NightRacer

Chapter 11

Gardener waved KeyStroke forward. "My young friend here is a talented developer and a little bit of a hacker, and I'd like to introduce him as Guest One. He'll tell you more about this reality."

"Hello dudes," KeyStroke said with a big grin on his face. "Only yesterday I was out there-or should I say up there-with you in the real world, and just like anyone of you, I hated the Grass and I wanted to see it dead. And then I got a little disappointed with how things were going up there, and I took a trip to Providence, and I found my way to the City. Yes, the difference between me and you is that I wasn't invited here. I came on my own. I got my hands on some of that miracle juice, and I said 'why not?' After getting my dream thing going, I had a chance to talk to this lovely lady, the hostess, who showed me around and let me play with the system. This led to a number of interesting discoveries. I met some of the scientists and the artists hosted here, learned some new tricks from them, showed them a few new tricks, and all this wonderful space was designed by them in one day. Are you impressed? I certainly am."

On the screen behind him, a number of images appeared-scientific labs, the dragon, people using a lab to test something, and an artist creating sculptures out of light.

"But the cubes, the dissipating light, and all the parties down there are just trivial stuff compared to the other features the host can offer," KeyStroke continued. "Seems like the Grass, or as it's known here, the host, has some wonderful scientific facilities, research labs where all kinds of environments can be simulated and devices can be built and tested in different conditions. We found and tested a few of those labs, others remain to be discovered. A couple of scientists are searching right now for other research facilities. We hope to find tools that will help us design new technologies. So far, our most interesting discovery is that the user interfaces were designed for another race. The good news is that they could be reconfigured for our specs."

"If I may," a guest interrupted. "I'm Guest Five, by the way. What other research facilities, and how are these interfaces different?"

"I'm glad you asked. They're searching for military type facilities. Tools that could help us design and test weapons. We'll get to the why part later. Now, about the UIs, user interfaces. First, they were made for beings taller than us and with multiple appendages." KeyStroke gestured wildly, trying to imitate a being with many arms. "Also, their haptics are a little more suited for chemical and a little less for tactile feedback."

"Are you saying they could smell with their fingers?" Guest Five said.

"More like taste, yes." Stroke said. "And their appendages are spread more to the sides." He spread his arms, acting like he was touching things on the sides. "This means they either had many eyes, or their vision field was wider than ours. We can't see on both sides concurrently, so right now we don't have a good control over these lateral UIs."

"Squids?" Five asked.

"Don't know," Stroke answered. "Could be squids, could be worms, or could be just tall humanoids with many eyes and tongs on their fingers."

At that moment, everything froze. Only Gardener was moving around. He came to Racer and pointed at a guy in the second row. "See that dude? Number Thirty-Three? He's actually a friend of mine, a good guy. Be ready to intercept him if he freaks out. His emotional levels are going off the chart."

"Intercept how?"

"The time will stop like this for the others, not for you two. Ask him nicely to take a walk with you. Take him to the park, let him breathe some air. If he gets irrational, try to calm him down."

Gardener went to his previous place, and time resumed its course.

KeyStroke answered a few other minor questions and went back to his chair and was talking to one of the guests.