<strong>~Alexis~</strong><br/><br/>Alan smiled and nodded, his voice revealing some eagerness, "You start, by getting suited up. Follow me."<br/><br/>Leading her out of the room, he lead her down a corridor to an elevator. Once inside he said, "I chose this building because there is an outfitting station below it, a remnant of the old games. Most of the game facilities are still intact but modified but this one got moved with the transfer to this System."<br/><br/>At the bottom of the elevator the doors opened into a wide room with a central platform. Ahead, a green lit Program wearing loose clothes stepped up onto the platform. From the sides of the room, panels open and four exceptionally beautiful female Programs step out.<br/><br/>Alan said quietly to Alexis, careful to not be overheard, "They are called Sirens. They specialise in the recognition of the traits and needs of others on the grid. They work here because they can perfectly match the armour to whomever they are working with according their physical shape and ability. Just... be careful around them, if you meet them outside. They are usually considered neutral among the factions but there is no way to know for sure. That program they are suiting up as a new recruit to our side, a survivor from the old system."<br/><br/>As they watched, the Sirens stripped the Program of his old clothing, cutting it away as fine, intricate circuitry briefly visible as the garments fell away before it faded into smooth skin. As they turned to walk to panels set into the walls, a wave of dark pixels formed into a smooth jumpsuit over the Program's body, starting at his feet and working up. Returning with select armour parts, the Sirens fixed them onto his body where they unfurled into full body armour. Green circuit lines powered up over his suit. Finally, one stepped away to retrieve a disc from a stand in the far corner of the room.<br/><br/>A smooth, female voice sounded in the room; "Attention Program, you are about to receive an identity disc. Anything you do or learn will be imprinted on this disc."<br/><br/>As the disc was fitted to the program's back, his eyes glowed bright green for a moment, at which point one of the Sirens, a woman with very dark skin and sharp features spoke in a smooth, rich voice, "Synchronization complete, Disc activated. Proceed, Program."<br/><br/>Alan smiled to Alexis as the green program walked past them to the elevator, nodding to them in respect as he went. "Your turn."<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><strong>~Brody~</strong><br/><br/>"Right, ok..." Sam drummed his fingers on the table for a few moments as the barman came over with their drinks, tall glasses full of colourless but faintly glowing liquid. "Right, so I am guessing you snuck into the laser room while someone wasn't looking. Fair play to you, it is difficult to get past those guards... they, er, they are very good at their job." He paused again before speaking carefully. "That room holds a digitisation device, allowing matter to be transferred into energy, coded and stored in the computer. Originally it was not intended for people, but, well, turns out it worked for us too. You must have activated the program somehow, or someone did before you. This is the world the other side of the screen, inside a computer. A Program's eye view of the universe." He gestures slightly at the barman, Jarr, before taking a long drink, watching Brody carefully the whole time. The drinks, Clears, were mild, tasting like spring water but with more kick, almost like alcohol, but without the intoxication.<br/><br/>Sam continued after a pause for air, "So yeah, we are inside a computer. The system is the entire digital universe down here within the confines of the hardware in our world. The Grid is the part of the system that is organised, the part we work with. Outside the Grid, you have the Outlands and the Sea of Simulation. Not places you wanna go for a holiday, believe me." He fidgeted slightly, as he continued, "This particular system got messed up, corrupted and bugged to hell, but there are important things going on in here so we, myself and some other humans, along with quite a lot of Programs, are trying to fix it up."<br/><br/>He paused then, watching Brody, his expression a little guarded.