* * *
Later that day, Doctor Friezel welcomed Scarlet to her consulting room and offered her the couch to sit on. Scarlet sat down with her knees together and her hands in her lap. Doctor Friezel had blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and large rimmed glasses. With more attention to her makeup, she might have looked pretty, but appearance was not something that seemed to concern her. She talked in a deep husky tone.
“Relax, Scarlet. I don’t bite. It’s important that you feel comfortable. Would you feel more comfortable lying back on the couch? It’s up to you.”
“No. This is fine.”
“I see you’re a little nervous.”
“I’ve never had a psych test before.”
“Don’t worry. When I gave my first lecture on psychology, I was nervous too. My Professor told me to imagine the audience in front of me was naked, so I couldn’t be embarrassed in front of them. It worked. Could you imagine me sitting here naked?”
The image that conjured up in her mind was gross. Scarlet gave a nervous laugh.
“See, you’re relaxing already. It’s important that we design the dream experience you want. Are you happy about talking about your sexual preferences?”
“Doctor, I worked in a sex club for six months. Nothing you could say would embarrass me. I’ve seen it all.”
Doctor Friezel picked up her questionnaire and read it. Scarlet had answered all the questions of the questionnaire honestly. She could have lied. But what was the point? She refused to be embarrassed by her past.
Doctor Friezel looked up and raised an eyebrow. Scarlet gave her back a fake smile. “You’ve done all this?”
Scarlet nodded.
“Well, you seem to have been a very adventurous lady.”
“My mother once said if you haven’t tried something, how do you know if you like it or not?”
“So you like to experiment?”
“I’m a scientist. It’s in my nature.”
“What about your boyfriend here?”
She wondered how to answer and realised she had to keep up the pretence. “Oh, he’s a regular sex machine. But we’re not exclusive yet. Until then he’s free to do what he wants, and so am I.” Now she was over-embellishing her story.
“That’s great. We don’t need to consider any restrictions when it comes to sexual behaviour. Now we need to think about the story elements to your dream experience. Perhaps you can tell me about the type of stories you like to read or like to watch at the movies.”
“I love to read love stories, stories about courage, dragons, heroes and heroines.”
“Dragons… that’s interesting: you like fantasy stories? What type of fantasy stories: sweet fairy-tale fantasies or the darker more sinister type?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the darker type.”
“So you might be interested in a dark erotic fantasy about dungeons and dragons that pushes the boundaries of sexual experience to the limits?”
“Oh no. That’s not what I want.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Just because I’ve done some of the weird stuff on your list doesn’t mean I want to do it again. Does there have to be a sexual element at all?”
“It’s advisable. But if you want something different…”
Scarlet sighed. “Maybe a little romance, but nothing weird.”
“Okay… I have to ask you some questions about drugs and medications, because some drugs could interfere with your dream experience. Have you taken any drugs recently?”
“Narcotics — no.”
“What about sex drugs?”
“When I worked in the sex club, I took Libido.”
“And how frequently was that?”
“Most nights.”
“You know, Libido is not meant to be used that frequently. The psychological effects of the drug can be long lasting. It’s not the drug itself, but the behaviour it desensitises you to.”
Scarlet shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve stopped now.”
“That’s good. So that brings me to the end of my questions. Do you want to know what type of dream experience we’ve got planned for you?”
“Yes, doctor.”
“Then I am pleased to say we have a wonderful fantasy dream for you. It’s an island adventure with mythical creatures and a hint of romance. Are you okay with that?”
“I think so,” she said. “What can go wrong? It’s just a dream, isn’t it?”
Doctor Friezel smiled back at her. “You’ve made the right choice.”
How bad could it be, anyway?
* * *
Shelby held his breath.
“See, nothing to be embarrassed about. You can relax now and put your pants back on,” said Doctor Thexly, removing her surgical gloves and throwing them in a bin. “Your prostate is normal.”
Shelby let out a sigh. The medical was finally over. He had spent the last two hours in tests and scans of every description. But Doctor Thexly had insisted on doing the final tests herself. Shelby was convinced she was extracting revenge for spurning her the night before.
“I’m sorry about last night,” he said. “I was tired. You understand?”
She looked at him crossly. “Those tests had nothing to do with last night. Do you think I enjoy doing rectal exams? Sometimes the old-fashioned way of doing things is best.”
Shelby dressed. “I’m sorry. Can I go now?”
She frowned at him. “There is just one last thing we require Mr Shelby.”
“What doctor?”
She picked up a beaker and handed it to him. “We would like you to give a sample for our sperm bank. It’s precautionary. If you became impotent, you could still have children. And it’s also useful in the event that you require a transplant.”
“Why’s that?”
“In the event you need a transplant we can clone a transplant organ from your DNA to your exact genetic makeup. It’s a service we offer to all our clients. We also provide the same services to our female guests although the process is not so simple.”
So that’s how they create their clones, thought Shelby. He wondered if other clients knew their bodies were cloned from donated sperm and held in a state of suspension several floors below them. He had already signed a consent form before the medical took place. It was full of legal jargon, which he hadn’t bothered to read. No doubt, it would cover issues such as using genetic material and cloning if he had looked closer at the small print.
“Is there a problem?” said Doctor Thexly.
“No, of course not.”
“Then I’ll leave you alone to give you some privacy in this room. Do you need any magazines videos, or any other stimulants?”
“No. I’m sure I can handle it.”
She gave him a wry smile. “I’ll be waiting outside. Call me when you’re ready.” And she left the room.
* * *
After the medical, Shelby was scheduled to see Doctor Friezel. He sat outside the door waiting for his time. The door opened and Scarlet came out.
“What’s it like?” said Shelby. “What did you tell her?”
Scarlet whispered. “She’s okay. I told her you were a sex machine.”
“Why?”
“They think we’re together. I’ll see you later.”
“Mr Shelby, you can come in,” Doctor Friezel called out.
Shelby entered the consulting room, and the doctor gestured to the chair. He sat down, waiting for her to finish reading his questionnaire. She looked up.
“Okay, I think we can dispense with the questionnaire. Men rarely tell the truth on these sex questionnaires, anyway. Tell me about yourself, Mr. Shelby?”
“I’m here with Scarlet Chambers. I’m a special marshal. What more do you want?”
“I think I could have worked out those facts for myself. We could start by working out why you are wearing a wedding ring?”
“I was married… She died a year ago.”
“Then why do you still wear it?”
“I didn’t see the need to take it off.”
“Are you still grieving?”
He paused for a moment to compose himself. “No.”
“If you were, there are ways to help you get over it.”
He laughed. “I don’t need somebody to tell me how I feel. I know how I feel. I don’t need psychobabble, or any fancy counselling.”
“All right, I can see you don’t want to discuss it. But if you change your mind, I would like to help… Perhaps we should focus on the type of dream experience you would like to get from your visit here. Have you any thoughts about the type of dream experience that you would like?”
“I have no idea.”
“As a child what type of games did you play? What type of movies did you enjoy watching?”
“Action and adventure stories.”
“No doubt you liked to play the hero.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Most boys do. Even those that grow up to be villains see themselves as heroes. They want to be admired by their friends and desired by the opposite sex… So what type of hero do you want to be?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then can I suggest one: a knight of the Round Table. They had honour, protected the weak, rescued princesses and slew monsters. They were a bit like marshals today don’t you think?”
“I can see the parallel. I deal with a fair number of monsters.”
“And tell me, what were you like as a young man, before you got married? Were you the out-going fun-loving type, or were you the silent sensible type that preferred a good book?”
“I had a good time. And yes, some may have said I had a big head in those days.”
“So for the purposes of your fantasy, we’re going to make you younger and more carefree than you are today. Let’s say twenty-one.”
“You can change my physical age?”
“More importantly we can change your mental age so you will behave differently. We can change anything. It’s just like a dream.”
Shelby’s mouth opened. “This is incredible. So what dream do you have for me?”
“I have the ideal character for you to play in an Arthurian adventure. A true hero: Lancelot. What do you think?”
From Shelby’s point of view, any dream would do, but if he had to choose, an Arthurian fantasy was as good as any. “Sounds okay.”
“Then it’s settled. I think you’ll enjoy the story. I have to warn you that you’ll enter the dream with no history or memories from your real past. The memories you will have will be those we have designed for your back story: those of an arrogant womanising knight of the Round Table.”
“But I’m not arrogant or a womaniser.”
She laughed. “I’m sure it won’t pose too much of a problem for a sex machine like you.”
He was regretting Scarlet’s help. Now this psychologist thought he was some kind of sex athlete.
“It’s just a dream though?”
“That’s right: it’s just a dream. Most of our fantasies have a strong romantic element. Sex is at the heart of our strongest emotions. The dream will feel real and emotional. Don’t be afraid of enjoying it. These stories have been designed for you from analysing your dreams.”
“But what happens when the fantasy finishes?”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll return to normal and the whole adventure will seem just like you starred in an action movie. And that’s what we want to happen. Do you have any questions?”
“No. Can I go now?”
“Of course, but if you want to talk further, you know where I am.”
“Thanks Doc.”
Shelby wondered what he had let himself in for, and why on Earth he had agreed to it. He was here to find out about AndroDigm; not to play fantasy games.
* * *
Scarlet met Shelby at mid-day eager to share her experiences. He seemed in a good mood. They lunched together and compared notes about their medicals and psych consultations.
“You think your medical was bad,” said Scarlet. “I had to go through a full exam.”
“What did you make of the psych doctor?”
“She wasn’t too bad.”
“Did she give you any idea of the fantasy you will experience?”
“Some kind of fairy-tale romance, I think. What about you?”
“Some kind of Arthurian fantasy adventure. Do you think we should go through with it?”
“You’re having second thoughts.”
“Just a little apprehensive.”
“It’s just a dream, isn’t it?”
Shelby leaned forward toward her ear and whispered. “I think I know how they create clones for every client. They use either the sperm or an egg donation from their medical centre to create a full-blown clone.”
“Is that legal?”
“I don’t know. I suspect we’ve waived any legal rights we may have in that consent letter we signed.”
Miss Peabody walked up to them and gave them a big smile.
“It’s time for your fantasy. Would you like to follow me to the launch room?”
She led them away and down to level minus two where Doctor Thexly stood waiting for them. The room had four sleeping units: cylinder-shaped pods with a transparent top. In two of the units were Mitch Hathaway and Meg Rawlings who already had their head units on and were in a deep sleep. Their naked bodies were covered in a plethora of sensors and wires that continued to monitor their health.
“Why so many wires?” said Scarlet.
“We have to monitor all body reactions,” said Doctor Thexly. “It’s for safety.”
Doctor Thexly took them to the dressing room. After they undressed, her assistants helped them into their pods.
Scarlet lay back. Doctor Thexly smiled at her. “I’m putting you under now,” she said.
Scarlet felt a small prick in her left arm. Thirty-seconds later, her eyelids closed, and she drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Scarlet woke up on a beach. The sound of the waves hitting the shore filled her mind. She sat up. How did she get here? Her mind was blank. She wore a white chemise undergarment common in medieval times, and it was soaking wet. She looked around her. Out to sea was a vessel, half submerged, and various items of debris floating in the water. Had she been in some kind of shipwreck? She stood up and walked along the shore. The vessel was not that far off shore. Perhaps someone else might have survived the shipwreck.
She saw something in the grass ahead moving. A small animal maybe? Then a child’s head peeked out at her. She smiled at it and it smiled back. Then it ran to her and threw its arms around her legs. It was a beautiful little Polynesian girl wearing a tiny grass skirt.
Scarlet picked her up. She must have been three or four years old. “Where’s your mummy?” she said.
The girl smiled at her.
“We’ll have to find her together, won’t we?”
Scarlet took a step forward and sensed someone behind her. She turned around slowly. Three strong Polynesian males were looking at her and they weren’t smiling. All they wore were loincloths.
Scarlet put the child down. “I was trying to help,” she said.
Scarlet sensed danger and ran down the beach, but two other males blocked her path ahead. She stopped.
That didn’t work, she thought.
She put her hands up in submission. They bound her hands and feet and carried her on a pole suspended by them. She felt like the prey being carried back after the hunt. A horrible thought went through her head. What if they were cannibals? What if she was to be tonight’s stew?
They carried her to a village where children were playing and dumped her next to what looked like a large cooking pot. Oh sugar, she thought. They are cannibals.
A huge man came out of a hut. He was at least six foot five and had the build of an ox. He was dressed like the other men — naked except for the loincloth, which seemed twice as big as the rest of the men. For a moment, she wonde
red if his man parts were twice as big too.
An old woman wearing a grass skirt followed him. She walked up to Scarlet and examined her chemise undergarment as though she had never seen anything like it before. She lifted Scarlet’s chemise to expose her body.
“Okay, I’m a woman like you,” said Scarlet trying to hold down the garment. The old woman slapped her hand.
“On your knees, white woman.”
“Okay, have it your way.”
Scarlet dropped to her knees. The woman pulled her chemise off over her head. Scarlet did not resist. No one wants chemise in their stew, thought Scarlet as she knelt naked before them.
“White woman has good child-bearing hips,” said the old woman. “You could take her as a wife.”
“Whoa, do I have any choice in this?”
“Silence,” said the old woman cuffing her with back of her hand.
So she is to marry the chief with the big loincloth. Maybe that’s better than being turned into stew. She looked at the size of his loincloth again.
“Wait,” called the woman. “She has the mark of the dragon on her.”
She was pointing to a dragon tattoo on her thigh.
Where did that come from? Scarlet thought. I didn’t have a tattoo. I’m sure.
“She is a dragon queen.”
“It’s only a tattoo,” said Scarlet. “They’re common where I come from.” How did she know that? She didn’t have a clue where she came from.
“Dragon Queen,” she repeated.
It sounded bad. Does this mean she’s stew again? She would rather marry the chief with the big loincloth, she thought.
The old woman, dropped to her knees. “Forgive me, Dragon Queen. We did not know.”
The chief was on his knees too.
Scarlet stood up. Maybe being a Dragon Queen wasn’t so bad after all.
The old woman scurried away and came back with a leather skirt, sword and shield. “These are yours, Dragon Queen.”
“Could I have some privacy to dress?”
“Yes, yes.” She took Scarlet’s hand and led her into a hut. The woman gave her the skirt to put on.
“Anything to wear on the top?” said Scarlet, slapping her chest.
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