[ti]solo[/ti] PASSAGE

Jenny Li slammed the door of her camper, walking around the outside to make sure she'd left space on all sides. No puddles of oil, no flat tires. Apart from the scare with the radiator outside Anaheim, it had been a surprisingly smooth trip. Though the damn gas prices in California could take a hike, she thought, blowing a strand of green hair out of her eyes and straightening up again. Still, way she figured, the money she was saving from not having to book a hotel more than made up for the crappy gas mileage on the camper.

She had an excuse for being here. There were breweries in the area her work in distribution had wanted her to drop by, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't had a good time at a couple of 'em on her way up the coast. LA and the Bay Area both had a good craft beer scene if you knew where to look, and it was smart to develop a taste for what was trendy.

But that wasn't why Jenny was here.

"Pass registration," she muttered, following the signs. Long legs carried her across the parking lot towards where she could see a line of people outside. They looked like nerds, but then again, she was the one who'd driven through the damn desert to get here, so she guessed she was one of them.

Wasn't like she had any other hobbies to speak of.

"How's your morning? Busy?" Jenny asked conversationally when she got to the front. The volunteer on duty sighed. "You have no idea," she said, taking Jenny's phone to scan her QR code. The machine beeped affirmatively and Jenny held out her hand to receive her wristband. "Just Day 1?" the volunteer asked.

"Haven't decided yet. Might be back tomorrow." Her lips quirked, gaze steady. "Might be in town for a few days, depending."

"That's nice! Okay, here's your AR glasses- you don't have to wear them if you don't want to, they're just for seeing the virtual players. And do you have the app already?" As the woman spoke, Raising her eyebrows, Jenny held up the glasses to look through them. The event space didn't change, but the people did-- the parking lot was suddenly filled with UNOVR-style player avatars, outfitted in their crazy anime cloaks and wings and jorts. While people in the real world were mostly standing and chatting, waiting to get in through the front doors, the AR space was a different story. Some were dancing. Some were climbing inside of parked cars. Some were scaling the outside of the Convention Center.

She lowered the glasses quickly. "Not my thing," she said wryly. It was like finding out you could see ghosts. "...You mentioned an app?"

"Yes! It lets you connect with your friends from the game."

"Friends," Jenny repeated skeptically. "Mhm... I have those." A likely story.

"Great! Just sign in with your UNOVR login details and you should be able to find them in the event venue, then! Don't forget to check AR if you can't find them in person- some people could only make it virtually."

"Sure. Can I get my parking validated too? Don't want to get towed."

A few minutes and 1GB of data later, Jenny was officially on her way to UNOVRcon.

Continued here...