Complete Private A Small World

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

Branched from Chelsea's VRS Holiday Bash!​

Alright, that last high note probably strained her throat more than she thought. Dayeon quickly went to the drinks section and quickly filled a glass with fresh lemonade that quickly soothed the insides of her neck. "Ah, rich people's lemonade tastes different. I should grab something to eat now." Her eyes scanned for food before stopping on a certain male in the crowd having a conversation.

The idol's pupils constricted upon noticing the familiar, fox-like face. She quickly blinked a few times to ensure that the sight wasn't a hallucination. Did someone spike that lemonade?

No way... That's literally Hanno, but tall and black-haired. How did she keep running into the people she knew from the game this way? The world was probably that small. Smiling, Dayeon refilled the cup with lemonade while thinking of a plan of attack.

Moving near the man in the least conspicuous way while greeting the guests of the party, she made it to a buffet table where the Hanno—Brian, if she remembered correctly, was engaging in a talk. The idol approached him and the woman beside him, politely greeted them while bowing. "Hello, are you two enjoying the party?" A tiny smirk appeared in the corner of her smile as she turned to the man, to see if he did his research.

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

It has been a while since Brian and Aisling (@Ash Vargold) have been attacking the buffet table relentlessly. Brian was a notable glutton both inside and outside of the game, so dealing with that variety of food was no hard game for him, especially when he had all the time of the world to catch up with his friend.

"Last round was unfair tho, Ais." He said before stuffing his mouth with some food, and gulping it down with a drink, and elaborating: "Kittens shouldn't be allowed, they are easy to win for contests." Brian squinted. "I don't even know how you find so many of those, are they even actual strays?" He teased, playfully accusing the woman of cheating on their little game.

When the singer (@Moonsong) approached, along with a greet, Brian turned to face her, noticing her smirk that was yelling 'I know who you are'.

Hell, he really should've done some effort to change his face a bit in the game, huh?

Chuckling, he nodded. "Sure I am. The moon is really pretty tonight." He answered.

Was it even night already? He didn't know, in the middle of that party, but it didn't matter as long his point was made across.

 

[Ash Vargold]

"I wasn't aware we had rules for the cat pictures," Aisling replied, balancing her own plate of food as Brian (@Hanno Futaba) tucked in. A familiar situation... sort of. Unlike her in-game avatar, she didn't have nearly the appetite or metabolism to eat her body weight in food, so she was still on her first helping. "An old coworker of mine is fostering, so they sent me some pics..."

She trailed off as Dayeon (@Moonsong) approached. That was... a fairly well known singer, right? Aisling wasn't the sort to keep up with that, but she certainly had the atmosphere, after that song. She occupied herself with her drink as Brian engaged, and...

...'the moon is really pretty tonight'? Aisling sputtered slightly before swallowing a little too hard.. Was Brian flirting? That was ridiculously bold, and, didn't really seem like something the "Hanno" she knew would do, but who knew how people acted in real life...

"Uh, hello. I'm doing well," Aisling said, eyes focused somewhere in the middle distance while the other two conversed. "I liked the song. That high note must have been difficult."

 

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

"Sure I am. The moon is really pretty tonight."

The songstress almost burst out laughing at how obvious he made that one. An urge to just outright call him Brian arose, but the female companion would quickly get suspicious. Managing to keep her face straight somehow, Dayeon just smiled back while tilting her head a bit to the side.

"It does. Goes well with the song."

She responded with something that ought to trigger another reaction from the male, before turning to the woman who greeted her.

"I liked the song. That high note must have been difficult."

"As a matter of fact, my throat is quite strained now." She chuckled, raising the glass of lemonade at the other woman before sipping it as if it's gonna cure the soreness. "Ah, sorry. We're not acquainted yet, right?" The idol bowed a bit at them both, before offering a hand to shake firmly to each of them, one by one.

"Dayeon Song. Are you two friends with Lady Nexon?"

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Brian perked up at Aisling's reveal. "Ooh, you gotta tell me more about these foster cats later." He beamed, just as soon as the songstress had approached them.

Raising an eyebrow, Brian glanced at Aisling with a worried expression, "Are you alright, buddy?" He asked, seeing her trouble at finishing her drink, until his small tease was retorted by the idol, that only confirmed his suspicion.

A wide smirk grew on Brian's lips at Dayeon's wordplay, one that made him similarly halt his laughter to not make Aisling too confused.

Granted, in all honesty, they were all players there.

Squeezing her hand back in the shake, he smiled after returning the bow. "A pleasure to meet'cha, Dayeon. Name is Brian, Brian Futaba." He introduced himself, even if it was redundant. "To say I'm friends with Lady Nexon would be too much. But we are acquainted-" In a way or another "- But I'm here to accompany my friend," He added, glancing at Aisling, giving her room to introduce herself.

@Moonsong @Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

Aisling was able to get her bearings, eventually. It was sort of weird - Brian and Dayeon were introducing themselves as if it were the first time, but talking like they knew each other. Was this just... how they both were? She felt like she was missing out on some inside joke...

"Aisling Lane. I'm a VRS employee, so I got an invitation that way."

She looked down at Dayeon's hand, then at her own two occupied ones. She briefly considered shoving both of them into Brian's hands, but decided against it. Instead, she quickly managed to balance both cup and plate in one arm and awkwardly returned Dayeon's handshake

"Never been to something this fancy before, so I invited Brian along so he could enjoy it too." She nodded Brian's way as she disassembled her precarious platter. "It isn't every day you get to see how the upper class live, after all...."

@Hanno Futaba @Moonsong

 

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

She was quite impressed by how the woman was able to balance the cup and the plate in one arm, resulting in a small chuckle.

"Well, pleased to meet you both."

VRS. Chelsea's company that researches and investigates current Deep Dive Virtual Reality games, wasn't it? It's not a stretch that they might be looking into Terrasphere as well. Ever since the Kenji incident, the idol had been trying to look further into this type of thing. Alas, VRSA purged most of the information available to the public.

Maybe making more VRS connections wouldn't hurt? After all, they might know something. But just how many players she ran into at this party was quite weird.

Too much coincidence in a small place. Let's just have a small talk first then.

"I agree," Dayeon acknowledged Aisling's sentiment, "How's the fancy food so far?" Knowing that Brian is a chef, he would probably be critical of things like this.

Gulping down the rest of the lemonade before setting the glass aside on a table, she tried to slip into a friendly-sounding question. "So, how was it working with VRS, Miss Lane? Anything interesting on the most popular VR games?"

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Aw buddy, you are the best." Brian grinned widely to Aisling's reason to bring him. "Guess I was lucky then." He sipped his drink, then turning to Dayeon when she questioned about the food. Brian considered if he should be serious or silly about the question, and eventually he went for a middle ground.

"Pretty good. I'd say it lacks a bit of personality, but well... It is just party food. It taste good enough to spend some time here." Brian answered, then glancing at Aisling.

"Well, it is most of what we did in here so far. Aside from meeting more people" He chuckled, shrugging and then quietening himself, waiting for Aisling's answer to Dayeon's question with curiosity.

@Ash Vargold @Lune

 

[Ash Vargold]

Aisling shrugged. "I think it's good, but I'm not picky."

I'm a human garbage can was the more accurate descriptor, but that wasn't a phrase for polite (and apparently famous) company.

When the subject of what Aisling's job with VRS was, she tensed briefly. She certainly wasn't going to talk about her actual job, and she hadn't done much on the public facing side. Shit, she was going to have to bullshit something.

"I focus more on the technology and history than the software, really." She looked down at the punch in her cup, swirling it slightly as she strung thoughts together. "I was hired because my personal blog on the subject drew their attention."

Technically true. Probably safe. No one really read blogs anymore, or even used the word. "Unfortunately, some trolls decided to feed it to the Algorithm, so I'm having to start from scratch."

Also mostly true, and a good excuse to not share the URL.

@Hanno Futaba @Lune

 

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

"Pretty good. I'd say it lacks a bit of personality, but well... It is just party food. It taste good enough to spend some time here."

"Oh, you must have really high standards." She joked, poking back at their conversation of the past where she mentioned that chefs have high standards for the foods served to them. Also even in real life, Brian used 'buddy' to call people, it's really jarring and funny at the same time.

"I was hired because my personal blog on the subject drew their attention."

Blog. It's 2033 and no one kind of used it anymore. Still, a very nice, open medium for writers to express themselves. But Aisling was hired by VRS because of a personal blog?

Dayeon's suspicion grew a bit, but still not enough to connect any dots.

"Unfortunately, some trolls decided to feed it to the Algorithm, so I'm having to start from scratch."

"Oh, yeah. I recently stumbled on a blog that was taken down before. Can't have freedom even on the internet, huh?"

The idol walked to the side a little bit, just enough to refill the glass with another drink; fruit juice. She sipped on it a little bit before asking casually.

"What were you writing, anyway?"

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Nah, I am still eating it, right? Some pompous chefs wouldn't even eat it and call it poisonous trash." Brian shrugged, knowing it was part of critics to well, make critics, but nothing that excused unnecessary rude words, at least in his opinion.

Brian then listened and watched both Aisling and Dayeon conversation, slightly amused at how Aisling was avoiding slipping the true nature of her blog to someone that, most likely, got to read it a handful of times for tips in raids.

He simply took a sip of his drink, pondering if he should just tell it to both of them. Glancing to Dayeon's face, it did look like she was mildly suspicious about the conversation.

The mischievous self tickled a chuckle out of him, and he quickly occupied his mouth with food once again.

Nope, he was going to watch this going a bit longer.

@Lune @Ash Vargold

 

[Ash Vargold]

"Well, if those fancy chefs are gonna be picky, they can make their own food, right?"

Having her hands occupied was getting obnoxious. Aisling downed the rest of her punch and set it aside, still trying to surpress the tension as Dayeon probed further. It was just small talk, but... ugh. "Bit of everything, really. Personal blog, after all. Wasn't the sort of thing meant for a lot of people to read."

She sighed, fingers tapping anxiously on her leg. There had to be an escape from this conversation, right? She glanced at Hanno with a look of desperation, only to see him stifle a smile with food. ...fucking traitor, she thought, frowning sharply at him before turning away.

"Unfortunately, if you dare to mention anything relating to VR, someone else is going to bring up the incident from four years ago, and then you're in trouble. It's gotten worse recently, too..."

She shook her head, hand drifting towards her pocket. Maybe she could fake a phone call and flee to the bathroom? Or barring that, food poisoning from food too rich for her plebeian tastes...

@Lune @Hanno Futaba

 

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

"Nah, I am still eating it, right? Some pompous chefs wouldn't even eat it and call it poisonous trash."

"Celebrity chefs, am I right?" The popstar watched too many TikTok and Instagram reels to know the celebrity chefs rant and overreacts to just about anything.

"Unfortunately, if you dare to mention anything relating to VR, someone else is going to bring up the incident from four years ago, and then you're in trouble. It's gotten worse recently, too..."

"VRSA cracking down on even the slightest mention of that game, huh? Quite annoying, indeed." Dayeon nodded at the mention of definitely Terrasphere and the lack of any information due to VRSA's extreme censorship.

"Uncomfortable, even though we ourselves don't play the game. What do you think, Hann—"

She turned to the male, before cutting herself short as soon as the idol realized that she almost called him by the in-game name out of habit. Quickly covering her mouth in horror, she glanced to both of the other parties to see if the notice.

"—Brian." Maybe not too late to pretend nothing happened.

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Aisling's sharp frown and body language made Brian feel a sting of guilt, and he chewed his food a bit more anxiously instead of mischievous and amused.

Well, maybe he deserved it--

Soon, however, Dayeon slipped Brian's In Game name. Anyone that knew his avatar's name could complete what the idol wanted to call him with ease. He chuckled, shrugging.

"Hey now, no need to make that face." Hanno said to both of them, leaning in to add quietly: "We are all in the same team." He winked, leaning away and taking a sip of his drink to refresh his throat before putting away his cup.

"The VRSA is only creating more curiosity around the subject by trying to hide every inch of it." Brian said. "They should be a bit more honest, if they are failing to interrupt the access to the game." He crossed his arms, frowning slightly.

"At the same time, I am unsure if I would like them to nuke it completely is the right decision..." He muttered the sentence, side glancing to see if anyone was near.

@Ash Vargold @Lune

 

[Ash Vargold]

"Uncomfortable, even though we ourselves don't play the game. What do you think, Hann—"

Aisling stiffened.

If it were any other situation, with any other person, she might not have noticed the slip, or passed it off. Especially from a person who she didn't know anything about, and had no reason to suspect anything about them.

But it was Brian, who was the same fox-faced bastard in and out of game. Which meant Aisling had made the exact same mistake the first time she saw him.

"Ah."

She looked down at her plate, then scanned the room. Ah, good, there was a trashcan near the exit. Aisling inhaled sharply through her nostrils, and exhaled just as sharply through her lips. She glanced between Brian and Dayeon, trying to ignore the growing ringing in her ears.

"...I need a smoke break," she said suddenly. "I'll be outside, if you want to join me."

She nodded vaguely, then made for the exit, dropping her plate into the trash can as she did. There was a little covered area somewhere out there where she could take refuge. If no one else followed, then she'd have some time to freak out in peace. And if they did, then they had a social smokescreen to keep others away. Win-win.

@Hanno Futaba @Lune

 

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

"Hey now, no need to make that face. We are all in the same team."

The male suddenly chuckled, before informing her while winking. Did that mean Aisling was also a player?

"At the same time, I am unsure if I would like them to nuke it completely is the right decision..."

She shared the same sentiment. On one hand, she didn't want more people jumping into their deaths, but by withholding information they're just killing the ill-informed people.

"I'll be outside, if you want to join me."

She shrugged, before gesturing for Brian to follow Aisling who went for a 'smoke break' outside with her. This way, they could actually avoid any unwanted listening ears, if they were to speak about the damned game.

"That was my bad," The idol scratched the back of her head, referring to the slip of the tongue incident after both of them caught up with the woman. "Still, gonna say that this was a pretty weird coincidence," She sighed, hoping that this is not a Nexus conspiracy or something like that, "I've counted at least five starcalleds now in this party."

"Including someone whose name might include the word Song and Moon, if you ever heard of her." Dayeon leaned onto the wall, using this time for a more detailed 'introduction'.

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Brian peeked at the direction Aisling went, following right after filling his hand with a plate filled with food, just in case they wanted to bite something while talking.

"Don't worry, that isn't really the first time-" Brian reassured with a calm grin. "Besides, kinda my fault for making my face too similar." He shrugged, not all that bothered about the reveal, being sure he could talk it out if anyone decided to bother him about it.

It wasn't like it was the kind of thing that is easy to prove anyway.

"Five huh? I know two are, and one I am almosr sure, because they probably did the same mistake as me in the character creation." He chuckled.

"But I doubt this is a weird coincidence. All of this must have a reason, aside of just a Christmas party... Right?" Brian said.

@Ash Vargold @Lune

 

[Ash Vargold]

When was the last time she'd smoked? The thought lingered in the back of her mind as she dug out a cigarette and a lighter. There was something soothing in the pattern of checking the wind and adjusting her position for the benefit of the others before she finally lit up.

"...fuck, and here I thought running into Brian at random was a wild enough coincidence."

At least it took the edge off her nerves, and gave her something to keep her busy as she listened to Brian and Dayeon talk. She nearly dropped her cigarette when Dayeon mentioned the count here.

"Five, huh? Well, VRS is a company focusing on VR tech..."

She frowned, wondering how much she should say about VRS, and the real reason she'd been hired. Just because they all played the same illegal game didn't mean it was safe to say too much. "Take from that what you wish. But other than that, running into each other is definitely just coincidence. No matter how weird it is."

@Lune @Hanno Futaba

 

[Lune]

Dayeon Song

Dayeon was surprised when the other woman pulled out a cigarette and lighter. Was she really planning to take a smoke break? Dayeon had thought Aisling was just using that as an excuse to step outside. But as the woman lit the cigarette and took a deep drag, it became clear that this was a genuine break.

"Yeah, I might be overthinking it, since I'm myself not here only for party purposes." She massaged her forehead. Still, five's a crowd, not to mention that there might be more players she didn't know at the party.

The woman then gestured toward the crowd of partygoers with her head, before turning back to both of them. "A lot of big names there. There's this reporter, who probably had the same idea as mine," Dayeon then bit her lower lip a little bit before continuing.

"Then there's someone from Nexus. Look, I'm not into conspiracy theories, okay? But after everything I went through—" She paused, her eyes turned sad. "—Of course, I want to get to the bottom of all of this."

Maybe so do Aisling and Chelsea, but if even VRS didn't have any clue, then a mere individual like her couldn't do anything.

@Hanno Futaba @Ash Vargold

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Well, ours was really wild tho, considering the restaurant I work on has nothing to do with Virtual Reality technology." Brian smirked, considering that it would at least be expected to have some VR players in a VR-related place, at least any player would have a glimpse of curiosity about that phenomenon... Which was what made Terrasphere the perfect death trap.

Aisling was quick to brush away any possibility of those meetings being something premeditated. Brian crossed his arms, tilting his head. "Is that so? Well, it is weird enough anyway, so it is hard to not at least doubt about it." He admitted, then turning to Dayeon, shrugging.

"The thing that could be the most 'conspiracy theory' in all of this is a game that can kill people, and that's real, so really, anything is possible." He gave his opinion, frowning slightly at the sad expression she showed.

"... The answer will come though, in one way or another. You aren't the only one looking for answers, so we will find out what the hell all of this is about." Brian said determined, with his expression turning serious for once, during that night.

@Ash Vargold @Lune