“Glad mine is easy. Still Mary, same as always,” Marysue replied with a smile.
They were chatting about what they were looking forward to when the next person for the testing showed up a few minutes later. Tall, thin, with thick glasses perched on a sharp nose. The man had an odd, jerky way of moving, as though he weren’t used to his own legs. Gerald went to meet him as the man spoke to the receptionist.
“I’ll just wait over there then,” the man was saying, when he turned to find Gerald beside him. “Can I help you?”
“I take it you’re a fellow tester?” Gerald asked with his business smile in place.
“Uh yeah, I’m Kyle Smith.” The man was looking over the shirt Gerald wore. “You one, too?”
“Indeed.” Gerald gestured over at Marysue, who was by the tables with the t-shirts. “My fellow guild member and I brought gifts for everyone in the immersion test. Why not come on over?”
The man followed Gerald over to the table. Marysue wasted no time discovering the man’s shirt size. Soon, he had a shirt and name tag. “The shirt is yours to do with as you will, but no more of them will ever be made. It was an idea of mine to drum up recruitment for our guild in Alpha World. Feel free to slap your character name on the tag, we all might as well get used to calling each other by our ‘names’.”
The man chuckled, “Sure. Call me DrBone, then.” The man proudly wrote his character name on the tag and stuck it on his chest. “I’m gonna drop the shirt in my car. They told us not to bring anything extra with us for the immersion.”
“Mr. Brouch, the man in charge of this test, has approved everyone having the shirts. I’m sure they’re expecting it,” Gerald told him. “However, it isn’t a horrible idea if that’s what you want to do.”
“Yeah, my friend will be stopping by to pick up my car when he gets off work. It’ll be fine,” DrBone replied as he headed for the door.
As he left, three other people came in. Gerald waited until they’d checked in with the receptionist to greet them and tell them about the guild. Many people arrived over the next half hour, often in small groups. All of them took shirts and a few of them promised to meet up in game as soon as they could, eager to join a guild. A little after seven Gerald felt a tap on his shoulder just as he was finishing up with another new recruit. Turning, he found himself staring down at a short raven haired woman. She returned his stare with an amused grin.
“Gerald. Drumming up minions for us, are you? I’m sure Alburet will be happy,” the diminutive woman said. “Also, I love the defined muscles. Not too bulky or overdone.”
Gerald chuckled, “You have to be Karen.” He briefly glanced at her short, but athletically toned body, proudly on display in tight clothing.
“Of course I am,” Karen replied, “I can make you tap out right here if you want me to prove it.”
Gerald held up his hands, “No. Thank you, no. I recall you saying you own a dojo, so I’ll pass. I’m not nearly the masochist Alburet is. Come on over and meet Marysue.” He led her to the table, where a number of people were hanging out. “Mary, I found Karen.”
“Yeah, right,” Karen laughed, “I could have had you out cold before you knew I was there. I found him is what he means.” Karen looked Marysue up and down once, nodding in approval. It was obvious that Marysue hit the gym at least a few times a week.
Marysue grinned, “Yeah, that’s Karen alright. It’s good to meet you in the flesh. You look just like your avatar.”
“You look a little different, besides the ears and sharper cheekbones. I also see you take care of yourself, which is good. Do you hit the gym with the big guy here? Gerald isn’t quite as big in the shoulders as he is in game, but still impressive. If he wasn’t a taken man I would so try to drag him down for a quick ‘training’ session.” Karen grinned sharply at Gerald.
“Not going to happen,” Gerald replied smoothly. “She works out with me. It’s best that way. She keeps me from overdoing my weights and I get her to keep going.”
“Do I get one of these shirts?” Karen asked, finding a medium and pulling it on over her other shirt. She writhed briefly, then slipped her original shirt out from under the new one. “That’s much better.” She was aware of all the men nearby who had been watching with interest as she changed shirts. “Nice to see folks who can admire a woman,” she smirked at the men, who looked away when she met their eyes. “Any sign of Fluff?”
“Not yet,” Marysue replied, “no one has admitting to being her. She seems painfully shy, though. Are we sure she’s going to be here?”
“I hope so,” Karen said, looking around the room. “Almost an hour left, though, so there’s time.”
Marysue introduced Karen to the other players who were near the table that had agreed to join the guild once they got back in game. A barely audible “Excuse me,” caught Karen’s attention. She was surprised to discover someone behind her. The figure was draped in an overly large hoodie, with the hood pulled far forward as they stood hunched over, hands thrust deep into the large front pocket. Marysue looked up as Karen turned.
“Excuse me,” the soft contralto voice was hard to hear. “Can I get a shirt?” The slight figure shifted from foot to foot nervously. “I’m sorry. It’s just that everyone else has one and I thought maybe…”
“Fluffball?” Karen asked the hunched person, who pulled back slightly at the word. “Is that you, Fluff?”
“Umm… I mean…” a delicate, porcelain white hand came out of the hoodie pocket to stroke at the top of the hoodie. “Umm…”
“It’s okay, miss,” Marysue cut in softly. “We have enough shirts for everyone. What size do you wear?”
“Well… I mean… medium… or maybe a large?” The hand vanished back into the pocket at the front of the hoodie and the shoulders hunched more. “I’m causing an issue… I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Fluff,” Karen said, gently touching the person’s shoulder, “it’s me. Karen. You know me. It’s okay, really.”
The hood lifted slightly, just enough for eyes to meet. Karen couldn’t suppress a small gasp as she looked at the person before her. Fluff’s eyes shifted quickly from side to side and she dropped her head again, afraid others might see her. “Hello Karen,” Fluff said in her same soft tone. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You’re gorgeous,” Karen breathed almost soundlessly, her eyes wide.
Fluff shrunk even further into herself, “No. No, I’m not.”
Marysue gently touched Fluff’s other shoulder, “Why don’t we go look at the shirts and you can pick one, okay?”
Karen watched them go, still stunned by Fluffball’s extraordinary beauty. Gerald came up beside her. “You okay, Karen? Don’t normally see you at a loss. Was that Fluffball?”
“Oh, gods, Gerald, she is so beautiful,” Karen said looking up at Gerald. “A perfect, living porcelain doll. How can she not know? What in the hell happened to her that she’s so shy?”
Gerald’s eyebrow climbed in surprise, “So, pretty?”
“No, not pretty. She is fucking breathtaking. Look, to make this easy, what is Marysue to you? A nine or a nine point five?”
“Nine point eight,” Gerald said with a smile, his eyes flowing over Marysue’s face. “The closest anyone will ever be to an angel.”
“Okay. Using the same scale, Fluff is a twelve,” Karen replied, meeting his incredulous eyes when he turned to dispute her. She held up a hand, “No bullshit, Gerald.”
Letting out a soft whistle Gerald looked at the hunched figure at the shirt tables with Marysue. “So, why is she so shy? If she’s that beautiful I’d expect her to be strutting around like a goddess.”
“That was my question,” Karen put in. “I think her eyes caught my attention the most. So innocent and vulnerable. Gods, that pushes all my buttons.” Karen’s gaze was fixed on Fluffball.