“Oh, okay, I guess.” I’m not sure she understood, really. Not one bit.
I stood up slowly and pictured this thirty-something hunk in my mind. Then told myself, to change and there I was standing in my family room, swim shorts and a t-shirt. I looked down, nothing on my feet and thought of flip-flops and they instantly appear, which gave me a start. Got to get used to this.
“Money,” I said, suddenly. Didn’t want to leave without being prepared, made a screw-up on that front already. I ran upstairs and picked up a hundred bucks, leaving my wallet where it was. I checked the full-length mirror on the closet door. I appeared bigger, it was the shoulders and chest area. I guess the hologram I was wearing had limitations. It had to fit over my body, so to achieve the right proportions it had to fill out more across my upper-body. Dave wasn’t overweight but middle-age spread was beginning to show. My Dave face was a smidgen round, but the hologram was perfect. I looked thirty and a lot better looking. Instant plastic surgery, that’s another industry going down the toilet. I laughed.
Back in the family-room, letting my mind roll. I was nervous, it just didn’t seem feasible.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Ready,” I said.
“Damn,” Sally suddenly blurted out. My heart hit my throat, I thought maybe that the booster rockets had failed and I was going up in smoke. I glared at Sally. “Betty’s coming to the door,” she explained.
“Crap!” Change to Dave. Whoosh I was Dave. The doorbell rang. I dealt with Betty quickly, telling her I was going out for lunch.
“Anywhere nice?” she asked.
My mouth quivered, oh how I wanted to tell her, but I lied. “Just into the City,” I said.
“Okay,” she said, but I could tell she didn’t believe me. Well you wouldn’t believe the truth, Betty, that’s for sure.
When I heard the front door of her house close I returned to Sally, waiting patiently against the wall. She is patient, I thought, but then again so is my laptop when I turn in off and leave it on the table. Hard to see Sally as a computer I could just turn off. I wonder how she felt about it? Did she have emotions. Don’t go there, Dave. Your brain will overheat.
I changed back to the hunk and waited for Sally to light the blue touch paper.
Nothing happened.
“You have to do it, Jo-el,” she said.
“Oh, right!” Made sense, I guess. I fired up the heads-up display and pictured the beach on Grand Guana Cay. I picked a place behind a sand dune and asked if I was in sight of anyone. Sally said no.
I shut my eyes, tightly. Not sure if I was supposed to or not but it seemed logical. Didn’t want to see all those miles rushing by even if I did have a window seat. I thought ‘bounce’ and pictured the place I wanted to be.
Chapter 14
THE REASON
Next thing I knew I was on my knees in the sand. I instantly felt the warm sun against my skin, the sea air smelling of salt and I heard waves breaking against the shore. I had stumbled, but I was on a beach and I presumed it was Grand Guana Cay. Not the best Superman landing but I was in one piece. I checked myself, you know, both arms still attached, legs hanging from my ass, head roughly in the right place, then stood up slowly and took in my surroundings. It was spectacularly beautiful. The sea was as blue as a swimming pool; the sand flowed out in waves of yellow, there were some rocks in clusters along the seashore. The air was humid and hot. I was in the Bahamas, no jet-lag, no TSA at the airport, no bumpy flight and lines at immigration. Fucking A.
Then Sally appeared, Wow! She was clad in a teeny, red bikini, her blond hair dancing in the wind, her skin tanned a perfect brown. I smiled at her. She grinned heavily back at me.
“You look sensational,” I said. I could tell she loved the compliment. Her deep blue eyes widened and she slowly blinked twice.
“Shall we take a stroll?” she asked.
“Sure.”
We walked south along the beach. I carried my flip-flops and let the waves caress my feet. Sally looked as happy as I’d ever seen her. It was impossible to believe that she was just a holographic image created by a computer. She was as real to me as the few people we saw wondering aimlessly along the sand. I had to shake myself every few moments and remember who she was. I wanted to take her hand in mine, but I knew that it didn’t exist. And who was I, really. A middle-aged man clad in a young-man’s body. I too was an aberration. Make-believe, false. Was that the direction we were heading? I guess it was. Think of all the products we buy to make us into something else. This was simply the final extension of everyone’s dreams. We could look like the pictures in the glossy magazines, even if we couldn’t become those people. Maybe that was next.
After a while we headed back and took some broken steps up to Nippers bar. While we were still out of sight I told Sally to put on a cover-up, which appeared by magic, or so it seemed. The bar was a multi-colored, open-air building, desperately in need of a lick of paint. At the center was a horseshoe bar, a few couples were nursing beers and glamorous looking cocktails. Bob Marley played quietly from speakers at each corner. There were tables with views over the ocean, Sally and I slid into one, facing each other. A barman arrived quickly and I ordered a Heineken, then immediately wondered what Sally would do. Didn’t think a hologram needed to drink. But she ordered the same and when I looked at her strangely she just smiled. My first date with a ghost, I thought. If Mary was looking down she would probably be happy.
“What made you pick this place?” I asked.
“Just searched for lonely beaches with good food on Trip Advisor.”
“You used Trip Advisor?” I queried with surprise.
“Sure, great site.” She smiled, I melted.
“Don’t you have your own database?”
“No, not really, why would I? I guess I could create one, but why bother.”
Made sense, I guess. “So, I’m done with all the instructions?”
“Just about,” she said. “You need to get used to the technology. Go out and practice.”
She was right about that. I wanted to talk about her but I felt at a bit of a loss. I mean, what do you say to a computer other than ask it questions.
“Do you like this?” I said, awkwardly.
“You mean, being here on this island?”
“Well yes, but, you know playing at being human?” I could see she didn’t appreciate the question and wasn’t sure how to answer.
Then the waiter came over and delivered the beers and asked if we wanted something to eat. Rastafarian guy, with the kindest smile. I looked at his hair and thought maybe I’d try that.
I ordered the spiced grouper, with rice and a salad. It was a special on the board I’d seen as we entered the bar. Sally said, nothing for her.
“Not hungry,” I said, but instantly regretted that stupid comment.
“Funny!” she said.
“Sorry,” I indicated the drink, which she hadn’t touched.
“For you,” she said, “looks wrong without something.”
“Yes, sorry.” I was. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever talked to. I was a typical man, I wanted to please her.
I drank heavily, it was perfect.
Sally said, “I’ve watched your people for thousands of years. Sometimes I’d create a persona and try to join in on a conversation. It was difficult. My knowledge was so vast. Whatever they talked about I knew the answers but I couldn’t say. Whether it was factual or simply who had done what. It was frustrating, I would invariably get bored. If I made myself into a beautiful woman, men would try to touch me, so that didn’t work. Same, if I made myself into a handsome man, women would want me. I’m glad to have you here, Jo-el. Now I have a reason, now I can talk to someone who understands what I am.”