Into the Shadows by Jordan K. Weisman

Author:Jordan K. Weisman [Weisman, Jordan K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780451451897
Amazon: 0451451899
Publisher: RoC
Published: 1992-10-06T06:00:00+00:00

FREE FALL by

Tom Dowd

NEW YORK, United Canadian American States—At a star-spangled satellite conference yesterday Scott Mislan, image coordinator for MegaMedia, announced the sale of the eight-millionth copy of Free Fall. Free Fall, the simsense disk that media experts credit with establishing the market, launched the career of its star. Honey Brighton, four years ago, in 2046. Mislan also announced that Rock Solid, the next Honey Brighton simsense. was currently in post-production at MegaMedia’s Seattle studios, under the governing hand of Free Fall's famed director. Witt Lipton. "We seriously expect Rock Solid to outsell Free Fall within the year." said Mislan.

* * *

In the dimly lit rooms of technology where simsense programs are really made, Witt Lipton is god. This is a world of suggestions, impressions, and false images, a world where subtlety and directness work hand in hand. The fax ads scream: "The Experience Of A Lifetime!", "Be There As It Happens!", "Feel The Surge! Hear Your Pulse Race! Fly On The Wild Side! All Without Leaving your Floatchair!" and the public believes. They believe that when Honey falls four thousand meters, pulls her ripcord and nothing happens, that the quick, piercing spike of sexual ecstasy she/they feel is real. Witt Lipton knows better. He knows that it’s as real as MegaMedia’s three-million-nuyen Yamaha SSX-7500 signal processor can make it.

Five years ago. he was an assistant programmer, pushing envelopes for the old-men producers who thought simulated-senses technology was best suited to travelogues. Everyone was afraid of pushing it too far, of making it too real. Witt and a willing starlet showed them how to make it better than real. He made MegaMedia the premier telecom corporation of his generation. He’s paid handsomely, but the men calling the shots are suits, not artists. Witt remembers the days when simsense programming was raw. an art for the risk-takers, not prestructured sequences and patterns Back before he was required to supply an urge pulse every 137 seconds. He remembers those days most clearly when he sits quietly in his study, carefully dipping his finger in and out of his straight Absolute Platinum.

Witt Lipton has an idea, and it's one he hopes someone will be willing to kill for.

* * *

I coughed once gently into my hand, watching as Raphael's mind returned from whatever far shore it had been travelling, then continued speaking. "Ever since MegaMedia lost Resnick during the February sweeps, they’ve locked down on their creative people pretty hard."

Just to my left, Allyce ran one hand through her long blond hair. It was a luxury, a risky indulgence for someone in our line of work to have shoulder-length hair. "Can it be that tight?" she asked, eyes darting between Raphe and me. "I can’t imagine arty types being too happy with watchdogs at their heels."

I started to reply, but saw Raphael finally bringing his full attention back to the matter at hand. All this time, he’d been distracted enough that everyone had noticed. A thoughtful Raphael was a common sight, but for him to be inattentive was a rarity.

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