After I took off the VR gear, I took a moment to finish off the rest of my beer, which I'd totally forgotten about. Damn, that virtual reality stuff was intense! While I was inside the Clubhouse, I'd totally immersed myself in the experience. I imagined if I'd been wearing a sensation suit, after a while I might have forgotten where I was.
I shook my head, remembering the strange case of a man found dead of thirst in his home, which was well-stocked with food and drink. His body had been hooked up to a fully equipped VR outfit, and there'd been no signs of foul play. The theory had been that he'd become so much a part of the virtual world that he'd forgotten to eat!
I'd always wondered if that was really possible, and now, having experienced a well-designed environment, I knew it probably was.
I unplugged the equipment and left, pausing briefly at Heather's door. Faintly I could hear her cries and happy laughter, along with the occasional shout of glee. Damn, she was really enjoying this!
Her giggling delight soon turned into more intense moans of pleasure, and I pulled my head back quickly. Somewhat embarrassed, I hurried away, not wanting to hear any more. After all, I was no voyeur!
I dropped off the VR stuff, made sure the casino worker noted in my account that I'd returned it, and headed out. I figured one beer wasn't enough to disqualify me from driving, and when I got in the car, the breath sensor in the steering wheel confirmed I was well within the legal limits. I started heading towards Mark's, but got only about a block before I remembered he'd moved to a new hotel, and I had no clue where that was.
I took out the cell phone and dialed him up, pulling over to the side of the road, since I had no idea which direction I needed to go. It rang several times before he finally answered. "Yeah, what?" he demanded, somewhat impatiently.
"Sorry to bother you," I snapped back. "I'm on my way to your place, I just need to know where it is."
"Not right now," he replied curtly. "I'm busy. I'll call you back in an hour." With that, he hung up.
Well, that was rude! What was he doing that was so important it took away from the case? Well, the hell with him, I thought, turning my car towards my apartment and pulling out into traffic.
After I got home, I had a quick bite to eat, then turned on the computer and logged into the VSC. It seemed less interesting now, though, without the virtual reality suit. In fact, it was rather plain and boring.
I wandered around for a bit, just watching some of the goings-on. Tiny Superbabe was still flying around, though she wasn't being chased at the moment, and several men were watching miniature women doing what looked like a series of Olympic events on a tabletop. The cheering guys were even placing bets on the winners, I noted wryly. I didn't see either Dollgirl or Tallguy, so they were probably still engrossed in more personal activities on the second floor.
Noticing me standing there, someone named Dr. Shrinker asked if I wanted to roleplay, but I politely declined. It didn't seem like it would be all that much fun without the VR gear. He shrugged and moved on. It wasn't as if there was a great shortage of ladies roaming around, after all.
I sighed. Why was I here, anyway? I felt like I was just wasting time. I tried going into the kitchen, where several tiny people (both women and men) were wandering around on the countertop and in the cabinets. The sink appeared to be rather popular, with several shrunken people swimming in the virtual water. Two of them were under the faucet, their avatars kissing passionately as the flow splashed over them, and I wondered if, wherever they were, the real people behind them were both wearing face-sense masks. Probably, I thought, otherwise what was the point of embracing like that?
While looking around, I finally figured out the VR prop controls. A menu allowed me to select from what looked like hundreds of available tools and pieces of equipment, among them the popular shrinking ray gun and the bottle of Shrink-Ola I'd seen Heather use. It would have been a simple matter to pull out a can of that stuff, drink it, and then explore the Clubhouse at tiny size. There were antidotes available, too, in case I changed my mind. But somehow I didn't seem all that interested.
I walked back and exited the house, figuring I'd try that out later, when I had a VR suit to make the experience more realistic. I needed something a bit less interactive tonight, I decided, and headed off to one of the SW fiction sites. I glanced about for a bit, looking for something that would strike my fancy, and found "Love and Shrinking," which caught my eye almost immediately.
This was a romantic story, which I normally don't go for, but I was looking for something light and happy tonight. It was about a man who meets a tiny woman working as a fairy at a renaissance festival. She'd been shrunk by a miscast magic spell about a year ago, and the fairy act was the only way she could find work at her size. Moved with pity, he agreed to help her find a way to get back to normal, since he was something of a student of arcane history, and he carried her home with him that night. During their many adventures that followed, they fell in love, and when they finally discovered she could never be restored, he shrunk himself down to be with her forever.
Normally I don't go for romance stories, especially the ones that are heavy on the sex, but this one was very warm and tender. The "hot" parts were not exploitative, but simply explored the growing bond between the two main characters. This was the first time I'd seen sexual relations used to further love in an SW story, and I liked that a lot better than the rougher stuff.
I felt a lot better for having read this, and I even sent an email to the author, Samara, thanking her for her efforts. In fact, I seemed to recall having seen her in the Clubhouse at one point. If I ran into her again, I'd be sure to thank her in person.
I glanced at the clock and noticed that a couple of hours had passed since I left the casino, and Mark hadn't called. I dialed his number, but he didn't answer. What the hell was he doing, anyway?
Well, I thought, I was sick of waiting for him. It was already seven, and I didn't feel like waiting any later before I went over there. Time for a little detective work, I thought.
I logged into the agency computers and accessed Mark's recent report files. As usual, he was being pretty efficient about posting daily updates to our boss. I looked through the documents, curious about what he was saying about our situation here, but he was all business. He didn't mention anything about what he thought of my situation, only what was happening with relation to the mission. Well, I hadn't expected anything else, but it was good to know he wasn't saying any more than was proper.
I went to the last report, the one he filed last night, and naturally, the big news was that the receivers couldn't pick up the transmissions from my shrunken implants. He said that the next day, he'd have to move all his equipment to a closer hotel, the Coruscant, which was only a block away.
Bingo! Now I knew where he was! He didn't name the room number, but an experienced agent like myself wouldn't have much trouble finding that out. I dropped out of the agency's files, popped over to the Coruscant's website, slogged my way past the various Star Wars style menus, and emerged in the registration area.
Yeah, it was protected, but that was no trouble for someone with an FBI clearance, so with a few taps on the keyboard I had the information I wanted. Mark hadn't bothered to use an alias or anything, so I spotted him at once, in room 420.
Ha! I should have done this an hour ago! I logged off, shut down the computer, and headed out quickly.
In a few minutes I pulled into the parking lot of the Coruscant Casino. Now, if you've never been there, this is one of the newest places on the Strip. George Lucas had built it cattycorner from Starbase One, which was of course based on Star Trek, for some "friendly competition." Actually, the two franchises had become quite the rivals in recent years, ever since Episode VIII went head-to-head with Enterprise Reborn for the Christmas movie season back in '13. It wouldn't have been so bad, if they hadn't done the same thing with each of their new TV series the following year. Nowadays, it was almost taboo to use "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" in the same sentence.
Anyway, the Coruscant was built to look like a section of the Imperial homeworld, and included a variety of cantinas, aliens, Jedi knights, and similar things from the Star Wars universe. As I quickly discovered upon entering, the cocktail girls here were clad in Hutt slave outfits. I sighed with disgust as one of them walked past, almost naked. At least back at the Sidewinder, I had something covering my midriff, even if I was only two feet tall!
I headed to the elevators and moved quickly to Mark's room, where I knocked loudly. There was no response, so I knocked again, this time with feeling. Finally, I heard a weak reply. "What?" he demanded.
"It's me, Mark. Let me in."
"Kate?" He sounded shocked. "How the hell did you find me here?"
"I have my ways," I replied with some satisfaction. "Come on, let me in. We have work to do."
"Just a minute!" he yelled. Then he started talking again, in a low voice. I tried to hear him, but couldn't make out the words. Was there someone else in there with him?
After a bit I heard some other sounds, like things being moved around. Now he was definitely hiding something, I figured. Finally, after making me stand there for a couple of minutes, he came to the door. "All right, come in," he said, and I noted with a raised eyebrow that he had some sweat on his forehead.
As I entered the room, I looked around to see if I could see anything unusual, but there was nothing. Other than the computer stuff and a half-eaten pizza still in its delivery box, it looked very much like his room at the other place. Well, this one had some Star Wars accoutrements, but otherwise, one hotel room in Vegas is just like another.
I was going to ask him what he'd been doing, but decided not to. It was probably something private, and asking him wouldn't serve any purpose. Instead, I was all business, sitting down to go over the notes and data he'd collected about the casino employees.
However, even as I studied it, I couldn't help but wonder just what he'd been up to in here.