Chương 7: Broke

After buying her new equipment, Sara started brainstorming on what she wanted her new channel to be about. She didn't pay for it yet, as she didn't want it to be idle after activating it since that could be seen as suspicious after she received a following. Maybe she was being overly cautious, but, as that saying goes, it was better to be a pickle than a potato. Or something like that.

She couldn't do a daily vlog, that wouldn't make any sense for her to hide her identity and she couldn't make up a life that wasn't hers, people wouldn't appreciate being lied to.

She couldn't do review videos, that was a hard market to get into when you hid your face while reviewing….

Reactions wouldn't work because she had to hide her face…though the thought of doing reactions with a mask on brought a smile to Sara's face just thinking about it.

As she sat wondering, Sara started browsing through Televiz. She started looking up the people that usually hid their faces on their channels. There was a great variety. Some, like the Knight of Shrouding, did commentary on various topics. Others were gaming channels, and even more used animations in their videos. There were a few comedic channels that hid their identities, but they were small in number.

Sara ended up on a popular gamers' channel, laughing at his antics. He wasn't a very good gamer, but his commentary and the many times he screwed up caused Sara to laugh and enjoy the majority of the video, despite not being a huge gamer herself.

The virtual reality gaming market had grown vastly in the last twenty years. In the beginning, there was only a few games that were well known. Brakes, a racing game; Funtime land, a horror game; and Justice, a super hero game, were the only ones that were really known. And, none of them incorporated the free world aspect of other games, though they did try to incorporate it in Brakes somewhat, the map ended abruptly and caused people to criticize the developers. After all, you would reach the end of the map and you're car would automatically be sent straight back to a re-spawn point as if you had died. Each of the games were also made as least like reality as possible as the developers were worried about the effect that an ultra realistic game might have on people.

The channel that she was watching seemed to focus mostly on a game called Tundra. The point of the game was mostly world building and the multi player aspect was limited. You could play with friends, but only with up to four of them and there was no open world view to the game.

It was partial virtual reality, which meant it could also be played on the computer.

As she watched the video, Sara's smile slowly faded as she found herself staring down, no longer paying attention.

Could she become a gamer?

She wasn't very familiar with games and she probably wouldn't be any good, but….

She could definitely hide her identity and most games had voice changing software so she could change her voice….she wouldn't need to buy a new camera, as she could just show her avatar on the screen…..

Sara rushed to close out of Televiz and began looking into the latest in gaming software and consoles.

If she was going to do this, she needed to do it right. She wouldn't be one of the technical gamers that others watched because they were just that good. She couldn't show the easter eggs and various secrets that the games held, but she could end up messing up and making people laugh. She could give commentary on what she enjoyed about the game and what she disliked about it. While it wouldn't be anything that was in depth, she could still do it in an amusing and light hearted way.

Sara's second identity began to take shape in her mind. A light hearted and rather easy going girl laughing and loving the experience that games brought her…..

Sara felt herself growing excited just thinking about it.

She didn't realize that a rather creepy and perverted smile began to spread across her face, one that didn't match the persona she wanted to portray even the slightest. In her mind, she saw herself as having an excited and beaming smile that made others think of her as a soft and gentle girl, smiling after finding a puppy to pet.

In reality, she looked like a dark mistress that had just found her servant had spilled some milk and was scheming of ways to punish her to the best of her ability. Ways that brought a terrible excitement to the sadistic mistress….

Sara began her search for the best gaming set up that would match what she wanted in her mind.

It just so happened that a new game was being released. It was called "IronAge". Sara didn't know much about the game, but she had heard of the company that was releasing it before. They had made many well known games in the past that were really highly rated for their immersive worlds and their stability. They were known for their stable updates and customer service. Apparently the multiple stages of Beta testing allowed their games to have fewer bugs than most others and the company's previous games: Falcon and Gateway were both able to win multiple awards over the past few years. IronAge was being called the most anticipated game of the decade and there was a huge fanbase waiting eagerly for it's release. Apparently, they had broken a record for most pre-ordered game ever and they hadn't broken the record by a small amount.

The developers were quoted as to saying that "the game will be great for both the hardened gamer…as well as the newly hatched chick…it…has a little of something for everyone."

"It can be overbearing…as well as soft and sweet…depending on what sort of gaming experience you're looking for."

"You're going to…LOVE this!"

Fans were speculating that the game would have a steam punk vibe to it due to it's name.

Sara read a bit more about the game, though there wasn't much that had been released about it. Some screen shots of the wilderness were released, but other than that, there wasn't much else to go on.

The idea that it was a steam punk type of world appealed to Sara, she always wanted to wear one of those strappy dresses. It said that there would be a thorough tutorial that would help the new players adjust to the game, which Sara appreciated. Of course, she wasn't aware, having never been an avid gamer before, that tutorials were part of just about every game.

The only thing that was causing her to hesitate was the price tag.

The game was Full Virtual Reality. This meant that it could only be played on a virtual reality system. The cost of the latest Virtual Reality System was leagues above what Sara could currently afford. Even if she had bought the system and hadn't spent any money earlier, she still wouldn't have had enough….

The price was just under five grand, and that was just for the system in order to play. The game itself was just under a hundred dollars, but it required a yearly subscription of three hundred dollars in order to play.

In total, she was looking at a price tag of just under $5,500.

Sara balked as she stared at the price tag connected to the game.

Where the hell was she supposed to get that amount from?!?!