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Subject: {ASSM} {ASS} VIRTUALLY REAL {Hungry Guy} (MF M/F scfi Mpov Mdom Fsub cons reluc nc caution)
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{ASS} VIRTUALLY REAL {Hungry Guy} (MF M/F scfi Mpov Mdom Fsub cons
reluc nc caution)
BY: Hungry Guy (hungry@stoolmail.zzn.com)
A hacker sat at his PC late Friday evening. Computer magazines,
programming books, and software packages lay scattered everywhere--
jammed in overstuffed plain wooden shelf units, on the desk, on the
night tables, on the loveseat, and on the king size double bed. The
hacker, also known as Erin, was a tall skinny nerdy looking geek of
about 35, wearing old jeans and an AOL tee shirt. He pored over
numerous tattered and dog-eared books with such titles as, "The Brain-
Computer Interface", and "Principles of Cortical Detection and
Stimulation." He reached across his desk to grab a slice of pizza and
took a swig of a can of Jolt Cola, then proceeded to make some changes
to a program displayed on the screen of his computer.
He picked up an old bicycle helmet, which has been altered by the
addition of all manner of small antennas and wires fastened all over
the top of it. He grabbed a length of ribbon cable from under his desk
and plugged one end into the helmet and the other end into the parallel
port on the back of his computer. Standing up from the chair, he
walked over to the bed and shoved the pile of books off onto the floor.
Placing the helmet on his head, he lay down on the bed and went limp.
***
_Standing in the center of a large medieval throne room, Erin, a
tall skinny nerdy looking geek of about 35, wearing old jeans and an
*Quark's Bar* tee shirt, whirled around._
_"Behold, my kingdom!" he shouted as he walked around the huge
ornamental stone room._
_"What detail! Incredible! I should be proud of myself!"_
_He took a deep breath and let it out slowly._
_"Ahhhhhh. A bit musty though. I think I'll take that out."_
He walked up to the massive wooden throne in the center of the
room. It was standing upon a raised section of the stone floor. Its
cushions were luxurious violet silk, and it was curtained in sheets of
red, blue, and green pleated sheets of silk._
_"Aaaaaaeaaaah," as he took his rightful place upon the throne. He
sat for a few minutes and began tapping his fingers on the arms of the
throne. "Let's check out the rest of my kingdom." He said to himself._
_Erin exited the massive castle, crossing between two guard towers
and across the narrow wooden drawbridge. He walked down into the
village where the empty streets, lined with quaint wooden shops and
houses, crisscrossed at odd angles. Several streets came together in
the square where, in the center, a large ornamental well stood proudly,
its bucket swinging in the cool breeze. Erin sat on the edge of the
well and dropped a coin into the water below with a plop. "I wish I
knew how to program sentience."_
***
Erin sat at his computer nearly all day Saturday, keying in another
program, this time poring over a journal titled, "Consciousness
Explained."
***
_Erin sat upon his throne in fine saffron robes, wearing a
bejeweled gold crown upon his head. Two of his subjects faced him from
a respectable distance._
_"My subjects! Bow to your king!" The two men leaned forward in
unison._
_"You may rise. What causes you to seek an audience with your
king?" Silence. "Well, speak up! Tell me your names!"_
_"I. Am. Alpha."_
_"I. Am. Beta."_
_"How are you feeling, Alpha? Are you comfortable?"_
_"I. Do. Not. Feel. I. Do. Not. Experience. Comfort."_
***
He sat staring at the screen until Saturday evening drew near.
With a sudden start, he let out a whistle! "Spot! C'mere boy! C'mere
Spot!"
A small brown terrier came running into the room. "Good boy! Sit,
Spot! Sit! Now, stay. Stay! Good boy!"
Erin placed his bicycle helmet on the dog's head. The dog
collapsed to the floor in apparent slumber as Erin keyed something into
the computer. The hard drive light flickered for several minutes then
stopped. The dog opened his eyes and looked up at Erin.
Erin removed the helmet from the dog. "Here, boy. Want a doggie
biscuit? Good boy!"
The dog ran out of the room attacking his biscuit. Erin lay back
down on the bed and placed his helmet back on his own head.
***
_Erin sat at his throne, his loyal dog by his side._
_"Spot! Fetch!" He tossed a ball over to the far end of the
throne room. The dog bounded after it and returned, dropping the drool
covered ball at Erin's feet, jumping and barking excitedly. "Good boy,
Spot! Real good boy!"_
***
Erin stared into the screen, his chin resting in his palms with his
elbows on the desk. His eyebrows shot up and he rapidly began to key
in another program as the Monday morning sun started to rise. He
checked his watch and jumped up out of the chair scrambling to take off
his jeans while replacing them with a pair of dress pants. He pulled a
dress shirt on over his tee shirt and ran out of the house as he
grabbed a tie from his closet.
The workday at the hi-rise offices of Megatelco Corporation in
Piscataway New Jersey began promptly at 9:00. Erin arrived early
Monday morning. Of course he dreaded this day. It was his birthday,
and there was no way of avoiding his Birthday Beating.
Birthday Beatings were the brainchild of Glenn. Glenn was a member
of the team of programmers of which Erin was also a member. Erin had
endured several Birthday Beatings so far. Often, they involve tossing
the victim's overcoat over his head and giving him a gentle pounding.
Women were not excused from the practice either. It was more of a
psychological trauma than a painful one. Still it was unpleasant. Yet
he dared not protest. The Birthday Beatings had the blessing of the
immediate staff manager and the staff manager's District manager.
A few years ago, some chap, a Bernhard somebody, complained about
the Birthday Beatings to a different staff manager other than his own,
but under the same District manager--and he became the victim of a
cruel practical joke. A few days after the allied manager went to the
District manager to resolve the problem, the District manager called up
his Division manager saying that he had overheard Bernhard making a
bomb threat against the company. The Division manager called the
police, duped into falsely accusing Bernhard of making the bomb threat.
The innocent chap was fired and went through a bloody hell of an ordeal
to clear himself.
Thus, Erin endured the Birthday Beatings.
***
The remainder of the workweek was uneventful, and Erin made little
progress in his virtual world.
That Thursday, Erin decided to forego his forays into virtual
reality and attempt a go at real reality for an evening. He browsed
the personals and answered "Intelligent Woman Seeking Intelligent
Man." He called up "Intelligent Woman" and they hit it off straight
away. The following evening, Friday, he drove to her flat and picked
her up that night and drove to a restaurant for dinner.
On the way there, she asked, "Would you mind stopping up ahead here
at the betting parlor for a second. I want to pick up my State Lotto
ticket. I buy one every day, you know."
He stopped, and she got her tickets. Continuing on the way to the
restaurant, Erin explained, "The State Lotto is a tax on the ignorance
of probability theory, you know."
"What rot is that you say? I just won $150.00 last week! A couple
of years ago, I won $200.00!"
"But if you buy one ticket a day, you're paying $365.00 a year to
win $200.00 every couple of years. Instead, why don't you put a dollar
into an envelope every day, and when your numbers come up, take the
money out of the envelope. I guarantee you'll win more than $100.00 or
$200.00 every time your numbers come up."
"Why should I? It's the only way I can save money. What if I stop
playing and my numbers came up? I'd lose hundreds of dollars. So
don't tell me what I should do!"
"I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just pointing out that you're
losing money playing the State Lotto. If you're doing it to save money
and you enjoy the gambling part of it, you can at least break even by
playing it like I've explained."
"How dare you tell me what to do! And how do you really know I'm
losing in the long run, eh?"
"Because I can count! It's obvious! $365.00 a year to average
$100.00 a year back is losing money. I'm just explaining that to..."
"I can't deal with this! Let me out! I'll find my own way home!"
"Don't be silly, I'll take you home."
"Stop the car right now, or I swear I'll scream out the window!"
He let her out and drove home, all the while muttering about so-
called "intelligent" women.
***
Erin awoke early that Saturday morning. He made himself up quickly
and drove down to the local shopping arcade. He stopped in front of
"Exotic Pet Shoppy" and entered. He glanced at the kittens and puppies
and tropical fish as he walked through to the rear of the store where
the exotic animals are on display. He stopped in front of a large cage
labeled, "Ixblat." Inside was a small chimpanzee. "May I help you,
sir?" asked the young female clerk.
"Yes, please. How much is the chimp?"
"The chimp is eight hundred and fifty American dollars, sir, plus
VAT. He's really cute. Would you like to hold him?"
"Yes, please!"
"His name is Ixblat. Hold him like this."
"Uh. He won't..."
"No, he won't! Though he'll need to wear a diaper if he were to be
allowed to run around loose."
"What's your return policy? Just in case he doesn't take to me?"
She raised an eyebrow at him before answering. "You have thirty
days to return him for a full refund. But we will check to see that he
hasn't been abused."
"Okay, fine, I'll take him."
"Oh! Good! He comes with the cage here, and his toys, but you'll
have to buy a bag of his food."
"That's fine."
"Good! Follow me up to the register, please."
***
Spot ran and hid when Erin brought the chimp into the house. Erin
went and found him under the sink. "Don't worry, boy! The chimp will
only be here for a few weeks!"
***
_Once again, Erin sat upon his throne to address those who seek an
audience with their king. One lone man in plain white robes stood
before the throne, looking rapidly left, then right. "Speak to your
king!" said Erin._
_"Aaaaaeeeeeeeccchhh! Aaacch! Aaacchh!" The man jumped and spun
around and ran over to one corner of the room. Erin jumped down from
his throne and ran after him. "Ixblat, don't be afraid! It's just a
game!"_
_Ixblat ran along the wall away from Erin. "Aaaaaaeeeeeeeech!
Oooh! Oooh! Eeeeeeeeech!" Ixblat stopped to tear his robes off, and
then continued running wildly around the throne room naked. After a
few moments, he sat and started scratching his bum._
***
Lunchtime at Megatelco Corporation was from noon to 13.00. Gary
got up from his terminal to leave for the cantina. As he walked past
the cubes of his co-workers, he noticed Erin unconscious in his chair
wearing a strangely modified bicycle helmet wired to a laptop PC on his
desk. "Hey! Erin! Wake up! You okay?" Gary glanced down at another
similar helmet, also wired to the PC, on the extra chair in the cube.
Curious as to what game his colleague might be playing, Gary sat in
the chair and donned the helmet.
***
_Gary suddenly found himself in the town square of a medieval
village. The town was eerily silent except for a dog barking near by
and the occasional screeching of monkeys off in the distance. One
seemingly blind man walked through the square. "Hey! Hey you! Where
am I?" The man ignored Gary and entered a side street. "Where are you
going! Where am I?"_
_Gary looked around quickly. Seeing no other activity, he started
to shout._
***
Suddenly, Gary was, once again, sitting in that Erin's cube back at
the office.
Gary looked Erin in the eye. "What was that? Where was I?"
"What did you think of my virtual reality world, Gary?" Erin asked.
***
_Gary suddenly found himself in the town square of a medieval
village. The town was eerily silent except for a dog barking near by
and the occasional screeching of monkeys off in the distance. One
seemingly blind man walked through the square. "Hey! Hey you! Where
am I?" The man ignored Gary and entered a side street. "Where are you
going! Come back here! Help me!"_
_Gary looked around quickly. Seeing no other activity, he started
to shout. But then, Gary saw Erin enter the town square wearing royal
looking robes and a sort of king's crown. "Greetings to you, Gary!
Welcome to my world!"_
_Gary looked at Erin quizzically, "How the bloody hell did I get
here?"_
_"You are in a cyberspace, Gary. You know, a high resolution full
sensory virtual reality system. The helmet that you wore back at my
cubicle this afternoon allowed me to record your mind."_
_"Wait a minute! You stop this thing right now and put me back in
the real world!"_
_"I'm afraid that's not possible, Gary. You are now a disembodied
mind. A mind needs a body in order to exist in the real world."_
_"WHAT! You can't be serious! Look, Erin, someone's going to
notice me missing! Plenty of people saw me hooked to your helmet
thing. They'll know who to come to if I suddenly disappear! So let me
out! Now!"_
_"No, Gary. You don't understand. The real Gary is still alive
and well back in the real world. He's probably home with his wife at
this very moment, having dinner or watching telly, unaware that a copy
of his mind was recorded when he put that helmet on this afternoon.
*You* are nothing more than a digitized *copy* of *his* mind that is
now being *simulated* inside my virtual computer cyberspace."_
_"The bloody hell!" Gary rushed at Erin and grabbed him. At that,
however, Erin suddenly vanished in thin air! Gary stood there
dumfounded._
***
Erin deleted that sequence and restored Gary's mind from the first
backup he made just before he reanimated him and went to meet him.
***
_Gary stood there rubbing his chin for a moment and then felt a
strange spasm in his head which lasted barely a fraction of a second.
Then as he looked up, Gary saw Erin enter the town square wearing royal
looking robes and a sort of kings crown. "Greetings to you, Gary!
Welcome to my world!"_
_Gary looked at Erin quizzically, "How the bloody hell did I get
here?"_
_"It's a long story, Gary. Please, why don't you join me for
lunch at the castle. I promise you a meal fit for a king!"_
_"Well... I suppose so... if you can get us back to work by the end
of our lunch hour..."_
***
Erin ran a backup of his hard disk, labeled the USB thumb drive
"Cyberspace," and placed the USB thumb drive in his little Sentry vault
labeled, along with another thumb drive labeled, "Gary: original
copy." He then walked out to his car carrying his pocket PC and an
assortment of wire and ribbon cable. His car, an old yellow 1973
Volkswagen Beetle, had full-height bucket seats with the headrest
integral with the back of the seat. He opened the hatchback and, with a
pen knife, carefully cut out a large circle of the cloth from the back
of the headrest. He carefully strung his wires and chips into the
padding of the seat. He then fished the ribbon cable down through the
inside of the back of the seat and out the bottom. The then neatly
patched the back of the seat with another piece of cloth.
Scrunching down, he gingerly mounted his pocket PC underneath the
seat and connected the end of the ribbon cable to one of its USB ports.
He fished the power cable from his PC's 12 volt converter adapter under
the carpet to the fuse panel and hooked it up. He also ran a wire from
the PC's reset jack to a push-button he mounted on the left side of his
own seat so that he could easily reach down and press it without
stretching or searching for it.
He sat in the passenger seat and relaxed.
***
_Erin stood from his throne and walked to the end of the huge
throne room into the grand marquis of his royal castle. His humble
servant, R-Gary, waited there ever eager to serve his king. R-Gary
bowed as Erin entered. "May I assist you, your highness?"_
***
Just before lunchtime at Megatelco Corporation, a group of people
hung around the copier. "So where do you want to go for lunch today?
I'm sick of cantina food."
"Let's go to Tumulty's Pub in New Brunswick. It's right on George
street a few blocks from the train station. How about there?"
"That sounds good."
"Yeah, I'll go for that."
"Yeah, me too."
"Who's gonna drive?"
"I'll drive." Said Erin.
"You! How're you gonna fit all of us in that putt-putt of yours?"
guffawed Glenn.
"I can fit all of you. No problem."
"Well, okay."
"Sure, let's go."
They walked out into the parking lot and got into Erin's bug. As
always, Glenn took the front passenger seat. This morning, Erin had
placed a boot disk in the pocket PC with a special program that he
wrote just for this purpose. Instead of placing the subject in the
cyberspace, it simply copied the subject's mind without him
experiencing the cyberspace world in the process. As he started
backing out of his space, he reached down and pressed his concealed
reset button.
I saw Glenn twitch slightly a few seconds after he pressed the
button, recognizing the mild spasm he, himself, feels whenever he jacks
in.
Erin glanced over at Glenn. Glenn looked back, rubbed his head and
said, "So Erin, " he said, "this car going to make it all the way down
Easton Avenue?"
"Sure! It's never failed me yet!" Answered Erin.
"But aren't you tired of driving this antique? I got a great deal
on my Hummer a few weeks ago!"
"Yeah, but that's only because you seem to like to collect
accidents on your way home from Deadhead concerts. Your dealer knows
by now that you're a guaranteed repeat customer!" Erin smirked.!
Glenn shut up. It almost came to blows the last time somebody
commented on his accident record.
Erin drove out of the office park and stopped before entering the
main boulevard.
Their lunch passed uneventfully and they all returned to work by
the end of their lunch hour.
"Thanks for the ride," bellowed Glenn as they all climbed out of
the bug to return to the Megatelco building.
Erin carefully removed that thumb drive from his car that evening
after returning home from work and brought it inside. He plugged it
into his desktop PC and loaded its contents into the cyberspace.
***
_Erin glanced over at Glenn. Glenn looked back, rubbed his head
and said, "So Erin, " he said, "this car going to make it all the way
across town?"_
_"Sure! It's never failed me yet!" Answered Erin._
_"But aren't you tired of driving this antique? I got a great deal
on my Hummer a few weeks ago!"_
_"Yeah, but that's only because you seem to like to collect
accidents on your way home from Deadhead concerts. Your dealer knows
by now that you're a guaranteed repeat customer!" Erin smirked.!_
_Glenn shut up. It almost came to blows the last time somebody
commented on his accident record._
_Erin drove out of the office park and stopped before entering the
main boulevard. But as they pulled out onto the boulevard, a Jolt Cola
truck came speeding literally out of nowhere at them. There was a loud
crash and Glenn instantly found himself floating in blackness. It was
eerie, for there were no stars or other sources of light were visible.
He was in atmosphere since he was able to breathe. But it all seemed
so surreal._
_Then just as suddenly, Glenn found himself somewhere totally
unexpected! He found himself in the town square of a medieval village.
The town was eerily silent except for a dog barking near by and the
occasional screeching of monkeys off in the distance. One seemingly
blind man walked through the square._
_"Excuse me! Hey, can you hear me?" The man ignored Glenn and
entered a side street._
_Then, not totally unexpected, Glenn saw Erin enter the town
square, but in his street clothes. "Hi Glenn!"_
_Glenn looked at Erin quizzically, "Erin! You died too!"_
_"Yes. We both died drowning in Jolt Cola if you don't remember."_
_"Wow! This isn't what I expected heaven to be like. But what
about the others, are they here too?"_
_"I haven't seen anyone else here but you, Glenn."_
_"Well, I saw one guy--some kind of zombie--walk through the square
here just a second ago. I tried to talk to him but he totally ignored
me. And there's that screeching off in the distance again..."_
***
Erin tried a number of experiments. Starting each time from the
original mind capture file, he animated Glenn in several different
scenarios, and several different appearances. Sometimes Glenn woke
after the accident on board an interstellar space ship, or in a high-
tech underground bomb shelter. Once, Glenn woke in the body of a
female. This resulted in severe emotional problems within days.
Another time, Glenn woke in the body of a chimp. And one time, in a
fit of cruelty, Erin merely allowed Glenn to float in that empty space
for several months until he went insane.
As a result of his experiments with Gary and Glenn under different
scenarios, Erin obtained some insight into the workings of the human
mind--or at least the binary representation of one. He still could not
consistently create a mind from scratch; only an unmodified copy of
someone's mind would be a self aware continuation of that person's
consciousness. But with the aid of a random mind generator program he
wrote, he was eventually able to create minds which were halfway
between mindless automatons and sentient self aware minds. Fully 99
percent of those minds were useless babbling morons, but that one
percent turned out to be useful enough to serve his purposes. These
cyber-people were not self aware sentient beings. They were still
closer to adventure game computer controlled characters than to
sentient intelligent people, but with the proper script they could fool
someone, who didn't know they were in a cyberspace, into thinking they
were ordinary, if somewhat dim, people.
His copy program also could capture a person's mental image of
their own body, with all the birth marks, bruises, aches and pains, and
other intimate details recreated, so as to be able to reproduce a
virtual copy of that body that the virtualized mind would not be able
to tell from the original.
***
One Wednesday evening at work, Erin was working late. He was about
to leave when Maire, another programmer, stopped by his cubicle. She
was about his age and height, fairly attractive, with long flowing
black hair, emerald eyes, slender but with curves in all the right
places!
"Hi!" Said Maire in a slight Polish accent. "I'm sorry to bother
you, but I did something really stupid. I locked my keys in my car
this morning and my husband won't get home till late. Everyone else
has left, could you give me a ride home?"
"Yeah, sure Maire. I'd be glad to."
Erin drove her home, and then returned home himself in a state of
exhilaration. He made certain to make several backups of the disk from
his pocket PC before doing anything else. He waited until Friday to
animate Maire's recorded mind in his virtual world.
***
_While waiting at the light, Maire began rubbing her temples, then
Erin asked, "Maire, which way now?"_
_"Turn right here, then left at the next light. I really
appreciate the ride home, Erin."_
_"No problem, Maire, really!"_
_After the light turned green, they entered the intersection. As
they drove through, Erin saw Maire's eyes go wide as a Jolt Cola truck
barreled through the intersection at 100 kilometers per hour directly
at them. He heard her scream to the sound of tearing metal as the
truck smashed into the car ripping their bodies to shreds._
***
Sidding in his bathrobe, sipping a Guinness, Erin watched the scene
a few times on his LCD monitor from different angles.
Maire was floating in mid air, in total darkness, naked. When her
consciousness was activated, she immediately began screaming and
flailing her arms and legs. This only seemed to cause her to begin
tumbling head over heels and she screamed even louder. After a moment,
she stopped screaming, and waved her arms as though to stop herself
from tumbling. She eventually succeeded.
She looked around, seemingly by swimming through the air, though
Erin was certain that she could not be seeing any detail. It was
totally black in all directions. There was, however, an undetectable
dim even light source coming from all directions so that she could see
herself, though dimly.
He saw her wave arms as though feeling the breeze, blow on her
hand, and even pinch herself with an "Ouch!" She eventually allowed
herself to go limp, and began sobbing.
After several minutes, a point of light appeared in the distance.
Maire didn't seem to see it at first, but she was slowly drifting
towards it. After several minutes, it became so close and bright that
she couldn't possibly miss seeing it. She appeared to be watching it
intently as she flew into it.
Working the mouse, Erin zoomed in and placed his virtual body
laying on the beach a few yards from where he placed Maire's virtual
body, both laying face down in the sand, naked. He activated her mind
again and continued watching her from his monitor. She awoke and
looked around. She seemed to notice Erin's naked body laying down the
beach a little bit. She walked up to the base of the palisades which
rose high above them. She then walked out onto the beach to the
water's edge, and seemed to stare out at the ocean for a while. Too
bad, he thought, there was no way to know what she was thinking. That
would probably take more programming skill than he possessed. After a
few minutes, she looked back at Erin's sessile body. She walked over
to him and, kneeling, began to shake him vigorously. "Wake up, Erin!
Please wake up!" He lay down on his bed and positioned the helmet on
his head.
***
_"Ohhhhh," moaned Erin, as he looked up. Maire immediately backed
away wrapping her arms around her chest and pressing her legs together
while crouching down slightly._
_Erin looked away and said, "What happened to us, Maire?"_
_"I... I don't know. I think we died. And this must be...
heaven... or maybe hell..."_
***
Erin paused here and saved the state of his cyberspace at this
point, then continued.
***
_Erin sat up, still looking away from Maire, "That's crazy! We
have to find help. I bet there's a hotel right around one of these
turns! You search the beach in that direction and I'll search in this
direction. Whoever finds someone first can send someone after the
other."_
_"I... I don't think that's such a good idea, Erin. I think we
should stay together."_
_"All right. But which way do we go?"_
_"Well, those cliffs behind us seem to be getting higher in your
direction, but lower in mine. Let's try this way..."_
_Erin stood and they started walking down the beach together.
Erin tried to stare straight ahead without looking at Maire, and Maire
seemed to be doing the same._
_They walked for hours without saying another word to each other.
The palisades had come down to luxurious tropical jungle. Eventually,
the sun started to set and it was getting dark._
_"Maire, are you getting hungry?"_
_"Yeah, what are we going to do?"_
_"See those trees over there? Those look like coconut trees. And
those over there are banana trees."_
_"Oh yeah! And there's an orange tree! Erin! Do you think this
is the Garden of Eden?"_
_"You still think we're dead, huh?"_
_Maire didn't answer. They had dinner of Bananas, Oranges, and
Coconut milk. Through necessity, they had learned to ignore each
other's nudity._
_The sun had almost set and it was quite dark. Maire walked out
onto the beach and sat down. She grew tired and lay down and fell
asleep._
***
Erin saved the state at this point. He lay awake all night
planning where to lead this scenario.
***
_During the night, a scream broke the silence. Birds, awakened at
the alarm, burst into flight. Erin had climbed upon Maire's sleeping
body, waking her. He raped her. She cried out pleading with him not
to, but he penetrated her over and over again. Finally, spent and
exhausted, he left her as she cried._
***
Erin deleted that sequence. At a conscious level, he knew that it
was only a computer simulation, and not a real live woman he had raped.
Still he was shocked that he had enjoyed it. He restored from the
previous save.
***
_The next morning, Erin woke first and pulled a coconut off a low
hanging coconut tree. He began banging on it with a rock to open it.
Maire woke soon after and got up and walked over to Erin, "Thought you
could get away with having breakfast without me, huh?"_
_"I just didn't want to disturb you. Sorry that I woke you, but
there's just no way to crack a coconut quietly. I found some grape
vines over there, and a couple of apple trees over there. There's a
mango tree behind those rocks, and a pear tree up over that hill. I've
never seen such a wide variety of trees all in one place like this
before!"_
_"I guess we're not going to go hungry anyway!"_
_They enjoyed a filling breakfast together, and then continued
their trek down the beach._
_As they walked, Maire started humming an old familiar ballad that
had been popular back a few years ago. Maire glanced at Erin who was
looking at her intently and she stopped._
_"Oh, don't stop Maire! I like that song!"_
_"That's my favorite song."_
_"Did you ever go see her in concert?"_
_"Yes, I saw her at The Egg up in Albany when I was dating my
husband... She and her dad sang it as a duet as the last song..."_
_They continued walking down the beach. The hours passed and they
stopped for lunch when the sun was high overhead and it was getting a
bit too warm._
_"If we're really dead, I'm sure going to miss steak and pizza and
pasta and..."_
_"I remember dying, Erin! I can still see that truck smashing into
us, and being...torn apart..."_
_"Yeah, I remember it too... It's just so unbelievable... and I'm
still going to miss junk food!"_
_"We'll probably be a lot healthier without those things, Erin."_
_"What difference does that make if we're dead?"_
_That's the first time Erin ever saw Maire laugh since she had been
virtualized._
_They continued their trek until night came again. Like the night
before, Maire walked out onto the beach and lay down to sleep. She
seemed to fall asleep easily._
***
Erin went to sleep in the real world, wondering if his efforts will
succeed.
***
_The next morning was as warm and sweet smelling as the one before.
Maire woke before Erin, and she went over and sat down next to him and
just gazed out at the ocean._
_Erin eventually woke also, "Oh... morning Maire..."_
_"Erin, do you smell that?"_
_"Smell what?"_
_"Sandalwood, Erin! There's Sandalwood here too."_
_"Sandalwood?" said Erin, striggling to keep a straight face.
"What's Sandalwood?"_
_"It's a tree that grows in Asia that smells so sweet. My...
husband and I traveled to India once. As soon as you get off the
plane, you can smell it... the scent is in the air everywhere you go...
the whole country smells like Sandalwood."_
_"What do they do about it?"_
_"They don't *DO* anything about it! It's lovely!"_
_"Yeah, it is kind of sweet... and speaking of sweet, I'm getting
hungry. What's on the menu today?"_
_Maire stood and walked over to some trees as Erin watched her.
The way the shadows danced on her plump, round, bare tush made his
mouth water in anticipation - his most erotic fantasies had always been
based on mutual oral pleasures. She stopped at a couple of small trees
and vines and called to Erin, "Looks like our choices are plums,
apricots, or blueberries today."_
_They feasted on fruits once again, then continued on their way._
_They walked for hours, with no sign of civilization anywhere.
"What are we doing, Erin?"_
_"I think we're walking down this beach... "_
_"Yeah, but why? C'mon Erin... you know how we got here, remember?
You know where we are as much as I do!"_
_Erin stopped, sat on the beach, and looked up at Maire. "Yeah, I
know. But does that mean that we should just give up and... die?"_
_Maire sat next to Erin. "Well...no...but what are we doing, where
are we going? Is this the beginning of eternity for us? Or are we
going to grow old and die...again?"_
_"Well... if we're dead and this is heaven, then let's go find God
and ask Him!"_
_"I never said I think this is heaven..."_
_"You think, maybe, this is hell then?"_
_"No, that's not what I meant... sure, we died and got...
transported... somewhere else... not some fantasy place like heaven,
but here! I don't know where HERE is, but we're not in our own
universe anymore, Erin!"_
_"Ulp... uh... what do you mean?"_
_"I know a few things about physics and biology... not much, but
enough to know that the laws of nature here are somehow... different.
I can't quite put my finger on it... but when we died in that crash, we
got transported into a different universe... or plane... or dimension,
whatever you want to call it."_
_Not wanting to turn this into a religious experience, Erin dropped
the subject and just stared out at the ocean without replying._
_They ended up sitting on the beach most of the rest of the
morning. Then a little after noon, they resumed their walk down the
beach. They didn't stop for lunch, but rather, they nibbled along the
way whenever they got hungry._
_They continued until dusk and then found a shady spot in among the
trees, and sat down to rest and nibble the different varieties of
fruits they keep finding. Eventually, Maire went off onto the beach to
sleep while Erin wandered off to find a good sleeping spot for himself.
_
***
Erin had an idea. He wasn't sure what reaction it would provoke,
so like always, he made a backup of the cyberspace before going to real
bed.
***
Erin woke the next morning and started to get ready for work. But
when he checked the console of his cyberspace, as he usually does, he
noticed that the virtual clock had stopped at a little after midnight.
A message on the screen indicated that his virtual presence was needed
in order for the scenario to proceed. As promising as that sounded,
the scenario would have to stay paused until he got home from work that
evening. He ran another backup of the cyberspace, and left for work.
That evening he played back on his monitor a few moments before the
alarm and saw that his idea had worked. During the night, Maire had
awakened to the sounds of wildlife screeching, cawing, growling, and
roaring.
"Erin! Where are you?" she cried out.
He donned his helmet and joined her.
***
_"Wha... huh... I'm over here Maire! Is something wrong?"_
_Maire ran up to the edge of the beach, "Erin! Where are you?"_
_"Right over here, Maire. I found a large flat smooth rock to
sleep on--almost as if it was designed to human contours. What's
wrong?"_
_"I... Oh, maybe I'm just being silly... I heard something,
that's all..."_
_"What did you hear?"_
_"Just some jungle noises. Do you think we're really safe, Erin?"_
_"I would think so. If this is some kind of afterlife, we can't be
in much more danger than we already lived through when we died."_
_"Well... Uh... Do you think there's--enough room on that rock
for two?"_
_"Yeah--sure!"_
_The rock wasn't quite large enough for two and they slept snuggled
up together, but Maire seemed to sleep through the rest of the night in
peace._
_The sunrise came up the next morning and warmed the rock on which
they slept._
_Erin woke a little while later and caught Maire already awake,
looking into his sleepy eyes. Erin looked back and held her gaze.
They stared at each other for a good 5 minutes, and then Erin
cautiously gave Maire a quick kiss on the lips. Maire swallowed hard,
"Erin, wait... I don't think..."_
_"It's okay Maire... I'm sorry..."_
***
Unsatisfied with his blunder, Erin restored from the previous save.
***
_"Wha... huh... I'm over here Maire! Is something wrong?"_
_Maire ran up to the edge of the beach, "Erin! Where are you?"_
_"Right over here, Maire. I found a large flat smooth rock to
sleep on -- almost as if it was designed to human contours. What's
wrong?"_
_"I... Oh, maybe I'm just being silly... I heard something,
that's all..."_
_"What did you hear?"_
_"Just some jungle noises. Do you think we're really safe, Erin?"_
_"I would think so. If this is some kind of afterlife, we can't be
in much more danger than we already lived through when we died."_
_"Well... Uh... Do you think there's--enough room on that rock
for two?"_
_"Yeah--sure!"_
The rock wasn't quite large enough for two and they slept snuggled
up together, but Maire slept through the rest of the night in peace._
_The sunrise came up the next morning and warmed the rock on which
they slept._
_Erin woke a little while later and caught Maire already awake,
looking into his sleepy eyes. Erin looked back and held her gaze.
They stared at each other for a good 5 minutes, and then Erin reached
up and kissed his fingertips and then touched them to Maire's lips._
_Maire reached up and squeezed Erin's hand, and a tear came to her
eyes._
_Erin sat up and took Maire by the hand, "C'mon, let's get
something to eat for the long walk ahead of us again!"_
_They had a hearty breakfast and set out down the beach on their
fourth day._
_The beach was starting to curve in towards the west as though they
were passing around a southern peninsula. They walked and talked about
the weather, how it had been perfect ever since they have been here.
The days had been warm but not too hot; perfect, actually, for walking
along a beach naked. The nights had been cool, but not cold; ideal for
sleeping. A few clouds were in the sky, but it had always been sunny._
_As they rounded a sharp curve in the beach, it opened up into a
large lagoon. They would either have to walk all the way around the
lagoon, or swim the strait. The strait wasn't very wide, so they
decided to swim it._
_"Hey, Erin! The water's actually warm!"_
_"Yeah? I'm coming after ya'!"_
_Erin jumped in and swam furiously after Maire. Maire would stop
and let him catch up her a little, and then she would splash him and
swim away. They kept this up for a long time. Then Maire seemed to
lose her balance for a second, but a long enough second for Erin to
catch her. As Erin caught her, they fell into the water together and
sat on the warm sandy bottom holding each other. They sat like this
for a while and then Erin said, "Come, it's getting late again. We
must eat and find a good place to sleep tonight."_
_They stood up out of the water and feasted on wild strawberries._
_A little later, as the sun was going down, Erin found a sandy spot
under a palm tree and lay down. Maire came over and lay down not too
far from him._
_Erin woke during the night, "wha...". It was Maire, "Sorry Erin,
but those jungle noises woke me again," as she snuggled up close to
him--but he didn't program any jungle noises that time._
_The next morning came as they lay in each other's arms. Again,
Erin gazed into her eyes intently, and she did likewise. Having just
run a backup in case he soured things again, he contemplated trying
another kiss; but she beat him to it. Their kiss quickly turned into
heated passion, which culminated in uninhibited lovemaking - the kind
of which he had always fantasized about, with a beautiful woman. She
did everything right, and he didn't hold back in returning her pleasure
either._
_A little later, as they lay entwined in each other, Maire
remarked, "Erin, why did we wait so long to have each other?"_
_"Are you saying that you wish that... maybe... we had made love
the night before?"_
_"I'll tell you a little secret... I thought we were about to make
love that morning on that strange rock when you looked like you were
about to kiss me... and you kissed your hand and touched it to my lips
instead. That was so sweet, Erin. I was really wanting you to give me
a real kiss after that."_
_"I wasn't sure if you were really attracted to me... and I didn't
want to use the situation to take advantage of you."_
_"Ohhh, I've always kind of... y'know... liked you, Erin!"_
_"You really mean that?"_
_"Yeah, I've always thought you quiet brainy types were a turn
on!"_
_"You mean that if I had asked you... maybe... to have an affair
back at the office when we were alive, you would have?"_
_"Of course, Erin, couldn't you tell?"_
***
The next day, Erin came home from work with a ring shaped gouge on
his left cheek surrounded by big black and blue mark.
Erin saved the current state in case he ever wanted to return to it
and continue it further, and then restored from the point of Maire's
original capture.
***
_While waiting at the light, Maire began rubbing her temples, then
Erin asked, "Maire, which way now?"_
_"Turn right here, then left at the next light. I really appreciate
the ride home, Erin."_
_Erin, "No problem, Maire, really."_
_After the light turned green, they entered the intersection. As
they drove down the street, Erin turned on the radio._
_By sheerest coincidence, Maire's favorite song was playing. She
was singing along with it when suddenly one of those emergency
broadcast tests came up -- only they said this time it *wasn't* a test!
The announcer reported several Iraqi nuclear missiles were launched and
are headed towards the northeastern United States._
_Then, Erin's car phone rang... "Hello... yes, I've just heard!
I'll get to the shelter as soon as I can but first I got to get someone
home... five minutes?! Are you sure that's all?!... Yeah, but I've
got someone with me and... no, it's a she... yeah I know she won't
have a home in five minutes, but you don't understand... she's not
someone I..."_
_"Erin!! If you can get us to a shelter! Please! Oh please!!"_
_"...uh... ok, I'm not far from the shelter at all, I'll be right
there! Bye!" "Are you sure you want to come with me Maire? If nuclear
missiles really hit us, you'll have left your life as you know it
behind..."_
_"That's better than being dead! C'mon!! Hurry!"_
_Erin gunned the gas and they went screeching around this corner
and that. Maire didn't say a word but simply gripped tightly onto the
door handle. They turned off the boulevard onto a secondary highway,
then onto a side street, then onto a narrow back road, then onto
another back road, then into a tunnel... The tunnel turned into a
slight upward incline, then into a steep downward incline for several
hundred yards, and then a short slight upward incline again, and then
came out into a small underground parking garage. Many cars were
already there, and as they got out of their car, a few more drove in.
Erin, quickly grabbed a knapsack from under the bug's tiny front trunk,
grabbed Maire by the wrist and ran over to an open archway into a
narrow corridor which inclined up, down, then up again, into an
elevator foyer where a group of people were milling about._
_They entered just as one of the two elevators opened and they all
scurried inside. The doors closed and the elevator immediately plunged
rapidly downward at high speed. The ride quickly ended and when the
doors opened, proctors in the foyer rushed them out and sent the
elevator back up._
_One proctor ushered them into a barren narrow concrete corridor
which inclined upwards slightly and zig-zagged several times until it
came out in a wide low ceilinged lobby area. Other people were exiting
into the lobby from other similar corridors along the wall._
_There were a number of lines waiting to enter a series of evenly
spaced vestibules. Erin and Maire got in line and had only a short
wait as the lines moved quickly. When they entered the vestibule, Erin
reached into his shirt and removed what looked like a dog tag from a
chain around his neck. He handed it to a woman behind a counter in a
tiny cubby between vestibules. The woman asked them a few questions
about their height, weight, and ages, then raised a black box and
pointed it at Erin as it made a "click" sound. She then did the same
at Maire then set it down. She pulled some slips of paper out of it,
fumbled under the counter for a moment and handed Erin two plastic ID
badges with a key clipped to each, "These are your ID's and the keys to
your room. You must wear your ID's at all times while you are here."
She waved them passed._
_Erin protested, "Wait. She and I... well... we can't share the
same room! We need to be assigned other roommates..."_
_"I'm sorry but she's not a member. You brought her here, so she's
your responsibility. Now we have to keep the line moving. You can
make private arrangements to exchange roommates later, but I can't do
anything for you here. Please move on!"_
_"But..."_
_"It's okay, Erin... come on!" said Maire._
*BOOM!*
_The shock sent people sprawling all over the floor. An
announcement followed immediately, "Relax everybody! This shelter is
designed to take a direct hit. That blast was aboooout.... ten miles
uh.... north of here... probably Newark airport. We are sure to be
shaken up worse than that before this is all over, but we are in no
danger. I repeat..."_
_Erin and Maire got up and Erin picked up his knapsack and their
badges. Erin clipped on his badge and handed the other to Maire. Maire
noticed that her badge had her photo on it, but had "ERIN EEEEEE" as
the name. Maire pointed this out to the woman behind the counter who
was also just getting up from the shock, "Yes, well, your badge simply
indicates that you are authorized to be here, and who's membership you
are here by - not who you are personally. Now please, we have to hurry
now! Next!"_
_They left the vestibule into an inner lobby, with a number of
corridors going off in different directions. They looked at their
keys, which were stamped with their room number, 5C12. As they went
down this corridor and that, proctors directed them closer to their
assigned room._
*BOOM!*
_Again, they were knocked to the floor. Another announcement
followed, "That one was... let's see... about 25 kilometers northwest
of here... perhaps Picatinny Arsenal. Please keep calm and we will all
make it through this."_
_Maire and Erin continued on their way, guided by proctors that
they met along their way. They came to Section 5._
*boom...*
_That one wasn't so violent. The announcement followed, "That was
about, oh, 50 kilometers or so to the south... My guess McGuire Air
Base. Please stay calm."_
_They found unit C. They passed a bulletin board hanging on the
wall which said something about cantina hours. Erin noticed that Maire
had paused, trying to read it, but the very narrow corridor was so
filled with bustling people carrying baggage that they were forced to
keep moving._
_A few more turns brought them to room 12. Erin unlocked the door
with his key and they entered. It was a tiny room, about 2 meters by 4
meters. The door opened against a wall of closets. A narrow open
length of floor ran between the closet wall and a double bed with a
bare mattress, which snugly filled the rest of the room. Like the rest
of the shelter, the walls, floor and low ceiling were all of the same
solid gray concrete. The door was unpainted gray steel in a steel
frame._
_Erin set his knapsack on the bed and they both sat on the bed with
a sigh. Maire looked around and said, "I have to find out if my son
and my husband are okay! There must be a way to find out what's going
on outside."_
_Erin answered, "I really don't know..." Just then, an
announcement came over, "Attention please! Attention please! All
members are kindly requested to proceed directly to their rooms.
Please do not wander, and stay in your rooms until everybody is settled
in. Further instructions will follow. Thank you for your
cooperation."_
_"Maybe we can look around a little later, Maire. There doesn't
seem to be anything we can do right now."_
_Maire sat on the bed next to Erin, there being no other furniture
in the room, "How long do you think we'll have to stay here, Erin?"_
_"I have no idea... I hope it won't be more than a few days."_
_Maire stood, walked over to the door, opened it and looked out,
"Excuse me, do you know how I can find out what's happening outside?"_
_The stranger answered, "I don't know." Maire closed the door and
sat back down on the bed. Erin said, "Everybody here is probably in
the same situation as us, Maire... scared and in shock..."_
_"But I just have to find out if my husband and my son are...
okay...", and she burst into tears. Erin took her hand to comfort her
the best as he could._
_Maire just sat there, aparrantly sullen, for the next hour.
Neither said anything to the other during this time._
_BOOOMMM! RUMMMMMBLE! The lights went out. Maire screamed and
grabbed Erin. They held onto each other for what seemed an eternity,
but what was really only a few minutes. Then the lights came back on.
"Attention please! Please don't panic! The shock of that last blast
merely tripped the master circuit breaker. No harm was done. That
must have been only a few miles away! Please relax and continue your
activities."_
_Maire and Erin continued to hold each other over the next hour or
so, but neither said anything to the other. Maire wept a few times,
and finally said, "Erin, it must be past eight... and I'm so hungry!
When are they going to let us eat?"_
_Erin just shrugged._
_Eventually, another announcement came over, "Attention please!
The cantina is now serving dinner for Section 5."_
_"That's us," said Erin!_
_Maire and Erin cautiously left their room and found one of those
"you are here" signs. They headed off to the cantina._
_They ate their dinner in silence, as did most of the other
residents._
_They finished their dinner and as they were leaving the cantina, a
proctor told them, "Please return to your rooms, we are still busy
getting people settled in. The lounge and recreation area will be
opened tomorrow."_
_Maire caught the proctor's eye. "Do you know anything about what
happened outside? I have to know if my family's okay!"_
_"Sorry, Ma'am. Phone line's are out. No TV or radio stations are
on the air. We can't reach anyone on the shortwave. And our
observation cameras up above are all knocked out. That's all I know."_
_They returned to their room again and Maire stood by the bed for a
moment and then sat, "Erin, how did you ever get involved in this..."_
_"It was a major project of a survivalist group which started back
in the 50's before they were known as survivalist groups, and when
nuclear bomb shelters were the hottest fad. There are actually several
of these shelters throughout central New Jersey... and I could have
gone to any one of them. This is the largest. I bought into it like
an insurance policy. I had to swear an oath of secrecy to become a
member."_
_"I've never heard of anything about this! I'm surprised you were
all able to keep it a secret for so long!"_
_"Yeah... I'm surprised to. I was expecting to hear about us on
'60 Minutes' or something one of these days."_
_Maire looked around the room. "Since there's nothing more to do,
I guess we might as well go to... uh... sleep..." She grabbed a stack
of folded sheets and blankets she found in one of the closets and
started to make the bed._
_Erin helped her make it. "Well Maire, you can have the bed. I
found a couple extra blankets in the closet before. I'll sleep on the
floor."_
_"No Erin, don't be silly. You can't sleep on that hard concrete
floor! It's nice of you to offer, but I can't ask you to do that,
especially if we have to stay here for a few days."_
_Erin didn't say anything, he just zipped his knapsack open and
started putting his clothes away in the drawer unit. Maire sat down.
"What did you bring in that knapsack?"_
_"Everybody was supposed to bring enough clothes to last for one
week between washings, as well as toiletries and anything else they
might need for personal needs for several months. I brought two pairs
of jeans, some socks, a bunch of these tee shirts, bathrobe, pair of
old sneakers, and... uh... toothbrush, toothpaste... razors and
shaving cream... couple'a packages'a soap... deodorant powder...
shampoo... that's about it."_
_"How come you brought so many identical tee shirts, all the same
yellow and green stripes?"_
_"They were on sale at K-Mart for a buck a piece... so I bought a
bunch to pack away in case... this happened..."_
_"Oh... and, uh, Erin... I don't have any spare clothes for me, do
you know where I could get some spare clothes anywhere here?"_
_"I don't know... we can ask around I guess."_
_"And do you know if it's possible to take a shower? I really need
one."_
_ "Oh yes! I came to an orientation program over a weekend once,
it's like living in a college dorm. You can take a shower, and even a
bath, in privacy!"_
_"That's good... oh, and do you think I could borrow one of your
briefs until I can wash my own again? I really hate to put dirty
clothes back on."_
_"Sure, Maire. Go ahead."_
_"Thanks; and the bathrobe too? I'll try not to get it wet?"_
_"Yeah," Erin gave her his robe, "here..."_
_"Thanks... uh, do you know where the ladies' room is, can you show
me? I'm a little scared to wander around this place alone..."_
_"Sure, Maire... I have to go too... c'mon"_
_Maire took a brief from the drawer, and a towel and cloth from a
stack in the closet. Erin reached into his sack and handed her a bar
of soap from a package, and they left to find the toilets._
_They found the one unisex toilet for the unit. An outer room with
a counter of sinks, and then an inner corridor, with each commode off
inside a little room, and then a block of individual shower stalls at
the end of this corridor._
_Erin watched Maire head for an unoccupied shower stall, then he
entered one of the toilets._
_Erin decided that he needed a shower too, so he quickly returned
to their room and got another towel, washcloth and soap, then returned
to the toilet. He found an unoccupied shower for himself._
_When Erin returned to the room after his shower with a blanket
wrapped around his waist, Maire was laying in bed with the blankets
pulled snugly up to her chin. He told her, "I needed a shower too...
uh, could you look away while I put on some underwear?"_
_"Sure," replied Maire._
_Erin hung his wet towel on the towel bar next to Maire's and put
on fresh underwear. He turned off the light and got into bed too._
***
Erin saved here, and went to bed for real. Tomorrow was a workday.
The following Friday night, he replayed a few minutes of activity on
his screen to refresh his memory and rejoined Maire.
***
_Erin woke the next morning and turned toward Maire. Seeing she
was already awake, he said, "G'morning, Maire."_
_Maire pulled the blankets up to her chin a little tighter.
"Morning." Maire just sat there looking at Erin. "Uh... I don't have
any clothes on. I can't get up until you do," she said._
_Erin got out of bed, grabbed a tee shirt and a jeans from the
drawer and put them on, and then sat at the foot of the bed. "You can
get up now. My eyes are closed."_
_Maire got up, took the other pair of jeans out of the drawer, and
one of those tee shirts, and got dressed. "You can look now, Erin."_
_Erin looked at Maire, then at himself, and let out a belly laugh.
Maire simply smiled back._
_"Well," said Erin, "we might as well go and see if we can get some
breakfast..."_
_"Sure... just let me go use the toilet again"_
_"Yeah... me too."_
_They headed off to the toilet, then to the cantina._
_Erin remarked, as they were eating, "Everybody is so sullen
here..."_
_Maire barked, "Well, what do you expect!" Erin didn't try to say
anything else during the meal._
_As they left the cantina, Maire caught the ear of another proctor,
"Any word on what's happening outside?"_
_"There's rumors... It's pretty bad I hear... there'll be a sort of
official announcement a little later... that's all I can say."_
_"Well, is there some sort of radio or communications room where we
can go to at least ask?"_
_"There is Ma'am, but they've been fighting off crowds since this
all began... they're doing the best they can under the circumstances."_
_They went on past the proctor, then Maire stopped at a corner,
"Erin... I'm sorry I snapped at you before..."_
_"It's okay... I understand..."_
_Maire continued, "...but you're a member here. Could you come
with me to that radio room and see if we can get some answers?"_
_"Sure!"_
_They followed the "you are here" signs until they came to a set of
double doors labelled, Communications Center. There were two proctors
standing at each side of the door, "Can we help you, uh, Erin and, uh,
Jessie?"_
_Maire said, "I'm Maire!"_
_Erin asked, "We need to find out about some friends and relatives
up above, would anyone in here know anything?"_
_One of the proctors replied, "These people have been up ever since
this thing started yesterday finding out what's happening outside.
They're making progress and they do plan to make an announcement in a
little bit. But frankly, from what I've been hearing, the whole
northeast coast got obliterated by them damn Iraqis!"_
_The other proctor added, "The best for you folks to do is to go
back to your unit lounge and wait there. The folks in here will be
starting the shelter TV station later to start giving reports when they
know enough to report on."_
_Erin and Maire looked at each other, "Unit lounge?"_
_They hurried off to the unit lounge to wait for the broadcast.
Along the way, Maire asked, "Erin, who are those proctors? Other
members? Employees? Or what?"_
_"They're just members who get their dues reduced over time if they
volunteer as shelter personnel during an emergency. The shelter
officers are full time employees of the shelter and are required to
live here as part of the bylaws."_
_They found their way back to their unit, and then found the
lounge. It was a large room full of chairs. Assorted tables,
including a billiard table and other gaming tables, were folded up and
pushed into a corner. There was also a television at the front of the
room._
_There were a large number of other people milling about. A few
noticed Maire and Erin enter the room; it's hard not to notice a couple
dressed exactly alike. One man came up to them, squinted at their ID
badges and said, "Hi, Erin's," with a grin!_
***
Using "stripped" models of Gary's and Glenn's minds as input to a
random mind generator program he wrote, Erin had gradually been
creating a library of more lifelike, though still not truly sentient,
cyberpeople.
***
_Maire just grunted at him._
_"I'm Erin, she's Maire... some silly rule here requires her to
wear an ID badge with my name on it."_
_"Well, my name's George. It's about time they opened the lounge,
huh? I was starting to go crazy in that little room with two
roommates! You too, huh?"_
_"Uh...we're the only two in our room..."_
_"Oh yeah... I heard that they didn't make couples take on an extra
roommate. Lucky for you, huh? They're really crowded here!"_
_The screen of the TV at the front of the room lit up. A rather
disheveled looking man was sitting at a makeshift newsdesk, "Greetings
fellow sheltermates. I'm sure you are all concerned with what has
happened, what is happening, and what may happen. We here in the
Communications Center will try to answer these questions as best we
can."_
_"First, as to what happened. Iraq launched at least twelve
nuclear ICBM's at the United States yesterday evening. Despite the
presence of UN inspectors, the Iraqis managed to hide their continued
nuclear development. Saddam Hussein had been brooding over his
humiliation of the Gulf War for years. That's what we were able to
learn from commercial and government broadcasts before the first
missile struck Newark airport at approximately seven thirty last night.
The next missile struck Picatinny Arsenal at around seven forty five,
and a third missile struck McGuire Air Force Base around seven fifty
five. Finally, in an almost direct hit upon us, a fourth missile struck
near Edison at about eight ten causing the P S E and G power to go out
throughout the shelter. Power was restored momentarily when they were
able to bring up the internal fusion reactor from idle. Why they
didn't switch to internal power as soon as they started the reactor, I
don't know."_
_"When the power went out, so did all the commercial television and
radio broadcast stations. The phone lines seemed to be operational
late into the evening, but due to overloaded circuits, we had been
unable to get an outside connection. The phone lines failed
completely, shortly after midnight."_
_"That is what HAS happened. What IS happening isn't too pleasant.
A group of proctors attempted to reach the surface in radiation suits
to attempt to upright the shortwave and other antennas, but upon
entering any of the parking levels, the radiation level jumped to
dangerous levels which prevented them from continuing to the surface.
The entrance to the tunnel into parking garage 'D' had collapsed
completely. They were able to send a motorized camera up to the
surface, but as you can see from these color pictures, it's nothing but
burnt stone and ash in all directions as far as we can see. Radiation
levels outside are presently higher than anyone, even in a radiation
suit, could survive for more than a few minutes."_
_"What WILL happen... well, we will just have to wait it out. As
most of you know, this shelter is a closed ecology that has been
functioning as such, ever since the findings of the Biosphere Two
project were released several years ago. Technicians have allowed for
the shock of the infusion of hundreds of occupants, and we expect to be
able to survive down here indefinitely, if necessary."_
_"We know that many of you are concerned about loved ones who did
not make it to the shelter. As unpleasant as this is to tell you, it
is doubtful that anyone caught outside in the central New Jersey area
after the first missile attack survived. It is further doubtful that
anyone taking refuge in such so called 'fallout shelters' survived more
than a few hours after the attack. It is certain that anyone who did
not leave the northeast region soon after the attack did not survive.
I'm sorry for those of you who left friends and family behind, but
those are the facts which we must live with."_
_"What we do not know is how much of the United States, indeed the
world, was affected by the attack. It's obvious that the surrounding
area will not be habitable for many years. Our return to the surface
depends on the localization of the attack and on its effect of the
global ecology. We expect to be able to send technicians up to the
surface to repair the antennas in about two weeks. If they are
successful, we may learn the extent of the destruction, and the
distance we will need to travel to rejoin civilization. We can tell
others of our situation here and ask for their assistance in bringing
us to them."_
_"That is all. More mundane news regarding life in the shelter
will be broadcast each evening at eight. We will begin broadcasting
taped entertainment programming from our video library later today,
interspersed with news reports as more information becomes available.
Thank you."_
_There was dead silence in the room following. Then one by one,
people started crying and moaning. Erin and Maire held each other and
returned to their room together._
_They sat in their room for a long time, just holding each other.
Around lunchtime, Erin heard Maire's stomach growl and said, "C'mon...
let's go and eat."_
_They went off to the cantina to have lunch. They relaxed the
rules for using the cantina, it was no longer scheduled by unit, and
anyone could go at any time. It was crowded this time, as they entered
just after noon._
_They entered the serving area and got in line as usual. It was an
efficient operation, and they had their choice between a number of
entrees, or the grill. Erin got in the grill line, "So, what'll it be,
uh, Erin," the server asked Erin? Erin just ordered a hamburger and
fries. Maire got in the carvery line, "And what'll you have, uh,
Jessie?" another server asked Maire? Maire replied with a slight chill
in her voice, "I'll just have a ham sandwich." As Maire was about to
step away, the server called to her, "Yo! Jessie!" Maire turned and
answered, "What?" "You get a pickle with that!" "No thanks."_
_As they were walking down an aisle looking for an empty table, a
couple waved them over to their table. When they approached, they saw
it was George sitting with a woman. George said, "Please join us!" To
the woman he said, "Lynn, This is Erin and Maire."_
_Lynn looked at them as they sat at the table, and whispered to
Maire, "Your badge says 'Erin'?"_
_Maire said coldly, "I know."_
_Erin answered, "It's just a rule they have here because I brought
her here with me."_
_George said, "Well, Lynn and I met right after that broadcast. I
don't know about you, but neither of us has any family outside. That's
why we're single members here. We're going to try and get a private
room as a couple."_
_Lynn added, "Don't get your hopes up George, I really don't think
they're going to free up a room for us after the fact, since they're so
overcrowded already. So how about you two? Married? Or just hogging
a private room," followed by a wink?_
_Erin then said, "It's a long story Lynn... uh... kind of
complicated..."_
_Maire just smiled and looked down._
_George broke the short silence that followed, "so... how about the
weather?"_
_Lynn hit him with her purse, and broke out in laughter._
_After a silent pause at the table, Lynn added, "Look... this has
been hard on us all... what say we go down to the rec room? Maybe play
a little table tennis?"_
_"I don't know? You up to it Maire?" Said Erin._
_"Yeah... okay..."_
_They played a round of table tennis, but Maire failed to return a
number of easy shots, and generally seemed uninterested in the game.
After their game, the four of them went over to where a small group of
people were watching an old episode of Fawlty Towers on the telly.
They all sat down together and watched. Part way through the movie,
George and Lynn started giggling and pawing each other. After some
continued flirting and occasional backward glares from some of the
other viewers, George and Lynn quietly slipped out of the room._
_Erin and Maire stayed until the end of the show. It was followed
by an episode of the old Star Trek. At that moment some children ran
in, each holding a video cassette, and both tryign to insert the tape
into the VCR simultaneously. "I want to watch_Thunderbirds!"
_"But I want to watch The Tomorrow People!"
_"Maire stood. "Come on Erin, I don't want to see this..." And
they returned to their room._
_That sat in their room for a while just staring at the walls.
"Erin, what are we going to do here for two weeks?"_
_"I don't know... want to just go for a walk?"_
_"Sure... why not..."_
_They left their room, and just started walking down corridors.
They passed through some of the other units. In typical dormitory
fashion, some of the residents left their doors open and looking in
revealed the crowded conditions in some of the rooms. They continued
walking through corridors. They frequently received curious glances,
perhaps at being dressed exactly alike; or maybe because Erin's tee
shirts weren't designed for the female form which caused Maire's curves
to stand out."_
_They had walked for about an hour and Maire looked at her watch,
"I'm getting a bit hungry. Mind if we head back now?"_
_"Fine with me..."_
_After dinner, they returned to their room. A little later, they
heard a knock at their door. Erin went over and opened it, and a
proctor was there holding a clipboard, "Sorry to disturb you... just
double checking the roster... can you spare a minute?"_
_"Sure, come in..." answered Erin._
_The proctor entered and sat on the bed, "You're Erin McFlannery,
male, thirty five, assigned to 5C12, right?"_
_"Yup!"_
_The proctor looked over at Maire, "And you are?"_
_"Maire, uhm, Smith."_
_The proctor raised his eyebrows a tad, and then began flipping
through the sheets on his clipboard, "Uh... I don't have any Maire
Smith here. Oh, but here's another Erin McFlannery! Thirty two,
female, also assigned to 5C12..."_
_"Yeah... that's me... can you put my right name down on that form
please?"_
_"Sorry Erin, er, Maire... but your names are used to cross index
all our records... we've no procedure for someone to change their name
here... sorry. Well, thanks for your time."_
_After the proctor left, Maire asked, "Mind if I go to sleep early?
There's really nothing else to do!"_
_"Sure, go ahead."_
_"Okay, close your eyes please!" He did._
_As Maire put on Erin's robe, she asked, "Erin, I haven't brushed
my teeth in two days! Do you think I can share your toothbrush? I
don't have any diseases. Honest!"_
_Erin said with a grin, "Sure Maire. I certainly don't want to
start smelling your bad breath in a few days!"_
_Maire and Erin took their separate showers and returned to bed as
per their usual routine._
_They woke up the next morning at about the same time again. And
again, went through their same routine of taking turns getting up and
getting dressed._
_They arrived in the cantina and, like once before, were waved over
by George and Lynn. George quipped, "Well... if it isn't the Bobsey
twins again!"_
_"The who?" Maire asked._
_"No, not the Who, the Bobsey twins! Oh never mind..."_
_Lynn cut in, "So how are you two doing?"_
_"Well, I don't think I'll ever get used to being called 'Jessie'
by everybody." Said Maire._
_George suggested, "Maybe you can change your name..."_
_Maire didn't answer._
_They finished breakfast, and George started making kissey faces at
Lynn. This quickly escalated, and while George and Lynn sat there
necking, Maire and Erin quietly slipped away._
_They stood outside the cantina entrance for a second. Maire
suggested, "Feel like taking another walk, Jess?"_
_"Sure..."_
_Again, they walked off in another direction through another part
of the shelter. Maire remarked, "I didn't know this place was so
huge!"_
_"Yeah... it's big alright!"_
_After a while of random wandering, they came to that inner lobby
they passed through on their first day. All the vestibules leading to
the outer lobby were closed with steel doors. Maire remarked, "I
wonder if there's any other way out."_
_"I doubt it. It would be a security risk. I mean for us - for
there to be too many ways to get in. And then, the more connections
there are to the outside, the greater the danger of contamination
getting in too. Much of the purpose of this place is as much to be a
sanctuary against invasion as a nuclear war shelter. Remember the guy
on the TV called it a 'closed ecology'? Well, you know what a closed
ecology is, don't you?"_
_"Erin, please don't bore me with that science stuff. If you say
we can live down here without running out of food or anything, that's
all I care to know right now."_
_"Well, that's what I'm saying. We can last out any siege down
here no matter how long. And since that's something they had also
planned for, I'm sure they're going to be very cautious about making
our presence known and that they're going to make sure that the U.S.
hasn't been invaded before we can all leave. Well, c'mon... let's go
see what's down this way..."_
_They passed a set of double doors labeled "Administration," one of
which was open. They stepped inside to see._
_"May I help you," asked a man behind a counter?_
_"No," answered Erin, "we're just taking a walk and are just
passing by..."_
_"Well, I'm Ben... nice to meet you, Erin and... ah... Jessie.
Walk taking seems to be a popular activity down here."_
_Maire quipped, "Well, there's not much else to do!"_
_"Well, I doubt that the two of you have any trouble keeping
yourselves occupied! It sure is refreshing to see something like you
two... two lovers dressing exactly alike. I remember when that was the
fad back in my college days!"_
_Erin asked, "Can you fill us in on what it's like outside now?"_
_"Oh, didn't you hear the news? One fellow tried to leave! The
proctors saw him pass through the outer lobby into tunnel 'G'. They
grabbed their radiation suits and went after him. They found him when
they got up to the parking level. He died of radiation poisoning as he
was backing his car out of its space. They'll probably mention it on
the news tonight..."_
_Maire asked, "How about the phone lines? When will it be possible
to make an outside call?"_
_"That's doubtful. The radiation levels are so high that it's
going to be a couple of weeks before the technicians can even go upside
to fix the TV and shortwave antennas, even in radiation suits. I doubt
that there's any phone crews out there fixing the lines!"_
_Maire answered, "I don't know what I'm going to do two whole weeks
down here..."_
_"I said two weeks for technicians in radiation suits! They say
it's probably going to be months before we can actually start planning
for everybody to leave... and that's assuming we can get in touch with
people up there who can help coordinate transportation for all of us
out of the radioactive area."_
_"And what if we *CAN'T* find anyone up there to help us?" Asked
Maire._
_"Then... ah... it'll up to us to send out explorers to find
habitable areas to go to, and then plan how we're going to get
everybody there safely. Logistics, you know. And if that's the case,
well... plan on staying here a while..."_
_Erin tried to end the conversation. "Well, thanks for the info
anyway..."_
_"Sure! Stop in again!"_
_Erin and Maire walked back out and continued walking down the
corridor, and finally returned to their room._
_They sat in their room for awhile until they got hungry again and
then headed back to the cantina. George and Lynn weren't there so they
sat by themselves._
_An artist was painting a mural on one of the gray concrete walls
of the cantina. After they ate, they stayed at their table and watched
the painter for a while._
_They returned to their room after lunch and lay down on the bed to
stare at the ceiling until dinner._
_The hours eventually passed, and they returned to the cantina for
dinner. The painter had made some more progress on his mural in their
absence._
_They stopped into the lounge after dinner on the way back to their
room. There were a couple of openings on one of the sofas, so they
stayed to catch the local news on the TV. They learned that nothing
exciting had happened since that one guy tried to leave. They even
stayed to watch the "Blues Brothers" movie which followed._
_They returned to their room after the movie. Maire went to take
her shower as Erin just sat on the bed with his arms folded around his
knees. Maire returned some time later and glanced at Erin._
_Erin, used to the routine, closed his eyes as she removed his robe
and got into bed. He continued to sit on the bed, "Maire, what do you
suppose it's going to be like when we get out of here?"_
_"I haven't thought about that at all! I just want to live through
this! I suppose it's going to be hard for us, but who can guess until
we find out what happened up there?"_
_"Yeah, I suppose so."_
_Maire rolled over as if to try to sleep. Erin still just sat
there._
_"Meg, what *DO* you want to do when we get out of here?"_
_Maire rolled back around, "I... suppose I'd want to find the
graves... oh God, if they've even been buried... of my husband... and
my son... and then maybe... I don't know... we can't plan that far
ahead until we find out what it's like up there."_
_"Yeah... I guess you're right... g'night, Maire."_
_"G'night, Erin."_
_The next morning, they followed their usual routine of closing
their eyes while the other gets dressed and exits to the toilet._
_They met George and Lynn in the cantina again, "Mmmmm... the
food's not half bad here... didn't you two bring ANY other clothes with
you?!"_
_Erin answered, "well... actually... no..."_
_"Erin was... well... giving me a ride home from work when this
began and I've been sharing his clothes. I've asked around and nobody
has any spare clothes or anything. I guess I can hardly expect anyone
to."_
_George perked up. "So you two aren't really married or going
together or anything? Ohhh, la la!"_
_Lynn interrupted George. "Shut up, George... Please excuse him,
guys. He thinks life's one big joke!"_
_"Well, isn't it?" Replied George._
_"Just shut up and kiss me!"_
_Maire and Erin smiled at each other and hurried through their
breakfast, "Uh, we'll see you guys later..." They slipped out as George
and Lynn's passions were peaking again. Erin suggested, "Maybe they
really should get a room together."_
_"Yes, I think so too. Actually, Erin, you'd be surprised at some
of the gossip I've been hearing!"_
_"Oh, I can guess. In a situation like this, people thrown
together in close quarters... little privacy... passions are bound to
flare up with little opportunity to be discrete about it."_
_"Yeah. Just like being back in school living in the dorms."_
_"So where shall our morning walk take us today, Maire?"_
_"Well, let's start walking and see..."_
_They made their usual rounds, stopping to chat with friends
they've made in other sections and units, and eventually returned back
at their own unit. They stopped into the lounge on the way back to
their room._
_There was a large group of people watching some movie on TV, a
foursome playing table tennis, and two others playing air hockey.
There was also another couple sitting in the corner oblivious to their
surroundings. As there were no free seats, Maire and Erin stood and
watched the movie for a moment. Maire whispered to Erin, "Do you want
to stand here and watch this movie?"_
_"Naw... not really..."_
_They left the lounge and returned to their room._
_They made the bed together, then Maire looked at her watch, "We
still have several hours to kill before lunch."_
_Erin just got on the bed and lay down with his arms up and his
hands under the back of his head and stared at the ceiling._
_Maire lay down next to him, and Erin remarked, "They should have
planned some activities for us here." Erin lowered his arms down to
his sides._
_Maire reached over and took Erin's hand. "I know one activity that
we can plan for ourselves."_
_Erin turned his head and met Maire's gaze. Their lips came
together, and then their bodies. They spent the next hour drinking
from each other. Finally, it seemed neither could resist the urges
that were coming from deep within them. Erin sat up in the bed and
Maire climbed into his lap facing him. Erin cautiously started to pull
Maire's tee shirt off up over hear head and then paused in uncertainty.
Maire reached down and continued the task remarking, "You don't have to
close your eyes this time, silly!" As they continued shedding their
clothes, their tempo picked up until, at last, they were fully naked
together. Maire didn't hesitate to fulfill her role as she impaled
herself on him, their rythym in concert. Their passion flowed freely
as they spent the rest of the afternoon filling each other up until
they were both exhausted. They finally fell asleep in each other's
arms as the day drew to a close._
***
It was several days after that until Erin had the energy to
initiate a new scenario.
***
_While waiting at the light, Maire began rubbing her temples, then
Erin asked, "Maire, which way now?"_
_"Turn right here, then left at the next light. I really appreciate
the ride home, Erin."_
_"No problem, Maire, really!"_
_After the light turned green, they entered the intersection. As
they drove through, Erin saw Maire's eyes go wide as a Jolt Cola truck
barreled through the intersection at 60 miles per hour directly at
them. He heard her scream to the sound of tearing metal as the truck
smashed into the car ripping their bodies to shreds._
***
Again, Erin observed the scene from his PC monitor.
Maire was floating in mid air, in total darkness, naked. When her
consciousness was activated, she immediately began screaming and
flailing her arms and legs. This only seemed to cause her to begin
tumbling head over heels and she screamed even louder. After a moment,
she stopped screaming, and waved her arms as though to stop herself
from tumbling. She eventually succeeded.
She looked around, seemingly by swimming through the air, though
Erin was certain that she could not be seeing any detail. It was
totally black in all directions. There was, however, an undetectable
dim even light source coming from all directions so that she could see
herself, though dimly.
He saw her wave arms as though feeling the breeze, blow on her
hand, and even pinch herself with an "Ouch!". She eventually allowed
herself to go limp, and began sobbing.
Erin placed his virtual body in the cyberspace quite a distance
from Maire, then imparted a slight velocity in it to cause them to
drift together. He watched intently as Maire continued to look around
from time to time, and she seemed to spot his body eventually.
She started waving her arms and legs as though trying to swim
toward him. She seemed to grow tired after a while and rested before
trying again. He added a touch of additional velocity to her in the
correct direction. He continued to watch as she rapidly approached
his, seemingly unconscious, body. She tried to turn around and slow
down, but only succeeded in slowing herself slightly. Just before
impact, she called out, "Erin! Is that you?" She struck him and
grabbed onto him tightly as their combined relative velocities sent
them tumbling off together.
After several minutes, she was able to stop their tumbling, but he
remained observing from the screen. She began feverishly shaking him
and slapping him, but that only sent them off tumbling again; and she
lost her grip and they went drifting apart in opposite directions.
She struggled to reverse her drift and swim back to him. And when
she was able to grab him again, she interlocked her legs with his. She
held him tightly, and started to weep again.
Erin continued to observe her actions, and he saw her put her hand
up to his mouth as though feeling his breath, and then she held his
wrist as though feeling his pulse. Knowing that his virtual body was
providing these responses, he continued observing her as she resumed
her efforts to wake him. Erin decided this was a good point in time to
join the festivities, and donned his helmet once again.
***
_Upon entering his cyberspace, Erin instantly found himself
floating weightless with his legs interlocked with Maire's, facing her.
"Wha! I'm falling! I'm falling!"_
_She grabbed his arms to stop him from flailing. "Erin! You're not
falling! We're... dead... I think. That truck hit us. Remember? Oh,
Erin!"_
_Erin leaned back, their legs still intertwined, and stared at her
momentarily, "Maire... what.... why... where are we?"_
_"I think we died in that crash, Erin! And this is... some kind
of... afterlife."_
_"We died in each other's arms?"_
_"Maybe. I don't remember it. It all happened so fast! I saw the
truck hit us. Then I was here. You weren't. I found you later. Here
I mean! Erin, I'm scared!"_
_Erin reached forward and held her. They held each other for a
long time without saying anything._
_Some indeterminate time later, Erin asked, "What do you think's
going to happen to us, Maire?"_
_"I don't know. I've heard that people who have had near death
experiences have found themselves floating in darkness falling into a
bright light. But there's just darkness all around us!"_
_"Yeah, this is weird. Do you really think we're dead or just
imagining this?"_
_"Well, we wouldn't be sharing the same dream would we? Unless I'm
dreaming and imagining you here."_
_"Yeah. And I could be dreaming and imagining you!"_
_"I don't know. You know how when you're awake, you know you're
awake and not dreaming? Well I know I'm awake and not dreaming! And
so do you! We're dead, Erin, and this is some kind of purgatory!"
Maire started crying again._
_They continued to drift uneventfully for the next few minutes...
hours... days wrapped around each other._
_From time to time, one or the other would shift position slightly,
but slightly enough to stimulate certain parts of the others' bodies
which were pressed against each other's hips. Being as their legs were
still interlocked together, squeezing each other's thighs, such
sensations were unavoidable. At one time, Erin couldn't resist his
natural responses and Maire gave Erin a questioning glance._
_"I'm sorry Maire... I couldn't help it."_
_Maire looked away, "It's okay, Erin."_
_They drifted a while longer still holding each other, and they
eventually fell asleep in each other's arms._
***
Erin saved the sequence here. He noticed that he was getting a bit
hungry inside the cyberspace. He went to grab a pizza and a Jolt Cola,
and spent the next several days reprogramming the sensory feedback
program so that he could selectively turn off the feeling of hunger,
and also the call of nature. He certainly didn't want either of those
to distract her.
***
_They woke again, still holding each other. Maire looked up at
Erin, "Oh Erin, what's going to happen to us? Is this *IT* for the
rest of eternity?!"_
_Erin suggested, "Maybe... maybe we should call out to see if
there's anyone else here."_
_"I don't know if that's such a good idea! What kinds of people do
you think we're likely to meet in purgatory?"_
_"Well, we can't just stay like this for the rest of eternity!"_
_"I guess not. Okay, let's call out and see if anyone's there."_
_They called out in unison, "HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE?" There was no
echo, just silence more silent than either of them could have ever
experienced. They tried again, and again, "HELLO!! IS ANYONE OUT
THERE!!" They kept calling until their voices went hoarse._
_"Well, I guess you're right, Maire. We're all alone here."_
_Once again, they fell silent for a long time._
_After almost a full day of floating in space naked, holding
tightly onto a naked woman, Erin was having a hard time holding back
his involuntary responses, but pausing the system periodically to exit
to the real world allowed him to regain his composure whenever his
loins threatened to erupt. At one point, he absentmindedly began
rubbing her back with his hand... and she responded in kind. Erin
looked down and she was looking up at him with a kind of strange look
in her eye. Erin caught his breath as Maire pulled her one leg from
between Erin's and wrapped both her legs around his hips pressing
herself down on him. Erin grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her
down as he covered her gasping mouth with his and simultaneously pulled
himself up into her. She used her lower legs to push him even deeper
into her as their tongues feverishly wrestled each others'._
_Their lovemaking wasn't without its difficulties, however. Once,
their throbbing pushed them apart, and they had to scramble to catch
each other again and reconnect themselves. Eventually, though, they
completed their lovemaking to its conclusion and floated in contented
bliss, mouth to mouth, tenderly drinking from each other._
_Maire stroked Erin as they floated serenely, "Oh Erin... I
wouldn't mind at all to spend eternity snuggled in your arms..."_
***
While waiting at the light, Maire began rubbing her temples, then
Erin asked, "Maire, which way now?"_
_"Turn right here, then left at the next light. I really appreciate
the ride home, Erin."_
_Erin, "No problem, Maire, really."_
_As they drove down the street..._
* END *
--
Hungry Guy
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/HungryGuy/www
http://storiesonline.net/library/author.php?name=Hungry_Guy
http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=171541
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/bios/hungryguy_bio.html
http://www.ruthiesclub.com/members/archives/author.php?a=167
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