Scene #5409:

Owner	Pose
Sombra	This time the code to the hideout has been changed, though Reaper of all people should have no problems finding a way in with his unique powers. It's not exactly airtight, after all. Once Reaper finds his way inside the house in Dorado, it'll be even easier to find Sombra at her work station. Unlike the previous time Reaper was here she looks much better, not to mention she seems far more energetic. The moment she spots him, the hacker gives him a cheeky grin. "Sure took you long enough, Gabe," she states before she turns her attention back to the computer. "Sit down on the bed, get comfy, I'm aaaalmost done with the final touches... the connection is stable, so that's good..." she mutters to herself. Then finally she kicks her chair around, clapping her hands together. "So! This will be easy, inside this virtual landscape you'll still be able to rely on your own reflexes, even if it isn't real in the literal sense..." Rising to her feet, she walks over to the side of the workstation, crouching down as she picks up what looks like an advanced helmet, pristine and white. "In order to access the virtual landscape you need to wear this, I can connect through my graft thanks to the implants I have," she informs him. "NOW, after we connect there are some calibration processes we have to go through. I have made a template that you can access that will make it easier, or you can twiddle with things if you really don't like the work I've done for you," she suggests, though making it sound as if he would be rude if he were to do just that. "Now, you'll be able to utilise your senses once the simulation begins, so don't worry... It might be a bit unsettling at first, but I will be there. We might also end up in different areas of the place, but I will do what I can to hack the code and get to you quickly." The helmet is handed over to Reaper, and she arches an eyebrow at him. "... you ready, Gabe?"
Reaper	Codes. Walls. Floors. Ceilings. These things mean little to a spectre, a ghost, a wraith of a dead man's vengeance. The slither of black smoke easing through cracks and crevices like living poison, curdled and thick as it pours out upon the ground. There it bubbles, a miasma of a witch's brew, until it rises and solidifies in an instant. The Reaper. He pauses, slowly working his neck to the side until it cracks with a fat, painful sound. And then he lets his breath hiss through that sterile white mask as he's greeted by Talon's number one hacker. "My name.." He intones, with a rasping growl. ".. is Reaper." And then he shuts up while she's talking, a slight turn of his head as he focuses on her system. The one he threatened with destruction if she started using it before she was 100 percent again. Claws gauntlets flex slowly, but whatever thoughts are going through his spectral head are lost without some facial expression to mark them. The benefits of the mask, at least. Which turns slightly back, refocusing on the helmet with all the white, pristine nature. ".. I thought we were to walk a distant, virtual land." He begins, with a snarl. "Not remotely pilot some drone." Still, he does as asked, settling down onto the bed - leaning back against the wall as metal claws 'click' along the helmet. Sterile white mask considering it for a moment, before he reaches up to pull his cowled hood back; The mask going all the way around, a helmete with stiff neck support. Thicker than necessary. "Death never sleeps." He states, to the 'ready' comment, his gaze still on the helmet itself.
Sombra	"We /will/ be walking the virtual lands," Sombra assures him, though there's an impish glee in her eyes. "Just not on our real feet. Besides, this way... we can blend in far easier. We do draw a lot of attention, especially you, Mr. Edgelord~" she teases, then reaches over to tap one finger on his nose. "Boop!" With that she sits down next to him, leaning back against the wall as she brings up two screens in front of her, tapping away quickly with her right hand. "Just put the helmet on and we'll start." And once Reaper does put the helmet on, the amusphere will do its work... LINK START. Senses will be overtaken by the tech, and replaced by ones that seem frighteningly real... At least until something pops up in front of him. Language select - English. - WELCOME TO ALFHEIM ONLINE - Reaper will find himself standing in a circular chamber, all while a female voice speaks up. "Welcome to Alfheim Online. Please enter your character name." A virtual keyboard appears in front of him, all so he can type in whatever he wants. Once that is done..." A scrolling wheel with different figures can be seen in front of him. "Please select the desired race. Please choose one of the nine races." There are nine male forms, all looking different enough. One with cat ears, several slender ones, all in different colour tones. Red, blue, green, browns, black... but they all have fairy wings. "A template - GABE - has been found. Do you wish to load it?"
Reaper	The white helmet goes over his own helmet, the mask uncomfortably clunking with the curious metallic sound. There is a moment when the neural connection slides in and out of contact; Reaper had long ago stopped being what he was, after all. With a snarl, the terrorist reaches up to press a thumb against one of the screws at the temple of his mask; There is a whine as it tries to force itself further in on internal, magnetized threads. A faint -crunch- of bone giving way, with a pained growl. Connection established. It always did take pain to help his body remember what it was supposed to be. He settles back, the faint trickle of ichor from the temple of his mask - already evaporating to coiling black smoke - even as his body relaxes. Neural block, drawn away from a world of nerves endlessly scorched - To something else. He waves a hand in front of his face, trying to get rid of the prompts. He wasn't here for that; When it doesn't seem to move, he pulls upwards from his waist - nothing. A pause, a hesitation as the familiar weight of the newly loaded hellfire shotguns isn't felt tugging at his arms. And then? Then the 'profile' selection. He presses a thumb to accept it, keeping half an ear on the voice chattering about race and selection. Mostly in case it spoke of something important - like a message hidden by Sombra in the midst. He was angry, hispanic and dead - he wasn't stupid.
Sombra	No hidden messages are evident, but when Reaper picks the 'GABE' template, things will happen. Salamander is chosen as the selected race, and the salamander looks strangely similar to how Gabriel Reyes himself looked like. It's easy enough to change it to Imp however if Reaper wants to do that, as well as get a random look if he so wishes. Once the character creation is done however, Reaper will find himself high up in the sky above a dark forest, overlooking the large area. Then, without warning... he begins to plummet towards the ground, the wind gripping at his body and clothes. It's a long way down, and during the freefall he will find himself unable to move his limbs... at least until he gets closer to the ground, upon which fairy wings will sprout from his back. And then he will begin fluttering to the ground.... As he lands on the ground though, he will notice something there. A black fairy that looks rather similar to a certain hacker, even though her clothes are black, her hair is more black than purple... and her skin is paler. "So... what do you think of this, Gabe?" she asks, gesturing to the area around them. "Pretty lifelike, isn't it?" It does look real, with focus being set to where your gaze falls. The wind can be felt upon your skin, there's scents in the air... even though this is clearly not real and Reaper is still sitting on the bed back in Dorado.
Reaper	Inevitably, Sombra will know more about what's going on than Reaper - and so he'll let the Salamander choice stay. Although as the 'Gabe' profile sets in, he takes a moment to look at his own hands. He does -not- look happy about being 'back to semi-normal', nostrils flaring slowly. Although he does take a moment to feel along his own scalp; No beanie. He's not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. And then the fall! Normally, Gabe doesn't worry about falls anymore. What's the worse it can do, kill him (again)? But as his form refuses to diffuse, a natural instinct he's built up over painful practice, a crease of worry begins to etch itself between his brows - before the sudden jerk. And the fairy wings form. Ever seen someone look like they sucked down a barrel of lemon juice while fairy wings slowly flutter them towards the earth? Now you have. "My name - is Reaper." He states, trying to growl. And then pauses, feeling along his throat. The pissed off expression fades to something of a glower, but it seems his focus is on his own hands. Turning them slowly, feeling the movement of his own wrist. Before his eyes flick up to 'Sombra', and he lets them drop. No time to get used to wind (without burning), movement (without breaking), or things that smell as something other than tainted with ash and smoke. "... Let's just get this done. What's the mission?" Game Grump.
Sombra	All in all the hacker looks rather pleased that Reaper went with the template. A template she worked on to create based on old photos and recordings of Gabriel Reyes himself. At least like that he can blend in far easier. "In here your name can be whatever you want," Sombra points out. "My... you're the grumpiest fairy in this entire place, I'd say..." An air of amusement, and she walks foward, inspecting Reaper as her eyes glance over his avatar. "No está mal..." She pats him roughly on the back, and then she brings up her hand. "Now do this... I promise you can do it too." Tapping one finger in front of her, she brings up her own game menu. "Now we find a starter quest... there should be one nearby!" Strange, she seems rather cheerful about this mission, whatever it is. And there's a mischievous glint in her eyes, a look that Reaper should know well by now after working with her for a while. Something amuses her, but what? That's for him to figure out.
Reaper	".. I know how virtual games work." Begins 'Gabe' flatly, eyes drawn down to his own hands briefly again. Almost involuntarily. Before he clenches his fingers, gritting his teeth. "Making war into a child's fantasy." He turns his head when Sombra finishes her inspection, eyes narrowed. And - just to pique her a bit - sets his avatar name. 'Aaaaaa' And then he's following the motion, a bit more hesitant for the curious chang ein his own nature. He'd lived for years as a wraith - being back in a body took time to get used too. Although the glint in her eye makes him pause again, looking away from the info screen. His jaw works for a moment, before something like a wry grin touches the corners of his lips. "Sombra." He begins, voice almost a dangerous purr. "What. Is. The. Mission?"
Sombra	At that Sombra beams brightly, canting her head so her hair bounces about her shoulder. "It's interesting though, isn't it?" she points out. "People always want to be somebody else, after all." She herself changed who she is... so did Reaper, albeit not willingly. It appears that Sombra has gone with using her callsign for this game as well. As a matter of fact, a friend request from her will pop up in front of... Aaaaa. "You really lack imagination, don't you old man?" Then there's that tone. While Sombra's back is turned to Reaper as he poses that question, she does halt, standing still. Slowly she turns around to face him, canting her head as she peers up at him, still shorter than he is in this game. "I thought you'd figured it out already...? We're here to play the game and get accustomed to it. And then gather information on this world and the players. Besides, it's more fun when you play with friends. Now hurry up, vamanos!" With that she gives him a smile that looks too innocent to be real, and then she draws her sword. "We're going to kill lizards to collect their guts for a starter quest here, we can get it done quickly if we start now!"
Reaper	"Other people want to be someone else. Some of us have to be what's needed." Counters 'Aaaaaa', accepting the 'friend' request without thinking of the implications. A simple swipe of a finger seals his doom once more. And then the implication that he lacks imagination! A rumble in the back of his throat, something that instinctively brings his hands up around his adam's apple again. "My focus is somewhere besides pointless." The eyebrow does go up, however, the wry smirk disappearing into a blank expression as he speaks. ".. Gather information on the world and the players." He repeats, blandly. Eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What part of this requires -my- assistance?" After all, she said it's more fun to play with friends. Emphasis on friends. At last he grouses, pulling from his waist once aga-Nothing. He pauses, and repeats the motion again. When nothing occurs, he snarls. ".. Where are the shotguns?" Contextual menu up. Scroll, scroll..
Sombra	"I'm what I need to be, but I also want to be Sombra," the hacker points out, looking pleased as her friend request is accepted. "Your focus can be somewhere else if you want, just know that you can relax in here and be somebody else for a little while... Aaaaa. Am I pronouncing that right?" she asks, putting on what might be a genuine curious expression. Or perhaps it's just Sombra poking fun at him again. Just maybe. Such an excellent question regarding him being here. "I don't know if you read up properly on the character creation scene, but the races have different traits. I'm a Spriggan... useful for somebody like me, but sadly lacking in raw power. That's where you, a Salamander, being one of the strongest in this game if you level your character right. The quicker I'm done here, the sooner I can spend more time on additional Talon business, no?" The hacker draws her sword, and then she begins stabbing an area in the grass, letting out a triumphant grin as she pulls it back, revealing a wriggling lizard on the end of her beginner sword. Don't think she doesn't notice how Reaper struggles with figuring out how to do this... "That avatar you're in doesn't obey the same laws like your own body... or what remains of it. Look through your starter menu, then you can set skills. Including fire magic. You have a sword you can use, it's in your inventory. Press one of the quick buttons to open it and equip it." As she explains Sombra takes the lizard, and it turns into lizard guts the moment she interacts with it. Said guts are easily collected as she resumes searching for lizards to kill. All while Reaper's counter goes up to 1. Only 14 lizard guts left to collect, better get on it!
Reaper	With a faint growl, the avatar called 'Aaaaaa' pulls open the menu and quickly types in a new callsign; To be honest, being called 'the sound of a scream' is going to get tired, fast. 'Santo Muerto'. Not quite right, as Santa Muerte was a -female- folk saint of death, but that's what the masculine 'o' is there for! He tosses the menu aside with an angry hiss, letting it disappear as it leaves his radius. Shame it doesn't shatter or anything neat like that. "Fine. I'll get into the.. spirit.. of things." TALON DAD JOKE. Although he looks utterly serious when he spins that bit of bad humor out, a dead pan expression that would shatter the world of poker if he ever went into gambling. Not even a twitch of the lips, or a shudder along the eyelid. The sword itself is drawn out of the menu, and peered at with undisguised annoyance. Before he holds up his hand, eyes reading along some invisible self-tutorial. And then he tosses it forward. Newbie fireball. Pfew! TWO roasted lizards. No, that's not the beginning of a grin. It's a pulled muscle. Especially when it drops into a full on frown.
Sombra	Another smirk plays at Sombra's lips, and she is in the process of spearing yet another lizard as Reaper changes his avatar name, making Sombra shake her head in amusement. At least he's realising some things, so there's that. "That's the spirit, Santo~" Sombra grins, looking rather pleased with it all. It's good that he's indeed learning, taking the time to explore menus to find the magical commands for the unleashed fire. "Not bad..." She walks up next to Reaper, looking at the burned to crisp lizards. They should still count though, and they're getting closer to being done with the first mission. "Be careful you don't burn down the entire forest though, we wouldn't want to draw attention like this." It still pays to be cautious, after all. After a few more minutes have passed, they have gathered enough of the lizard guts to prompt a menu option the both of them. Sombra looks up from the looting, and she grins at the text box, already picking out what rewards to accress.. "Seems we're done with the first mission... so what do you think, Gabe?" Does he like combat system? That he'll be able to experience it all through a living body. It was worth the shot either way.