Press to Start (AsBloodTurnsIceCold and Deante)

[Deante]

The player sagged onto his couch. Plugging up this prototype system and getting it running had been an ordeal. It was in beta right now, real hush hush, and he had to call into company's R&D directly to be walked through first resolving a plug in design where there were colored attachments but no colored holes or indication which wire went where. He left some real creative feedback with the tech. Then there was a snafu with the software not wanting to authenticate and link up with his profile and scan taken at company HQ. Finally it was ready, and honestly all the initial enthusiasm had burned up upon entry, now he wanted a nap.

Then again the "pod" wasn't far from a bed. Well, a bed with tall sides and an open top, more like an adult's cradle. Climbing inside, he settled down and put the nodes on either side of his temple, and the visor down. Having already gotten scanned and set up at the corporate office, and the opportunity to simply walk around inside a demo sim, the player had an inkling of what he was getting into, at least not going in completely virginal to the interface.

Boy did he not, but he wouldn't know that now.

At least logging in was easier; who needs a password when it can gauge your brain? The interface opened up to a title screen. EROS SPRINGS. Not the catchiest, but then who cared about that? A short intro trailer swept over the place like a commercial for a vacation place, with a pleasant voiceover explaining all the wonderful features of the town. Quaint streets. Open cafes. Anthros walking the sidewalks missing tops or bottoms or both. A throbbing nightclub that was half orgy. Natural springs, with lots of nude bathing and watery sex, naturally. It slid back to something approaching normal again. The commercial ended with the inside of a Visitor's Center, a cute collie explaining, "Welcome to Eros Springs. Maybe before we get started, you can step into the bathroom and spruce up?"

The player was handed control of his avatar customization. Some might meet this with irritation, eager to jump right in, but the player met this with interest. He always enjoyed designing characters, and this one seemed incredibly extensive. Hell, he'd buy this character generator by itself just to fiddle. In most games that permitted it, he often had several characters, even varying by gender, not able to settle on one appearance, not willing to go with one playthrough. Though he needed to start with one for now. After exploring many options, he was finished.

Name: Ian
Gender: Male
Sex: Male
Species: Rabbit
He'd went with a lop design*, although shortening the ears to shoulder length. The figure was effeminate; small shoulders, sleek delicate chest, belled hips, heart shaped scrumptious ass, lovely legs. Then he threw in a curve: a siamese sable fur pattern**. Black face, hands, feet and teardrop tail, warm mocha brown body, with his collarbone-length hair a tumble of waves and curls in a mix of black and mocha, with highlights in auburn. A downright adorable face with a wicked smile and big blue eyes. Short-ish at 5'5. He debated over the cock, but settled on 7", a tad thick. There, nothing outrageous. Black skin tone though, along with the nipples. Dressed with a tight, off the shoulder crop-top, a cute pleated skirt, and ankle boots with a little heel.

Ian admired his handiwork. He always skewed feminine if he could get away with it. Would the game even notice? Would it even recognize one species from the next? Worth trying.

But now he was feeling a bit wary and tired after the effort of building his avatar. Saving the results, the player logged out and took a nap. When he returned and climbed back into Ian's fur, he was ready to roll. With renewed excitement, he acknowledged, "Finished," effectively pressing to start.

*Body inspiration (NSFW)
**Pelt inspiration

 

[AsBloodTurnsIceCold]

>> Welcome to Eros Springs <<

The words would flash once again as the player entered into the game proper, this time placed on what looked like a bus driving through a beautiful countryside. There were others there, some human, and others animal as well in various states of dress. An adorable female rabbit of sort sort standing up in the middle, a tour guide of some sort speaking them "In just a few more minutes we'll be in Eros Springs. We thank you for choosing out lovely town to visit and we are delighted to have you here! Please observe the rules while here as while we are a fairly free community we frown upon violence of any sort and negative energy so be kind to the inhabitants and each other. We're all equals here." she said with a little prompt appearing in front of everyone for everyone to read. A short list of rules, reasonable to keep peace.

Once they were accepted the screen would go black and they would suddenly appear in the town. A welcome center greeting them lined with collies would wave and hand everyone some manner of welcome package including keys to an apartment for their stay and then it was into town. Large, interesting. It looked like a normal resort town for the most part but there were interesting details about it. Fantastical elements though they were doing their best to blend it in, golems and people in armor. In the distance someone was washing what looked like a dragon but of course all the AI were treating it fairly normally.

The players all looked to be happy as well going off to pursue their own ends, or find their designated spaces. It looked like it was going to be a fun time. The game touted freedom, and a whole heap of romance and lewdness for the players to pursue. Clubs, Bars, lodges, and more. It was up to them where they wanted to go.

 

[Deante]

Ian grinned. Even a sophisticated VR sex romp that wasn't even on the market had a Terms of Service. He agreed, and then took it all in. What surprised him most was what looked like other players. He'd thought the game was single player right now, or at least not logged into any shared server. Were these really players, or just what looked like them? A lot of work to imitate.

He had his own apartment? Nice. Touching the keys even put a marker on a mini-map he could call up. When given his full freedom, Ian hesitated, not sure where to go first. Ian was the kind of player who read wikis and watched vids before starting a game, then occasionally cross-referencing as he played. Going in completely blind like this was new to him, and a bit intimidating.

That dragon down the road looked cool, and Ian had no idea how one was supposed to get access to that. Certainly wasn't part of the character creation options. Were there...quests? From where he stood no one had yellow exclamation points over their head or any other fancy flags. In fact, that left him curious. How was he supposed to identify those NPCs who were developed for romantic interest? Was any NPC approachable? Surely not,t hat would be a massive amount of programming. Were they in specific locations--the clubs and bars sure, but where else? Would they signal somehow, make eye contact or initiate conversation? The game didn't know his orientation so would he need to initiate first?

The rabbit decided first to do the smart thing, and go through the UI, orienting himself with controls. When he had a handle on things, he opted to simply wander without direction for now. His path took him down the sidewalk along some cute shops. While he did glance at the shops, his attention was more on the NPCs, seeing if any would interrupt their routine to interact with him. Or which ones were hottest. What would happen if he randomly groped one? Or several--would they have different reactions?

 

[AsBloodTurnsIceCold]

There was a tab that said "jobs" however it was blank at the moment.

The town was actually pretty active even compared to most game worlds up to the point. It was living in breath in a way other games had touted but had never truly been able to replicate as these programs seemed to live out lives happily paying him no mind. They even seemed to talk and walk off, doing things and changing up just as fast. Things even felt realistic with the apparatus. The wind blowing past him gentle and cooling against a relatively warm day. A peaceful city where everyone was just living their lives.

There would be one fairly interesting sight as he walked. A question perhaps? A canine female by a car, looking to change the wheels. She looked to be having trouble of some sort trying to get it to work and no one stopping to help her figure it out. It was a pretty nice car all things considered. Modeled on a Genesis G90 though obvious less identifying in order to avoid any possible trouble. It was well modeled none-the-less and not working out for her right now. There was no notification of a quest and it was up to him to ignore it or not, but he was here to play. It was about time to try something somewhere whether it be his random idea to grope or try to talk to someone.

 

[Deante]

The NPCs with their own lives was fascinating. Sure, games had 'overheard chatter' before, but he got the sense if he followed them they would all do different things, talk about different things rather than on a loop. How long was their routine, would they be back here in an hour? Or a day?

Then he spotted the canine girl. Well, even without a quest notification, he didn't need a blinking sign to know an interaction opportunity when he saw one. Walking over, Ian said, "Hey there, can I help you out with that?" Not...that he knew much about chainging a tire. He hoped very much that the realism was dialed down for this, and if it required any actual work, it would be an incredibly simple mini-game. If not...they could call a tow? He thought he saw a phone option, but that was probably calling hookups he'd already met, not locations.

Whatever the case, he crouched down by the tire to investigate, while adding, "I'm Ian, by the way!"

 

[AsBloodTurnsIceCold]

The canine woman looked over at the bunny for a moment. She stared curiously giving him a good chance to look her over. It wasn't the most remarkable outfit on its own, a white shirt with "Surf" on it and some dark shorts with a whole cut out for the tail. Her shades rested on top of her head. She looked to be a bit wet allowing him to see a faint hit of a red and blue bikini top her her clothes. It was like she had just come from the beach which he'd recall was not very far from the town proper.

"Ah what a cute bunny. I'd be very thankful if you helped. I just came to get some snacks before heading back home and the blasted thing popped on me." she said holding out her hand "Esmerelda. It is nice to meet you Ian." she said. While Ian looked at the wheel it looked to pop up a few options to take care of it if he so chose. A skill check, though it didn't look like he had much of anything in mechanics. There was an option to do it manually Or a timing based minigame. Of course he could call a tow.

Esmerelda seemed a bit annoyed "Smart enough to carry a spare but I've never been much good changing these things she mused to herself.

 

[Deante]

"Hi Esmerelda. So glad you think I'm cute." He flashed a grin. "Wish it was under better circumstances!" He smiled a bit, thankful that there was no onorous "wet dog" smell at least in this world.

The menu options intrigued him. Nice. So there were skills in this world too? Did he have a character sheet? He hadn't noticed that right away. First he tried the skill check. If there was a chance he could do it even without knowing, he'd take that option, assuming failure didn't mean some sort of setback. Random chance can always save the day. No luck, but nothing lost. Alright then, the mini-game it was.

Ian needed to focus. He wouldn't take it so seriously but timed things really put on the pressure, so he asked Esme for some quiet. Failing twice, he committed to one more, and nearly had it. So he tried a fourth time, more than he expected, and ah-ha! On the fourth try he got it, the tire settling into place. "I uh, I think that got it?"

 

[AsBloodTurnsIceCold]

He failed the skill check outright, but it didn't look to incur any significant failure. The next mini game however looked to involve have that manner o chance with very large red zones based on his skilled. Hitting one he would nearly smack Esmerelda in the face though she had enough reaction to move and avoid it. The others were less harsh managing to avoid the red zones and simply not hitting the check zones allowing him to complete it. He'd be met with a "Skill up" upon completion.

Esmerelda smiled "Ah thanks love you are a lifesaver." she said. A notification appeared in his view. Esmerelda with a little heart below her "Well I should head back then. I'm having a party later you wanna come my big eared friend?"