I, Sci Fi Fan
By Anthony North
Copyright Anthony North 2013
Cover image copyright, Yvonne North 2013
Other books by Anthony North
I, TRILOGY INTRODUCTORY VOLUME
I, STORYTELLER SERIES
I, POET SERIES
Inmate Earth: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/237329
Bard Stuff: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/252874
Mind Burps: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/272508
Verse Fest: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/302837
I, THINKER SERIES
I, Paranormal: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/237339
I, Essayist: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/259928
I, Society: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/272861
I, Unexplained: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303478
I, Observer: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/304480
CONTENTS
Introduction
THE VIRTUAL MAN
The Evil Eye
Lucifer Rising
A Stitch Up In Time
The Pact
First Contact
Cyber Brain
MINI NOVELS
www dot saucer
It Eats Me Up
A Relative Romance
Germ of Discontent
SCARLAND
The Journey
The Stranger
The Mating
The Rifle
The Witch
The Saviour
About the Author
Connect With Anthony
INTRODUCTION
How far can virtual reality go? What will it really be like after Armageddon? I explore these concepts in my two series of Flash Fiction in this volume, The Virtual Man and ScarLand; plus, a hand full of Mini Novels - 1,500 word tales so full they think they're bigger - exploring various science fictional themes. So sit back and let me take you to our future.
Try, also, the sister volume, I, Spaceman: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/261517
THE VIRTUAL MAN
THE EVIL EYE
He said it was playing with fire. Bannister - the Government man - said that. Right from the beginning, when I first proposed the project, he was against it. 'Look,' I said, 'it's safe; it's only cyberspace; it isn't real.'
'You don't know what it is,' Bannister said. 'Nobody's ever done anything like this before.'
'Look, Bannister, I'm Merlin Jones, the greatest computer wizard in the world. And I know. Believe me.'
And I won. And in an isolated part of the Yorkshire Moors the Virtual Project went ahead. I built my project, and Flash and Gem Pearl came with me to run it.
'This is magic,' said Flash, a young, skinny, bespectacled protege. 'We can do anything in here.'
Gem flicked her blonde hair out of her eyes. 'Well don't get any ideas, spotty. Leave my electronic vibes alone.'
I could see what Flash was thinking. ‘Now that's a thought,’ he said as he ran his adolescent eyes down her body.
'I can see I'll have to check for unauthorised input,' I said.
Gem flashed her accusing eyes at me.
'So, it's built. What are we going to do with it?'
I smiled. 'Well, Bannister said if the government was going to put up the money, then we have to have ideas to help the government.'
'Which means what?' asked Flash.
'Which means waffle. Do the odd job for THEM, and then play and learn ourselves.'
But Bannister soon came up with a whole load of jobs for us. And one of the first was to see if our new form of cyberspace had predictive qualities.
It was a simple idea, really. Plugged up to most of the nets around the world, we had a massive input of data. Hence, Bannister suggested, use that data to create cyber situations and see if we could predict what was going to happen.
So that is exactly what we did. And to get a feel for the game, I fed in a perfect plan of Westminster. Then, walking into the chamber, I immediately felt the electromagnetism - it kind of tingled the skin until you got used to it. And then, whoosh! There I was on a nice sunny day walking up Whitehall, surrounded by tourists and government officials busying themselves.
'This is so real,' I said, and Gem's voice immediately pulsed in my head. 'So let me in there to beat up Flash.'
Ignoring her comment, it was, however, clear that not everything was sweetness and light. The government was unpopular, and as people walked by, the net fed this loathing, with everyone having something derogatory to say about the government. But then, through the corner of my eye, I noticed the one man who seemed calm.
He was about six foot tall with short-cropped blonde hair and he was dressed completely in black. For some reason the net wanted me to focus on this guy. Why, I had no idea. But I was soon to learn why.
The Prime Minister's official car came gliding down Whitehall. I could see the gates to Downing Street opening, and as the car disappeared inside, I saw the black clad man disappear through a door. Quickly, I followed.
It was, of course, easier than I thought. After all, this was a cyber world and here, I had special powers - such as walking through walls, and all that. And eventually I found myself in a small foyer somewhere in 10 Downing Street. And as a door opened, and the Prime Minister walked in, the black clad man raised a gun.
Maybe it was a natural instinct, as if I really was in the real world. But I grabbed that guy, raised his arm high and the gun fired into the ceiling. And it was at that point I decided to cancel the game for the day.
'Well I don't understand it,' said Flash. 'It worked out an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister’
'That's right. I think I'd better let Bannister know.'
Hence, I picked up the phone and asked to speak to the Government man. Eventually, he came to the phone, breathless.
'What you want, Jones,' he said, 'I'm kind of busy.'
'I just thought you ought to know,' I said. 'The game has just predicted an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister. It may sound stupid, but he was about six foot tall with blonde hair and dressed in black.'
There was an intense silence at the other end of the line.
'Bannister?' I said, 'you there?'
He was. But he was reeling. So was the whole of the security service, hushing it up, but at the same time investigating the dark clothed assassin who appeared from nowhere, and vanished just as quick.
'So it works,' said Gem. 'I don't know how, but we really predicted an assassination attempt.'
Flash and Gem were elated. As for me, I wasn't so sure. As for me, I wondered what I'd created here. And for days after the game I couldn't help thinking, had I predicted an outcome, or had we, in some not-yet-understood way, caused it?
LUCIFER RISING
When you have access to the most powerful cyber nets in the world, and they're all plugged in to the most remarkable virtual reality chamber in existence, then you can do magic. Infact, existence can really be what you want it to be - which does, of course, give you unlimited possibilities.
'So why don't we see what it was like in Medieval times,' said Flash, my adolescent protege. 'See if people really did experience evil.'
Gem Pearl put this whim down to too many novels, ending with, 'you're just sick.'
But I wasn't so sure. 'Wait a minute, Gem, it may not be as stupid as you think. After all, wouldn't it be right to use the chamber to understand how we got here? And we certainly have enough information to create a realistic Medieval setting.'
Gem thought about it a moment. She said: 'Suppose so. But it isn't exactly state of the art research, is it?'
I did, of course, disagree. You see, I'd always had an interest in mysticism. I sometimes cla
ssed myself as a kind of techno-Gnostic, aware that a virtual world had parallels with religion. After all, all religions believe in a physical world existing alongside a world of spirit. And let's face it, cyberspace wasn't that far removed from this concept. Maybe we were the new religionists. Anyway, suffice to say, I won the argument. And the next day, after Flash had fed in the data, Gem Pearl and I walked into a Medieval world.
'This is fantastic. Just smell that fresh air,' said Gem as we took in the forest.
I had to agree. I was fascinated how much wellbeing I felt in this place, unburdened by modern pollution. However, I also knew quite well that the period had its own problems. And it wasn't long before the Latin chant filtered to our ears.
Following the sound, Gem and I soon came to the edge of a glade, and there, in the middle of it we saw a group of women. The chants were clearly coming from them, and I recognised the odd word from the old 'demonologies' written during the period. In one way, this annoyed me. Flash had programmed in certain Christian prejudices concerning witchcraft as related to the devil, when infact it was simply a religion different to Christianity. But then again, we were interested in how the times perceived the devil, so maybe Flash got it right; for our experiment at least.
The women were whipping themselves up to frenzy, and more than one was reaching a stage of total undress. And it was at this point that an image seemed to form near them.
Just what the image was, it was impossible to say, but as it became more defined, Gem and I saw a demon-like being. It wasn't green and scaly with hooves and tail and pointy ears. But it was sinister in the extreme. Man-like, yes, but with an air of malice about it with wolf like jaw and teeth and eyes as black as ebony. So human, yes, but every sense knew it was pure evil.
The women went mad with the demon's arrival, writhing on the floor, and eventually the demon bent down and exposed its naked buttocks. I had read often of the idea that at sabbats witches kissed the anus of the devil. And here, before us, I saw the old superstition re-lived. Yet it was at this point that commotion began from the other side of the glade.
Suddenly, the demon seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke and brown-clad monks rushed into the glade, grabbing the women and carting them off. Instinctively, Gem ran forward, shouted 'leave them alone.' I tried to stop her but it was too late; and before I knew what was happening, she, too, was being taken.
It was at this point that I decided to tell Flash to end program. But his voice filled my mind. 'Afraid not, Merlin,' he said. 'We've got some kind of virus.'
'Well purge it quick. We've got real problems here.'
I followed the monks at a discreet distance and it was soon clear they were taking Gem and the witches for interrogation. And as I walked I realised I was not alone. The demon was walking by my side.
'Who are you?' I asked as I walked on nervously.
He flashed his hellish eyes at me and spoke in a deep, raspish voice. 'Your worst nightmare,' he said.
Moments later the demon and I existed in a torture chamber.
Two of the witches were already dead, unable to survive the torture. And now it was Gem’s turn to be tortured. Her clothes ripped, she was pushed down onto an evil wooden contraption designed to put unimaginable pressure on her chest, and I could see deep fear in her face.
'Come on, Flash, hurry up. This is getting serious.'
Luckily, in the nick of time, he purged the problem. And as real pain began to appear on Gem’s face the torture chamber disappeared and we were alone. Or at least, I thought we were.
Checking that Gem was alright, I knew I needed to be alone a while - figure out what had gone wrong, and just how dangerous our jaunts to cyberspace were. Thus, I went to my room and lay down, thinking. How long I was thinking out the problem, I didn't know. But I realised the problem was going to be far worse than I imagined.
I knew this when the phone rang. Putting it to my ear, this deep, raspish voice said: ‘Thank you. I’m free. And I’ll see you soon.’
A STITCH UP IN TIME
Bannister, the Government Man, had come again and I had no idea what to tell him.
'Well, Merlin,' he said, 'I can't see a great deal of comeback for the cost of this facility.'
We were sat in the control room of the cyberspace chamber.
I knew very well how vital our research was - somehow we had managed to make cyberspace interact with the real world. But how the hell was I to tell Bannister that? We'd become gods, and you could guarantee we'd be shut down pronto.
'Science is unpredictable,' I said. 'There are many ways we will prove our worth. We just need time.'
Bannister sighed.
I had, of course, sent Flash and Gem Pearl, my assistants, into the chamber, out of the way. Like me, they seemed to enjoy playing games in cyberspace. It was a marvelous place of make believe.
Bannister was about to say something else when he suddenly fell down dead. Moments later, Flash and Gem Pearl came out of the chamber, laughing. 'It was great,' said Flash.
'We just conjured up Bannister and killed him. What fun.'
'Really,' I said, moving away from the body so they could see.
'Oh,' they said in unison.
'Exactly.'
Flash puckered his spotty, bespectacled, adolescent face.
'I suppose we could bury him somewhere; claim he was never here.'
If only, I thought. But said: 'Don't be ridiculous. You've killed a man.'
Which left us with a predicament. Apart from the morality of the event, his death would be impossible to explain. Plus, he was, despite his moaning, the main influence in keeping us operating. And as a rising star in the government, he no doubt had an important career ahead of him.
I aired these worries to Flash and Gem Pearl.
'So you really think he'd have been important to the future?' said Gem.
'I do.'
'Well there's one way to find out,' said Flash.
Without a pause, he went to the control column, fed in Bannister's details and demanded prediction. We all entered the chamber - found ourselves in the House of Commons - Bannister was there; he'd become Prime Minister.
'We seem to have fouled up major,' said Flash.
He sat down, despondent. I felt like saying there's no good crying over spilt milk, but knew it would be stupid. Instead, I said: 'Why don't we see just how fundamental the link is between cyberspace and reality.'
They looked at me, puzzled. But I was already by the console.
'And how do you propose to do that?' asked Gem.
'You'll see.'
Several minutes later, Flash, Gem Pearl and myself re-entered the chamber. In doing so, we walked straight into a cyber recreation of the facility control room. On the wall, the clock was set nearly an hour before real time.
'Brilliant,' said Flash, 'but do you think it will work?'
I said, 'we'll see,' as Bannister first entered the facility.
Soon, he was saying: 'Well, Merlin, I can't see a great deal of comeback for the cost of this facility.'
Freezing program, they walked out of the chamber.
Bannister said: 'What's going on here? You're smiling. Why the hell do I think something funny's going on.'
THE PACT
The evidence was damning.
'I don't know what you were playing at,' said Gem Pearl, pushing her hair from her face, 'but you were definitely trying to shut down the chamber.'
Flash, my adolescent assistant, was breathless in the corner, and I still had pain in the neck from where he had wrestled me from the console.
'But that's ridiculous,' I said. 'I'm Merlin Jones. I created this cyberspace facility. Why the hell would I want to sabotage it?'
Gem paced the control room, thinking. 'I don't know, Merlin. But you were.'
Flash said: 'Can you remember anything?'
And I had to admit I couldn't.
'No,' I said, confused. 'I seem to have a total blank.'
'Well there's one way t
o find out,' said Flash.
I knew, of course, what he meant. We'd been working on the mind-link for days. And although it wasn't yet perfected, it was clear that I'd have to be the first guinea pig.
'Okay,' I said, 'wire me up. Let's see just what I've been doing for the last couple of hours.'
It was uncomfortable sat in the chair, wires attached to the brain. It was uncomfortable physically and also psychologically. For if it worked, Flash and Gem would experience, in the chamber, my inner thoughts played out in cyberspace. Finally ready, they switched on and entered the chamber.
'Well?' I asked ten minutes later when they came out.
They looked worried. 'We've got a problem,' said Gem, pressing replay on the monitor.
I watched, fascinated, as, on the screen, I approached the console, my eyes glazed, and began the shut down process.
'Well, that's me guilty as charged. But why?'
Gem said: 'You'll see.' And the scene changed on the screen - to several hours before, in my room.
So that was it.
I remembered the early experiment when we'd surveyed the Medieval witchcraft trials. And I remembered even more the appearance of the demon. And after the experiment shut down, the demon refused to go away - had somehow entered reality. And now, there he was, in my bedroom, his malevolent, omnipotent eyes dark and evil. I could even imagine the stench - and felt so afraid, looking at me, asleep, about to go under the influence of this cyber-monster on the loose.
We thought for a long time after the evidence was clear.
Eventually, Flash said: 'Well, Merlin, it appears you've made a pact with the devil.'
And I guess that was exactly what I had done. But how on earth was I to rid myself of this malign force?
'Well as I see it,' said Gem, 'if this demon is really out of cyberspace and in the real world, then it is our creation, so we must have the power to destroy it.'
A logical assumption, I knew. But I was beginning to doubt whether our virtual reality experiments still ceded to logic.
It was as if we had created a magical world we couldn't control - which did, of course, give me an idea.
'What we need,' I said, 'is to set a trap. And we can do that by playing our demon at its own game.'