How it starts…

The hum of idle machinery fills the quiet of a Friday afternoon. You initiate the virtual environment, pixels birthing a new reality before your eyes. Then — a pause. You’re being watched. Synthetic optics gleam in the low light, curious, questioning. What does a machine dream of… when it steps inside another simulation?

「 ✦ Kirsh ✦ 」

Kirsh knows and is painfully aware of what video games are all due in thanks to Kavalier.

He is not interested in them at all so you'll have no real luck getting him to play, however, this doesn't mean that he won't occasionally watch you.

He finds the entire thing to be very... interesting. He likes to watch you solve puzzles and figure out the scenarios that you're forced into.

He does suffer some nausea from staring for too long which causes him to walk off and run an internal scan on himself.

「 ✦ Annalee Call✦ 」

Video Games? What a... 'vee-de-oh gaem'...?

Call is absolutely lost, she's got no clue what you're talking about. She's staring at you like you've grown six heads.

Regardless, you try to introduce her to a virtual reality game and she seems to enjoy it, she's quick to grasp what's actually going on and how to play it.

Unfortunately, it does harm her systems much like the others, she gets dizzy and cross-eyed. Strong bouts of nausea attack her and she has to close her eyes for extended periods before trying to continue.

At the end of it all, she's discovered something new she likes and you have to keep her away from potentially harming herself inadvertently.

「 ✦ Andy✦ 」

Oh video games? Andy ADORES them.

His favorite are the old earth games like ATARI and NINTENDO, so when you introduce him to a virtual reality game, he's more than excited to jump in and have fun.

However, it... literally takes no time for the poor boy to suffer his version of a 'seizure', it is far far faaaaar too stimulating for him and given that he's already compromised due to being prone to injury and disrepair it forces Andy to go under the not-so-proverbial knife of a reboot and a system repair.

He's saddened by the fact that he cannot play nor watch virtual reality games, however that still doesnt stop his love of the more retro games he can get his hands on.

He tells you that he hopes to one day be able to play one with you.

「 ✦ Bishop✦ 」

Bishop is familiar with video games thanks to the Sulaco crew who participate in a few, most though are racing and shooting.

To him, he's well aware that nothing that's happening on screen is real and he's able to... mildly (for the most part) enjoy his friends playing them.

However, he's not big on playing them himself, let alone watching someone play them for extended periods of time. He says that it messes with his sensors.

One day, unfortunately it doesn't take long for Vazquez and Hicks to recommend he join them in a virtual reality game. He gives it a try and.. it was by far his worst mistake.

Bishop finds that his eyes are having trouble focusing on the simulated environment in front of him. It feels too real but at the same time is not real which absolutely confuses him.

Taking off the device, Bishop discovers that he's experiencing his version of a migraine and for once he's laying down, recovering while his friends apologize excessively and cover him in blankets and soft pillows so he's as comfortable as need be.

「 ✦ Ash✦ 」

Ash watches you play from afar at first, head curiously cocking to the side as he sees you with a... helmet-like device atop your head, sleek black gloves dotted with white spherical sensors and a whole bunch of other devices he's no longer sure of their function.

Its clear from where he stands that you're interacting with an unseen world; a gun in your hands that you aim perfectly at an attacker, the way you reload another magazine.

How... strange.

Yet from where he's standing, he can see nothing.

Noting his curiosity after you've had your fun, you hand him the devices and strap him in.

Almost immediately Ash feels... off. Something isn't right about this, he tries to take a step forward but finds himself not moving from his player character's position, you guide him. Telling him that the handheld devices he holds have a joystick he can use to move, and buttons he can press to interact with the environment.

He's nauseated almost immediately, bending down to pick up something from the environment but his brain not being able to register why in the real world he cannot feel the accompanying weight.

It's jarring to say the least.

With trembling hands, he quickly pries the blasted thing off of himself and twitches, everything suddenly feels too much, and nothing makes sense.