“So, are you ever going to tell me what we do during these sessions? Besides me admiring your beauty, of course.”She had read the contract and the stages of experiments but this was the vaguest part. What exactly was this man to her?“How many times do we meet?”
“Look at it as a getting-to-know-you kind of thing,”he replied. Was that a hint of mockery?“And we meet as often as we can.”
Helen sauntered closer, tilting her head to the side a little as she looked up at him.“So this is like questions and answers?”
“Something like it. For now.”
It was unnerving how the avatar just stood there unmoving.“Can you make yourself appear with clothes?”she asked.
“No, you have total control over what I look like, Helen.”
“Oh. Am I embarrassing you?”
“But you wanted to.”
“That’s not so!”Well, a little, but it was just her need to assert control.
“Yes, control is very important to you, and I don’t blame you at all. Your life isn’t your own these days.”
“How do you read my mind? And how come I can’t read yours?”She wrinkled her nose.“Those brain wave sync tests, right? Somehow you can read my thoughts.”
He shook his head.“No,”he assured her quietly.“Those tests aren’t advanced enough to read subjects’ minds, Helen. Let’s just say that I find this situation quite unique myself. The VR is supposed to let me see what your mind is projecting when you’re in session, but my sensory perception is also picking up things I shouldn’t—sometimes your thoughts, sometimes your feelings.”
She didn’t think she liked that at all.
“I don’t blame you.”
“Oh, stop. You’re going to make me nervous about my own thoughts.”
“No, you have to learn to get used to me, Elena.”
She stepped closer. It was strange how he sometimes switched to calling her Elena. It made their conversation even more intimate, somehow.“Why?”she asked. His eyes drew her to him, dark chocolate, and so secretive.
Again he shook his head.“If I tell you, you’ll just anticipate and then fight it. It’s in your nature. I can feel it. You hate being told what to do and how to behave.”
Helen didn’t want him to tell her what she was like.Shewas the one trying to find out what he was like, dammit.“T. told me to think of Greek myths. Hades kidnapped poor Persephone into the Underworld. She must’ve told you they call me Hell-on-Wheels. Is that why you chose that name?”
“Apt, don’t you think? Although I much prefer Elena.”
The way he said her name made her think of doing things with a man—naughty, private things. She quickly pushed the thoughts away.
Hades reached out and waved his hand. The perception of white light disappeared and Helen found herself in a desertlike place, a blazing sun above her. He waved again, and like magic, the sudden ovenlike heat was gone, and they were standing near the edge of a building, a long way above a snarl of traffic. She could feel the wind beating on her body and she reached out to grab his arm to steady herself. It felt hard and muscular.
“Fine, you have programmed controls at your end to play with the scenery,”she yelled above the wind.“So you’re Hades giving me a tour. What’s that got to do with your being able to read my thoughts and feelings?”
Hades turned suddenly, his eyes sharp and assessing.“Give and take, Helen. That’s the foundation to a good relationship. What’s your remote view trigger code?”
Five
Her RV trigger. That was an essential key to her remote viewing. Any viewer had a code or a series of images to keep his or her hold on reality. Remote viewing was free-form…dangerous; without an experienced human monitor or a trigger code, the viewer could be lost in the ether. Mind…reality…ended up somewhere in the twilight zone.
A gust pushed Helen forward, closer to the edge of the building, and she tightened her hold on his arm. She willed herself to ignore the drop below.“No,”she said.“Nice trick, but my mind can withstand trick questions.”
The wind stopped just like that. They remained standing at the edge of the tall building.“I know. GEM’s NOPAIN’s a wonderful tool,”Hades said,“but that wasn’t a trick question.”
Very few people outside the most covert ops could casually bring up NOPAIN in conversation. Most operatives asked its meaning or its usage. Obviously, Hades already knew, and seemed to be trained in a form of it. The KGB and CIA each had their versions of NOPAIN. So, was her trainer once from the CIA? That was highly possible since COS Command recruited all its operatives from the different branches of covert government. Something else to file away.
“What do you call that wind?”Helen demanded. She didn’t like the fact that he still hadn’t moved an inch.“A finger itch at your end? You’re constantly trying to scare me. I haven’t forgotten our first meeting, you know.”
