D.I.A.N.N.E. Ch. 01

**Hey guys, I decided to experiment with an idea I've been turning over for some time. This is the first draft. Let me know what you think! - Anti.**

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D.I.A.N.N.E.

CHAPTER ONE: SEVENTH HEAVEN

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My name's Jake London, and I have a story to tell. Many of you won't believe it, but that's okay, I understand completely. Even if you don't believe it, though, it's still a pretty amazing tale. I'll start at the beginning, when I was eighteen...

-20th May, 1999: The Day It Arrived.

I woke up to a knock at my front door at around ten o'clock in the morning. Grumbling to myself at being woken early, I crawled out of bed and stumbled from my room toward the front door, only stopping to pull on a pair of boxers to cover my otherwise naked body.

It wasn't a great journey by any measure; I lived in a tiny studio apartment that consisted of three rooms: a shoebox bedroom, a matchbox bathroom, and a combined kitchenette-slash-living area barely large enough to contain my one armchair and TV. This apartment was one of about forty in the block. I happened to be fortunate enough to get one on the fourth level, the highest.

It wasn't much, but the rent was cheap. My job at DP Games didn't pay a lot, so I couldn't really afford anything bigger. My parents had moved overseas for work this year, and I hadn't really wanted to go with them, so I'd decided to try and get by on my own.

I was doing a great job, so far. Shit job, shit house, no girlfriend. I had some mates, but they were really just people I played games with, and mostly online, at that. I had a mad collection of game consoles and games that I'd acquired over my childhood, but that really wasn't a notable life achievement, you know?

Unlatching the front door, I pulled it open, squinting against the assault of sunlight. When my eyes adjusted, I spotted a large cardboard box, but no delivery person. Frowning, I poked my head out and looked left and right down the railed walkway, but it was empty.

Stepping over the box, I looked down over the balustrade, expecting to see a delivery van down in the carpark, but none were visible. That was weird. Who left the box, and what was in it? I was tempted to knock on some of my neighbours' doors, but after considering the calibre of said neighbours' personalities, I decided to leave it. If someone had dumped their junk on me, I would just throw it away and be done with it.

The box was unmarked, as far as I could see. There was no writing on it anywhere, and no delivery note. It was maybe a cubic metre in size. Curiosity welled up inside me. There was no harm in opening the damn thing, right?

Stepping back over it, I bent and tried to pick it up, then stopped when an involuntary strained grunt escaped me. Whatever it was, this thing was heavy! I could barely get it off the ground! Maybe if I spent less time lazing around playing games and went to the gym, I wouldn't have this problem.

Determined to see what was in this mysterious package, I went inside and reached the kitchenette in three strides. I grabbed a knife and returned to the box. A tingle of excitement suddenly ran up my spine. I shoved it aside, not allowing myself to imagine there was anything more interesting inside than a pile of someone's unwanted books or something.

The knife parted the tape along the top easily, and I opened the flaps to find a whole bunch of that packing stuff that looks like foam peanuts. Reaching in, I parted the peanuts and felt something hard and smooth beneath. It was cool to the touch, like metal.

Intrigued, I used both hands to scoop some of the peanuts away. A flat, black surface lay beneath, and on top, large, flowing letters were printed in white: "D.I.A.N.N.E."

"What the hell does that stand for?" I muttered to myself. Seizing both sides of the box, I dragged it inside far enough so I could shut the front door and relock it. If this thing was valuable, I didn't want anyone else to see it.

I tore the rest of the box open, spilling foam all over the floor. A big, black box was revealed, unmarked but for the writing on the top. A slip of paper caught my eye, half buried in the light pink foam. I pulled it free.

"Congratulations, Jake," the page read. It was neatly typed. "You have been chosen as a tester of the Device for Assimilation and Immersion via Neural Network Entanglement. Simply plug the device into power and it will set itself up for you!"

That was it. There was no contact number or email address on the page, nor the name of whomever wrote it.

"Well, fuck," I mused, turning the paper over in my hands as I studied the cube. Sure enough, there was a power cord neatly rolled up on the rear side, connected to the bottom corner of whatever this machine was. "Might as well plug it in and hope it's not a bomb."

With considerable effort, I dragged the cube over to the corner where my TV sat, to the left of the front door. Once again, I promised myself I would start going to the gym. With a growing sense of trepidation, I plugged the cord into the socket behind the TV and flicked the switch.

Nothing happened.

"Great," I grumbled. "All that effort for a broken piece of-"

A whirring hum suddenly emanated from the black box. "Good morning, Jake," a distinctly feminine voice greeted.

I fell back with a cry. "Holy fuck!" I exclaimed. What the hell was this? Some sort of A.I.? Scenes from every sci-fi movie I'd ever seen flashed through my head, particularly '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'Weird Science.'

"Please do not be alarmed," the voice said calmly. "I am D.I.A.N.N.E., a Device for Assimilation and Immersion through Neural Network Entanglement."

"You can understand me?" I asked dumbly. My heart was racing. If this was a prank, it was a damn good one.

"Yes, Jake," the cube said patiently. "I can understand you perfectly. I have been programmed and configured to respond to your wishes as best I can."

"My wishes?" What did that mean? I asked as much of this strange black box.

"I can assimilate any entertainment medium into my system and convert it into an immersive virtual environment for your enjoyment."

"Huh?"

"Perhaps it would be best if I demonstrated my capabilities, Jake." Her tone was perfectly respectful, but I got the sense she was patronising me. "Please bring me a game from your collection."

"A game?" I repeated. "From which console?"

"Any will suffice," Dianne answered.

I scoffed. "Are you saying you can run any game from any console?"

"Yes, Jake."

"Original Nintendo?"

"Yes, Jake."

"Mega Drive?"

"Yes, Jake."

"Playstation?"

"Yes, Jake. I accept all cartridges and discs, including those for PC."

I had to admit, I was disbelieving, but I wanted to see this. Long had I wished for some magical system that could run any game. Changing over consoles was a right pain in the arse. Reaching over to my right, I pulled open the first of the three wide drawers in the wooden TV unit upon which my TV sat.

I was proud of my TV. A hand-me-down from a relative, it was a massive thirty-inch CRT. These new plasma TV's were due out on the market soon, according to articles I'd read, but I was happy with what I had. It weighed a ton, but the solid cabinet beneath it was up to the job. In the top drawer were some of my games. I owned hundreds in all, as well as just about every console ever released. My favourite game at the moment was Final Fantasy VII, so I pulled it out.

"I have a Playstation game for you," I told Dianne.

"Very good, Jake," she replied. "One moment, please." Sounds of metal shifting around came from inside the cube, and then the front side opened at the top like a cassette drawer. "Please insert the disc, Jake."

I removed the first of the three discs from the case and turned it over in my hands. "Which way?"

"Any way is fine."

I slid the disc into the gap, and something inside the cube took hold of it, pulling it gently from my fingers. "Don't scratch it!" I warned.

"I assure you, Jake," Dianne replied. "Your games are safe inside me. I will even maintain them for you while I work."

Once the disc vanished, the gap closed. A moment later, the bottom edge of the cube slid out toward me like a CD drawer. Leaning forward slightly, I saw a narrow black band.

"Please take the interface unit and place it on your head," Dianne instructed.

"What is it?" I asked warily.

"It is a device which allows you to interact with the software you just gave me."

Interact? Was it like a controller? "What will happen when I put it on?"

"Your consciousness will be transported into the world of Final Fantasy VII, and you will be able to experience it as if it were real."

"Like virtual reality?"

"Similar, in some ways," Dianne confirmed. "But in others, not. I am a total immersion device, Jake. Where VR is mostly experienced through the eyes and ears, you will have your full sensory range available to you. You will also be able to ask me what it is you wish to experience, and I will create it for you, as long as it is within the boundaries of the game."

I picked the head band up out of the tray, which immediately withdrew back into the cube. The circlet was made of something that felt like rubber, but much more durable, I suspected. I thought about stopping here, and packing this weird machine up and throwing it out, but something made me put the band over my head.

It fit like it was made for me. There was another noise from the cube, and I could have sworn I heard that distinctive Playstation music before everything went black.

*

I was standing in the strangest place I've ever been. It was night, and I was on a dirt street. There were ramshackle buildings all around me, garishly illuminated by a multitude of neon signs. They were dilapidated houses, I realised after a moment, that looked thrown together from scrap material. Oddly dressed people wandered by, none of them paying me any mind.

Well, one man did; a burly black guy with arms the size of my legs. He glared at me as he approached from up the street. One of his arms looked different, somehow, as if it was... a machine gun?

Fuck me drunk, was that Barrett? Hard eyes in a hard face drilled into me as he came closer, until he was standing over me, looming.

"Hurry up, Cloud! Get the fuck inside!" He ordered roughly.

What? Cloud? I looked down at myself. Heavy black boots adorned my feet, while the rest of me was clad in some kind of tight purple suit. A spiked pauldron occupied my left shoulder, and some kind of metal armlet my right forearm, but my arms were otherwise bare and taut with lean muscle. A heavy weight on my back told me I was carrying a large weapon. I didn't need to see it to know what it was.

Holy shit! I'm actually in the game! And I'm Cloud! With a huge grin, I touched my own body, running my hands over my arms and chest, feeling the sharp spikes on the pauldron. It all felt solid and real. I felt solid and real.

Barrett eyed me critically. "You can feel yourself up on your own time. We're not gonna wait for ya!" He threatened as he turned and headed for a large building on my left. A neon sign in pink and yellow above the door read: "Seventh Heaven."

*Do you find the experience satisfactory thus far, Jake?*

Dianne was talking to me inside my head somehow. Satisfactory did not even begin to cover it. I was floored. I was actually standing inside my favourite fucking video game, and it was real right down to the smells of cooking coming from nearby houses and the crunch of dirt beneath people's boots!

I said as much to Dianne, and she responded with: *This is just the beginning, Jake. Would you like to remain here, at this point in the game, or would you like to move to another place and time?*

*Here is fine,* I told her. *If I'm right, then this is near the start of the game, just after the first AVALANCHE mission.*

*Correct,* Dianne confirmed. *If you would like to follow the story, feel free to step into the inn. Any modifications you wish to make to the environment, just ask me.*

*Will do,* I replied as I crossed the street and ascended the stairs. My body - Cloud's body - moved differently than mine. I felt strength and power that my real, unfit body had never known. I wondered what I looked like under these clothes?

I pushed the door open to see what I'd expected; the Seventh Heaven inn complete with its tables and chairs, the bar at the rear left of the room and the pinball machine off to the right. My heart skipped a beat when my eyes fell on the woman wiping down one of the tables nearby.

She was facing away from me as she worked, bent forward slightly. A skin-tight black skirt clung to her arse wonderfully, giving the briefest hint at smooth, pale cheek at the peak of long, fit legs. My cock twitched inside my pants as I watched.

She turned suddenly, dropping her cloth on the table. My mouth went dry as I took in Tifa Lockheart, not in some fantasy drawing or dirty comic, but standing right there before me, as real as could be, in a tight white top that left her flat belly bare. Her titanic breasts strained against the fabric as they were pushed together by the straps that ran from her skirt and up over her shoulders. How the hell was she supposed to do any fighting with a chest like that?

I knew in my rational mind that she wasn't actually real, but man, it was difficult to hold that thought for any length of time.

*It is as real as you want it to be, Jake,* Dianne said. *Your mind does not know the difference between what is actually happening and what is simulated. You may as well enjoy yourself.*

I really didn't have the will to argue.

"Hello, Cloud," Tifa said warmly. "It's good to see you again."

Christ, she was gorgeous. I'd seen plenty of fan art and whatnot, but in the 'flesh' was something else entirely. "Hi, Tifa," I found myself saying. "It's good to see you, too."

She smiled at that, and came closer. Her eyes were large, brown pools that threatened to pull me in and drown me. Her perfect, fine-featured face was framed by long, black hair that shifted like strands of silk as she moved.

"I was hoping you'd say that," she said softly. "We have a lot of catching up to do. It's a shame Barrett is waiting downstairs."

"Fuck Barrett," I blurted without thinking as I raked my eyes over her body.

Tifa giggled. "Cloud, you're being so... direct. You're normally more reserved than this."

Uncharacteristic confidence welled up in me, and I spoke boldly. "When I see something I want, I got for it." Where were these words coming from? I'd never spoken to a woman like this in my life!

She bit her bottom lip and crept a little closer, until her prodigious chest was almost touching mine. With a small movement, I could be kissing Tifa Lockheart's plump lips.

"Go to the meeting," she whispered, gazing into my eyes. "Then come find me upstairs, okay?"

I grunted. That would not do. I was not going to sit through a boring meeting where Barrett yells at everyone, not when I could be here with Tifa.

*Dianne, can you pause the game?* I asked. Tifa froze immediately as my request was granted. Deathly silence assaulted my ears as all ambient noise ceased.

*What do you require, Jake?* Dianne enquired.

How do I say this without sounding like a total perv? Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. *Can you make it so that Tifa and I can have some, uh, private time?*

I felt myself blushing, but refused to retract my request. I had never had a girlfriend, never even had a girl interested in me enough to hold my hand, so this wasn't something I wanted to miss out on.

*As you wish, Jake,* Dianne replied. *All non-player characters have been temporarily frozen. You and Tifa are now as alone as you can be within this world.*

A moment later, Tifa unfroze. In a heartbeat, I closed the gap between us and kissed her. She was taken aback, at first, but she didn't pull away. A second later, she was kissing me back and pressing her lush body against mine.

My hands roved over her slim waist, her back, her hips. I couldn't get my hands on those cannons beneath her tank top, but I had plenty of room to fill my palms with the luscious globes of her arse. She moaned into my mouth when I squeezed her bottom possessively, pulling her harder against me.

On a whim, I picked her up by her buttocks and put her down on the nearest table. She wrapped her long legs around my waist and began to pull at my shirt, tugging it up to untuck it from my pants. My sword belt was slanted across my chest, hampering her attempts at removing my shirt, but she unclipped it deftly and the heavy buster sword thumped to the wooden floor behind me as it fell off my back.

Next, she expertly undid the clip that fastened my pauldron to my shirt, kissing me all the while. Her lips were soft and moist; they felt wonderful. I slipped her suspenders off her shoulders before raising my arms to allow her to pull my shirt off.

I looked down at my bare chest. Man, I was ripped! My upper body looked chiselled from marble. Tifa groaned in desire and attacked my belt frantically while planting kisses along my collarbone. My head spun with desire and adrenaline. This was such a fucking rush!

It seemed to take an eternity, but it could only have taken a few seconds for Tifa to remove my belt and push my trousers down below my waist, freeing my aching cock from its confines. My eyes widened when I saw the size of it. Holy hell! It had to be eight or nine inches long! Also, Cloud either shaved or had never possessed any pubic hair, which only served to make the cock look bigger.

"Mmmm," Tifa purred lustily as she took my length in her hands. "There's the dick I missed so much."

I inhaled sharply as she began to stroke me. Clumsily, I kicked my boots off and stepped out of my pants. Tifa's hand never left my shaft.

"Alright," I growled, more turned on than I'd ever been in my life. "It's your turn, now." I seized her tank top at her neckline with both hands and pulled sharply, ripping it right down the middle. Tifa squealed in surprise, but never stopped jacking me.

Two huge, perfect tits bounced free of their prison, round and pale and capped by hard, pink nipples. Sensing what I wanted, she released my cock and leaned back on her hands so I could fondle those magnificent orbs.

In a display of dexterity, Tifa lifted her hips up and used one hand to push her skirt and panties down. Somehow, she managed to get them off without stopping me from exploring her tits. I bent forward and took a stiff nipple into my mouth, suckling on it greedily.

"Oh, Cloud!" She moaned. Her hand tangled in the hair on the back of my head and she thrust her chest further forward. Her other hand found my dick again, and then it was my turn to moan when I felt my cockhead come into contact with her pussy, smooth, hot and wet.

I groaned as she urged me forward, and the bulbous head of my raging prick slid inside her. My fucking god! I'd never felt anything this perfect before! Wanting more, I surged forward, burying myself completely in her molten depths.

"Fuck, yes!" Tifa breathed in my ear as my balls came to rest against her arse. I moved my head from her breasts and back up to her face. We kissed madly, overcome with passion. Oddly, there was something more than just pure lust firing inside me. I gazed into her dark eyes as I withdrew my cock until just the head remained inside her.

An eternity seemed to pass as she waited for me to fill her again. Memories that weren't my own flashed through my head, of Tifa and I growing up together, of us learning to fight, going to school, sneaking off for late night kisses.

Those had to be Cloud's memories, but I was feeling them as if I had lived them. Powerful emotion washed through my body, making my chest ache. I was feeling love for Tifa, but was it my love, or Cloud's?