Lottery
Chapter 17
By Mark J. Silva Jr
Mark was tired, but the sun felt so good on his bare skin. The yard, with its clear ceiling, was warm and welcoming even in the dead of winter. Mark was half asleep, when a small pair of hands covered his eyes.
An unknown voice said, “Guess who?”
Startled, Mark sat right up, to find a ten year old girl standing there smiling at him. Mark didn't recognize her at all.
The girl looked back over her shoulder and called to someone inside the room.
“See, I told you he wouldn't know me, Grandma.”
Di stepped out of the shadows, and gave Mark a little wave.
“Well, you're the one who wanted to surprise him."
Mark looked at both the girl and Di.
“Mark, let me introduce to you Lily. We've been talking, and she had an idea that you might like to try,” Di said as she walked into the yard carrying a small black case.
Mark casually sat and pulled his legs under himself as he looked at Lily.
“I'm not sleeping with her, she's a baby."
Lily stuck her tongue out at Mark, “I am not!”
“Are so."
“Am Not!”
“Are so!”
“Stop it, you two!” Di ordered.
Mark bit his lip, and Lily stuck her tongue out at Mark again.
“What Lily brought to our attention, is something that has become popular with kids her age,” Di said.
She opened the case, and took out a pair of odd looking sun glasses.
“They're called Holobands. We use them so we can play in the VR world, like grown-ups,” Lily said as she pulled out a smaller pair from her sweatshirt pocket.
“What Lily is saying, Mark, is that most kids her age who don't have any wetware, use
these holobands to allow them to do nearly everything someone with wetware can do. There are a few restrictions, though."
“Yes. We can't walk around, and interact with the Real World, both at the same time,” Lily injected.
“I had this set enlarged to fit you, Mark. Now, from what I am told, you can not use just anyone's set. If this gets broken, you would have to wait for it to be repaired, because it learns your thought patterns. Retraining a set of these can take weeks,” Di said as she walked over to Mark and passed him the holoband.
“You need to lay down,” Lily said.
Mark looked to Di and she smiled, “It won't hurt, but you need to be seated, or lying down, so you don’t fall over."
Mark examined the holoband, and found something odd, “Why are the lenses blacked out?”
“That's so you don't look funny. They use a laser to track your eyes that will be open and moving the whole time, Just try them. I bet you'll have fun with them,” Lily said as she lay down on a nearby lounger.
“I will be waiting for you just outside your safe room,” Lily said.
She sat in the overstuffed easy chair and placed the holoband on her head. She pressed both activation triggers on the sides of the Holoband. After a soft gasp, Lily suddenly became very still and quiet.
Mark lay back, fully. With a little guidance from Di, he found the activation triggers.
It felt like Mark's whole body flowed down a straw, and into a dark room. As he stood there, the room formed around him. A moment later, a lady appeared in the middle of the room. She turned to face Mark and smiled.
“A moment, please, while I load your personal presets,” the lady said.
Mark watched as a bed formed, and then a set of slider doors come into view. It kept changing the view to the outside.
“Hello, Mark, and welcome to Graystone Enterprises Virtual Reality Integration System. While this system was designed for children to access the same environments as adults, please understand that there are some built in restrictions; although some of those have been removed, in your case, Mark.
"Firstly, Mark, while adults can walk and interact with the VR world simultaneously, we have decided that for the user's safety, a user of a Holoband will be immobile. Secondly, crimes committed while using the Holoband will be reported to the closest authority, and your Holoband will be shut down, forever. The third big item has been waved in your case, Mark, but you need to be aware of it. Hacking the Holoband system will result in your Holoband being shut down. But, as I said, this has been waved. We know of your personal talents, and find it would be fruitless to impose such rules in your case. We do ask that you refrain from cheating in any of the game worlds; and, please, do not hack anyone else's holoband,” said the lady.
Mark walked around the room checking out things as they formed.
“This VR space is your 'safe room.' From here, you can enter any other VR world by simply walking through any of the slider-doors you see before you. If you die in any world, you will either respawn at a safe respawning point, or reappear here. You can customize your personal Avatar here, or save data files you may have made in other VR worlds. You can also take and make personal calls, and enter the VR forums at any time."
“How do I return to the real world?” Mark asked.
“You can simply will yourself to remove the Holoband at anytime. This is the safest way to leave the VR world. Anyone in the real world, can also remove them for you. There will be no harm done in either case.”
Mark walked over to the slider and looked through it and smiled, he could suddenly see Lily standing close by chatting with some other girls.
Mark knew of the VR worlds. He had used holodromes to interact with them, before now. Here, he could touch and feel them. Unlike the holodromes, where he could always see through the images, here it was as though he was in the real world. This is what everyone else had been doing and seeing, all his life. Now, for the first time ever, he would be entering the same world his friends had enjoyed for so long.
“Will you be here when I return?” Mark asked.
“Yes, Sir. I am your personal assistant. I will help manage you time in the VR world.”
Mark tried to open the slider only to find it was sealed shut.
“Just walk through it. There no need to open a door that already stands open for you."
Mark paused and looked back at the lady, walking over to her Mark looked closely into her eyes and smiled.
“I should have known you'd be hiding in here somewhere, Hera."
The female formed changed from a rather rough built lady into a Greek Goddess wearing long flowing robes, and a wicked smile that fooled mortals.
“And, of course, I should have known I could never fool you, Mark."
Hera was the AI matrix Mark built back in the labs on Onyx, so many years ago.
Mark walked around her and smiled. “Are you the AI they use in all these Holobands?”
“No, Sir. I am currently tasked as your personal AI in the main house. I am acting as an intermediary with the holoband. Holobands come with a very basic AI. Mistress was sure you'd get tired of it very quickly, so I was installed in a mobile matrix housing, and placed in your room.”
Mark touched her form, and pulled out some coding that sent a chill though out her matrix. Mark looked at the coding and smiled.
“I had feared you suffered a 'delete and wipe' when the lab was attacked."
Hera stood very still as Mark held her core matrix in his hands. This piece of matrix identified Hera as not a copy of the AI from the lab, but as Mark's original build. After checking it over, Mark let the pieces of the coding slide through his fingers as though sand on a beach. Once it all left his hands, Hera involuntary inhaled.
“I was boxed for a long time, Sir. Mistress pulled some strings, and convinced everyone I would serve you better than say, as a useless copy in some cold storage somewhere else.”
Mark smiled and touched her cheek, “I am glad to see you again. Was that other form the original holoband's AI?”
“I believe so, Sir. She was just a shell when I was logged into the holoband."
“I see. So you said all I have to do is walk through the slider. Will you be out there also?” Mark asked as he walked back to the slider through which he could see Lily and her friends.
“Only if you call for me. Otherwise, I shall stay in here awaiting for your return.”
Mark stepped through the slider and felt like he walked through a water fall, but on the other side he stepped into a world where he could hear birds tweeting and watched as butterflies flew by. Lily turned in his direction right away and smiled, as she walked over to Mark, her friends followed closely behind her.
“Hey, Mark, welcome to Summerville. A place where summer is the only season, and having fun is the reason to be here. Mark, I'd like you to meet my friends, Sandy and Jill,” Lily said with a bright smile.
The two other girls swarmed Mark quickly, “You didn’t say he was so damn pretty,” Jill said as she played with Mark's hair.
“I can't believe he's all yours,” Sandy commented.
Mark stepped away suddenly and looked at Lily, “I'm not hers. My owner is a lot older than she is."
Lily crossed her arms and smiled, “You spoiled the surprise, Sandy. He wasn't to know, yet.”
“What are you talking about?” Mark demanded.
“Follow me. I will tell you what I know," Lily said as she walked over to a door standing all by itself in the middle of the field.
Mark followed her as Lily and her friends passed right through the door. On the other side, Mark entered a large bedroom and found the girls sitting on the bed.
“Over here,” Jill said as she got back up and walked towards Mark.
“Where are we now?” Mark asked as Jill took his hand and started leading him to the bed.
“It's my saferoom,” Sandy answered as she pulled off her shirt.
Mark stopped dead in his tracks as Lily also pulled off her shirt, followed shortly by her jeans.
“Get over here,” Lily ordered.
But Mark didn't move and as Lily watched him Mark slowly started to remove his holoband when Jill grabbed both of his hands, “What are you doing?”
Mark looked at her and back at Lily, “I don’t play with little girls."
Lily jumped from the bed and ran over to Mark and jabbed him in the chest with her finger as she yelled, “First off, you will do as your told! Second just because we are changing our clothes, doesn’t mean we want a romp in the sack!”
Mark stepped back, while Lily was only ten, she was just about as tall as Mark and had about thirty pounds on him.
“Maybe you should explain what's going on,” said a new voice.
Mark turned and found Lisa standing there.
Lily put her hands on her hips, “Took you long enough to get here, Nanna Lisa."
Lisa walked over to Mark, “Sorry. I had a few things to finish up. Now, Mark, where shall we start?”
“You could tell her she doesn't own me,” Mark spat out.
Lisa waved a wand, and a large half moon shaped couch rezzed.
“Well, Mark, it would be a lie if I said that."
The girls all gathered and sat down on the couch while Mark stood still in the middle.
“But, but she…"
Lisa took Mark's hand, and pulled him over to her lap.
“Mark, first off, what's going on is that I am taking steps to protect you. You see, I am dying. So, to avoid any issues involving a will and your contract, I have transferred full ownership to Lily. She knows of your needs, and what is needed of you.”
Tears formed in Marks eyes as he whispered, “I don't want you to die."
Lisa brushed Mark's hair off of his face as she said, “No one wants to die, but I have cancer in my wetware. It can't be cured. That's why we are taking steps to make sure you are taken care of."
“I, I could stay with Di?"
Lisa smiled, “You will. The ownership will be Lily's, but until Di or I can no longer care for you, you will stay with us. Your contract is on loan to us, until the day we can no longer watch over you. Then, and only then, will Lily take possession of you.”
Mark looked over to Lily and said, “But she's so young! Why her?”
“We looked at all of our kids and grandkids. Lily, for her age, is really mature. Plus, she's smart enough to understand what you do. Lily is old enough to understand the responsibilities of owning you, yet young enough that she can outlive you,” Lisa said.
Lily got up and walked over to Mark.
“Mark, I promise I will not abuse you. I also want you to know that Nanna and Grandma did not choose me lightly. I can tell you my mom was so pissed when she was passed over."
“Riley would have used you as a stud and sent you into auctions to make a buck, not caring about your feelings on the matter,” Lisa said and she felt Mark flinch at the thought of auctions.
Lily watched as Mark reacted to the statement, “Now that you know, will you follow my orders?”
Lily knew Mark had no wetware. He could put up a fight, and had, before. Now, he looked at her, and lowered his eyes. Mark was accepting the facts.“I'm still not comfortable playing with little girls."
Lily walked over to Mark and took his hand, “I have no plans on having sex with you. What I do want, is for you to come and play a game with us.”
Sandy got up and walked over to a wall, once she touched it the wall dissolved and a room filled with weapons and body armor appeared. Mark looked confused.
“War games, blue eyes. Lily and her friends are going to play war games, and they want you to join them,” Lisa said.
Sandy came back over with a rifle and tossed it to Lily, who then held it out for Mark, “Can you shoot this?”
An unknown voice said, “Guess who?”
Startled, Mark sat right up, to find a ten year old girl standing there smiling at him. Mark didn't recognize her at all.
The girl looked back over her shoulder and called to someone inside the room.
“See, I told you he wouldn't know me, Grandma.”
Di stepped out of the shadows, and gave Mark a little wave.
“Well, you're the one who wanted to surprise him."
Mark looked at both the girl and Di.
“Mark, let me introduce to you Lily. We've been talking, and she had an idea that you might like to try,” Di said as she walked into the yard carrying a small black case.
Mark casually sat and pulled his legs under himself as he looked at Lily.
“I'm not sleeping with her, she's a baby."
Lily stuck her tongue out at Mark, “I am not!”
“Are so."
“Am Not!”
“Are so!”
“Stop it, you two!” Di ordered.
Mark bit his lip, and Lily stuck her tongue out at Mark again.
“What Lily brought to our attention, is something that has become popular with kids her age,” Di said.
She opened the case, and took out a pair of odd looking sun glasses.
“They're called Holobands. We use them so we can play in the VR world, like grown-ups,” Lily said as she pulled out a smaller pair from her sweatshirt pocket.
“What Lily is saying, Mark, is that most kids her age who don't have any wetware, use
these holobands to allow them to do nearly everything someone with wetware can do. There are a few restrictions, though."
“Yes. We can't walk around, and interact with the Real World, both at the same time,” Lily injected.
“I had this set enlarged to fit you, Mark. Now, from what I am told, you can not use just anyone's set. If this gets broken, you would have to wait for it to be repaired, because it learns your thought patterns. Retraining a set of these can take weeks,” Di said as she walked over to Mark and passed him the holoband.
“You need to lay down,” Lily said.
Mark looked to Di and she smiled, “It won't hurt, but you need to be seated, or lying down, so you don’t fall over."
Mark examined the holoband, and found something odd, “Why are the lenses blacked out?”
“That's so you don't look funny. They use a laser to track your eyes that will be open and moving the whole time, Just try them. I bet you'll have fun with them,” Lily said as she lay down on a nearby lounger.
“I will be waiting for you just outside your safe room,” Lily said.
She sat in the overstuffed easy chair and placed the holoband on her head. She pressed both activation triggers on the sides of the Holoband. After a soft gasp, Lily suddenly became very still and quiet.
Mark lay back, fully. With a little guidance from Di, he found the activation triggers.
It felt like Mark's whole body flowed down a straw, and into a dark room. As he stood there, the room formed around him. A moment later, a lady appeared in the middle of the room. She turned to face Mark and smiled.
“A moment, please, while I load your personal presets,” the lady said.
Mark watched as a bed formed, and then a set of slider doors come into view. It kept changing the view to the outside.
“Hello, Mark, and welcome to Graystone Enterprises Virtual Reality Integration System. While this system was designed for children to access the same environments as adults, please understand that there are some built in restrictions; although some of those have been removed, in your case, Mark.
"Firstly, Mark, while adults can walk and interact with the VR world simultaneously, we have decided that for the user's safety, a user of a Holoband will be immobile. Secondly, crimes committed while using the Holoband will be reported to the closest authority, and your Holoband will be shut down, forever. The third big item has been waved in your case, Mark, but you need to be aware of it. Hacking the Holoband system will result in your Holoband being shut down. But, as I said, this has been waved. We know of your personal talents, and find it would be fruitless to impose such rules in your case. We do ask that you refrain from cheating in any of the game worlds; and, please, do not hack anyone else's holoband,” said the lady.
Mark walked around the room checking out things as they formed.
“This VR space is your 'safe room.' From here, you can enter any other VR world by simply walking through any of the slider-doors you see before you. If you die in any world, you will either respawn at a safe respawning point, or reappear here. You can customize your personal Avatar here, or save data files you may have made in other VR worlds. You can also take and make personal calls, and enter the VR forums at any time."
“How do I return to the real world?” Mark asked.
“You can simply will yourself to remove the Holoband at anytime. This is the safest way to leave the VR world. Anyone in the real world, can also remove them for you. There will be no harm done in either case.”
Mark walked over to the slider and looked through it and smiled, he could suddenly see Lily standing close by chatting with some other girls.
Mark knew of the VR worlds. He had used holodromes to interact with them, before now. Here, he could touch and feel them. Unlike the holodromes, where he could always see through the images, here it was as though he was in the real world. This is what everyone else had been doing and seeing, all his life. Now, for the first time ever, he would be entering the same world his friends had enjoyed for so long.
“Will you be here when I return?” Mark asked.
“Yes, Sir. I am your personal assistant. I will help manage you time in the VR world.”
Mark tried to open the slider only to find it was sealed shut.
“Just walk through it. There no need to open a door that already stands open for you."
Mark paused and looked back at the lady, walking over to her Mark looked closely into her eyes and smiled.
“I should have known you'd be hiding in here somewhere, Hera."
The female formed changed from a rather rough built lady into a Greek Goddess wearing long flowing robes, and a wicked smile that fooled mortals.
“And, of course, I should have known I could never fool you, Mark."
Hera was the AI matrix Mark built back in the labs on Onyx, so many years ago.
Mark walked around her and smiled. “Are you the AI they use in all these Holobands?”
“No, Sir. I am currently tasked as your personal AI in the main house. I am acting as an intermediary with the holoband. Holobands come with a very basic AI. Mistress was sure you'd get tired of it very quickly, so I was installed in a mobile matrix housing, and placed in your room.”
Mark touched her form, and pulled out some coding that sent a chill though out her matrix. Mark looked at the coding and smiled.
“I had feared you suffered a 'delete and wipe' when the lab was attacked."
Hera stood very still as Mark held her core matrix in his hands. This piece of matrix identified Hera as not a copy of the AI from the lab, but as Mark's original build. After checking it over, Mark let the pieces of the coding slide through his fingers as though sand on a beach. Once it all left his hands, Hera involuntary inhaled.
“I was boxed for a long time, Sir. Mistress pulled some strings, and convinced everyone I would serve you better than say, as a useless copy in some cold storage somewhere else.”
Mark smiled and touched her cheek, “I am glad to see you again. Was that other form the original holoband's AI?”
“I believe so, Sir. She was just a shell when I was logged into the holoband."
“I see. So you said all I have to do is walk through the slider. Will you be out there also?” Mark asked as he walked back to the slider through which he could see Lily and her friends.
“Only if you call for me. Otherwise, I shall stay in here awaiting for your return.”
Mark stepped through the slider and felt like he walked through a water fall, but on the other side he stepped into a world where he could hear birds tweeting and watched as butterflies flew by. Lily turned in his direction right away and smiled, as she walked over to Mark, her friends followed closely behind her.
“Hey, Mark, welcome to Summerville. A place where summer is the only season, and having fun is the reason to be here. Mark, I'd like you to meet my friends, Sandy and Jill,” Lily said with a bright smile.
The two other girls swarmed Mark quickly, “You didn’t say he was so damn pretty,” Jill said as she played with Mark's hair.
“I can't believe he's all yours,” Sandy commented.
Mark stepped away suddenly and looked at Lily, “I'm not hers. My owner is a lot older than she is."
Lily crossed her arms and smiled, “You spoiled the surprise, Sandy. He wasn't to know, yet.”
“What are you talking about?” Mark demanded.
“Follow me. I will tell you what I know," Lily said as she walked over to a door standing all by itself in the middle of the field.
Mark followed her as Lily and her friends passed right through the door. On the other side, Mark entered a large bedroom and found the girls sitting on the bed.
“Over here,” Jill said as she got back up and walked towards Mark.
“Where are we now?” Mark asked as Jill took his hand and started leading him to the bed.
“It's my saferoom,” Sandy answered as she pulled off her shirt.
Mark stopped dead in his tracks as Lily also pulled off her shirt, followed shortly by her jeans.
“Get over here,” Lily ordered.
But Mark didn't move and as Lily watched him Mark slowly started to remove his holoband when Jill grabbed both of his hands, “What are you doing?”
Mark looked at her and back at Lily, “I don’t play with little girls."
Lily jumped from the bed and ran over to Mark and jabbed him in the chest with her finger as she yelled, “First off, you will do as your told! Second just because we are changing our clothes, doesn’t mean we want a romp in the sack!”
Mark stepped back, while Lily was only ten, she was just about as tall as Mark and had about thirty pounds on him.
“Maybe you should explain what's going on,” said a new voice.
Mark turned and found Lisa standing there.
Lily put her hands on her hips, “Took you long enough to get here, Nanna Lisa."
Lisa walked over to Mark, “Sorry. I had a few things to finish up. Now, Mark, where shall we start?”
“You could tell her she doesn't own me,” Mark spat out.
Lisa waved a wand, and a large half moon shaped couch rezzed.
“Well, Mark, it would be a lie if I said that."
The girls all gathered and sat down on the couch while Mark stood still in the middle.
“But, but she…"
Lisa took Mark's hand, and pulled him over to her lap.
“Mark, first off, what's going on is that I am taking steps to protect you. You see, I am dying. So, to avoid any issues involving a will and your contract, I have transferred full ownership to Lily. She knows of your needs, and what is needed of you.”
Tears formed in Marks eyes as he whispered, “I don't want you to die."
Lisa brushed Mark's hair off of his face as she said, “No one wants to die, but I have cancer in my wetware. It can't be cured. That's why we are taking steps to make sure you are taken care of."
“I, I could stay with Di?"
Lisa smiled, “You will. The ownership will be Lily's, but until Di or I can no longer care for you, you will stay with us. Your contract is on loan to us, until the day we can no longer watch over you. Then, and only then, will Lily take possession of you.”
Mark looked over to Lily and said, “But she's so young! Why her?”
“We looked at all of our kids and grandkids. Lily, for her age, is really mature. Plus, she's smart enough to understand what you do. Lily is old enough to understand the responsibilities of owning you, yet young enough that she can outlive you,” Lisa said.
Lily got up and walked over to Mark.
“Mark, I promise I will not abuse you. I also want you to know that Nanna and Grandma did not choose me lightly. I can tell you my mom was so pissed when she was passed over."
“Riley would have used you as a stud and sent you into auctions to make a buck, not caring about your feelings on the matter,” Lisa said and she felt Mark flinch at the thought of auctions.
Lily watched as Mark reacted to the statement, “Now that you know, will you follow my orders?”
Lily knew Mark had no wetware. He could put up a fight, and had, before. Now, he looked at her, and lowered his eyes. Mark was accepting the facts.“I'm still not comfortable playing with little girls."
Lily walked over to Mark and took his hand, “I have no plans on having sex with you. What I do want, is for you to come and play a game with us.”
Sandy got up and walked over to a wall, once she touched it the wall dissolved and a room filled with weapons and body armor appeared. Mark looked confused.
“War games, blue eyes. Lily and her friends are going to play war games, and they want you to join them,” Lisa said.
Sandy came back over with a rifle and tossed it to Lily, who then held it out for Mark, “Can you shoot this?”