moved.
Was it waiting for him someplace else, or had it disappeared
altogether?
Joe knew that a virtual environment
could feel almost exactly like the real thing. But he hadn’t
connected to any equipment that could be feeding his senses a fake
complex like this. He wondered if the UNSF scientists had completed
a remote projector that could seamlessly put someone into a virtual
environment without their consent or knowledge.
“ That stupid black disc,
maybe...”
What if the black portal had rendered
him unconscious? Then he could have been hooked up to a virtual
reality system before he awakened. Except that the robot had
returned through the portal and reported the corridor
beyond.
“ Okay, is this some kind of
experiment?” he asked loudly. “I’m supposed to figure my way out of
here?”
He’d heard rumors of experiments
conducted on space force grunts, unscrupulous biological and
sociological trials that had sounded creepy and brutal. But he’d
always discounted them as bullshit stories, crap that soldiers told
each other over poker games to see if they could get anyone to
believe them. Now he wasn’t so sure. The idea that he had somehow
been put into a virtual environment could explain a lot of what
he’d seen.
He checked his link’s VR timer. The
timer had been designed to track people’s time in virtual
environments and notify the authorities if the user spent too much
time there. It was meant to be a control to keep cyber junkies from
dropping out of society, spending all their time in fantasy worlds.
Joe’s timer said he hadn’t spent even a minute in a VR
today.
The link interface was supposed to be
too closely interlaced with the human brain to be replaced by a
virtual imposter, but Joe supposed that the UNSF probably had ways
around that. For that matter, even a rich civilian could probably
get around the timers. Most people of meager means like Joe
believed the VR time limits didn’t apply to the super rich and
powerful.
Joe took a deep breath and decided to
keep trying to find the exit, real or not. Even if the exit moved
around, he couldn’t find it by just remaining stationary. As best
as he could tell, he never saw anything changing while he
watched.
Up ahead, Joe saw another sphere of
plants. He walked up slowly. This time the anomaly dominated the
center of the corridor. It was the same size as the previous one.
He approached slowly. An orange creature crawled amongst the
foliage.
“ What the hell?” Joe asked
himself.
He looked at the creature. It was the
same size as the other one. Was it the same thing he saw
before?
“ Time for a little
experiment,” he announced to himself.
Joe opened his pack and searched
through it. He brought out a tin of food and opened it up. Working
carefully, he held the tin over the orange creature as it crawled
about. He dumped some of the soup out onto the shell of the small
thing. Part of the back of its carapace was dark with the liquid,
and a few chunks of vegetables stuck onto its back. Then Joe walked
around to the far side of the sphere and set the tin onto the
floor.
“ If I see you again, I’ll
recognize you,” Joe said to the creature. It continued to crawl
around the edge of the vegetation, looking for shelter. Joe turned
back the way he had come, leaving the crab-thing and his tin of
soup behind.
He made a point of keeping the wall on
his right and followed the corridors carefully, without opening any
doors. After moving through three or four connecting hallways, he
turned back and retraced his steps. The hallways had remained
stable, although he swore that some of the doors had already
disappeared.
When he came back to the corridor where
the sphere had been, he saw that the room had changed. The little
section of plants was gone. He started opening doors and searching
around. He didn’t have any luck at first, but he kept trying,
swinging back and forth and rapidly checking hallways and
rooms.
At last Joe came across a
Was it waiting for him someplace else, or had it disappeared
altogether?
Joe knew that a virtual environment
could feel almost exactly like the real thing. But he hadn’t
connected to any equipment that could be feeding his senses a fake
complex like this. He wondered if the UNSF scientists had completed
a remote projector that could seamlessly put someone into a virtual
environment without their consent or knowledge.
“ That stupid black disc,
maybe...”
What if the black portal had rendered
him unconscious? Then he could have been hooked up to a virtual
reality system before he awakened. Except that the robot had
returned through the portal and reported the corridor
beyond.
“ Okay, is this some kind of
experiment?” he asked loudly. “I’m supposed to figure my way out of
here?”
He’d heard rumors of experiments
conducted on space force grunts, unscrupulous biological and
sociological trials that had sounded creepy and brutal. But he’d
always discounted them as bullshit stories, crap that soldiers told
each other over poker games to see if they could get anyone to
believe them. Now he wasn’t so sure. The idea that he had somehow
been put into a virtual environment could explain a lot of what
he’d seen.
He checked his link’s VR timer. The
timer had been designed to track people’s time in virtual
environments and notify the authorities if the user spent too much
time there. It was meant to be a control to keep cyber junkies from
dropping out of society, spending all their time in fantasy worlds.
Joe’s timer said he hadn’t spent even a minute in a VR
today.
The link interface was supposed to be
too closely interlaced with the human brain to be replaced by a
virtual imposter, but Joe supposed that the UNSF probably had ways
around that. For that matter, even a rich civilian could probably
get around the timers. Most people of meager means like Joe
believed the VR time limits didn’t apply to the super rich and
powerful.
Joe took a deep breath and decided to
keep trying to find the exit, real or not. Even if the exit moved
around, he couldn’t find it by just remaining stationary. As best
as he could tell, he never saw anything changing while he
watched.
Up ahead, Joe saw another sphere of
plants. He walked up slowly. This time the anomaly dominated the
center of the corridor. It was the same size as the previous one.
He approached slowly. An orange creature crawled amongst the
foliage.
“ What the hell?” Joe asked
himself.
He looked at the creature. It was the
same size as the other one. Was it the same thing he saw
before?
“ Time for a little
experiment,” he announced to himself.
Joe opened his pack and searched
through it. He brought out a tin of food and opened it up. Working
carefully, he held the tin over the orange creature as it crawled
about. He dumped some of the soup out onto the shell of the small
thing. Part of the back of its carapace was dark with the liquid,
and a few chunks of vegetables stuck onto its back. Then Joe walked
around to the far side of the sphere and set the tin onto the
floor.
“ If I see you again, I’ll
recognize you,” Joe said to the creature. It continued to crawl
around the edge of the vegetation, looking for shelter. Joe turned
back the way he had come, leaving the crab-thing and his tin of
soup behind.
He made a point of keeping the wall on
his right and followed the corridors carefully, without opening any
doors. After moving through three or four connecting hallways, he
turned back and retraced his steps. The hallways had remained
stable, although he swore that some of the doors had already
disappeared.
When he came back to the corridor where
the sphere had been, he saw that the room had changed. The little
section of plants was gone. He started opening doors and searching
around. He didn’t have any luck at first, but he kept trying,
swinging back and forth and rapidly checking hallways and
rooms.
At last Joe came across a
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