CK arrived at the southern equipment locker to discover his KIP missing—apparently still being tested. Lonni Fasano had plenty of time to return it before practice. All the same, CK decided to see if he get a rise out of her, if only for a few minutes.
He ran his finger along the polished wall as he took the steps into the basement of the underground practice facility two at a time. He wasn’t sure what it was about Miss Fasano—Northerners in general were so pretentious. Like being polite somehow demeaned them. Bologna. CK’s mother had raised him right, and he wouldn’t change just because some people couldn’t handle the basic respect every human deserved.
He knocked on the door at the base of the stairs. It resembled something out of a futuristic bank vault. He waited several seconds and knocked again.
“CK, for God’s sake, use the scanner.” Lonni’s voice sounded even tinnier over the intercom.
He scratched his head. “Oh, you mean this shiny doohickey?”
“For the love—”
Pleased with himself, CK mashed his hand onto the scanner. It identified him.
Lonni buzzed the door open from the other side and a series of heavy bolts retracted.
CK swung the door open. “What kind of clandestine genetic monstrosity are you guys working up today?”
“For the last time, I’m a cyberneticist, not a geneticist.”
“That’s right.” CK scanned the sparkling clean laboratory. “How’s the cyborg experimentation coming along?”
“You tell me.” Lonni stopped what she was doing and looked up.
CK didn’t know how to read her last remark. Was she taking a jab at the anti-biohacking activist who now sported over 180 implants? He let it go. “Any news on my KIP?”
Lonni blew a wisp of hair out of her face and returned her attention to her workstation. “Unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary.”
CK’s heart sank. “Nothing?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, CK.”
He stepped closer.
“Ehem.” Lonni pointed at the floor. “Mind the red tape.”
CK stepped back behind the barrier of red duct tape denoting the limits for anyone in the lab not named Fasano. He spotted his KIP leaning against the wall by the door. “Isn’t there anything else you can do?”
“What’s it like in there?”
“In where?”
Lonni crossed over to CK, and looked him in the eyes. “In the virtual reality matrix.”
“You’ve never been?” He couldn’t believe the only person in the facility who understood how the KIPs worked had never loaded herself into one.
She shook her head. “I’ve never been curious until now. I can see it all from the outside. There was never any reason for me to—” she waved her hands around as if grasping words out of the air. “You know, put on the blindfold.”
“I see.” CK nodded. “It does feel like blocking out the real world.”
“Well, what is it like?”
CK thought about his answer for several seconds. “It’s tempting.”
She waited for more.
“It’s addicting. It’s more real than the real world. Everything’s high definition. It’s perfection. I don’t like it.” He didn’t know why he added that last bit. He hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. He couldn’t take it back now. It was the truth.
“I want you to show me.”
“You mean, at the same time? But how are you—”
“I’ve got a blank.”
“A blank?”
“In the back.”
“Holy shizack.” CK’s eyes went wide. “No wonder this place is locked up like a doomsday bunker.”
“If you tell anyone, I’ll have you blacklisted by the league. You’ll never play—”
“Okay, okay. I get it. No need for threats, ma’am.”
Lonni pinched the bridge of her nose as if he had boxed her in the face.
He hadn’t realized until then how much it annoyed her to be called ma’am. He made a note of it. “I’ve got twenty minutes until I need to be back for practice.”
Lonni weaved her way around lab tables and disappeared behind a movable blast wall.
CK called after her while sliding his KIP into the middle of the permissible section of the lab. “You sure this is okay? I mean this is unlogged KIP time. The OSHA rep isn’t going to crap a storm?”
Lonni returned with a KIP on a dolly. “Mr. Dondelinger isn’t allowed past the red tape any more than you are.”
CK intercepted Lonni and slid the blank KIP off the dolly before she could do it on her own.
“Between you and me, Dondelinger’s random worker safety checks are scheduled by the league office.” Lonni continued.
“Really?”
She straightened. “I’m not sure why I told you that.”
CK gestured as if he were zipping his lips.
Lonni rolled her eyes. “Anything I should know ahead of time?”
“Just give it a second before you try to move. Your brain will know it’s still in the lab. Your body adapts almost instantly.”
She started to step onto the blank KIP.
“Wait.” CK stopped her. “You got any kind of program loaded up? Are these KIPs even networked? You can’t just step into VR without a physical command to get back out.”
“Thanks for the primer. Now shut up and saddle up.” She shook off his hand and centered both her feet in the middle of the blank KIP. The EM field shimmered to life around her.
CK shrugged. “Yes, ma’am.”
ns 15.158.61.23da2
