Helen smiled widely. “Is that right?” she drawled, and looking up at the goggles, she gleefully rubbed her hands. Test Bravo sounded more fun already.
“You mean I can program the avatar to look like some Greek god if I want to?”
Helen sat back in the chair, crossed her ankles and clasped her hands behind her neck. She laughed, her amusement ringing out in the small room, as she rocked her chair gently. She narrowed her eyes speculatively as she stared at the computer screen, then turned to Derek, who was standing in front of it.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, trying to keep his face straight. “Greek god or any deity you have in mind. Your monitor said you choose how you want to see him.”
Helen laughed again. This might be the easiest part of her training. A virtual reality simulator with her own self-designed trainer. After a grueling year of hand-to-hand combat training with handpicked military personnel, she liked the idea of being the one in control again. It wasn’t quite so much fun when a bunch of men were ordering her around and she had to undergo strenuous testing all the time. Not to mention the medics and scientists standing around, constantly poking and prodding her.
“Well, then…let’s modify this hideous male you’ve designed for me, sweetie.”
The programmer’s face flushed pink at her teasing. Clearly he wasn’t used to someone like Helen Roston. He slid a quick glance at her long Lycra-clad legs. “What’s wrong with the model? I thought most women like their men tall, dark and handsome.”
Helen arched a brow in mockery. “Excuse me, but are you telling me I’m like most women?”
“She isn’t. She’s one hot babe who will kill you in a hundred different ways,” a voice mocked back from behind them.
Helen didn’t turn around. “Ha, said the guy with the killer looks.” Flyboy was one of the most handsome men Helen had ever laid eyes on. An awful flirt, too. “How come you didn’t use Flyboy as a model, Derek? I heard he did a VR program for some big project to attract government funding.”
Flyboy came up behind her and Helen felt his hands on the back of her chair. “Sweetheart, why would you need a VR version when you have the real thing right here?”
Helen looked up and grinned. “You know, I can get Derek to make my VR trainer look like you and then I can do all those unmentionable things that you keep promising me.”
Flyboy grinned back and winked. Derek coughed. “I could,” he said in a careful voice, “but really, I think it best if your trainer-avatar is someone you imagine, Miss Roston. It is simulated training, but there’s a real person whose brain waves will be connected to yours, and, it’s not a great idea psychologically to bond with a real person who isn’t real…I mean, you know what I mean….”
His voice trailed off and he shrugged. He opened his mouth to continue but Helen waved him off. “Understood,” she told him and shrugged at Flyboy. “See? Can’t have you as my dream guy either. There’s too much brain wave—” She waved her hand dramatically and added, in a mock British accent, “Brain wave immersion, creating cerebral confusion between reality and illusion.”
Even Derek couldn’t help chuckling at the wry mimicry of the professorial tone of Dr. Hollingsworth, the scientist in charge of Mind Viewer, the thought immersion program. Helen had had to sit through a few of his lectures as he explained what she meant to the program and how the experiments were supposed to work. That was when she’d first met Flyboy. Since he had been in a simulation program recently, he’d joined her a couple of times so he could also answer her questions. She was glad. She understood Flyboy’s easy layman’s description better than Dr. Hollingsworth’s technical language.
Besides, Flyboy was the only one of the infamous nine commandos who had taken the time to get to know her. He had introduced her to other operatives, widening her circle of new friends.
Helen liked him. She hoped the rest of the commandos would accept her as easily as he did.
“I’m heartbroken,” Flyboy said, giving her ponytail a swift tug. “You’ll just have to go out with me and I can make your dreams come true, Hell.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, let’s get this started.” Helen straightened in her chair and sucked on her forefinger. “First, forget those bulging muscles. I mean, you made him look like some romance model, like what’s-his-name…”
“Fabio,” Derek supplied helpfully.
“Now how is it you come up with his name immediately?” Flyboy countered.
Derek whipped out a paperback. His face was flushed again. “I took this off my sister’s bookshelf. He is Fabio, isn’t he? I thought I did a pretty good job with the digital imaging. I did add some changes, of course.”
“You did use Fabio as a model!” Helen stared at the book cover in amazement. It portrayed a half-naked man with long hair, his muscles impossibly ripped. She looked at the other model on the computer screen. Yup, the likeness was there. Same longish hair and muscle tone. She thought of what had happened to her during that first run-through of CAVE Ultimate. Revenge was going to be so sweet. A wicked grin broke free. “Well, let’s see the goods, Derek. Take his pants off.”
“What?”
“Sheesh, if you’re going to design my trainer’s avatar and he’s to be specifically to my taste, shouldn’t I get to order all the details?”
There was a short silence. Flyboy burst into laughter. He pulled a nearby chair between Helen and Derek. “I want to see this. Let’s check out the junk on Miss Roston’s made-to-order trainer, Derek.”
“I…”
Helen patted the man on the back. He had the look of someone facing torture. “Come on, I promise it’ll be over soon. Let’s start easy. Peel off his pants. And I want him blond, please.”
“What happened to tall, dark and handsome? Or is it because I’m blond?” Flyboy asked.
“Oh, shut up, you. He’s my Greek god, and I want him blond, and much sleeker, with chocolate eyes.”
