Out of Body Universe - Part One

by Martin Chu Shui

  Chapter 15

  “Nathan, here are your seekers.” Gary passed a pair of sunglasses to Nathan.

  They were walking along a crowded street in Little Amsterdam. Sure enough, with the seekers, Nathan was able to see through most people’s masks around him.

  “Pretty good shit, eh?” Dave patted Nathan’s shoulder.

  “You had better put this on as well.” Gary passed another item to Nathan.

  It was a wristwatch, similar to a waterproof electronic watch, with a wide strap and many buttons. “Why do I need a watch?”

  ‘Dude, it’s not only a watch,” said Dave. “It’s called a jumper, the mobile phone of OBU.”

  “Jumper? But I saw people using mobile phones in OBU,” said Nathan.

  ‘You can call it whatever you like,” Gary said. “They function as mobile phones in OBU, but much better. Because everything in OBU is already sending signals directly into your brain, a jumper enables you to both see and listen to others who are also using jumpers.”

  “Jumpers come in all different shapes; people wear them as hats, jewellery such as necklaces, rings, bangles, accessories like gloves, shoes; you name it,” said Dave.

  “Why don’t they just combine seekers and jumpers together as a pair of sunglasses?” asked Nathan.

  “Mine is just that but it’s much more expensive, so I just got you a cheaper version of each one; I hope you don’t mind,” Gary said.

  “I appreciate it, mate,” said Nathan. “Why haven’t I got a jumper from OBUarity? They provide us with the latest masks.”

  “God knows; maybe you don’t need one whilst working in a remote village in Africa,” said Dave.

  “That’s exactly why we need jumpers there. Gary, I have to get one for Amy,” said Nathan.

  “I am certain Amy has already got one,” said Gary.

  “How can you be so sure?” asked Nathan.

  “Because I have talked to Amy with my jumper a couple of times,” said Gary.

  ‘I wonder why Amy didn’t mention jumpers to me; anyway, Gary, can I talk to Amy’s jumper? I mean right now?” Nathan was worrying about Vicky’s problem.

  Dave stopped walking and looked at Nathan. “Have you fallen for Amy?”

  “Oh, no; we are just friends. The reason I need to ring her is because…” Gary interrupted Nathan. “You don’t need to tell us the reason. Push that button on your jumper, and a screen should pop up in front of you.”

  Nathan did as instructed. A large screen popped up in mid-air, right in front of his face.

  “Don’t worry, you are the only one who is able to see the screen,” Dave said.

  The screen was much like the mobile screen Nathan was familiar with, so it was not difficult to navigate it to make a call. All he had to do was use his hand to pull one screen after another. He found Gary’s number in the contacts, so he pushed the dial button.

  As soon as Gary answered the call, Nathan saw live pictures appearing on his jumper’s screen, like a video camera’s stream feed. It was obviously from Gary’s point of view. “You can see why I chose that particular jumper for you; it works like the old mobile phone.”

  “You can switch the visual signal off if you don’t want others to see what you are doing,” said Dave.

  “Nathan, here is Amy’s number,” said Gary.

  Nathan turned the visual signal off first, and then dialled Amy’s jumper. He didn’t feel comfortable letting Amy seeing the red light district in the background.

  “Hi, Amy, it’s me, Nathan.” It seemed Amy had also switched the visual signals off.

  “Nathan?” He could hear Amy’s surprise. “You’ve got a jumper.”

  “Yes, Gary just gave it to me. How come you didn’t tell me about it before?”

  “I suppose that we were together all the time so there was no need to have a jumper, so I completely forgot about it. I am so glad you have one now.”

  “How is it going with contacting OBUarity field staff?”

  “I have talked to one of them already; since the situation is quite serious, OBUarity has agreed to help get Vicky and James out as soon as possible; nobody wants to have a blood bath of a tribe war.”

  “Great. Please keep me informed.” Nathan hung up.

  “All settled? Should we get to the bar? I desperately want a drink,” said Dave.

  “I thought you didn’t drink much; it’s the girls you are so desperate for,” said Nathan.

  ‘You know me well, mate,” said Dave.

  The bar was as noisy and crowded as Nathan remembered from their last visit. With his seeker sunglasses on, Nathan could see most people’s real faces, but there were a few that still remained young and beautiful looking, so they were either wearing more advanced masks, or were genuinely young and good-looking people. Gary slouched into his chair, blowing clouds of blue smoke, and Dave’s eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for his prey.

  Nathan sipped his beer and observed Dave; it would be interesting to see how long it would take him to find a girl. Once again, Dave didn’t disappoint Nathan; he found his target in less than five minutes.

  Gary’s eyes were closed, deeply enjoying smoking his dope. Dave turned to Nathan. “Look at the girl at the fifth table on the left; yes, the one with the white jacket and short black skirt. What do you think about her?”

  Nathan could see through her mask and was surprised that her mask hadn’t changed her appearance much. She had a good body, full boobs, long legs and a flat stomach. The blonde hair was dyed—you could see that from the dark roots. Her face was quite attractive, obviously Dave’s type. “I think you both suit each other.”

  “Wish me luck, mate.” Dave stood up and walked over to the girl.

  It was quite noisy so Nathan couldn’t hear the exchange between Dave and the girl, but based on Dave’s facial expression, Nathan was afraid the situation wasn’t going as smoothly as Dave had hoped. After another few words, the girl stood up and walked to another table where two guys in suits sat. Dave came back seconds later and sat down beside Nathan angrily.

  “What happened?” asked Nathan.

  “What a bloody slut she is,” Dave said.

  “Isn’t that what you are seeking here?” asked Nathan.

  “Yeah but she is particular slutty; she wanted to get two large guys together and have rough sex,” Dave said, looking back at the girl.

  Nathan looked at the girl more closely. She seemed to be about in her mid-twenties. The two guys she was talking with were quite large in their real bodies, easily a few inches taller and a fair bit thicker than Nathan and Dave; normally Nathan would think they were rugby players but from the way they dressed and talked, Nathan imaged they were lawyers or businessmen. He looked back at Dave. “There are plenty of other girls out there and you may have better luck later.”

  Dave looked up. Following his line of sight, Nathan saw the girl walking out of the bar with the two guys.

  “There is no other girl I am interested in in this bar. Let’s get out of here.” Dave was not in a good mood.

  “All right. I’m done with my fix.” Gary stood up and they all walked out.

  “Where are we going? Another bar?” asked Nathan.

  “Not another bloody bar. To tell you the truth, I have been here so many times but we always end up stuck inside the bloody bars. Why don’t we walk around outside of the red light district and have a good look at Amsterdam,” said Dave.

  “That’d be a first,” Gary laughed.

  “Good idea, let’s go and have a walk,” agreed Nathan.

  They passed the crowds and walked towards the main street outside the red light district. There were fewer people around the further they walked; soon they were the only people around. It was very quiet, and Nathan enjoyed the fresh air very much. Suddenly they heard a girl screaming; it was from the dark alley on their left.

  “A girl’s screaming,” Dave shouted. “Come on, Nathan, let’s rescue her.”

  Nathan didn’t say
anything, but ran towards where the voice was coming from. It was a dark alley; Nathan could make out three figures in front of them. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could see two large guys holding a girl up against the wall.

  “Let her go,” Nathan said calmly.

  “It’s none of your business; we are having consensual rough adult sex as she requested,” one of the large guys said in a southern American accent.

  “Please help me; I want to leave now,” the girl screamed.

  “Shut up.” The other guy slapped her cheek. “You asked for rough sex, but want to stop now. You can’t do that, bitch. Bad luck, you have to stick with us until we are done with you.”

  “I said let her go.” Nathan raised his voice a bit.

  “Buddy, are you looking for a fight?” One of the guys walked towards Nathan, while the other still held the girl.

  “I am not looking for a fight, but I am asking you to let her go,” said Nathan.

  “You forgot to say please.” The large guy swung his huge fist at Nathan’s head, the movement fast and powerful.

  Nathan measured the angle and speed of the oncoming fist; he moved his body slightly, just missing the punch by half an inch. His own hand flashed out and grabbed the guy’s wrist; with a twist and a jerk, he heard the man’s pained scream as the bone cracked. Nathan knew the man wouldn’t be able to use his arm for a while. But Nathan didn’t stop there; he kicked at both the guy’s knees to dislocate his joints so he wouldn’t be able to walk either. “You son of a bitch…you broke my arms and legs…”

  The second guy threw the girl to the ground, rushing towards Nathan like a raging bull. He made a noise like an animalistic roar.

  Nathan didn’t move but watched him calmly; in the split second before their bodies clashed, Nathan swiftly shifted his body sideways. As the guy’s body passed him, he used the edge of his palm to chop at his neck. With a heavy thud, the large guy crashed face down onto the ground, unconscious.

  The first guy writhed on the ground, screaming loudly. Nathan kicked at his arm and legs a couple of times to ease his pain, so he stopped screaming.

  Nathan walked to the girl, who had put her clothes back on as best she could. “Are you all right?”

  The girl held her torn clothes to cover her body, and cried, “These two bastards raped me, beat me…”

  Dave stepped forward, recognizing the girl as the one who rejected him in the bar. “You are the slut from the bar. Isn’t this what you were asking for?”

  The girl whimpered. “Yes, I agreed to do it…with them initially, but soon I regretted it and asked them to stop, but they kept raping me and beating me and wouldn’t stop even though I was begging them to let me go…”

  Nathan stopped Dave before he could make another comment. “What’s your name? Where are you from?”

  “Ava; I am from LA, in the United States.”

  “Ava, could you please wait here for a moment.” Nathan walked to the first guy, who was holding his arm, swearing and cursing. He looked up at Nathan, and then shouted in a fearful voice, “Who are you? What are you going to do to me?”

  “I’m just doing a citizen’s duty, stopping you from attacking an innocent victim,” said Nathan.

  “You broke my arm and legs…” the guy said.

  “What’s your name?” Nathan asked.

  “My name is Jacob and he’s Aiden. Is Aiden dead?” said Jacob.

  “No, Aiden is alive, and your arm and legs haven’t been broken, just dislocated,” said Nathan. He then turned around and kicked the unconscious Aiden in the back a few times. With some groans, Aiden swore, then tried to climb up.

  “You had better share the pain with your friend.” Nathan kicked at Aiden’s legs and arms; Aiden started screaming.

  “Shut up. It’s not that painful,” Nathan said. “So now you know what your victim’s suffering feels like.”

  Gary tugged Nathan’s arm. “Can I have a word with you?”

  Before Nathan could respond, Jacob said, “We are both lawyers and we will sue your ass off.”

  “Have you lost your mind?” said Nathan. “You are the bloody criminals here.”

  Jacob shouted, “We were having consensual adult sex, and you attacked us. Call the police and we will sue you and send you to jail…”

  Aiden interrupted Jacob. “Mate, you are from Australia, right? If you fix our legs and arms and let us go, we are happy to forget all of this; what do you say?”

  Dave dragged Nathan away from the two guys; Gary followed. After they were out of earshot, Dave said, “These guys are right: if it goes to court, they could sue you for bodily harm.”

  “What about their assault on the girl?” Nathan said.

  “It’d be very difficult to prove the case because she willingly engaged with them in the first place; let them go and forget about this mess,” said Dave.

  “Dave is right, Nathan. We don’t need the extra trouble,” said Gary.

  Nathan turned, looking at the whimpering girl against the wall, with her torn clothes wrapped around her naked body. “What about her rights? I can’t let those two leave without any punishment.”

  “Nathan, you have punished them enough,” said Gary.

  “Not nearly as much as they deserve. They have to feel the suffering their victim felt.” Nathan suddenly had a good idea. “Gary, can jumpers record people’s voices?”

  “Yes, they can. What’s on your mind?” asked Gary.

  “Leave it to me.” Nathan walked back to the girl. He took her away from the two guys, and then said softly, “Ava, under the circumstances, it’s unlikely we can prove the case easily in court, but I don’t want to let them leave unpunished. I believe in the old laws, teeth for teeth and blood for blood. You have a jumper, right? Good, so connect it to my jumper. Now I want you to try to remember every detail of how they abused you and speak it out loud. I know it’s a hard thing for you to do right now, but please do it for yourself and other possible victims in the future. I will record your words and force these two thugs to listen to it over and over; meanwhile I will dislocate more of their joints to make them suffer, so they will always remember the pain whenever they are thinking of abusing another woman in the future. Will you do it for me, Ava?”

  Ava nodded. She thought for a moment and then started to tell him about her terrible ordeal. Nathan listened to her voice, feeling angry and enraged about how nasty and cruel these two animals were to her. For a moment, Nathan almost couldn’t stand to listen to her words anymore, but he forced himself to finish recording her voice.

  When it was done, Nathan took Ava close to the two guys who were sitting on the ground cursing and swearing. “Ava, look them right in the eyes; it’s your turn to return their favour.” With Gary’s help, Nathan connected his jumper to Jacob and Aiden’s; he then pushed the button to upload Ava’s words to their jumpers. He pushed the repeat buttons on both their jumpers to play her voice in a loop; almost immediately, both guys started screaming again.