Play: a virtual reality romance: Manhattan Lux Book 2

by Olivia Devon

  “Rupe!” Katie lifted him off and tapped the keys. The window was frozen. Rupert had managed to somehow hit the magic combination of buttons that completely broke everything. She moved her finger over the mousepad, the cursor didn’t move. The screen flashed, the image fractured into pixels, and the computer went dark.

  “Perfect,” she muttered. “Should I take that as a sign?”

  Aaron spent all day in HyperLyfe, and didn’t enjoy a second of it. A day of interviews, with the same questions over and over. A day of streaming his solo explorations with the constant reminder from blog comments and other avatars in world that his solo hosting abilities were lackluster compared to Catalina’s. They liked the stream better when Katie was a part of it. He was no good on his own.

  No shit.

  Not to be dramatic, but he felt like half his soul was missing. Every new experience in HyperLyfe felt colorless without Katie by his side. He never thought he’d be sick of HyperLyfe–it was his baby, his life’s work. But without Katie, a world of twenty million felt completely empty. By the end of the day he was itching to go home.

  He logged out, and headed across town to his apartment, stopping to grab some take-out on the way. There still wasn’t any food at home.

  There’s nothing there, he thought bitterly.

  Just a dirty S-suit, a VR visor, some old coffee mugs and an empty bed.

  The self-pity played like a violin refrain in his head and by the time he walked into his apartment he was sick of his own company. So like the VR addicts that reporter had warned about, he logged back into HyperLyfe, setting his visor to semi-transparent and wandering around his barren living room eating a burrito and watching a bad movie in the Highlands, kicking his S-suit-clad feet through the long digital grass.

  Alone.

  Maybe he should get a cat?

  Awwww. You know who had a cat? Katie.

  The movie ended and Aaron was just surfing for some episodes of Futurama when an alert popped up on his screen.

  He gasped audibly, and then spent a minute and a half coughing up the burrito he’d just inhaled, while the alert continued flashing on his screen.

  Shit, he needed water. Running to the kitchen he grabbed Katie’s dirty mug from the sink and gulped water until he was able to focus again.

  The alert was still flashing.

  Catalina_Celestina has sent you a gift. Accept or Deny?

  “Accept!” he said, coughing a bit more.

  “Creator Catalina_Celestina has indicated that this gift corresponds with a real world location.” The system spoke in his ear. “Geo-locating indicates you are currently present in this real world location. Would you like to enable real world tracking?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  Real world location? What was this about?

  The scene unfolded before him and Aaron dropped what was left of his burrito on the living room floor. He looked down, saw his real world seven layer oozing hot sauce onto a virtual Aubusson rug and grinned.

  She’d built his apartment, and she’d decorated it.

  You know what this meant?

  She didn’t totally hate him.

  Maybe, he still had a shot.

  Aaron started to head up the loft stairs to his bedroom, then stopped himself.

  No. Wait.

  He didn’t want to rush through this tour all haphazard like, he wanted to savor it, to absorb every detail that Katie had so painstakingly designed.

  He’d start with the elevator, and leave the bedroom for last.

  At the top floor of Calvert Tower, Aaron’s multi-million dollar penthouse had a multi-million dollar view. One whole side of the apartment was flanked by a massive glass and steel covered atrium. The private elevator opened into this space, and from there, had access to the door that led to the main interior of the apartment. It provided a view of the city skyline that was visible from nearly any spot in the penthouse, and had been a major factor in his decision to buy the place. But he’d been so busy, there hadn’t been any time to think of what to do with the space.

  Now Aaron walked through the glass front door of his apartment and straight into the elevator, careful not to glance at the terrace. He wanted to do this the right way, to witness Katie’s vision as she’d intended. He stepped into the elevator with his eyes closed and the doors shut behind him.

  When he reached for the “open doors” button he could see his S-suit covered hand through his visor, and realized he still had the opacity set to semi-transparent, so he turned opacity all the way up, and stepped back onto the terrace atrium when the doors opened.

  Katie’s masterpiece solidified around him.

  Wow.

  Immersive didn’t begin to describe it.

  In reality, it was a cold, cloudy, moonless night in New York City. In Katie’s city the dark night was punctuated by a full glowing moon. He looked up through the glittering glass of the atrium and caught glimpses of stars twinkling behind dark billowy clouds. He could hear the sounds of a storm. Thunder cracked in the distance. Lightning pierced through the clouds, and all around him, fat drops of rain splashed against the glass.

  The S-suit sent licks of heat up his back and he turned to see a fire pit, accompanied by four cushion-covered teak chairs. Something wet hit his avatar’s skin and he noticed a fountain on the distressed brick wall to the right. It was spitting mist at him, like the waterfall Katie’d had built on her own land. At the far end of the patio was a hot tub, surrounded by tall plants and modern sculptures.

  “Well that’s awesome,” he chuckled. He hadn’t thought of adding a hot tub to the terrace, but damn if it didn’t seem like the very best idea now.

  Back by the elevator, tucked into a corner, was a trellis covered in a blooming flower vine. In front of the trellis was a bistro table and chairs, set with steaming lattes and a newspaper.

  He crossed to the table, leaned over and plucked a flower from the vine. Instinct had him drawing it to his nose for a sniff. Silly, there was no scent, but his mind was playing tricks on him and he could’ve sworn for a second the flower had shared Katie’s fragrance.

  Aaron placed the flower next to one of the coffee cups then turned to the glass door that led to the interior of the penthouse.

  The short entryway had a bike hanging on the wall, artwork and a low metal cabinet for storage.

  The floor plan for the whole penthouse was open, and Katie’s design instincts had made the most of it, creating defined living spaces with area rugs, careful furniture placement, and the clever employment of warm, complimentary color schemes.

  God she was good.

  Near the living room, a mid-century modern leather chair and ottoman were in a corner with a stereo system and a bookcase full of vinyl records.

  Just beyond was a dark green sectional, and more plush rugs, including the Aubusson he’d noticed earlier. A post-modern woven rush chair hung from the ceiling.

  “Functional and decorative.” He nodded. “I like it.” His gaze shifted to the wall behind the chair and he tilted his head, trying to make sense of the full wall of art.

  “Oh, damn. Well that’s nice.” It was a Shunga piece. Very famous, in fact. A classic painting called “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife”. A Japanese erotic portrait of a woman being pleasured by the many tentacles and mouth of a massive octopus.

  He tilted his head the other way, and couldn’t help but relate this image to how Katie had looked at Lux, with all those eager hands caressing her naked body.

  Is that why she’d included this piece? Was she thinking of Lux when she’d selected it?

  He hoped so.

  There was heat at his back again. Turning he noticed she’d designed a stone fireplace that was a brilliant mixture of classic and modern design, the perfect compliment to the brick, wood, glass and metal finishes the decor was favoring.

  Huh. The building was wired for gas, he remembered. A real fireplace was totally doable.

  The three massive concrete columns th
at stood in the middle of the penthouse had been a structural element that in real life, he’d been dreading decorating around. Katie had handled them beautifully, using their presence as a natural divider between the living room and the space beyond. Each column was decorated with more art, and some modern candle holder thingys. Those were pretty cool.

  On the other side of the columns Katie had laid the area out into two main spaces. On one side, facing the atrium glass, was a home office with an industrial style desk and chair, more bookshelves, and a very comfy looking wingback chair.

  Beyond that was a small dining table, and beyond that, taking up the entire back wall of the space, was the kitchen.

  Aaron padded over the wood floor and opened a cabinet. Wine glasses and coffee mugs. Fancy.

  The kitchen set up was professional and spectacular and paid such attention to detail that he suspected Katie had spent a long time on it, and probably liked to cook in real life. He’d have to ask her about that, if she started talking to him again.

  There was a pattern on the largest wall in the kitchen, dark grey over light. He stepped closer. Nope, couldn’t make it out, so he stepped back. Then a little more. Oh! It was words. The entire wall was covered in words. He looked up and to the left, searching for the start of it.

  “We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained…” He read the words aloud, and his chest clenched.

  It was John F. Kennedy’s speech at Rice University. Better known as the “We choose to go to the moon speech”. It was, hands down, one of the most influential and inspirational speeches he’d ever heard. One of his favorites.

  He’d never mentioned that to Katie. She’d added this herself, knew him well enough to have guessed what it might mean to him.

  But there hadn’t been a note with this strange gift. No guidance as to how to take this. Was it a commentary on his lack of furniture? An invitation to get in touch with her? A parting gift along the lines of “have a nice life?”

  Okay, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to see the bedroom. Maybe there, he’d find an answer.

  Running back to the entryway he sprinted up the stairs to the second floor loft that hosted his bedroom and master bath.

  When Katie had seen the real bedroom, it had a mattress and not much more. Now the space was transformed.

  He glanced around hurriedly, hoping for another surprise, another sign.

  There was a flat screen across from the bed, which itself was covered with a thick comforter and some fluffy pillows.

  One whole wall featured a custom wood closet with open shelves filled with neatly folded clothes and accessories.

  He spun, taking it all in again a second time.

  It was nice, but kind of…sterile?

  Disappointment coiled in his gut, and he realized, with some reluctance, that he’d been ridiculously hoping that he’d see Katie lying on the bed when he walked in. That was absurd, of course. But at the very least it would have been nice to have seen some element of her in this room, some sign that this world she’d created for him would have her in it.

  But it didn’t seem so. It was a bachelor’s room.

  Aaron walked back down the stairs. There, by the door, there was a small little seating area he’d missed.

  Another comfy chair, a side table with a book and a glass of Prosecco.

  Katie liked Prosecco.

  He looked closer.

  The chair was covered in a tartan fabric, the same colors and style as the skirt she’d worn in the highlands. He heard purring, so bending low, he peeped under the chair. There was a fluffy black digital cat snoozing underneath. He stood back up, and eased himself softly down onto the chair. No telling how that virtual cat would react to be woken up.

  Was this the sign? he wondered. A black cat and plaid upholstery?

  He glanced up, and noticed a piece of framed art he hadn’t seen before.

  “The only way to predict the future is to invent it.”

  The first line of the speech he’d given the night they met.

  Aaron hadn’t coined the phrase, but it didn’t matter, the sentiment spoke to him on the deepest level.

  He hopped up and walked back to the kitchen wall. John F. Kennedy had ended his speech with “We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

  Aaron had always agreed with that too. When it came to tech, to innovation and development, to pushing his company and his people to the limits of their abilities, he firmly believed in those words. If you aren’t scared, then you aren’t pushing yourself, he told them. If you aren’t pushing yourself, you aren’t growing. If it’s hard, then good, you know you’re on the right track, because nothing worth doing was ever easy.

  Fuck.

  That was it.

  She may not have intended to, but Katie had left him a sign after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Boss man,” the voice buzzed in his ear. “You’ve gotta stop falling asleep in here dude.”

  Aaron bolted upright and opened his eyes. Oh, he still had his visor on. He looked around for Aiko and didn’t see her.

  “What? Where are you?”

  “In my rocket ship in Celestia City, where are you? I stopped by the castle, you weren’t there.”

  “Then how did you know I was asleep?” he said.

  “Lucky guess. Dude, teleport me over to where you are, I can’t stand this voice chat, it’s like being on the phone or something.”

  “Yeah well the phone was a pretty impressive invention you know, kind of changed the world and stuff.”

  “Whatever, teleport please.”

  He thought for a minute, looked around the bedroom Katie had decorated and decided that even though Aiko was a dear friend, he didn’t feel like sharing this.

  “No, I’m logging out,” he said. “I’ll see you at the office.”

  “Can’t wait,” she said, and Aaron could hear her chewing on something. “I’m home, I’ll just come up to the penthouse.”

  “Right, bring some of whatever you’re eating please. I’m starving.”

  Aiko arrived with two bagels (one half eaten) and an enormous paper cup of black coffee. She grabbed the One Eyed Turtle mug that was sitting on the counter, dumped in half her coffee, and handed it, and the half eaten bagel, to Aaron.

  Aaron frowned, traded the half eaten bagel for the untouched one and took a big bite.

  “Worth a shot,” she said, shrugging. “I get kind of greedy when it comes to bagels.”

  “You get kind of greedy when it comes to all food,” said Aaron. “So let’s sit down and…” he trailed off when he realized he was heading into an empty living room. His brain must still be sleep addled. For a moment he’d really thought there was a green sectional in there.

  “Okay.” Aiko hopped up on the kitchen counter and swung her feet as she drank coffee. “So listen,” she said. “What’s that word, the one that writers use for the end of stuff?”

  “What?”

  “You know!” Aiko waved a hand in the air. “Like for the end of a play or–”

  “Oh…finis?”

  “No like the final part of something, when everything comes full circle and it’s all tied up in a neat little bow. The last–”

  “Denouement?” asked Aaron, raising an eyebrow. What the hell was she going on about?

  “That’s it!” Aiko pointed at him. “Deh-noo-mah. That’s the word. Right. Okay, so I’ve got my denouement, or our denouement rather.”

  “Aik,” he said, rubbing his forehead with frustration. “What are you talking about? I thought this was important.”

  “It is.” Aiko took a bite of bagel and nodded. “I’ve got our hacker.”

  Aaron stared at her.

  “The hacker. You know, from when we first met? Jack thought Calvert Consulting was being hacked, but we traced it back to his nightclub Glow, and really it wasn’t about Glow at all, they were trying to hack Lux, but really it wasn�
��t about Lux either, they were trying to get to you because…” She waved both hands at him frantically as if the movement would jumpstart his memory.

  “Yeah, right,’ said Aaron. “At the time you said it was–”

  “A ham-handed attempt by newbie hackers on a fishing expedition hoping they stumbled onto something good.” Aiko finished for him. “Yep. How could you forget that?”

  “I didn’t forget.” Aaron shrugged. “I just thought that was all over. They didn’t get anything, we patched our security hole. Done.”

  “Oh my sweet naive little angel.” Aiko shook her head at him. “It was never over, not until I caught the bastards.”

  “Okay, so you’re saying you caught the bastard.”

  “Yep.” Aiko nodded smugly. “I did. Because, those ham-handed newbs struck again. Last night.”

  “You’ve got to be mistaken.” Aaron cursed under his breath. “No way, we’ve got the tightest security in place–”

  “Nope, they got around it, sneaky fuckers.”

  “How?”

  “Just listen to me, I’m trying to tell you, but just let me get it all out, before you fly off the handle.”

  “Fly off the handle?” He grimaced. “My company has been hacked…Aik you are trying my patience here–”

  “Last night, Katie’s laptop glitched out while she was in HL. She thought it was just Rupert’s big ass sitting on the keyboard, so whatever, she went to bed.”

  “Okay…”

  “I on the other hand, was not sleeping last night, for…reasons. So I was up, watching the code.”

  “You’re so weird.”

  “I find it soothing, and stop interrupting.”

  “Fine.”

  “So anyhow, I saw the glitch when it happened and something just–”

  “You saw the glitch on a single user account exactly when it happened?” Aaron looked at her skeptically. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

  “Okay I was watching the code for you and Katie, hoping I’d catch you guys making up. But you’re both dumbasses, and that didn’t happen. There. Happy now? Can I continue?”

  Aaron pursed his lips and nodded.

  “So I saw the glitch. It was an attempt to hack her avatar’s user information. Everything. Passwords, credit cards, archived files.”