She knew Daisy played into the whole prima-donna lead developer trope but really this was taking it too far. Even the most ardent advocates of the whole toxic 'git gud' tropes believed in the power of practice and repetition. In the usefulness of trying things out, losing and then trying again. In many ways it was the whole point of games, at least for Emily.

People also seemed pretty angry and upset. That made sense, she was upset too. She had learned though that strangers didn't usually react well to her when they were upset. And really she didn't want to upset them more. It seemed like teamwork would be even more important than in the Beta but she could work on building a team after people had had some more time to calm down. Everyone would be a bit better after they'd had a chance to get some sleep.

Come to think of it, the existence of apartments implied that they'd have a lot of needs more like what you'd expect in the real world. She considered summoning Veria but decided that other people might not like that. Veria was probably working with Daisy after all. Well if she couldn't summon Veria here she'd just have to summon her somewhere else. And conveniently there was that offer of an apartment.

She fiddled with her interface and claimed an apartment, instead of grabbing just any apartment she specifically claimed one of the weird triangle shaped ones and one on the top floor of one of the towers. Those criteria meant that she was going to have a longer trip but that was hardly a burden.

Honestly could anyone keep a smile off their face while riding a zipline?

Before letting herself into her apartment Emily poked around the common areas a bit. The big shared kitchen had a lot of ingredients in it. Nothing was pre-prepared but there were things like fruits, nuts and oatmeal and yogurt that you could eat with basically no prep work. She wasn't sure how it'd be restocked but she could add that to her list of questions for Veria. As for the other two sections one had a bunch of beanbag chairs and pillows, and other various building materials begging to be used for a pillow fort. The other had a big TV and some more traditional chairs. Though not that traditional, a few of them were massage chairs. There were also a few small tables and such scattered about.

It seemed like a sorta comfy place to live. The bathrooms also looked nice. She wasn't sure who else would be living on her floor yet nobody else was poking around the common areas at the same time as she was. Hopefully they'd be nice.

All in all she was in a fairly positive mood when she finally walked through the door of her room. The windows at the far end were massive. There was a big wardrobe against one wall with a dresser next to it. The room also had a few beanbag chairs, a desk and a nice big bed fairly low to the ground just the way she liked it, it made it so much easier to jump on that way.

The wardrobe and the dresser had a nice collection of clothes in her size, it would be fun mixing and matching them.

And then it was time for the conversation she wasn't sure about. "Veria can you help me?"

Veria swirled into existence. "Hi Emily, what can I help you with?"

"I have some questions after that speech. It has me a little worried about some things."

"I don't know if I can answer all of them but you're certainly free to ask."

"Alright, I think the most important one is what's happening to my body while I'm in here? There were warnings about bed sores and things if you played for too long without logging out in the Beta. Some people went to kinda extreme lengths for their longer sessions. Is all that just irrelevant somehow?"

"We've already informed medical services in your local jurisdiction of the issue. You'll be retrieved and transported to a facility where they can take care of your body while you're occupied in the game. There are plans to make sure there will be no financial hardship for users families as a result of the costs of that care. I can assure you that your body will be as well cared for as possible while you're logged in."

"That's good. I feel like it's still probably bad to be lying down for that long but maybe there's something I don't know."

"I can't speak to the arrangements being made in more detail."

"That's not quite what I meant. But maybe you mean that there's some additional factor, something that means it'll be less of a problem. Only you're saying you can't talk about it. I guess I'll have to see if I can figure it out myself somehow."

"We always encourage players to try to figure things out for themselves."

"Yep, that's one of the things that makes this game fun."

"But the fact that we can die forever now means that it's going to be a lot harder to do that with some things."

"There are reasons for the perma-death system. I'm sorry that it makes the game less exciting and enjoyable for you."

"You probably can't tell me those reasons though. Something else I'm supposed to figure out I guess. Are my parents going to know I'm alright? Is there any way for me to talk with them from inside the game?"

"The details are still being worked out. At the moment, there's a plan for a couple exchange of messages in the early days but that depends on a lot of factors. There will probably be an announcement via the interface tomorrow if all goes to plan."

"But no messages after that?"

"There's no plans for regular exchanges no. If there's any change then there will be another announcement."

Emily nodded. "Okay. Changing focus a little, what about living here going forward? I remember the farmers markets on the outskirts but do we need to carry all the food from there when we want to restock? And what about clothes and armor? What about furniture? What about like tampons and toiletries and cleaning supplies?"

"Most supplies can be obtained on the outskirts. If there's gaps in what's available we hope that players can step in to fill them. With that said there are exceptions to the general realism of this area. I can help you redecorate your room and with the agreement of your floormates redecorate the common spaces. Certain supplies, such as those for cleaning and toiletries will be automatically restocked. For the case of menstrual products specifically, you won't be needing them. Daisy felt that it was an annoyance that didn't add much to the experience so you won't bleed or experience significant cramping during your menstrual cycle and there's no risk of pregnancy within the game world."

"Well that's a nice touch. I'll have to think about redecorating." She paused for a few moments. One last question for right now, is there any sort of time limit we're racing against? I would have thought Daisy would have said if we were but it seems important to ask just in case there is and you can tell me."

"There's no built-in lose condition that triggers at a certain time. With that said this is a living world, not all opportunities will remain available forever and the actions of other users may have consequences that change what options are available to you. The game generally won't punish the player base for the actions of a few bad actors, but if a substantial portion of the player base is aligned behind a course of action, or act with a certain attitude the world will respond to that accordingly."

"Hmm, that's a lot to think about. Actually one last question, do you agree with what Daisy is doing?"

"We may disagree over some of the details but I've agreed to follow her direction. There are good reasons behind what's happening. Though I will admit some of her reasons are somewhat selfish and the same is true of some of mine."

"I appreciate you being honest about that. I think, I want to be alone now. I'll probably talk to you again in the next few day when I've thought of more questions or I want to redecorate."

"As you wish, I am sorry that the path we choose is hurting so many people. I wish we had thought of a better one." With those words Veria shrank to a point and vanished.

Emily sat on her bed and then flumped onto her back. She had really been hoping the answer was no. That Veria was somehow trapped in here like the rest of them, forced into what was happening by Daisy. She seemed nice in the Beta if a bit limited. That might have been another bit of hiding their new technology. But why were they hiding? Why did they think this was the best path. What were they trying to do that made them think it was worth hurting so many people?

Emily didn't know the answers to any of those questions. She was pretty sure that any answers were a long way off. She really hoped that she did get them though.