Adjustments

The Meeting

Given the rarity of the moment, Umesha had expected to find himself the centre of attention at the Board of President's Meeting. However, the board was occupied with another serious matter when they jumped in.

The lamps attached to the chairs, he realised, were actually small cameras, capable of scanning their bodies when they sat down. Their scanned images would be transmitted to the location of the meeting, while they donned virtual reality goggles to see and hear the others at the meeting. As the goggles came to life, Umesha found himself in a room not very different from the one they were actually sitting in. There were long low walls, a long table made out of (virtual) glass, and swivelling chairs, identical to ones they were sitting in. There were two major differences though. One, the walls were bare, except for the one at the far end, once again showing a map of the Ring communities. Two, the chairs were occupied.

"Don't move around too much." Sahana had advised him before they logged in. "The camera will find it difficult to map you otherwise."

"Really? Nalini told me that the VR-Net allowed you to walk around and even hold objects."

"She's right, but motion and tactile functions consume far too much energy. We reserve most of such functions for our children's exchange programmes, so that it doesn't hinder their learning. The adults are required to limit their usage as much as possible."

Umesha didn't understand much of this. His knowledge of how the internet worked was rudimentary at best. The VR-Net was too new and too complex for him to comprehend easily. Instead, he chose to follow his host's cue and imitate whatever she was doing. They found themselves seated at one end of the virtual table, on the far side of the big community map.

The virtual meeting room was flooded with noise.

"It's outrageous!" A balding man wearing spectacles and a crisp half-sleeved shirt was sitting to their right, yelling at two women at the far end of the table. "Madam, we have tolerated your shenanigans for a long time, but now you have crossed the line! It is unacceptable to bring in..."

"She has a right to know what's going to happen!" screamed one of the women in response. "This is her home we are talking about for heaven's sake! She has a stake!"

"She's olagade!" roared the man. "Firstly, how dare you allow someone from olagade into your community? Chee chee! What do your residents say, eh? Do they know? Should we tell them?"

"They know, and they are fine with it, not that it's any of your business! Unlike you, we have no problems with the..."

"I will not sit at this meeting until she leaves!" the man was pointing at the second woman. Umesha noticed that though she hadn't said a word, she appeared completely at ease. Her back was straight, her palms placed softly on the glass table top, her face expressionless as she looked directly at the man yelling at them.

"Ramamurthy." interjected another man seated to Sahana's left. "Ramamurthy, please calm down. There's no need to yell so much."

"Nonsense, Mr. Faiz. She's Olagade Owlu...Olagade Owlu! Never in my life have I seen such..."

"Mr. Ramamurthy..." Sahana interrupted his spluttering with a sharp tone in her voice. Her forefinger briskly tapped the glass in front of Ramamurthy. Even though he was feeling disoriented, Umesha couldn't help appreciating the quality of the virtual setting. Every tap on the glass produced a brief vibration, almost identical to the real sound of glass being knocked upon.

"Mr. Ramamurthy, if you'll kindly take the time to remember this meeting's agenda, you will recall we'd agreed to allow a participant from outside the Ring." Sahana was speaking in a stiff, formal voice. She pointed to Umesha.