Innerscape, Part 1, Induction

Induction Day 2

Miira's second day at Innerscape began with the crash of waves and the raucous cry of seagulls.

When the AI opened the curtains she was sure she could smell brine and kelp, so close did the waves appear.

The vista, a live feed from some cliff along the drowned east coast, was not pretty, but it was interesting. A few tall structures still rose up out of the waves that battered the eroded cliff-face, but none had roofs. In time the walls would go too, clearing the way for new beaches, but for now the damage was still fresh, and very raw.

Time to get this show on the road, Miira thought as she asked the AI to inform the night staff she was awake.

Since crossing the emotional rubicon of the previous day, she had discovered she was eager to know everything about her new 'home'.

Of course the Innerscape wizards wanted to know everything about her as well, but their curiosity was more clinical. The meetings she would have over the next three days would determine not only how she would look inside Innerscape, but how she would live.

The small army of doctors, researchers, technicians, psychologists audio and graphics experts would analyze every part of her mind and body to determine what she liked and didn't like, her dreams, her aspirations, and how best to make them possible.

Much of the prelimary work had already been done via a succession of sims which recorded her responses to a range of life-like situations. Thus the researchers already knew she loved animals, and preferred real food to synthetics. They also knew her favourite colours, foods, drinks, music, art, books, and even her favourite flowers.

But politics and philosophy had not been neglected either, or her tastes in men. Miira had found the sims dealing with sex particularly difficult because she had not had a libido in a very long time. However the full-body sim suit had apparently managed to pick up enough minute, physical reactions to determine that she was over 90% hetero, with only a marginal interest in lovers of the same sex.

Those results had made her blush in a way she had not done in a great many years, and she was not looking forward to the interviews with the 'sexual interface' experts. She was, however, very much looking forward to seeing the models of the body she would inhabit, once she entered Innerscape.

The graphic designer, Stanley Fitzgerald, was supposed to be an absolute genius, and everyone thought her avatar was amazing. Except that she was not supposed to call it an avatar.

"Think of it as your new body," they all said, but Miira simply could not get her head around that idea. In the privacy of her own mind, she continued to think of her digital body as some sort of animated mannequin that would merely look like her.

Despite these reservations however, Miira had chosen her wedding holos for the reference material. She had been thirty-three when she and Gem signed their life-contract, and she knew she had never looked prettier, or happier. The Old Lady had still been alive back then, and Gem had been fit and well. They had even been planning a family. Barely a year later however-...

"Good morning Ms Tahn!" Jane chirped as she entered the room, her smile as neon as ever. "I'm glad you're awake early because we  have to get you ready for a very important test!