was never fitted. Who cares?”
“You work for Antenna Research and you don’t have a bioport? It’s incredible. You’ve never played one of my games because you’ve never played any game.”
“Look, Allegra—I mean Geller—I’m on this management training program, and my clinic master—”
“Fuck your clinic master! This is about me, not some goddamn careerist at Antenna. It means you’ve no idea what a genius I am.”
“A genius, huh?” Pikul wanted her to put her arms around him again, but she had backed right off. “I don’t need to play a game to know how to sell it.”
“That’s Antenna talking. It’s bullshit, posturing bullshit. If you don’t play my games, you aren’t going to work for Antenna. I can make sure of that.”
“Look, I’ve been dying to play your games,” Pikul said, not entirely truthfully. “But I have this . . . phobia. A phobia about having my body penetrated.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Penetrated surgically, I mean. You understand, don’t you?”
“I’m not so sure I do. Getting penetrated is the dream of most of the girls I know.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a girl.” Pikul realized this relationship was grinding to a halt even before it had begun. He knew he’d fallen into a hole and was busy digging it deeper. He decided to try shifting ground, giving way a little. “Maybe a bioport would be different, though?”
“It’s different.”
“I dunno . . . I need to be talked into it. I can’t do it. It’s too freaky. Makes my skin crawl.”
“For God’s sake, Pikul. Come on . . . they just pop something against your spine with a little hydrogun. Shoot the port plug into it. They do it at malls, like getting your ears pierced.”
Pikul winced. Ear piercing was something else he had a phobia about.
“You saw those people at the meeting,” Geller went on. “They’ve all had ports fitted. Farmers, delivery drivers, kids at college, senior citizens, cops, you name it. Millions of people have fitted bioports. It’s just a quick jab.”
“Yeah, sure. With only an infinitesimal chance of permanent spine paralysis. I read about that in the National Enquirer.”
“You chose this profession, geek.”
“Can’t you talk me into it?” Pikul said, thinking she hadn’t really tried that hard yet.
“You mean other than logically?”
“Yeah . . . what’s the best thing about it? Illogically?”
That obviously touched something in her. “You like intimacy with someone else?” she said. “You like to get real close? You like to feel and hold and have someone?”
“Sure I do.”
“There’s nothing closer than two people together in eXistenZ.” She stepped back to him again, tipping her appealing face up toward his. She came up close; not touching, but so near he could feel her breath moving lightly across the skin of his chest. “When you play eXistenZ with someone else, you feel there’s an intimacy that is beyond expression. You’ll never have experienced anything like it in your real life, because you can’t get that close in real life. Wouldn’t you like to try? You can play all sorts of games with me if you like.”
He was swirling with emotions and confusion. When she said games, did she mean . . . ? He’d like to play with her, of course, but were they thinking about the same thing?
“That’s what I thought you—” he started. “When you . . . you know, when you undid my shirt—”
“I was looking for your bioport.”
“Yes, I know that now, but at the time.”
“You thought I wanted something else. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Listen, once we’ve ported together there are no limits on what we can play. No rules, no inhibitions. I’m asking you if you’ll play eXistenZ with me.”
“You want to do it now?”
“Sure. But you know why not?”
“Because . . . because I don’t have a bioport.”
“That’s right. You don’t have a bioport.”
Now he backed away from her. She was making him
“You work for Antenna Research and you don’t have a bioport? It’s incredible. You’ve never played one of my games because you’ve never played any game.”
“Look, Allegra—I mean Geller—I’m on this management training program, and my clinic master—”
“Fuck your clinic master! This is about me, not some goddamn careerist at Antenna. It means you’ve no idea what a genius I am.”
“A genius, huh?” Pikul wanted her to put her arms around him again, but she had backed right off. “I don’t need to play a game to know how to sell it.”
“That’s Antenna talking. It’s bullshit, posturing bullshit. If you don’t play my games, you aren’t going to work for Antenna. I can make sure of that.”
“Look, I’ve been dying to play your games,” Pikul said, not entirely truthfully. “But I have this . . . phobia. A phobia about having my body penetrated.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Penetrated surgically, I mean. You understand, don’t you?”
“I’m not so sure I do. Getting penetrated is the dream of most of the girls I know.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a girl.” Pikul realized this relationship was grinding to a halt even before it had begun. He knew he’d fallen into a hole and was busy digging it deeper. He decided to try shifting ground, giving way a little. “Maybe a bioport would be different, though?”
“It’s different.”
“I dunno . . . I need to be talked into it. I can’t do it. It’s too freaky. Makes my skin crawl.”
“For God’s sake, Pikul. Come on . . . they just pop something against your spine with a little hydrogun. Shoot the port plug into it. They do it at malls, like getting your ears pierced.”
Pikul winced. Ear piercing was something else he had a phobia about.
“You saw those people at the meeting,” Geller went on. “They’ve all had ports fitted. Farmers, delivery drivers, kids at college, senior citizens, cops, you name it. Millions of people have fitted bioports. It’s just a quick jab.”
“Yeah, sure. With only an infinitesimal chance of permanent spine paralysis. I read about that in the National Enquirer.”
“You chose this profession, geek.”
“Can’t you talk me into it?” Pikul said, thinking she hadn’t really tried that hard yet.
“You mean other than logically?”
“Yeah . . . what’s the best thing about it? Illogically?”
That obviously touched something in her. “You like intimacy with someone else?” she said. “You like to get real close? You like to feel and hold and have someone?”
“Sure I do.”
“There’s nothing closer than two people together in eXistenZ.” She stepped back to him again, tipping her appealing face up toward his. She came up close; not touching, but so near he could feel her breath moving lightly across the skin of his chest. “When you play eXistenZ with someone else, you feel there’s an intimacy that is beyond expression. You’ll never have experienced anything like it in your real life, because you can’t get that close in real life. Wouldn’t you like to try? You can play all sorts of games with me if you like.”
He was swirling with emotions and confusion. When she said games, did she mean . . . ? He’d like to play with her, of course, but were they thinking about the same thing?
“That’s what I thought you—” he started. “When you . . . you know, when you undid my shirt—”
“I was looking for your bioport.”
“Yes, I know that now, but at the time.”
“You thought I wanted something else. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Listen, once we’ve ported together there are no limits on what we can play. No rules, no inhibitions. I’m asking you if you’ll play eXistenZ with me.”
“You want to do it now?”
“Sure. But you know why not?”
“Because . . . because I don’t have a bioport.”
“That’s right. You don’t have a bioport.”
Now he backed away from her. She was making him
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