cross-checking traffic—and I noticed some extra packet requests from one of our nodes. It’s a zero-sum dead end, a shuck. So we have a leak. I don’t know how or who, but it’s there.”
“You already found it?” Well, well. Point for Lewis. Might be a little late, but at least she knew it before he told her. Competence had always been more attractive to him than just hot looks. Though those didn’t hurt.
Yeah? You’re married now, so it doesn’t matter how much more attractive this makes her, now does it? Back away, goat-boy.
There was nothing wrong with looking, was there? Plus it was part of his job—he hadn’t sought her out.
So why did he feel this little stab of guilt?
She reached down and pulled a second pair of Raptor goggles out of a drawer.
“I wanted to investigate it more fully myself before calling it in, but since you’re here—feel up to a stroll?”
Jay didn’t hesitate.
“Sure, let’s go.”
Who did she think she was talking to here? Did he feel up to it? He definitely felt up to it. Be good to get into VR anyway. No question who the better detective was here, after all, was there? As she’d soon find out.
Jay took the goggles.
It would be fun, showing her just how good he was.
Jay slipped the VR shades on his head, adjusting them so that the extra weight of the other gear—olfactory unit and tiny Harmon Kardon sound inserts—were balanced. Then Lewis handed him a small silver box with a strap attached.
“One of my new toys,” she said, “Tactile Feedback Unit. Uses an inducer to stimulate basic skin sensation. They’re not too good yet, but it adds.”
Jay had heard about the units, but hadn’t seen one yet. The basic principle was electric induction via magnetic fields. Unlike a full feelie suit, which used electrodes and localized temperature control to give sensation in VR and covered the entire body, TFUs were designed to do the same thing—without the suit. Nerve pathways were stimulated with magnetic fields and induced to create sensation. He’d heard they were being developed at the MIT media lab—apparently she’d kept close ties with the old school.
“It pays to support your alma mater,” she said, grinning.
Despite the fact that he didn’t want to be, he was impressed that she had the unit—units, plural.
She handed him a set of VR gloves and he finished suiting up.
He started to say something about his VR analogue, but decided to see what she’d come up with. Entering the Pentagon to see a computer specialist meant surrendering all data containers, and a close search of anything going out, so he’d had to leave his virgil and his data watch at the front desk. He carried copies of his usual VR avatars in them, along with his VR settings. Going into her scenario without them put him at a slight disadvantage, but it also meant she had to come up with something for him to wear in VR.
It would be interesting to see what she did.
“Ready?”
He gave her a thumbs-up, and activated his gear.
He was on a beach. The sun was nearly straight overhead, which put him closer to the equator, and it was hot. Apparently, the little TFUs worked fairly well. He could feel the sun’s rays warming him, and it felt right . Impressive. A slight onshore breeze tickled his skin, cooling him—everywhere.
Every where? He looked down.
Naked as the proverbial, well, bad pun, jaybird.
He looked back up and to his right, and there was Rachel Lewis, also naked, walking in front of him. Her skin was slightly more tanned than she’d been in RW, but other than that, she looked exactly the same. Her figure, as seen from behind, more than delivered what her clothes had promised.
Whoa!
Most VR programmers tended to incorporate some aspect of fantasy in their avatars, particularly for a given scenario. When he played big-game hunter or 1930s pulp hero, Jay would amalgamate his own body’s features onto other bodies, becoming someone else, rather than just
“You already found it?” Well, well. Point for Lewis. Might be a little late, but at least she knew it before he told her. Competence had always been more attractive to him than just hot looks. Though those didn’t hurt.
Yeah? You’re married now, so it doesn’t matter how much more attractive this makes her, now does it? Back away, goat-boy.
There was nothing wrong with looking, was there? Plus it was part of his job—he hadn’t sought her out.
So why did he feel this little stab of guilt?
She reached down and pulled a second pair of Raptor goggles out of a drawer.
“I wanted to investigate it more fully myself before calling it in, but since you’re here—feel up to a stroll?”
Jay didn’t hesitate.
“Sure, let’s go.”
Who did she think she was talking to here? Did he feel up to it? He definitely felt up to it. Be good to get into VR anyway. No question who the better detective was here, after all, was there? As she’d soon find out.
Jay took the goggles.
It would be fun, showing her just how good he was.
Jay slipped the VR shades on his head, adjusting them so that the extra weight of the other gear—olfactory unit and tiny Harmon Kardon sound inserts—were balanced. Then Lewis handed him a small silver box with a strap attached.
“One of my new toys,” she said, “Tactile Feedback Unit. Uses an inducer to stimulate basic skin sensation. They’re not too good yet, but it adds.”
Jay had heard about the units, but hadn’t seen one yet. The basic principle was electric induction via magnetic fields. Unlike a full feelie suit, which used electrodes and localized temperature control to give sensation in VR and covered the entire body, TFUs were designed to do the same thing—without the suit. Nerve pathways were stimulated with magnetic fields and induced to create sensation. He’d heard they were being developed at the MIT media lab—apparently she’d kept close ties with the old school.
“It pays to support your alma mater,” she said, grinning.
Despite the fact that he didn’t want to be, he was impressed that she had the unit—units, plural.
She handed him a set of VR gloves and he finished suiting up.
He started to say something about his VR analogue, but decided to see what she’d come up with. Entering the Pentagon to see a computer specialist meant surrendering all data containers, and a close search of anything going out, so he’d had to leave his virgil and his data watch at the front desk. He carried copies of his usual VR avatars in them, along with his VR settings. Going into her scenario without them put him at a slight disadvantage, but it also meant she had to come up with something for him to wear in VR.
It would be interesting to see what she did.
“Ready?”
He gave her a thumbs-up, and activated his gear.
He was on a beach. The sun was nearly straight overhead, which put him closer to the equator, and it was hot. Apparently, the little TFUs worked fairly well. He could feel the sun’s rays warming him, and it felt right . Impressive. A slight onshore breeze tickled his skin, cooling him—everywhere.
Every where? He looked down.
Naked as the proverbial, well, bad pun, jaybird.
He looked back up and to his right, and there was Rachel Lewis, also naked, walking in front of him. Her skin was slightly more tanned than she’d been in RW, but other than that, she looked exactly the same. Her figure, as seen from behind, more than delivered what her clothes had promised.
Whoa!
Most VR programmers tended to incorporate some aspect of fantasy in their avatars, particularly for a given scenario. When he played big-game hunter or 1930s pulp hero, Jay would amalgamate his own body’s features onto other bodies, becoming someone else, rather than just
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