Amnesty Program Ch. 05

"Wow- um," Emily said, "hardware meets electronics store. Does this stuff do anything?"

Nathan smiled, "Well, it sure isn't bolted to the walls for beauty. In a final installation, it would all be invisible, but I'm doing research here and I need to get at the guts of the system."

"What does it do?"

"It makes you feel like you're somewhere else. It's easier to show you than to explain it. Take off your shoes."

Emily slipped her heels off and kicked them over by the couch. The rug felt good on her feet. "Why is everything white?" she asked.

"It's so I can start with a neutral atmosphere. Stand there in the middle of the rug. That's the sweet spot. Close your eyes and think of a place you like."

Emily closed her eyes. "The beach."

Nathan typed something into a keyboard at the equipment rack. "Which beach?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Well," he said, and she could hear a smile in his voice, "this would be the beach at San Francisco."

Sounds began to play on the speakers, distant traffic at first from the rear speakers, then waves, much closer and in front of Emily. Then seagulls, wind, and faint sounds of airliners taking off. She could sense a diffuse light through her closed eyelids, like an overcast day. Then a wind rushed out of the air conditioning ducts, smelling vaguely salty, and freezing.

"Gah! that's cold!" She gasped, dodging out of the center of the room where the air ducts were aimed.

Nathan laughed. "San Francisco is always cold, especially at night. Now you pick a beach- one that you like."

Emily frowned at him, but said "Huntington Beach. In the late morning."

Nathan typed some instructions into the equipment rack. "It takes a minute to reset- neutralize the smells and bring the room back to the starting point."

"I'm still cold," Emily said, wrapping herself with her arms. "Don't do that again."

"Oh- I can help with that right away. Go back to the center of the room and I'll warm you up." Nathan pushed a fader up on a lighting console and a very hot lamp blazed in the middle of the room.

Emily put her bare foot into the pool of light, tentatively, then moved so she was completely in the beam. She closed her eyes and purred, soaking up the heat.

"How did you make it smell like that?" Emily said, her eyes still closed.

"I built a smell synthesizer. It's actually fairly crude, but it has twenty two core smells that I can combine to make a few million smells. Most of those are useless, but I have a couple thousand in my database that are good for environments. The delivery system is way back in the ducts so there's no hissing in the room."

"So how does Huntington Beach smell different than San Francisco?"

"Oh, the most obvious thing at first would be sunscreen. They don't need it in San Francisco, so you'll notice a little coconut in the air along with the ocean smell. The traffic is quieter, and a lot more sounds of people on the beach." A soft bing came from the computer in the rack. "It will be a lot warmer too. Eighty five degrees, which is warmer than the average, but I feel bad about San Francisco." He tapped a key and the sounds started fading in.

Emily heard the ocean first, larger waves than before, and then seagulls, children playing, faint, occasional traffic sounds. Each sound seemed to come from a real space around her, and there was a sense of distance. The seagulls seemed to be all around her. The sun lamp stayed on, dimming just a little, and a warm, gentle breeze that smelled just like Nathan had said it would, ocean smells with a hint of coconut.

Emily sighed and smiled. She felt her shoulders relax, her breathing slow down. It was hot now, deliciously, and she felt beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She opened her eyes and looked over at Nathan. "I could get used to this," she said, but the illusion of being on the beach disappeared as soon as she opened her eyes. The white room with all the equipment was too distracting.

Nathan saw the look on her face- the evaporating dream. "You have to keep your eyes closed. I use a translucent blindfold when I'm working on presets. I can get a feel for the lighting without getting distracted." He hit a key and the sun lamp went out and the room cooled again to a neutral seventy two degrees.

Emily shivered a little at the change in temperature. The dress was thin and did little to insulate her from the cooling air. "It's easy to forget you're not standing in a room. Are there other places to try?"

"Give me a list of places you'd like to experience and I'll set them up in a queue. I'll sit with you and step through them with my remote control."

"Anywhere?" Emily thought for a moment. "the Amazon river, a backyard barbecue around a pool, a sidewalk café in Paris."

Nathan nodded as she rattled off her list, taking notes. "There's a blindfold in the drawer over there behind the chair. You don't have to put it on yet - I still have to get things ready."

Nathan felt Emily come up next to him and watch what he was doing. He felt the softness of her breast against the back of his arm.

"How does this work?" she asked, her face lit up by the screen.

Nathan swallowed. "This is the user interface that syncs everything up and pulls the specifications for each environment from the database. Right now I'm making up a backyard barbecue- I didn't already have a preset for that, so I'm putting together a Texas carnival with a swimming pool. I have to readjust the sounds, especially because there wouldn't be the same kind of screaming in a back yard as at a carnival."

"I changed my mind," Emily said, "I'd like a brothel. A Texas brothel."

Nathan grinned as he kept typing. "As much as I'd like to do that, I don't have the appropriate media and I haven't done any research. I don't have any clue what a Texas brothel might smell like. I'm almost done with the barbecue though."

Emily shrugged. "Your loss. I thought we could play a little game, but no."

Nathan was silent for a moment as he finished the last touches on the barbecue preset. "How much of an exhibitionist are you?"

Emily squinted at him. "How can I answer that? Seven? Three point three?"

Nathan took her hand and led her to the center of the carpet. "Let's do an experiment." He got two chairs and put them next to each other. He sat Emily on one and sat next to her. "Blindfold on," he said, and hit a button on his remote control.

Emily put the blindfold on just as the sounds of tropical birds and outboard motors faded in. The blindfold was made of a soft white plastic, padded around the edges with something soft and smooth. She could see light and darkness, color impressions, but no details. The sun lamp burned hot, and the air coming out of the vents was humid, almost dripping with moisture. A rich smell of foliage filled the room and Emily started to sweat almost immediately.

She turned her head to where Nathan was and reached for his hand. He took her hand and held it. "The first three presets are set for five minutes. The last one will run until I stop it."

"Five minutes! I'm going to melt."

"Relax. Your body will adjust. Enjoy the feelings. Pay attention to the details, to the sounds around you. I'm the only one that needs to see."

Emily suddenly felt exposed. She was blindfolded, listening, sweating. She couldn't see him but he was looking at her in her black clinging dress, and nothing else.

"This is a game. My game, not your brothel game. Please trust me." He held her hand. "I am going to tell you the truth, but the room is going to lie to you. Fun lies. I've added some surprises. You can make it all stop any time you want."

Emily licked her lips. She nodded. "Okay. What do I do?"

"Nothing. Sit, feel enjoy. Talk with me."

The sounds of a river surrounded them, small lapping against a dugout canoe, a distant splash of a fish flopping out of the water, an immense murmur of shallow rapids.

"When you sat on the table in front of me tonight," Nathan said, "you put your feet on either side of me."

Emily's mouth grinned a little.

"How much did you think I could see?"

"I wasn't worried about what you could see."

Nathan leaned over and kissed her just under her ear. She drew in a breath. Her skin felt hot, slick. His tongue had touched her neck, briefly. He had tasted her sweat.

"What were you worried about?"

Emily bit her lip. She could hear parrots, something big rustling in the jungle off to her right. "I was worried about what you could smell."

Some sort of a large bird called out in the jungle and there were hundreds of answering calls. Nathan touched his nose to her shoulder, she heard him breathing her in. He lifted her long hair from the back of her neck, breathed.

"Please," she said, "this is..."

"Shhh."

She felt his forehead against her chin, he breathed. She touched her knees together. He knelt down in front of her. Something in the jungle roared. She felt two of his fingers against the inside of her left knee. She let him push them apart. His cheek touched the inside of her right knee. He breathed.

The sound of a passing motorboat rose and faded. "You smell wonderful."

Emily shifted in her seat. Nathan sat again next to her, his hand on her thigh.

"Your nipples don't hide under that dress."

She turned towards him slightly, then back. "I know."

"Nothing hides under that dress."

An animal voice called out, echoing over the water, a monkey perhaps, and a flight of birds close overhead, Emily could hear their feathers beat the air.

"The Amazon is going to go away now," Nathan said, "and the room is going to reset."

Emily could see the light dim to a low glow through the blindfold. The heat stopped and a cool, dry breeze blew across her skin, chilling her. The doorbell rang, startling her and she started to reach for the blindfold, but Nathan's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Listen," he said.

She heard a conversation through the door, laughter, then the door opened and a few people walked in, closed the door behind them. They whispered, indistinct words, and she heard them sit around her on the couches and chairs. There were four, she thought, she caught a whiff of a sweet perfume and the sound of a woman's voice to her left. A man laughed quietly. She heard ice tinkle in a drink. The sound of someone opening a beer came from her right, where the kitchen was. Nathan kept his hand on her knee throughout.

Another woman's voice bubbled to her right, giggling briefly and then sipping, a whiff of whisky.

Nathan brushed her cheek with the tips of his fingers, making her shiver, then he put his arm around her. She rested her head against his shoulder, gathering warmth from him. She put her hand on his thigh.

"Tell me the story of how we met," Nathan said, winding a strand of her hair around his finger.

"What?" Emily whispered, "now?"

"It's just me. Tell me."

"I went down on you." Emily said, quietly, "I didn't even know your name."

She felt the other people in the room, could hear all of the small noises of them, but there was no comment.

"Did you enjoy it?"

Emily shook her head. "No. Not then."

The light came up, sunlight, and the air was balmy with summer. The chlorine smell of the pool filled the room, but was soon overpowered by the smoke of a barbecue. Children were laughing, splashing in the pool. There were adults around her, having conversations about sports, about shopping. The hint of whisky disappeared and a light coconut scent replaced it- the smell of sunscreen again. Emily struggled with herself. Had there been anyone else in the room besides Nathan at all? It felt like there were people all around her.

"So tell me, Emily," Nathan's voice matched the outdoors party feel, "did you think about it later? Going down on me?"

Emily nodded, imagining the faces turning to hear her response.

"What was that like?"

Emily pursed her lips. "I fantasized about it. I wished I could have finished. I wished you hadn't been such a damn gentleman."

His lips against hers surprised her, warm, sunny like the party, smiling. When she reached out again for him, he was gone. Children screamed in the pool, splashed.

"Did you masturbate to that memory?" His lips were right by her ear. "I did."

She caught his face with her hands and kissed him, half rising out of her chair. He embraced her, his hands on the skin of her back, pulling at the edges of the dress. She pressed herself against him. "I rubbed myself raw thinking about your cock in my mouth."

"I don't like this party," he gasped into her mouth, and kissed her again. "Let's go to the next one."

The pool smell disappeared, the children silenced, and Emily found herself clinging to Nathan, strangely afraid he would disappear like the rest of the illusions.

She felt the room change back to neutral again. The clink of drinks, the whispered conversation. It sounded like two women were on the couch to her left, one telling the other a story. The two men sounded like they were in the kitchen. She heard the refrigerator door open, close.

Emily had her face buried in Nathan's neck, smelling him, knowing he, at least, was real. His hand was on her back, under the edge of her dress.

"I want you," she said into his shoulder. "I want you."

"Mmm. Yes. I'd like that. Finish this with me, though. Sit now and listen, feel this place. It's one of my favorites."

Emily sat, reluctantly, and felt an urban setting materializing around her. She smelled wet concrete, roasted garlic, fresh bread, coffee. The air was full of conversation, French, all of it, and the small sounds of pigeons. Traffic was close, and sometimes almost loud enough to drown out the surrounding conversations. Silverware clinked against plates, and in the distance, a church bell rang.

Nathan let the impression settle in. The temperature was perfect, comfortable. He remembered recording the media for this environment in Paris, one of the most peaceful afternoons of his life.

Emily let the illusion take her. She listened to diners, to traffic, to a small breeze in the tree over the café. The smells changed in intensity, coffee becoming strong, then drifting away as the smell of roasted vegetables wafted over her. There were conversations all around her. She felt like the restaurant was packed, fifty or sixty people all there on the sidewalk. When Nathan knelt in front of her again, she wanted to pull back at first. Too many people. She let herself go though. She let the reality and the illusion come together in her mind. He pushed her knees apart again and she gripped the chair with her fingers. She felt his hair brushing up her left thigh, his lips brushing her right. His tongue touched her skin and there was a hush around her. The people seemed there, but not speaking, like they were watching.

Her dress was bunching up, higher and she sank herself towards Nathan's lips, spreading for him. He took the folds of her into his mouth all at once, gentle and hot. She felt his tongue swirl once and she arched her back, one hand in his hair, one hand holding to the chair so she wouldn't slide off altogether. He licked slowly through her center, listening to her breathing, the sounds she didn't know she was making. He listened for something in Paris too, something he knew was coming. He licked her again, wide and soft, curling his tongue through her, drawing moisture from her, and sighs, and then he heard it, the accidental quiet pluck of violin strings and he knew the street musicians were about to start.

Emily was lost in Paris, in Nathan's tongue, in the public space, intimate, feeling watched and played. The music started so gently, she almost thought it was her own mind making music out of the delicious things Nathan was doing to her with his tongue, then it was close, the quartet playing just for them, something springlike, light. Nathan had her left knee over his shoulder now, and he pressed into her, his tongue hard and insistent one moment, and hot liquid the next. She let her head fall back and she swam in the sensation until the edge of his tongue ran along her clitoris. Her head jerked up and now she had both hands in Nathan's hair.

"Ohh yes!" She breathed, "Yes!"

He did it again, on the other side this time, running the edge of his tongue against the stiff nub. He did it again and she squealed, curling her body over him. He did it again, and her orgasm lit her up. She squealed again, through her teeth, he wouldn't pull back, he kept running the electricity of his tongue through her pussy. She gasped and let go of his head, shaking, when he did it again, gently this time, and the orgasm stayed with her, running through her thighs, making her muscles shudder and melt.

He licked her slowly, lightly, barely a tickle, even after she had slidden to the floor, her dress bunched around her waist. He kept her there on the carpet, kept her flesh singing along with the musicians, along with the sounds of the city.

Finally, she took a huge, shuddering breath and let it out all at once. She got hold of Nathan's ears with her fingers and guided his mouth all the way up her body to her mouth. She kissed him, lying flat on her back, and enjoyed the profound weakness, the temporary lack of the desire or the ability to move. She felt Nathan's hands sliding the blindfold up and off of her.

Nathan smiled down at her. "How would you like to experience Rio de Janeiro?"

Emily laughed and pulled his face down for a deep kiss. "I'd like to experience your bedroom, I think, and I want it to be plain and silent, and I want the lights on, and I want to play with you."

"The next time you come," Nathan said, "I want to see your eyes." He laid down next to her, his head on her stomach, listening to her breathing and the sounds of Paris. She touched a hand to his hair and trailed her fingers in lazy spirals.

"I'd like to write about this," Emily said, her fingers sliding over Nathan's face and exploring his lips. "This would be a great technology story."

Nathan grinned at the ceiling. "You'll have to interview me thoroughly."

Emily sat up. "Yes. I need to know a lot more about you. Show me where you sleep."

Nathan stood and helped her up. He led her down a short hallway to a small bedroom, also done entirely in white.

"Why all the white?" Emily said, and she reached for his belt buckle.

"It gives me a sense of opportunity, of potential. The house is a blank canvas."

"You know," she said, pulling down his pants, "you're not an engineer. You're an artist. You create into silence and darkness like a painter creates onto canvas."

"And you?" Nathan said, looking down at her, "What's your medium?"

"This and that. Photography, writing, you know. I just have this one unfinished piece I'm itching to finish off. The canvas was your cock." She freed his penis from his boxers and admired it for a moment. "It had terrific potential," she said, kissing the head, "but the timing was all wrong."

Nathan's eyes rolled up into his head as Emily engulfed him slowly. "And now?" he managed.

She didn't answer for a long while, moving her head slowly, teasing him. "I'm not sure," she purred finally, and licked his shaft deliberately, "It still might be a little on the early side. Maybe I should come back and finish another day."

"I think there's no time like the present." Nathan said as she pumped him slowly with her hand.

"You're not thinking at all," she said, and nibbled at him gently. "Now it seems I remember scratching you earlier. Was it here?" She kissed the side of his shaft gently, watching his face.

Nathan shook his head.

"Here?" she kissed a little higher.

He shook his head again.

"I can sense a conflict of interest a mile off, and you're very, very conflicted." Emily tapped the tip of his cock against her chin thoughtfully. "I could spend all night kissing this spot and that, and it would never be the right spot, would it?"