Virtuális Labor
The Virtual Lab (仮想ラボ, Kasou Rabo?) was a virtual testing facility, located at the top of World Tree in ALfheim Online and run by Sugou Nobuyuki and several members of RECT Progress that were loyal to him. A Floating City was rumored to have existed where Virtual Lab was located.
Mythology
The existence of the Virtual Lab was covered by RECT Progress spreading a myth that a so called Floating City existed at the top of the tree. The first starting player race to reach this mythical city and meet the Fairy King Oberon was said to be reborn as the legendary true race of fairies, the Alfs, and granted unlimited flight. Reaching the Floating City and meeting the King and Queen was the first «Grand Quest» in ALfheim Online.
To reach the «Floating City», the player had to accept the Guardians of the World Tree quest at the base of the tree and enter through a dome, which was guarded by countless Guardian Knights.
However, even if players managed to breach the blockade of monsters, a door, which cannot be opened without Administrative access, lied at the top of the dome; thus players were never meant to reach the so called Floating City.
Description
In reality, the Virtual Lab is actually a virtual prison for the minds of the 300 players that were hijacked after the end of the Sword Art Online incident. It was also a facility meant for monitoring the state of the captured players, while their NerveGears were used to experiment with their brains.
The facility was a plain structure that gaves off a blank impression: the corridors of the facility only had white walls with no texture or details. The corridors were gently curved, forming a circular passage around the World Tree. The facility also had elevators and secret passageways.
Trivia
- At the end of the Fairy Dance arc, when ALO was acquired by Ymir, a new cumulonimbus cloud was created to cover the place where the non-existing Floating City should have been. Players dubbed the cloud as the «Nest of the Lightning Dragon».[1]