Virtual Life Experience

Antola

Jason braced for impact. It wasn't quite as bad as he expected, which wasn't saying much, since he half expected not to survive it at all. In theory, the transport pod was supposed to land him gently upright on the surface. He had hit sideways and it felt like he bounced several times, slamming his body against the padded restraints in various directions then slowly rolled upright. There was an almost imperceptible rocking motion that suggested he had landed on something not entirely stable.

Jason knew the odds, though sometimes he wished he hadn't studied them. About 20% of "explorers" like him did not survive the transport itself. It always amazed him that there were people that actually volunteered for this. He realized he hadn't completely cleared that first hurdle yet. While the majority of that unlucky 20% died at impact, there were a few that made it that far but were unable to exit the pod, either due to mechanical damage of the exit hatch or because the hatch itself was blocked from the outside.

This was Jason's biggest fear. Being somewhat claustrophobic didn't help. The idea of being stuck in this tin can, barely able to move until he finally starved to death was what really terrified him. So much so that he had used up some of his precious cargo limit to pack a small laser burner capable of cutting the hinges off the hatch.

With terror rising, he took a deep breath and pulled the hatch release lever. There was a click and a faint whoosh as the hatch unsealed, then swung open, to Jason's great relief. An open patch of sky was visible above him, just a bit darker blue than that of Earth, with a tinge of green. The air was sweet, heavy and humid. Something was flying high overhead. From a great distance, it looked birdlike.

Jason freed himself of his restraints and raised his head cautiously out of the hatch. The mystery of the rocking motion was immediately solved; the pod was floating on a body of water, or at least that's what it looked like. There was a shoreline about 200 yards away. In the other direction, the water stretched a long distance, although he thought he could make out a distant shoreline.

This landing place posed a predicament. Assuming this fluid was water, or something close to it, Jason could swim to shore. That would mean abandoning the pod which Jason did not think was a wise idea. It was an easy source of shelter, power that would last indefinitely and a refuge from predation. There was a gentle breeze heading toward shore, so Jason decided to wait. With any luck, he would drift in.

He felt a flash of anger when he thought about the events that sent him here. How completely unfair and biased his trial had been, with the parade of liars he had never met taking the stand to ensure his fate. How ubiquitous and conspicuous the "Vile Corp." employees were right from the beginning, seeming confident and delighted that he would be handed over to them. He reminded himself that he needed to put it out of his mind and focus on survival.

As Jason rummaged through his supplies, he wondered if his family and friends were live-gaming him. For that matter, he wondered how many other people on Earth were doing the same, living vicariously through the thousands of sensors that had been implanted on and in him before he left. Live-gaming was a bit of a misnomer since it was many hours delayed, but since the data communication was only one way, the delay was not perceptible to the user.

In the end, Jason's forced adventure was really about entertainment for the masses. Sure it was the sentence that was handed down for his conviction, and any information that came from his exploration of Antola would have scientific benefit, but these things were secondary to the entertainment value. Reality gaming, sometimes referred to as virtual life experience (VLE), was big business. So much so that VLE Corp was by far the largest and most powerful corporation on Earth, having pushed aside Walmart about 20 years prior. Not surprisingly, its detractors often referred to them as the "Vile Corp."

Nearly every home had at least a rudimentary VLE suit or two, while most middle class families owned a VLE chamber. Using one was an incredibly immersive experience. You saw, heard and smelled what the live subject was experiencing and felt the input from their skin sensors. There were limits, of course. It was exceptional at capturing external stimulus, but things going on inside the body were generally not transferred. In theory, a high end system could deliver even those sensations, but it would require the user to have instrumentation embedded in their own bodies. Jason had heard rumors that some wealthy users had done just that.

Most users experienced their VLE as edited programming. Anyone could buy into the live (or in reality delayed and still subtly edited) feed of a subject, but the truth is it was usually tedious. Real life of even the most daring adventurer was still filled with mundane things like sleeping, eating and just uneventful wandering around. Where live-gaming came into its own was when an event like the landing that Jason just experienced was occurring and could be anticipated. Live-gaming had its junkies, though, and VLE Corp. had a monitoring and alert service for that purpose that constantly followed the feeds anticipating exciting events and alerting the live-gaming customers.

Jason's test of the liquid on which he was floating indicated that it indeed was virtually identical to terrestrial water, at least chemically. That didn't mean it was safe to drink, because it could harbor any number of biological nasties. His bio filtering unit should take care of those, though, and in a few moments, Jason had a fresh supply of potable water in his canteen.

Jason caught a motion in his peripheral vision. He looked up to see that birdlike creature approaching in a rapid dive, wings folded like a falcon. It was big, however, real big, with probably a 12' wingspan. Up close it was not so birdlike. If anything it closest resembled an ancient pterodactyl, but with an additional kite like wing projecting from its head and a much shorter, rounded snout brimming with long sharp teeth.

He recognized this species from his own VLE that he had been permitted to partake in as research for the trip. The antoladactyl was a particularly dangerous beast who had no qualms about putting an unfortunate human on the menu.

The winged creature appeared to be aiming for a point in the water about 30 yards in front of Jason. It suddenly opened its wings and broke from its dive, which sent it swooping toward him, talons up. Jason realized almost too late that it was indeed hunting him. He ducked back inside the pod as the talons snatched at the air where his head had just been. Looking out again, Jason saw the antoladactyl wheeling around for another pass. He decided that the prudent approach was to close and lock the hatch.

There was a few moments of silence, then scratching and scrambling at the closed hatch followed by a screech of frustration and finally more silence. Jason waited about 10 minutes before cautiously opening the hatch again. That was too close. He would need to be more careful.

Jason swore he could feel the excitement of the thousands of people back on Earth live-gaming that experience. He was quite certain that would make it into an edited package for others, probably numbering in the millions, to experience.

Jason chastised himself for thinking about his audience. He had promised himself he would not do that. He would just go about his business as though no one were paying any attention to him. Since this was a one way trip and there was no way he would ever get any feedback from those watching, why should they matter to him?

It was interesting how different subjects reacted to the knowledge of their audience. Some were unable to avoid playing to them; mugging and showing off for the followers at home at every opportunity. Others became self-conscious, afraid to do anything that might embarrass themselves. Then there were those that acted as though they had no idea the audience was there. These were invariably the fan favorites.

Nikki was in the latter category. No other VLE exile had captured the public's eye like she had. Back on Earth, "Red" as Nikki was known to her fans due to her unruly mane of copper-red curls, was now a superstar. Somewhere here on Antola she fought to stay alive seemingly unaware of the 2 billion fans living vicariously through her. People experienced her weekly edited adventure at night, and talked about it around the office water cooler during the day. She was so real, so natural and so . . . bad-ass. Thanks to her, untold millions had the experience of slaying a nest of antoladactyls with a laser sword.

Nikki also had a high sex drive. The adult version of her weekly adventure always contained copious amounts of masturbation.

Jason had been encouraged to reality game Nikki's adventures during the time between his conviction and exile. He had gained valuable knowledge and experience surviving on Antola through her. He experienced the same frightening, thrilling entertainment that the rest of her fans did. And yes, he thoroughly enjoyed her masturbation sessions. It was a little disconcerting being a man experiencing female self-gratification, but the genital touching translated fairly well to the male body. It was definitely weird to look down and see tits though. Even weirder perhaps to get turned on by your "own" tits.

His VLE Corp paid handlers had made it clear without saying so explicitly that they wanted him to seek out Nikki upon arrival on the remote world. He was given a tracker to locate her with. From his perspective, it only made sense to find her. She was experienced in this world and two people working together would have much better odds of survival. Plus, there were no two ways about it, she was fucking hot.

Jason felt a slight jolt from the pod. He jumped, his imagination bringing up all sorts of possibilities, but then realized it had simply touched the sand of the shoreline. He hopped out into the shin deep water and pulled the pod as far onto the sand as he could. It was too heavy for him to pull it completely out of the water. He took out a rope and tied it off to a large boulder on the shore.

Jason ate the one meal he had packed for the trip. He was fairly certain he could feed himself off the land based on the time he spent reality-gaming Nikki, but he hadn't wanted to worry about that immediately upon landing.

He pulled out the tracking monitor from his pack and flipped it on. A blip came on the screen that designated Nikki's location. The VLE Corp guys had done fairly well. She was about 20 miles away. Jason gathered supplies into his pack, closed the pod and headed out to seek her.

Arizona State University, Earth

"Hey Mario, wait up," called Zack as they departed their sophomore 18th Century English Literature class.

"Dude, Aziz is having a VLE party tonight, it's going to be epic. He asked me to invite you."

"I don't know, Zack, I have a lot of homework tonight." They both knew it was an empty protest, Mario just wanted Zack to twist his arm a little. Mario was already excited by the prospect of the party.

Zack didn't disappoint, "You can't miss this. Marcella and Sasha are going."

In that case there was no way Mario was going to miss it. Marcella was a hot little Hispanic number from their dorm that he'd had his eyes on since the semester started. She was quiet and demure, but Mario suspected she had a wild side. Her roommate Sasha, on the other hand, wore her wild side on her sleeve. She was busty, blonde and brash and Zack was gaga over her. The two of them had been flirting something fierce over the last week; it was surprising that they hadn't already gotten physical with each other yet.

"Plus, Aziz just bought two ES2000's."

"Woah, seriously? Those have only been on the market for like a week and they cost a fortune."

"Well, you know his dad has the coin, plus he's a big exec at VLE Corp. so he could probably get a deal."

Mario had heard amazing things about the ES2000. It was the next generation of VLE chamber where VLE Corp was messing with picking up subtle signals from the subject's nervous system and passing them on to the user. It was claimed that you could actually feel the adrenalin of the subject.

Mario had yet to go to a college VLE party, but they were legendary for debauchery. So much so that you could actually purchase VLE of VLE parties. Mario suspected most of it was staged. There was a long history of "reality" porn in the media that purported to be captured at real college parties, but in fact were paid actors following a script. Still, given that the first step in using a VLE chamber was to strip naked, and adding to that copious amounts of alcohol in a room full of college kids with raging hormones and you had a recipe for a wild time.

"What are we experiencing?" Mario asked.

"You know the baseball player, Jason Conrad, who got convicted of murder?"

"Of course, it's been all over the news for weeks. He was sentenced to be deported to the planet Antola, where that hot chick 'Red' is."

"His landing is tonight. We're going to live-game it. We're going to take bets on whether he lives through it."

Mario felt a twinge of apprehension. He hoped the guy made it. First of all, it was gut wrenching and terrifying to live-game a death. Secondly, he always felt guilty about vicariously experiencing a real person's death, even if the guy was a convicted felon. He reminded himself that if the guy was going to die, it was going to happen whether he live-gamed it or not. Plus if he did die, he probably deserved it anyway.

Mario and Zack arrived at Aziz's apartment at 7:00. Marcella and Sasha were already there along with Aziz and his latest girlfriend Venus. Aziz was a ladies man, and even when he had a girlfriend was unlikely to be faithful to her. Generally, he was up front about it, yet the girls all fell for him anyway.

Since there were six partiers and only two VLE chambers, obviously not everyone could live-game the landing, but the others would take turns replaying it. Everyone agreed not to talk about the outcome until all six had been through the experience.

On a white board on the wall, Aziz had written down a series of outcomes, with point values associated with each. The point values were based on the Vegas odds-makers. Each participant picked the outcome they wanted to bet on. Mario picked the most positive outcome, survival without injury.

Mario couldn't decide whether he was relieved or disappointed to find that the VLE chambers were placed in a small bedroom off the living room where the main party was happening. That meant he would not be undressing in front of everyone, just whomever he was paired with him. Of course it also meant he was unlikely to get to see all the girls naked.

They picked the order in which they would have their experience at random. Aziz and Marcella would go first and would be the only ones to actually live-game the experience. Mario and Venus would go second and last would be Zach and Sasha.

Aziz came out smiling and Marcella blushing a little and looking down. Neither reaction seemed to give any clue as to how the actual landing had gone.

Mario was nervous as they stepped into the bedroom. As with all of Aziz's girls, Venus was drop-dead gorgeous and sensual. He soon found out she was not the least bit shy, either. As he started to undress, he tried to will himself not to get an erection in front of Venus, but it was useless. He stole a glance at her and found she was watching him with a smile.

"Don't be nervous," she said, "I won't bite . . . though I might lick." She unhooked her bra and tossed it aside, revealing moderate sized, rounded and firm breasts with erect nipples. She pinched them and licked her lips, keeping her eyes locked on him.

She slid her hands down her sides and slipped off her panties. She rubbed her smooth pussy with two fingers, then brought them to her mouth and licked them, all the while watching him.

Mario fumbled with his clothes, highly aroused by her display. When he slipped off his underwear, his hard cock sprung free.

"Nice. You should be proud of that," Venus said with a grin.

"Thanks, you're hot yourself," Mario answered.

"Showtime. See you when it's over," Venus said and she stepped into the chamber and closed the door.

Mario was relieved when he (as Jason) did survive the landing after all. The ES2000 really was amazing and he thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. Just the wonder of seeing a new world (almost) first hand was captivating.

He stepped out of the chamber feeling satisfied at the experience and almost ran into Venus.

"You like?" she asked.

He wasn't sure if he meant the ES2000, the adventure itself or perhaps her naked body that he was staring at.

"Yes," seemed like a safe answer. He reached for his clothes, but Venus grabbed his arm.

"Not yet. We've got a few minutes. I want that cock."

Wow, talk about being direct. This girl didn't beat around the bush.

She dropped to her knees and immediately took him deep in her mouth. Mario couldn't believe the sensation. He hadn't had many blowjobs in his life, and none had been anything like this. It wasn't long before an urgent sensation came over him and he knew he was about to go over the edge. He felt he should warn her.

"Venus, I'm going to cum."

Without stopping, she winked and gave him a thumbs up.

He emptied himself into her mouth, groaning as he did so. God that felt good.

She stood up. He wanted to reciprocate, but she said, "We better get out there, people are going to start wondering what happened to us. This is our secret, OK?"

He nodded, a bit dazed. She laughed.

They rejoined the party.

Later, when Zack and Sasha came out, they were all over each other. Sasha hadn't even bothered to put anything but her panties back on. They drank and talked for another 10 minutes or so, Sasha proudly displaying her ample breasts, before the two of them disappeared into another bedroom. Soon their loud lovemaking could be heard over the music.

Zach was right, it was an epic party.

Antola

There was just a narrow strip of sand at the water's edge before the thick vegetation began. The foliage was predominantly green, like that of earth, but a little brighter. A riot of flowers of every color adorned the plants. Many areas were choked by nearly impenetrable tangles of a purple leafed vine. Jason picked his way around these clusters, seeking easier passage through the forest.

Jason worked his way along what he presumed to be a game trail through the vegetation. The forest was devoid of what he would have termed "trees." All of the plants were fairly short, topping out at perhaps 20' in height. Those that had central trunks were fleshy rather than woody. Others were just clusters of leaves emerging from the ground. Aside from the ubiquitous impenetrable thickets of purple leaf vines, the most common plants resembled over-sized aloe vera. Through VLE with Nikki, he had found them to be edible but nearly tasteless.

The forest teemed with small creatures, which seemed to be a myriad of variations on the same theme; six legged, leathery skinned, low slung animals that reminded Jason of lizards, but without tails. They ranged in size from an inch to about a foot in length. They scampered out of his way as he moved and did not seem to be a threat. He wondered what they tasted like.

Near as he could tell, Jason had arrived on Antola about two hours after sunrise. As the golden sun climbed high, his stomach began to growl. He wondered how well he would be able to adjust to the 30 hour daily cycle.