Virtual Life Experience Pt. 03

"I'm thirsty," he said.

After she gave him water, he asked, "How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

"Holy Shit! Where are we?" he asked.

"Inside one of the structures."

"Help me up."

Nikki helped Jason to his feet. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"A little weak, but otherwise I feel surprisingly good. Well, except that my leg hurts. And I'm really hungry."

"I'll need to go out and hunt to take care of that, but first there is someone . . . or maybe it's something . . . that I want you to meet."

She put his arm over her shoulder and helped him into the next room. Jason eyed the formidable looking robot with caution. Nikki commented, "The mech appears to be shut down."

Nikki went straight to the silver metallic cylinder to the left of the robot. She put her hand on the surface and said, "Purple? It's Nikki."

Jason looked at Nikki, puzzled. "Purple?"

Jason stepped back in surprise when the cylinder went from opaque silver to translucent and he saw a strange creature on the other side with its appendage against the inside, aligned with Nikki's hand. The creature looked a bit like an octopus, except that it had only three arms and they were jointed.

"Um, Nikki? Are you color-blind?" Jason whispered, eyeing the blue-gray creature floating in the amber liquid with caution.

"Watch," replied Nikki. She pointed to Jason and said, "Jason."

To Jason's surprise, the creature pointed to itself and glowed purple.

Nikki turned to Jason and beckoned him toward her. When he limped close enough, she reached down and took his hand and pressed it to the cylinder, aligned with Purple's appendage. Jason felt a surge of energy through his hand and a feeling of calm and reassurance swept through him. His eyes widened.

"Pretty wild, huh?" said Nikki. "It seems to be able to transmit emotions through touch."

"How long have you been interacting with it?"

"I only discovered it about half an hour ago, or I suppose it would be more correct to say, it only chose to meet me half an hour ago." Nikki explained how the back room had previously been hidden from view.

"Are there more of them in the other buildings?"

"I don't know. The back rooms in all the other buildings are hidden from view."

Jason pulled his hand away from the cylinder and stood studying the creature. It removed its appendage from the inside wall. It changed to a copper red color and returned its appendage to the inside surface of the cylinder. When neither Nikki nor Jason responded, it tapped the surface and pressed its pad back again. Jason reached out and touched the cylinder. He was surprised when he felt a sense of disapproval and Purple pulled its pad away. As soon as Jason removed his hand, Purple repeated the tapping on the inside surface and glowed a more intense copper-red color.

"What does it want? It felt like it didn't want me to touch the cylinder," asked Jason.

Nikki reached out and touched the cylinder. "It liked that," she commented, "I'm getting 'approval'."

Purple pulled its tactile pad away and waited for Nikki to remove her hand. It then turned a dark brown color and put its pad back. Nikki reached out again, but quickly withdrew her hand. "I just got a disapproving feeling. What is it up to . . . wait, I get it; it wants you this time. Try it."

Jason reached out. As Nikki had predicted, Jason felt a surge of approval flow through him. "How did you know?" he asked Nikki.

"It's calling us by hair color. When it turns reddish, it's asking for me, when it turns brown, it's asking for you."

Jason laughed, "Even it calls you 'Red'."

Purple repeated its calls for Nikki and Jason several times and seemed quite happy that the two humans understood and complied.

"Well, this has been fun, but we need to eat. I'm going hunting," declared Nikki.

"I'll go with you."

"No, you're not ready for that, you can barely walk."

"I'm not comfortable with the idea of you going out there alone."

"Relax, I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself. Don't forget, I survived on this god-forsaken planet for a month and a half by myself after my previous companions were all dead and before you got here." Nikki turned to leave.

Looking at Nikki prepared for the hunt triggered an old memory in Jason's head. At first he couldn't place it, then it came to him. "Nikki, turn around," he requested.

"What now?" she asked as she turned around to face him, looking a little exasperated.

He took in the image. The unruly mass of flaming red hair framing her beautiful face and cascading over her bare shoulders; the leather boots, torn shorts, leather holster holding her laser pistol slung low over her hips and leather straps for her laser sword scabbard and her backpack crossing between her naked breasts. "My god, you're Val Halla," Jason exclaimed in wonder.

"Valhalla? As in Norse mythology? Did your fever come back? You're not making any sense."

"No, Valerie Halla, the warrior princess from the 'Gnarly Chronicles'," said Jason.

"Who the hell is Valerie and what are the 'Gnarly Chronicles?'"

"Actually it was the 'Chronicles of Gnarr', but everyone called it 'the Gnarly Chronicles'."

"Still not helping."

"It was the holographic fantasy video game I used to play back in my nerdy teenage days, before VLE came along and killed the genre. Valerie was one of the characters. She was always running around half naked fighting monsters and such. A whole generation of pimply faced nerds, myself included, grew up fantasizing about her. It's no wonder VLEC chose you, you look just like her. I don't know why I didn't make the connection until now. It's ironic, I played the game, now I'm here with you and we are the game."

"Are you through, fan-boy? I've got hunting to do."

"Yes, I'll just be back here jerking off to my old fantasies."

"You will do no such thing. I want you primed and ready when I get home. I'm going to need a good fucking tonight."

"Yes, Princess Val."

Nikki rolled her eyes and left.

Jason wandered around the two rooms, not sure what to do next. Remembering what Nikki had said about the back room initially being hidden from view, he wondered if there were still any hidden spaces. He carefully paced off the dimensions of the rooms, then went outside and paced off the outside dimensions. Sure enough, his numbers said that there was still some unaccounted for space at the ends of the back room. Jason studied the end walls of the room and was able to find several hairline seams.

Purple's cylinder remained translucent, so Jason wondered if it was watching. It was hard to tell, because Purple had no discernable eyes. Jason went to the cylinder and put his hand on it. Purple responded by putting its pad to the surface.

Curious . .

Jason pointed to the end wall to his right. "What's behind that wall?"

Mild disapproval . . .

So, Purple is keeping secrets, thought Jason.

"I wish I knew how to communicate with you."

Curious . . .

"Yes, I'm curious too. There are so many things I would like to ask you. Are you native to this planet? How many are there of your kind in the other buildings? What is the purpose of this settlement? Do you pose a risk to us humans? Of course, you don't understand a word I'm saying."

Jason continued anyway, first telling Purple some basic facts about the human race, then telling the story of how he and Nikki came to be on Antola. The feedback he got felt like Purple was encouraging him to keep speaking. Eventually, though, Jason tired of the one-sided conversation and retreated to the other room.

A couple of hours later when Nikki still had not returned, Jason began to worry. He caught a motion out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see that Purple was glowing red and seemed to be waving its appendages in agitation. When Jason looked its way, Purple tapped on the cylinder and firmly pressed its pad against the surface.

Jason hobbled into the other room and put his hand on the cylinder. Immediately, he felt strong emotions:

Fear . . . Panic . . .

"What? What's wrong?"

The cylinder went opaque and a few seconds later, the mech hummed and whirred and began moving. The door to the room and the one to the outside both opened and the robot ran out with surprising speed. Once clear of the door, thrusters fired off from the underside of the robot's main body and it lifted off the ground and accelerated away across the grassland.

What the hell just happened? Jason wondered. He watched it as it headed toward a cluster of figures in the distance. It looked like a large pack of predators of some sort had surrounded a single prey animal. Suddenly he realized the victim looked human . . .Nikki!

The predators closed in on her and she appeared to be fighting them off with her laser sword. Just as they seemed about to overwhelm her, the robot landed next to her. The other figures scattered a short distance then began closing in again. What appeared to be a half a dozen lightning bolts emerged from the robot. The figures scattered and fled across the plain.

For a moment, Jason couldn't find Nikki. He strained to see some sign of her, then he picked her tiny figure out, rising to her feet. It was hard to tell what she was doing at that distance, but after a while, he could see that Nikki and the mech were walking back toward him.

It was dark before they got back. Nikki had a large haunch of some animal slung over her shoulder. Jason limped to her as fast as he could. She dropped her cargo and ran into his arms.

"What happened?"

"I got overtaken by a big pack of tuskers out in the open. There must have been forty of them. My laser pistol ran out of power, so I was left with the laser sword. I would have been a goner if Purple hadn't shown up in his mech. It fried a bunch of them and the rest ran away."

Jason held her tight, trying not to think about how close he just came to losing her. "You need to be more careful."

"Hey, at least I got dinner," she said. She broke free from his embrace and picked up the tusker haunch. The machine began nudging both of them toward the door.

"Hey, what's up with that? Purple, what are you doing?" Nikki exclaimed in surprise.

"It seems to want us inside. Maybe it knows something we don't"

"But we need to cook our meat," she objected. Just as she said this, the door swung open and in the center of the room was a flame emanating from the floor. "Holy shit. Did it just understand what I said?"

They entered the building and the door shut behind them. The robot continued into the inner room and settled back into its original spot. About 15 seconds later, the cylinder went translucent to reveal Purple.

"I've got to go thank it for rescuing you," said Jason.

He entered the room and put his hand to the cylinder. He focused on a feeling of gratitude, trying to project it to Purple.

Joy . . . Relief

Nikki came in and threw her arms around the cylinder as far as they would go. Purple glowed red.

A hook on the end of a cable lowered from the ceiling over the fire. Nikki hung the meat over the fire. Jason and Nikki stuffed themselves with the succulent meat.

After dinner, Nikki and Jason discussed their interactions with the alien life form.

"It's frustrating not being able to communicate with Purple beyond just rudimentary emotions. We realize the longstanding human dream of finding extraterrestrial intelligence, but we can't find a way to unlock its secrets," lamented Nikki.

"How do we know it's intelligent? Maybe those vague emotions are all it's got. Maybe the well doesn't go any deeper than that."

"That wouldn't make sense, look at all it has created: the structures are highly advanced, it has a robot, computer systems . . ."

"You are assuming Purple and its kin were the creators of this stuff. We don't know that. Think of it this way: what if an alien race lands on Earth one morning and wanders into the first human home they find. The human couple that lives there are at work, so the aliens encounter the family dog. He wags his tail and barks and licks them. They rack their superior brains trying to find a way to unlock the vast knowledge that this furry creature must have in order to have created this advanced civilization they see."

Nikki laughed, but she could see his point. "So you think Purple is just the family pet?"

"No, but you have to admit it's possible. We really know very little about it."

"True. I guess we will figure out more eventually. At least it seems to like us."

"It likes you. I'm not sure how it feels about me."

Nikki slid over so that she was sitting pressed tight to his side. She ran a hand across his muscular chest and put her lips to his ear and whispered, "Let's not talk about Purple anymore, let's talk about us. I missed you."

"Do we have to talk?" asked Jason. He turned his head and met her lips, gently caressing them with his own. They kissed for a few moments, with increasing firmness and passion.

Nikki broke free long enough to respond with, "You're right, let's not talk." She pushed him down to the floor and began kissing his neck. She worked her way down his body until she got to his shorts. She unzipped them and slowly worked them off, licking the underside of his now erect cock as it emerged. Jason groaned in appreciation.

Nikki stood up and wriggled out of her shorts and kicked them aside. Jason sat up, reached around and grasped her ass cheeks with both hands and pulled her toward him. He extended his tongue and lightly ran the tip over her fleshy folds, causing her to tremble. He teased her for a minute like this, barely making contact with her. He just brushed the tip of her clit and she drew her breath in sharply.

She put her hands on the back of his head and began applying pressure, desperately seeking more contact. He slowly complied, licking her more firmly but avoiding her clit.

"Oh baby, Lick me harder."

Jason shifted to her swollen nub and she immediately exploded in orgasm. She ground herself furiously into his tongue and cried out in ecstasy. Her legs buckled, but Jason held her up with his hands.

A few moments later, Nikki pushed Jason back down to the floor and lowered herself onto his waiting erection. Jason felt the exquisite warmth envelop his cock as he reached up and ran his hands over her delicious curves.

They fucked until another burst of pleasure overwhelmed Nikki and she collapsed into Jason's arms. Jason clutched her sweaty body to his and pumped her fast and furiously for a few more seconds before he too erupted in orgasm.

The next morning, Jason awoke and tried to leave the building. The touch pad by the door wouldn't turn on.

"Um, Nikki? The door won't open."

"Well, that's a problem. Purple didn't provide us with a bathroom in here."

"Yeah, why do you think I was trying to get out?"

Jason pounded on the door. When that had no effect, Jason went into Purple's room. As he approached, the mech began to move. It brushed past him and went to the outside door. The door opened and the robot stepped through. Jason and Nikki followed it. The two humans tried to split up, but the mech herded them together.

"Well, this is awkward," said Jason.

"I don't care, I've got to go." With that, Nikki squatted down. Jason relieved himself as well.

They returned to the structure and went inside. The mech followed them in and returned to its spot. Nikki and Jason ate their breakfast of tusker meat.

"I say we go out and explore the other structures," suggested Nikki.

Jason agreed, but once again the door wouldn't open. Jason banged on it and again, in a few moments the mech came to life and let them out. "This is ridiculous. Now I feel like the family dog, whining to be let out. Next thing you know, it's going to put leashes on us."

As they approached the next nearest structure, the mech stepped in front of them, blocking their path. They tried moving around it, but it shifted to block them.

"On the count of three, we'll split up. You go around the left, I'll take the right," suggested Jason. "One . . . two . . . three."

The robot side stepped in front of Jason and grasped his shoulder with one of its manipulator arms, while a thin, whip-like appendage extended and wrapped around Nikki's wrist.

"What the fuck!" exclaimed Nikki.

The robot turned them around to face the opposite direction and released them.

"It really doesn't want us going over there," said Nikki, stating the obvious.

"You know, yesterday while you were out auditioning as tusker food, I made some measurements and determined that there are still some hidden spaces in Purple's structure. When I went poking around looking for them, Purple made it clear he didn't want me to.

Purple is hiding something from us. The whole thing is starting to feel a little creepy."