SCN

Solfrey Correspondence Network, a revolutionary virtual world created by Imperial mages and used by solfrey nobility all around the world for fast communication. There, many people are represented by inhuman avatars though many choose to use their real faces. To enter, an Imperial mage must first establish a connection between the user in their REM-dreamstate and the network.

The mages who help make those connections are called "networkers". Networkers are generally paid commoners who are taught the particular SCN protocol, but are not mages in other ways. Most people cannot afford to hire a networker, limiting SCN access to the wealthy. A networker's brain is seized by the user when they enter the network, and they are unable to leave until the user leaves the network. A networker can be shared with up to 3 users at once. Networkers generally enter a dreamstate where they feel they are entering and exiting a coma.

Entering the SCN works by just closing your eyes and using your magecraft to seize a networker's mind and entering it. Both of you look asleep to the outside world, so first make sure you're both comfortable.

While the SCN dream-world can take many forms, the most popular one that everyone uses is a full reality emulation with no flaws. People can see/feel/touch each other at full fidelity and it is indistinguishable from real life, and real magecraft works there too (but you do not die IRL if you die in the SCN). The places are real places in the world, the background of which is sensed by real networkers in that real place. For example, if in an SCN meeting room, a real networker would stay in that real meeting room with eyes open, to instantly transmit "sensor data" from that real place to the networkers creating the SCN world. This is what keeps SCN environments accurate and stable.