Survivor
Dan's apartment building sat at the top of a ridge. A bike path ran along the bottom. It still seemed to be in good shape. In one direction, it ran to the Virginia Tech campus. In the other, it wound through the countryside a bit, then curved back into downtown Blacksburg. Dan thought that taking the path into town would be a good way to get an overview of this brave new world.
He climbed down the ridge. It was rather steep, but the virtual reality projection made it climbable. His shins passed through the vegetation on the slope without disturbing it. He reached the path and looked around.
It was a pleasant day in mid-May, just like in the Necroverse. Apparently Blacksburg 2010 was synchronized with the real one, time-wise and weather-wise. The plants around him were leaning as if a stiff breeze was blowing, but they were motionless, and Dan felt nothing. The branches of a nearby willow were hanging at an angle. Dan was looking at a three-dimensional still picture.
All the plants shifted suddenly. Dan fiddled with the augmented reality interface, and found a tag explaining that the map had just been updated by a satellite passing overhead. Dan started walking up the path toward town. After a few minutes the plants around him shifted again. This time the view had been updated by someone wearing augmented reality glasses in the real world. The plants began moving in realtime, swaying in the wind.
Dan spotted the source of the updates. A woman was walking along the path toward Dan. Her tag identified her as Janet Duval. As she got closer, Dan realized that she was the sociologist he'd met in the bar last night.
As they drew even closer, Dan noticed glowing letters and symbols moving across the lenses of their sunglasses. She was using augmented reality, too. Dan saw his own image "reflected" in her glasses. She could see him.
"Oooo, a ghost!" said Janet. "Oh, you're that boy that was in the bar last night."
"Boy? I'm twenty-eight, and you don't look much older," said Dan. "Or rather, I was twenty-eight, thirty-two years ago."
"I was six, thirty-two years ago," said Janet. "I have a few years on you, in terms of subjective experience."
"So, you survived the Plagues?" said Dan. "What was it like?"
"I don't remember being sick," said Janet. "I remember waking up and being surprised that it didn't hurt to breathe.
"Heh. That's what it was like when I was recovered," said Dan.
"I couldn't wake my parents up," said Janet. "They never woke up again."
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Dan.
"Yes, we all have much to be sorry about," said Janet, voice full of sadness. "At the time, I didn't really understand what had happened to them. I closed the door so I wouldn't bother them."
"The power was off. I went to the fridge for a drink. Everything inside was warm, and the milk smelled funny. I remembered when the power had been off before, during a storm. We'd eaten out of cans. So the next few weeks I lived off of Vienna sausages, baked beans, pudding, and peaches."
"Eventually, the Green Zone Defense Forces found me and put me to work for the Plutarchs."
"What, at age six?" said Dan. "They made you work, instead of sending you to school?"
"It was sort of a work-study program," said Janet.
He climbed down the ridge. It was rather steep, but the virtual reality projection made it climbable. His shins passed through the vegetation on the slope without disturbing it. He reached the path and looked around.
It was a pleasant day in mid-May, just like in the Necroverse. Apparently Blacksburg 2010 was synchronized with the real one, time-wise and weather-wise. The plants around him were leaning as if a stiff breeze was blowing, but they were motionless, and Dan felt nothing. The branches of a nearby willow were hanging at an angle. Dan was looking at a three-dimensional still picture.
All the plants shifted suddenly. Dan fiddled with the augmented reality interface, and found a tag explaining that the map had just been updated by a satellite passing overhead. Dan started walking up the path toward town. After a few minutes the plants around him shifted again. This time the view had been updated by someone wearing augmented reality glasses in the real world. The plants began moving in realtime, swaying in the wind.
Dan spotted the source of the updates. A woman was walking along the path toward Dan. Her tag identified her as Janet Duval. As she got closer, Dan realized that she was the sociologist he'd met in the bar last night.
As they drew even closer, Dan noticed glowing letters and symbols moving across the lenses of their sunglasses. She was using augmented reality, too. Dan saw his own image "reflected" in her glasses. She could see him.
"Oooo, a ghost!" said Janet. "Oh, you're that boy that was in the bar last night."
"Boy? I'm twenty-eight, and you don't look much older," said Dan. "Or rather, I was twenty-eight, thirty-two years ago."
"I was six, thirty-two years ago," said Janet. "I have a few years on you, in terms of subjective experience."
"So, you survived the Plagues?" said Dan. "What was it like?"
"I don't remember being sick," said Janet. "I remember waking up and being surprised that it didn't hurt to breathe.
"Heh. That's what it was like when I was recovered," said Dan.
"I couldn't wake my parents up," said Janet. "They never woke up again."
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Dan.
"Yes, we all have much to be sorry about," said Janet, voice full of sadness. "At the time, I didn't really understand what had happened to them. I closed the door so I wouldn't bother them."
"The power was off. I went to the fridge for a drink. Everything inside was warm, and the milk smelled funny. I remembered when the power had been off before, during a storm. We'd eaten out of cans. So the next few weeks I lived off of Vienna sausages, baked beans, pudding, and peaches."
"Eventually, the Green Zone Defense Forces found me and put me to work for the Plutarchs."
"What, at age six?" said Dan. "They made you work, instead of sending you to school?"
"It was sort of a work-study program," said Janet.