Mermaid

Suzy always wanted to be a mermaid. She wasn't sure why the general female population was entranced by underwater beauty -perhaps it had to do with The Small Mergirl being such a big hit- but she was definitely one of them. Even if the ocean did freak her out more than space at times.

But the avatar options for the mermaid were gorgeous. She got to pick her clam color (but not size... they were all one size...) and also her tail color and shape. Since she was going to stay a brunette, now with natural beach waves, she chose teal as her colors. Why? Easier to blend into the ocean after a certain distance. And if she needed to make a get-away, she was definitely going to need every advantage possible.

Though the shells looked tight on her mermaid's boobs, she was pretty happy with her choice. She didn't have the ability to alter the human form, so she merely wished for the best on that one.

Once confirming her choices twice -seeing as you couldn't edit the appearance once you did yet-, Suzy was made to watch the opening cutscene for her mermaid kingdom and the species itself. It seemed like a gorgeous, underwater realm and she couldn't wait to start treasure hunting in its depths.

But once the cutscene finished, the screen stopped attempting to load just for a prompt to appear in the center of the screen.

"This game is better experienced through VR. Would you like to initialize VR gameplay? Headset not required."

Suzy cocked her head to the side. Headset... not required? How was that possible?

Shrugging it off, seeing as any crashes or bugs that were irreparable might get her her money back, Suzy allowed for it to happen. Only for something strange to happen.

The screen read: "This setting cannot be reversed. Please confirm" but didn't give her the option to cancel. **** to confirm, Suzy did one more time.

The screen began to warp and a loud screeching noise permeated through her head. She wasn't sure what was going on, but all she wanted was for it to stop. She tried turning her speakers off, but that didn't work. She tried shutting her monitor off, but that didn't work. Before she went to completely shut off her computer, she felt her vision grown blurry and eventually into darkness. The experience appeared to be too much for her.

A beautiful song woke Suzy from her sleep. It was very melodic with heavy reverb, kind of like the merfolk songs you'd hear in childrens' cartoons. The language being sung was not familiar to her, but she understood it anyways.

Let this song guide you home
Where the great reef always grows
And you are never truly alone
Sister, heal your wounds
By the strength that you've shone

Suzy couldn't help but smile at the soft song as hands lightly grazed her body, soothing her aching headache in mere seconds.

It was then that she realized that she wasn't breathing. At least, not like she normally was.

Her eyes opened wide and looked up, only to see that she was underwater. Deep underwater. But she wasn't drowning.

"Ah... Our new sister has awaken."

Suzy looked over to see a mermaid floating near her, her hands now returning to her sides. Which meant she was the one singing and the one helping to heal Suzy's headache.

"Welcome, sister, to Atlantia. We are not against strangers as long as they are not human." She smiled at Suzy as she bowed her head. "But humans cannot breathe this far below the water, so you are safe."

Suzy couldn't believe her eyes as she looked around her. She was on the outskirts of a giant, underwater city and many other merfolk were swimming around.

"You have come at a very opportune time, sister. But you must act quickly." The other mermaid smiled before placing a hand on her chest. "My name is Mereia and I am the castle's main healer. I found you while collecting necessary herbs."

Suzy looked down to see that she did indeed have some form of satchel with different aquatic plants in it.

"I wish to take you to the court to finish examining you, but the castle doesn't accept strangers into its halls. But... if you were to make a name for yourself among the city, you'd be welcomed with ease." She nodded enthusiastically as if attempting to coerce Suzy into doing this. "There is an exploring party that is going to go on land since it is Dark Time above the water. If you help gather things quickly, you'd definitely be welcomed."

She frowned a little before looking over at the city. "There are other ways, but it will take much longer."

Her webbed hands moved softly through the water as she turned to look at Suzy again, one of her hands resting on Suzy's face. "You are a strange one indeed and wish to have more time to look you over."

Suzy gulped by the amount of touching this merwoman was doing, but decided not to question it at that moment. Instead, she just made a choice that felt most comfortable for her.