INTO THE VOID
A SID 6.7 STORY
(Sequel to Virtual Reality)
By Atonia Walpole
Part l:
The last few months had been a period of discovery for Sid. He was learning to live in the real world, how to get along with people, when to push and when to pull back. He was also learning his likes and dislikes concerning most everything. It was a period made more difficult because he was alone.
He still had not found another Kath Kendall, the woman he left the virtual world for only to find she loved someone else. He respected her enough to leave her alone. After the day he moved out of her house, Ham Crocker had moved in. For awhile he thought she might call, if nothing else to see how he was getting on without her. She had been in some ways a guide for him from virtual to reality. But she had not called and he decided to move on and find a replacement.
It was not so easy; he’d tried all kinds of girls, amazed at how many different ones there were. All shapes, sizes and colors, but he had not found anyone suitable. He spent his days amassing a fortune by hacking into accounts all around the world. One of the first things he learned was how important money was to humans. He’d also replaced his mall-bought-off-the-rack wardrobe after finding designers would, in fact, design clothes for him. All it took was money. His penthouse had been spiffed up, too.
He was living like a king in his sumptuous surroundings with the wall of windows that overlooked the city…alone. Loneliness was something new to him. He now understood what it was. He could go out and amuse himself with the human population of the city or make dogs bark to annoy their owners but he was bored with that. He wanted someone to play with him.
It was his desire to be out among people that brought him to the Santa Monica Pier one Saturday afternoon. He watched as lovers strode hand in hand, stopping to kiss and feed each other whatever food they’d bought. He sighed. They were, he knew, stupid people on the whole. If he probed, he didn’t find much of interest. How then did they have mates? Did only stupid people have mates? Were there no intelligent women around? It was then that the dog hiked his little leg and pissed on his five hundred dollar track shoes. He was about to do something brutal to the dog when he heard her voice.
“Babbit! Oh bad, bad Babbit! I am so sorry he got away from me!” She bent down and grabbed hold of the little dog’s leash. Her long, expertly cut, tangle of wavy dark hair obscured her face and when she stood up her eyes were hidden behind dark glasses.
“I am very sorry. Could I do something?” she held her hands out palms up. What, after all, could you do about dog piss?
Sid felt a little flutter and quickly tried to probe. He was blocked and his eyes widened behind his dark glasses. “I don’t think there’s any damage.” He side stepped the noxious dog.
“It’s nice out here this time of day,” she said, taking a breath and leaning on over the railings.
Sid leaned beside her. “Yes, I was just thinking the same thing.”
She turned to him, staring for a moment, and smiled a little smile. “Were you?”
He felt something, a little tingle. Could she possibly be probing him? It wasn’t possible. Humans couldn’t probe. He stopped it immediately. It wouldn’t do, of course, for her to probe him.
“It’s not my dog," she explained. "I’m only dog sitting for the day.”
“Not very well trained, is he?” Sid said, glancing at the furry mass at her feet.
She smiled, “He usually does what he’s told.”
“Did you tell him to piss on my shoe?”
She laughed and didn’t answer his question.
“Who are you?” he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Teri Street.”
“That’s not a name, that’s an address.”
“Teri is short for Teresa and Street is actually my name.”
“That’s very odd.”
“Hmm, who are you?” she asked in return, looking at him.
He felt the tingle again and stopped it. “S...Chris Smith.” He’d almost given her his name. He never did that.
“Chris Smith,” she smiled her little smile, “it’s nice to meet you. Do you live near here?”
“In the city,” he said. “I’d ask you to come home with me but for the dog.”
She laughed again, “You certainly don’t waste time, do you?”
“I see no need for wasting time. We could talk for hours or days…I’d still want you to come home with me.”
“Do you usually have much luck with that line?”
“I’ve never said that to anyone before. You interest me…what are you?”
“What do you mean? I’m a woman.”
“You’re more than that. What do you do?”
“I find things, lost things and sometimes things that don’t want to be found.” She smiled her little smile.
She had him now. “That’s very interesting. Are you working today?”
“It’s Saturday. I don’t work on the weekend unless, of course, it’s a special case.”
“Is it special, the one you’re working on now?” He moved in a little closer.
“Yes, actually it is, a very unusual case. But as you see, I’m dog sitting.”
“Hmm, how long do you have to sit…this dog?”
She looked at her watch, "Another hour. My friends are at the movies.”
“Why didn’t you go with them?”
“I’d seen the film. You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”
“That’s how you get answers, how you learn things. Are you with the police?”
“No, I’m private hire.”
He smiled and leaned on the railing again looking out to the sea. “Have you found what you’re looking for?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, leaning beside him.
He turned to her. “I have. I think I’ve found it.”
ON TO PART 2
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