Patience and Virtue · Part 1 (1/6)
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The crowd gathered in the private dining room was noisy. Wine bottles and beer cans were abundant, but no one was drunk. Everyone was exuberant, celebrating success after months of effort.
Scott Evans, CEO of Astounding Virtual Reality Corporation, stood up and with some effort got everyone to quiet down. "Well, we finally did it. We've got a working prototype of a virtual reality machine that makes everything else obsolete. No more goggles, no more gloves, just a direct connection to the brain. All of you here have done great work, and on behalf of the company I thank you. Since all of us are stockholders, perhaps we should thank each other."
There was a cheer from the group. Scott continued, "I especially want to thank the group leaders: John Aoki, hardware; Patience Greer, software; and Kimberly Masurak, neuroscience. John, Pat, Kim, we couldn't have done it without you." He made a gesture that encompassed the audience. "We couldn't have done it without all of you."
There was sustained cheering. Scott waited it out. "We've only completed the first step. We still have a long way to go before we have a product we can sell. And speaking of money, here's Eli Orochek, our Chairman and a partner in the venture capital company that's financing our efforts."
There was polite applause as Eli stood up. "Thanks, Scott. And thank all of you. Less than ten percent of our VC investments pay off, but it looks like this one will hit really big. And if it does, every one of you in this room will be a multi-millionaire." This got the loudest cheer of all. "As Scott said, we still have a long way to go before the big payoff, so don't buy a Porsche just yet. This is a critical time. For legal and strategic reasons we're going to delay filing for patents, so if any of our design data becomes public we could end up with nothing. All of us need to keep our mouths shut. A leak of technical information could derail the whole thing. But I know all of you will be careful."
Scott said, "Thanks, Eli. But enough about business. Tonight we can celebrate. And I know most of you workaholics would try to drag yourselves into the plant tomorrow, hung over or not, so I'm going to officially close AVRCorp not just for this weekend but on Monday as well. The bar's open and the restaurant won't kick us out until 2 a.m., so have fun."
More cheers, and the serious partying began. Patience and Kimberly shared a table. Patience said, "You look good tonight, Kim. It's been a long time since I've seen you without your lab coat and with your hair down. That yellow outfit looks good with your black hair. You should dress this way more often."
Kimberly shrugged. "What's the point? Even if I did, no one would notice. You're the one who has to fight off the men. No one looks at me." She enviously scanned Patience's voluptuous body, elegantly displayed in skin-tight jeans and a dark green top that contrasted perfectly with her auburn hair.
"Not true! You could be very attractive if you worked at it. Stop buying your clothes at rummage sales, get some contacts and dump the glasses, use some makeup…"
"Could we talk about something else, Pat?"
"Sure, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I was just trying to help."
The conversation drifted into generalities. Just before eleven Patience murmured, "Nature calls…" She left her table and walked down the hallway that led to the restrooms. Glancing back to confirm she wasn't being followed, she ducked into the empty kitchen and out the back door that led to the alley. The AVRCorp building was in the industrial park on the other side of the alley, and she jogged across the parking lot. She used her key card to enter through the employee's entrance and hurried through the darkened hallways. Usually there were people in the building no matter what time it was, but tonight everyone was at the party.
Patience entered the computer center, dark except for a dim night light. She unlocked the door to the windowless room that housed the computer hardware and entered. She shut the door and only then turned on the lights. She inserted a solid-state memory module into a data port and instructed the computer to copy the design data. As soon as it had transferred all the data needed to reproduce the VR machine she removed and pocketed the data module and erased any record of her intrusion. She turned out the lights and opened the door a crack. The computer center was still dark. Patience slipped through the door and quietly closed and locked it. When she turned around the lights came on.
John, Kimberly, Scott, and Eli were standing in a line staring at Patience. Scott asked, "What are you doing here, Pat?"
Patience was stunned. She mumbled, "Oh, err, I just wanted to get something I forgot."
"Oh, really? The maintenance people are the only ones who have a reason to go into that room." Scott shook his head. "You made a big mistake, Pat. Steve Goldman may be our biggest competitor, but he's also an honorable man. He told me you offered to sell him all our data. You've committed several felonies, and you're going to prison."
The data module suddenly seemed to be burning a hole in Patience's pocket. This was the only hard evidence against her and she had to get rid of it. And to do that, she had to get away from here. Eli was in front of the door. He was in his fifties, although his thin gray hair and rimless glasses made him look older. An easy target. Patience launched a kick that would knock him out of the way.
Patience was astonished when Eli blocked her kick and countered with a sweep that took her legs out from under her. She fell face down, and before she could recover Scott and John pinned her to the floor and pulled her arms together behind her back. Kimberly got a handful of cable ties from a workbench and used them to lace Patience's wrists, forearms, and elbows together. She zipped more ties around Patience's ankles and knees. The two men lifted the helpless woman off the floor and put her in a chair.
Scott asked, "You got the data module in your pocket? I'll leave it there for the police to find when they search you. Why did you do this, Pat? Why did you sell out your friends and colleagues?"
Patience shrugged. "I wanted my money now, and this was the way to get it. This is business, nothing personal. I was just looking out for number one."
Scott took his cell phone out of his pocket. "Well, I suppose all we can do now is call the police." He paused and turned to Eli. "You're a lawyer, Eli. Would it be better to call the District Attorney instead? This may be too involved to explain to a patrolman, and we don't want our data to be introduced as evidence."
Kimberly interrupted, "Scott, before you call the police could I speak to all of you privately?"
"OK with me." The three men joined Kimberly in a corner of the room and they conversed in whispers. Patience couldn't hear what they were saying, but the participants in the conversation seemed to be agitated. Hope stirred. Maybe Kim could talk the men into letting her go. She tested the cable ties cutting into her arms. She wasn't going to get out of here on her own.
Her four colleagues stood in a half-circle around Patience's chair. Scott said, "Here's the deal, Pat. We all agree you've done great work on this project and it would be a waste of talent if you spent a lot of years rotting in prison. Kim has convinced us to give you one last chance to stay out of prison and help the company at the same time. We want you to be a test subject for the VR machine.
"Before you answer I want to be sure you understand the risk. We are dealing with some unknowns here. Up to now all of the VR experiences have been short. The subject left the real world for an hour or less. We want you to have an open-ended VR experience, and you could be out for days. There is a possibility of adverse changes in your brain chemistry induced by this prolonged exposure to the VR device, and that's what this test is for. We, and the experts we've consulted, believe no such problem exists. However, over-exposure is a concern and we may need additional safety measures."
"If I do this test you'll let me go?"
"Maybe. This will be a test in more ways than one. We'll test the machine, and we'll test you. If your behavior during the VR session indicates you have some redeeming qualities, and the four of us will be the ones who decide that, then you won't be prosecuted."
"So you're appointing yourselves as my judges?"
"Yep. Who better to judge than the people who know you? But it's your choice."
Patience thought about her options. Neither was appealing, but she really wanted to stay out of prison. She decided. "OK, I'll be your lab rat."
Kimberly cut the cable ties holding Patience's legs together. Scott and John held her arms and hoisted her out of the chair. They hustled her though the dimly-lit corridors and into the VR lab. They gripped her tightly while Kimberly removed the cable ties from her arms. Once Patience was seated in the primary VR chair Kimberly fastened cable ties around the chair arms and her wrists, forearms and elbows to keep her there.
Kimberly paused to put on her lab coat. Then she tightened the chair's lap belt around Patience's hips. She directed, "Lean back into the head rest." Patience complied and Kimberly tightened a strap around her forehead. She fitted the plastic skull-cap that held the button-sized limbic resonators. She made meticulous adjustments, bouncing between the apparatus attached to Patience's head and the control console.
Patience had never been involved with this part of the project and she was initially frightened, but her fear ebbed a bit as she waited for Kimberly to finish installing the interface that would couple her brain to the VR machine.
Patience joked, "If it takes this long to hook up the customers our VR will be a tough sell."
"This is just the prototype, Pat. The production machines will do all this automatically. I'm also installing some data probes so we can monitor your brain activity. This would be a good time for you to ask any questions you might have, instead of making smart-ass remarks."
"Hey, no offense meant, Kim." Patience thought a moment. "Will I be the same in the VR world as I am here in the real world?"
"No. Your basic personality will be intact, but your physical appearance and your motor skills will change. It won't be a radical change. You'll still be a twenty-something woman, but you will be different."
"Will I be aware of my real-world life while I'm in the VR world?"
"We don't know for sure how much of your normal life you'll remember. That's one of the things we want to find out from this test."
"Will I be the only real person in the VR world?"
"Yes. The actions of the other characters are determined by the AI. You should know this, you did most of the software for it."
"How long will this last?"
"Subjectively? Days or even weeks. In real time you'll be out for a lot less time than that." Kimberly took an IV setup out of a cabinet and inserted a plastic needle into a vein in Patience's left hand. She connected a bag of sucrose solution to the IV tube. "This will keep you hydrated."
Kimberly loosened the lap belt and removed Patience's jeans and panties. She replaced them with an adult diaper. "This will keep things from getting too messy. You won't be out long enough to justify a catheter." Kimberly refastened the lap belt and secured Patience's ankles to the chair with more cable ties.
Kimberly moved to the control console and watched the screen for several minutes. Everything seem to be operating properly. "OK, Pat, here we go. Five, four, three,…"
Patience decided she didn't really want to do this. She screamed, "Nooo…"
The woman sat up and discovered she was surrounded by an expanse of dry brown grass that stretched to the horizon, where it merged with the blue, cloudless sky. Somewhere close by a bird was singing an elaborate song—a complex, warbling phrase—repeated—a second phrase—also repeated—then a third. This is strange. How did I get here? Where was I before I got here? And… who am I?
While her mind pondered these existential questions she climbed to her feet. She slowly turned and scanned the horizon. The knee-high grass undulated and rolled in waves before the gentle wind, like a golden ocean. The plain was mostly level, but it occasionally rose and fell in low ridges and shallow depressions. Here and there breaks and gaps hinted at terrain well below the surface level of the grassland. On the horizon she could see a flat-topped mountain. The air was so clear she couldn't tell if it was a small mountain, close by, or a large mountain, far away.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. My name is…my name is… Pat! "Yes!" she shouted. "I know my name!" But I don't know anything else.
Pat was surprised to see that she was standing in a perfectly round patch of flattened grass. She inspected at her body. She was wearing a loincloth and a sleeveless tunic made of some soft, off-white homespun fabric. The tunic was open down the front and extended to the top of her thighs. It had deep armholes and a plunging bodice, and hugged her torso while providing total freedom of movement.
There was a small pile of various objects on the ground. Pat picked up a leather arm guard and bound it to the inside of her left forearm. She tightened the crisscross thong laces, using her right hand and teeth with automatic skill. She picked up a horn ring and slipped it over her right thumb. Wait! What's going on? My body seems to know what to do even if my brain doesn't. She removed the ring and looked closely at her thumb. There was a callus where the ring rubbed. Whatever else I may be, I'm certainly an archer. She put the ring back on.
Next in the pile was a narrow leather quiver and bow-case. Pat loosened a thong closure, folded back a weather flap, and removed a short, recurved bow. It was a compound bow, animal horn, different species of wood, and animal sinew, layered together and glued. It was short, light, and beautiful. She set it aside.
The quiver was attached to a leather belt with a diagonal leather strap. She put the strap over her right shoulder so the quiver was against her left hip, and wrapped the leather belt around her waist. The belt fastened in front, but it didn't have a buckle; instead, a cord was threaded through two pairs of holes punched near the ends of the strap.
Pat strung the bow and took an arrow from the quiver. It had a small triangular iron point bound in a slot at the end of a shaft of some light, straight-grained wood. The fletching was made of gray and white feathers, attached with glue reinforced by a wrapping of sinew.
Pat nocked the arrow and drew it back. Her thumb was under the arrow. Her index finger wrapped over the string and held it in a shallow groove on the thumb ring. She held the draw for a few moments, tempted to shoot, but she didn't want to lose her arrow in the tall grass. She considered unstringing the bow but thought better of it. There may be something big and hungry hiding in this grass. I'd better be ready.
The sun was high in the sky and the air was hot. Pat was sweating and had a growing thirst. There was a large gourd with a wooden stopper on the ground. She shook the gourd and detected a faint sloshing. Better than nothing. She drank the swallow of water. Have to find some more, and soon. The gourd was tied to a long loop of fiber rope, and Pat put it over her left shoulder.
The remaining item was a leather pouch that contained a flint and steel fire starter, some braided cord, and a bone needle with a twist of thread. It didn't contain any food. The pouch strap also went over her left shoulder. I seem to be well-equipped, at least as far as hardware is concerned. I wish I could say the same about my memory.
Which way to go? If I don't know where I am, my direction of travel doesn't really matter. The only prominent terrain feature was the mountain, so, bow in her left hand, Pat started walking towards it. She climbed a small rise and saw a faint line of green that could be trees. Trees usually mean a river. It was in the same direction as the mountain so she continued on, quickening her pace.
Before long she reached a shallow gully. It was dry, but Pat followed it anyway. Soon it was joined by another gully to form a dry wash. Pat walked along the sandy surface. She felt uneasy, as though some hidden menace was watching her. She kept her eyes moving, and frequently turned quickly to look behind her. But she saw nothing that moved, except for some birds flying in the distance. Her path trended downward, and gradually the steeply eroded bluffs that edged the wash became higher than her head. Pat kept looking for tracks in the sandy surface, but except for some small hoof and paw prints she saw nothing. Nothing but animal tracks. Would human footprints be a good thing or a bad thing?"
Pat rounded a bend in the wash. Ahead of her was a wide floodplain of sand, silt, and large pebbles. It was bordered on both sides by short limestone cliffs, unbroken except where tributaries such as the wash joined. A stream of clear water meandered back and forth across the center portion of the floodplain. There were only some scrubby bushes here, but downstream larger trees with deep green leaves were visible.
"Water!" Pat jogged to the stream and knelt beside it, dropping her bow and scooping up the precious liquid in her cupped hands. When she had satisfied her thirst she filled her gourd. Her immediate worries about survival lessened.
She noticed a thick driftwood branch sticking out of the sand about fifty paces away. I wonder if I'm any good with this bow. She picked up the bow and nocked the arrow. In one smooth motion she drew and released. The arrow flew true to the mark, embedding itself in the center of the branch. Not bad. There was a smaller branch at about twice the distance. She shot another arrow and again struck her target. Hey, I'm good!
The heat from the sun and the glare from the sand was oppressive. Pat decided to rest in the shade of the trees until it was cooler. She nocked another arrow. Big animals like shade, too. She scampered across the hot sand, retrieving her arrows as she reached them. The soles of her bare feet were heavily callused, but walking on the hot sand was still uncomfortable.
Pat was happy to reach the trees and get out of the sun. The grove had two species of large trees, one with round, dark green leaves and rough gray bark and the other with smoother bark and pointed, lighter green leaves. A variety of smaller trees and plants were scattered around and under the large trees. Most were no larger than waist-high, but some reached twice Pat's height.
Pat walked over to a bush covered with bright red berries. Are these berries edible? Do I want to risk finding out?"
Pat picked a few berries from the bush. She froze when she heard a voice behind her.
"You're very careless. If we were savages you'd be dead by now, or wishing you were. Drop the bow and turn around."
Pat slowly turned. A woman holding an iron-headed ax in her right hand was about six paces away. On her left arm she carried a large oval shield that covered her from chin to knee. Two similarly armed women stood to either side, and behind were two more holding drawn bows. The ax-wielders' shields were made of scraped hides on a wooden frame. Each displayed the same symbol painted in black: A horizontal wavy line over three diagonal slashes. It didn't represent anything Pat recognized. She sighed, and dropped her bow.
The woman in the center said, "Flas, Frin, seize her!"
The flankers sheathed their axes and dropped their shields. Pat's arm guard and horn thumb ring were removed, as well as the belt holding her quiver and other equipment. Then Flas held Pat's hands crossed behind her back while Frin tied them tightly with fiber rope. More rope was wrapped around Pat's waist to securely fasten her hands to the small of her back. Pat struggled briefly, but quickly realized she wasn't going to be able to free her hands without a knife. The rope around her waist forced her hands up and her elbows out, and she bent over slightly to compensate.
"I'm Lea, patrol leader of Pa'jk, and you're intruding on Pa'jk territory. Did you know that?"
Pat shook her head. She had never heard of Pa'jk, and could only guess that it was a political entity of some sort.
Pat's captors were dressed much as she was, except their tunics were dyed a light brown. All of the women were wearing a necklace. A leather thong held a palm-sized round medallion made of horn and incised with the same symbol painted on the shields. Lea's necklace also had two gold and six copper beads, while Flas' and Frin's had only four copper beads.
"What's your name?" Lea asked.
"Pat."
"Pat? That's a strange name. It doesn't mean anything. Where's your necklace?"
"I don't have one. I… I must have lost it." Is it in the grass back where I woke up? What else am I missing?
Flas pointed at Pat. "She has such strange hair. It's all the same color."
Most of Flas' hair was brown and cut short, but there was a longer blonde streak down the center, about three fingers wide. This had been plaited into many short braids, which formed a sort of crest along the center of her head. The other women wore their hair in the same style, but the colors were slightly different for each. Pat could tell the streak was natural, not dyed, because there weren't any off-color roots.
Patience and Virtue · Part 1 (1/6)
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