“Yes, I do love those, but I also found that I really love tinkering and figuring out things with machines. It’s my favorite.”
“Awesome.”
Marie smiles and says, “It is. It’s my crafting. I started my first year not knowing what to do. I love you, but I wanted to be your equal.”
“Marie, you don’t…”
Marie raises a hand, saying, “I know you’re stronger and faster on the battle field than most, and you cast rune spells almost as fast as a mage can cast a regular spell, but I saw you get hurt by someone better, and stronger than you.” Tears start forming in her eyes again, she wipes them away, as she continues. “So I was unsure what I could do. I signed up for a bunch of elective classes, one of which was an old computer class. You know how everyone has a HaLO and it connects to the HVN, right, but what holds that?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Servers, which is what we were playing with. I fell in love with it all, but again I wanted to find something similar but useful. So I talked with a counselor and she suggested engineering. It was a lot more math than what I would have liked, but I just convinced myself that it was what had to be done, so, there you go.”
“That’s really…awesome, so what have you built, or have you built anything?”
“It’s mostly all theory and blueprints right now, I just need to get with someone that works with HaLOs so I can figure out how to integrate the activation with a proximity warning from visual cues the optics give.”
“Ok, you lost me.”
Marie’s face turns red, “Oh! Sorry, I just started to drift there. It’s armor. I am making it to keep you safe on the battlefield in my place.”
“Armor?”
“Yes, armor. They used to wear it back in olden days on Earth, and then there’s bullet proof Kevlar, but we don’t have anything that is magic proof. Which is one reason I wanted to get the delorium for the band in our rings.”
Vernon smirks saying, “Ok, I’ll bite, why’s that?”
Marie smiles back, “It is the best magical conductor we have by far, it’s stronger than diamonds by three to four times, and a whole body armor suit would be about ten pounds, ensuring the added protection didn’t take away from mobility. So in having the rings I get to study delorium without having to petition to get some.”
“I have always known you were smart, but damn that’s good.”
“It’s what got me into a civilian contract with the Paladin’s, so I would agree.”
Vernon’s eyebrow peaks at that, and his lips part as he tries to form a sentence. There was a moment of silence before he speaks, “What unit did you get into?”
“Mechanical, and since it’s civilian I won’t have to go into combat, I just get to make things, or fix them. Since delorium is heavily regulated by Astrum I accepted, because if I wanted to access to large amounts I would need government permission to it. Plus we might get to work together, maybe.”
“When did it happen?”
“I just got the news yesterday, and I will be starting once we get back.”
“Congratulations babe!”
Marie playfully squints her eyes stretching her head toward Vernon before she says, “You really mean that?”
Vernon smiles and nods, “I do, I was just in shock that you joined up too is all. I guess this move to New Atlantis is going to work for the both of us.”
Marie rolls on top of him, with an unassuming little moan of effort. Vernon is instantly focused on her as she moves her hips across his, her dress riding up her legs. His memories from the night prior begin filling his thoughts, as she gets to a standing position on her knees within the bed. His pulse races with anticipation, wondering what she is doing.
Marie eyes are filled with hunger, and need, as she says with a sultry ambition, “We have a lot of time on our hands,” she slides her hands down the sides of his chest, “Let’s have a little encore performance from last night.”
The next day arrives, on time like always, but faster than they would have wanted. Groaning at the incoming light of the sun, they try to shield themselves with blankets. They arrived at their first scheduled destination, the Viviania coastline. As Vernon and Marie go through their morning rituals, he stops to glance out the patio door every so often. Dense trees, atop high cliffs, are all he can see in the distance. The ship had docked close enough to launch dive drones over to the mass of land. With the ship in place, Vernon wonders what the crew is going through for the preparations of the HaLO Dive today. The dive was something he was joyfully looking forward to.
With HaLO’s connecting your whole nervous system to the digital world. Diving allows you to use those connections to take your conscience perception, and force it into something else. That something else could be a drone, another person, or an avatar in a virtual world. This cruise line came equipped with the latest in dive technology, allowing the passengers to become, and control one of the drones onboard. This allows the passengers explorer the dangers of Viviania without the risk of life or limb.
Vernon was already well acquainted with diving, as all of his favorite games were living and breathing virtual worlds, but this time would be a little different for him. It would be the first time that he would be controlling something real, and venturing out with it, to a real location. Needless to say, he was excited.
Marie on the other hand wasn't really sure how to handle it. She has never used the full dive feature. The closest she has been to a virtual anything is the digital clothing and makeup overlay she's so fond of. It never accrued to her that she could use it for more than that. Then there was the fact she wasn’t sure if the idea of having her conscience leave her body, even if it was still technically within her body, was a good idea.
Vernon says, “It’s like one of my video games I play. You can’t move in the real world, like when you dream, so you won’t hurt yourself. Which is why most people lay down or get into a chair. I promise you’ll be fine.”
She nods reluctantly, “I was going to go with you one way or the other. I don’t really like the idea of having an out-of-body experience, but for you, I guess I can handle it. It was that, shopping, or staying in the room.”
“I know which one of those would’ve won.”
“Exactly, so instead of shrinking our wallets for the remainder or the trip, I am sacrificing.” She says with a grin.
“That’s really considerate of you.” Vernon says with a bit of sarcasm.
Marie puts a touch of sass in her voice, “That’s right, Vernon Wayne, and don’t you forget it.”
To reach the room with all of the dive equipment they needed to go down to the lower levels of the ship. It was next to where they would be getting off the ship, when they land at their destinations. Getting off of the elevator at the second floor, which is lowest floor it takes them to, was a newly forming line. The whole bottom level of the ship was filled with dive chairs, which was where they ran their private virtual worlds for the trip. A neon sign is above the entrance, brightly lit up, in pink and blue. It reads, Dive Bar. Peering into the room past the crowd shows it was dimly lit. Vernon has to wait till his eyes adjust to see the walls lined with wood and velvet. A very old world style of décor was laid throughout. At the top of the room there is a bar, filled with neon light, and a lone woman behind it with her hair pulled back into a ponytail wiping it down. The rest of the crew in the room were working at a feverish pace setting up each of the chairs. Wiping each row down, checking to see if all the connections were in place.
This was the first time Marie had ever seen a dive chair. Fresh black leather covers each large comfy chair, the leather shiny and new, with little to no wear showing. Each reclines to an almost horizontal position, with a retractable cover over the head. It served a dual purpose, blacking out the light of the room and enhancing the connection between the diver and setting. Lastly there was the HaLO interface latch, which wraps around the HaLO insuring no loss in connection.
Vernon sees Marie start to r
ub her HaLO with her right hand. He reaches out and grabs her hand, folding his fingers in between hers.
He asks, “You worried?”
Marie nods, “I am. What’s that latch mechanism for?”
“It's mostly for show, the connection is done through the network. The hood helps with any latency errors, and the latch connects your HaLO to the chair, allowing the hood to work.”
As the crew finishes, the line begins to move quickly. Vernon squeezes Marie’s hand and kisses her cheek before letting go. He hops into his chair excited to see how comfortable it would be, and begins to contemplate the purchase of one for himself, knowing it would never come to pass.
Marie watches him diligently as he gets into the chair, shifting back and forth to find his place. He latches himself in, then reclines back in the chair. Vernon takes his latched hand and raises it into the air waving at Marie, showing a length of cable attached to the latch. She walks up close to him and gives him a light punch in the arm.
“You butt, I thought I was going to be held down in the chair. Why didn’t you tell me I would still be able to move my arm?”
Vernon gives her a careful expression as he rubs his arm. “I didn’t know that’s what you were worried about.”
“I’m a little claustrophobic, and I don’t like being held down. Now you know.”
“You didn’t seem to mind last night?” Vernon smirks, as Marie shoots him a look before he says laughing, “Alright, sorry.” He then makes a closing gesture across his lips, tucking the information away.
It’s now her turn to get herself into a comfortable position. Climbing into the seat wasn't what she had expected. The seat was like falling into a marshmallow, soft yet firm, and she was having some trouble making up her mind on how to seat herself.
Vernon extends his arm putting his free hand on hers. A smile appears across her face, as she allows herself to become comfortable. There was a short wait before an overlay prompt came into view, asking if they are ready to start. Vernon squeezes Marie's hand and says to her, “You’ll be alright, I will be right by your side the whole time.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
10
Vargas wakes up and goes through what Amber had found out yesterday, doing a search on the passengers. Three Jonathan Berry’s showed up on the list. Each one of them were on a watch list that was internal to the Paladins, but that didn’t mean that Maldone did not have access to it. If he did, but had already realized they didn't do it, would be another reason that he told Vargas that it was a waste of time to search through the passenger list. Then again, there is a chance he couldn't see the list.
The Johns had been in a few scrapes with the Knights when they were younger, but cleaned up their act. Supposedly. There were numerous occasions where the Paladins were called in on murders, with no connections to the Johns, but they were always within the vicinity of the murders when the investigations started. That was when their names got added to the list, which Vargas studied the night before, trying to make sense of it all.
He takes a warm shower, shaves, and gets himself ready for the day. Today they would be docking off the coast of Viviana, and most if not all of the other passengers will be using dive drones today. This would make a great day to search around the ship for any clues. Which would include the Johns. Amber will be following the eldest Jonathan A, Yeti the youngest Jonathan H, and Vargas Jonathan G. They made the most likely choices for the murder and theft since they could coordinate between them and make the moves within minutes of each other.
Amber wakes up, and gets out of bed. Vargas’ head turns in her direction, and then abruptly away. She was stark naked. Vargas tried to concentrate on something else, but it was no use. Her smile and bare breasts were burned into his mind.
“Amber, what are you doing?”
Amber tilts her head to the side slightly. “You don’t like?”
“That’s not what I mean. You’re my subordinate, and this,” waving his hands in an hourglass figure toward her, “Can’t be happening.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“When did you get naked anyway?”
“Bedtime, I sleep better.”
“You did that last night too?”
“Yes.”
Vargas tries to remember how he missed it. Yesterday he had been woken up early by one of Maldone’s men, and the night before he had stayed out late peeking into Vernon’s wedding. So it would have been easy for her to have declothed and he miss it all.
“Ok, just try to cover yourself up when I’m around. I don’t care if you sleep that way.”
Amber pulls a sheet over herself. “This better?”
He looks back toward her, her blonde hair is all in a tangled puff, and her brown eyes looking toward his and away in a nervously – with a hint of vulnerability in them. She looked adorable. Vargas wasn’t looking to start any kind of relationship, he was a captain, a leader. Any of his future recruits could learn about a relationship he had with someone under his command. It could also be a bad thing if it didn’t work out. He also didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
“Amber,” he says. “You look great, and you are great. Right now you are a part of my squad. As your captain, I shouldn’t let anything happen. I wouldn’t want it to compromise us, the mission, or anyone who comes into my command after.”
Amber shakes her head, “Misunderstanding.” Her smile returning.
“Good.” He nods.
She walks past him toward the closet. He turns his head and catches a glimpse of her bare butt swaying. He looks away shaking his head, saying to himself, no, can't happen. It doesn’t take long for Amber to get dressed in a form fitting shirt and pants. Neither of which helped Vargas take his mind off her soft looking tanned skin, and the beauty of her naked flesh underneath. She begins to get herself ready, making sure to keep her appearance up. Playing the part of a wealthy single woman with her bodyguard.
Vargas looks around the room, which Tyler had gotten them, as she gets ready. It was a single room, which he now wished they could have gotten separate rooms. There was two twin beds, and dresser with a mirror. Two nightstands, and two chairs. Everything was small, cramped, and almost on top of each other. The bathroom was barely large enough for one person, two if you count the shower, and didn’t mind getting hit by elbows when they washed themselves. The closet, was about the same as the bathroom, which seemed like a horrible waste of space. Tyler had told them it was going to be that way, since most of the rooms were going for ridiculous amounts of money, and this was a favor. Even if they were sailing coach, the room was only a place to sleep, and they were on a mission.
They both head toward Yeti’s room, it still being early enough where no one else was really out and about. They didn’t want to attract attention to themselves as being in a group with one another. His room was on the upper starboard side of the ship, while there’s was on one of the lower levels of the port side. Reaching the door Vargas knocks, and Yeti answers. Peeking his head out of the door to look down either side of the hallway.
“Were either of you followed?” He asks.
“Not that I know of. No one is even up yet, why the paranoia?” Vargas answers.
“Someone was murdered on the ship less than 48 hours ago.”
“Right. That.”
“It’s alright, just hurry up and get in here.”
Vargas and Amber enter the room, which was a suite. Vargas immediately felt like something was very wrong with that. There was twice as much space as he had for only one person. There was however only one king sized bed. Everything about the room screamed upscale. From the curtains, to linens, to the dark hard wood furniture which looked handcrafted.
After eyeing the room he asks, “How did you get this room, and Amber and I got stuck in the coach section?”
Yeti smiles. “I have better connections than Tyler does.”
Vargas nods. “That you do.”
“I also called in more than a
few favors for this one. Tyler said he was going to owe me big time for this. Then you also have this being the first cruise on Eden, figured I would go in style.”
“So let’s get to the topic at hand. We need to follow the John’s and see if we can find anything out about them.”
“Alright Cap, what do you got?”
It took them about half an hour to come up with a plan, and each one left the room separately. There was still about two hours before the HaLO Dive would be set up, but they were already at their destination. Vargas decides to go to the upper decks to have a look out across the ocean.
It wasn’t a very long walk to where the sliding glass doors to the outer deck was. Fresh ocean air brushing past his face as he steps out. He noticed a running track drawn on the floor, right as he exits. He shrugs, and starts to jog, following the direction of the arrows. As he does an overlay request pops up, asking him if he would like to race the current first place holder of the track. It was Miku.
He accepts, and an image of her appears beside him, and before he knows it, her image takes off in a full sprint. He follows, but isn’t able to match her pace, and begins to fall behind. Thinking to himself, no wonder Maldone hired her, she was good at everything she did.
Taking in a sharp breath, he pulls forth his mana, and runs it throughout his body. A familiar rush takes over, giving him more strength, speed, agility. It was something that his master had taught him, something he practiced on a regular basis. He had used it before in the past, before he trained with it, and it nearly left him paralyzed. He didn’t know it at the time, and got treated by one of the best healers that he knows. After talking with her, she told him everything she had to heal, which changed his outlook on the spell. He put countless hours into modifying it here and there, to try and compensate for the damage to his body. There was always a price to pay for it, but he finally managed to minimize it by managing the amount of mana that runs through his body.
He gains ground on the image, and keeps pace with it effortlessly. Miku had been a beautiful and dangerous woman. Well known for her abilities in, and out of the ring. She was one of the few women that Vargas had ever had a crush on. She would have only been a few years older than him, which didn’t matter to him at all. She was something unattainable to him, then and now.
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 24
