Page 3 of Control

“Let’s send him something,” I said to Jazz, knowing he was perfectly capable of sending messages from my account even though he was not my personal assisted. He did like acting that way at times, but it wasn’t something I expected from him.

“Your calling card?” he said to me. “Which song shall we send his way?”

“Hmm,” I said out loud as I thought for a moment. It had become a tradition for me to send people a small black leather-bound notebook as a gift and in that notebook was scrawled the name of a song and the band or singer that performed it. Not only was this small digital gift sent to them, but it would also send them the actual real world MP3 so they could choose to listen to it either in Aurora or in the real world. “I wonder what kind of music he likes.”

“You could do as you usually do,” Jazz said to me. “You seem to have a fine taste in music so anything you choose could be worth it for them to listen to.”

“Let’s go with Drain You,” I said to him, clasping my hands together. “By Nirvana. I’ve always like that song.”

“A fine choice!” Jazz said as he prepared the digital gift for me. He spawned the notebook in front of me so I could write down the name of the song and also add my signature. I really did enjoy sending people that I’d spent some good times with small trinkets such as these. It was a tradition I’d started shortly after the game went live and virtually all of the recipients enjoyed the free song as a way to remember the time we spent together. I did it for the occasional client, but also for my friends or others that I may not always see and talk to, but to those I felt had some sort of impact on me.

“I sometimes feel like a bit of a dinosaur sending these,” I said to Jazz as he saved and sent the in game notebook to my recently acquired friend. “With all these streaming services out there, it feels a little weird that I gift people MP3s.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” he said back to me. I let out a small sigh and smiled.

“You’re right,” I said. “I’m sure just getting a little something and a song can sometimes turn someone’s day around.”

“I’m curious,” Jazz said to me after a short silence. “You’re called so many names when you grace us with your presence. Do you have any sort of preference?”

“I don’t really mind the others,” I replied as I shook off a some numbness which was normal when getting used to inhabiting my in game avatar. “I just wish they would stop calling me ‘Queen’ or ‘Royalty.’ I’m neither of those things.”

“You are whoever you wish to be,” Jazz replied in a kind and calming tone.

“I’m just me,” I said.

“Yes,” Jazz offered back. “You’re Ana…The Lotus.”

“Lotus is fine,” I said. “Just have to figure out which color I am today.”

I loaded into my in-game suite and made my way to my wardrobe, the heads up display that follows my eye movement showing me I did in fact have over 3 dozen messages still unread. I’d become so adept at using the interface that I had been able to abandon most of the hand movements virtually all players used when navigating their own heads up display or HUD, having only to think about the actions I wanted to happen while using it. I blinked once while thinking of the unread messages and the flashing red alert faded away. With that distraction out of my way, I could concentrate on creating my new outfit for the day.

In Aurora, there are nearly an unlimited number of possibilities in how you can dress yourself. Any sort of material and color is just a finger tap, or in my case, most of the time, a thought away and there it will be on my avatar, fitting perfectly to my body type. I tapped my index finger on my lips as I though of what I would wear and decided to go with something fairly simple – sexy but not slutty. After all, I respect myself too much in Aurora to run around naked like some other players do. I know full well that in this place you can do almost anything you like, but I still found that I operate best when sticking with the higher standard that I set for myself.

I decided to go with skin-tight leggings similar to yoga pants, midnight purple, along with black calf-high boots with a stiletto heel. I also opted for a simple yet playfully short purple and white jacket that I left open, allowing the space between the bottom hem and the top of my legging to accentuate my curves as they made their way around my wide hips. A simple skin tight Lycra shirt, long sleeved and black, was my chosen top. The leggings work for me as I have thicker legs in real life from years of playing tennis and wanted to add that to my character design. They’re soft and flexible and don’t move around all that much as I walk, acting more like a second skin than an actual garment. Add to the fact that they had no seems made them incredibly comfortable for me to wear.

I put my thick black hair up in a high pony tail, my longer than average locks reaching down to the middle of my back and occasionally swinging around my head if I spun too quickly. I tapped my hair to change its’ color to purple and black as well to match my outfit. I put a small bracelet on my right wrist and opted for a smart watch which could also act as a HUD assistant should I ever choose to use it for such a reason. On my right hand I had two rings – one on my pinky finger, silver in color, and one on my middle finger which looked more like a small piece of armor instead of a ring in my chosen purple tone. On my left hand was a single ring which I keep on my ring finger. It was simple, silver in color and topped with a purple lotus flower.

I also made sure to adjust the colors of my underwear as I like for the entire outfit to match when possible. In lieu of socks, I went with thigh high nylons even though they’d be covered by my leggings as I find them more comfortable than a bulky lump of cotton on my feet. Even sheer socks felt awkward on me. I’d also learned over time that some of my clients, which I don’t get many anymore for a number of reasons, became intensely turned on when they see me wearing them. I continued wearing them more out of comfort and habit than anything else.

“You look perfect as usual,” Jazz said to me as he seemed to like to spending those few minutes with me as I prepared for my evening in Aurora..

“I didn’t know you were still with me,” I said back to him as I made some final adjustments to my outfit. “Did you just feel like being with me today?”

“I like being with everyone!” Jazz said in a somewhat chipper tone. “I find all of you equally fascinating.”

“Really,” I said, looking in the mirror and liking the way my outfit had come together. “You and I both know you almost never talk to a lot of the other players. There’s gotta be a reason you stick with me as much as you do.” For a moment Jazz didn’t respond. I instinctively looked up and waited to see if he’d say anything else. “And just like that, he’s gone.” I gave myself one last look and was about to think of my HUD so I could see which rooms were open and available for me to visit when I was caught slightly off guard.

“What can I say,” Jazz said in his earnest English voice. “We’re…curious.”

“We?” I said, having never heard him refer to himself as such. “You up there in the ivory tower someone else and not telling me?” I waited several more seconds and there was no response. “Jazz?” I waited a few moments, wondering if he would return. I closed my eyes a moment and took a deep breath as I always did just before I went out into Aurora, a small amount of my real life social anxiety still coming into play. Opening my eyes, I looked down to my hands, stretching my fingers out a little before balling them up into fists. Releasing them, I rubbed my fingers to my thumbs and stared down into my palms as if to remind myself of what my purpose in Aurora was. I looked back at the room list in my HUD and chose one of the first options to become highlighted and selected it.

CHAPTER 3 - NEW PLAYER

I’D ENDED UP in a room called Vicious D where they played a lot of Techno house music. As I spawned in, the assets quickly loaded up and formed into a dance club, complete with flashing lights, extra high ceilings, and a large dance floor in the center. I almost immediately spotted one of my old friends Z-One, or simply Z as I called him. He loved to dance and also enjoyed the random hook ups the room often presented him with so it had essentially become his palace. The crowd was massive and most people blended into each other, but using my HUD I was able to spot Z within seconds. He was surrounded by a several huge, muscle-bound men and a gaggle of young women that loved their femboy crush.

My sudden appearance at the club caused a few people to turn toward me and do a double take. It had become normal for me to attract a lot of attention since I’d been granted my title of The Lotus. More and more people turned and noticed me as I made my way through the crowd looking for my friend. Once more of them realized who I was, the crowd actively parted, making my path to Z much easier. I smiled at them all, showing my gratitude for making the way much easier. Many of them smiled back while others stared in awe which had always made me feel anxious, but I’d come to reluctantly accept this as part of my in game life since the titles were first distributed.

“Ana!” Z said to me as he spotted me approaching him. “You came looking for me!”

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