look away. There’s no way I’m going to erase this stuff.” Hal
picked up the virtual reality helmet. “Move over.”
This time Jan did not react to Hal’s insensitivity. She
simply got up from the chair and walked over to the window as disdainfully as
she could. She looked out at the scenery and began trying to identify the
landmarks from her dream, but too many trees were in the way. In spite of
herself she began listening to Hal’s commentary on what he was experiencing in
his virtual reality.
“Wow! Look at those windows … so that’s what the door looked
like … hey, the new church isn’t there … look at those cottages, more like
hovels.”
Jan heard a click and turned to see her cousin switching on
the speakers attached to his computer. The room filled with the sound of
seagulls. As if summoned by the guttural birdcall she wandered over, staring at
the image on the screen. It was divided by a horizontal line across the centre.
Below it, all was marshland. Above it, all was sky.
Hal’s commentary
continued.
“Hey, a windmill – and a monastery …. Wow! Will you
look at that – it’s Wickwich. It really is old Wickwich – that’s
amazing! Hey … What the hell?” Hal leapt up from his chair and pulled the
helmet off his head.
Jan stepped back in surprise, then something on the screen
grabbed her attention. It was a skeleton, rising from out of the ground. And
then another, and another … dozens of them. She laughed out loud. Very loud. It
was as if the fear from last night’s nightmare had been exorcised.
Hal looked at her, then at the screen, then laughed out loud
himself.
“Caught in my own trap, eh?” he smiled broadly when the
laughter had finally subsided. “I’d forgotten that I’d put the ‘skeleton’ VR
software into the helmet’s driver program.”
“Really?” Jan feigned wonderment at her cousin’s jargon-laden
explanation. For once Hal actually picked up on the tone of what Jan said.
“OK, OK. Basically, the program that makes the skeletons
appear – I set it up with a time delay so they don’t pop up until the
helmet’s been switched on for a couple of minutes. If I switch it off,” he
clicked a button at the back of the apparatus, “they disappear.”
The screen went blank, except for a distant hilltop and a
dull, foreboding sky.
“Right,” Hal turned back toward the screen, “where was I before
I was so rudely interrupted?” He grabbed the mouse and began to move it forward
in a vain attempt to resume his progress down the image of the lane.
“Come on, come on,” he urged, but nothing happened. He turned
to Jan. “Why won’t it let me go any further?”
“Because that’s as far as I went in my dream.”
“Oh.” Hal sounded disappointed. “Is that it, then? I thought
you said this was a nightmare? The only frightening bit was my skeletons.”
Jan stared at her cousin in disbelief.
“Didn’t you feel anything?”
“Only when the skeletons appeared,” he quipped.
“This isn’t funny,” Jan responded sharply. “I was talking
about before that. When you were ‘walking’ down the road, didn’t you feel it
coming straight at you – the terror, the hatred, the fear?”
“Nope – not a thing,” Hal smiled. “Computer’s aren’t
very good on emotions.”
“Ha!” Jan exclaimed scornfully, “so much for your virtual
reality. It might be good at sights and sounds, but your computer’s nowhere
when it comes to thoughts and feelings – the things that real life’s all about. My dreams have
more to do with virtual reality than your stupid software.”
It was now Hal’s turn to stare at Jan. He waited a moment
until she had calmed down.
“Er, perhaps it’s a good thing it can’t record feelings,” he suggested. “They don’t sound like the
sort of thing you’d want to replay over and over again. Not that they were real feelings anyway – they were
only symptoms of the ‘virus’.”
“Of course they were real
picked up the virtual reality helmet. “Move over.”
This time Jan did not react to Hal’s insensitivity. She
simply got up from the chair and walked over to the window as disdainfully as
she could. She looked out at the scenery and began trying to identify the
landmarks from her dream, but too many trees were in the way. In spite of
herself she began listening to Hal’s commentary on what he was experiencing in
his virtual reality.
“Wow! Look at those windows … so that’s what the door looked
like … hey, the new church isn’t there … look at those cottages, more like
hovels.”
Jan heard a click and turned to see her cousin switching on
the speakers attached to his computer. The room filled with the sound of
seagulls. As if summoned by the guttural birdcall she wandered over, staring at
the image on the screen. It was divided by a horizontal line across the centre.
Below it, all was marshland. Above it, all was sky.
Hal’s commentary
continued.
“Hey, a windmill – and a monastery …. Wow! Will you
look at that – it’s Wickwich. It really is old Wickwich – that’s
amazing! Hey … What the hell?” Hal leapt up from his chair and pulled the
helmet off his head.
Jan stepped back in surprise, then something on the screen
grabbed her attention. It was a skeleton, rising from out of the ground. And
then another, and another … dozens of them. She laughed out loud. Very loud. It
was as if the fear from last night’s nightmare had been exorcised.
Hal looked at her, then at the screen, then laughed out loud
himself.
“Caught in my own trap, eh?” he smiled broadly when the
laughter had finally subsided. “I’d forgotten that I’d put the ‘skeleton’ VR
software into the helmet’s driver program.”
“Really?” Jan feigned wonderment at her cousin’s jargon-laden
explanation. For once Hal actually picked up on the tone of what Jan said.
“OK, OK. Basically, the program that makes the skeletons
appear – I set it up with a time delay so they don’t pop up until the
helmet’s been switched on for a couple of minutes. If I switch it off,” he
clicked a button at the back of the apparatus, “they disappear.”
The screen went blank, except for a distant hilltop and a
dull, foreboding sky.
“Right,” Hal turned back toward the screen, “where was I before
I was so rudely interrupted?” He grabbed the mouse and began to move it forward
in a vain attempt to resume his progress down the image of the lane.
“Come on, come on,” he urged, but nothing happened. He turned
to Jan. “Why won’t it let me go any further?”
“Because that’s as far as I went in my dream.”
“Oh.” Hal sounded disappointed. “Is that it, then? I thought
you said this was a nightmare? The only frightening bit was my skeletons.”
Jan stared at her cousin in disbelief.
“Didn’t you feel anything?”
“Only when the skeletons appeared,” he quipped.
“This isn’t funny,” Jan responded sharply. “I was talking
about before that. When you were ‘walking’ down the road, didn’t you feel it
coming straight at you – the terror, the hatred, the fear?”
“Nope – not a thing,” Hal smiled. “Computer’s aren’t
very good on emotions.”
“Ha!” Jan exclaimed scornfully, “so much for your virtual
reality. It might be good at sights and sounds, but your computer’s nowhere
when it comes to thoughts and feelings – the things that real life’s all about. My dreams have
more to do with virtual reality than your stupid software.”
It was now Hal’s turn to stare at Jan. He waited a moment
until she had calmed down.
“Er, perhaps it’s a good thing it can’t record feelings,” he suggested. “They don’t sound like the
sort of thing you’d want to replay over and over again. Not that they were real feelings anyway – they were
only symptoms of the ‘virus’.”
“Of course they were real
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