“When you are in the simulation, Cosette, you will be viewing everything from the perspective of the agent within which we have implanted our sensor intercepts,” Dr. Markov explained.

“Agent?” Cosette asked. “You mean I will see the simulated world through some woman’s eyes?”

“Well, more than just her eyes,” Dr. Markov clarified. “Touches, smells, tastes, too. All her senses and, also, all her thoughts… at least, those processed through her ego.”

“Pain?” Cosette asked, her eyebrows raised.

“Don’t worry. You will be safe. This is not the Matrix,” Dr. Markov laughed. “And besides, we have re-engineered her body so she is mostly indestructible. And, better yet, she’s solar powered now!”



Dr. Markov stepped over to an apparatus that looked very much like a dentist’s chair. “Why don’t you take it for a quick spin? See how it feels. We’ll run a few minutes, then pull you out to make sure all the connections and everything is working. Faelin will strap you in.”

Cosette took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves, glancing briefly at the metal helmet resting on the small table next to the chair. “Okay! Let’s do it!”

Faelin was a tall, athletic woman with long brunette hair. She helped Cosette settle into the chair. Unlike a standard dentist’s chair, there were separate shallow channels for each of Cosette’s legs. As she lay back, Cosette placed her arms on the rests. Each of her hands lay on the corresponding half of an ergonomic, split qwerty keyboard.



As yet, there was no headrest.

“I’ll need to strap you in,” Faelin said, with an Irish lilt. 

Cosette smiled nervously in response. Faelin was a very attractive woman. She filled out her standard form fitting Simuverse company bodysuit much better than Cosette did.

“The first time in can be a little intense,” Faelin said. “Just remember… you are not the agent. You are here, in the lab. If you start to panic, use the keyboard to enter the escape sequence. Also, try to remember to log as much as possible as events proceed. This is not a carnival ride. This is science.” 

Faelin swung an enclosure cup over each of Cosette’s hands. Foam along the rims of the cups pressed firmly around Cosette’s wrists. She tried to raise her right arm with no success. The cups restrained her effectively. 

“Sometimes, especially when you are new, you may unconsciously physically react to the trials that your agent is experiencing. These straps will keep you from flailing about and injuring yourself,” Faelin explained as she ratchetted padded restraints around Cosette’s ankles and just above her knees. 

Faelin smiled down at Cosette. “Take a deep breath.”

Cosette didn’t realize how heavily she had started to breathe. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She took an exaggerated breath in through her nose.

“Good,” Faelin said. “You’re safe. Let it all the way out now.”

Cosette pursed her lips and blew out.

“Keep letting it out…” Faelin encouraged. “And, good!”

Faelin pulled the final strap tightly about Cosette’s torso just under her breasts. She felt her back forced more deeply into the padded chair. As the strap tightened, there were a series of clicks, locking the strap in place.

“Okay. Let’s settle you into your helmet!” Faelin said.

Simuverse was a multi-trillion dollar high tech company. Cosette had been thrilled to get a job. Once accepted, she then had to apply for the opportunity to work with a simulation. Training for the position required both physical and mental conditioning and a vast array of psychological tests.

Her dreams came true, when she was accepted into Simuverse’s Interverse program. Two weeks after acceptance, with her affairs in order and her head freshly shaved (“It will grow back”, she comforted her twin sister during a tearful good-bye), Cosette set out on a six month tour of duty to the isolated base one hundred meters below the frozen tundra on the Northern Slope.

And, now, here she was! Faelin was dabbing some cool gel on her bald head to improve electrical connectivity.

“Open,” Faelin said, holding a dark pouch in front of Cosette’s lips.

Cosette opened her mouth and allowed Faelin to press the mouthpiece into place. 

“Now, bite.” Faelin said. “ And, just keep biting…”

Faelin then began to press a plug into Cosette’s left ear. “You won’t be able to open your mouth once the helmet is on. That’s a good thing because it will prevent you from accidentally biting your tongue. Okay?” She pressed the second ear plug into Cosette’s right ear and her world went silent.

Faelin stepped away for a moment. There was a clicking sound from the plugs. “Hello?” Faelin said, her voice now seemingly centered in the middle of Cosette’s head. “Can you hear me?”

Cosette nodded. 

“You can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to raise and lower the volume,” Faelin said. She played a series of tones through the plugs until Cosette was satisfied with a good sound level.

“Okay. Is everything good?” Faelin asked. “Now I just need to apply the stereo eye monitors and then we’ll slip the helmet on to hold everything in place. You may feel a little claustrophobic when I do that, but you should feel a light, cool breeze on your nose. You will be able to breathe.”

“I won’t be claustrophobic,” Cosette thought to herself, and she continued to try to calm her breathing.

Each of the eye monitors had a padded rim that pressed firmly into the flesh around her eyes. The pads had a bit of tackiness to make them attach well, and when appropriately positioned, Cosette was left in complete darkness.

Next, a slippery silicone or latex hood was pushed over her head, squeezing as the more narrow base passed over her nose and mouth, finally settling comfortably, yet tightly, around her neck. 

She sensed something being adjusted between her lips, something being screwed in place. 

“If you push your tongue up, you can get a short spray of water in your mouth in case you become thirsty,” Faelin’s voice said in Cosette’s head. “In the future, when you are doing full days, we will use a cath so you can remain in the simulation for longer periods.”

Cosette felt a uniform pressure settle around her head. She felt a series of clicks in various places. She could envision in her mind the metal helmet that now encapsulated her entire head. Finally, she felt her head pulled backwards and a final resounding vibration. When she tried to lift her head, she found she couldn’t move at all.

At the same time, she began to feel the cool, fresh smelling air gently blow against her nose, and she took a deep breath. She had not realized that she had been holding it.

The blackness before her eyes shifted slightly. 

“Try out your keyboard,” Faelin said inside her head.

Cosette nervously typed and as she did the words “helo wprld” floated in her field of vision for a moment, then faded away. 

“Let me know that you saw the words, by typing ‘yes’,” Faelin said.

“Yes,” Cosette typed, and again, the word lit up her vision for a few moments.

“I’m going to attach some electrodes that will allow us to monitor your heart,” Faelin said. Cosette felt a tugging at the zipper of her body suit near her neck. As the zipper descended she sensed the cooler air of the lab flow across her exposed breast. “If your heart rate becomes too high we will pull you out of the simulation.”

Faelin’s touch was gentle as she placed a series of sticky electrodes around her breast and over her heart. Surprisingly, Faelin did not zip Cosette’s bodysuit closed. Cosette was not too concerned. There were no men in the base. Showers were communal. Public nudity was not uncommon.

“Okay. We’re all ready. I’m going to start the feed from the simulation in a moment. Once you are in the agent, I believe that she will be in the process of waking up after we implanted the sensor intercepts. She will probably be confused…”

Cosette lay waiting. She was trying to get her breath under control. She was nervous, but excited.

“Are you ready?” Faelin said, inside her head. “Have fun!”

The feel of the chair and the straps that held Cosette faded from her senses. 

Suddenly, she felt she was swinging in the air. Cosette was in the simulation!

<>--+-

When I awoke, it must have been very early in the morning, long before the sun rose. I could not open my eyes to see. Something solid and uncompromising pressed against my eyelids preventing my lashes from any sort of fluttering. I did not have the strength to bring my hand to my face to investigate this obstruction. I did not have the strength to move at all.

On the other hand, I knew it was early morning by the sounds around me. I heard birds singing - standing boldly by newly claimed dwellings, calling for partners, giving hints to their strength and boldness.

But I was confused... These were habits of birds in late Spring, perhaps during the Flower Moon. Try as I might, I could not remember anything since several moons before. Indeed, it was the Hungry Moon and we were happy and optimistic, for our supplies were abundant and we knew Spring was soon upon us. We huddled in our trees wrapped together under fur and feather, flesh to flesh, Woodlark singing a pretty song of love and possibility.

Where have I been? Where am I now? I drifted across my life memories desperately searching for some path to take me from then to now, but there was nothing.

I returned to the basics in order to insure that my mind still worked. My name is Summer. I am a member of an Aderyn Family Tribe. I am a gatherer who supports the perimeter warriors. I love Woodlark.

I tried to concentrate on my body. My eyes were held closed. I was bent. Folded. Crumpled in a heap. I was a pile of numbness perched upon a solid, smooth surface. My shoulder and hip pressed against something narrow, cold, and perfect. Too perfect. It was not wood or stone... dur, most likely, but dur, more perfect than could be fashioned by Aderyn hands, even with the technology of the Colony. 

I pulled air into my lungs through my nose. It was sharp and crisp. Its coldness burned. I should have been shivering, but I was not. I was simply numb and weak. 

I sought to open my mouth and lick my lips - to taste the morning air, but my mouth did not respond. When I thought of my tongue, I only felt a heaviness.

A small panic rippled through me, I was alarmed enough to tremble slightly, but no more. I began to imagine that I was dead.

Maybe we had been attacked that night as Woodlark and I had been sleeping. Maybe I had been killed. Perhaps, broken and unconscious, I have been crawling through the wilderness between the worlds as the moon rose and set again and again. Maybe I had found my body again, but my spirit's wings were lost leaving me attached to a rotting, lifeless corpse.

My panic exercised my lungs and cold air hissed into my head through my nose. I felt a thump in my breast - a heart beat. I must be alive.

A breeze began to pick up and I could smell life around me. Fresh green plants, supple with the Spring rains. I could smell the fragrance of Spring flowers on the wind and the young leaves on the trees whispered as they played. I began to feel my hair brushing softly against my numb flesh.

My arms felt as though they were wrenched behind me. My legs were doubled. My head hung lazily against my knee. I could not move.

A dizziness trickled through my mind. Panic made an effort to surge into me again, I wanted to grasp for something to hold on to. I felt my world rock ever so slightly in the breeze as though I were too far out on a limb.

"Breathe, Summer," I thought to myself. "Breathe."

I thought of Woodlark. I thought of her beautiful long hair - its woody brown color occasionally highlighted by strands as white as fresh snow. I thought of her big, brown eyes. I thought of her voice, her songs. I envisioned the way her eyes would close as she sang songs to entertain the family, so lost in the moment and passion of the story. I prayed to the Goddesses that she was alright - not stolen or taken or killed like me. Not a ghost like me.

The covering that held my eyes closed was impermeable. It revealed nothing. On the other hand, my ears could hear the change in the voices of the birds. I could feel the way that the breeze strengthened and stroked my numbed flesh and lapped at my hair. The sun was rising and before long I felt fingers of her love tickle my naked flesh so, so faintly. With each touch, I thought that I sensed life seep into me.

Hidden amongst the calls of the morning birds I heard a whistle that only an Aderyn would be able to detect. My heart began to pound again and I struggled to shift in my skin. It was a call of an Aderyn. I wanted to respond, to whistle, but my lips would not purse. "I'm here!" I wanted to cry, even though I would have been disciplined harshly had I done so. For the call was a warning signal demanding caution and silence.

"I'm here!" I wanted to scream. My body twitched under the command of all my efforts. There was a gentle tinkle and a shift of light weight across my scalp.

I stopped breathing, straining to listen. I would never hear my sisters if they did not wish to be heard. I could only pray that they had found me, that they had not simply passed me by.

Finally, I heard a call - a request for a response. Morning air heaved into my lungs with determination as I fought to get my body to listen to my commands. My elbows shifted a little. My head lolled a bit. My thigh muscle lurched.

The call came forth again followed quickly by another. A second caller. It was Woodlark! I recognized her whistle, her tone. She issued my code over the breeze. I could sense desperation, but perhaps that was me.

Woodlark called again!

I struggled to move. Each moment that the sun caressed my numbed flesh, I felt strength returning, but not at a fast pace. I was rocking a little now. My shoulders demanded my lifeless arms to respond. To come forth from behind my back and wave towards the source of my lover's call. I pulled with all my might with my shoulders. There was a resistance. Something held my hands and my wrists where they were. I heard the tinkling sound around me like plaintive droplets of rain playing upon the surface of a mountain pool. The sound was lighter and brighter than cattails in the wind.

The Aderyn were silent again. I knew what they were doing. There were probably six of them, four warriors and two gatherers on a patrol. I had been on many such patrols before. Caution along the perimeter is wise. 

But could they not see me? Why didn't they approach? They knew that this heap of flesh belonged to me. Woodlark had issued my code. Why didn't they come?

Maybe there was danger in the area. I froze at the thought and struggled to listen. Morning birds still sang. They had not been disturbed. I concentrated on the direction bird calls came from seeking but failing to locate a hole in the sound terrain where an enemy may be nested.

Finally, I heard a whisper sailing upon the breeze soft as dandelion spurs. The whisper passed by me not far away at all. If my cheeks were able to obey my emotions they would have swollen into a smile. It was Gannet! It had to be!

Gannet had emerged from her shell ceremony well kissed by the Goddesses. She had been gifted with a pair of the most beautiful wings. What started as a downy fuzz along her neck erupted into beautiful long, strong feathers the color of summer clouds, tipped with the darkest parts of night. The wings extended radiantly out from her torso on limbs that were once arms. Certainly, her human legs and feet were a poor substitute for the hands she no longer bore. But that just did not matter when she caught wind and lifted into the sky.

I struggled to move and rock in ways that most loudly rattled the tiny chimes around me, hoping that she would see that I was alive.

I heard the whisper of her wings again and she posted my code towards me. I frantically pulled at my muscles and rocked in my flesh. My shoulders jerked around and my head bumped up against a cold, hard, dur structure. The chimes around me sang a song of staccato notes. Some extent of cold flexible rope or vine shifted across my scalp. More roped chimes slithered and dropped from my thigh with a rattle.

I tried to straighten my legs, but they remained doubled. Like my hands, they too, felt restrained somehow.

Silence again. Why did they not come to me? Maybe I was perched in some dangerous spot.

I lay as quietly as I could trying to control the sound of my breath - trying to control the thumping in my chest. Listening. I felt the sun continue to warm me.

My world began to shake a little. Soon I heard the slightest rustle of flesh grasping smooth surfaces. And finally the sound was above me. My world tilted to the side a bit and remained at that angle. I could smell skin, warmth. I struggled against my inner malaise, succeeding even, in briefly pulling my torso away from my thighs. It was tiring though and I was trembling. Finally, I collapsed back against the bars of dur in a quiet rattle of chimes.

"Oh..." a whispered voice said. "Summer? Is that you, Summer?" 

The voice was right next to me. It was Firecrest. "Of course it's me! Can't you tell?" I thought. Outwardly though, I simply thrashed a bit. And rattled. I was feeling stronger though, slowly. Happier. They were going to save me! But, terrified too.

I felt Firecrest's hand brush my shoulder briefly followed by a quick gasp and a distressed moan. 

"Oh, Summer, what has become of you?"

My heart began beating like the flapping of a frightened flock. What is wrong with me? Why is Firecrest afraid? I tried to moan, but I could not even issue any sort of vibration within my chest. I had no voice. It had been robbed.

"Woodlark is down below. She will be so happy to see you," Firecrest paused a moment before she finished her sentence. "...Summer." Was she unsure who I was? 

I felt her hands on my shoulder. "Can you sit up?" I struggled to pull my torso up. 

"There you are...," Firecrest encouraged. As I sat upright, I felt the sun wash across my chest. Its warmth comforted me. I imagined its glow and willed my flesh to soak it in.

I felt Firecrest's hand on my face.

"Oh..." she whispered. "Poor Summer... Careful!" I felt a moment of dizziness and felt my head bang back against a couple of dur bars.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded.

"Who did this to you? How long have you been hanging in this cage?" she asked.

Cage? 

I heard a whistle above us.

"That's Kite," Firecrest explained. I nodded my head again. I had recognized her call as well. She was annoyed, mad, angry, as always. "Kite is being Kite. Don't worry, Summer. We'll get you down in no time."

My world began to rock and shake a bit, and I heard Firecrest quietly climb away above me.

The nature of the motion changed. I felt sun and shadow shift across my skin and heard a gentle clanking sound far above me. Each clank was followed by a sharp shake of my perch. 

"Summer!" Woodlark whispered. Her voice was below me and I twisted towards its notes. A strike of sound rang out and my neck snapped back. I had hit my head on one of the dur bars. The bar would have bruised my temple had the workings of my eye coverings not protected me for they seemed to be not made of fur or woven cloth. They were as hard as the dur of the bars.

Woodlark's hand brushed my face briefly. I heard the sound of rocks and gravel crunching underneath me. My cage settled onto the ground.

I looked blindly towards Woodlark, willing her to understand that I loved her. Pleading her to make everything right again. Now that I was found.

"My love, your skin is so cold. Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Woodlark's song was soothing even though the notes that she used did not quite fit together as she sang her concerns. She was frightened. 

I nodded my head. Yes. I can hear you. I felt her pull my head against the bars of the cage and between the gap I felt the pelts of her tunic. I felt her warmth. I felt her chest seize and begin to shake. She was crying.

Woodlark's lips pressed against my cheek and her hand stroked my hair. Her fingers played cautiously across some rigid structure at my temple - part of the apparatus that held my eyes closed. 

I leaned my face into Woodlark. I love her so much. I was overwhelmed by the need to tell her again and again. Why did I not tell her more often before? "I love you, Woodlark. I love you!" When they finally freed me from my bondage I would wrap my arms around her and tell her how much I loved her again and again until she was so certain that she would be complete for the remainder of our lives. "I love you!"

Woodlark was humming in a low whisper. "Summer, I'm so glad you're back. We'll get you out of this cage in no time. Look! There is a ring of keys on the floor. We will figure out which lock they go to and remove all these dur ropes from you. Everything will be okay!"

Her body continued to shake and her voice trembled. I could smell the sweat of fear on her. I wondered why she did not start to free me.

"Get away from the demon!" The voice was angry. It was far louder than what was allowed when patrolling. It was Kite. I heard her footfalls, and those of Firecrest as well.

"It's Summer!" Woodlark exclaimed, pulling me tightly to her again. "Look at her! And here!" She bent away from me for a moment and I heard the ringing of dur. "Keys! We need to figure out how to get her free!"

"We will do no such thing!" Kite responded. "Summer is dead. You were at the ceremony of passing, Woodlark! You were there when we lifted her spirit off. This is not Summer."

"But look," Woodlark sang out desperately. "This is she! We must unbind her!"

"No, fool! Get away from the demon!" Kite's voice was low and menacing. "We will wait for Gyr and Peregrine to return with poles and we'll take her back to the compound as she is. The Supreme Aderyn will decide. Don't touch it! We need to put arrows into it and gut it with spears to free what the demon has of Summer. We need to kill it!”

<>--+-

“We’re pulling you out, now!”

It was Faelin’s voice. 

Cosette no longer felt crumpled up in a small metal cage, bound in chains. She was once again strapped in the chair, dressed in her Simuverse body suit. She was no longer in the simulation. 

Cosette sucked in a quick breath of air. 

“Everything okay?” Faelin asked.

Cosette typed as fast as she could. “They are like birds!”