"Karawynn Long - Adjusting the Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Long Karawynn)

For an indeterminate time she simply returned the kiss, melting into the
familiar patterns and sensations. A warm, sexual tingle spread through her
body -- something that had only ever happened when Jason kissed her, no one
else. Then some small part of her brain began to wonder how such a thing
could possibly have been programmed, which brought her smack up against
reality. Abruptly she disengaged from the kiss and stared at the man in front
of her. He looked like Jason, moved like him, smelled like him. Even her
body had been fooled, and for a moment, her mind had forgotten . . .
"Off," she said, backing away from him. He looked at her in puzzlement
and concern. In a moment he would ask her what was the matter, and did I do
something wrong, and she couldn't bear to hear that. "Turn it off, get me
out!" she said, voice rising. She put her hands up to her eyes, pulling at
the goggles she knew were there, even though she couldn't see them, couldn't
feel them --
Abruptly they were gone, her apartment gone, and Jason . . . She blinked
slowly. A junior tech stood on her right, holding the headgear. He smiled at
her reassuringly. Another tech stood behind the episode director, who was
seated on Melanie's left. Both were watching a complex set of monitors and
terminals, and the director was speaking softly into a hand microphone. She
swiveled the chair around and smiled at Melanie.
 "I know it's a bit of a shock, coming out of it," she said
sympathetically. "Just relax for a moment."
The tech not holding the headgear left the room, reappearing after a
moment with a mug of black coffee. He held a package of sweetener up
questioningly, and Melanie shook her head. She took the mug carefully and
held it with both hands; the wires in the gloves made her grip uncertain. The
warm liquid seemed to calm her down, and she closed her eyes and sipped it
gratefully.
When she'd begun to feel a little more solid, Melanie looked up again.
"You were practically shouting when we pulled you out, you know," the director
said. "Was there a problem with the simulation?"
Melanie swallowed her coffee, shaking her head. "No. Not like that. I
just didn't expect it to be so -- well, real. It was . . . disconcerting,"
she said. Now, there was an understatement.
"Hardly anyone does expect it. We tell them, but advertising is so
outlandish and exaggerated anyway these days, no one pays us much attention."
She shrugged. "Things have advanced to the point now, there's really not any
discernible difference between the virtual world and the real one."
"I noticed . . . he smelled exactly like he used to, I mean the real
Jason used to," Melanie said. "Not just the same cologne, but his own smell."
The director nodded wisely. "Smells all seem very complex and different
to our noses, but each one can be reduced to a fairly simple chemical formula.
That's why we ask for an unwashed pillowcase or piece of clothing -- so our
lab can analyze the chemical components of his particular scent. Over ninety
percent of them are standard in all humans, and another six to seven percent
occur in all males. It was just a matter of itemizing the remaining three
percent and adding them to our basic stock."
"Oh." She wanted to ask about the kiss, too, but was all too aware of
the two male techs listening nearby. She wondered what that had looked like,
deep-kissing the air. Probably they had seen it before, or worse, but that