rail with a path leading off from it.

Manufactured goods = civilization. Check. I’m not totally alone then. Let’s get down to if that’s good or bad later.

Near me was a pedestal with a glowing logo of a hand that was spinning quietly atop it. The hand seemed to be solid, but nothing was holding it up. I did what any curious stranger would do.

I poked it.

Then I panicked again.

Really, you can’t blame me. The previous few minutes HAD been pretty stressful. Combine that with the sudden surprise of having a piece of paper smack you across the face, momentarily blinding you, and anyone would have freaked out…

Pulling it back from my face, I was able to make out the title.

“Welcome to your Second Life”.

Ho, boy…



More parts listed below, enjoy.

Very nice, Foolish.

(That description of panicking - I like it. The couple of times I have actually panicked (baby choking on food in a cabin with no phone), well, that is exactly what it was like. My brain decided panic wasn't working and forced me into a different mode.)

coco

Hehehe keep it coming.

It was the Hand of Fatima.

*wierd music in the background*

No...it was the eye on the dollar bill....

*orchestral music strikes up*

No...it was...the "back of their hand"..."talk to the hand"...

..or maybe "hand it to you" or maybe "hand it over" or maybe "glad-hand"...

...well, you decide.

Good Story Foolish - Waiting for part 2.

I also remember the panic except mine hit during an "air swimming" episode when I couldn't sit and just flailed with my arms and legs in the air.

Scary thing is that once I logged in, it really took several weeks of sleep deprived time before I actually came back. (If indeed I have).


.

Part two. Let me know if I'm getting anything wrong about the Welcome Island. It's been a few months.

-=-

“So… That’s how you talk…” I started at the sound of my own voice. It had been a productive few minutes, and I already had figured out how to walk about and speak. In addition, there were addition notes on how to interact with the world and .

Notes…

On how to…

…fly?

“Ohkaaay.” I decided to put the note away and look about. The moment it occurred to me, the note vanished. I refused to be surprised by this.

The path was the only visible direction I had, and it seemed better than standing around. It wound a few feet down a slope, and ended at a pair of posters hung on wooden racks. One poster showed a man, and the other a woman. The man looked to be wearing the same clothing I was.

And in between was a spinning hand floating on a pedestal.

With a nod to myself, I reached out and touched the hand again.

WHAP!

And peeled the paper off my face with a sigh.

This one advised me on how to not only change my cloths, but how to make myself look like anything I like. Not disguises, mind you. I’m talking about changing everything from my weight, ethnic looks, and even gender.

And all without the need of painful internal surgery. Or any surgery. Or any real effort.

The note also mentioned that my clothes were stored in my inventory. I tried to snap my fingers in understanding, failed miserably, and then walked back up the hill to the first pedestal.

A quick touch later and I was wearing the welcome note again. Looking at it, I scanned through the section talking about inventory.

“Ah!” I waved my hand down and to the right, following the example gesture. My vision was suddenly clouded by what looked like a vast warehouse.

It was mostly empty. I shrugged.

A quick scan of it allowed me to see the first Welcome note I had picked up. I also saw a shelf labeled ‘Clothing’. On it were some basic cloths. Jeans, t-shirt, skirt?, women’s shoes?... Ah! There were shelves here for both men AND women’s clothing. Not that I have anything against people dressing in drag, but…

A few minutes later, I was dressed in a reasonably comfortable fashion with the new cloths I had picked. One more look at the note told me what I needed to know about getting out of my inventory, and a gestured appropriately.

That wasn’t so bad…

-=-

Love it Foolish! Can't wait for the next installment

Part 3. Ain't I just such a busy little thing? And not even off the island yet.



I jogged down the hill again while looking at the second note’s info on changing my looks. Let’s see… Gesture like THIS and…

Begin flailing uncontrollably as my vision is ripped from its rightful place in my (someone’s?) skull, spun 180 degrees, and locked into looking at my body’s blank face. Mind you, the only reason it was blank was that I hadn’t figured out how to scream in terror yet.

My limbs were locked spread wide, and I was in a rather vulnerable looking position. It took me a few moments to realize that I could still gesture, even though my hand would not move. Repeating the same gesture, it dropped me back to the ground and put my eyes back where they belonged.

I felt my face to make sure there was no damage. Nope. Eyes were intact. Really, I had known that already. I SAW they were intact when my vision had spun back to look at me. There had been no pain, or even discomfort aside from having my traditional point-of-view snatched away.

I stood up, took a deep breath, and gestured again.

It’s wasn’t even half as bad the second time. I only whimpered a bit.

Tinkering with my looks was a quick lesson in two things. One, it was easy to alter your features in nearly any way. A touch here, a shift there, my height, weight, build, skin color, even hair were easily altered. It was all so easy, it was almost frightening.

Second, I had absolutely NO talent for it, and ended up with something that looked like an ugly purple dwarf with big ears, and arms to my knees. Thank the powers-that-be that I could cancel the changes just by repeating the gesture.

Oh... And I made an ugly woman too…

Putting both notes away, I looked to the path again. Time to move on.

Too bad that most people don't know how to or think to take photographs at this stage, but I'd have love to have see your purple dwarf. I remember the first AV I saw at the welcome gate was a naked green shriek - wonder if it was an accident too? 'Cause I thought it was so cool I assumed it had to be on purpose.

.

This is great, Foolish-- more more! This is so much fun to read... it's making me remember the wonder and amazement I felt on the Orientation Island when I looked into my own face for the first time. Can't wait to read more!

My thanks. I will write more as time goes on. Think I'll keep posting them here.

I am waiting for the day when this is how we REALLY interact with SL.

Welcome to todays showing. Donations to the starving writers fund appreciated, but not required.





I was coming to realize this island was some kind of training ground. The paths were easy to see and follow, and each platform I came to offered another small bit of knowledge.

For some reason, I had trouble getting the parrot I found at one waypoint to respond to me. The next one tried to teach me how to move my visual ‘point of view’ to any spot I liked with almost no effort at all. While I understood the idea, and figured it worked much like the way the option to change my appearance did, I avoided that one. I just did not like my vision wandering away like that.

I crossed over a nice little creek-bridge, and arrived at a spot with a table and a beach ball. And another Helping Hand, as I had come to think of them.

Touch.

Snatch! “Ha!” I had managed to catch this one before it could attach itself to my face like an errant face-hugger. Looking at it, I was offered advice on how to move objects that allowed such activity. It did not take me long to figure out that some objects I would not be able to move because they were secured somehow in place.

The beach ball, though, was supposedly not secured, and was fully capable of being knocked around.

Gesture. LIFT!

…

Nothing.

“Okay... I’m doing something wrong then…” I reread the note, thought about it a moment, and tried again.

Gesture. LIFT!

…

Hmnnn... Right! Reread the note again, and try and read between the lines about something they did not mention because it’s obvious to anyone reading the other first notes.

Gesture. LIFT!

Damnit!

“Can I help you?”

I did NOT squeal like an anime schoolgirl in a cheap hentai flick. I don’t care what he told you. I didn’t even know what a gesture WAS yet.

He explained while I talked my panic button off the ledge.

“We noticed you having trouble with the ball, and thought we might give a hand. We are Linden.” You know, after seeing the mess I made of myself when I tried to change my avatar, seeing his blue skin and glowing eyes didn’t even begin to startle me.

“Ah. Thanks. I must be doing something wrong, because I can’t seem to move it…”

“I understand. New Avatars like yourself often have trouble with some skills at first. We will show you.” His hand came up, flicked a casual gesture…

And the ball didn’t move.

He gestured again.

Nothing.

He seemed to look at his hand, and frowned. Seeing a frown on that face was slightly unsettling, though I would be hard-pressed to say way. It just seemed unhealthy to be near an unhappy Linden.

Raising his hand, he made a new gesture, and the ball vanished.

Note to self: Linden can make things vanish. Do not tick off Linden.

I watched as a new ball appeared, or perhaps the same ball. I really didn’t want to ask. He then raised his hand, gestured, and the ball moved.

“There we are! We have fixed it. Please try it again.” He seemed pleased with himself.

Gesturing again, I was able to put the ball on the table on the first try.

“Very good!” He praised me like a child talking his first step. “Remember this, Avatar: If you are in need of help, you may just do this gesture and someone will offer you whatever help you need.”

I memorized the gesture. Without even another word, he vanished.

Nope. Not surprised at that either. So there!

All right… Maybe a little.

I moved on down the path.



Are we having fun yet?

Ohhh I love reading this! Great start to the morning. More! More!

Part Five, and the end of the Welcome Island chapter.

-=-

THUD.

“Okay… Flying sucks.” The sound you just heard was the dozenth such one I had inflicted on myself in my attempts to learn how to fly. Whoever the moron was who decided to put the final waypoint where you HAVE to fly to get to it should be…

Focus.

Okay. Jump, Gesture, and Gooooo!

This time, I didn’t hit the ground again. I mentally patted myself on the back. I willed myself to the ground, and tried it again.

Back in the air, hovering. By George, I think I’ve got it.

All right, now just move over to the temple, and…

WHOOSH!

“Arrgggg!” Trees zoomed by as I missed the temple by a country mile. I turned, trying to correct, and watched as a pillar of the temple came up to greet me, promising to be my best friend for the rest of my suddenly shorter life.

WHAM!

…

“Owie.” I stood back up and looked around. Funny thing: I didn’t really get hurt from the impact. A quick look about showed me the local pedestal and hand. I reached out, caught the note, and immediately had something else slap me in the face.

I gave another tired sigh, and peeled it loose. It was a ticket.

The note advised me my training period was over on the island, and all I needed to do was tear the ticket in half to join everyone else in the rest of the world.

Everyone else? Rest of the world?

I looked at the ticket, looked around at the surrounding temple, and scanned the distant view of the island around me.

I shrugged and tore the ticket in two.

-=-

An awwwway we go!

Part six. Whee!
-=-

As the fog rolled back from my vision, I noticed I was in something that looked like a cross between a highway rest-stop and a train station. I looked about for a few moment, and within seconds, someone popped into existence beside me, said “Excuse me”, and walked away.

My eyes scanned the area, and my brain shut down.

An angle (halo, wings, harp… The whole shebang) was chatting with what looked like a cross between a dog and a man. A rather cute looking girl was talking with a green skinned creature that looked disturbingly thin. I woman dressed in nothing but leather straps and bladed spikes seemed to be talking to a group of people that included some kind of floating robot, a walking tree, and what might be an elf of the Tolken variety.

I prided myself on being cosmopolitan and my willingness not to judge other’s by appearance. I was still way out of my depth.

I looked about for the most human looking of the bunch, and walked over to him.

“Excuse me, Sir?” Politeness never hurts, and I figured a conservative stance would help out until I knew what people were like.

He turned around, looked at me with red flaming eyes set in a face covered in tattoos… and said absolutely nothing.

I waited for a bit, and then tried again.

“Sir, I was wanting to know if…” I blinked. He was no longer there, or anywhere I could see for that matter. “Ah… Well...” I blinked and looked about to try again. I was surprised to have what looked like a ten-foot tall humanoid robot standing behind me. Again, I can promise I did not squeak, squeal, or otherwise wet myself. I did take a few steps back, though.

“Hi, Newbie!” His voice seemed at odds with his hulking form.

“Er… Hello?” Was this a person or a thing? Better treat it like people until it proves it’s and ‘it’…

“R u needing help, newbie?” The way he talked was strangely accented, causing me to have to think about what he said for a few moment’s longer than I normally would have. I hazard a guess

“Yes?”

“Cool! Follow me and I’ll show u around and give u some stuff.”

I blinked slowly. His way of talking was not too hard to follow, but did slow me down a bit. By the time I realized what he said, he was flying off fast and fading from view into the distance.

I sighed, hopped into the air, and tried to follow him.

Flying in a straight line wasn’t as bad as last time, though I did nearly miss him and was forced to walk back to where he was when I landed.

“U still learning to fly? It can be hard, flying takes practice and you need to work at it to get better.” I was catching up now. I didn’t even have to pause to think about it.

“Thanks. Where are we?”

“Sandbox. I stay here a lot. U can make stuff here and test your builds.”

“My builds? Sandbox?” I looked around, but no sand was in site. Not even water, really. I could tell I was going to play ‘stranger in a strange land’ today, and I was all out of Grok.

-=-

This is bring back some great SL memories Foolish! Looking forward to the next segment.

.

Welcome to the jungle!

-=-

I was surrounded by over a dozen people in the distance. Nearly all were silently gesturing and bringing what looked like shaped blocks of wood into existence. They would then take that block, and attach it to whatever they were creating. One was building a jet-fighter, while another seemed to be building his own robotic arm.

The robot who had guided me here pointed at me and gestured. I heard a female voice whisper into my ear that I had been offered a ‘Shotgun’, and asked me to accept or decline.

I accepted automatically, and looked about. Nothing that looked like a shotgun. Must have went directly into that warehouse.

That female voice then began peppering me with the very same question about dozens of other items: Plasma disruptors, 57 magnums, missile launchers…

Where the HELL was I, and why did I need to pack a frigging ROCKET LAUNCHER?!

“Er… Thanks?”

“Np, newbie. Hope you like them.”

I thought about it, and decided that I had better ask now.

“Er… Is it THAT dangerous here?”

“What do u mean?”

“You did just hand me an arsenal that the government would envy. Why do I need it? Are muggings by things that need a rocket launcher to take out that common?”

“LOL. Your funny. No you just get those because I had them and they are free. Here is some other stuff too.”

The little voice continued to call out things being dumped into my warehouse. I think she was getting a bit strained by the time he was through.

He then waved at me, said “l8er” and vanished.

It took me days to figure out what that meant.

And now I was lost.

-=-

You don’t know leet speak, until someone has spoken it to you out loud.

People VASTLY underestimate this Second Life.

To the man confined to a wheelchair it is his mobility

To the girl who cant have babies it's her dream

To the man dying of cancer it's his life

To the girl sat alone while her man is in Iraq its her friend

To the deaf man its his ears

To the single girl its her wedding

To the poor man its his empire

I've met all these people in Second Life and more - the list is endless.You can trivialise it in these forums all you want,we're all guilty of that,but you should NEVER EVER doubt how important this place is to a great many people.

Dreams & Fantasies can be as small as wondering what it feels like to be in another womans arms if your female or as huge as capturing something of your former self when you are riddled with disease.Second Life,like NO other place on the internet,allows these things to happen.

Linden Labs should wake up and realise that SL's strength is not in it's scripting,or it's streaming but in its PEOPLE.

Holy crap, sox. you're turning into Prok. Foolish is writing a fun story from the point of view of a noobie avatar as far as I can tell. He's not trivialising it, its inhabitants, their content, creativity or anything else. Chill the fuck out, dude.

What was that? And why did it sound so aggresive?

It was a little tribute to you m8 - for making SL sound like the place it is,you are after all one of Second Lifes people.

uhuh.

I'm interested in your sig, too. You seem to be under the impression that Second Life MUST be a serious business for everyone.

Guess what, Sox... I DO come here to play lego with pixels. Sorry bout that.

Er... Tribute sounds good. But the post sounded more like effegy, with a torch and pitchfork thrown in for good measure.

Could we tone it down a bit? Please?

And no frigging wars in my thread, damnit! I am NOT going to have people decide to avoid this thread in order to ignore another drama.

Guess what Ritter - I dont give a flying fuck what you think.

I came in here to pay a little tribute to a guy who brought a little bit of what we all love about SL back to the forums and you like a moron pitch in with your size 10's.

Now stop fucking with me and let the lad get back to his writing.

Wtf? You're actually saying that really was a tribute? That's not how it comes across at all, and evidently Foolish didnt think so either. I won't respond to the other stuff because this isn't the place for a flame war even if I did want to trade insults with you.