“She Did Something” is episode one of season one of Kiss Me First.
This is based on the novel of the same name by Lottie Magach.
The episode opens in a church, at a funeral, with a young woman being the only person there. Afterwards, the girl heads to the river before heading home. The dead person was the girl’s mother, and the carer is having the various things, such as the commode and wheelchair, taken away.
Once the carer has gone, the girl, Leila, fires up her computer, puts on some haptic gloves and a headset, and enters a virtual world. The world, Azana, although not perfect in its depiction of reality, is extremely good. There is also the ability to enter PvP combat, as there is in many online games, and Leila, or Shadowfax as she is known in game (the name of Gandalf’s horse in The Lord of the Rings), attacks another girl. And wins. The other user, Carmen, is actually a virtual friend of hers.
There is another girl hanging around, watching Shadowfax, as she has apparently done before. When Shadowfax goes to speak to the girl, she is kicked offline due to a lack of credits. Afterwards, in the real world, Leila’s webcam is activated and someone spies on her. This is why having webcams pointing into your room is a bad idea.
Leila is short of money, especially to get online in Azana, and tries to get a job. Something she hasn’t had before. The owner of the cafe she tries agrees to give her a chance, and gives her six hours a week at minimum wage.
In Azana, the girl who was watching Leila has a strange necklace around her neck. So does a boy, and the girl is talking about Shadowfax, saying that she’s the one. The girl also has an electronic band around her neck in real life. She is also renting a room in her house out.
Weirdly, without putting any money into her Azana account, Leila’s credits are restored. When Leila goes back online, she finds a way into another area, and immediately attacks another user who appears. Who says it really hurts – even though it’s not supposed to. He also has a band around his neck. The other user calls the area Red Pill – a Matrix reference. There are others in there too, and they say she isn’t supposed to be there. This place is not like the rest of Azana, and one of the others says that they are all losers. The girl who was watching Leila is there too, who is called Mania online, and so is her friend. Who says you have to be invited in and kicks Leila out.
Mania – real name Tess – approaches Leila in real life. It seems the band they wear allows the user to feel things online, which sounds potentially dangerous. The area that Leila found looks like paradise, but there seems to be a darker undercurrent. And someone is using webcams to spy.
Much of the episode is set in the CGI environment of Azana.