<@Dreol> [Lex Intro Session] <@Dreol> [You have come to New York to compete at Ubercon! The largest multi- genre video game competition in the world. You and Alyssa flew in last night so that you could arrive early on Friday. As you approach the convention center you see mass of people all gathered outside; some of them are cosplaying as various video game characters, or anime characters, or just in creepy goth outfits, because somehow that's related?] <@Dreol> [Lex, is scheduled to participate in the Empire: Total War tournament which will take place at Noon and is scheduled to run for 4 hours.] <@Dreol> [It will be a mini-campaign mode designed for Ubercon which consists of battles, of course, and some resource management and development on faster time scale.] <@Dreol> [In any case, the registration line is a long 2 hour wait but you got there early so when you get through it's 9 AM. Once you get inside you are assaulted with a barrage of lights and sounds from all around. Stalls are set up where new games are being shown ala E3 or TGS. There is a section where dealers are selling rare games, or plushies or anything video game related that people might want.] <@Dreol> [most of the floor, however, is taken up by countless huge competition stations being set up.] <@Dreol> [Begin] * Lex brushes escaped wisps of hair out of her face and looks around. "Whew, three hours to kill." * Lex smiles a rare smile at Alyssa. "I'm glad you came with me. I'd probably kill myself with anticipation in three hours if you hadn't." * Alyssa smiles a considerably more common smile back at Lex. "Hey, no problem. Can you imagine the line if I *didn't* come with? Two hours even if we preregged, oh my God." She brushes a lock of far-too-black hair out of her face and looks around at the other gamers crowding the area, some of which are even in creepy goth outfits (like her). "At least we were trapped with some people with taste." Sure, if you want to call it that. * Lex grins sideways at Alyssa. Anyway, do you care about the dealers? I want to see if any of the new games on show are remotely interesting. Oh, sure... maybe they've got cool nice clothes up. I could go for a new cloak. * Lex snorts a little. "Of course you could. Why not, let's take a spin through." * Alyssa , for the record, is currently sporting deep black, straightened hair, dark purple lipstick, and a velvet and silk shirt to go with her rumpled skirt that falls to about her knees... fishnet stockings and strappy, high boots that make her look even taller. She has no pockets, so she brought a purse, because she's not completely insane. Oh c'mon, Lex. You *know* that cloaks are warmer than jackets. We've gone over this, like, a million times. People'd wear them way more if it weren't for society keeping them down. That and the inconvenient lack of sleeves, so you have to open it up and let all the cold air in any time you want to do anything. <@Dreol> [On your way to the dealer room there are several stands from developers. There are T-Shirts, posters, and such for free if either of you would like any. In the Dealer Room proper can be found some vintage games, even some old RTSes if you look hard enough.] I'm happy with my jacket, thanks. <@Dreol> [A bit on the more non-game side are the stands which sell cloaks, corsets, and weapons of various sorts. It looks like someone just misplaced their renn faire stand.] <@Dreol> (I'll move Lex's comment to before the description =P) <@Dreol> (In the log) (Thanks.) * Lex wanders over to glance at the T-shirts and see if any of them interest her. * Alyssa grins. "So a cloak and a blue tooth headset so you can talk on the phone without having to bother yourself. *I* don't see what the problem is." Alyssa tags along with Lex to the t-shirts and views all with a discerning eye, trying to tell if any of those shirts work well with her style. No point in getting something that'll just clutter her closet. Hmph. There are other things besides phones, you know. How would you unlock a car? Or open a door? That's pretty short term. You're not going to freeze yourself by turning a handle. I'm not talking about freezing yourself. I'm talking about discomfort. And anyway, there are places where frostbite can set in in seconds. Have you ever seen an Eskimo in a cloak? <@Dreol> [Most of the T-Shirts have art for new games that are coming out. There is one for Warcraft 4, as far RTSes go. There's also a shirt for Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII which may be more interesting thematically] * Alyssa answers with the infinite wisdom of, "But we don't live there." She spots the Warcraft one and picks it up, one size smaller than Lex usually wears, handing it over. (Handing it over to Lex, should clarify.) * Lex holds up the Warcraft T-shirt, debating. It's free, of course, and you can never have too many T-shirts... But it's too small. No way. * Lex looks to see if they have a bigger size, because if not, the problem is solved! What do you mean, No way? These shirts are all unisex size. * Alyssa turns to one of the people running the free swag stand, waving to get their attention. "Hey! Are these shirts unisex?" <@Dreol> [It's a gaming convention, they have sizes up to like XXL] Unisex doesn't mean unisize, Alyssa. * Lex finds one more to her liking. "Aha! See?" Well *yeah*, I mean about anything really unisex, but if it's made to be unisex, then you're also looking at unisize- oh my GOD, that is way too big for you! <@Dreol> [And one of the gentleman with a "Blizzard" logo on his shirt comes over. "Hm? Oh Hello Miss. Yes, they're all unisex. Would you like to fill out a survey to receive more information when the game comes out?"] No, it's not. That one would be way too tight. Don't be silly. * Alyssa turns to the hapless survey Blizzard guy. "Don't you think she'd be cuter if she wore a smaller shirt?" * Lex belatedly notices the Blizzard guy and says vaguely, most of her attention still on her argument with Alyssa, "No, thank you. Oh, God, Alyssa, don't. I am not going to be cuter if I wear a smaller shirt! <@Dreol> [He looks somewhat perplexed by the question. "I think she would look great in the shirt. And if she wants she can fill out a survey and we'll also send a pen."] ... They don't pay you enough. * Alyssa looks to Lex. "Okay, fine, well, take both shirts. It's not like they're not free." What's the point, if I'm just going to throw one of them away because I never wear it? <@Dreol> [The Blizzard employee shrugs and turns to the next person who is asking him something about World of Warcraft that he can't answer.] But you're *not* gonna throw it away, because you'll find out how hot you are. Baby steps, right? * Alyssa turns back to where they guy used to be. "Damn. And I could've used a free pen." * Alyssa grabs both shirts, in any case, and puts them in Lex's bag of con swag, before continuing through to look at more dealer room goodies. * Lex looks at Alyssa for a long moment in a way that suggests she is counting to ten in her head. "All right, fine. I will take both of them." (Switch those two in the log.) <@Dreol> (Okay) And you can get a free pen in a bunch of ways that do not involve annoying survey men. Besides, last I checked, you didn't like Warcraft. <@Dreol> (Oh! Wait. Her tournament is actually at 1, my bad.) No, but he was kinda cute... and I felt sorry for him. <@Dreol> (So you have an extra hour) * Lex snorts. Yeah, poor hapless guy, being hauled into some argument about clothes he doesn't understand by a girl wearing purple velvet. I could almost feel sorry for him, too. Well, I did. You don't have to be a bitch about it. (God Almighty. It is a *really* good thing Alyssa is here.) (Oh?) (Lex with nothing to do but wind herself up might have been a bad thing. And she wasn't being a bitch, for the record, she was just teasing Alyssa.) <@Dreol> [Meanwhile the proprietor of "Corsets, Cloaks, and Cutlass," who is a woman in her mid-30s, is trying to push a neon blue corset off on Alyssa. "Hey, Miss this would really match your lipstick."] * Lex laughs. "Looks right up your alley, Alyssa. Well, maybe not the neon. But hey, she has cloaks." * Alyssa eyes the corset. "Noooo, it wouldn't." She looks past the lady to the other stuff and practically lights up. "But you do have cloaks! Is this one reversible?" * Lex follows Alyssa, not-quite-smiling. * Alyssa pushes the neon corset of death aside and wades into the gothy goth stand and starts checking out the stuff. <@Dreol> [The woman puts down the corset and turns to the cloak. "Oh yes, and if you don't like the color we can also custom make one for you. And we have a deal right now if you buy a cloak and a sword, maybe your friend would like a katana." She smiles as if that makes perfect sense.] * Lex looks as if she wants to run in another direction. Any other direction. "Um, no thanks." Custom made, really? Hey, Lex, what do you think of this? * Alyssa holds up a black leather and lace thing of indeterminate purpose. Um...what is it? <@Dreol> [She turns to Lex. "Maybe a nice longsword. And maybe a corset! We have a dressing room." She motions to what is, essentially, a curtain held up by shower rod.] ... I don't know. * Alyssa puts it back. * Lex debates whether to look at the proprietor in further horror, or ignore her in the hopes she'll go back to pestering Alyssa. * Alyssa goes back to looking at stuff, now checking out cloaks, which she set out to do in the first place. "Hey, do you custom make cloaks? Can I get a corset and cloak deal or something?" <@Dreol> [The lady nods. "Yes, of course. If you get both a corset and cloak it's 10% off!"] * Alyssa pulls out a cloak that's straight from Castlevania and wrinkles her nose. "Ugh. Who'd wear THAT." She stuffs it back into the rack and keeps looking, still not appearing to have noticed what the lady said at all. * Lex mutters under her breath. "10% off the 20%-inflated con prices..." <@Dreol> [Which, if you look at the price tag and do some quick math, means about $180 for the pair.] <@Dreol> [It's now getting on towards 11:00] * Alyssa responds to Lex as she checks tags: "Yeah, but with no nagging parents over your shoulder." She pulls out her phone and maths on it. "And this is a *really* good deal anyway." If they're worth it. * Alyssa looks to the lady. "Hey, so if I get some stuff custom ordered, can I get the 10% off deal or is it at con only?" <@Dreol> [She shakes her head. "No, it's at-con only. But you can check our website for deals that we have from time to time." She hands Alyssa a card.] * Lex shoves her hands in her pockets and looks around aimlessly, now that she's being safely ignored. * Alyssa takes the card, stuffs it in her purse, and goes back to looking. "Just be a sec, Lex." * Alyssa debates for another fifteen minutes or so before she pulls out a corset and cloak, heading off to the dressing curtain and disappearing behind it! <@Dreol> [The lady now turns back to Lex. "Are you sure you don't want to try something on? Or maybe just buy a dagger? We have a good deal on this one." She holds up a dagger that has a goldish handle and some sort of dragon design. "It's only $200."] * Lex in the meantime has wandered into obscure corners of the shop, trying to see if they have anything other than "Cloaks, Corsets, and Cutlasses." She grimaces internally and the return of the lady and says a little more forcefully, "*No*, thank you, I'm not interested in swords or daggers of any kind. Or *corsets* of any kind." (^at. Sorry.) (^at. Sorry.) <@Dreol> [The lady moves over to the cloak section then. "How about a nice cloak? You know they are still the best things to wear in bad weather. I wear mine all the time."] * Alyssa , meanwhile, is ruffling about behind the curtain which miraculously hasn't collapsed yet. Yes, and they let the rain in every time you go to open your car door. And where I come from, it rains a *lot*. I like my jacket, thank you. * Lex calls to Alyssa. "How're you coming in there? Do you need help?" <@Dreol> [The woman shrugs and gives up. She moves over to the dressing room. "Are you okay, ma'am?"] * Lex breathes a sigh of...well, not relief yet, but lessening aggravation. * Alyssa calls back, "'m okay!" Pause, more ruffling. "Actually, I think I need some help stringing this!" <@Dreol> [The woman nods. "I can help with that, if you would like?"] I'll do it. <@Dreol> [The lady moves aside to go talk to other customers, and let Lex through.] * Lex opens the curtain as little as possible to get in. "Whew, escape. Okay, what am I doing exactly?" * Alyssa is behind the curtain, holding a deep purple corset to her chest with one hand. She breathes out a sigh of relief as it's Lex and not the business lady. "Tell me about it. She comes on *way* too hard." * Lex hunts about for a string and a place that looks likely to put it. Hopefully she doesn't tie any knots she's not supposed to. Well, at least this one actually does match your lipstick. * Alyssa helps as much as she's able. "Yeah, just... oh, here, put that there... right. Yeah, it does. I think I'll wear this out if it fits and we can get her to cut the tag off." * Lex shrugs. "I don't see why she wouldn't, she's been trying hard enough to see you something...are you going to get a cloak to go with it?" Oh *yeah*. It's a really good deal. I was thinking the black one with the blue inseam, right over there. * Alyssa tilts her head in the direction of the cloak she picked out. And starts holding her breath a little as Lex strings higher. Want me to grab it for you once I get this all the way on? That'd be great, thanks. No problem. Can you breathe? I don't want you to pass out before the day is over. There's still a lot of it to go. Yeah- well, maybe just loosen it up a little... yeah, I can breathe. * Lex grins a little. "Good. I don't want to have to carry you to the closest fainting bench." * Alyssa snorts, now, in a very Lex-like manner. She's been practicing. "My hero." * Lex bows slightly as she ties off the last bit of string. "Good?" * Alyssa shifts a little, then bounces up and down to make sure things don't come undone in all the wrong ways (or the right ones). "Yeah, I'm good." She holds her hand out for her cloak, which Lex said she'd get for her. * Lex hands it to her! * Alyssa takes it and gets out of the dressing room so she doesn't knock stuff over when she puts on her cloak and swirls it dramatically about her! ... Now she looks for a mirror. <@Dreol> [There's a mirror out by the cloaks.] Yes, you look very dramatic and mysterious and cloaked in black. Why, thank you. I'll be sure to let the other vampyrs know not to suck your blood. <@Dreol> [The woman returns to Alyssa. "Ah! It looks great on you. Are those the two you want?"] * Lex says in imitation of Alyssa's earlier comment, "My hero." * Alyssa laughs, then looks to the woman. "Sec," she says, still giggling, before heading over to a mirror and getting a good look. * Alyssa turns this way, that, flourishes the cloak once or twice, and looks back. "I like it except for the price tags! Not the best fashion statement ever. Can you cut those so I can wear these out?" <@Dreol> [The woman nods. "Oh yes, of course." She takes some scissors off a table and clips off the price tags. Then she waits for the payment.] * Alyssa pays with PLASTIC. The no. 1 form of payment for cloaks and corsets in the United States of America. <@Dreol> [She takes the card and rings it through one of those ungodly slow portable credit card readers. Once the receipt is printed she hands it to Alyssa with the card. "Just need you to sign."] * Lex waits while the payment thing is going on. * Alyssa signs with a considerably less dramatic flourish than she had with her cloak. No flourish at all, really. Once all is done, she goes to gather the stuff she left in the dressing curtain and heads out of the stall with Lex. You wanna eat? I'm starving. Although I guess a quiet corner is probably too much to ask for around this madhouse. <@Dreol> [There is an eating area, in fact, over by the consessions where you could sit down and eat your lunch, if you wanted.] * Alyssa , who has been bouncing happily with her purchase(s), stops so much with the bouncing. "Yeah... hey, sorry I took so long. You coulda checked out one of the other stalls." If I'd done that, we never would have found each other again in all this. I bet I couldn't even hear my cell phone go off. Anyway, I don't mind. * Lex points towards the eating area. "Let's head off over there and see if we can find a table." <@Dreol> [Current Time: 11:30] * Alyssa nods. "Sure." She heads over. * Lex produces food from her satchel and hands Alyssa's to her. "Here." Thanks! * Alyssa opens her tupperware container and starts sorting out the food. She looks around at the pizza, hot dog, and soft pretzel consumption. "I think we're the only people who brought our own food. What's up with that?" * Lex shrugs. "People don't think ahead?" <@Dreol> [At around 12:15 lunch is over] <@Dreol> [Lex also will remember that she is supposed to be at the arena 10 minutes early, at least.] * Alyssa is poking through the program and not paying any attention to the current time. "Hey, there's an Age of Mythology II demo at three. Bet that'd be pretty cool." * Lex checks her watch. "Hm, I have to be there in about half an hour. Not enough time to do much, definitely not to run through the new games. Why don't we go early and just chill out? Maybe I can check out the competition." Huh? Oh, sure! Probably, but I'm going to be trying to kick someone's ass then. * Lex digs out the con center map and finds the Total War location. "I think we need to go over there." Aw, man... maybe they'll do it again tomorrow. Maybe. Seems likely, anyway - I mean, lots of people who would be interested are probably going to miss it 'cause of the Total War competition. * Alyssa checks the map. "Yeah, that'd make sense." She folds her program and stands, grabbing purse and bag. Yup. <@Dreol> [On the way to the Total War arena you notice that the several TV monitors that, until this point, had been displaying just the Ubercon logo now turn on to reveal two men in a press box] <@Dreol> [The one on the left, the monitor claims his name is Alex, has stiffly parted dark hair, is thin and has glasses. The one on the right looks like he just got out of a J-rock concert or is trying to cosplay someone from Kindgom Hearts II. His hair is combed back in huge spikes, his name is Jason.] <@Dreol> "Welcome to Ubercon 2009, I'm Alex Thompson." <@Dreol> "And I'm Jason Moore. It's been a big year in competitive gaming and this is going to be a very exciting competition, some newcomers this year look very promising." <@Dreol> "Yes, but a lot of returning competitors here as well. I saw Gregory Stevens, last year's winner of the Soul Calibur tournament and asked him if he thought he would be able to defend his title. He said that he would certainly try but every year the gaming community gets more skilled and he wishes his competitors luck." <@Dreol> "What a great guy, I love Greg. Anyway, there are a few competitors you won't be seeing this year. Richard Williams has been the victim of an unfortunate deli-slicer injury and cannot compete in the Dynasty Warriors tournament this year." <@Dreol> "Right, and Nate Walsh was banned from Ubercon last year after getting in a heated argument and punching a judge who ruled that his pokemon were illegally obtained." <@Dreol> "Gerard Peterson, the current Halo champion disappeared a month ago during the competition at Shutocon and hasn't been heard from since. <@Dreol> "And finally Renee Fielding who is last years winner of the Final Fantasy competition with her amazing 3 hour run through the supposed 6 hour demo of Final Fantasy XIII that Squarenix presented us, has said that she is quitting competitive gaming to take up a career in game design." <@Dreol> "Maybe she'll be here next year as a developer." <@Dreol> "We can hope. In any case a very exciting year." <@Dreol> [The TV fades out to just displaying the Ubercon logo.] * Lex looks up at the TV briefly, but doesn't hear anything impacting her, so she dismisses it. * Alyssa is less quick to dismiss it. "What the hell? Punching a guy over pokemon?" Some people are a little...more invested in this stuff than others. * Lex seems to have swallowed something less flattering there. She can actually be almost nice sometimes! <@Dreol> [After some walking you arrive at what appears to be a french palace. It says "Empire: Total War" on it and outside are a bunch of people who are waiting to compete. On the left is an entrance that says "Spectators" which is open. The one for competitors is not.] Ooh, this is way fancier than last time. How long've we got until it starts? <@Dreol> [Current Time: 12:45] Not long. Go ahead on in. I can stay here for a while. I don't know what the seating's like; you might be able to get a better view." All right. * Alyssa gives Lex a quick hug. "Good luck!" * Lex returns it. "Thanks, Alyssa." You'll be awesome. * Alyssa waves and makes for the spectator door. <@Dreol> [The spectator section is pretty crowded but Alyssa can manage to squeeze in between a couple people in the third row.] * Alyssa does that, only getting her cloak in one person's face in the process. But it's okay, because she apologizes. * Lex glances around covertly at the others waiting, face more closed now that Alyssa's gone. <@Dreol> [Lex notices a few competitors who she might be familiar with, the winner of last year's Total War competition is here, Pete Helman, but this year is a new game and he looks as nervous as everyone else. There has only been a couple months to practice since Empire's release in March.] <@Dreol> [After about five minutes A Sega rep comes out from inside the arena with an "Uberstaff" badge. "Alright everyone. They're telling me to let you in. So go ahead." All the competitors get up and head inside.] * Lex shoves her hands in her pockets and follows the rest. <@Dreol> [Inside the arena is designed like a throne room with a red carpet and marble floors and the like (Not real marble but it looks like it.) There are 11 stations for playing and people start to grab them as they walk in. Giant monitors are placed around the arena so that the spectators can see each screen.] * Lex snags the closest monitor and waits, muscles tightening ever so slightly in anticipation. * Alyssa cheers upon seeing Lex and waves from her spot in the third row. <@Dreol> [The same Sega rep comes inside and holds up a mic. "Okay, everyone! Begin!" As he says that the screens flicker on and each person has their faction revealed to them. Lex is playing as Spain.] * Lex 's mouth twitches slightly as she hears Alyssa, and she relaxes slightly. <@Dreol> [Lex is doing brilliantly. She manages to knock out one of the competitors pretty early on and smartly takes the time that she has in solitude to build up serious resources while her opponents are busy killing eachother. About an hour into the competition it is just her and 3 other people fighting for control of the map.] <@Dreol> [Right about then everything seems to freeze.] * Lex freezes, too. <@Dreol> [Lex can't hear cheering anymore and nothing is moving. And soon the world melts away revealing a black void in which Lex is standing.] * Lex looks around, a little too quickly for calm. Too much adrenaline left in her system from the game, and she can feel her heart thumping. <@Dreol> [Soon a soft light comes into the world and Lex finds herself standing on a stone floor in, what appears to be, a void of nothingness.] <@Dreol> [Session End]