"I guess I should start at the beginning. I mean the very beginning. When I first got the PESD. You might remember that..."
~~

Jen was waiting in the lobby when the mailman came in to deliver the mail to the boxes lined up against the far wall. Before he could put the package into box 2-5, Jen held her hand out and smiled winningly at the middle aged Indian man. He rubbed the back of his balding head and looked a little bit uncomfortable, but Jen’s hand remained steady, waiting. Finally, he placed the small box into her grasp, along with a few envelopes.

“Thank you!” The teenager said politely, turning to go. The mailman’s eyes lingered on her retreating figure. She’d never been an ugly or overweight girl, but for years she’d felt that way, and thus caused others to miss those attributes. Now, confidence fit her like a flattering dress. Only a year ago, she probably would have hidden behind the elevator, watching and waiting until the man was gone. Finally, she’d overcome that crippling shyness that had held her hostage for so long. And boy, did it feel good!

Back in the apartment, door locked behind her, Jen contemplated her new purchase. She’d had to supplement her Christmas money with some savings from earlier in the year, but at long last she had enough! The “Psychological Experience Simulation Device,” commonly known as PESD or “hypno-helmet,” was a fairly new product. Uruvei’d been hearing rumors of it for over a year, but it was only within the last four months that it had been released for beta testing. It was not produced by CCCorp, and the company had publicly stated that it took no responsibility for anything that might happen to someone playing The World on a PESD. The small upstart company that produced it, however, claimed that it should integrate perfectly with most MMORPGs, especially The World. Online reviews had been mixed, but most of them confirmed that it did, at least, work at least as well as the standard FMD.

The picture on the box, in fact, looked exactly like a FMD. Jen wondered briefly if she might have been swindled – she’d gotten this off of eBay for over triple the price of her old secondhand Face Mount Display. The big, colorful letters over the image did their best to reassure her. “EXPERIENCE A MORE LIFELIKE GAME” and “TOUCH, SMELL, TASTE AND FEEL THE WORLD™!!” were in bold red font. In smaller letters on the back, white on black as if trying to hide amid all the colors, was this warning: “DO NOT USE PRODUCT IN ANY WAY EXCEPT AS DIRECTED. USING PRODUCT IN ANY WAY EXCEPT AS DIRECTED VIOLATES THE SAFETY AGREEMENT. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROBLEMS CAUSED BY MISUSE OF PRODUCT.” Jen rolled her eyes. Everyone always trying to avoid responsibility these days.

She used scissors to break the tape seal around the box, and popped the lid open. Immediately, a mess of User Manuals and related papers fell out onto her lap. Jen set these aside and pulled the PESD out of its Styrofoam casing. It looked sleeker than her old headset, and had a few extra cables. These turned out to be for an adaption of the scent accessory. Curious, she slid the thing over he face. It fit comfortably, and didn’t seem much different from her other headset. She picked up a manual to see if she could figure out how exactly it was supposed to work.

Hmm, interesting. Apparently, on start up, the device would go through a series of hypnotic flashing lights and ping sounds. This would put the user’s brain in a suggestive state. The PESD would then work with the game being played to convince the user’s subconscious that was actually experiencing what was being acted out. Although the player would still be inputting things with the controller or keyboard and by voice, they would feel that they were actually running, fighting, even eating or drinking. Jen was slightly skeptical. Could the brain really be made to feel that it was inside the game?

Nothing to do but try it out! She skipped ahead to the installation instructions. It didn’t take all that long to have the thing ready and running. Jen settled into her chair and took a deep breath. Now that the PESD was juiced and ready, she as a little more uncertain about putting it back on. What would happen? Nah, she was worried about nothing! It wouldn’t hurt her. Besides, she needed to be relaxed for the hypnotism to work right. Jen closed her eyes, and when she opened them again it was to the pulsing colors of the inside of the hypno-helmet. Relax relax relax… going inside The World now… I’m going to be Uruvei! This is exciting…

"It was pretty amazing, the first time. I mean, The World is pretty detailed visually, and they even added that scent plug-in attachment... but with a FMD, you're always aware that you're playing a game. You can look far enough to your peripheral vision, and see the edges of the screen. You can hear background noise from the real world. You can feel your fingers moving the controls, your legs on the chair, the clothes on your back. It's an immersive game, but it's not real. All of that changes when you put on a PESD. From the time you log in until when you log out, you're really there. You don't feel your own body anymore. You're controlling the character just the same as before, but as far as you know, you're the one walking, running, fighting. It's amazing... but at the same time, a little frightening."
~~

Uruvei blinked at the late-afternoon sunlight. There was an odd tightness around her chest and abdomen, and her legs felt heavy. Glancing down, she saw the spandex of her leotard and the metal plating of her boots, reflecting the light back into her eyes. Her hand went up automatically to shield them, and the purple and brown blur startled her. She paused to examine her skin. It was smooth, almost silky to the touch, gently warm from the sun, and stretched firmly over her features. Uruvei glanced around, not wanting to make a complete idiot of herself, but suddenly possessed of a powerful urge to see her own reflection in full. Some deserted shop window would do... she headed for the less busy roads to see if she could find something. At the first step, she stumbled, not used to the longer legs of her avatar.

Finally, on the corner of a dead-end alley, a cracked pane of glass suited her needs.