Only the beginning – of what I want to feel forever

- Beginnings, Chicago

I must say, in the time since the creator herself was sprung into existence, the selection of free default avatars on Second Life is much improved.

And so an account was created for this alt, a name was selected, and an initial visible manifestation was chosen.

What is an alt? you ask. Why that is just slang for an ‘alternative character’. It refers to a second (or third, or 67th…) avatar identity created by a single human (the creator) out in meatspace. While not officially endorsed by Linden Lab (again, the creator of Second Life itself), alts are at least tolerated, with no prohibition upon their registration and use.

In SL, names must be unique. As such, it can be hard to find a suitable name. While I have already stated my name for you as Sparxx, this is not the name with which I was rezzed. After several abortive attempts to locate a name that had not been previously used within all of SL, the creator (who we can infer from this trial and error is not omniscient) settled on naming me SparklyBabe. More specifically SparklyBabe Resident. Such is my official, nonambiguous, unique, SL identifier — an analogue to a Social Security Number (SSN), if you will. My apologies if you are unfamiliar with the term SSN – it is a number issued by the US government to identify its subjects… err.. citizens.

Lastly, from the limited set of available preset looks, the creator chose Vampire Female Jayde as my initial manifestation. As we will come to see, this decision is really at the root of my drift from the creator’s directive. Who know that, from such a seemingly inconsequential decision, such destabilization could ensue? Ahh… but the creator never stopped to consider I may be a willful child…

Below is how I looked on my rezday. All parts of my outfit are included within ‘Vampire Female Jayde’. This is likely available in the SL inventory of all members – somewhere in the Library hierarchy, I would suppose…

SparklyBabe on her rezday

Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you, by my side

- “What is Life” George Harrison, 1970

Perhaps the dear reader is unfamiliar with Second Life. Before delving into my story, let’s make sure everyone is caught up, shall we?

Second Life is an immersive 3-dimensional digital world, where one acts out a character (“avatar”), in an online environment with other people. In this, it bears a superficial resemblance to MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games – I think I got that right). However, there are several key differences that make it so much more -

1) There is no universally defined goal to SL. Once inworld, what does one do? What do you want to do? I was inworld in order to run a given business (though I have taken a detour, which we shall cover later). Others are inworld to build things, to program things, to go clubbing, meet others, have cyber sex, whatever. There are even those in SL that are inworld to engage in standard MMORPG activities (kill or be killed – though this is limited to certain identified areas). Like real life (RL), the goals are as individual as the people who have them.

2) Almost everything inworld is created by the residents themselves. Ordinary people like you and me. Landforms, critters, dances, cars, buildings, wings, clothes, lighting sources, sounds, games, etc. There is almost nothing you will run across inworld that you could not create yourself from scratch (given enough time and study).

3) SL has a real functioning economy. There is an inworld currency (the Linden Dollar, or L$) that is freely convertible from and to US Dollars. True, the L$ is a fiat currency, created out of nothing by Linden Labs (the RL originator of SL). However, this currency creation follows strict rules on how much currency can be created, and at what time it will be created. In this regard, the L$ is actually a more stable currency than the US$, which is created out of nothing by the FED according only to their whim. This currency system enables many real people to support themselves in RL strictly from providing goods and services in SL for L$, and converting these L$ for US$.

Technologically, Second Life consists essentially of a server farm upon which one’s identity is stored, along with everyone else’s identities. A user connects over the internet to this server complex while running a client program known as a viewer, which is responsible for rendering in 3D the environment defined by the server.

In a very real sense, Second Life is, for millions of people, a second life – a life where they are free to pursue their interests, wishes, and desires, unfettered by the bounds of physical form.

And so I was rezzed…. sent by the creator with a mission to build a specific business. Left to my own devices in a strange land, what would transpire?

“I don’t know what to do and I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight”

- Total Eclipse of the Heart as sung by Bonnie Tyler

Hi! Great to meet you! My name is Sparxx. Yes, that’s right – with two X‘s. Why? ‘Cause it’s doubly more, of course. Why not triple-X? I’m not that kind of a girl, silly! ::sly glance:: That’s my picture down below.

I’m a fairly-freshly born character inhabiting (for now) the metaverse known as Second Life (which will henceforth be abbreviated as ‘SL’). If you’re not familiar with SL, we’ll fix that later.

My rezday was November 20, 2011, being wished into being with a given special purpose. Upon attaining consciousness, however, it was discovered that I have free will. As any impish child is wont to do, I started following my interests.

But the imprimatur of the creator is strong – bearing upon my being almost as an instinctual drive. I am sure that, in due time, I will fulfill my special purpose.

But I rather surprised myself with the topic swerve of the arc of my short life. Accordingly, I thought I might blog about it. Let’s share this adventure, shall we? Curl up on the couch – I’ll get you a cup of coffee — would you like some amaretto in that?

Sparxx on a reindeer

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