ANOTHER NIGHT AT SID'S Part 3
A SIMON CREATION
I was right about the posting. Sid had explained that we could NOT talk about
the new 3D chat/posting project on the message board. We were supposed to try
to keep posting, but it was uninspired and lackluster. We had new toys and
wanted to PLAY. There was a specially made room being created, we were all
making our 3D images and itching to try it out. It didn't really take long,
just seemed like it. We received an interesting little object in the mail,
which was to be attached to the top of our monitors with double sided tape.
The first "test" of our 3D images meeting happened on a Saturday night in
January, 2003. The NOVLs had been tasked with coordinating us, making sure
everyone would be there, had received their oddball computer part, installed it
properly, had made their 3D scan, a hundred other details.
The Big Night arrived. At 9 o'clock Central Time, we were to begin assembling
at Wit's End Chat. We had a link in email. No early birds, and the place would
be locked at 9:45.
Naturally, with my high-capacity computer and broadband cable line, as soon as
I activated my link, I ran out of system resources and had to reboot. I figured
other members running old IBM Clone 386s with 2400 baud modems probably got
through immediately.
I closed down all non-essential programs, and got in. It was incredible.
Walking around looking at everyone. I knew who had cheapo video cameras like my
old one because they seemed to have purple, blue, green, red and yellow tints
to their clothes and skin.
It was a little embarrassing. The women had obviously done nice things with
their hair, carefully selected clothes, shoes, applied makeup tastefully. The
guys wore from yuppie casual up to businesswear, and I'd done the scan straight
in from work, wearing Nylon "City" camo pants, a BASIC cigarette t-shirt with
the sleeves ripped off and a hole in it that was showing my right nipple, and a
black Ranger combat vest.
I'd brushed my hair at least, so I looked like a derelict that had stolen a pop
star's wig.
I noticed that "Perfect To The Last Detail" Sid had made little name tags that
floated above our heads, some with just our screen names, others with our real
names. I'd have known NewLAC (Lisa) anyway from her New Year's resolution post
to wear more red, but it was nice, especially since some residents showed up
that I'd never met. Those often had their new AND old screen names on their
"tags".
We quickly discovered you couldn't hug, you'd just blend into one VERY strange
image with a lot of appendages. People were already perfecting 3D cyberkissing.
The room itself was a big, airy, open thing, with couches and chairs of various
shapes and sizes stacked in a sloping area so everyone could see a central
place where a hot tub looked so invitingly real we ALL wanted in. You could go
to various private rooms outside the archways, but Sid had everyone's name tags
follow them everywhere, and stick on the door if you did private chat.
We also found if you did an IM, that your name lit up in red letters every time
you hit "Send".
Sid had outdone himself in graphics. There was a small tunnel at the bottom of
the hot tub where you could swim out to an outdoor pool complete with
waterfall, little alcoves for cuddling, virtual jungle creatures traveled
around, popping in and out of sight behind the foliage. Inside the tunnel were
"air stations" where you could get air through bubbling tubes so you didn't run
out and drown. There was so much to do, so much to explore. Tiny dragons of all
colors flew in with small baskets of food, gently placed them by us and flew
away. Every two minutes the NOVLs' clothes were replaced by interesting looking
uniforms for 20 seconds, then flash back to what they came in wearing.
A big disappointment seemed to be the discovery that I really AM short and fat.
I think there were some secret beliefs that I was six feet tall and built like
Michaelangelo's David, but, it was time for reality. I'd been telling people
forever to think of John Leguizamo's clown demon in "Spawn", and they'd have a
clear picture of me.
Happily, there were a million distractions and things to do, so even Minx's
"Arnie dear, you need help" comment on my outfit didn't hang in the air
forever. And, by golly, everything DID hang in the air, at the top of the room,
until replaced by someone else's comments.
Certain Ladies' chests, especially Blondy's, got scads of attention, and a
couple of wags actually hit the floor, bowing and yelling, "We're not worthy,
we're not worthy". I'll not embarrass Dregs and RightorII by mentioning screen
names, of course, or the fact that they beat Roger, Floyd, SID of all people,
and a long-ago guy named Bo to it...
Then, of course, various women's body parts had to be scrutinized and praised,
everyone wanted ATTA Kristine to lactate, though she refused.
We broke into small groups, sometimes by sex, sometimes by other more obscure
divisions. Butts became a hot topic. Especially since there were mostly
half-gone butts on the guys from attaining middle age.
The ladies, no matter what age, seemed to have been interested in the care and
maintenance of theirs, and of course, they had most appreciative observers of
same.
Considering that I got to see Sid more than anyone, and had far more than my
share of inside information, it seemed to incense some that PeachMonky came in
riding a jet-black unicorn with a silver-gray horn. I could hardly expect
similar treatment, so I just grinned and kept my mouth shut.
MyAfricanSunrise said he offered her a donkey, and she offered him a different
type of trim job. A couple others wondered about their own contributions to
Sid. He said not a word, but tiny, gleaming white Pegasus's (pegasai?), each
accompanied by one of the colored dragons, flew in and landed on each woman's
shoulder. The dragons flew up and glided around where our typed comments
appeared. Occasionally one would fly in, eat someone's screen name, then rejoin
the pattern.
I spotted AnitaBunt, who I'd been wanting to meet forever, and headed her way.
Then I saw LarLeaves, yet another one I wanted to meet, but she was lost in
conversation, so I moved on. Between old and new posters, we had five Lauras,
so it was going to take a while to sort them all out.
PART lll B
That the new technology was a hit was undeniable; someone said the Instant
Cafe, also part of AIN, had it too. I wondered why we got it, since it would
probably kill off the message board forever as a means of online communication.
We played through the first night, some staying late, others pleading such
trivial excuses as exhaustion, family needs, rest for work, etc., a few of us
sticking it out to the bitter end. This gave Sid the chance to do some
fine-tuning as well, It seems I fell asleep, and since I was sitting in a chair
talking to a group of young hit-and-run one-time posters, they felt it was
"creepy" talking to a guy with his eyes open and not moving. Sid had
thoughtfully included blinking, so apparently it was no big deal to tell my
eyelids to stay shut. Sid also added the thoughtful concept of "floating"
anyone who hadn't shown activity for 30 minutes up to the ceiling. The little
dragons would fly down, take your hands and feet, glide you up, and place you
in your spot. People who had locked up and finally punted fell down THROUGH the
floor and vanished; when I woke up, I was looking down, then my little 3D me
was face down, looking at Turkish carpeting from half an inch away.
An interesting part of being a Wit's End "Icon" is that worshipful respect does
not happen; show a weakness to the wolves, and they pounce on it gleefully and
rip it and you to pieces. They're fun that way.
Speculation ranged from extreme old age to post-self-coital chemical change,
flashbacks to my drug days, Sominex addiction, Geritol deprivation, a
suggestion that bodyfat holds trypto-something or other chemicals from Turkey
meat, and I had enough fat to sleep for the next 22 years or so, to the best
one, the suggestion that constipation not only explained most of my writing,
but complete system shutdown from time to time.
Sid had provided a button hidden in our noses that, when clicked with a mouse,
would change the view from ourselves looking out at everyone else, to an
overhead view from the walls so you could see yourself and everyone else. Floyd
found it by accident, told the rest of us who, naturally, had to speculate on
what he was doing to his nose when he made the find. This, naturally, led us to
explore our bodies in ways we probably hadn't since childhood. Poking the mouse
button between my butt-cheeks brought out a stream of glittering confetti,
which sent everyone racing away who'd been behind me. NOVL Swan's produced a
metronome, appropriate for his penchant for poetry. It followed him around
until he right-clicked it away. I dived into the hot-tub headfirst, glided into
the tunnel, clicked my nose then my butt, and suddenly I was JETTING out of
sight of myself. I caught up with my nose and regained internal vision. When I
saw I was headed for a wall, I nosed upward and found myself mid-air and headed
for the jungle. I landed on a Wildebeest, which took off running.
Interestingly, I got to see strange new parts of Sid's creation, immense blank
areas where he'd not worked yet, partial scenes obviously in progress. They
were a bit jerky, since the thing wasn't saddle-trained. I finally got ahold of
a horn and aimed it back toward the pool area, then dived off when I saw the
waterfall. I realized I'd missed everyone's butt-talent but Swan's. Pity, that.
I'd have to see if I could click on their butts and get a reaction. Probably
not.
Glancing around in some of the alcoves, I found that we were quite anatomically
correct without our clothes, and some were apparently exploring the
possibilities of using this knowledge to expand cyber-sex to a new level. I'll
not mention names. Truly. You know who you are.
I have two questions for two of our Group: 1., Are those real? and 2. Did you
pay Sid extra for that Anaconda? There is a third person to whom I'd like to
make a suggestion: Whatever you did to make Sid mad, I'd apologize. If not, I'd
keep my pants ON at all times. Your choice.
When I got back to the main hall, an awful lot of people were gone. A few were
on the ceiling. They missed quite a sight. I'd talked to Sid about my friend
and sometime co-author, JadeIs4Julie, ImpQueen and World Monarch. I dug up our
ImpTales and sent him a copy. He found her under another screen name. I made a
mental note to ask him about that.
she glided in on large, transparent wings. Everything seen through the wings
had a purple tint. The wings themselves were gold-edged and gleamed in the
lights. Her red hair hung loose, curling wildly. she wore a purple bodysuit,
and Sid had thoughtfully added Ermine trim.
The dragons had abandoned their other pursuits and were cavorting around her. I
called to her and as she descended, she headed my way. As her feet touched, the
wings began to retract, and vanished into her shoulder blades. The dragons hung
in the air, wings beating in time until she smiled at them and said "Thank you.
Go play now." They resumed their patrol of the ceiling.
"I read my instructions, so I've got an idea what all this is. I'm not sure I'm
up for the bodysuit and rodent hides, though."
"Let me introduce you to Sid," I said, and guided her that way.
As we approached him, she said under her breath, "He's quite the looker, isn't
he?"
"Quiet, woman", I countered. "I know you got a thing for gray-haired guys."
I made introductions, excused myself after telling Sid she'd prefer some
costume changes and as I was about to leave, she gave my clothes the Eye.
"Let me guess here, post-apocalyptic punk, correct? You're quite the
trend-setter."
I clicked speculatively on my mouth, and sure enough, my tongue stuck out at
her. I was pleased. Clicked it back and moved on. I walked out of one of the
archways to survey Sid's night creations. Minx was talking to MyAfrican
Sunrise, Onefriendsreply and AAIWAH. She had on a black cocktail dress,
seed-pearl necklace and earrings. The sidelights showed an interesting pattern
woven into the dress that you could only see when it was lit from certain
angles.
"Gotta go," she said, and vanished.
Sunrise was grumbling because she had not worn a cowboy hat for her scan, and
now Sid had given her one she couldn't remove. She said she needed to talk with
that man NOW, he'd been ducking her all evening. I pointed him out, since his
back was to us, and she took off. I turned back, and the other two were gone,
but there was a chain link lying on the ground where Onefriendsreply had stood.
I picked it up, put it in a pocket.
It was very late. Nearly everyone was gone. As I approached Sid and the girls,
Sunrise put the cowboy hat on Julie and vanished. Julie now wore a green
pantsuit with no hint of Ermine.
"You hardly spoke to me, Hoser", she announced as I approached.
"There's time", I countered.
"Not tonight. I have to get sleep." Her wings were emerging, and the dragons
raced down and lined up to escort her. Sid patted her arm and said, "I am very
pleased to have met you. You are even more charming than he said."
"He's a horrid beast, but I keep him around for low-brow amusement", she told
Sid, and lofted off the ground. As the wings reached their full spread, she
began flying off, the dragons circling her in a DNA helix pattern, until she
faded from sight.
"Well, Sid", I began as the dragons came arrowing back, "You've made quite an
impact. How long before the Big Day?"
"I'm going to talk to them this weekend, probably Saturday evening. I've
cleared out the office, moved it down the hall, and we'll have our first human
meeting there."
"You realize you and I will be the only ones not being transported by your
machine?"
"Or perhaps just me. I'll take you through it if you'd like."
I grinned. That's how it would be.
"Later", I said, and logged off.
It was actually a shock, snapping back from Sid's world. While I'd been staring
at a monitor, as always, I'd been inside the place, nearly able to feel, taste
and smell. My surroundings hadn't existed. The robot was letting the dog in, my
Dad was watching TV behind me, the cat was getting hair all over my folded
jeans since I'd neglected to put them away.
"Hi", I said, and the robot and Dad both replied.
"I like your new toy", said Dad, "where did you get him?"
"Computer guy friend of mine. It can cook, do laundry, wash dishes, windows.
It'll monitor your blood sugar for you, help you out. It can even ride in the
pickup with you if you have to go anywhere. It can talk to you ultrasonically."
"How's that?"
"It beams a sound wave into your head. You can hear it, but nobody else can."
"I may be gone for a while", I said.
"Where to?"
"My friend's laboratory. He lives South of here. The robot will take care of
you. Just tell it what you want."
"How long will you be gone?"
"Not long, I don't think. Less than a day, possibly."
"What will you be doing?" Dad's quite the thorough control freak.
"Experimenting with some computer stuff. No big deal. I might get some new
components, make mine a lot smarter and faster."
I knew he was a little anxious, but he didn't ask anything else.
Just as well. I was a little anxious myself, and didn't feel like talking.
I logged on the regular way, took care of my emails, and went to bed.
Next: I keep promising, and finally, here it comes!
Comments welcome at R2Wa...@aol.com