R E V E L A T O R (completed)

WHEEL WORLD (rosemary)

For the first time in her life Rosemary opens a Gyre thumbnail. Finds herself in – what are they called? A lumiere? A breathing diorama. Hot art on LAO. A suburban backyard, a picnic table, a swimming pool, a zeppelin lazily floating by in the crystal blue sky above. All of this on a five second loop. The zeppelin is a cloud humper. Same bulging, yet modern contours, the engines about halfway up the rear, housed in the puffy fins.

Lingering breakfast smells when she enters her house, prompting her to remember she forgot to bring her Phood. When was the last time she ate? Not feeling like making more Phood, she grabs a couple of Hershey bars from the stash she keeps in the freezer. Leaves her bedroom light off, gobbling the frozen chocolate, lying back, the wonderful softness of her bed.

In her adnub, she shoots a text to Ethan, letting him know she went home early and will be resting until dinner. Deliberates whether to tell him about the LAO burn, the zombot freak-out. Decides no. It was extreme enough that he might start giving her a hard time about her LAO engagement, the way he now gives her a hard time about her gleam intensity.

Dips back into full immersion Gyre, where she sees 'cloud humper' is one of the tags for the post.

"Well, well," Rosemary mutters, licking chocolate off her molars, more curious than anything else.  Clearly, she must have seen cloud humpers on Gyre and they've been integrating into her subconscious.

She pulls up her Vision Board and runs a search on 'cloud humper.' Two thumbnails pulse. Scoping the analytics, she sees one she added thirteen months ago, and the other three months ago. How long has she been having these dreams? She can't remember. Opening the older thumbnail takes her to a painting. New York with cloud humpers skirting the Chrysler Building. The thumbnail from three months ago unfolds into another lumiere, this one a desert landscape, a convoy of cloud humpers crawling along the horizon.

Neither of these posts has a cloud humper on the thumbnail itself. There must have been other thumbnails with cloud humpers on them, which she scrolled past. With all the time she spends scanning Gyre, there must be some sort of major subliminal thing occurring.

Reposts the New York painting to Friends, a question mark and explanation point underneath. Writes in the caption:

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks this is a cloud humper. Strange Dreams.

Immediately receives a comment from Caden:

That's Wheel World. Didn't know you played that.

Rosemary writes back:

I don't. What's Wheel World?

Caden sends her a direct request through Converse. "Hey," he says, his avatar on her server screen somehow looking extra smooth and perky. "You've been stressed out recently, right?"

"You follow my feed so you know the answer to that. What does that have to do with this Wheel World thing?"

"And you've been having these intense dreams, like about what you just posted."

"I guess. Caden, what's going on?"

"Do you remember – this would have been when we were in grad school – taking part in a VR game research study?  For Domestic Savage. Would have been with lacemakers, all that shit."

Rosemary ponders. "Not really. But, I mean, I did do a lot of research studies to help pay the bills back then. That's what's going on with me? Something from a research study? How come you know about this?"

"It's one of those things you know about if you're in the gaming world. You don't have brain damage or anything bad like that. If you want to stop having the dreams I can send you the number for one of the principal game designers on the project. He hooks people up and gets them reset, or however you want to put it. This guy's super cool. Super down to earth. Kind of a legend in the gaming world. You want his number?"

He sends the number.

Rosemary no longer feeling tired. Signs into her own Secure Space vault, configured as a generic storage room loaded with boxes. She unearths the Domestic Savage contract, dated 2033. Zero memory of this, but, like she told Caden, back then she tried to take part in a as many studies as she could. Easy work and good money.

It looks like a standard virtual reality gaming contract. The study was deemed to be non-lethal. Noninvasive. Not harmful. Etc, etc. At the end there's the usual clause stating Domestic Savage can't be held accountable or responsible for any adverse effects or outcomes.

Has her server look up information on Wheel World in Recce. Not much out there, basically just some links to art on Gyre, and some confusing jargon-heavy gamer discussion boards. Has her server look up the game designer. He has a list of credits she has never heard of because she doesn't play games. He appears very legit. Nothing falla. Studying the photos, she's struck by how familiar he seems.

She sends him a text. Awkward, not sure what to write. She mentions the cloud humpers, the recurring dreams, and her conversation with Caden. Attaches a copy of the contract. Immediately receives a text back saying he's delighted she was put in touch with him. Would absolutely like to meet to chat about Wheel World. He will make himself available to suite her needs.

Rosemary texts back saying she's available right now if that works.

He sends her a public GoGo address.

GoGo. Goddamn, everyone seems to be migrating to GoGo. She's not sure why this is starting to make her mad. She downloads the app from Amazon and obtains a visa. Signs in and chooses the Casual #4 Uluus. Feeds in the addy and is transported to a hilltop overlooking a cozy village of overstuffed thatched roofs. Off to her left, what looks like Stone Hinge. Floating above it are about a dozen or so guys sporting tights and tunics, engaged in some sort of sparing practice with foam covered batons.

Compared to Carabou, everything is a bit more saturated and grainier. And sharper, especially the smells, the wild rye on the hillside, the crusty smoke wafting from stone chimneys.

A bench before a crab apple tree. A man resting on the bench, stands when he sees her. He looks exactly like the photos she just studied. Shiny bald head, pudgy, welcoming face, trim beard. Thick plastic glasses with blue lenses. He's wrapped in saffron robes and sports a crushed red velvet cloak.

Rosemary experiencing something more than recognition this time. What is it? Deja vu?

"Hi. Rosemary – yes? My name is Nigel Gabasian." He enacts a formal bow, careful not spill the contents of the wooden stein. He grins good-naturedly. "I look forward to being helpful."