((To provide overall plot and setting?))
Joe blinked, climbing shakily to his feet. So... this was VR. He guessed by the various icons sitting in his vision like high-definition eyeball floaters. It kind of broke the whole "reality" part, but the pain in his head and stomach was quite real enough. He blinked again, and rubbed his face, but he just couldn't seem to dislodge the perception of a face floating in the clouds above the alley.
"Joe..." whispered a voice from above.
"Wait... Uncle Jeb?" He rubbed his eyes again. Sure enough, the face of his deceased uncle was starting down at him from the sky. He wasn't sure if this was part of some mind-games mechanic, or just residual effects of whatever he'd done last night.
"Yes, Joe. It's me. I visited you last night, but you probably don't remember. That was some nasty stuff you took, son."
"Right... um...." Joe winced. It was a bit hard to form sentences with his head pounding incessantly. "Why you here, uncle? Why am I here?"
"Listen carefully, Joe. I brought you here to put you on the true path, the path you've been looking for your whole life but never found on your own."
"Is this some Sunday-school thing?"
"I'm talking about the path of METAL, son. You must go on a journey to discover your true self and open your true potential. And in doing so save the world from total destruction. Go forth, and find the one who will help you on your journey." The cloud began to dissolve.
"Wait! Don't go, Jeb! I'm confused here, man!"
The voice began to echo as it faded out. "You can do it. It's your destiny, Joe..."
"Uncle!" The face dissolved completely. "Fuck..." Well, this was all pretty weird, but he'd tripped weirder. Better just go with it, man. As he was wondering where to start looking for this helpful person, he heard a message. "New? Need help? Stop on by!"
Well, if that wasn't an obvious clue, he didn't know what was. And so Joe Farsey set off to find the source of the message.