The worst day of his life wasn’t when they unplugged him from the machine; it was when they plugged him into The Network.
Augmentation was nothing new to him. Piece by piece, as he fell apart over the decades, he was upgraded. Now, there was barely anything human left of him at all. His eyes – the latest EX4 Hybrids – snapped open and he caught his first glimpse of The Network.
Suspended high above the dazzling lights, the whir of his AntiGrav boots stuttered as he struggled with newmade neural pathways. The implants always took a few nanoseconds to kick in, and the boots’ power died with a soft wheeze, sending him plummeting.
The Network buzzed and hummed nearer, its light hypnotising him, and for a moment he wondered what would happen when he slammed into it. Would he be absorbed; another packet of data, carried along at infinite speed? Would he not slam into it… but through it? They hadn’t told him if anything was on the other side of it. But, at the moment he pondered becoming a mess of flesh and mech splattered across the circuitry below, the boots whirred back into life, and his rapid descent stabilised.
He landed gracefully, rising to his feet and looking around him. Well… they hadn’t told him this, either! The Network was… a city?
Say hello to Aes Dana, a character who sprang from my slightly (okay, very) odd brain after yesterday’s cheap offerings from A&Y Bunker CyberCity. I’d initially considered doing an all-white version of this human/mech hybrid, but then I realised that, wait a minute, I’m far more likely to use these parts again if I get them in black, and thus Aes Dana was born. Have some studio shots.
This is the full version of the Cyro Hair that I blogged yesterday. You can colour-change every damn part of this; every single tube and button. Add glow and shine, or not. Same with the full version of the Lumen Mask.
The arms. Oh man, I looked everywhere on Marketplace for mech legs (because that was what I initially wanted for this look) but after trawling through page after page of furry, demon, fawn, and god knows what other kind of supplementary limbs (and other appendages that… I really wish I hadn’t seen) I was about to give up when I spotted these mech arms from NeurolaB Inc. Yes, they’re female-only (but resizable), and there’s no demo. Oh, and they’re L$1,990 so yes, I dithered for about ten minutes in the store before I had one of those, “Oh, fuck it,” moments and hit the ‘buy’ button. Then, I went back home and proceeded to have kittens while resizing them.
I can’t stress this enough: if you think you might struggle with resizing something, then make a backup copy in a sub-folder first.
In fact, backups should be your default MO anyway, even when you’re a jaded oldbie like me, who has resized so much hair, prim-by-sculpted-prim over the years that I really should have gone into the hair business myself, since I know it so well.
It worked, mostly. Each arm comes in four sections: shoulder, upper arm & ball joint, lower arm & ball joint, and wrist and ball joint. Make sure you use the ‘scale’ option on the HUD, and click ‘set’ before you click one part of one arm; that way you’ll rescale both sides at the same time. Be aware that the back of the male avatar’s shoulders are just far too sticky-outy (hey, I’ve had a couple of Boxing Day drinks; don’t expect thesaurus-like comprehension here) for the alphas to work properly. You will have holes in your shoulders, but the cool thing is that the inner parts of the mech shoulders work well that way: you see inside the body and see the ball joints. It’s really kinda neat.
Also? Multiple hand positions in a single click. Now that is fabulous.
Mmm, full latex bodysuit? Good job we don’t need talcum powder in SL, huh? I did buy this in white, too, but it’s simple and works well. I will say this: the top only comes on the shirt and underwear layers, and there is a small, but visible join. It’s not too much of an issue, because with this look you really do need a belt, so I picked up the Rave Belt while I was in the store. Lots of buckle options for it, too.
I know, I know. You’re looking at those huge monstrosities on Skell’s lower legs, aintcha? Patience, grasshopper ;-)
The eyes are also by NeurolaB Inc, and they’re colour-change as well. The irises are surrounded by a ring that spins around them (in fact, much of the NeurolaB stuff has some form of texture animation that makes it look goddamn amazing).
Okay, okay, quit whining! Here are the incredible AntiGrav Boots, also by NeurolaB Inc. These come with a standard pair and a pair with a flight assist. Servo motor sound effects when you walk (can be turned off, if required) and occasional escape jets of steam are emitted from the back. Click the back to turn the sounds on/off, and click the base for a cool particle effect when you fly. You can also change the neon colours in these, and every other NeurolaB product. I absolutely love these damn things.
Music
Credits
By NeurolaB Inc. [ ono.zinner ]
– Gynoid Catsuit Latex (black)
– EV3 Cybernetic Arms + Hands
– Z-1 AntiGrav Boots (black)
– Belt Rave 4.0
– Hybrid Eyes EX4
By A&Y CyberShop [ anabel.crystal ]
– Lumen Cyber Mask
– Cyro Hair
By others
Ears: Mandala – Taper Ears [ kikunosuke.eel ]
Makeup base: Blacklace Beauty – Intense Cloud [ gemini.galatea ]
Makeup shadow: Luccy Sands – Raccoon Series 03 [ luccy.sands ]
(Marketplace only)
Skin: Clef de Peau – Simon (blue – old group gift) [ lapenderiedenicole ]
Hairbase: Amacci – Hairbase Tattoo (black coal) [ carina.larsen ]
Location shots: INSILICO