Virtually His Read online

  With her switching her focus and acting on a whim instead of describing to her monitor, she’d managed to block Hades. Somewhat, she amended. After all, just the sound of his voice immediately brought back the awareness of him. All he needed was the power of suggestion, the bastard.

  “I was checking on what they’re doing with the key,” she said.

  No need. I’ve a feeling we’ll know about that when we come out of VR. The task was to verify the target and give a specific location.

  She had perused the place for a clue to the target’s coordinates. Finding location was very, very tough in remote viewing. If she were to look for a trailer park, there were thousands of them in the United States. Here, the clues had been the computer and the transactions those people were making. They were in German, with the Frankfurt address right on the top of the screen.

  “Let me reverify the location to make sure,” she said. “I don’t want to rely on a computer screen.”

  Agreed. But you must work in tandem with me. I’m seeing the same things you are, sometimes disjointedly because I’m not actually sure which way you’re turning. I have no control over this, since you’re in charge.

  “Hey, this is the first time I like the idea of you in my mind,” Helen said. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around your being able to see through my eyes, period. I mean, you aren’t a remote viewer, so you can’t be here here.”

  Exactly. Brain sync. I’m your VR here and you’re my VR there. That’s why I need you to tell me where you’re turning. Remember that it’s your point of view I’m looking from. The snatches of thought are a plus that no one had considered possible, though.

  His explanation was, as usual, uniquely simple.

  “Tell me more about the snatches of thought,” she asked, curious.

  Let’s verify location now.

  He also had a bad habit of changing the subject when she started to ask too many questions.

  She looked around her once again. “I’ll go through the door and quickly check out the layout of this building to see where we are. Then I’ll go move upwards and confirm that we’re near or in Frankfurt.”

  No need, on the second part. I’ve been inside this building before. I need you to confirm a few specific things. Find the main floor. There are two bronze horses in the main area, their front legs in the air. There’s a plaque on the pedestal which should say Deutsche International.

  “Okay, that makes things easier.”

  She looked at the people in the room one last time then went through the door. There was a long passageway, with only three doors, and then an elevator that had no buttons on the outside. There was a slot for an electronic pass.

  “Going through,” she told Hades.

  Her phantom body easily passed through the door. The elevator stall was still there, waiting for occupants to enter.

  “There’s only one button.” She closed her eyes, ran her hand over it. “This whole place feels very protected—I mean, very monitored. There are many people in this building, all above us. It feels strange, as if most of them don’t know of this place we’re in. Yet, those who know, I feel danger, that they have a different agenda from those who don’t. I also feel nothing below us.”

  Her eyes flew open. “Hades,” she continued, “we’re underground.”

  I’m experiencing some of your feelings. Are you sure about the location?

  “Remote viewing is all about the senses. I’ve to learn to trust what mine tell me. We’re deep below the earth. By expanding my consciousness outwards, I can smell it. Can you where you are?”

  Only when you give me the feedback, Elena. I’m not the one remote viewing.

  Sarcastic SOB. She closed her eyes again. “I’m changing the universal target of the key to the lobby of this building,” she informed him.

  She was getting the hang of TIVRRV—this total immersion virtual reality remote viewing. She was back in the race car, the surroundings “dissolved,” and there was the hum of white noise and car engine.

  Out of the car and into the targeted reality.

  “Yes, I’m looking at the pedestal with the two bronze horses. We’re exactly where we think we are. And we now have the added bonus of knowing that room is underground.”

  Good work, Elena. Checkered flag. Now.

  She could choose to ignore his command, but the persistent image of a checkered flag was irritating and also served as a reminder that she wasn’t doing this on her own.

  Helen reluctantly disengaged from the scene. On a regular RV session, she’d have taken off on her own to investigate more. Obviously, her present monitor was in disagreement over the importance of that key.

  “That key—it holds danger,” she told him. That was the best she could explain about her uneasiness.

  I feel your sense of it. I also feel your need to stay and find out more, but we don’t have the time, Elena. We’ll be there in physical reality soon enough and we’ll find out then. We’ll discuss this when you return here. Checkered flag.

  She was surprised at the strength of the mental pull of his order. She’d never felt this strong an urge to end her session when her other monitor directed her. That was why many remote viewers kept their trigger codes a secret.

  She closed her eyes and she was back in the cockpit of her race car again. Another thought occurred. Return where? “Wait, how do we make sure I return to the VR and not my physical body?” She’d never done it this way before, going back from bilocation—trilocation—into VR.

  I’ve thought about it. We have to use our own special trigger code.

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Remember, our brain waves are in sync when we’re in our VR session. You don’t have a subconscious trigger because you’re already in subconscious.

  “It’s going to make me dizzy trying to understand what’s going on,” Helen said in a wry voice. She was beginning to get the idea that Hades had thought about everything long before any questions were even formed in her conscious mind, much less subconscious. Not that she was going to admit that to him. “Tell me what I need to do, Hades.”

  Not do. Feel.

  Oh no. She shook her head, as if trying to shake away the suspicion that had suddenly emerged from her subconscious.

  Yes. Trust, remember?

  Part of her was horrified by this man’s ruthlessness. Part of her was fascinated by his cunning. She’d never seen any other operative use NOPAIN as well as T. And against her. Who the hell was this man?

  No, not think either. Feel. What were we doing before you bilocated? You have the hand of a naked man between your legs.

  Helen shook her head hard. She knew what he was doing. He was making her see herself in VR. Whether he was doing it to her, or not, was irrelevant, because the idea that he had control over her body was enough. He’d cultivated a trigger in her subconscious without her being aware of it. The bastard…the…

  You still feel very wet, Elena. Can you feel me touching you? You like it slow, don’t you?

  “Stop it,” Helen whispered. She couldn’t possibly get excited at the thought of him doing this to her. How was it that he could turn her on just with words?

  If I make you anticipate this every time we end—

  She was helpless against his manipulation. Imagining what he was doing to her was sucking her into his game. Yet, she couldn’t help herself. She was back in that chair in VR. She could taste his flesh as she strained against his hand. Needing him to go faster…

  Then you’ll link back here to me in VR. At least, that’s what my theory is.

  Theory? She was part of a theory. She choked half in exasperation and half in need.

  Engine off. Her eyes flew open. She was back in the VR.

  Hades was holding her, his brown eyes so close she could see the black rings around his irises. She blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden return.

  He straightened. “Are you all right?”

  His hands—she glanced down at
them, then looked up heatedly at him. Did he—

  His expression was unreadable as he studied her.

  “It was all in my head, wasn’t it?” she asked. “The second time, I mean.”

  “All this is all in our heads, Elena,” he replied gently.

  Frustration rose. She had a hundred questions and knew there wasn’t any time right now. “How is it possible you can make me feel like that?”

  With words. From someone whose face she didn’t even know. Somehow he’d made himself her fantasy. No, wait, she had started it by making him a fantasy. Fuck.

  “We can analyze this later when we get back.”

  He was so cool about it, as if seducing women was second nature to him. And she was suddenly angry.

  “You’re damn right we’re going to have some discussion when we get back,” she told him shortly. “Stay out of my pants from now on.”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  She undid the straps. “We’ll see about that,” she muttered. He was right, of course it was too late. If she was successful with this test of her abilities, she would be remote viewing through VR again and he’d already proven that he could bring her back here with him. She should be disgusted. Furious.

  Her knees buckled and he gathered her close to support her weight. She laid her head against his chest and was surprised to hear a heartbeat. This program was too damn real.

  “We don’t have much time,” he said. “We need to conserve your energy for what’s to come. Take a deep breath. Let what happened between us go for now. Exhale. That’s right. We’ll talk about it later, I promise, but we’ve got to finish this operation.”

  He sounded incredibly gentle. How dare he comfort her after what he’d done? Yet Helen couldn’t summon up any anger. She released another breath. Having a tantrum in VR wasn’t going to accomplish anything. She needed time to think. Later. When her brain waves were just hers again, dammit.

  Secret test facility, Virginia

  Liquid sunshine. That was what it felt like to him. Everything in the room looked brighter and cleaner. He felt warm and safe; the stifling fear that had followed him around was a shadow of itself. And that little sneak of cigarette helped calm the excitement. He needed to show them what he could do so they would keep him.

  “Ready, Agent 51?”

  Agent 51. It’d been a while since they’d activated him this way. He’d tried to tell the doctors in the beginning that it was Five-One and not Fifty-One, but no one here paid attention to him. Until now.

  He nodded eagerly. “Yes, where’s my monitor?”

  “I’ll be your monitor today. Go strap yourself in.”

  He approached the work station with the RV chair. “It’s been a while,” he murmured. “Let’s see. This strap goes to my pulse. This one wraps around my chest. Okay, ready.”

  He looked expectantly as his monitor placed a sealed envelope on the podium next to the RV chair. “Use this as your target. It contains the coordinates telling where they’re sending the other remote viewer. It’s imperative we find out what the target is.”

  This should be a piece of cake. He had done this during training for the special programs even before they had introduced him to the marvels of the drug. He was going into this without a practice run but he was determined to get the results they wanted. That envelope was just for his focal point, though. There was really nothing inside. He needed a bit more information.

  “First, if it’s possible, I’d like to have the location of the original envelope so I can make a mental link that both the envelope here and the one there have the same information.”

  “That won’t be a problem, 51. Anything else?”

  “Can I have a map and a globe in front of me please? In case I need to focus on those.” Pinpointing location was very, very iffy in remote viewing. “I…ah…hope you realize that if the target in that envelope doesn’t specify location, it’s going to take some guesswork.”

  “Yes, of course. The other side will have the same problem, too, so we start out with even odds.” His monitor looked at the camera and nodded, obviously asking for delivery of the requested items. “How are you feeling?”

  “Extremely confident,” he told him, smiling. “Like a superhero again.”

  “Very good. That’s what we want to hear. Nothing bothering you?”

  “Nothing, nothing.” No headache yet. He mentally crossed his fingers. The cigarettes would hold off headaches for a while. He checked the different on and off switches as he waited for the globe and map, trying his best not to look nervous to the man watching him. He could sense his suspicion; the serum always gave him that power. He knew the other man was looking for signs that he would fail.

  “Here’s the information you requested, Agent 51. Remember, we want Intel on what the target is, as well as location. I’ll run you through the surroundings for clues, but focus on the target, no matter what.”

  He nodded. He was eager to get out there. When everything was the way he wanted, he sat back and switched on the tape that carried the tonal frequencies. Soon he was aware of nothing but his mind. Trigger code…

  Switch to Channel Three. Set programming time. Set channel.

  Timer on. Record.

  “I feel the coordinates,” he announced.

  “Go there, Agent 51,” he heard his monitor say.

  This was it. This was the best part about the drug. He could do anything. Fast forward. God, I love this rush! Fast forward! Fast forward!

  A building. It feels cold. Coordinates pinpoint a room in the top floor. I’m going up.

  “Is there a room number, Agent 51? Is it a hotel?”

  Not a hotel. Not office space. Some important building. Room B for Boy. This is the place. Going right through. Four people.

  “Listen in.”

  It sounds foreign. I hear German words. Let me look around, make sure. There are books in German on the shelves. There are account sheets.

  “Is that the target?”

  No, the target feels small, much smaller. Feels like a bank in here. Shall I leave to search the building for more clues?

  “No, not yet. Work this target. They wanted this room for a specific reason. What’s important here? What information are they after? Look at the four people in the room.”

  Three men, one woman. Definitely not shooting the breeze here, whatever they’re saying. German isn’t one of my languages, I’m afraid.

  “That’s unfortunate.”

  Damn. He had better find out more or they wouldn’t use him again. Of course. He could gauge their emotions. Pause. Slow frame… He carefully examined the whole scene in slow motion, looking at the figures from different angles. One of the men passed something surreptitiously to the woman while the other two were looking at some information on the laptop. He replayed the scene again.

  He felt the love between them, catching a fleeting image of their naked bodies entwined on a bed. Ah, lovers. He felt their shared passion and had the sudden urge to peek into their memories. It had been so long…he needed a quick fix.

  “What do you see happening?”

  Damn. He couldn’t take the chance. Needed to perform. Reluctantly, he pulled his focus away from the energy emanating from the two lovers and returned to the present.

  There’s a key given to the woman. She puts it in her pocket. The other two hadn’t noticed. I’m looking at the laptop screen. It looks like these other two are transferring funds from one account to another. Now they are done. They shake hands. Now the third man, the one who passed the key to the woman, is handing over another key to one of them. This one’s an electronic key.

  “Good work, Agent 51. Now, figure out which one is the key we want.”

  He barely hesitated. Of course it had to be the electronic key. But why did the man give his lover that key? He wanted so badly to find out. Perhaps they were cheating on their spouses and so had to meet secretly; if so, that key would have so much emotion attached to it. Wouldn’t it be cool
if he could—

  “Agent 51, is there a problem?”

  Dammit! He forced his attention back to the job at hand. He mustn’t get tempted so easily or he’d lose the privileges again.

  The electronic key’s the target. I’m very sure of this. It looks like some kind of master lock to a computer or perhaps a computer program. Not sure. But that’s what the other remote viewer’s after.

  “We need to zero in on the location. Look around you. Pick up clues, find out names, if possible.”

  He dare not repeat that he didn’t understand German. I’m working on it. Going to move around the room, maybe go out of the building to get a feel. Is that okay?

  “Yes, but hurry up. We don’t have time.”

  He’d never worked against the clock before. Remote viewing took time, especially when it came to verifying location. Somehow, he didn’t think his monitor would take kindly to that observation.

  Got it. We’re at the Deutsche International headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. I read the address label on the envelope lying on the table. Wait…

  Fast forward…

  They’ve activated some kind of device with the electronic key. It looks like some kind of password decoder. Let me go closer to look at what they’re doing.

  “Disengage and return, 51. We have what we need.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He looked longingly at the woman. She had memories he wanted. Quickly, quickly…fast forward. He plunged into her energy for a moment. An image of a memory. She was squatting between her lover’s parted legs. Her mouth was filled with the taste of him…oh yeah, suck it, milk it, baby. Record.

  Her tongue lapped the crown of the penis, then her mouth came down over it. Oh yeah, this was a good memory. She gave a fine blow job, from the look of it. Take it all in, baby, yeah, like that. Oh, yeah, he was almost there. Look at him straining his big dick into your sweet mouth…

  “Agent 51, disengage and return.”

  Stop. Rewind. Change channels.

  Shifting forward to disguise his erection, he worked the crick of his neck, feeling the beginning throb of the headache. His heart was beating very loudly in his head. He hoped they didn’t see what he had done that last second in the ether. Sometimes, a good monitor would note the spikes in the pulse readings and ask questions. “I did great, didn’t I?” he said, smiling weakly. “Saw what you wanted…now what?”