Odd Exam

by Piers Anthony

  The bird stopped just short of the line, not crossing. It squawked angrily, then turned and ran away.

  “Saved by the line,” Felony gasped.

  “It must be a laser shield, to protect the campus,” Ike said. “Porous to us, but total pain for the monsters.”

  “We just missed getting eliminated for admission.”

  “I think now we know why the professor recommended the laser magic. I don't want to try this again without it. Sword and shield: I want both.”

  “You bet. I think that bird was stalking us, just waiting until we crossed, so it could get us. And it almost did.”

  “We took a foolish risk,” he said. “Let's not do it again.”

  “Let's not.” She stood and dusted herself off. “Thank you for saving my virtual life.”

  “You're welcome. We couldn't have any kind of relationship if one of us got eliminated.”

  She smiled. “Was that all?”

  “No. I think we can make a good team.”

  “Oh, come on now.”

  He laughed to cover his embarrassment. “And I do like you, and don't want you to be hurt.”

  “That's it,” she said, satisfied. “Now we'd better follow our lines home.”

  Indeed, their merged lines had separated and were now parallel, leading back the way they had come. They had disappeared while they were exploring, more evidence that they were being tracked.

  Their lines diverged where they had met. “See you tomorrow,” Ike said.

  But Felony remained in place. After a moment he caught on, and kissed her. The cases might be reversed, but he was not going to dump her because of it. Not all of what he was learning was about Pomegranate College.

  “I'm trying so hard not to exploit my crush on you.”

  “Felony, you have little basis for that. I have made plain that--”

  “You're the first eligible boy to treat me decently, knowing my history. That knocks me for a loop. I know how you feel. I just hope you will be tolerant about the way I feel.”

  “And what if I should do with you what you let me do, then leave you, the way some boys do?”

  “The more you do with me before you leave me, the better off I will be.”

  There seemed to be no reasoning with her on this score. So he kissed her again, spanked her behind, and stepped back. Now at last she went on her way.

  So they parted, and soon he was back in his chamber. Actually he had been there all along, but had let the virtual setting take him. It had been quite an experience!

  He stripped, removed the film suit, then dressed again. This was what made it all possible, copying his motions and expressions so that he could become part of the setting. What a setting it was!

  And what an emotional complication. Felony was the most interesting girl he had interacted with in a long time. But she really did want more from him than he was prepared to give. Well, maybe one of them would be eliminated soon, and that would solve whatever the problem was. That might be the coward's way out, but he didn't know how to handle it otherwise.

  He exited the chamber. His green line appeared before him, leading him out of the building and to the waiting limo. He got in, and it took him smoothly home.

  He looked at his watch. It had been just over an hour since he set the bezel.

  What an hour!

  Chapter 3:

  Magic

  Ike said nothing to his folks about Pomegranate College, only that he was still zeroing in on prospects and might locate one they could afford. He doubted they would believe the actual experience he had had. Both his parents had long working hours, so he was alone in the house by day. That made this particular exploration easy. For now.

  The limo came promptly at the same hour. Ike got in, snacked while he rode, exited at the anonymous building, followed the line to the changing chamber, and got into the film suit. Important as the matter of college was, and mysterious as it was, his mind was on something else: Felony. He knew that if she offered again, he probably would accept despite the supreme lack of privacy, and then like as not regret it. Because it wasn't right to take advantage of a girl merely because she was available. If there were any serious chance of his being her regular boyfriend, then maybe it would be all right. But he doubted it. So he felt guilty already for what he was bound to do. The lure of sexual experience with any girl was simply too great. That could have been part of the problem with Lucy: she knew he wanted it.

  He emerged from his chamber and set foot on the college campus. And there before him was the most gorgeous doll he could have imagined. She had an hourglass figure under her ornate dress, gorgeous red hair to her waist, and a face--

  No face. She was veiled. So she was anonymous. That added to her allure.

  “Ike,” she said huskily.

  He was taken aback. “Do we know each other?”

  “I think so. But not well enough.” She lifted the veil.

  Ike felt his jaw literally drop. “Felony!”

  “Feel me.”

  “But--”

  She caught his right hand and brought it to her outstanding bosom. She pressed it against her left breast. The touch, even through the cloth of her dress, electrified him. It felt completely real.

  “It's mostly illusion,” she said. “My hair is real, my bottom is partly real, but the rest is pure enhancement. I need to be sure you know that before we go farther.”

  “Illusion,” he repeated, stunned by the feel of her.

  “Maybe I had better show you. Let's go inside.” She guided him back to his chamber and closed them in. Then she slipped out of the dress and stood abruptly nude. It was a one piece outfit, with no bra or panties beneath.

  “It looks real,” he said, unable to come with a more original statement.

  “It feels real, too.” She took his hand again and stroked it over her torso from breasts to butt.

  “How--”

  “That's the surprise. I asked Professor Comodon whether illusion was included in what they offer. He agreed that it is. So I arranged this sample for you. So I could be what you want me to be. I hope you like it.”

  “I adore it,” he said, amazed. “But the hair—you said that's real?”

  “I wore it bound up before, because I generally get teased about that too. But now I have let it down.”

  “And your bottom is partly real?”

  “The illusion widens it, but the buttocks are unchanged.” She passed has hands across them again. “So now you know. I don't want you to be deceived about anything. It will all seem real as long as we share this setting. If we are admitted and room together, and you don't want illusion, then, well, I'll don a body suit to enhance my torso. I want you to be satisfied.”

  “Satisfied,” he echoed. Illusion or not, this body totally turned him on.

  “So how about it? We know it's not really private, but everything you see here is yours to take. Are you ready?”

  He was almost painfully ready. “No.” He was surprised to hear himself say it.

  “If there's something I have overlooked--”

  “No. You're great.”

  “If it's my history--”

  “No! That doesn't matter.”

  The tears were trying to come to the surface. “Then what?”

  “Because now it might be serious.”

  She gazed at him, baffled. “Serious?”

  “I might fall in love with you.”

  “That's bad?”

  “I can't bed you and leave you. I might have to room with you, and marry you. That's not a decision I care to make at this moment.”

  “I ask no such commitment. I just want to be with you on your terms. You can bed me and leave me.”

  “No. If I touch you now, I'll probably fall for you. Then if it doesn't work out, we'll both be heartbroken.”

  “But if you don't touch me now, and it doesn't work out, we'll both be losers.”

  “That's a risk we'll have to take.”

  “You
're sacrificing now, to gamble on a bigger win later?”

  “Exactly. Now get dressed. We have classes to attend.”

  “If that's really the way you want it. But will you at least kiss me?”

  “No. I can't risk that either, at this point.”

  “Please, Ike.”

  “I was willing to gamble on relatively small stakes. Now the stakes are large. I already know something about you, and its generally good. Now you have the body. But if I marry you in real life, you'll have your own body. If I come to love you, I'll love that too. You have gotten through to me, Felony. I need to work this out in careful order, to be sure it's love. Because we don't want to marry if it isn't. You know how that is from your own family.”

  “I do.” She shook her head, bemused. “I'm going to cry. That's not bad, its good, I think.”

  “I will hold you. I think I can do that.”

  Then she overflowed. He took her in his arms and held her close but not too tight while she sobbed into his shoulder. He was holding an absolutely lovely naked woman, but comfort was all he wanted to give her at the moment.

  Could he love her? He already knew he could. Did he? He doubted it. But the skids were greased, if nothing happened to disrupt the process, he would love her soon enough. He wanted that to happen before he took her up on anything physical. He hoped he was being practical.

  After a while she subsided. She drew back and mopped her face. “Thank you, Ike. Even if this is temporary, you have made me happier than I have ever been.”

  “I echo that,” he said, surprised. “If it is to be love, it's worth doing right.”

  “Oh, yes.” She put on her dress and brushed out her hair. Somehow she was able to do that despite wearing the film suit. “Now let's go to class. We have wasted valuable time.”

  “We haven't wasted anything.”

  She smiled, accepting that.

  They went outside. “Which class?” she asked.

  “Basic Laser Magic, of course. In case we encounter another bird.”

  “Laser magic it is.”

  They entered the classroom. This time there were a number of other applicants. Evidently they had caught on to the dangers of the badlands and wanted to be prepared. They paused in their activities when they saw Felony. Ike understood completely. Clothed or unclothed, she was a knockout. She could have dazzled any other male student, but had saved it for him. He liked that.

  The class was informal, an individual work session. They both practiced first with the sword, which they learned could be adjusted for length, breadth, and type; it was not limited to pain invocation. It could be fashioned into a burning hot beam that would melt metal or rock, and could kill an animal or person.

  “Yes,” Professor Entrep said, to them and the class. “With such a weapon you can duel another applicant, if that is your preference, and dispatch him or her to oblivion. We recommend against this, but the choice will be yours.”

  “Wouldn't that be murder?” Felony asked.

  “Not in the outside world. Remember, this setting is merely an emulation. Death is expulsion from the setting. So it is not as serious as it may look.”

  “But suppose someone doesn't like competition, so he starts cutting down other applicants?” Felony asked.

  “That will not be allowed on campus; the beams will not be effective here. But off-campus yes, it could happen. There are monsters out there, but not all of them will be in animal form. You must be prepared, and trust no one.”

  “I trust Ike,” Felony said.

  “No one you don't know well,” Entrep said. “Alliances can change. Preparedness may be better than trust.”

  Ike was well coordinated, and turned out to be quite good with the laser sword. He could score on any of the other members of the class. But he wasn't satisfied. Anyone could ambush another person in the badlands, regardless of his proficiency.

  The hour ended and they turned in their stubs and left the classroom. “Tomorrow let's focus on shields,” Ike said. “I want to find a setting that will protect us from the sword.”

  “Yes. But we still don't know what we're fighting for. What does Pomegranate College teach? Is it something we really want to learn?”

  “This setting is so sophisticated that it has to relate in some way, if only to select people who are really good at survival in strange circumstances. I'm guessing that there may be danger. But if we learn how to handle it, that may not be an issue.”

  “You'd think they'd give us some better hint.”

  “I think they want us to figure it out for ourselves. Teaching us is one thing; they can do that. But having a real aptitude and motivation for learning it is another. They want to find students with that.”

  “I think you're right.” She paused. “There's something else.”

  He glanced at her, appreciating her beauty yet again. “Should I be wary?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don't tease me, Felony. Out with it.”

  “When I asked about magic, it wasn't just about appearance. It was about love.”

  “Uh-oh. You're going to feed me a love potion?”

  “No. That would be unethical. Also, we can't eat or drink here; the emulation doesn't go that far.”

  “What, then?”

  “But we can work spells. I could enchant you into loving me. If you wanted me to.”

  “Two things there. First, this setting is all about appearance, not inner feeling. You got my attention by converting your appearance, not by directly enchanting me. I don't think that would work. Second, what's this about if I want you to? Why would I want you to mess with my feelings, assuming you could do so?”

  She smiled, and it seemed to brighten the welkin. “Now you're asking questions and I am answering. That's unnatural, but I'll try. First thing: the magic may be real, in which case I could indeed enchant you. Second thing: I don't want to compel you. I don't think that would last. I want you to do it on your own. Then it will be permanent.”

  Ike considered. “Felony, I am seriously intrigued. I don't believe in magic, but for the sake of argument, let's assume it is so. If the spell is not permanent, then it should be safe to experiment with it. So go ahead. Try it.”

  “I will, Ike. But to be completely fair, I will not take advantage of it now. This is a demonstration only.”

  “Fair enough. Do it.”

  “Because if I did it, and took advantage, next thing we'd be on the turf making it.” She lifted his hand, which he realized she had been holding all along. She used her fingers to form his hand into a one-finger salute. Then she wrapped her hand around that finger, as she had before. The symbolism was unmistakable, and far more potent now. And, given what the body suits could do, it was feasible. They could have virtual sex that would be almost indistinguishable from real sex. That was a really interesting notion.

  “I will try to restrain myself,” Ike said, bemused. “Show me.”

  They paused on the walk, and she faced him. “Gaze into my eyes.”

  He did. “They're brown.” And absolutely beautiful.

  Then her pupils seemed to expand. They became huge, spreading beyond her eyes, then beyond her face, overlapping each other, becoming one spiral. They were like merging vortices drawing him in, not physically so much as emotionally.

  Then they contracted, leaving him still gazing into her normal face. It was the same, only different.

  “I'll be damned,” he breathed. “I do love you!” He moved to kiss her.

  She drew back. “Stay clear, Ike. I'd love to kiss you, but not now. Go home.”

  “The magic! It worked! It made me love you.”

  “Yes. Now you know. It will wear off in a day. So tomorrow when you're back to normal I'll do whatever you want. Even enchant you again, if that's what you decide. Then it will be fair.”

  “Fair,” he echoed.

  Then he was alone, exiting the setting. He must have done it on auto-pilot, bemused by the emotion inspired by the spell. His pa
ssion for Felony had blossomed far beyond anything he had felt when he saw her new body. The magic really did work, amazingly.

  He remained distracted as the limo took him home, and thereafter. He had operated on the assumption that the setting was virtual reality, seeming real only because the participants suspended their disbelief and got into it, much as they might forget their surroundings when reading a really good book. But that love spell was something else! It had touched his heart and revved up his emotion amazingly. Suddenly he loved her, and this was no imagination.

  Ike sat down in his room and pondered. He was a rational person, with no belief in the supernatural. He knew magic was not real. So how could this love spell actually work? He knew that things like voodoo depended on the belief of the participants; if they thought an evil hex was real, they suffered from it, while nonbelievers who knew better did not. He did not believe in magic, so how could it work on him? If he and Felony had been physically together there could have been pheromones, but their togetherness was illusion. Sure, it had seem real when he picked her up and carried her away from the predator bird that time, but that was a matter of their film suits reacting to each other, like the kissing only more comprehensive. Strictly sight, sound, and touch, no chemistry. Her spell had touched him inside, and he still felt it.

  Oh, did he ever feel it! His heart was beating hard and her image was in his mind. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, be with her in every sense. He was in love.

  And that could not be. Felony was a fine girl, surely worthy of love, and it might happen, but he was more cautious about emotional commitment. Ike learned well from experience, and getting dumped for wanting too much, too fast, had been a hard lesson. Felony in her beauty stage could likely be a lot of fun, but that was not at all the same as love. So how could he feel it so strongly?

  Ike was good at answers. He had posed the question; now he had to answer it. How could he account for the way he felt, if magic didn't work? This was not some magic show, where the stage magician used suggestion, sleight of hand, and stage props to make impossible things seem to happen, like a sexy young woman getting sawed in half. This was real, in its fashion.