Hey Everyone!! 😊
Happy Tuesday! 😉 I don't know about you, but for some reason, for me, Tuesdays are often just one of those days. So, I thought it might be fun to take a closer look at one of Petri's one of those days. Enjoy... 😊
Excerpt from Rainbow Dreams:
The rainbow was at once beautiful and overwhelming. True to
its name, a riot of colors swirled around her. It was the way her mind
interpreted the ever-present data streams that flowed through the network. In
the past, they had always seemed distant to Petri, as if there were a
transparent barrier between her and the strange chaos of the rainbow. But now,
with the more sophisticated taps, she was right in the middle of the action. It
was loud, bright, and in her face.
Even still, there was a dream-like quality to what she was seeing. When she reached out her hand, the colored mist danced around her fingers, teasing her. But it didn't feel like mist. The cool, damp quality of water vapor was absent. Instead, it felt like small electric stings. It warned her off while simultaneously inviting her in.
The dichotomy disturbed Petri, making her want to retreat into herself, but that was also impossible. As she tried to pull away, it felt as if her mind was expanding. The harder she clenched her mental fist, the more her consciousness slipped through its fingers. And yet, at the same time it seemed like the mist around her wanted to fill the space between her ears that Petri herself should occupy. It was the same problem she always encountered when she entered the rainbow, but intensified. The bizarre, fluid nature of the virtual reality world made the delineation between her and her surroundings almost impossible for Petri to track.
Panic overtook Petri's senses. Her pulse raced, and her heart migrated to her throat. The sensation of being out of control was so all-encompassing, she didn't realize it at first when a hat approached her and bowed. It took several tries before the hat was able to gain her attention. When it did, it repeated its bow and said, "Greetings, Per, I am Cappy, and I'm here to guide you to your destination."
Petri stared down at the apparition before her. Blinking, she realized it was an avatar, though a strange one. Cappy appeared to be a brimmed skullcap of the kind some of her clients had worn to try to conceal their faces from vidrecorders. It was black with gray stenciling on the sides, but she couldn't tell if the writing was supposed to be words or pictures.
"Who are you?"
"As I said, I am Cappy. I am to be your guide. Pick me up, please, and place me on your head so that we can get started."
"But who are you? Did Vl…"
"No! No names, if you please. Kindly do as instructed."
Shaking her head, Petri tried to decide what to do. Who had sent this strange creature? How was she supposed to free Chessie if she didn't know how to get to Vlad? Had he sent the hat as a guide? Would putting the hat on as it asked hurt her?
The questions whirled through her mind, but it was impossible for her to think with the pressure of the rainbow trying to get in. Clenching her fists, she gave a mental shout, "What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?"
For a moment, the cacophony of the mist seemed to hush, and she would have sworn she heard a thousand voices breathe, "That depends on where you want to get to."
She growled and glared at the hat. Making decisions was always easier when you didn't have any real choice. With a snarl, she snatched Cappy out of the mist and crammed it on her head. Almost immediately, the noise quieted and the light dimmed. Looking around, she thought she saw the faint outline of the cold, close-lipped smile Vlad's avatar wore swirling through the rainbow mist.
"Now what?"
"Now, I will shield your mind and make it easier for you to navigate this environment," was the hat's response.
She cocked a suspicious eye up at the thing on her head. "Is that all you're doing?"
"Does it matter? If I have other orders, will you leave?"
"I want my friend back."
"And I will aid you in finding your host so you can discuss the matter. If it will set your mind at ease, I can tell you that I have no orders to harm you."
Sighing, Petri realized that was the best she could hope for under the circumstances. She nodded, "All right, which way?"
A faint, blue light blinked in the distance.
"Head toward the light."
"That's it?"
"That is all you need to know for now. Further instructions will be forthcoming when they are needed."
Her shoulders slumped as she nodded. "Okay." She tried to take a step forward but nothing happened, and she floundered in the mist. "What the fuck?"
Cappy seemed to sigh. "Humans, your minds are so limited. It's astounding your imaginations ever stretched to envision a world such as this. There is no 'ground' beneath your feet, nothing to push against to walk."
"Then how do I get anywhere?"
"This is not reality, it is virtual reality. Distances are subjective and variable. Just go."
She made swimming motions with her arms, trying to pull herself through the mist. "It's not working!"
"Of course not, you're still trying to move your body and refusing to accept the truth."
"What truth?" she screamed with exasperation.
"That you have no body here. Do not try to move that which you do not possess. Don't travel, just go."
Sighing, Petri put her hands over her eyes. "How does Chessie get anything done here?"
The band of the hat squeezed her head. "You have difficulty processing instructions, so I will repeat this only one more time. No names."
Reaching up, she tried to pull the hat off, but it was too tight. The pressure got worse, and she gasped, "Ow! That hurts!"
"If you will begin focusing and do as you are told, I will cease attempting to gain your attention."
Glaring up at the spiteful hat, she looked at the distant light again and imagined herself getting closer to it. Suddenly, she started to float in the direction of the light at a stately pace. She clapped with excitement.
"It worked! I'm flying!"
Cappy sighed and released the pressure on her head. "Yes, I suppose this is progress, though even I may die of old age before we arrive."
She gave the hat a dirty look. "Then what would you suggest?"
"I would suggest you stop clinging to your absurd notions of reality. Distance, speed, size, these things are not real here! Get that through your thick skull and we may arrive at our destination before the end of eternity."
"If nothing's real here, then why are you so worried about time?"
"You are the worst ignoramus it has ever been my misfortune to escort. There is nothing more real than time in the rainbow. It's so important, we track it in Planck units."
"I have no idea what that is."
"That, I am willing to believe. Fortunately, it does not matter. What does matter is that you focus and get us moving."
Sighing, Petri closed her eyes and tried to will herself to move faster. At first, there was no change. But then the world seemed to shift, and when she opened her eyes, she was standing in front of the light.
"Better."
To her right and what appeared to be an even greater distance away, a bolt of lightning flashed.
"Go there."
Looking back the way she had come, Petri asked, "But how will I find my way back?"
"If you survive, your return will be facilitated."
Taking a deep breath, Petri pushed her doubts aside. There was no way she was abandoning Chessie, so she had no choice but to follow the hat's instructions. Closing her eyes, she tried to will herself forward again. And when she opened them, she found herself passing through a patch of steaming mist. The heat burned.
"Ow!"
"You must be careful!" The hat rippled on her head. "It is possible for your physical body to suffer injuries based on what you experience here. Your mind interprets stimuli in a way that is consistent with the meaning of what you see. If an image represents something that would be dangerous in your world, the object will be dangerous in a similar manner here."
"So lightning is hot?"
"Yes."
She nodded. "Okay. Now what?"
A vaguely mountain-shaped shadow formed on the "horizon." Cappy rippled once more before settling. "Go there."
Petri closed her eyes and tried to will herself to the mountain the way she had to the last two goals, but it didn't work. When she opened her eyes, she found herself floating in a strange, dense, gray substance. The rainbow mist had retreated and the mountain was nowhere in sight.
"What the fuck?"
"You are moving further into the rainbow. The code here is denser and less decorative. It is meant to control and organize the rainbow, not entertain users."
"So that means I can't teleport anymore?"
Cappy sighed. "You never 'teleported.' Your physical being does not exist here."
The hat was annoying Petri. It seemed to speak in riddles, when all she wanted was clear instructions for how to get Chessie back. She felt a sense of urgency that she couldn't explain, and the repeated delays, snide remarks, and non-answers made her want to strangle the contrary rag.
"How do I get where we're going?" she yelled.
"You're not going to like this," warned Cappy
"What?" asked an exasperated Petri.
As she waited for an answer, Petri noticed a crawling sensation on her scalp. She reached up to pull the hat off, but her hand was repelled by an electric shock.
"Ow! What the fuck? What are you doing to me?" her voice edged toward hysteria.
"Remain calm. I am making the necessary adjustments that will allow you to continue safely. If you attempt to proceed now, the security protocols will destroy you."
The impression of something wriggling through her hair continued and Petri's breathing sped up. "But what are you doing?" she demanded.
"Nothing that will harm you. Now wait in silence, please."
Her eyes widened and her jaw set. How dare Cappy just decide to make changes to her without asking her first? But just before her hand reached her head for another attempt at removing the presumptuous hat, the creeping feeling retreated. She swallowed.
"You may proceed now, though your progress will necessarily be slower than before. We cannot afford to attract too much attention. You cannot see it, but our destination lies directly ahead of you."
Angry beyond words but knowing she had no choice, Petri willed herself forward. Instead of disappearing from where she was and reappearing where she wanted to be, she found she was flying over what looked like roads or paths lit with neon lights. On all sides, in the distance, storm clouds seemed to hover. Lightning flashed between them. The vista was beautiful but daunting and confusing.
"What is all that?"
"All what, precisely?"
Petri rolled her eyes. "What are the light ribbons below?"
"Busses to and from the center of the rainbow."
"What do they do?"
"Convey data in a short time span."
"What type of data?"
"All types."
"Why won't you answer my questions?" she huffed.
"Your questions are irrelevant. Or has your concern for your friend diminished?"
She glared at the hat.
"What you should be concerned about are the security protocols that lie ahead."
"The storm clouds?"
"That may be how your mind is interpreting them."
Petri noted that the clouds in front of her seemed to be getting thicker. "Will they be a problem?"
"They may. You need to start building momentum now so that you can coast through them. You cannot take any action while you are inside them; you may not even speak to me."
"What will happen if I do?"
"They will tear you apart and your consciousness will cease to exist. Your body will continue to function for a while, but it will just be so much meat."
Gulping, she nodded. "Okay, how do I build momentum?"
"The same as before. You focus and just do it."
Closing her eyes, Petri willed herself to move faster. When she opened them again, she seemed to be flying faster than before and the storm clouds rushed to meet her. Suddenly, her arms and legs contracted of their own accord, and she was forced into a fetal position. Her eyes closed and refused to open again. The connection between her intellect and the outward manifestation of her form seemed to have been severed, and Petri was trapped inside her own head!
Panicking, she clawed at the walls of her mind, trying to find any link to the outside world. Did the security protocols get her? Was this oblivion? The more she flailed, the more the darkness seemed to press on her. It was reminiscent of being trapped inside her own body by Rodney's drugs, and Petri thought she might go mad.
Then, suddenly, she was free. Her hearing returned and she could see the storm clouds retreating behind her. Her body continued to float above the light streams as her arms and legs jerked and thrashed against the nothingness of the rainbow. With her thoughts a jumble of confusion, Petri screamed her terror while her body continued to flounder.
Pressure built around her head and a booming voice cut through her panic. "Stop this irrational behavior right now!"
The pain cut through her fear and allowed Petri to gain control of herself. Forcing her body to come to a halt, she realized the mountain that was their destination loomed dark and foreboding above them. Rolling her eyes up to look at the hat, she screeched, "What the fuck just happened?"
"I took temporary control of your body to prevent you from engaging in any action that might have provoked the security protocols."
Petri blinked as the meaning of her guide's words penetrated her mind. A dark, hot rage built behind her eyes, but her voice remained even. "You did that to me?" she demanded.
"It was necessary to the success of my mission," replied Cappy, who seemed unaware of the explosion that was building.
With an inarticulate scream, Petri reached up to snatch the hat off her head. But Cappy clung to her skull.
Yanking hard, Petri growled, "Get off me! Get off, now! Get off!" Each repetition of the demand was punctuated with a wrenching tug against the hat. Petri thought she might end up pulling her scalp off, but she was damned if she'd let Cappy ride her head for one more second. "Get off me, now, damn you!"
Cappy held on through the torrent of her fury, waiting for her to run out of energy. When she finally began to wind down, it said, "This is a counterproductive waste of time. My mission is not completed, and I will not leave until it is."
Panting from exertion, Petri let her tired arms hang by her sides. Considering her options, she realized she had only two. She could grant the hat its victory and continue, or… "Fine. But I'm not moving one more inch until you get off my head!"
The hat sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that inches don't exist here? I just took control of your body to keep you still, why would you think I'd have any difficulty doing so to get you moving?"
Crossing her arms, Petri slowed her breathing. "You might be able to do that. But if you do, I'm not having anything to do with you or anyone else in here."
"You would give up on your friend so easily?"
"If you'd do something like that to me, then I don't think you intend to let either of us go."A portion of the gray fog seemed to shimmer and then solidify. The Vlad avatar stepped out of the mist and gave Petri his cold, close-lipped smile. "Interesting. You pushed back much sooner than I would have guessed."
She glared at him. "It's been a rough couple of days."
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