Subject: [OPEN/PvP] Artificial Irritation 250 views

[xzs1]

What an interesting game.

Setting up his avatar was surprisingly fun, and entering the game itself had been mind-blowing: he really could feel ground beneath his feet, the wind against his skin, and the sun on his face.

Then meeting the partner Digimon he'd chosen... Well, he'd heard of the amazing AI, but he thought it would still be uncanny and Markovian, limited in the same way computer intelligence had been in the past.

Nothing had prepared him for the reality.

"So you say you're SnowAgumon?" They'd made a beeline for the park after spawning in the crowded city, the Digimon cheerfully leading the way on its tamer's request. There was little talk while they walked; it wasn't until they reached the shelter of the trees that Piri-Piri felt comfortable striking up a conversation with his new partner.

"Umm, yep! That's what I am. And, um, my name, I guess. If you want. But you can change it, too," SnowAgumon replied. Its voice was surprisingly feminine for such a fierce-looking lizard. It touched its chin as it spoke, looking bashful.

His eyebrows rose at the Digimon's subtle gesture.

"So, like a nickname? For SnowAgumon? In Asuka City?" The last two questions were blatantly superfluous and nonsensical, but he couldn't resist tossing them in to see how its programming might respond to certain keywords. Would it start repeating itself like a normal game NPC?

"Yes, a nickname for...a nickname for me." She canted her head and gave him a puzzled look. "You talk weirdly, you know."

"Whoa, rude." But a hesitant smile twitched to life on his lips. An accusation like that would've caused him to withdraw in the real world, but here, talking to a stuttering virtual pet, it felt laughable. "Are you programmed to talk back to me like that?"

"Ah! Oh dear, I'm so, sooo sorry." SnowAgumon suddenly dropped into a bow, an action that couldn't be performed at all gracefully with her backwards proportions; they were still traversing the park as they spoke, and she nearly got her long claws caught beneath her as she ducked her head in apology. Piri-Piri was amused (and impressed) to notice that she stumbled instead of clipping through her model. "It's just, um...no, I didn't mean to be rude. I'm very sorry, I won't do it again."

He shook his head without replying. That small smile continued to dance on his face. They walked into another small copse of trees, but this particular one featured a clean, undecorated park bench. Piri-Piri sat down and marveled at the feel of the wood slats pressing against his back. He could feel the grain of the wood as he ran has fingers over it, and leaning forward, he could do the same with the bark of the closest tree--but it was a different texture. No generic wood.vrdo file here.

SnowAgumon fidgeted in place in front of him. She glanced at the free spot on the bench uncertainly, then back at her tamer. Piri-Piri wondered if he was watching a premade idle animation.

"So, SnowAgumon. Do you have to do anything I say?"

"Er, well..." She touched her chin again.

"What if I told you to attack that tree? Or...this is an RPG, right? We could go to a high level area and have you attack a strong monster. Could I make you do that? That's probably not against the game's rules or anything, so you'd have to do it, right?"

He'd folded his arms across his lap and leaned forward, directing all his attention fully onto the Digimon. She'd lowered her head in response, avoiding his gaze. This was so weird to him. She was a dinosaur monster! Her gigantic tooth-lined mouth could engulf his entire head! But all she did was look aside and mumble incoherent strings in response.

(( Help I don't know how to end posts. ))

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      It was her first venture into the World and she could feel the adrenaline trickling into her system and not-quite distantly her heart thudding in excitement. When she finally materialized, feeling the change in temperature around her from the pod to this new world; if she focused enough, she could still feel the pod seat. Eyes opening to this new world for the first time, a manic grin on her avatar's features, she looked around and saw many people milling about with their Digimon. Some had Patamon, Agumon, Guilmon, the more popular choices, and some others had weirder, less common or known partners as well. Doing a quick once-over of her avatar, she found that she really did like this model, the appearance was awesome! She did wonder briefly if she could get appearance equips to change it. Welcome to Asuka Server, Chevko!    "Eep!" She jumped at the welcoming scroll text that appeared a few feet in front of her. After calming herself for a moment, the manic grin reappeared as she continued to look around, "So. Coool!" It was the first virtual game that she had played, so everything was doubly new to her. "Eh-hem." Hm? What was- She looked around to see a muscular blue Digimon standing near her. It did not look too impressed with her. "What? Ya never seen the--. Y'know what, don't answer that. I think I know it already." The Digimon speaking in a rough voice, rather difficult to tell if it was masculine or feminine, was not quite hip-height to her, had two red, Y-shaped horns, small red wings and long footclaws on wide feet. "You're Dracomon? You're cooler than I thought you'd be!" At the praise the Dragon preened itself a bit, ego inflating, "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome." It started to do poses for how awesome it was when Hoshi crouched down to examine it, a hand reaching out and then poking it in the belly, causing the Dracomon to jump. "Hey! Watch it." And she continued poking it, commenting on the smooth, leathery texture of it's belly. Red bloomed on the Digimon's muzzle and it batted away her hands, "Jeez. Hands to yourself, crazy lady." She apologized and resisted the temptation to further grope her partner.    Standing back up, Hoshi went to investigating this strange and wondrous new world before remembering to wave randomly and grin, knowing that her parents were watching for at least a little while. It made her look weird, she knew, but they were the ones that got her this game, she had to be thankful. She then turned her attention to the Digimon again, "So Drac-" It interrupted her by speaking and holding up a three-clawed hand, "Whoa. Have to stop you there. I don't know if I can tolerate being called just 'Dracomon' all the time. I gotta have a cool name to stand out from all the other Dracomon." I can change my partner's name? "Yes, you can change my name, but only at the start here before we move," came the retort as her surprise was written all over her features. "And it's gotta be really cool." "Um. I-I can't think of a really cool name. But ho-how about... Izzecard? No, that's too weird..." And so they stood there for about ten minutes trying to come up with a decent name before leaving. ----    "So, Gavriil," the Dracomon was happy to go with this name as it was rather pleasant-sounding and also did sound pretty damn cool, "any basic things I should know?" "Well, yeah. Don't be an idiot. If it's too strong, run away. Running away might not be cool, but it's cooler than being beaten. Don't trust Chuumon. And Digitamamon... They're pretty cool."    She had just stepped into a new zone and the server let her know this, too. Central Park

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She jumped at the proclamation as it appeared several feet in front of her before fading away. "That's... an awesome way to notify someone of changing areas..." Gavriil simply chuckled and shook it's head before wandering ahead of it's partner to explore. "This area isn't typically too dangerous and you sometimes have to really look for fights, so we should be fine." Chevko nodded, still easing into her avatar's persona, when she spotted another avatar with a white.. Agumon? Yeah, it was a white Agumon.
   Getting Gavriil's attention, Chevko trotted over to the pair nervously. As the brunette avatar got closer, names slowly came into view. Pi..Piri-Piri. And... SnowAgumon. Hm. Makes sense. The usernames stood about a foot or half a foot above their heads, so they were easily read. "U-uh, um," she fidgeted a bit, nervous about introducing herself when her partner cheerfully took over for her. "Hiya. I'm Gavriil. This is my partner, Chevko. You two been here long? We just got in."

--==--
{O|O|C} Don'tcha love introduction posts? :D
Also, it's pronounced "Gahv-ree-el", kinda like Gabriel, but Gav.{/O|O|C}

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Made by AMB Tanz

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[xzs1]

Piri-Piri, so intent on SnowAgumon, nearly leapt from his seat when the new voice spoke up. He glanced up sharply, scanned over the Dracomon, then dug his fingers into his legs and fixed the human half of the pair with a deer-in-headlights stare that was blatant even beneath his headband.

Free from his attention, his own partner relaxed and turned to face the arrivals with a relieved smile.

"Oh, hello, we...we didn't see you. I'm sorry." She paused, but when no comment came from the young man she forged on. "I'm SnowAgumon, and he's, um, Piri-Piri. He just joined today, too. So we're both new! It's nice to meet you."

The Digimon bowed politely, then shot a look back at her tamer. He was still staring at Chekvo. SnowAgumon scratched at the base of her claws, frowning--then, with a nervous noise, reached out to tug at his pant leg. "Piri-Piri...?"

She cringed away as he suddenly swatted at her claw. Snapped from his stupor, he no longer seemed to want anything to do with the woman; he avoided her gaze and focused on Gavriil before he finally decided to speak.

"Yeah, Piri-Piri, joined today. What she said. Nice to meet you." Short, curt. He was looking at the Dracomon with interest. SnowAgumon, sensing he might revert to his earlier topic of conversation, stepped between the two and resumed control of the discussion. These two seemed much easier to speak with, anyhow.

"Ah...so do you like it here? I think Piri-Piri does," another glance backward, "but we haven't gone anywhere yet, or tried the game parts. We just met, ourselves. He, ah, hasn't given me a name, either. Not y--"

"Buru-Buru."

"Eh?" SnowAgumon turned her whole body to look at him this time, holding her claws against her chest as if she might protect herself from whatever he might say to her next.

"That's a good name, I think. Buru-Buru." He was smiling to himself like it was the cleverest damn thing in the world. "And our names will match."

"That's..." Stupid. She bit back the comment and faced the pair with a long-suffering expression on her wide, boxy face.

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      Hoshi felt her cheeks warm when the other player jumped, apparently startled, and briefly wondered if one could blush in the game. When the other player turned to see her, he froze and simply stared at her. Blinking nervously as he simply stared, she wondered if she created her avatar poorly, did it have a glitch? She knew her skintone was glitched into a farmer's tan, but that couldn't be what the issue was. She glanced at Gavriil to see what was going on there and saw that the Dracomon had also glanced at her and shrugged slightly when their gazes met.    When a slightly high-pitched voice spoke, Chevko turned her attention back to the pair and saw it was the whi-, SnowAgumon, speaking. It apologized and gave the reason why the player was silent and still and she couldn't help but grin back at the dinosaur 'mon as it bowed. Eyes glancing at the human avatar, she grew nervous - he was just staring at her. What was... what was he doing? When the SnowAgumon reached out nervously to attract his attention, Chevko and Gavriil jumped in surprise as he swatted at his partner. The young woman's avatar easily held a confused look at the other seemed to totally ignore her and turn his attention to her own partner. He seemed to weigh his words for a few moments before speaking. "Yeah. Piri-Piri, joined today. What she said, nice to meet you." Uh.. he's... creepy, Chevko fidgeted nervously as the thought came across her mind and she glanced at her Dracomon, who also somehow seemed to be skeptical of the guy as he just seemed to stare. A lot.    "Ah, so, do you like it here? I think Piri-Piri does, but we haven't gone anywhere yet," she explained, eyes twitching toward her humanoid counterpart, "or even tried the game parts. We just met, ourselves. He, ah... hasn't given me a name yet either, not ye-" A gruff voice cut in, "Buru-Buru."    "Eh?" The SnowAgumon turned toward her partner in what seemed to be disbelief. "That's a good name, I think. Buru-Buru." Chevko couldn't tell if he was being condescending or what, but found the nickname to be rather adorable and nodded with Piri-Piri. "And our names will match." He wore a rather large grin on his face, although the newly nicknamed Buru-Buru didn't look quite as happy. "It sounds simply adorable, Piri-Piri. Boory! Hehe, that's a good shortening of it. Buru-Buru, Piri-Piri... Boory and... Hm. Pirri? Neh. Piri-Piri can't really be shortened." Gavriil on the other hand was biting back a giggle of it's own and was meaning to stay well out of this one. It was fine with it's own name, that was cool and tough. But... Boory? Buru-Buru? Hah! --==-- {O|O|C} Ohdear xD I don't think Boory won't be too happy with her now xD {/O|O|C}

Made by AMB Tanz

[xzs1]

SnowAgumon--or Buri-Buri now, as her tamer had just announced--gawked at the pair with her jaw dangling wide.

"B-Boory?" Her voice cracked. "That's...so...!"

The young man was snickering into his fist. "Boory. Boor-y. Even better! We've got some naming geniuses here, Buru-Buru."

"Ah..." The quivering little reptile drooped her head. Claws still held to her chest, she turned her back on the lot of them and sniffed loudly. "I'm--I'm tired of teasing! I'm not talking again until all of you stop!"

And she crossed her arms and did just that.

Piri-Piri regarded her back silently for a moment, then shook his head and turned back to the other pair--again pointedly looking at Gavriil instead of Chevko.

"The AI here's interesting, isn't it? So, you two...are you looking to try a battle? I was just talking to Buru-Buru about them when you interrupted. She acts too sensitive, doesn't she? She could probably use some roughing up."

A few feet away, the SnowAgumon stiffened. Piri-Piri ignored it and cocked his head, awaiting a reply from the pair.

(( I am tired and where did these words come from ))

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      Chevko felt a bit bad for the dinosaur as he maw gaped at the avatars, but the feeling passed quickly. She was serious about the nickname but the snickering was infectious and soon both the avatar and Digimon partner were trying to be somewhat polite and cover their snickers with coughs. But that quickly failed as Chevko doubled over in a fit of laughter and Dracomon simply turned around, laughing silently. "I'm-I'm tired of teasing! I'm not talking again until all of you stop!" As Buru-Buru crossed her arms and stood defiantly, the feeling of guilt increased and Chevko felt bad for laughing at the poor creature.    She was considering relenting when Piri-Piri spoke up, reminding her of something. "The AI here's interesting, isn't it?" That's right. It's AI. But... this AI learns from us and learns to trust us and our judgement. But that's true, it learns. "... try a battle? I was just talking to Buru-Buru about them when you interrupted. She acts too sensitive, doesn't she? She could probably use some roughing up." His words startled her out of her reverie and the avatar's red eyes turned to look at the other curiously and turned his words over in her mind, not noticing Boory tensing as her partner talked about essentially beating her.    "Well, Chevko? We can take them! I know at least one decent move that we can use!" She turned and grinned at her partner, finding her to be surprisingly reliable and confident. "I'm so glad I have you for a partner Gavriil," the long haired avatar grinned and nodded. She turned her attention back to the other person and nodded to him, "Sure! We'll take you on! ... Just... go easy on us? You really look like you know what you're doing... This is my first time." She fidgeted nervously despite trusting in her Dracomon, she still doubted her own abilities. --==-- {O|O|C} lol, Well I bet I can imagine how much dear Boory will like Chevko from here on xD {/O|O|C}

Made by AMB Tanz

[xzs1]

"Hey, I just got here too," Piri-Piri said, chuckling at their enthusiasm. "We'll be on even ground...if Buru-Buru isn't as weak as she looks, anyway."

The aforementioned Digimon made a muffled, disdainful noise deep in her throat but did not speak. She'd given an ultimatum, after all, and it seemed she was going to stick to it. Shrugging, her tamer hefted himself off the bench and nodded in the direction of the wider park. The earth near the trees here was lumpy and threaded with roots, but there was plenty level ground just feet away that would be perfect for fighting.

"Right." He stepped from the forested area, then folded his arms against his chest--an almost defensive gesture--and signalled the other two to stand across from him. "I don't think we have to flag ourselves for this or anything. Once...hey, Buru-Buru, to me!"

For a moment, it looked as if he would be ignored; then, with a sigh, the SnowAgumon drooped her head and trudged over to stand in front of her tamer, claws raised in a half-hearted battle stance. Piri-Piri raised his eyebrows at this but nodded approvingly.

"You move first, Ch...evko? Chevko."

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      It was very reassuring when Piri-Piri essentially waved away her worry and she took a nervous breath. "We'll be on even ground, if... Buru-Buru isn't as weak as she looks anyway." She fought a smile from playing about her face and obviously wound up failing as a light snicker left her and she refused to look at the white Agumon in embarrassment as she heard the strangled sound leave it. Chevko glanced at her partner and she broke into a wide grin as the the Dragon-attribute was covering it's mouth with a claw. Gavriil didn't think it was very cool, but did find the reaction to be somewhat funny and was attempting to be polite by at least keeping it's giggles quiet or silent.    Following the blond man, they passed from the more wooded area to a bit of a clearing where they would have a more level fighting field. "Right," he nodded, turning around and crossing his arms, "I don't think we'll have to flag ourselves for this or anything. Once, hey, Buru-Buru! To me!" Chevko's red eyes flicked to the SnowAgumon who hesitated heavily before reacting, something that irked one small part of the girl and amused another. "You move first, Ch-evko? Chevko." A short nod and she accepted the duel invitation and Gavriil got into position quickly, claws at the ready. She found herself playing with her hair as she swiftly pondered her first move, "Ah... Ga-Gavriil... Umm... Rush her! Follow it with a Baby Breath!" The blue Dragon gave a grunt of understanding and rushed at the white Agumon, maw opening to expel a gust of highly heated air at it's opponent. This was a chance for it to check it's strength against another 'mon, Gavriil was excited for the opportunity. --==-- {O|O|C} Yay duel! {/O|O|C}

Made by AMB Tanz

[xzs1]

Buru-Buru, reluctant to battle, hadn't properly prepared herself for such a swift attack. She jerked to the side instinctively, but it was too little too late; her earlier slouch slowed the reaction, and that was just enough to leave her in the way of the Dracomon's breath attack.

"Ah, ah! Hot!" She tumbled back and clutched at her shoulder, wincing. When she drew her claw away, one could see why: the affected area had turned an uneasy shade of pink beneath the pale scales.

Behind her, the tamer had drawn a few feet away. Judging by his vague hand movements and distant expression, he was manipulating something invisible to the other player.

"No special moves? Sheesh, worthless." He dismissed whatever interface had been holding his attention and turned an annoyed look toward the cringing SnowAgumon. "What're you doing? Don't move back. It closed the distance for you. Go on, punch it or something."

Moving in was actually quite risky: Gavriil's technique seemed to be close-range, and true to her species name, the icy lizard wasn't much for heat. But she couldn't disregard a command; biting down on her reply, Buru-Buru dashed forward, talon drawn back. Once in range, she gave a timid cry and snapped it sharply toward the opponent's snout. "H-hah!"

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      Gavriil was being silly after the successful attack and was looking very smug as it preened, "Good job, Gav!" "No special moves? Sheesh. Worthless." Chevko's attention flicked back to the man in the jacket and smirked, "What're you doing? Don't move back, it close the distance for you! Go on, punch it or something!" His reaction to her gaining the upperhand was adorable in her opinion and she was just about to start preening alongside her partner.    Then Dracomon yelped in pain, what looked like tears actually forming in it's eyes as the punch connected with it's nose. Hands clapped over the avatar's mouth in surprise as Dracomon whimpered, tottering backward with it's own claws holding it's nose. "A-aah... Tha-that hurt!" Tears were indeed forming in the Digimon's eyes but it was determined to not cry, that it would not do - it certainly wouldn't be able to live it down with Piri-Piri. A few more whimpers from both avatar and Digimon, then the blue-scaled dragon attempted revenge for it's smote snout, a claw reaching out to slash at Buru-Buru's own nose, "Retributioon!" Chevko was still a bit in shock at the lucky punch that Boory got in on her partner and watched as her partner attempted to get back at it's opponent. --==-- {O|O|C} Ohgod xD Slap fight? And wow, super short {/O|O|C}

Made by AMB Tanz

[xzs1]

She...hit it? She hit it! Buru-Buru gazed wide-eyed at the fist held before her. She hit it; she bonked it on the nose!

The SnowAgumon was so surprised by her own success that she failed to notice the retaliatory talon swiping toward her. The Dracomon's arms didn't look as strong as hers, but that didn't mean its claws weren't sharp.

"A-ah!" Wincing, Buru-Buru tottered back and pawed daintily at her nose. A trio of gashes had appeared across her snout, leaking multicolored pixels that drifted skyward. The effect was distracting, and she looked more than a little unnerved.

Her tamer's lips drew back into a grimace. Piri-Piri was hardly impressed by the display. These were game entities created to fight, and they were surprised that attacks hurt? It must have been a failing of the AI.

"This is...kind of pathetic." He press the heel of his palm against face for a few seconds, then dropped it back to his side and shook his head. "What the heck were you programmed for, Buru-Buru? Don't hide back!"

"Tch," the SnowAgumon muttered. Her eyelids drooped; honestly, she would have preferred to forfeit at this stage. Taking orders from that human was literally a pain, and watching bits of oneself fly into the atmosphere wasn't a pleasant sight, either. But she had little choice in the matter. Breathe, little lizard. Breathe, and get it over with.

Finally she lunged forward, eyes squeezed shut and head tucked low against her chest. If she could put all her weight behind the headbutt, she might be able to knock all Gavriil's breath out and prematurely end the match--assuming she managed to strike it at all.

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      Gavriil was glad that the swipe connected and nodded sharply as it massaged it's tender snout. A nervous smirk danced around Chevko's face, hiding it from her partner as it seemed to be rather upset about it's bruised nose. "What the heck were you programmed for, Buru-Buru? Don't hide back!" came the aggravated shout and her eyebrows raised in surprise as the Digimon balked at the order yet again - were the Digimon supposed to do this? Then movement caught her eye as the white Agumon tucked it's head and shoved off from the ground, eyes flying back wide. "Gavriil! Look out! Hit the ground!" she called out to her partner, who surprisingly dove off to the side at the command.    A growl sounded in Gavriil's chest as it just barely got clipped on the hip by the headbutt; this time it was a solid pain rather than a sharp one and it was expecting it. Focused on it's opponent, sharp pain on it's nose fed to anger, Gavriil opened it's maw again and breathed a gust of heated air at the SnowAgumon as it flew by, missing it entirely the first time around. Growling, it climbed back up, heat seeping from it's mouth and it tried a second time to hit Buru-Buru as Chevko cheered it on. --==-- {O|O|C} Super short again. Still good to respond to? {/O|O|C}

Made by AMB Tanz

[xzs1]

Piri-Piri had been intent on the combatants throughout the fight, but at Chevko's cry he snapped his head upward. That was right; the Digimon themselves weren't the only variable here. He'd been "encouraging" his SnowAgumon, but offering her a tactical advantage through commands when he spotted some opening before she did... That promised to do a lot more.

But it looked to be much too late for that. She had barreled past Gavriil blindly and stopped only moments after realizing her charge had not been prematurely ended--leaving her vulnerable to a point-black attack from behind.

"Guagh!"

While it wasn't through the means she had chosen, it looked like Buru-Buru had been granted what she desired: an end to the battle. Again, the heat was too much. The lizard Digimon collapsed into the dirt, eyes jammed shut and claws clutched around her toasted backside. It was clear, after several seconds' wait, that she had no intention of getting back up.

"Alright, I guess that's enough." While the tamer's eyes were hidden, the coolness in his voice was plain. He nodded curtly toward the woman and her Dracomon. "I know a loss when I see one. Can't say I'm surprised...

"Hey, you. Are you going to lay there?"

Buru-Buru only groaned in reply.

[chevko]

[atrb=border,0,true]      As the attack connected successfully, Gavriil was still breathing heat and Chevko saw, for a first time, the attack start to charge. Gritting her teeth, she whined quietly then barked to her partner, "Gavriil! Enough! She's down." The attack still charged for a few moments then stopped, the Dracomon growling at it's opponent - Chevko found the intense focus to be a bit unsettling and made a mental note of Dracomon's temper - not a fun thing. As Gavriil stalked back over to it's partner, surprisingly still upset compared to it's previous calm and cool demeanor, the human of the two flicked her eyes over to the white Agumon and snickered at the position it stayed in, a hand moving up to cover her mouth to hide the smirk.    "Alright, I guess that's enough," the voice was surprisingly dry, though pretty calm. "I know a loss when I see one. Can't say I'm surprised," he looked over at his partner, very unamused, "Hey. You. Are you going to lay there?" Only a groan came as a response and her giggles died - Piri-Piri seemed to expect his partner to utterly invincible, and she voiced her thoughts. "They aren't Superman, you know? They have their limits. If their health is too low then you can't expect them to just bounce back up and be 100% fine after a battle... Check her stats and see if there's a condition limiting her or if she needs something." Her own display of Gavriil's health wasn't at 100% and knew that if it were lower the Dracomon wouldn't perform at optimal levels and probably lag behind with wandering. --==-- {O|O|C} --- {/O|O|C}

Made by AMB Tanz