Quick-Start

Unzipping the foam case he finds a rather complicated-looking VR headset ('more like a helmet than my Oculoid 3, hmm.') with attached headphones, a roughly ten foot set of data and power cables, a nondescript USB flash drive and a laminated card with ‘Contents of this case are property of HFI, please return in original packaging at the end of the experiment’

“Wait, experiment? That's not ominous at all. Just confirms that this probably ain't a scam. Gotta install the software first though."

Inserting the flash drive, Caleb is greeted by the most basic Install Wizard he’d ever seen. “Well, now we know where they saved money. 178 GB? What the hell is in this thing?” Running the installer took about 10 minutes and after finishing brought up an HFI-branded launcher with that same Stock Photo Couple and the words:

Girlfriend Visualizer Parameters

Preset Scenarios

Normalization Settings

Revert to defaults

Run Session

Continue Previous Session

The last button was greyed out, ostensibly because there was no previous session. Clicking on the first button prompted a Log-in and after entering the pre-printed credentials, Caleb saw a series of drop-down menus detailing everything that was in the notebook and a warning message:

Attention: Headset not connected, parameters cannot be initialized, please connect both cables before attempting to run any scenarios!

Connecting the two cables, Caleb powered on the VR Headset and laid it down on the comforter on the bed, he wasn't sure what the Visualizer was gonna do but he imagined it'd best be done laying down.

After the Headset powered on, the warning disappeared and the drop down menus could be manipulated. Switching over to the main menu he found the ‘Autumn Park' scenario in the ‘Scenario Presets’ and checked the box, figuring that the one they advertised on the launcher would be the most complete.

Then he switched over to ‘Normalization Settings’ where he saw two slider bars:

Global Normalization

Memory Override

The first bar was set to 100% and the second was set at 50% but while the first bar could be set from 0-100 the second bar could not be dropped below 25% or go above 50% before another warning popped up.

Attention: For the safety of our participants, Memory Override must be enabled to at least 25% but no more than 50% to allow for positive continuity of the scenario and any changes. If the User wishes to override the safety parameters please reference the command prompt list in the included notebook, but please note that this can cause unexpected events and invalidate any legal liability of HFI in this use case.

(Author’s Note: This is the Branch Point for the‘Ethical Level' branches, currently Unintentional and Non-malicious intent, however ‘Unintentional’ is considered the Canon Route)