Skylar blinked, trying to orient herself. The first thing she realized was that she couldn't breathe, and for a moment she thought she was drowning, or that the air had been sucked out of the room she was in. Her surroundings – where the hell was she – was a blur around her as she focused on her dilemma. Opening her mouth, she felt nothing, and suddenly realized that she didn't need to breathe. Her lungs weren't fighting to take in or expel air.
Nor did she feel any atmosphere. Wherever she was, it wasn't hot, or cold. There was no breeze, or moisture, but she didn't feel dryness on her skin, either. The next thing she realized was that she had no heartbeat. She couldn't feel the familiar thump in her chest, or any sort of pulse through her body.
She blinked again and turned her focus to what she was seeing. Cyberspace had been given various depictions in movies and television shows, as well as the virtual worlds that had been created for games, OY or not. Certain themes and details appeared often in these presentations, and she realized she was seeing most of them around her – brightly-colored lines against dark backgrounds, electrical impulses, colors that did not exist in nature, intricate patterns like one would see on motherboards and other inner workings of a computer, and so on.
What was I doing last, she wondered as she turned around to study her surroundings. I had an appointment at a OY hub because of hacking, and... She stilled as she recalled her encounter with Aitan, and delving into the mainframe to try to pursue him...
She'd been in cyberspace before, to be sure, but never like this. Before, she had likened her forays into the network to sticking a hand in a box, feeling around for this or that. Not blindly groping around, but still her perception was limited, as a world made up of bytes and electrical impulses lacked the solidity of the physical world.
Am I an avatar? she wondered before she decided to look down at herself. She noticed she was clad in garb that had the similar Middle Eastern/Oriental feel that Aitan was clad in, with some sort of dress that was a mix between a qipao and a kaftan, with a base color of lime green, an intricate pattern of darker green and a rainbow of other colors set amidst gold along all edges of the garment.
She lifted her hands to touch her face. There was no warmth, yet there was... solidity. She could also feel her fingers on her face, but it wasn't quite the same as her physical body. It was, to say the least, weird. She pressed one finger along her lips. Neither wet nor dry.
Had this ever been done before? Had anyone ever... immersed themselves so deeply into cyberspace before? Besides Aitan, at least. And how did she get out?
Her eyes widened as that question sunk in. What if she was unable to get out?
"Skylar." Her name was uttered in a clear voice, and she turned to see Aitan. Her hand fluttered up to her ear, which was devoid of her hearing aid. She stared at him for a moment. Of course. In this place, the rules of the physical world didn't apply. She didn't breathe, nor did she have a pulse, so why would she have any other physical limitations?
"How did you do this?" she demanded. She'd never had anyone else force her into using her abilities before.
"I am a man of many talents," he replied enigmatically, a faint smirk on his face as he approached her. Instinctively, she took a step back.
"You need not fear me. As I said before, I have no intent of harming you."
"You're a hacker. You have access to confidential records. You've caused mischief and harm. Why should I trust you""
Aitan – or his avatar, at least – gave out a brief shrug. "I suppose that's a fair question, and I doubt I could give an answer that would satisfy you. I can only say that you'll simply have to trust me, nonetheless."
Skylar tried to slip back, to withdraw from this world, but the usual method failed to achieve the desired effect. It was easy enough to draw your hand out of the box if you were standing outside of it, but here, it was like her entire consciousness was within said box.
"What would you prefer?" Aitan asked, waving an arm to indicate his surroundings. She blinked again and stared at him quizzically, her lips forming an 'o' as she tried to figure what he could mean.
Suddenly, the space above her became a brilliant shade of light blue, while the ground – could she call this a ground – changed to the golden-white hue of sand. Behind Aitan, waves from a turquoise ocean broke onto the sand.
"Perhaps something else?" he asked. The scenery suddenly became suffused with various hues of green as a rainforest materialized around them, a waterfall appearing on her right.
Such worlds could be created in OY, but as Aitan pointed out previously, the game held little interest for her. She turned her head to look at the water, and though she could hear the roar of the cascading water, there was no moisture in the air, as one would expect in an actual rainforest.
And of course, there wasn't even any air to begin with. Nor were there any scents.
"This is beautiful. But it's not real," she pointed out.
"But, it is. This world is as real as the one you normally reside in."
She scoffed and took a step back when he came closer. "I think you need to step away from your computer and get a life. Go outside, take a walk, get some fresh air. I highly recommend it."
At this, Aitan gave out a short laugh. Within a moment, Skylar found herself within what looked like a villa-style house – no, a palace – that had the most eye-boggling decoration she'd ever seen. The floors were a lurid combination of Oriental carpets and intricate mosaics, and the walls and ceiling were covered in tiles and glass beads in various intricate patterns.
"Is this better?" Aitan asked.
"No matter what you do, it's all pixels," Skylar responded evenly, crossing her arms.
"Really? If it's just a picture, then you should be able to move through it." Aitan's eyes twinkled playfully, and she narrowed her own eyes. "Come now, it's not a trick. Go ahead." He waved his arm at the nearest pillar.
Keeping her eyes on him, she slowly moved towards it. Regardless of the actual atmosphere, the floor under her feet was solid, and she could actually feel the texture of the small tiles under the thin soles of her slippers. The pillar was solid when she pressed her hand against it, though there was no sensation of temperature. Her fist made a firm connection with the pillar when she pounded it with the side of her hand.
"This can't be real. I must be dreaming."
"Oh, you're very much awake. At least, your mind is. And all of this is real, as well. How is it solid, you wonder. Well, data takes up space, doesn't it?"
She was silent for a moment as this fact settled in. Such a simple fact, one that provided the basis for the function of a computer. It was something that she, and any technician, and even any casual computer user, had to take into consideration when using any sort of computer.
"... Well. Yes. But this..." She paused again, unable to quite articulate her feelings. But then, this was a completely new experience, made all the more strange by the fact that she had been, more or less, become a prisoner. He continued to stare at her, and she looked back at him, studying him as she formulated her response.
"Have we ever met in real life?" Skylar asked. Aitan pondered this for a moment, and she could not help but feel a flash of irritation. How hard could it be to say yes or no?
"Not in the way you might think," came the casual reply. "And no, I will not elaborate." He turned towards the table in the room, and she followed his gaze. The surface had been empty before, but now a sampler of drinks and appetizers awaited them.
Normally, food in the OY-niverse served as window dressing, a way to make up for the fact that the virtual world did not offer any actual sustenance. Players could have their avatar 'consume' said food or share it with others as part of the OY experience. Aitan beckoned to her, and mutely, she followed, curious to see what would transpire next.
He poured them both glasses of what appeared to be wine, and gave her one. None of this is real, Skylar said to herself as she lifted the vessel to her lips. She expected no more than a "this is supposed to be wet" sensation when the liquid made contact with her lips and tongue, and she blinked in surprise at registering coolness and sweetness. Taking several more sips, she made the decision that it was almost exactly like real life, only there was something acting as a thin barrier between her senses and this world, as if her senses were hesitant to register this world as real. The wine didn't taste quite as cool or sweet as she seemed to remember it should.
"I was hoping you would be able to register the wine as real," Aitan said as he studied her reaction. "Your technopathy is very advanced, indeed."
She stopped drinking. Technopathy was a gift that many hackers wish they had. Some older hackers might try to recruit young, naive technopaths to their cause. In rare cases, the hacker himself was also a technopath.
"Whatever it is you plan to do, I will have no part of it!" Skylar said boldly as she set her glass on the table and moved backward.
"What if I said my plan was to seduce you?" he remarked. Sex was often engaged in within the virtual world, either through texting, voice chatting, or both, with their avatars. Nothing could replace the real thing, of course, but for some people, it was a handy substitution.
But as she was seeing, the world Aitan had created was different. Things felt real. She could almost taste the lingering sweetness of the wine. What would it feel like to be touched by Aitan, to have their bodies... pixels or bytes... come into contact?
"It is just the two of us. Complete privacy." Aitan commented as he took a sip of his own wine before setting it down.
"I don't want to be in an avatar sex movie," Skylar snapped back. Who was this man in real life, some old lech who could only get his rocks off from cyberspace?
"I told you, complete privacy. My time with you is ours alone." He sounded so sincere that she paused. "I can show you more pleasure than what others could ever offer you. And since this is not the biological world, there are no consequences. I created surroundings that I thought might please you, but I can change it to something else, of course."
"What if I wanted something Gothic? Mixed with H.R. Giger?" she asked, throwing in the last bit to challenge him.
