THE MOMENT
"Wait..," Alis stepped out of the portal and looked around with wide eyes; then, she turned to her friends in confusion. Steph, the dark-haired friend, and Molly, the blonde one, told Alis they were taking her to the largest mall she would ever see. The fact they got there through a portal meant it was an alternate universe. But, Alis quickly adjusted to multiverse travel after she met Steph a couple of days ago. They were surrounded by three levels of all kinds of stores. Alis saw clothes, electronics, books, and more. She'd only seen one small section of it, but it was already the largest mall she'd ever been in. But, one thing stood out to her as strange. Not an easy thing if she considered everything she had learned since she met her new friends. "... they're all the same store?"
Alis was used to seeing name-brand boutiques side by side. Each storefront tried its best to stand out and attract customers. But, there was none of that. Some of the stores had front windows with mannequins modeling unique fashions and that was all. There was no collage of posters and marketing signs with scantily clad women. She couldn't find a name on any single shop. Instead, they were all uniformly white with a red scissor logo at each entrance. Not to mention that it seemed that all the employees in each store also wore white uniforms.
"Kind of?" Steph shrugged and Molly nodded.
"The mall is owned by Sharp Development. They rent the shops to merchants but the merchants have to follow the guidelines."
"Oh, okay," Alis nodded.
"So, where do you want to start?" Molly asked.
"I... don't know," Alis shrugged. Then, she giggled. "I thought we'd walk around and go into any stores that look interesting."
"Well, do you want to look at stuff for you?" Molly pointed to the left of them. "Or for your AlterNet Character?" She turned and pointed to the right. "They're different sections."
"My character?" Alis tilted her head. "When Mundo went over roller derby, she said I would earn my gear during the match." She felt relieved when both girls nodded at her.
"That's true," Steph said. "But that's just for derby matches that use tournament rules. Whenever you're in the AlterNet and not playing roller derby, you can equip anything you want whenever you want."
"Let's go this way," Molly grabbed Alis' wrist and led her to the right.
"Okay," Alis nodded and grinned as she let herself be led along. "But, can I ask why?"
"You didn't know equipment could be used outside of derby," Molly answered with a wink. "That means you still have things to see. That way is boring." Molly let go of Alis' hand and waved at the hallway of white shops.
"Huh?" Alis asked as they walked past white storefronts. "I thought all the shops had to be the same?"
"Nope," Steph shook her head. "The renters have to follow the guidelines; but, AlterNet merchants have different guidelines," she added.
"What do you-?" Alis stopped walking as she looked ahead. The white stores and white floors stopped suddenly several feet ahead. The tile floor gave way to a grey, grimy cobblestone road. Brick and stone shops continued on from the almost sterile white walls. But, the most surprising thing was that the ceiling was completely gone. Intermittent skylights ended and a bright, azure, sunny sky took over. A wide, solid red line marked the point where everything changed.
Instead of the plain stores behind her, the shops ahead were more like what Alis expected. Each one was a different color, and each one had character. She spotted and heard a burly dwarf pounding away on red hot metal on one side of the cobblestone street. She looked to the other side and saw a chef cooking on a large open flame.
"Whooaaa..," Alis was still in awe when Steph and Molly started forward again. She took an extra moment to catch up to them.
"This...," Molly planted her foot down hard on the red line as they crossed it. "...is a divider." She stopped and pointed back at the white hallway. "That's the real world, but, we're in the AlterNet on this side."
"I can log in and everything," Molly continued. She pulled her node out and held it up. "Shine Bright!" she said. A flash of golden light replaced her jeans and yellow t-shirt with a long white robe. "But, only on this side," she said. She crossed the red line and the white robe disintegrated revealing her jeans and t-shirt again. Once she made her point, she crossed the line to join them again.
"Wow," Alis giggled. She was still getting used to being a Unique Soul and traveling the multiverse. She hadn't had much time to explore the Alternet other than to create her character. In her mind, it was just a game that she'd dig into when she had a chance. But now, she needed to learn all about it.
"Alright," Alis grinned at her friends. "Let's do some shopping." She stood up straighter and crossed her arms for a moment before making a dismissive gesture down the cobblestone road. "Show me to your finest ninja accoutrement."