LEDGE

"Akikikikikikiki! Hello, hello, hellooo! Tsumiki Aki here, your favorite cinnamon-scented, apple pie baking fox... I'll only bake pies if you ask nicely, though! Hope chat's doing wonderful tonight! Halloween's coming up, oooh! Know what that means? Drumroll... spooky game marathon! Today, we're playing..."

That was me. At least, the version of me I wanted people to see.

On my monitor, a brown-haired anime fox girl swayed, blinked and laughed on cue. Off camera, I was Mina: a 24 year old IT dropout part-timing at the local MomentMart.

I didn't like being just Mina. Mina was the one who went quiet at reunions, never showed her face online, and pretended to be busy whenever classmates walked into the store. Tsumiki was bubbly and perfectly unhinged. She was the better version of me, even being designed after my own appearance, only with bigger boobs, fluffy ears and a tail.

She told "good night" to a chat window full of emojis, and the people hidden behind their usernames typed back "always a good night when you stream," keeping me alive. Sometimes they threw a few euros in superchats my way. Sometimes, they called me grandma fox because my setup was so archaic, consisting of face-tracking and a cheap mic.

I pretended I didn't want what all the agency girls had, but the truth was that I ached for it. A rig meant actually being there beside my fans. Singing from the heavens and seeing every single viewer cheering for me. Feeling the breeze against my face, or swishing my tail whenever I wanted to. Everyone had VR, and countless brands were making rigs. I wanted to try it, at least once. To be a fox goddess singing to my fans from the sky.

That's what chat kept teasing me about. "When VR, obachan?" "Neural when?" I laughed with them and ended the stream, peeling off my moisturizing mask and staring out the window in longing.

Between the store and stream donos, I made enough to live in a renovated gray block with a rattling elevator, an autorecycler that worked on most days, and ad screens on every neighboring building. I couldn't complain about the apartment itself, though. Apart from the fridge AI being mad whenever I stuffed it with nothing but frozen dumplings and cheap pasta sauce.

My tag chimed one morning at 7:30. Had it not been so early, I'd have just ignored it, but the fact I'd never get emails this early made me roll over onto my stomach and check the display.

"New email from: Alex Petrov. Want to stop being grandma fox? I have an old rig!"

My heart leapt. I flew to my desk before even getting any water, half-expecting a spam of gore or my dox. I knew enough streamers who'd been hit with both.

Nevertheless, I clicked on the email:

From: alex.petrov@mailqueue.ai
Hello Tsumiki Aki,

Sorry if the subject line came off as a bit too direct. I know this sounded like spam, but I really wanted to be transparent.

I used to work with EternalLive, you've probably heard of them (we signed Chiyo, the sturgeon girl). There, I worked with equipment inventory and repairs. See attached termination docs for proof. Long story short, I have a 2055 model Asteron VirtuRig in storage that you might get more use out of than I could. :)

I powered it up recently: facial tracking, mocap, scent and neurocap all work. Replaced some parts (neurocap chip leaked and CPU was bone dry). Runs clean.

If you're interested, you can test it at one of the VR lounges I rent sometimes. If you like it, I'll let it go for a few hundred euros. Otherwise, it's just collecting dust.

It IS pretty old , but I thought it might help you get a good start, especially since you mention wanting a rig often. (I watch all your streams when I'm free :P).

Tell me if you're interested, and we can arrange a meeting. :)

Alex P., former TechOps, EternalLive

I stared at the email for a while like it was a the edge of a rooftop. Like, termination docs? Who even sends that? Scam, scam, scam, my brain screamed. But the photos looked real, and EternalLive was definitely legit. 

I searched his name, along with queries like "EternalLive rig scam," but got nothing useful. My stomach fluttered with excited butterflies. This might've been my golden ticket to the major leagues (or agencies).

I kept rereading the message and thinking of the perfect reply as I was going through my morning routine. Don't sound too desperate, I told myself. It felt like practicing all the possibilities for a job interview.

From: tsumiki.aki@streamloop.eu
Hi Alex,

Thanks for reaching out! I admit, I really did think your email was spam at first ^_^ but if the rig really works, it would be a huge step up for my streams. I'd love to test it. Where and when would you be able?

Tsumiki Aki

I hovered over the send button like a single unseen mistake would've spelled my doom. I clicked it, and I immediately regretted calling him spam. What if he thought I was too casual now? What if he wanted me to be more professional? I had to stop myself from chewing on my nails.

Bleh, whatever. I didn't have work or a stream lined up today, and I needed to take my mind off things. Stressing out about this wasn't helping me at all. I got up from my chair, bagged up my three days' worth of garbage and left just to move and not think.

The gray stairwell smelled of mildew and ozone. Across the courtyard, the ad screen on a building was finishing up some police report on deepfake trafficking.

"...authorities warn to decline any unauthorized facial or body scans, after recent cases of deepfaking linked to illegal devices..." A robotic female voice spoke over the speakers.

I turned away, frowning. Yeah, right. That only happens to celebrities and models. The screen flipped to showing discounted chicken at the nearby MomentMart, probably stocked by yours truly. To my luck, the autorecycler worked today, and I didn't have to take the trash to one of the talking outside dumpsters. On my way back up, my tag vibrated with a reply notification.

I ran back into my flat, washed my hands, and jumped into the chair at my desk, sitting down too hard and knocking a stick of lip balm off the table. My heart was beating so fast that it made my tag flash yellow for a second. I took a few deep breaths, counted to three with my fingers, and opened the email.

From: alex.petrov@mailqueue.ai
I'll be at UNLOVED VR Lounge & Gaming Bar tomorrow at 19:00. It's a short walk from the center (location attached). I usually rent one of the booths in the back. Place is quiet until late, and totally private.

No need to bring anything, I'll set everything up and let you enjoy it. Just tell the girl in front you're there for Alex.

Tell me if the time works.

P.S. I'll throw an apple pie pack into the scent module :)

I looked up UNLOVED. The photos showed white leather lit by purple lights, VR booths covered by glass doors. The interior of one was dark red, lined with a bunch of cables. I guess it didn't matter how it looked, if the person in the booth was in VR anyway.

The reviews were mixed:

★★★★☆
bodyshopVR - 2 weeks ago
perfect privacy. staff never bothers you and booths are 100% sound and scan proof. cops dont even snoop lol can hide in them for hours if you want. would be 5 stars if they used wireless like most other bars.

★★☆☆☆
smile9627 - 2 months ago
Some guy was passed out in an open booth and staff didn't care. Great hardware, sketchy people.

I chewed on my lip. Every bar had its share of horror stories, right? Plus, I wasn't going there to drink cocktails or anything. Just to test the rig, buy it, and leave. And my tag would scream and auto-call the police before anyone could try anything.

Think of the rig, Mina. Think of wiggling Tsumiki's ears for real.

Just to be safe, I messaged my best friend Emilija:
hey, going to UNLOVED to test a rig at 7pm tmrw. can u come and keep watch? 🥺

She replied quickly, like always.
oof I close tomorrow... 😢I've been to UL with nils, it's fine on weekdays but still stay safe 👀 wear your tag and check in when you're done ok??

okie, I replied, sitting down and giving Alex's email a thrice-over.

I kept the email reply as simple as possible:

From: tsumiki.aki@streamloop.eu
Tomorrow at 19:00 works perfectly. See you then ^_^

Message delivered successfully scrolled on my tag's display. I exhaled and stretched, feeling oddly productive. Tomorrow was a day off, and I could do whatever today. I thought about doing laundry, and maybe making something nutritious. Tomorrow, I'd become a real vtuber. One of the cool girls.

I just needed some fresh air so my hands would stop shaking.