Life on Mars

Chapter Eighteen

"Nova, did you hear what I said?" the doctor raised his voice. What was it with Bluu, a cultural misunderstanding obviously, his feelings for her had grown over time whether inside or outside; hers were confined to inside only. He couldn't find the switch to flick once they were back in reality. Having created the sim, played the game in his own time and on his own terms, he thought he'd won her over. Within V-World, they shared a passion for each other, outside it was non-existent.

"I'm fine, what were you saying?" he said, still in a half trance.

"President Nixon?" said the doc. "Do you remember President Nixon?"

How could being in love be an element in a computer game, just part of the entertainment? Love, fear, excitement, all emotions genuinely felt real in V-world because it was designed that way. It tapped into the brain stem and reprogrammed the emotional centres artificially. Once outside, those emotions were discarded, like the fear on a ghost train would feel on the bus home. The only way to make any sense was to make comparisons with what he knew. He'd played violent computer games, that didn't make him a violent criminal. So, by the same token, why would Bluu be in love with him outside V-world? He understood that, but the incident the day after had really scarred his pride.

Having taken her into his world, she'd responded as he'd hoped. It seemed natural to him that things would be different after that. On seeing her the next day, he was shocked at her reaction when he threw his arms around her shoulders to kiss her the look of revulsion as she pushed his face away, backing off from him. She just stood there for a moment, they both did, equally horrified for opposite reasons. Bluu's expression of disgust as if she was being molested by her best friend then, with tears running down her cheeks, Bluu had turned and ran out of the room. Left standing there open-mouthed, Vic was clueless as to what he'd done wrong. He didn't see her for a while and even after that, things were a little cold between them. In that time, he'd considered the situation, tried to think of an explanation. Finally, they'd talked about it and he had been right all along. 

There was clearly no concept in the futures world of bringing a physical relationship from V-world into their reality. He and Bluu had agreed to draw a line under the incident and taken it as some cultural misunderstanding. Little did Vic suspect that when they went back inside it was business as usual, and beautiful business it was! It bothered him, but he soon realised how he was getting better at splitting those two worlds. He still couldn't help fantasising that she was lying to herself to save face. Vic was all too aware that her culture didn't go with physical relationships because it had become pointless. Maybe that was why they had an underground culture with the drone thing, having heard about how these domestic humanoid drones could be hacked and reprogrammed. There were people who kept them for their own physical pleasure. It made sense there would be a market for 25th-century love dolls in a twisted world where no one wanted to touch. 

Vic had seen plenty of domestic drones and he had held conversations with some. There was no doubting their realism even though they were not human. He wasn't sure, but there was something about them. Maybe they were designed that way, to be subtly different and to stand out. In this culture, any physical relationship was considered pointless. He was humiliated at the thought he was the problem. He wasn't just another human, he was 'the caveman'. He knew they called him that. Could he be a pet that entertained everyone, like a dolphin at a theme park or a dancing bear? Would the trainer be seen to have feelings for him? Once back in reality, his love was lost, that is until they went back inside again. When they were inside, then it was instantaneous like nothing had changed, like a drug he soon found he couldn't resist it. If being in love in V-world was just a game, then he was addicted. If that was all that was on offer, he would take it for now.

"Yes, President Nixon was a king of the City of America," said Vic at last, rubbing his temples with his thumb and forefinger. He'd learned by now to adapt his language to something that made more sense to the doctor. The best policy was to keep things simple and where he didn't know the answer, then any plausible explanation would do.