The Machine Killer by D L Young

Author:D L Young [Young, D L]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781734652208
Publisher: Concordia Professional Services, LLC
Published: 2020-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

16 - Two Mile Hollow

A moment later a virtual world materialized around him, and Maddox found himself alone on a beach in the Hamptons, or at least what he imagined a beach in the Hamptons looked like. He stood on a wide swath of shoreline bordered by grassy dunes, his bare feet nestled in the soft press of powdery white sand. His avatar, a close approximation of his physical self, wore tourist garb: tan Bermuda shorts and a blue guayabera with white palm trees printed down the front. Dark clouds hid the sun, slowly creeping across the sky. A stiff ocean breeze ruffled his clothes and sent small white-capped waves sliding across the surface of the dark blue water. A trail between the dunes led back to a small beach house, and next to the trail, a sign of gray weathered wood read Two Mile Hollow Beach. The environment was rich in detail, not unlike the train station he’d connected to earlier. But the station had only been a simple call location, harmless images and sounds superimposed over his lenses. The beach he stood on now, however, was in virtual space, engaging the entirety of his brain through the trodeband and deck. He could smell the salty air, feel the ocean mist cool against the skin of his forearms. It looked harmless, but like anywhere else in VS, it was anything but.

He tried to remove the trodeband, but nothing happened. He felt no feedback from his physical self, no sensations emanating from his meat. Had he even lifted his arms? He didn’t know. He gestured to cut the connection—or at least that was what he commanded his body to do—but again, nothing. Subvocalizing the same command didn’t work either.

He attempted to call up a help bot, but none appeared. Then he gestured for a looksee. Same result.

“Can you believe this is less than two hundred kilometers from the City?”

He spun toward the voice. A silver-haired woman stood five paces away, wearing a straw hat with a wide brim and a long, loose-fitting beach dress of combed white cotton. She was short, sixtyish, with a tanned, wrinkled face. Sterling silver bracelets set with stones of oval-shaped turquoise adorned each wrist, and a matching necklace hung low around her neck.

“Have you ever been to the Hamptons?” she asked in a warm, grandmotherly voice.

“Who are you?”

“You haven’t, have you?” She gazed around. “It’s beautiful, so relaxing, and not too far for a weekend trip. On your salary you could afford to spend a weekend here. Oh”—she put her hand to her chest—“and the food is simply wonderful.”

“I don’t think I have a salary anymore.”

“No?” She made a tsk-tsk face. “That’s a shame. But then you never were the nine-to-five sort, were you?”

Maddox ran a hand through his windblown hair. “So you’re…” He hesitated, unsure which words to use.

“The one with whom many are connected.”

The words sent a chill through him. He was stuck in virtual space, alone, with a powerful rogue AI. It was like realizing you were in a locked closet with a tiger.

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