Dr. Blast grumbled as she approached the door to the R&D wing of Luminosia Castle. She had fallen asleep in her lab and woken up in her bedroom, meaning Dusk had moved her… Which meant Dusk most likely changed the locks again and it was going to be days before she could get back to work.
As she approached the doors, she noticed a strange device, similar to one of Dawn's old electronics she called a 'phone.' It seemed to be taped to the door by the handle, its longest dimension going from side to side rather than what Dawn said was 'right side up' with the longest dimension going up and down. While it wasn't lit brightly, it had a single message along the top of the otherwise black touch screen with white letters asking "Do you want to enter?"
A significant portion of the phone was otherwise outlined in two boxes, one saying 'Yes' and the other saying 'No.' Dr. Blast blinked and squinted at the item and message.
"She really went all out. Yes, I want to enter." Blast declared and tapped the box with the word ‘Yes’ listed.
The screen dimmed, then glowed again.
"You must designate three who will be permitted to enter. Choose from the list of those nearby."
The screen then showed tile after tile of a pony’s name along with their cutie mark for easy recognition. The list looked like it could include all of Luminosia in it, and Dawn's comments about using a finger to press and slide the screen's contents up and down or left and right crossed Blast's mind. Dr. Blast mused on that limitation and started to scroll through.
"Gah! I can only select 3? Well, no, the others most likely have access." She hummed, thinking of her colleagues in the wing. "Well, I guess I’ll just do the obvious.”
"Selections made. Crew: Blast, Dawn, Dusk, Storm. Beginning entry program signup for other members… 5…" The phone displayed, beginning the countdown by only showing the number.
"Yes, yes, come on. I got work to do!" Dr. Blast said, tapping her hoof impatiently as she sipped her coffee.
"Skipping crew confirmations. Initiating transfer." The phone displayed.
Suddenly, the world started fading to black, and Dr. Blast stood on some stone tile by herself.
"Loading, please wait." The device said, now laying on the ground.
"Dusk… really went overboard." Dr. Blast quietly mused as she looked around.
A light by the area where Blast stood started to go from very dim to brighter light like standing under a street lamp, eventually revealing an anthropomorphized green furred pony with occasional chitinous pieces along her back and legs. Dawn wearing a simple forest green tee-shirt and cargo pants, which she had shown off with shapeshifting once or twice before. Once she was fully lit, Dawn shook her head and staggered slightly in place.
"Ugh… What the fuck?" She grumbled, looking around with concern before spotting Blast. "Blast? What happened? Are you ok?"
"Wait, Dawn? What are you doing here?" Dr Blast asked, confused why she was brought to this security area.
"I don't know. I was in the throne room with Dusk. The real question is, what the hell happened to you?" Dawn asked, looking at Blast. "You're on two legs!"
"What!?" Blast exclaimed, looking down in confusion before seeing her B cups under a dark green turtle-neck shirt and lab coat, and beyond them were a knee length skirt and sneakers. "What!? Why are my teats on my chest, and bigger!?"
Dawn looked down, then saw the phones on the ground and reached for the one at her feet as another light appeared, dim, and slowly revealing Storm, the orange pegasus with fiery red hair and yellow tips, wearing skinny jeans and a cargo top. Dr. Blast noticed Storm’s appearance and turned toward her, hands still on her chest.
"Captain! What in the world are you doing here? Why are you a mutant too?" Blast said, noticing how Fire Storm was now an anthro pegasus instead of her usual shape. While no immediate response came as the light continued to increase around Storm, Dawn frowned.
"Why are you calling me a mutant by extension Blast?”
"You aren't a mutant because you can change shape. We can’t." Dr. Blast responded, looking to Dawn.
"Wha's... What are you two yammering on about?" Storm finally answered, the light now up to ‘full’ strength and the mare now turning to face the two before pausing at Blast.
Dr Blast turned to the orange tinted pegasus, hands still on her chest forgotten as she answered, “Look down."
Blast looked down, noticing that her normally athletic and slim breasts were away from her hips and on her chest where her barrel would be, and were a bit bigger than usual much like the Doctor’s.
"Huh… Well that's different." She mused, looking over herself with an experimental eye.
"You have arms too." Dr. Blast observed.
"Yeah well, I find that less weird than these things on my hooves." She said, wiggling fingers about.
"Hey guys, you might want to pick up your phones off the ground. looks like there's some sort of message." Dawn warned as a fourth light started to fade in, bringing Dusk with it at a low light.
Dusk appeared in a semi low cut dress that showed some of her well endowed natural bounty that went down to her calves where she wore heels and long evening gloves, signaling a higher station, as well as her slightly above average height.
"Oh." Dr Blast paused, moving her hands off her chest and upon spotting her ‘phone,’ bent down to reach for it.
Dusk, once the light finished fading in, looked around confused. "What the....Dawn what is going on?"
"No idea." Dawn answered, looking to her phone and spotting a message, reading as Dusk began to address Blast.
"Welcome to Grand Theft: Live In Beta (also referenced as GT-LIB). Thank you for your participation." The message began to say. "While you are loading, please review the following rules and guidelines for your stay."
1) Players who opt in, 'Blast, Dawn, Storm, Dusk' - henceforth called 'the crew' - are hereby living in our new world and voluntarily staying until such time as they can afford to leave, if they wish to.
--- Signed x__ Blast
--- additional signatures participation skipped by x__ Blast
2) Players must accumulate $1,000,000,000.00 in in-game funds through the game activities only.
3) Players may receive funding from other sources, such as paying from their personal funding 'heretofore mentioned as IRLC (in real life currency)' or from other players but does not count toward their progress toward signing out of the game.
4) Gifting money from your available funding, provided it does not come from IRLC, will count as funding toward your balance to leave.
5) Exit passes cost $50,000,000 each. Make sure to save enough to leave together unless willing to experience the game in a harder difficulty! Teamwork makes the dream work!
6) You will drop money and lose progress toward your goals if you die. When you die, you respawn in your designated home.
6a) Please note that not all homes are secure. Upgrades may cost more but will be worth the investment!
6b) Please note that the leader (Blast) loses the crew triple the currency rate of the others. Keep the leader safe to avoid major losses!
7) Bills for each expense to operate are accrued every thirty minutes of playtime on a role-playing server, and fifteen minutes of playtime on a 'regular' player versus player server.
8) Hacking attempts are strictly prohibited, and have the GT-LIB guarantee of protection. In the event such an event is detected, three outcomes are possible:
8a) If a crew is affected negatively by a hacking attempt and is not the originator, the crew is compensated to restore them to their prior efforts plus what would have been gained in the time taken to recover, in addition to what may have already been earned while the crew was affected.
8b) If the crew is affected positively but is not the originator, the crew will have their gains returned or in the case of goods, purchased at a minorly discounted price to be determined at time of correction. Longer times to resolve will generally result in a greater discount as courtesy to the crew.
8c) If the crew is the originator, regardless of intent or positive or negative effect, will have all assets seized and be considered for elimination from the program. No guarantees for return of prior time invested, return to origin, or other items of benefit to the crew in question are given.
9) some players may have special abilities, which can be augmented in game. These are not limited to appearance, but may be limited in function until permits are purchased. Attempts to circumvent these limits without the permits will be treated as a hacking attempt.
10) in the event of a negative balance, the crew is given a warning and interest is accrued against them. If the negative balance persists for 60 in game days, the crew is eliminated per same stipulations as 8c.
"Dr. Blast,” Dusk spoke calmly, turning to the doctor, “what did you do?"
"Uh… I just tried to get into my lab through the weird security screen you had set up."
"Let me guess, you didn't set that up..." Dawn mused, "Dusk, grab the device on the ground and use your hoof or the fingers to slide the text up and down. It has rules for what Blast logged us into."
"And what did Blast log us into?" Storm asked.
"It looks like some sort of game, and based on the name… It's a series I never played and is about getting richer and richer through criminal acts, frequently used as an escapism to rebel and be violent or break away from society in some fashion." Dawn answered with a frown. "Which means violence received and dealt. We'll need to be alert on the non-roleplaying servers, and the only upside for going through this is there probably will be some working tanks and firearms that you'll get to examine for design when we get back in Equus."
"No,” Dusk answered Blast regarding the screen, face impassive as she picked up the device and began to read. “I just added a new set of tumblers."
"Wait what? I'm a scientist not a criminal!" Dr Blast protested at Dawn.
"Thankfully, none of what happens in the game is real, and death isn't permanent based on the wording of a ‘respawn’... though I have no desire to find out how this version implements the injuries or to what extent there might be pain." Dawn said with a shudder. "we'll have to accept making some mistakes as we go and learning as we play before we can get out."
"Well, the thing is it says dismemberment isn't a thing, or is at least not allowed." Dusk said as she read the section about hacking, though unclear how that could be ‘beneficial’ save a medical emergency.
"Yeah, that is good I suppose." Dr. Blast agreed.
"I see no promises of that." Dawn said with a frown. "Where do you see that?"
"It says hacking isn't allowed." She said. "So combat will be easier with us not having to concentrate on concerns of losing limbs."
"Ok…” Dawn sighed, taking a breath as she saw the problem, “hacking, in the context of a game, is changing the way the game runs, usually to cheat like seeing through walls, automatic aiming, ‘free’ money, and things of that sort. It is not limited to physical harm and sometimes could just auto-kill a person or make them explode or just about anything else not ‘intended’... sorry."
"Oh…" the ponies echoed each other in varying degrees of a serious tone. Dusk was as calm and impassive as ever. Storm was grim but resolute, and Dr. Blast was more concerned now that that possibility was back on the table.
The phones seemed to pause, then blink brightly before flashing a new message.
"Your details and skills have been logged. Use this device to interact with the world entities, view your status, purchase upgrades or currency, and interact with the game. Thank you for beta testing Grand Theft: Living in the Moment!"
"Weird, I thought it was titl-" Dawn started to say before the area turned a blinding white and a rush of wind seemed to burst forward until the light started to dim and show a dingy suburb in a major city. text hovered in front of everyone's vision for five seconds saying 'RP Server - San Ferdino. Grace period before bills start - 1 hour.'
