Virtual Meets Reality

Elizabeth was a gamer and as was her friend, Bryan. However, he worked constantly to improve the overall player experience. Virtual reality sites and VR games were popping up with increasing frequency, but other than wearing goggles that put the game player "in" the scenes for an improved visual experience, little had been done on providing other sensory stimuli. Of course, some early attempts included haptic vibrations to the game controller for the user to feel impacts from weapons, vehicle crashes, etc. but little else.

Brian spent several years working on a new VR system that was powered by an artificial intelligence program to interpret the visual and aural inputs from a standard VR environment and generate a more finely detailed tactile response for the user. His goal was to eventually provide a full-body suit that provided tiny electrical and mechanical pulses to the wearer that would mimic actual sensations of touch. After many failed and partially successful prototypes, Bryan had one that he felt was ready to demonstrate to investors and start up his own production company. He called Elizabeth over one afternoon after she got off from work to come try it out with him.

"Okay, this is just the first working prototype and only provides a very fine touch sensation to your hands. The vest you wear provides a less fine sensation to your torso, but it will only take a little more time to give it the same capabilities as the gloves. It also has a headset that links back to the AI program and provides it with feedback on your sensory response," he explained when she arrived at his home. She eyed the strange looking device perched on top of Bryan's head.

"It looks like an electrified colander on your head," she said dubiously. "It's not gonna,like, give me electroshock treatment, is it?"

Bryan laughed. "Nope, not at all. It uses a very low current flow and electromagnetic waves that match some of your brain waves and amplify them for the AI to interpret. Trust me, I've tried it out several times and never had a problem."

He helped her don the matching gloves on each of her hands and then put her headset in place. "How does that feel?" he asked.

"A little strange. This bowl on my head seems a little heavy and I can't hold things well with my fingers," she replied as she flexed her hands and tried holding a game controller. "How can you even operate this thing?"

"You don't need to use the normal controller, You use your hands instead and the AI emulates the controller outputs to the game. However, for this first time, we'll just do something that doesn't involve a typical controller. I've signed up on an adult VR site where players use a mouse to guide their movements and type in commands to communicate with other players or to take specific actions," Bryan explained. "All you need to do is think or say what you want to do and the AI makes it happen on the screen. Simple."

Actually, there was nothing simple about it and the AI had a limited number of responses that it had been trained to pick up from Bryan as he tested it. Elizabeth was going to need time to work in the system and develop her own patterns for the AI to recognize. Bryan spent about 30 minutes with Elizabeth, guiding her through the AI learning program to build her personal response profile.

"Next, we need to log in to the game site so you can build your profile and avatar," Bryan told her. He logged into the game site he planned to use for testing his equipment and created a second player profile to store Elizabeth's information.

In real life, Elizabeth was a plain-looking young woman with a plump figure, generous curves, and B-cup breasts. Her dark hair was cut short, parted on one side, and hung straight down in an uninspiring fashion. While she had a very nice personality and was certainly intelligent enough to hold her own in a conversation on almost any topic, most of the guys that were around her age tended to focus their attention on girls who were either promiscuous, or were built along the lines of a Barbie doll. Bryan was one of the very few men she knew who did not immediately dismiss her because of her appearance. He had been her friend since they were in first grade and had always treated her with respect.

Bryan guided her through a fairly basic program that was similar to other virtual games where she was able to select her sex, body type, measurements, and hair color. However, this routine provided a much greater level of detail that left her blushing. After she selected the default female form, Elizabeth was prompted to select her measurements. In real life, she was 5'7" tall, 195 pounds, and had a 34-32-48 inch figure. Her avatar, on the other hand, was 5'9'' tall, 130 pounds, long, wavy dark brown hair, and a 38-24-36 figure. This was more like what Elizabeth wanted to look like in the real world, but genetics and finances precluded that.

However, the program wasn't finished getting her inputs. Next, it guided her through more specifics on the appearance of her breasts, including their shape, whether they looked round and inflated or hung down and drooped, the size and collaboration of her areola, and any piercings. She quickly selected a breast appearance that looked fairly realistic, not too droopy or fake-looking, but nicer than her real boobs, and accepted the default nipple appearance to hurry out of that particular design area.

The next section was even more intimate and she felt her face grow warm when the program guided her through choosing the appearance of her pussy. Options included not only the location, amount, and color of her pubic hair, but also how it was trimmed, the appearance of her labia, and if she wanted any piercings included. She quickly opted for a very basic dark, triangular shaped covering of pubic hair that entirely covered her pussy, and no piercings. She forced herself to focus on getting through the avatar build as quickly as possible and resisted the impulse to look at Bryan to see his reaction to her choices. Fortunately, he remained quiet throughout the sequence and she breathed a sigh of relief when the program switched to the selection of clothing.

Despite choosing what she thought was a reasonably demure skirt and blouse selection, when the items appeared on her avatar's form, she found herself wearing a short, tight skirt, an equally tight blouse that opened up just below her breasts to display a generous amount of very eye-catching cleavage, fishnet stockings, and high heels.

"Here, let's give some accessories to help you out a little," Bryan said as he took the controls from her hands. Seconds later her accessories included a wide, leather belt with gleaming steel studs embedded in it, a matching collar, and a small leather purse suspended by a very long and thin leather strap.

"You'll want something to carry your things in and despite the small size of your purse, it will hold pretty much anything and everything you pick-up or need," he explained. The last part of her profile recorded her sexual preferences. She was expecting not much more than choosing "straight", but instead, she was prompted to complete a survey to identify sexual acts that she liked, those that were turn-offs, her favorite positions, items that she wanted to include in her personal "toy box", and other very personal and detailed questions. Once more, she was thankful that Bryan remained quiet, but she couldn't miss his interest in seeing what she recorded. She was given one more chance to review everything and then reassured that she could update her profile details at any time in the game after saving it.

Now that Elizabeth's character and profile details were set, Bryan took over again. "This is your first time in the game, and is really more of a familiarization trial. You're not going to need to do too much, other than walk around and maybe shake hands and stuff with the other players. Just remember, they are all playing through their computer and think we're doing the same thing. Instead of typing your conversation, you just talk normally. Their responses will be a little slower since they are typing their responses, but the AI will translate their abbreviations and acronyms into real words for you to hear," Brain finished. "Ready?"

Elizabeth nodded and put her VR goggles back on under her headset. A few seconds later, she saw the opening to the VR portal and was quickly "transported" into the game "lobby". As she turned her head to look around, she saw a tall, handsome male avatar walking towards her.

"Hi Elizabeth!" the avatar said in Bryan's voice.

She saw several more avatars wandering around looking at the various doors that ringed the inside of the round room with large signs over them. "Playpen", "Midnight Bar", "Disco", "Hooterville", "Lucky Stiff Casino", and "Wild, Wild West" were just some of the names on the signs, along with graphics that were supposed to help explain what was behind each door. Bryan walked confidently to one of the doors with a sign featuring a nearly nude couple locked in a kiss under a palm tree and labled, "Tropic of Fun". Next to the door knob was a coin slot labeled "3 Credits".

"Don't worry, I've hacked the system to provide an unlimited supply of credits in your purse," he assured her.

"This is a pretty straight-forward tropical beach scene. Lot's of sun, sand, surf, and skin," he said with a grin. "If you feel like getting more involved with the other players, feel free to go for it!" Elizabeth shrugged. She was just along for the ride and while she knew that Bryan enjoyed the adult sites, she had never felt a desire to visit any of them. She reached into the small purse hanging on her shoulder and pulled out a handful or shiny coins. She deposited three of them in the small coin slot near the door handle and heard a small click. She turned the doorknob and pulled on the door. It opened easily and she stepped through the door

Elizabeth found herself standing next to Bryan on a wide, sandy expanse with a large, open-sided bamboo hut about 150 feet away. It was crowded with other players, mostly male, who were wearing an assortment of either board shorts or Speedo type swimwear. Nearly all of them were muscular and handsome, which made her wonder what they looked like in real life. She saw fewer women, but they were no less shapely and attractive than their male counter-parts. Vanishingly small bikinis and thongs were the predominant choice of attire for female avatars, but a few were walking around topless and sporting impressive-looking boobs that stood out impossibly far and high. Everyone was tanned and smiling as they wandered around meeting others.

Bryan broke Elizabeth out of her reverie. "Let's go change into something more appropriate to this place." She followed him to another small bamboo structure with a crudely made sign above the door that said, "Locker Room". Inside, she picked out what she considered a fairly modest bikini to wear while Bryan went for a pair of floral board shorts.

"Aloha, Baby!" he said when she emerged in her new clothing. "You look smokin'!"

Elizabeth blushed. She couldn't help grinning as she looked at Bryan's buff avatar and the broad smile showing perfect, pearly white teeth. In the real world, Bryan was far from buff, but he was cute and definitely fun to hang around with, when he wasn't geeking out over technology. While he wasn't exactly handsome in real life, he wasn't bad-looking and she often wondered if they would ever be more than good friends. They wandered down the beach together and Elizabeth couldn't help noticing all the couples and small groups that were together on the sand. She saw several people engaged in some spirited fucking and every guy she saw with his shorts down had a cock that must have been at least ten inches long!

As they passed a threesome comprising two men with the typical ten-inch cocks and a woman with a pair of tits that might have been mistaken for hot air balloons, Elizabeth turned her head to hide a snicker. The woman was bent over holding one man's waist and sucking his cock while the other man was fucking her from behind. Her massive tits bounced and swung wildly below her and she appeared to have a large amount of cum leaking from her cock-filled mouth. Their grunting, moaning, and loud calls of rapture and encouragement were almost comical and Elizabeth wondered what the real people on the other side of their computer screens were actually doing.

"Do you really get off on doing stuff like that here?" she whispered to Bryan. She had watched a couple of porn videos and didn't think of herself as prudish, but the whole scene seemed way over the top.

"Uh, I don't usually get involved in things like that when I'm here," he answered sheepishly. Elizabeth noted with surprise that the embarrassed look on his avatar matched the tone in his voice perfectly. She also noted his phrasing and took from it that he probably did participate more often than not.

"Is your avatar as 'well-equipped' as most of these other guys?" she asked.

"Umm, maybe," he replied with obvious embarrassment. Changing the topic, he added, "If you want, we can go find a cabana and try doing some things to see how the sensory responses feel?" he replied. His voice was still full of the discomfort he was feeling from her line of questioning.

"Maybe later," Elizabeth replied quickly. She understood his implication, and had similar uncomfortable feelings about getting intimate with her friend, even if it was only in a VR world. The last thing she wanted was to do something in virtual reality that might complicate their real-world lives.

They continued walking and Bryan seized every opportunity to have her experience what his new player interface could do. He had her pick up a handful of sand, wash her hand off in the waves running up over the beach, and pick up a starfish they saw washed up in the surf. She was amazed at how real everything felt. The objects all had an appropriate amount of weight to them and the water even felt wet to her hands!

"That's really cool!" she said with admiration as drops of sea water fell from her open fingers. "How do you do that?"

Bryan shrugged and looked away. "It just uses some very small electrical signals to stimulate the nerves in your fingers and hands the same way real water would," he said. Of course he was clearly over-simplifying things, but Elizabeth's admiration for him shot up even higher than it already was.

Suddenly, they heard a rumble of thunder and she looked around the clear blue sky for the source. Bryan did likewise, but neither of them saw a storm cloud.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Sounded like thunder, but I don't see where it came from," Bryan answered. She thought she detected some nervousness in his tone.

"Are we okay?" she asked.

"Of course! This is all virtual and things here don't have any real effect on us in real life," he said confidently. Just then, another low rumble of thunder caught their attention.

"Let me check something," Bryan said with concern. I'll be right back." He reached up to his head and his avatar flashed out of existence before Elizabeth had time to say anything.

"What the hell?" she wondered. Not knowing what else to do, she stood around waiting for several minutes before giving up. Elizabeth started trudging back to the exit portal to the beach realm, weaving through multiple couples and groups of copulating and otherwise engaged people. The rumbles of thunder increased, but no one else seemed to notice. A bright flash appeared and Elizabeth became dizzy before collapsing unconscious in the sand.

When she recovered, the first thing she felt was something in her mouth and pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes with a start to see a handsome man with his mouth over hers. She panicked and flailed around to get free, striking him in the face in the process.

"Ow! Fuck that hurt!" he exclaimed. Another equally handsome man had been pushing down his hands on her chest, but he pulled back and tried to capture her swinging arms and fists.

"Whoa! Whoa, lady. Just relax. You passed out and stopped breathing; we were just trying to help you!" he exclaimed.

Elizabeth stared around as she remained on her back in the warm sand. A small group of four or five mostly nude people stood around looking down at her, including two women. She forced herself to calm down and try to remember what happened. "Where am I?" she asked.

"On the beach," was the simple reply.

"What beach?" she asked in confusion.

They looked at each other and then back to her before the man who had been giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation answered, "I dunno. Our beach, I guess. I don't think it has a name."

She struggled to sit up and brush off the sand as she tried to remember what happened. "The last thing I remember was hearing some thunder and then there was this big, bright flash," she told them.

They exchanged another set of glances. "Thunder? We never get any storms here, or even rain. It's always sunny with a nice breeze and a perfect temperature," one of the other men said.

Elizabeth was confused. She remembered Bryan disappearing and that reminded her that she was in a VR realm. "Okay, I think I'll just log out then. How do I exit this place and get back to the site lobby so I can log out?"

More confused looks among the people around her. "Log out? What are you talking about?"

"You know, the VR site that hosts this environment," she answered. They looked at her as if she was crazy.

As she struggled back up to her feet, Elizabeth noticed that she could smell the salt air from the ocean water and feel the warmth of the sun over her entire body, not just her hands and torso. She also realized that the avatars no longer looked like 3D cartoons, but real flesh and blood people. "Just help me back to the exit," she said.

"Where is that?" one of the women asked. She looked like the personification of a brunette Barbie doll, including an impossibly narrow waist topped by an equally impossible huge bust, all barely concealed by the scantiest of bikinis. Her intelligence seemed as limited as her clothing.

"By the beach bar," Elizabeth snapped irritably. As she checked her bearings and started retracing the walk she and Bryan made earlier.

"The Tiki Bar! Shit, that's where we're all headed, too," said one of the blond, built guys. Elizabeth had already nicknamed him "Biff" because he reminded her of the stereotypical vacuous prep school guy in TV shows and movies. Everyone started walking in the same direction and Elizabeth found herself surrounded by the small gaggle of nude or semi-nude young adults who spent most of their time flirting and laughing together. Looking around, there seemed to be a lot fewer people on the beach than when she and Bryan walked by earlier. One couple in her group fell out along the way and when Elizabeth glanced back, she was hardly surprised to see them in the opening stages of fucking one another.

About ten minutes later, the large open-sided bamboo hut came into view and Elizabeth gave silent thanks. Along the way, a few people tried to engage her in conversation, but her limited responses and apparent lack of interest in the others caused them to stop trying. Upon reaching the bar, she thought it might have been closed; only six or seven people were milling around under the roof and nobody was sitting in the outside area. She turned and spotted the locker room hut as well as a small concrete block building painted in pastel colors and having just a single door as its only other feature.

"There it is!" she said triumphantly. She strode to the door with purpose and pulled the handle. The door opened easily again and led her back into the original lobby, however once inside, she only saw shops, a large bar, and several other doors that presumably led to other VR scenes. No where did she see a sign or any form of control that indicated how to exit the program. The lobby was also much less crowded than earlier, and when she asked some of the other people wandering through about an exit door, no one seemed to understand what she was talking about.