From: paalde@stud.cs.uit.no (Paal Ditlefsen Ekran)
Subject: Cyber date...
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 15:05:05 GMT

--

Written by Paal D. Ekran, Tromsoe 23. November 1993.

The events and characters described in this story are fictitious. Any
similarity to actual events or persons, living or dead, is unintentional
and purely coincidental.

Dedicated Barbara Abernahty.

--

                                 CYBER DATE

  Jacked on to the grid again, I hope she is there. Path: baberna@cse.psu.edu
Transferring.  I arrived at her place.
  - Hi Barbara, I greeted her, as she opened her door.
  - Hi, she replied.
  She moved towards me, kissed me. I felt a distant smell of her Charlie
perfume. I gave her a rose. She smiled.
  - Where do you want to go tonight? She asked.
  - Let us watch a good movie.
  - I have heard that Net Police v2.0 is out now, she said.
  - No, I want to see an old movie, maybe a western.
  - What is a western? She asked.
  I laughed a bit and told her to wait and see. She wore her magenta jacket,
she took a snap look in the mirror, kissed me again, and off we went.

  We were flying above City-II. The air was moisty, not too cold. The park,
the river and the main street were all moving by, beneath us. I remembered
when I was young, when all transfers were directly, instant. It was a lot
faster but moving became boring and everywhere became nowhere or more exactly
where you were. With the new options you could fly, walk, swim or whatever
you wanted. Moving in Cyberspace became more realistic, and you got restored
the feeling of distance.

  We arrived at the cinema. I browsed through some old movies and at last I
found "The good, the bad and the ugly" an Italian-Spanish western from 1967,
directed by Serigo Leone. The man at the cinema laughed and asked me if I
was a fan of old movies. I nodded. He charged me 20 credits and asked if we
wanted to watch the movie alone. I looked at Barbara, her face looked like a
yes, and I nodded again to the man. The room was empty, 8 rows with at least
12 empty seats in each row. I sat down in the center of the room. Barbara
came along with popcorn and two cokes. She smiled at me. I put my right arm
around her, while I grabbed the popcorn box with my left arm. The movie
started.

  When the movie ended, Barbara looked at me with her piercing brown eyes,
kissed me and asked if we could go to the place in the movie.
  - Sorry darling we can not. They made the movie in the real world, a long
time before the net, I said.
  - They should make a place like that on the net. A western town with guns
and bad guys, and you could be my hero, she said. Smiling.
  I laughed a bit, and agreed. She told me that she was hungry.

  Some minutes later we were in a cab heading for a restaurant. She looked
at me with a peculiar face.
  - Will you stay with me forever? She asked.
  I looked at her. I felt helpless, and I could not find out what was
troubling her mind.
  - Barbara, I love you and I will always be with you, I replied.
  Watching the streets from a cab seemed strange. I knew that transferring
to the restaurant would only take seconds if we wished, still she insisted
on taking a cab. It started to rain. Through the window of the cab I caught
a glimpse of some cops beating a hobo.

  The cab drove by an Italian restaurant.
  - Stop, said Barbara.
  The cab stopped, and I paid the man and went into the restaurant. Barbara
had already found a table when I entered. I took of my coat and sat down
beside her. Her beautiful face shone in the light from a candle. A droid
came and received our order. She looked at me and asked if I was happy.
  - Yes, why are you asking? I questioned.
  - I just want to make sure you are happy with me. You know, I was dating a
guy before you, and one day he just left. I do not know why, he just went
off-line and never connected again, she said.
  - I have no idea of leaving you. Why should I? I love you above all, you
are all I want, I said.
  The droid came with a delicious looking Pizza. We ate, without talking.

  Afterwards we walked back to her place. On the outside of her house we
were standing for a moment, looking at each other.
  - Would you like to come in? She interrupted.
  I nodded and followed her in where her parrot greeted us by telling us
that we should shut the fuck up. I laughed, she claimed that it was its last
owner who had learned it to swear. Then she put a blanket over its cage.
  - Would you like a cop of hot cacao? She asked.
  - Yes, please. I replied.
  She went into her kitchen and started her food-maker.

  Later we were sitting in her bed talking about everything, our lives,
plans for the future and finally she fell asleep in my arms. I kept looking
at her. She was so beautiful, her lovely dark brown hair shone in the
contrast of the blue-white pillow. She had closed her eyes. I wondered how
she looked like in reality, and if she knew that I was a program.

--