A grey interface screen shown light on Doug sitting in front of it. Doug looked down at his right arm still wrapped in gauze. A wave of itching sensation washed through his arm, spiked to pain, and faded. Doug looked back at the grey pulsing screen beckoning to him. He hadn't done this in a while. The muscular man with a robotic arm stood behind Doug watching the doors.
"Hell, man. You heard them. If I don't do this--it'll be my fault." Doug began unwrapping his right arm. "I can't live with that. Not her. Maybe a random. But not Fara."
"Man seemed like he spoke truth," the big man said.
"It could fry all the nerves in my arm. But--Fuck it." Doug opened a drawer to the left and pulled out a cord wrapped in plastic. He pulled the cord out and slowly connected each magnetic connecter to the plugs in his arm, five in all. They linked to a single plug. Doug slid that plug into the computer jack. He picked up another cord that ended in a two inch metal rod. "Here goes shit." Doug slid the two inch rod into the jack behind his left ear.
Doug's vision faded to a pulsing grey then cleared to show the access panel of his terminal. It was full of shortcuts to various sites he'd been before. Doug jerked as a pain pulsed through his arm and then went numb. A white hand appeared on the screen and responded to movements from his right arm. Doug wiggled his fingers and saw the hand on the virtual screen wiggle it's fingers.
I'm not sure what I'm going to have Doug do yet and who may or may not have Fara. But I feel like he's going to have to be put in danger that he chooses. The big guy in this is the big guy that approaches them at the table in my earlier post. Turns out that he was sent by some people. Not sure whom. I'm trying to let these details come naturally as I write the story. But Doug reprograms the big guy. Turns out that he is barely human and more like a human running programs downloaded to him. And since that guy didn't get what they wanted, they take Fara. I think that is how I see it happening now.
Doug logged out and pulled the link cable from his head. As his vision and other senses came back to him he felt a warm feeling in his arm. He looked down at it. The skin was red almost like a sunburn. The warmth grew and he felt heat coming from his arm. The room felt hot. Like a hot blow dryer in your face. Doug leaned over and vomited. The heat resided and a pulsing ache stabbed at his head. I hope that isn't how it'll be each time, Doug thought.
Q - As with the last few times that you've posted this story, I really like it. The computer/internet/human interface is one that could do with some exploring. It sounds like Doug is facing some exterior pressures, and like someone wants to use his skills for evil. Things are getting meatier, but I'm still mostly interested in the way that Doug interacts in a virtual world, and how he moves around in this cyber-landscape.
ReplyDeleteOk, that said, there were a few parts in your story where I felt a little confused:
"I can't live with that. Not her. Maybe a random. But not Fara."
"Man seemed like he spoke truth," the big man said."
This part felt a little awkward, like the phrase "a random." Is that slang that they're going to use through out the story? Also, using "Man with a robotic arm" and "Man sounded like he said the truth" is distracting to me for some reason: all the use of "man." But that's just me being knit-picky -- it looks pretty good.
It's a good opening towards exploring the interactions between these two characters and where it leads. There's something inherently fascinating about getting taken over by computers.
ReplyDeleteIt will be great I think to get a sense of the big man's personality (or lack thereof) and how it contrasts with Doug's. As it is, he seems to be in the background, almost non-existent as a force compared to Doug's vocal and centralized dominance, which I think is a plus towards representing his sort of... lack of autonomy, or loss of humanity, being the mouthpiece for whoever runs his programs.