Pirated Entertainment VR - Chapter 2 - COMMENT HERE (Patreon)

Continuing the adventure of Vice Regent Amourres, you will see what she sees as the game goes on, and from there all of you get to chime in with input. Ask questions, suggest what Amourres should have her do next, etc - I will respond to your comments and integrate them into the next post! Consider Amourres' motivations if you're wondering what to do, and let's have fun with this together! 

Written and illustrated by me

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Numbers and images flashed in front of whatever digital analogue had replaced Amourres’ eyes. The pig, the gecko, the deer, the wolf. Each grew and shrunk before her with an ever changing barrage of percentages as she assumed the voters (whomever they might be) sent their preferences in. A sense of helplessness washed over her - she could not scream, nor rage, nor threaten. Any of her usual tactics for getting out of situations like this were as beyond her reach as her body was, completely beyond her control as she was suspended in this digital void. 

It seemed like wolf was pulling ahead, with the majority of the votes. In her mind it was almost easy to envision what she would look like with a pair of canine ears. Would she lose her magnificent tail to a scraggly furred thing? Would her wings become mangy claws? The very idea of her body being warped so, repulsed her. It didn’t help that she had no doubt that whatever alterations were made to her by these pirates would probably be extremely hard to undo, if not impossible. Such was the horror of unlicensed body modification. Just as the voting looked like it was coming to an end, another option sprang to life in front of her. An image of her face, as it was now. It was a vote to keep her body unchanged by modifications before the game began. It grew in popularity and with a final surge hit the top percentage before voting closed. 

Were she currently in possession of a pair of lungs, Amourres would have sighed in relief.

Well folk looks like we’ve got a bit of a surprise! A handful of donations have already trickled in to ensure our guest enters the arena just as she is! Let’s see, here we go, one of the comments reads: “Hey feather brain, figured transformation would be letting you off too easy. Everyone ought to see that noble body of yours ruined by your own decisions, not theirs! Looking forward to it.” And there you have it! Looks like our special guest will be entering the arena in complete control of her OWN body! What a twist! 

As the comment was read, Amourres’ emotions twisted and turned. She felt angry. Indignant. But there was a sense of grim satisfaction there, too. Good, she thought, let them underestimate me. I will come out of this, and when I do there will be hell to pay. As she finished her thought the world around her lurched, growing dark. Amourres half recognised this, it was a switch. Her mind was being transferred, presumably back into her body. The game was about to begin.

And for my last announcement for now, both for you my guest, and everyone else tuning in, I would like to announce that this edition of Pirate Entertainment will take place on our all time favourite course - The Cursed Seas! With a fantasy nautical theme to the game I’m sure there’ll be plenty of fun for everyone, including hidden caches of booty to help pay off your pesky debts for those keen enough to find them!  And remember! If you’re the last person to be incapacitated at the end of the games you’ll get a special prize! 

Let the game begin!

THUD

Amourres’ eyes slowly fluttered open as she found herself lying on what was ostensibly the wooden deck of an old sailing ship. Pulling herself together and shaking off the grogginess of having apparently just fallen over, she quickly realised that being on the deck of a sailing ship was patently impossible, the Empire had long since moved past such technology as ‘wind powered sails’. She also quickly realised that she was completely and utterly naked. 

“Why?!” The bird mouthed, rubbing her head where the dizziness of mental transfer still remained. “Why did you take my clothes?! What purpose does that even have?” 

Nobody responded, apparently the voice that had been able to project into her mind was either gone or remaining silent for now. She had to hand it to the pirates though, the illusion of being on a sailing ship was pretty passable. Beneath her she felt the wooden deck (likely some form of plastic, as actual wood was a luxury she was sure even these buffoons would not so lightly spend on games) rock with the churn of the waves. Above she could hear the flapping of canvas as tattered crimson sails caught the wind - very piratey.

She decided to avoid getting to her feet for the time being as between the dizziness of coming out of virtual reality and the rocking of the deck she did not trust her ability to remain on them. This however gave her more time to inspect her surroundings, and it was under this inspection that the illusion began to fall apart. Beyond the sails was a simulated sky, but it was holographically projected and seemed to artifact the harder she looked at it. The ‘wood’ beneath her was too hard to be actual wood, and she was sure whatever ‘waves’ rocked the hull of this ship were also simulated, and probably not even water. There were others on deck too, in various states of disarray. 

A squirrel was slowly, shakily getting to her feet not too far away. She clutched a nearby rope for support, swinging from it and looking quite ill as she lost her footing. Beyond her a hyena appeared to have recovered faster than both of them - confident in his nudity he stood at the edge of the ship, looking over the wooden rails towards the simulated horizon. 

While it was tempting for Amourres to consider these people fellow prisoners who she might be able to persuade to join her attempts at winning whatever game this was, she also had to remind herself that they were competitors. Each likely aiming to take whatever the prize was for being the last person standing. Winning them over as allies might be difficult, and more so now that she was completely naked and seemingly without any of the myriad possessions she might offer to someone by way of bribe or employment - the tools she usually used to get what she wanted. 

For now, Amourres got to her feet, determined not to look the weakest among the group of three standing on the ship’s deck at the very least. Her legs wobbled beneath her but she managed to stabilize herself quickly enough and without the embarrassment of falling over again, like the squirrel had. Amourres looked around yet again, for an obstacle course she saw a surprising lack of obstacles. The ship’s deck seemed abandoned save for the naked players stumbling atop it. That wasn’t to say it didn’t have all the trappings of a ship for its time - above her creaked the ropes of the rigging, behind and in front of what would ostensibly have been the captain’s quarters was the wheel which no doubt controlled the rudder, it listed one way and then the other with no helmsman. There was a door leading to the captain’s quarters, a ramp on the deck in front of her which led further down into the ship, and a set of longboats, swaying suspended in the air alongside the ship by ropes, apparently ready for use. Set to one side of the railing was a weapons rack, upon which sat a collection of what appeared to be flintlock pistols. Nailed above the door of the captain’s quarters a sign proclaimed what Amourres guessed was the ship’s name, The Pestilence. She grimaced. What a stupid name. Was she to assume this was some kind of plague ship?

The hyena seemed to have noticed the ship’s name as well, he stood beside Amourres as he examined it. While she covered her body (as much as she could) with her wings, he seemed proud to display himself to whoever was watching. 

“The pestilence huh? Seems like a dumb name. Probably got some meaning to it though,” he had a casual kind of tone, speaking to her as though she were an equal, perhaps even an underling! “Most things do in this game.” He turned to her and grinned. When she looked too taken aback to respond, the hyena shrugged and walked past her moving back along the deck at a leisurely pace. As he did, she could swear she smelled something coming from the ramp going downwards - it smelled like food, and reminded her that she hadn’t eaten anything real in Chrome knew how long. Looking over as the squirrel and the hyena began to introduce themselves, Amourres realised she had a few options ahead of her. 

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Status: Healthy, hungry, uncomfortably naked

Status Effects: n/a

Inventory: n/a

Weapons: n/a

You See: The helm, a gun rack, a squirrel and a hyena

Motivations: Clothes (my wings can’t cover everything all the time), Competition (either these people will be my friends, or I have to find some way of taking them out)

Exits: South (Door to the Captain’s Quarters) North (Ramp Heading Below Deck), East (Longboats???)