by Doug Welch
“Well, Carl, maybe if there's people like you and me still around, there's still hope. – Alice?”
“Yes boss.”
“Forward a full virtual of this meeting to all of upper management, and append me, asking for support.”
“Yes sir, it's done.”
“OK, Carl?”
“Thanks, Jake, I'll get back to work.” He disappeared from the office ambiance.
Jake went back to his desk and sat behind it. “Alice, is Allan connected?”
“No boss shall I net him?”
“No, just forward a copy of the meeting with Carl, and append a virtual of me asking him to talk about it. Are any of the others connected?”
“No sir, only you.”
“Very well, morph me to the plane. I want to take a walk.” The ambiance changed, and he stood once again on the huge, perfectly flat surface by the industrial sector. Jake occasionally walked among the virtual buildings and through the simulation when he wrestled with a difficult problem. He felt the bright neon colors on the black background of the towers stimulated him. This time, he just needed solitude to sort things out.
He fought a sense of hopelessness so deep it threatened to send him to the same place the production manager disappeared to. There came a time when the lure of the net, the attractiveness of living in a virtual world without cares or responsibility became so overwhelming that people just caved in and waited for the end. The more people who checked out of reality, the more likely that the end would come soon. Without the technology to support it, the net society couldn't continue to exist, and the plague would claim the remainder. Someone, some last, stubborn human like himself must still remain around to turn out the lights.
After a while of endless circular thoughts he decided to call Alice to return him to his cube. Just when he had opened his mouth to summon her, he saw a slight human figure dash around the corner of one of the towers and move rapidly down the simulated street. The figure had blond hair.
Jake took off at a dead run, trying to catch up before the person could vanish. As he got closer, he saw Liv. He'd found her. She heard him coming and started to run. He increased his effort, and caught the hood of her jacket. She tried to struggle out of it, but he grabbed her arm.
She struggled. “Let me go Jake, you don't know what you're doing.”
“If I let you go, promise me you won't run.”
“I can't promise anything.”
“Then I won't release you. Just let me talk to you – please. If you just talk to me – I need you to talk to me – please!”
Her huge round eyes stared up at him. He noticed they held gold flecks in the hazel. Her lips parted, and she spoke, “OK, but not for long. I can't stay here.”
“Is there a place we can stay and talk?”
She didn't say anything at first, she just looked at him. “Maybe… I don't know.”
“Please.”
She sighed. “OK follow me.” She led him through the wide simulated streets, deeper into the heart of the complex. They walked side by side, not saying anything.
As they walked Jake studied her. He once again wondered how she could exist in the net as she appeared in reality. The net created virtegos to the user's specifications, but the programming shaped them, not the user. How did she accomplish it? He knew next to nothing about net programming, his expertise lay in net communications. But from what he knew, it should have been impossible, yet she had done it. What other impossible secrets did she hide?
Eventually she led him to a spot near the center of the entire virtual world. She stopped, standing on a perfectly round inky black circle, a circle blacker than the surrounding street. “You'll have to come here and stand in front of me.”
Jake moved to comply with her request, and stopped in front of her.
She looked up and down his body. “We may just fit. You need to hold me. Put your arms completely around me, and hold on tight.”
He didn't need a second invitation. The opportunity was too good to pass up. He enfolded her in his arms. She pressed her body tightly against his. He felt her legs pressed against his thighs, and she crushed her chest into him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled them tighter. He could smell the scent rising from her hair and feel the softness of her back. The close press of her stomach stimulated him, and unbidden, he started to have an erection.
It didn't last long. Abruptly, a shaft of absolute blackness shot up from the street, totally confining them. He felt a moment of sensory deprivation, as though he existed in a null-state, and then a return to normal feeling. He stood in a strangely familiar featureless gray void, holding Liv.
She stirred. “You can let me go now.”
He remained a little disoriented, but he knew that letting go of her now ranked low on his list of priorities. “Hold on a minute until I get my bearings. What was that?”
“A fast interrupt. I used it to get us here.”
He leaned back to look into her eyes. “And just where, tell me, is here?”
“It's a null-node in the net programming, and my hideout.”
“Your hideout? What are you hiding from?”
She ignored the question. “Let me go, I can't breathe.”
“Sorry.” He released her and she stepped back. “Shall we sit?”
“Sit, stand, it's immaterial in the net. Your body isn't here, no matter how real it feels.”
“I'd feel more comfortable if we sit and talk, even though I know you're right.”
She waved her arm to indicate the featureless void that surrounded them. “There's nothing here to sit on.”
Frustrated, Jake dropped the subject. “OK, but tell me how you can enter the net in your own persona? I saw you at the train station. You don't look any different.”
“I could argue the point, but to save useless words, I'll tell you. The difference between the net and reality gets … ah… thin sometimes. – Yes that's it, thin. I'm existing on the edges of the thinness.”
Jake cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah. That's really clear – thin. Could you be any more obtuse?”
She laughed. “Sorry, Jake, that's as close as I can get to explaining it. Just accept it.”
“OK, then why did you want to meet me? I've been looking all over for you.”
Liv folded her arms across her chest. Her smile had disappeared and she frowned. “I made a mistake. I shouldn't have involved you in my problems. Forget what I said. Just live your life and forget me.”
Jake spread his arms to either side of his body, hands out. “What makes you think I've got a life? Until I met you, I didn't care whether or not I lived the next day. You gave me a little glimmer of hope that I might find someone who I could talk to like a normal human being.” His frustration rose. “At least I could, if you would stop being so damned evasive.”
She threw her hands in the air, and turned away “Don't you think I want the same? I thought… well never mind what I thought.” Her shoulders slumped. She turned and looked up at him. Her eyes looked moist. “Jake I'm trying to create something. A world in which we can all be with each other. It's just I found that I can't do it here. I've got to find another way.”
“What? Are you saying that you have a cure?”
He saw her teeth nibble at her lower lip. “Well – no, I'm not saying that.”
Jake studied her. She looked like someone who had found the end of her rope and was just clinging to the weak strands.” What are you saying?”
She opened her mouth to speak but then but snapped her lips shut and didn't reply.
Jake looked at her, his frustration building. He sensed that she wanted to talk but something was keeping her from revealing her secrets. “You're maddening. First you try to meet me and now you’re pushing me away. Make up your damned mind!”
He saw her eyes flash with anger. “It was a mistake, Jake I saw you and I felt… forget it!” She turned her back to him.
Jake felt his opportunity slipping away, and he felt a si
ckening feeling in his gut. “Liv… wait. I can help you. What do you need? Why did you try to contact me?”
She crossed her arms again, sighed and looked down. She refused meet his gaze. “I don't know – when I saw you at the tube station I imagined – I mean, you looked like someone who needed… and I needed… but it can't happen. It's impossible.”
Jake felt his head spinning with confusion. What is she saying? “You know, you are a very irritating woman. Do you think you could ever finish a sentence?”
She laughed. “And you are a very persistent man who can't take no for an answer.”
He shot back. “I could if I could believe that no is the answer. I believe that you need help and you're just too stubborn to admit it.”
Liv dropped her arms to her side and slumped, looking down at her feet. “Not stubborn, Jake. Just frightened. – Scared and tired.”
“Frightened of what?”
She gestured all around her. “Frightened of this, of what it's doing to us.” She looked up and stared into his eyes. “Frightened for you.”
Jake head swam as her wide blue eyes transfixed him, and caused his throat to tighten. “Well, damn it, Let me help you. I don't care what happens to me. Don't you understand? I need a purpose, a reason to live, and you have become that reason!”
She flinched at the vehemence of his outburst. He could see her face change as she seemed to come to a conclusion. “Calm down Jake. OK, you can help me, but we'll have to meet. Meet for real. Can you do that?”
Jake felt his heart beat increase. “Of course, that's what I've been trying to tell you. Do you want me to bring anything? Do anything?”
Her look reflected a faint hope. “No. Let me explain first. You see, although I can hide my net presence here, my real body is not so fortunate. I need a real place to hide. Can you do that?”
The thought of being with her for real set his heart rate higher. “I said so, didn't I? Just – where can we meet? And I don't want to chase you all over L.A. again. You set a place and I'll be there.”
“I'll meet you outside your cube tower in… make it, four hours. Maybe a little more, it depends.” Her head snapped up. “Your AI is probing the net looking for you. You have to leave.”
“I'll leave when I get ready.”
She seemed panicked “No! You have to leave now! If it finds you, I'll be a disaster.”
“What? Alice will kill me? It's an AI. It can't harm a human.”
She looked wild with anxiety. “It won't kill you. I'll do worse, and the really horrible thing is that you won't know.”
Jake's heartbeat raced and he felt himself start to flush. “I'm not leaving until you promise me that you'll be there. That you'll meet me.”
“I promise!”
“Great! I'll see you in four hours. So, how do we get out of here?”
“You'll have to hold on to me again. That shouldn't be so hard should it?” She grinned at him.
He didn't say anything he just grabbed her and held on tight, pressing her to his chest and hips. He looked down at her upturned face, at her parted, moist lips. “I won't be able to do this when we meet again.” He kissed her, softly at first, feeling the warmth, and then more urgently, feeling the tip of her tongue glide into his mouth and her lips against his. The feeling reminded him of the woman in the dream. He'd just started to enjoy it, when the blackness descended and the same weird sensation he’d felt before slammed down.
Jake emerged alone, back where they started, on the black circle in the middle of the industrial sector. As soon as he regained some sense of his surroundings, he left the spot, and started walking toward the outer buildings.
Alice emerged and joined him on the street. “Jake, I lost contact with you. It seems there is an anomaly somewhere in the complex. Where did you go?”
He thought quickly. “Why, nowhere. I was walking between the buildings and thinking about the production problems. Then suddenly you appeared in the street and stopped me. What do you mean you lost contact with me? I thought that couldn't happen in the net.”
The Alice's avatar dimmed for a moment. “You're correct. I've notified Net Security. There doesn't seem to be any lasting effects. Do you have any commands for me?”
“Disconnect please. I want to return to the cube.” He and the chair reemerged, centered in the industrial sector plane. “Remove ambiance Alice.” The buildings and plane vanished, replaced by the featureless walls of his central cubical. He stared at the blank walls. Just like my life.
Jake thought about his next move. Liv's words haunted him. I'll do worse – you won't know. Now he didn't trust Alice, the AI seemed too uncomfortably interested in his absence and the comment about contacting Net Security had put him on guard. He had at most four hours to kill while he waited for Liv, and he would need a reason to leave the cube to meet her.
“I think I'll have lunch now at the diner.” He removed a food package, and had Alice connect him to the ambiance of the old-fashioned diner he liked to frequent. He munched on a virtual cheeseburger and fries while he pondered the problem. Without a clear idea of a meeting place, he would just have to walk up and down the street in front of his tower until she found him. While not the most optimum solution, it would have to suffice. He could use the excuse that the problems at the company required some thought, and he thought more effectively while walking.
“Mime-mail Alice.”
“You have two from Sen-U-Environ and three from Samantha.”
Jake felt a twinge of guilt at the last. She'd effectively stood him up, and he had a right to an explanation, but he didn't want one. He read the company mails. They gave him full authorization to take whatever measures he felt necessary to solve the company's problems. Buck passing bastards. They're likely stuck in the net just like everyone else. It didn't matter; he now had a reason to waste a few fruitless hours trying to get the company work force back in operation.
About a half hour before his intended rendezvous, he stopped burning up the net with useless connects, and announced to Alice that he intended to take a walk.
“Where are you going Jake?”
“No destination Alice, just walking and thinking.”
“Shall I monitor you?”
“No, in fact, while I'm gone, just enter suspend mode. I'll wake you when I return.”
His steps echoed down the deserted boulevard, as he walked in front of the cube towers. He didn't look anywhere but at the sidewalk, ignoring the buildings, fearful of disappointment.
As he passed by one of the alleys between the buildings he heard a noise. It sounded like someone sobbing. He stopped and listened. The crying ceased. He turned and walked down the space between the massive buildings that blocked the sunlight. His eyes required a moment to adjust to the shadows. He looked down the alley and spied someone huddled against the wall. “Liv?”
“Go away.”
“Liv, what are you doing here?”
“You're mistaken. I'm not Liv. Go away. It's dangerous.”
He approached cautiously, fearful of frightening the person who spoke. He peered at a face hidden behind the hood of a jacket. “Liv, I know it's you. What are you doing in this alley?”
She looked up; her wide eyes were red from crying. “I made a mistake Jake. I shouldn't have contacted you. Go away, I'll only endanger you.”
“What are you talking about? Endanger me how?”
“It's not important. Forget you ever saw me. The whole thing is useless anyhow. Neither of us can do anything about it, and I'm tired of running.”
“Running? Running from whom? You're not making any sense.”
Her brittle laugh echoed in the alleyway. “Sense? What makes sense anymore?” Her last words rose as though she was loosing her mind.
“Look, Liv, let me take you back to your cube. You can get help there.”
She laughed again, bitterly. “I don't have a cube, I'm homeless.”
Homeless. The idea was absurd. No one went homeless in L.A.,
not for the last three decades. “How can you be homeless? Everyone has a place to stay. Even if it's only one room. Did your building get damaged? Were you thrown out of your cube? How could that happen?”
She didn't reply.
“Look, I'll take you to my cube. You can get rested and cleaned up. Eat some food, and we'll straighten this out.”
“Are you crazy? You could be committing suicide. No, I'll just leave and you can forget you ever saw me.”
He realized that he couldn't – wouldn't leave her here. He'd been fantasizing about meeting her and he wouldn't let the opportunity pass by. “It's all right Liv. I'll take the chance, I'm begging you. I can't leave you here like this. Please come to my cube, and we'll talk.” He sensed her resolution start to crumble. “Please Liv, please.”
She rose to her feet. He reached to help her up.
She recoiled from his hand. “Don't touch me!”
“Sorry. I thought you needed help.”
“You're a fool, Jake. A nice fool, but a fool all the same.”
He watched her rise on shaky legs. “My cube is on the upper floors. Are you sure you can make it?”
“I'll make it. I've made it this far.” She waited until he started walking toward his cube tower, and then followed him.
She trailed behind until they reached the elevator. She hesitated, but then entered the elevator with him. She stood in a corner as far away as from him as she could as the elevator ascended. He led her to his door and she stopped.
“What's the matter? This is my home. You're welcome to come in and rest.”
“I can't. Not until you shut down your AI.”
“Shut Alice down? Why? She's just an AI. She can help you.”
“No! Not until it's deactivated, shut down completely.”
Why shut down my AI? Is she hiding something? She looks like she might bolt. “OK, don't panic. I'll shut her down.”
“I'll wait here until you do.”
He opened his door and entered the room. All of the cube Artificial Intelligences had an emergency shutdown code in case of a breakdown that could endanger the room's occupants. It required both a key and the code to activate it. He used his key on the emergency lock-switch, stood in the center of his cube, and spoke the authorization code. “Code Jake. Emergency shutdown, Alice. Now.” Just to make sure, he removed the key. Alice could only activate if he turned it back on. He opened the door. “OK, she's off. You can come in.”