some
others had been before.
I
blinked and tried to figure out if I was looking at a mask or its
skin. The eyes were dark and sunken, the rest of his face a pearly
white. My skin crawled. That had to be a mask. The rest of him was so
colorful that it was hard to look in one spot.
Suddenly
the room was too quiet. Looking away felt dangerous. I had to
struggle and remind myself that this was a computer program. Nothing
here was real. Yet the thought of looking away made my heart race.
This Jester creature could have been staring into the middle distance
or something over my shoulder. Behind me. Was something there? Maybe?
I
risked looking away from that inhuman face for a moment. A second to
confirm that the door to my Atrium was still in the distance. To
check and make sure nothing had crawled out of this latest display to
get behind me.
The
tiny dragon squawked with sudden panic and flew off from its perch.
The feeling that had been creeping up behind me was even worse, only
now it was from the direction of the Jester I dared to look away
from.
I
turned back and flinched. The Jester was now inches away from my
face. A long nose spanned the divide. There was nothing under that
mask. No mouth or eyes to be found in the depths of blackness.
Cold,
clammy fingertips touched my forearm.
“ You
could not handle what I would ask.” The Jester's distant and
distorted voice came out. “Not yet.”
I
risked glancing down. The Jester was taking my hand, an action which
sent my virtual heart into palpitations and using it to do something
with the book. Together, me almost petrified and the Jester with a
frozen grin, we closed the book entirely.
The
images and projections of humans and other creatures faded. Even the
Jester was gone. I took a few breaths to steady myself. This game had
officially freaked me out. Once I got over the rush, part of me
realized that these different images, Voices, were completely
suckering me in. I watched them like a spectator at a zoo. Some
interacted with me and made me realize that this observation was
two-way. Continue Online was studying me. That idea made me pause.
“ If
anyone needs to know, I’m really good at polishing the metal
frames of our eventual robot overlords!” The comment came out
far more nervous than it did joking. In the darkness, something once
again seemed amused.
I
shook myself off and the feelings faded. I was reading into the empty
surroundings. My shrink called it projecting internal fears upon an
indifferent landscape. Self-realization was a technique I tried to
practice over the last few years. It made me more open with the
things that bothered me, like the conversation with Liz earlier
today.
Was
that today? I opened the book again, skipping a few pages to avoid
the Jester or any others of that type.
“ You
seem at a loss.” The latest figure was an overly plump black
man. He too wore glasses and had a balding head. Flickers of gray
etched what roots remained. “Would you like to talk about it?”
That
tone struck me hard. A rich depth lined each word, firmly gentle with
a single phrase. I didn’t swing towards the guys' side of the
fence at all, yet he spoke in such a way that I wanted to talk. Even
the question he asked felt comfortable. It was the same sort of
question I heard once a month from my psychologist. Two hours a month
spent explaining that I hadn’t tried to kill myself in the
bathtub this week because I was going strong.
“ If
we speak for too long, does that mean I’ve chosen you?” I
asked.
“ Not
at all. You make the choice clear by placing your hand on the print
below.” The heavier man approached the podium during our
conversation.
He
was strangely alone in the landscape. Most of the others had been
given some sort of backdrop. Warriors had battle scenes, elves had
trees or something nature bent. The connections were obvious. Like
the Jester, this man had nothing else but wasn’t nearly as
creepy.
“ Can
you explain what’s
others had been before.
I
blinked and tried to figure out if I was looking at a mask or its
skin. The eyes were dark and sunken, the rest of his face a pearly
white. My skin crawled. That had to be a mask. The rest of him was so
colorful that it was hard to look in one spot.
Suddenly
the room was too quiet. Looking away felt dangerous. I had to
struggle and remind myself that this was a computer program. Nothing
here was real. Yet the thought of looking away made my heart race.
This Jester creature could have been staring into the middle distance
or something over my shoulder. Behind me. Was something there? Maybe?
I
risked looking away from that inhuman face for a moment. A second to
confirm that the door to my Atrium was still in the distance. To
check and make sure nothing had crawled out of this latest display to
get behind me.
The
tiny dragon squawked with sudden panic and flew off from its perch.
The feeling that had been creeping up behind me was even worse, only
now it was from the direction of the Jester I dared to look away
from.
I
turned back and flinched. The Jester was now inches away from my
face. A long nose spanned the divide. There was nothing under that
mask. No mouth or eyes to be found in the depths of blackness.
Cold,
clammy fingertips touched my forearm.
“ You
could not handle what I would ask.” The Jester's distant and
distorted voice came out. “Not yet.”
I
risked glancing down. The Jester was taking my hand, an action which
sent my virtual heart into palpitations and using it to do something
with the book. Together, me almost petrified and the Jester with a
frozen grin, we closed the book entirely.
The
images and projections of humans and other creatures faded. Even the
Jester was gone. I took a few breaths to steady myself. This game had
officially freaked me out. Once I got over the rush, part of me
realized that these different images, Voices, were completely
suckering me in. I watched them like a spectator at a zoo. Some
interacted with me and made me realize that this observation was
two-way. Continue Online was studying me. That idea made me pause.
“ If
anyone needs to know, I’m really good at polishing the metal
frames of our eventual robot overlords!” The comment came out
far more nervous than it did joking. In the darkness, something once
again seemed amused.
I
shook myself off and the feelings faded. I was reading into the empty
surroundings. My shrink called it projecting internal fears upon an
indifferent landscape. Self-realization was a technique I tried to
practice over the last few years. It made me more open with the
things that bothered me, like the conversation with Liz earlier
today.
Was
that today? I opened the book again, skipping a few pages to avoid
the Jester or any others of that type.
“ You
seem at a loss.” The latest figure was an overly plump black
man. He too wore glasses and had a balding head. Flickers of gray
etched what roots remained. “Would you like to talk about it?”
That
tone struck me hard. A rich depth lined each word, firmly gentle with
a single phrase. I didn’t swing towards the guys' side of the
fence at all, yet he spoke in such a way that I wanted to talk. Even
the question he asked felt comfortable. It was the same sort of
question I heard once a month from my psychologist. Two hours a month
spent explaining that I hadn’t tried to kill myself in the
bathtub this week because I was going strong.
“ If
we speak for too long, does that mean I’ve chosen you?” I
asked.
“ Not
at all. You make the choice clear by placing your hand on the print
below.” The heavier man approached the podium during our
conversation.
He
was strangely alone in the landscape. Most of the others had been
given some sort of backdrop. Warriors had battle scenes, elves had
trees or something nature bent. The connections were obvious. Like
the Jester, this man had nothing else but wasn’t nearly as
creepy.
“ Can
you explain what’s
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