This is set in the Venn Machines universe. If you dont know what that means, i suggest reading @dkfenger stories to get a grasp on them. I am inspired to write this, thanks to them.
Chapter 1 - Getting into character
The car puttered down the highway, passing trees as it headed towards its destination in the country - a beautiful town on a hill overlooked by high terrain. Why was this particular car heading there, you may wonder. Its occupants were looking forward to a nice weekend at one of its parks, where a Live Action Role Play event (LARP) took place. The event was scheduled to have an estimated player count between 400 and 500 people. So your next question might be, how in the heck do you fit that many people in a park?
Venn Machines are wonderful devices that, with the aid of someone entering inside with you, can transform you into anything. Want to be a dress? No problem. Want to become an Eagle and soar through the skies? No problem. Want to become your LARP character and shrink down to 1 inch height for a weekend of immersive fun in a (mostly plastic) fantasy world? Well that’s exactly what this is about, isn’t it.
The car's occupants were lively chatting about how their week went, they were all adults of course. The event was for 18 years or older, and given what was possible thanks to the Venn Machine, made perfect sense why. Usually at these LARP events there are “front-lines”, a kind of battlefield where players face off against an opposing army. In the past, such fights involved foam or plastic weapons, usually ones that still looked real at a distant glance for immersion (Pool noodles are very unsightly after all). However thanks to the mysterious and frankly incredible effects of “Venning”, real weaponry became possible, and as a result the fights became immersive in a way not many were ready for. Yes at the V-LARP’s, as some call them, the battlefields were a bloody affair. Limbs, heads, and guts could cover the fields. Now you might think, ‘but wait that’s murder and that’s illegal’, and you’d be right - if not for one simple fact; A Venned person does not die when they are killed. Their new body does, and they do experience dying, but after the transformation time limit, or someone takes more than 50% of their body back to the machine, they return to life as if nothing had happened. Not even a scratch, besides the psychological scratch of an unpleasant memory. Thankfully everyone has their pain responses dulled to a minimum of 10% as a requirement, but not everyone joins the front-lines, and it’s very much optional.
Most people simply enjoy their time in the miniature cities, living as their characters. Some are craftsmen, merchants, hired swords, even nobility and royalty. Merchants bring their wares, usually baked goods as those are easiest to shrink down reliably, and sell them to others for the in-game currency. Some play the role of mercenaries who hire themselves out for the front-line fights, usually to whatever party pays the most. Because there are cliques that form between people who play, a lot of people have a kind of LARP group that hangs out even after the game is over. Then there are the nobles and royalty, it’s pretty much what you expect. People who love mystery, political intrigue, and aren’t adverse to the possibility of being assassinated by another nation - don’t worry it makes for a good story, which is why everyone loves this particular LARP event. Its story has been running for years, even before the Venn Machines appeared.
The car finally pulls into its new home for the weekend just as the sun had began cresting the hills in the distance. Its occupants would spend Friday night getting into character and preparing for Saturday and most of Sunday, when they would then drive home in the evening.
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“We’re here!” chirped an excited black woman, 25 years of age, wearing brightly coloured clothing and rainbow leggings. Her Red t-shirt was in stark contrast to her bright blue skirt. Her body was a little on the heavy side, not obese but a little overweight. She has a very casual demeanor. Despite this she was very active and energetic. Her black hair was tired into a ponytail, and her bright green eyes sparkled with excitement towards the other two girls.
“Ohhhh, i'm so nervous, Sally…” piped up a 22 years old petite ginger girl, nervously in reply to the black woman. She was shorter than the other two girls, and her shy demeanor didn’t help with that. She wore a plain white sundress and brown leather boots. Her skin was almost as white as snow, and freckles dotted her face under her brown eyes. She was almost the complete antithesis of Sally in appearance. If it wasn’t for Sally she’d likely not be here at this event - It was her first time, and she was barely hiding her anxiety.
“Don’t worry Emma, as I’ve said, it’s my first time too.” reassured an average bodied brunette, 23 years old, wearing a green blouse and black pencil skirt. She was between Sally and Emma in height, and no less pretty in the face. Her green eyes were darker than Sally’s. Her skin was fair in tone, and freckles in places. Unlike Emma and Sally, she had a more businesslike demeanor. Sally had invited her on this trip with Emma, and it was the first time both had met. Already she had hit it off with Emma. It was her first time LARPing too, let alone a V-LARP, but her anxiety was better managed than Emma's was.
“I know…but, I'm not sure I can...” Emma said as she got out of the car with the others.
“Sure ya can! Remember that me and Sarah will be here with you.” Replied Sally, who locked up the car once everyone was out. She motioned for the other girls to follow her. “Just follow the rules, and remember what our characters look like so we know it’s each-other.”
“We’re going to the shops?” Mused Sarah as she followed Sally. She had been to this town before and knew the layout, and thus where Sally was leading them.
“Yup! That’s where the sign-ups are.”
“But why park in the park's parking lot?”
Emma giggled at Sarah’s overuse of ‘park’.
“Because it’s easier for the staff to keep an eye on everyone’s cars if they’re close to the event.” Sally grinned and winked back to them “Plus, it’s free weekend parking.”
Emma and Sarah just laughed.
The indoor shopping center was packed due to the event. The town residents had come to expect this each month though and had set up railings to herd event goers out the way of shoppers. Sally, Emma, and Sarah continued chatting about their characters and plans for this event as the queue slowly moved.
“I figured I’d just hang out with you... for my first weekend.” said Emma to Sally.
“Sure, it’ll be good to have you two with me.”
“We should try more than just following Sally about though, I for one am interested in these ‘front-lines’ I’ve read about.”
“Front-lines?! Nuh-uh, no way! I’m happy just staying in the city.”
“That’s fine, there’s still plenty to do in the cities; mercantile, crafting, politics…” offered Sally.
“Yeah, I read something about that. Apparently, players can be voted into being Prince or Princesses of a kingdom.” Sarah mused thoughtfully.
“Really? That’s amazing! What do they do though?” Emma seemed curious and excited.
“They look regal," joked Sally "...and handle story events from their unique perspective.” she gave a knowing smile.
“Story events?” Said both Emma and Sarah at the same time.
“You’ll see…” Sally’s smile turned into a mischievous grin.
After much prodding from Emma and Sarah, and Sally refusing to elaborate, they all eventually resumed talking about their characters.
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“There it was again…” muttered Sarah who had just seen, for the fifth time now, a random well-dressed man carrying an ornate looking box from the direction the queue was heading. The men had carried boxes out of the shopping center, and then would return with them later. Several men wearing the same outfit had done this.
“What?” Sally asked then noticed what Sarah had seen. “Ohh, don’t worry about that. Part of the event.”
“Not going to tell us?”
“Of course not, it’s more fun that way.”
Sarah sighed, and Emma patted her shoulder. “Sal is always like this, don’t let it get to you or she’ll just tease you more.”
“Aww don’t ruin my fun, Em.” Sally fake-pouted, then giggled.
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Eventually it was their turn at the machine, they had to sign a contract. Nothing too crazy, just legal jargon that means you can’t sue if you didn't want to die in front-lines, or if you don’t enjoy the experience. Their real name, character name, race, weapon of choice, etc. As Emma and Sarah were first timers they were allowed to be Venned by Sally this time. As, for speed, the staff used the ‘history’ function for existing characters. Unless a customer had a new character in mind, or were new and staff or their friend needed to design one on site.
“In we go, Em. Ready?”
“Y-yeah, let's do it…” Emma breathed out her anxiety. ”...you know what I want?”
“Yup, your description was perfect. I think I got you and Sarah both, shouldn’t take more than a minute… plus the time for adjustments.”
Sarah watched as Emma and Sally entered the big white box after tossing something small into the deposit box on the machine, then pressing the symbol of the Earth 3 times. 3 Days, so 72 hours, she thought. Once both girls had entered the doors disappeared, if you could even call them doors - it was more like a door sized hole that was there one moment, then gone the next. There wasn’t even a seam, the booth’s surface looked completely flat, as if there had never been doors there in the first place. She also couldn’t hear anything coming from inside the box, not so much as a muffled mumble.
Inside the machine, the interface between Sally and Emma lit up, bubbles showing various forms for the person on the other side. A red button next to where the ‘door’ was on both sides of the partition. And a green button on the wall opposite, again one on both persons side. Emma has used Venn Machines before, it was part of her job as a daycare worker. She would be Venned into a 3 foot tall, fully animate teddy bear plush. The kids called her Ms. Fluffles. Sally also used Venn Machines a lot, sometimes bragging about wearing her date as a dress or underwear when they went out clubbing. Sally used the voice command feature to get close to what Emma had asked for, then finally tapped the bubbles, one after the other until she saw exactly what Emma had described. Then she did one additional thing that was essential for this event.
“Here we go!” Said Sally, reaching for the green button.
“Hit me, Sal!” replied Emma, laughing nervously.
After a few minutes of tweaking Emma some more, the Venn’s doors reappeared. Sally stepped out grinning, then walked around to the other door to look at Emma. Not much was different except that her skin was a little more tanned, and she had ocean blue hair. Her ears had pointed tips, an elf. Her clothes were now a loose white robe, providing a modest and ethereal grace to her elven features. She had a dangerous looking sword at her side, sheathed of course. There was just one little thing…
“She looks amazing, right?” Said a proud and confident Sally as she looked at Sarah’s shocked expression.
“She’s…tiny…” said Sarah, looking wide-eyed at Emma, who was now 1 inch tall, her shock gave way to a smile ”…and... cute!”
“Yup! Oh I think she’s trying to say something…sorry sweetie, it's hard to hear if you talk normally.” Said Sally to the tiny Elf. “You’ll have to wait until later, okay?”
An employee who was with the event piped up. “Sorry girls, but we have to keep the line moving. We’re only halfway through the 400 people attending this month…” He crouched down and held out a palm-sized silver disk for Emma to walk on, at his urging. After she got the hint and got on he carefully carried her to a nearby table covered in ornate boxes. He gently lowered the tray down into the box and when he pulled it out, Emma was gone.
“So that’s what those are for…” mused Sarah.
“Yup, think of them like taxies. Once 10 or so of us are in one, it’s carried to the park and we’re let into the enclosure.”
“Enclosure?”
“You’ll-” started Sally who was interrupted by Sarah
”-see?”
They both giggled and Sally nodded.
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A few minutes later, a curvy human woman was deposited inside the ornate box and sat down on the wooden chair inside where the elf, and a beast-kin girl were sitting. She had bright red hair, and amber eyes. Aside from those two factors, and a very in-shape body, she looked like Sally. She also had a pair of daggers on her hips.
“Sally? That’s you?” asked the elf.
“You look…oh my goodness, girl!” said the beast-kin, adjusting the spear on her back.
“Not bad right? Best thing about Venn Machines - instant weight loss.” said the regally dressed human woman.
“You went all out with your dress too, I see.” said the beast-kin, who was touching her fox ears and tail. “I mostly went for the kind of commoner outfits you see in movies, but didn’t expect having ears and a tail would feel so interesting.” She also wore chain armor under it, since she intended to participate in combat later.
“Not a fan?” mused Emma, the elf.
“Oh no, I love it. So fluffy. Is green hair and fur okay though?”
“It’s not real fur of course, allergies, but yes. I’m surprised you both went for different races though.”
“I read about the elves on the event page and I liked their beliefs, kinda resonated with me you know? One with nature, dignity…”
“And I just thought it would be cool to have ears and a tail. I read online that the beast-kin and human nations have a shaky alliance and think it would be cool to maybe have to betray my country.”
“Only In the game, I hope?”
“Of course! I’m thinking of going with 'Sara' for my character name.”
“I came up with it! I'm gonna be 'Enna'.”
“Of course you did…” the human woman sighed, Emma never was that creative if 'Ms.Fluffles' was anything to go by. “Well it’s fine, you can change it later if you don’t like it. As for me, I’m Esmerelda.”
“Oh, fancy!” clapped Enna.
“Bit long though… How about Essie?” offered Sara.
“Only for you two, I suppose. That might get complicated later on…”
“Why?”
“Because, ‘you’ll see’ of course.” piped up Sara who was catching on to Essie’s ways.
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There was a slight rumbling. 'Essie' explained that it was the event staff carrying them to the park and the enclosure. The rumbling continued for a while while the 10 residents of the box continued to chat to each-other about their plans for the weekend game, under the light of two small LED’s that kept the inside of the box bright enough to see. Sara had joked that ‘they’re magic lanterns’ and Essie actually congratulated her for keeping it in character, as that’s how everything else would be once they were settled in.
Soon they felt the box being lowered, then a bump as it stopped. The lid was opened and, using the palm-sized silver tray, everyone was carefully lifted out of the box and into another one. This box was bigger and was attached to the side of the enclosure. Inside there was a small queue in-front of a desk. Behind the desk was a bearded man, he looked a little like a wizard with his grey hat and robes. However Essie said he’s a “priest”, not a wizard, as this event didn’t do the beanbag ‘lightning bolt’ stuff. Magic here was ritualistic, and it basically involved putting on a show. If the event staff liked the show, they’d grant the effect of the magic. Mostly it was just story stuff, like cursing a nation with bad crops, or infertility. Things that had no actual visible consequence. However…sometimes it had a real effect, like giving the prince of a nation a death curse that killed their character if they didn’t get a cure in time. Nothing real obviously, magic isn’t real after all. And the Venn Machines were amazing, but no magic granting powers were possible. At least, not at this time anyway.
The priests served as managements ‘eyes on the inside’, priests were staff members who played the game alongside everyone else to ensure fair-play. They also helped carry the dead bodies, and limbs, after front-line battles to the enclosure’s edge to be taken to the Venn Machines by the regular sized staff. Those people would be taken to the machine to be revived and, if they wanted to, become a new character. Nobody was allowed to kill or harm the priests, if anyone did then the in-game term ‘divine punishment’ would be enacted on the one responsible. Basically, you’d be removed from the event, and possibly all future events. The regular sized management team oversaw the event, making videos from front-line encounters, and keeping stray animals and people from getting close. They also carried the Venned people to and from the park, either dead or alive. Players could sometimes see them over the walls of the enclosure, but had to pretend in character that they couldn’t see them. The exception were the priests of course, who called their bigger co-workers “gods” while in character.
“Ah! Greetings travelers!” greeted the priest enigmatically “To which domain are thee and thine headed?”
Sara stifled a giggle.
“Elador, fine priest.” replied Esmerelda.
“Ah! Lady Esmerelda! Good to see you again. Terrible business last time, with that assassin.”
“Assassin…?” Enna whispered with concern
“I’ll fill you in later,” Esmerelda said to Enna, and gave the priest a knowing look “Enna and Sara here are my retainers this weekend. Oh, and I’d like the carriage this time.”
The priest thought for a moment. Then got up and left through a door into the back. One of the giant event managers bent down to the box and turned an ear to someone behind the wall. The girls could only catch one side of the conversation. ”…Again? …i know but… retainers? ...is she mad? …alright alright, watch your language priest, I’ll see if John and Chrissie can do it… and Jake too, fine... Oh not long, about 5 minutes... Great.” The giant man sighed and stood up. He began leaving, disappearing beyond the high walls of the box. The priest returned from the back through the door, shaking his head, and sat down behind the counter. “It’ll be 5 minutes, please sit over there while we wait for your carriage.” He said to Esmerelda as he pointed to some chairs off to the side.
Essie, Enna, and Sara waited for a while, the priest continued admitting people entry into the event, they would walk through a curtain on the far side. Enna managed to catch what lay beyond, it looked like a gravel road and a grassy field, with giant trees on the other-far-side, with a strange glimmering net over the sky. It was hard to see though, since the sun had set fully at this point, and the dusk glow was fading too. Soon they looked up and saw the guy from before put something on the ground beyond the curtain, one of the role-players who had just gone through yelped in surprise as a giant hand had come down next to her, along with something else.
“Ah, that’ll be your ride, and driver.” said the priest, looking over to the group of girls. “Have a good weekend, my lady, and your friends too!”
“Of course, Sir Enceladus.” replied Esmerelda. Much to Enna and Sara’s shock, Essie curtsied like a princess.
The girls exited the black box and into the enclosure. Where a carriage, fit for royalty, was waiting, along with a handsome looking knight in armor, and two horses ready to pull the cart.
“Essie…this is…” started Enna in shock.
“…are you a…?” continued Sara, equally in shock.
“Yep! I’m Lady Esmerelda, Princess of the Elador kingdom.” Essie did a formal bow for both girls, only amplifying their shock. “Now, come!" she gestured to the carriage "I have a lot I’d like to talk with my retainers about.”
Enna and Sara stared at each-other in shock, then nodded. They got into the carriage with the Princess. The handsome knight chuckled to himself as they climbed in, he gently whipped the reigns to signal the two horses to begin the journey to Elador, the human kingdom.
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