Volskaya Foundries

Somewhere baked into the lore of this particular section of Blizzard World was something about Overwatch's Second Omnic Crisis: a period in which Russia was thrust into conflict with a resurgent robotic army. Many didn't pay attention to the posters that adorned this virtual world - understandable as they were written in the Cyrillic script common to this part of Eurasia which weren't known by most outside of it - that instructed the people to put their faith in Volskaya Industries and their flagship mech, the Svyatogor, and take the fight to the robot threat. This was in part due to the fact that such instructions were made intuitive as Blizzard, known to cater to a wide audience, made it as clear as possible how players could engage in this part of their virtual world.

Nexas breathed on his hands as if to warm them up. Between the fact that it was virtual reality and his avatar was indoors there was no real reason for him to do so, but just the sight of what the Blizzard team made of a Russian winter outside was enough to make him feel cold. And he wasn't a particular fan of said weather. However, he was a fan of the event they were putting on and for that reason he would likely spend most of his time here this weekend.

Volskaya Foundries was a location based on Overwatch lore. Based on a first-person shooter game from the 2010's it came as no surprise that virtually all events that used this bit of Blizzard's IP were run-and-gun immersive shooters in the OASIS. Unlike many other immersive shooters, Blizzard put forward a solid amount of Player-vs-Environment (PvE) content into the game and allowed players to opt-in to the Player-vs-Player (PvP) portions. This fit Nexas extremely well as many of his services relied on him not dying. Ever. Thus, even he could enjoy a leisurely stroll through some of the world's safe and casual content while not having to worry that someone was going to stab him in the back.

Volskaya Foundries was known for its perpetual PvE event; an eternal war against the Siberian omnium whose forces crashed against the workings of Volskaya Industries - a company known for building powerful mechs capable of defending their homeland. This was one of Volskaya's many foundries (per the lore, though Blizzard did have this area instanced such that players could be at a variety of foundries) and served as an outpost for players to gear up before trotting into the forsaken wasteland of snow and steel. In doing so players could earn a lot of scrap, electronics, and the like that many such players weren't actively interested in but could refine into bullets, sell to NPCs, or sell to those interested in such wares for the OASIS equivalent of roughly half minimum wage (pretending you could even get a job in the States anymore). However, this weekend sported double the usual drop rate and Nexas was one such individual interested in paying just over NPC rate for the various drops available this weekend, chatting up players as they re-equipped before heading out.

The other side to the Volskaya Foundries was the underlying PvP aspect. While many would be mindlessly pumping bullets into robots there was an ongoing conflict inside the foundries, where players who allied with Overwatch would work to secure the foundries against the machinations of the players who allied with Talon, an antagonistic faction that wanted to prolong the strife as they believed conflict was the key to progress. As members of Overwatch succeeded they could eventually unlock powerful mechs to use in the PvE environment while the success of Talon operatives gave them access to some interesting loot options and made the omnic forces stronger for a period of time. Given the nature of PvP, however, players often wanted to make sure they were well-equipped before heading in and Nexas - a fine believer in any market opportunity - was more than willing to part with many of the interesting types of ammunition and gear that he'd amassed and had no personal use for.

To commemorate the occasion, Aphrodite had changed her hair into a very blizzard iconic character look. She now wore chitin made dreadlocks back in a ponytail. It was a different feeling as she could hear the quiet clicks of them smacking up against her armor as she walked. She always questioned with how far technology had come why they hadn't managed to get something closer to a full dive concept. But then she remember the world was a crappy place and was hindered by the greed of man and the shrinking of natural resources.

Despite the cold environment that she had been playing in, she wore a thin form fitting suit that had white armor plating on it with green trim and detailing. It was a sleeveless number with a high collar that she left zipped up just under her throat. Brown gun holsters and ammo packs adorned her hips. Everything seemed like her usual setup outside the lacking green hair and lips that she wore on every avatar.

Being that she hadn't been hired for anything for a week or so now, she was just enjoying the game as she knew it. Usually when she was out and about something would pop up. Particularly she at the moment she was interested in the loot potential of this event. It didn't win her any brownie points that she was fighting for the Talon since it made life harder on the PvE farmers. But when was she ever liked before? Even IOI had gotten angry at her once when someone outbid them for her assistance before.

"You know, with all the gear you have you could probably be pretty decent at killing other PC's. Assuming you ever got over the fear of losing your avatar that is." It was true that losing your avatar was a setback, but there were ways to prep for it so the losses were minimalized. Most of her extra gear and wealth were stored on a separate avatar that also owned her base of operations. Anything she lost where she died could be regained after killing whoever got her stuff. And there were people for that when she needed to know where things ended up.

As with most people she associated with, she had a lucrative relationship with the Nexas when it came to gear and the special ammunition that some of them used.