This is a 10-tweet relay story that @FloorKist_SciFi and I wrote.

Enjoy!

Eternity

The virtual suit fit snugly, like a diver’s wet suit. Clarice was looking for a cheap alternative to her Himalayan retreat (way too expensive!), and her Scottish highlands getaway (the pound is so high!). “Very Real” virtual reality offered an ‘out-of-this-world’ experience.

For her work in precision machinery, her company had been using augmented reality to help her detect faulty parts and support to repair them. But she had never been a ‘VR Voyager’ before. Very Real made everything sound, look and feel like a real trip, without the passport.

They called the VR room ‘The Boat’. It reminded her of a holodeck from Star Trek. After wearing the cap with built in inter-reflective glasses, she expected the theme song to start. Instead, she almost tripped. She was standing on a iron beam between two edges of a ravine.

A calm voice instructed her to calibrate her bearings. “Look up, look down, look left, look right,” just like in a video game. Then it told her to walk to the other edge of the ravine. That took some doing. She was reminded of Indiana Jones’ leap of faith in The Last Crusade.

Her armpits were moist when she reached the other side… Well, a little bit more than that, actually. Clarice hadn’t known what to expect. The only thought she had was that she needed to reset her head. That was exactly what the Voyage had promised her. Way cool immersion.

“Please stay still and remain calm.” Clarice gasped as the Boat started to fill with water. Then she held her breath as it rose over her head. Why is it that when someone tells you to remain calm, the opposite happens? She opened her eyes to sun beams illuminating the ocean.

Sparkling fish swam around her. Through the VR glove her hand felt cold and wet. “You can move now.” Wow, something seemed to push her back. The virtual water had resistance. Even her arms moved in slow-motion. Clarice had always wanted to try the neural suit in Fallout 3.

She hiked in the mountains during sunrise, looked at the planet Earth from the surface of Mars. Dancers performed around her, animals ran by her. She traveled on a meteorite. When she finished, she didn’t have a care in the world. Eternity made all her concerns seem small.

Thanks for reading!