Six — Jezzibella Trollope
"Bite my hoe, you blbblblblblackckckckckc bastrdrdrd!"
"Blaspheeeeeeemingingingingngngngngng poofoofoofterterssss!"
"Fuckckckckckck you!"
A rake paused in mid thrust before my chest, juddering back and forth. Attempting to dodge the prongs I moved slightly to my left, but also juddered in time with the rake. Time was suspended during the glitch, leaving my eyes fixed on my assailants and my body frozen in mid leap. Then, like a coiled spring suddenly released, the rake jumped forwards as I hopped to the side. I received yet another scratch to my bare arm. I breathed deeply to calm myself, but then found I was unable to exhale for a few moments, during which I saw hands and feet beyond the bars of my cage wave rapidly and repeat small movements. Sounds rattled and drilled like something by the Aphex Twin. I exhaled finally and everyone else resumed the movements they had been making before the glitch. The entire site suffered glitch after glitch, freezing and shaking everything at roughly two second pauses. I was beginning to get quite a headache.
Megahard Mary, useful as ever, merely stood beyond the villagers, along with a steadily growing crowd of spectators, repeating, "Megahard strongly recommend you shut down your system to prevent further damage!" over and over again.
It was exactly such an action that Beau, Mary and I had been trying and failing to perform for the last few hours. If only we could have shut down our operating systems we could have escaped from this insane world that was threatening to damage our neural implants. Such damage could leave us returning to the real World drooling and fumbling hopelessly over the simplest task. And it was these crazed Christians that were also preventing us from escape, leaving us trapped.
Beau's nylon pantyhose were developing holes as he tried and failed, like me, to avoid being poked by the villagers. The three Christians were using the same avatars they had in the church. One, a young woman, resembling Morticia Addams but with a chunky mahogany rosary around her neck, the crucified Christ reclining between her breasts; the second, an elderly man in a grey cloth cap, khaki body warmer and Wellington boots; the third, a twenty something geek in a pale grey suit, red tie clipped to his cheap shirt and a 'Smile, Jesus loves you' badge on his jacket lapel. They were odd choices of avatar design, I thought, considering one could choose any appearance one could wish for.
Beyond the religious zealots' heads Rosie looked on, concerned but helpless. We heard Mary's cries of distress in the distance, but were unable to see if she had been injured. To our right the cum bath orgy continued, its participants apparently oblivious to this predicament of three of the site's users.
There was a scuffle in the crowd and the zealots were thrust aside, their tools slipping from their hands and clattering on the tiles. Beau and I were confronted once more by the vampiric minions of Lord Tyranny, their faces inscrutable behind their chic Balaclavas. They formed a wall around our cages, then a passageway to allow their master to pass unmolested. With his hands in his slender hips Royce strode up to my cage and peered at me as one would a caged animal. His long lips curled into a sneer to reveal the glinting gold canines.
"Oh dear, dear, dear, what have we here?" his deep, feline voice enquired and tutted. "Your hopelessly inadequate virus protection," he opined, pacing from my cage to Beau's, "really is in need of correction."
Royce looked a question at his men around him and was answered by vigorous nods all round. He turned his attention to the zealots who seemed indignant and perplexed at his interference with their mission. They gazed up at him as he licked his fangs with a forked tongue.
"Get thee gone, thou Devil!" said the old churchman.
Royce's men hardly needed a signal. The three villagers were dragged by the hair, boots and tie to the pool where they were raised back to their fumbling feet. They did the same with Megahard Mary, obviously assuming she was as dangerous as the Christians, as she continually parroted her alert message. The men pulled the eye holes of their Balaclavas down to expose their mouths. They bared fangs, gold like their master's, and plunged them into the necks of their four victims who screamed and fought futilely. They soon went limp, but remained conscious. The gothic woman was held above her attacker's head as she moaned a 'Hail Mary' before being plunged into the bath of lukewarm cum. Mary, our Mary, our Lady of Perpetual Climax, indisposed as she was, did nothing to help. The Megahard avatar and the two men followed the woman to their deaths. Struggling and spluttering they re emerged briefly, spitting and hawking blood and cum into the Balaclavas. They were held under firmly before their thrashing limbs went feeble and sank into the strawberry milkshake of the pool which, by this time, had virtually emptied of avatars, their users now horrified at these proceedings.
A woman's voice called, "Oo oo!" brightly to us and we saw our Mary jumping and waving behind Royce.
She was allowed to approach us. She ran first to Beau's cage, then mine. We kissed through the bars. Then the cages lifted and rose into the domed ceiling allowing us to embrace. I was so happy and relived she had survived the attack. I assumed some of Royce's men had helped her too. I was also relieved to have been saved from the Christians but, like the other users, I was shocked and revolted by the measures used.
I asked Royce, "What will happen those people?" and he shrugged his narrow shoulders.
"They'll just wake up and resume their boring lives," he chuckled. "Crawl back into bed with their husbands and wives."
The men laughed in response to this.
I tapped my right nostril to bring up my virtual keyboard and discovered that, indeed, I was now free to tap myself out and resume my own boring, comfortably predictable life. At least, I was according to the virtual screen before me. I made it vanish with a further tap to my right nostril and wondered if such good news could be true.
I regarded Royce more closely and wondered how anyone could find it in themselves to trust such a face. It was the face of a cobra, just before the death strike. I saw his men exchange glances and realised they had more than likely infected the villagers with a virus. I looked down to see his pet, Madame Prence, clinging to his side with her stubby fingers like a deformed, shaved koala. She whispered something to her master, or servant, I had yet to determine which, and Royce decisively clapped his hands.
"To the lounge, everyone!" he ordered. "I shall entertain our guests before the day is done."
"Yeah, thanks," I said, tagging along with Royce and his entourage and followed by Beau and Mary. "It was very nice of you to help us out with the Christians and all, but we really need to be going, don't we Beau?"
"We do!" my friend agreed.
"Etiam vero!" concurred Mary.
As we walked I found myself being enfolded in the firm grasp of Royce's long arm.
"Yes, yes, of course," he purred. "Your wishes I fully endorse, but you simply must stay and sample some more of the pleasures we have to offer here. I've taken quite a shine to the three of you, I haven't I, Madame Prence, my dear?"
The creature gazed at me with a level malevolence and lowed like a cow. I struggled against Royce, unsettled by his close proximity and nauseated by that of Prence.
"We've arranged a little show for you, you and your friends."
"Oh yeah?" I wondered casually, still anxious to tap myself out.
I glanced at my friends who looked dubious, but somehow I had the feeling, assessing the manner in which we were being escorted to the lounge, that leaving was not an option just yet. I sighed with exasperation and decided to comply with Royce's wish, though mainly as I could hardly bare to tear myself away from Beau. My friend was clearly not happy about lingering here, but he had not tapped himself out, simple and easy as that would be. We exchanged looks, the meaning of which I was unsure.