Read Online Light Shaper by Albert Nothlit - Free Book Online

here you could be as beautiful and as perfect as you wanted, even if it was all fake.
    Barrow shrugged to himself, looking at his virtual watch. Enough thinking. It was finally time to call it a night.
    He transferred to the hub he had started from, and then he called up the menu to find out how to log out. The system asked him if he was sure he wanted to disconnect, and he confirmed.
    Sudden darkness. Then an unexpected sense of tiredness. He was back.
    Barrow opened his eyes, his real physical eyes. He was sitting in his chair in exactly the same position he had assumed when he connected. There was no pain this time when the helmet disconnected and lifted up and out of the way, but when Barrow tried to look in either direction to see if he was the last one to disconnect, he discovered his neck was sore from having been in one position for so long. He lifted his arms, and for the briefest instant, it felt as if he were not really in his body, as if somebody else was controlling the movements. The sensation was gone instantaneously, but Barrow got creeped out all the same.
    “Quite decent performance for a first-timer,” Scholl said from behind him. “Most people I’ve seen have a hard time adjusting after the first log out.”
    Barrow stood up. He was stiff, but other than that, he felt fine.
    “Is it dangerous?” he asked his boss. “Connecting to that thing?”
    Scholl chuckled. “Not at all, son. It’s just your brain trying to readjust after operating a different body for so many hours. The longer you visit Otherlife, the easier it gets. There are no bad side effects at all, so don’t worry about that, either.”
    Barrow nodded. He looked at the chairs next to his and saw most others were still connected, eyes closed and peaceful expressions on their faces. About three chairs were empty, though. There was no sign of their occupants. As he watched, the blonde woman sitting on the chair next to him stirred. She stood up easily as the helmet rose from her head, blinking a couple times. If she felt any bit as stiff as Barrow did, she hid it well.
    “Welcome back, Lane. How did the intruder control go?” Scholl asked her.
    “It’s done. I handled the online portion of it, as you ordered. Two teenagers used accounts registered to other users to log in illegally. One of them, the female, headed for the Singles hub and stayed there for the entire duration of her session. The male user’s activity was harder to determine. It seems he created an avatar and then vanished from the logs somehow. I’ll be looking deeper into it tomorrow when I get the log analysis back from Engineering, and I expect to have a full report for you by then.”
    “Good to hear. Barrow, Lane, you’re done for the night. The staff room is room 243 just down the hall if you want to get something to eat before heading on home. Well done, both of you. Welcome aboard.”
    Barrow exchanged a gaze with the woman. Then as if they had rehearsed it, they both nodded.
    “Yes, sir,” they said.
    “Good. Now get out of my sight. Some of these other newbies are going to be needing help getting back. Looks like it’s gonna be a long night for me. Go.”
    Barrow turned and left. The woman, Lane, walked beside him, heels clacking on the metal floor. They didn’t say anything as they left the control room, but once they were outside, the woman spoke.
    “Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Miranda Lane.” She stuck her hand out.
    Barrow shook it. “Steve Barrow.”
    She gave him an evaluating stare. “You must have done an exceptional job in your test to get the old man to treat you like that.”
    “It was okay.”
    “Do you want to grab a quick drink in the staff room before we head out?”
    Barrow shrugged. “Sure.”
    Miranda led the way to a smaller door. She opened it, and Barrow followed her inside the spacious room that was a mixture between a lounge and kitchen. This room was set in the part of the building facing out, and the huge