VR Hack

Two

Real Life (RL) is a term used to contrast with VR. As we move into the 21st century increasingly people are looking for ways to escape the horrors of RL in favour of VR where they can make their dreams come true or at worst live more fulfilling lives. (M A Gray)

There were two sensations. The pain in my eyes and the stinging smell up my nose. Disinfectant.  A hospital smell. My eyes were blurry. Starched sheets pinned me down. Dark shapes in a brightly lit room loomed up. I moved my hand to wipe the sleep from my eyes. But there was something attached it. A piece of plastic flex. It annoyed me. I tried to pull it free; there was tape stuck to one end. It was stuck on me! And a needle? In a vein! In my arm! What the f***k!

"Hey! What are you doing!?" It was a girl's voice. Concerned.

I rested back on my pillow and croaked. "What the hell! What the hell happened!?"

"Well Sir Galahad you saved me!" Her voice was light and bright. Full of gratitude. I heard a chair scrape. It was placed beside me. She sat. I took in a breath. She smelt nice a vanilla scent. I pushed myself up further. Then my eyes began to at last work properly: First there was the outline of a very pretty heart shape face. Then there was a delicious cream complexion and a pixie nose. Her hair wasn't black as I first thought. It was dark brown. And her eyes, behind her glasses were the most amazing cobalt blue flecked with star bursts of silver.

"What-cha looking at? Hey stop pulling your drip out!"

I consciously tried to relax. Questions like Mercury scattered across the impenetrable surface of my brain. Your the girl I followed from the library. Didn't you die? No I saved you. Punched that thug? Then he stabbed me! Where did he go? Why am I here in bed? Why is she dressed like that? It's turn on.

The girl looked at me and smiled. I liked her smile. She had too many teeth when she smiled and her jaw moved in a seductive way when she spoke. I liked it because it was an authentic and given freely.

I smiled weakly back and said: "I like your out fit."

She looked down at what she was wearing and laughed. I also followed her gaze down the curvature of her chest. Hey don't judge me I'm only 17. It's no crime to look.

"Oh this?" She lent toward me conspiratorially and whispered: "Strictly speaking I shouldn't be wearing this until on set."

"I know. Isn't it illegal to wear something like that impersonating an official or something?"I said inarticulately. "Where did you get the costume and why are you wearing it? What did you say about a set?"

"Besides working in a library. I do a little Extra work for tv shows and low budget movies. I'm off on a shoot later, funny enough on the fourth floor of this building. The costume I picked up from my Extra's agency. Are there any more questions Sir Galahad?" She teased with a mocking tone. But it was well intended. She wanted to keep things light. I had to stop staring at her. She looked so hot in white especially with the paper hat. She looked as if she'd stepped off a 1970s hospital tv sitcom.

She pulled a handbag up from the floor. Placed it on her knees, which showed through her opaque white hose. It was huge bag. More like a suitcase. There were green peace logos stitched on it and curiously one black felt disc with one word light stencilled in white on it. Capital letters.

"I know it's a f****king cliche but I couldn't think of anything else." She took out a bunch of grapes. Then pulled one off and popped it into my mouth without asking.

I could see that something was bothering her because she shivered. A cloud had come across the landscape blocking out the sun. Next she began to aggressively nimble at a nail. Then she delved into her bag and pulled out a packet of a cigarettes. "Mind if I smoke?"

"Yes I do. I don't like smoking. What nurse smokes next to a patient?"

****

The old man didn't come. That was okay because talking to him was like having a conversation with a crowbar, which ended embedded in your head.

However, Gideon did find the time to come in and high five me. Some how he had managed to find the time in his busy hacking schedule.

"Wow that really hurt!" I shook my hand to free myself from the pain. It really stung. The palm was red. He sat down crushing my feet.

"Hey idiot off the feet!"

"Sorry bro." He wasn't really sorry. How do I know? Well he had flipped open his phone and was writing code probably hacking some poor unsuspecting system.

I kicked him. "What you doing idiot!" He lost balance and slipped off the bed onto the floor.

He got up. Annoyed. "Hey that's so uncool!"

"I know." I smiled. "But I don't care."

He got back up on the bed and stuffed his mobile away. "So what's up with you?" He didn't wait for my answer and ran on to say: "Hey there was a strange looking 1970s nurse outside, sexy as hell but strange. She said you took a knife in the gut to protect a woman. Is that true?"

I coloured at this. But luckily I could count on Gideon not to pick up on the subtleties of life, such as she made me go tongue tied. I pulled the cover down on the bed and then pulled up my top so he could see the bandages across my stomach.

He stood up and came over. "Wow bro! You're lucky to be alive. That bandage must be covering a massive ravine."

"Yeah I know."

That was the extent of his empathy. He could be a little cold like my Dad. And that guy was as cold as the vacuum of space. The mood then changed. It was down to practicalities.

"Have you got my tablet?"

"Yeah it's in that cupboard over there with my stuff."

He routed inside. "Hell! The screens cracked!"

"Yeah well I was in a fight Gid."

"Don't call me Gid."

Gideon switched on the tablet. He was rewarded. I heard the chimes of it's operating system kicking in.

****

I must have dozed off. When I woke up. It was dark outside. There was the glow from my table light, which someone must have switched on. I looked at my watch. It was half eight. Evening. I'd been told the Doctor would be in around ten o'clock in the morning. I yawned. I wanted to scratch an itchy place on my  stomach.

Suddenly the door was opened and closed very quickly. It was the girl dressed as a nurse from earlier. She had stormed out after my comment about smoking. I called to her.

She waved her forefinger in front of her lips indicating quiet. Next she got inside the free standing wardrobe cabinet in the corner.

This was quickly followed by the door springing violently open again.

Silhouetted in the door way was a woman in hospital scrubs. She held a gun in her left hand with a very long silencer on it. Her eyes were strange. There was a fluorescent green ring around the irises. I could feel my pulse quickening in my neck. My mouth went dry. I closed my eyes.

****
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