they manage to get ahold of themself. a few onlookers grow bored, realizing nothing that exciting had actually happened, and go back to waiting in line. for their game of choice. gwen picks herself up too, and asks sterling what they should do next. it's slowly dawning on them that she's essentially inviting them to keep playing with her, and they blink slowly as it sinks in. "yes," they say, which isn't really an answer to the question. they shake their head. "uh, that rhythm game has a short line..."

the line for the VR game is still ridiculously long. more people just keep arriving. sterling tries not to worry about it, and points out the machine that says 'project voice' over the screen. there's two cabinets side-by-side, currently occupied by a couple other people who seem thoroughly engrossed in play.

[ Gwendolyn Conway ]

sterling watches the cats cavort from a safe distance. they're hesitating, not sure what to do... if they charge right in guns-ablazing, they'll probably get destroyed. they have their charcadet at their side, waiting to see if maybe one will break off from the others, and then sterling can challenge it to a battle.

"my dad got me a magician for my 10th birthday," sterling tells their pokemon. "i mean, at the time, i thought magic was real... pretty cringe, i know." the charcadet just looks at them, and sterling sighs. "yeah, alright, you probably don't even know what magicians or birthday parties are."

somebody else interrupts the feline playtime. sterling watches, and a straggler breaks off. they pick up a pokeball and nod to their charcadet. "alright. it's go time." they head off in search of a new companion.

gw0G3keo

cute!? sterling stiffens, feeling their face heat up. there's no way! nothing about me is cute! they want to protest, but they bite their tongue. for a moment, they completely forget that they're in the middle of a level. their brain is fogging up as they try to comprehend what just happened. oh, the indignity of it... they don't know if they're flattered or insulted. or maybe just confused? let's go with confused, they decide.

and that's when the jumpscare happens. gwen jumps, fumbling her gun. sterling stares in shock. a laugh bubbles up out of them, and then the dam breaks. they double over, wheezing with laughter, even as the boss mauls both of their characters on the screen. it's not long before they're both dead, but sterling's still trying to recover, snickering under their breath. "the look on your face--" they say, and then they're cut off by another round of helpless giggles. the game is slowly counting down, waiting for them to either insert another coin to continue play or for the cut-off to happen and send them right back to the beginning.

the people who turned their heads to look at gwen when she screamed now look away, content that it was nothing serious and just an innocent gaming mishap.

[ Gwendolyn Conway ]

they're loaded up and ready for the next segment of the game; sterling keeps their eyes on the screen as it prepares. "sterling," they say shortly, introducing themself. it's a bit of an odd name, but the name they'd been given when they were born just didn't feel suitable anymore. maybe once upon a time, an eternity ago, when different paths had branched before them... or maybe not. maybe they were always going to turn out this way, no matter what happened.

the loading ends, and they're launched back into the fray. the action is a little faster this time, so it's more important to know exactly when to reload. "i guess if i had to choose... maybe pyre insignia? or last legend. the classics are the best, but the remake of last legend seven has been really solid all around so far." a skeleton leaps at sterling, and they take some damage before they take it out. "i like the identity games too, but i wish they'd stop milking five for all its worth and just move on to making a new one. at this point i don't know what's coming first, identity 6 or a new ancient scrolls game." now that they're talking more, their galarian accent is more apparent. they don't seem to notice they've been rambling.

[ Gwendolyn Conway ]

they reach the first checkpoint without taking too much damage. sterling breathes a sigh of relief without realizing it. they can't admit it, but playing with another person so near is more stressful than playing online... whenever they're out in public, they feel as though someone is watching their every move. even as they've reintroduced themself to society, that sensation hasn't gone anyway.

when gwen speaks again, they find themself staring at the screen, avoiding eye contact. this game gives you a chance to change your weapon, so they're checking over the options as they try to decide how to answer her question.

time is up. they'll just have to respond as honestly as they can. "...rpgs," sterling says. roleplaying games have always been their favorite. anything with a strong storyline and the sort of escapism where sterling can project themself onto the hero role is preferred. somewhere they can save people, instead of watching them disappear one by one.

the game starts up again. "...though... i do like numbers," they admit quietly. "i program things... sometimes." sometimes? more like all the time.

[ Gwendolyn Conway ]

oh, thank arceus she said something. sterling had a vision of a future where they both just stood there for minutes on end without playing the game at all.

unfortunately, it's been some time since they spoke to someone in person aside from their father. they shuffle on their feet, holding the plastic gun in hand. their posture and expression are difficult to read, bangs hiding their red eyes as they look down. there's a pause, and finally, they speak. "...sure."

sterling curses themself. she's nice enough to offer to play together and all you can say is 'sure'!? get it together, you dope! expression still not changing, they pull a coin out of their pocket and insert it into the machine. they point the gun at the screen and pull the trigger to confirm that "player one" has entered the arena. they're pretty good at shooters, but most of their experience has been on their PC at home...

when the game starts, they manage to keep up well enough. their hand-eye coordination isn't too bad, all things considered. it's not so different from using a controller. point and shoot, point and shoot... the bad guys won't even know what hit them.

[ Gwendolyn Conway ]

sterling's father doesn't much like it when they leave the city. they suppose they can't really blame him, considering the rest of their family is missing or AWOL somewhere. if their father doesn't have his eyes set on you, he constantly worries you might vanish in front of his eyes. this time, sterling had managed to convince him to let them go provided they checked in every hour to let him know they were okay. and if they ran into any trouble, they'd send him their location immediately instead of trying to handle it themself.

man, being coddled is hard work.

it's worth it, though. there's a grand unveiling of a new VR machine at an arcade in rustboro, the next city over. they took the bus here and now they're finding themself a little overwhelmed. there's a line up, as they expected, and it seems like it'll be some time until they manage to get into the booth.

in the meantime, they look around for other things to do. there's a two-person shooter that isn't occupied... but as soon as sterling moves to pick up the fake gun, they realize someone else has moved at the exact same time as them on their other side. awkwardly, they stare, frozen as they try to decide what to do.

[ Gwendolyn Conway ]

NIKOLA SAMSA 5'7 / ~130 lbs

VELVET ASCH 5'2 / ~140 lbs

STERLING WARDEN 5'4 / ~115 lbs

link to a helpful visualizer for height/weight here as well