Digital Eros Ch. 01

Claire bit her lip and ran the note she was clutching across her fingers. As a scientist, she dealt in certainties; the plasticity, tensile strength, surface tension of materials could all be quantified. But this... she felt uncertainty, a deep, dark uncertainty. She held the note up again, reading each word carefully.

Dr. Thaler,

As you know, coffee beans are widely available in Hong Kong, but I've been keeping a special specimen for myself.

A car will be waiting for you outside your hotel at 9PM.

The meaning was immediately clear to Claire, and only Claire. It was about James Agrawal, researcher in human computer interaction. "Coffee beans" was a silly inside joke between them; at some point Claire had make a remark about how bad her coffee was, and he responded in deadpan: "You know what's better than most coffee beans? Me." It was dumb, but from then on, whenever he said the word "coffee beans" it never failed to make her laugh.

She had met the car as instructed, a long black sedan, the driver hidden from view. She wasn't laughing now.

She and James were in Hong Kong for a conference on the future possibilities of mimicking physical space in virtual reality. Shortly after their presentation, James had come up to her, his face flushed. He had to leave for a few days, he said, hopefully not more than that. A friend had taken ill in the Chinese mainland, he just needed to check up on them.

That had been four days ago. And now this note. Is he still in Hong Kong? Why?

The car stopped at a dark location. Claire could dimly make out a single warehouse, a dim light over its door. The city was well behind them. The car door beeped and opened.

"Where am I?" she asked tentatively. No response. She clutched the note tighter and stepped out. The car door shut behind her and rumbled off.

Claire was alone. She checked her phone; no reception. She swallowed, and stepped towards the warehouse.

The warehouse doors rumbled opened as she approached. Inside was scattered metal, junk, garbage amassed from decades of electronics, it seemed. But beyond was another light, and what appeared to be an elevator. She heard a ding, and the shiny, polished doors swung open silently and sleekly.

Claire was confused at why such a modern elevator was present in a junked warehouse. She navigated her way through and over the junk and into the elevator. A panel seemed to shine a red light across her body, as though scanning her. It dinged in approval, and the doors closed.

She descended in the elevator what what seemed like an unnaturally long time. And then the doors swung open.

She stepped out into a pristine, clean laboratory environment. She looked around in confusion. This is exactly like my own lab, she thought. Thermogravimetric analysis systems, tensiometers, hydrostatic gauges, all of the equipment she would expect in any physical chemistry lab.

Laminated posters were stamped on the wall. Claire would expect posters in any lab but these made her take a step back. They were computer generated imagery of men and women performing sexual acts upon each other, in myriad positions. The depictions were of varying levels of quality, some being rough wireframes, others being barely lit or textured, others totally life-like, with female bodies straddling male bodies with total visceral accuracy. Claire flushed.

A heavy metal door slid open. A tall woman strode in, dressed in a laboratory coat and a skirt. She smiled graciously at Claire, as if she had been expecting her for some time.

"Dr. Thaler!" she said, in a barely accented voice. "How wonderful it is to meet you." She shook Claire's hand, who confusingly acquiesced. I read your paper in Frontiers in Physical Chemistry, what was it... Electroconductive Sensory Gel as Means For Physical Acclimatization to Virtual Reality Experiences, correct?"

She had it exactly right. "Y...yes." She looked around. "I received a note. Did you send it?"

"Indeed," she said. "My name is Dr. Juzhi Chen. Though the note was not truly from me, your colleague asked me to send it."

Claire blinked. "James? Is he here?"

Juzhi nodded. "I'll take you to him. On the way, I'd like to speak with you a bit."

Claire nodded and followed. Juzhi began to lead her down a long passageway, the end of which seemed to be far away. The adjacent walls were clear, and Claire could see racks of computers behind them, a dull roar of exhaust fans pulling their heat out of the laboratory. Why does a chemistry lab need that much computing power?

"Dr. Thaler," Juzhi said, interrupting her thoughts. "Can you summarize the physical acclimatization problem?"

Claire was practiced at this, and talking about her work put her more at ease. "All virtual reality experiences suffer from weightlessness, the lack of accompanying physical sensation. The mind cannot accept the new reality, and ultimately rejects it."

Juzhi looked behind her, nodding. "And your hypothesis?"

Claire's eyes darted to all the computing equipment and back to Juzhi. "A computer can send signals through sensory gel, to provide the type of real-world physical sensation that the virtual world needs to be convincing."

They finally reached the end of the hallway, and another door opened. It was cool and wet, and had a familiar metallic smell. Juzhi gestured around her. "A material like this?"

Claire's eyes widened. Huge vats surrounded her, twice her height. Inside, a heavy liquid churned and gurgled. Claire knew what it was.

"Sensory gel," she said in amazement. She had never seen such a quantity. She turned to Juzhi. "Why...what is this?"

Juzhi pointed at a small tub of purple-blue sensory gel seated next to a computer monitor. "Dr. Thaler, you are familiar with this setup, right?"

Claire nodded. "Yes, but...where is James?"

Juzhi waved her concerns away. "We will see him shortly. Let me show you something. Put your hand in the sensory gel."

Claire was becoming irritated. She had done this experiment dozens of times before. The computer would send signals to the sensory gel; create the sensation that the subject's fingers are being tapped, or poked, or pulled. She almost rolled her eyes as she sank her hand into the cool, thick gel, which immediately reformed itself around her hand, like a solid.

Juzhi sat at the computer, and tapped a few keypresses, loading up a program. "Good, I know you have done this before. Just relax." She then focused her eyes on Claire's hand.

Unsurprisingly, the computer beeped and Claire felt a slight tapping on each of her fingers. It was running through the same diagnostic she had done herself, so many times. Claire grunted impatiently. Juzhi motioned for her to be still.

And then, something different. She felt a soft wave of sensation spread across her fingertips. It was as though, as though she was touching... no, that can't be it. Claire felt something...almost wet, under her fingers. A wetness totally different from the gel. And it was soft, like... Claire bit her tongue in confusion. The sensation felt like she was...like she was rubbing something, slowly, but methodically. It felt like flesh.

Claire felt her entire body redden and flush at the sensation. And then an envelope of wetness wrapped itself around her longest finger, leaving Claire with no doubt. Claire pulled her hand out as fast as she could. The gel resisted, and slurped at her as her hand escaped.

Claire found herself short of breath. "What...what have you..."

Juzhi's stood and looked neutrally at her. "That was me you were touching. Well, the physical sensations of my hand masturbating myself. My finger inserted into my vagina. You interrupted before the best parts."

The matter of factness left Claire stunned, frozen in place.

Juzhi looked piercingly into Claire. "Dr. Thaler, for several years now I have been researching the potential of virtual reality to provide... certain experiences. An experience like the one you just felt."

Claire's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Yes. Sexual experiences. This is the next great frontier in human relations." She gestured at Claire's dripping hand. "And your advances with your sensory gel have made it all possible."

Juzhi pointed to the next room. "I think it's time you saw James."

Claire felt a shiver down her back. She couldn't turn back now, even if she wanted. She had come for James, and she wouldn't leave without him.

She entered the room, following Juzhi. The room was cold, metal, dimly lit. Three large glass tubes stood floor to ceiling, perhaps five feet in diameter each. They three tubes were darkened, so Claire could not make out if anything was inside.

Juzhi flipped a switch. Claire shrieked.

The tubes were filled with Claire's sensory gel. And in the tube in front of her was James, stripped of all clothing, floating inside the gel.

Claire spun away, perhaps from the sudden shock of seeing James naked in the tube. She then saw in another tube was the form of a nude woman, her body suspended as well in the gel. Her long hair floated heavily in the gel, as though frozen.

Claire's head was churning. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She forced herself to look back at James's face. "What...what have you done to him?"

"I have not done anything to him. He volunteered for this."

"Why?" Claire hissed.

Juzhi sighed. "You still don't understand, do you? Look down."

Claire scoffed, and shifted her gaze. Out of the corner of her eye she caught something, and her face flushed and turned red.

James's manhood was halfway erect. The flesh on his shaft was shifting forwards and backwards, as if... as if...

Juzhi completed her thought. "The simulation is providing him oral sex. He seems to be enjoying it."

Claire was beginning to understand. "The simulation... you are telling me he is in a virtual reality simulation right now." Juzhi nodded, and Claire turned away, embarrassed from his swelling manhood. She looked up at his face, and saw that in his eyes were contact lenses, an experimental replacement for virtual reality goggles.

"Impossible," Claire said, already doubting herself. "No virtual reality simulation can provide this level of resolution."

Juzhi shrugged, and pressed a button on a monitor. "Let's see what he sees."

The screen blinked to life. The image was heavily artifacted, with jagged green edges appearing everywhere. But Claire could make out the figure of a kneeling form, hands, a mouth, and a long shaft of flesh...

Claire kept resisting. "No. That could be a recording. I don't believe you."

"Okay, perhaps manual control will convince you." Juzhi shrugged, and pulled out a long black glove from the side of the tube. Claire recognized them; they were used to direct sensations into a virtual world. She waved her hand in a circular motion, perhaps to calibrate it. And then she drew her hand into a fist.

James's penile shaft compressed in response. Claire stared with amazement. Juzhi began to move her fist up and down, and as she did, James's shaft began to pulse with her movement. He was now fully erect, his manhood trembling. Juzhi moved faster, and faster, her fist beating the air. James's cock danced back and forth, the rest of his body still. And then Juzhi gave a final pump of her fist.

White fluid burst from Jason's penis, radiating outwards into the blue gel. Spurt after spurt of semen was expelled from him in jets. Claire stood transfixed by the sight of him ejaculating, his body still, his cock violently spasming. Her lips parted, and her breath became heavy and quickened. She felt a strange heat between her thighs, and rubbed them together uncomfortably.

James's semen flashed a bright white, and then disappeared. "The gel's way of removing contaminants," Claire murmured, staring at James's softening manhood.

Juzhi was observing her behavior the whole time, and Claire was suddenly embarrassed. "Enough. Your point has been made. Release him."

"I think not."

"What?" Claire said in disbelief.

"James told me not to retrieve him until he was finished. I have it in writing, in fact." She moved towards Jason. "He's having quite the time in there; he can live out his every sexual fantasy in there as he wishes. He doesn't want to leave."

Juzhi moved towards the naked female test subject suspended in the other tube. "She is having a lovely time as well."

Claire hadn't even considered her. Juzhi made a grasping motion with her gloved hand. Claire saw the woman's breast compress and relax; Juzhi was fondling them via her glove, Claire realized. "Amy Balhous. Computer scientist. Wrote much of the software responsible for generating the virtual simulation, where it seems she is having sex with two large men."

Claire swallowed. She now noticed Amy's thighs and buttocks moving, as though bodies were pressing into them. "Why did you bring me here? So I could report you to the authorities?"

Juzhi laughed. "The authorities? Come now. There are no 'authorities' here." Claire knew she was right.

"James said to bring you here after four days. You were his emergency contact, if you will."

"Emergency contact for what?"

Juzhi's face was neutral, but Claire could see mischief in her eyes. "You can go in and get him out. Her too if you wish."

Juzhi gestured towards the third tube, which was unoccupied.

Claire took a step back, suddenly realizing her purpose here. "No. No!"

Juzhi shrugged. "I don't understand. You seemed so skeptical of this place. Surely a dip in a virtual reality simulation would be nothing to you."

Claire stared at the tube. Her scientific curiosity was now starting to get the best of her. This abuse of her technology was wrong, but... how was Juzhi able to do this? A simple VR experience that was physically convincing was a decade away. Anything resembling a convincing sexual experience was much further.

She looked to Juzhi. If James was indeed convinced by the VR simulation, he might have lost all touch with reality. There was nothing stopping Juzhi from keeping him in there for much longer. He needed someone human, someone he knew, to remind him of the falseness of the world he was in. She had to help free him from Juzhi's cage.

Her eyes drifted back towards Jason's erect manhood. She winced and tore herself away. What is wrong with me? "I'll help him," she said quietly. He needed her help, and she knew how to help him.

Juzhi nodded, as if she had expected this all along. "Naturally there will be no research consent form. Follow me."

Claire followed Juzhi to the next room. It was long, perhaps twenty feet in length, with long hoses and ducts suspended overhead. In the center of the room was what looked to be a conveyor belt, a platform at the end closest to Claire.

Juzhi cleared her throat. "The decontamination area, to prepare you for the sensory bath." Juzhi pointed to the platform. "Remove your clothing and step onto the platform."

Claire turned pale. "I...I..."

"Surely you didn't believe you were going into the simulation with your clothes on, did you?"

"No, but I...I'd like to be by myself, while I..."

Juzhi looked at her curiously. "You do not wish to disrobe with me around? Very well." Juzhi left, back to the testing area.

Claire waited until she could no longer hear footsteps to begin gingerly taking off her clothes. First her shoes, socks, and jacket, which she neatly set on a table. She grimaced as she reached for her first button on her blouse. I have to do this. If I delay too long, who knows what she will do to Jason. Another button, and another. Finally, her blouse was undone. Claire pulled one sleeve off, and the other. The humidity of the laboratory had caused her blouse to stick, resisting as she pulled it off.

Then her jeans. She refused to bend over as she took them off, instead crouching down as she pulled them down her body. She stepped out of them quickly and bundled them up, pressing them to her body. She folded them and placed them on the table. She looked down at her body. Despite the heat, she was shivering.

She stepped onto the platform, forgetting she was still in her underwear, an unflattering mismatched set. She took a deep breath, as if readying herself to jump into cold water. She shut her eyes, and in a single motion, she ripped her bra off and pulled her panties down, kicking them away. Despite the lack of anyone in the room, she covered her nakedness with her hands. She felt sick with discomfort.

"What now..." she asked herself to calm herself. She looked at the signs around the platform. There were two enclosures in the platform floor, deliberately foot shaped. Gingerly she inserted her feet into them. Nothing happened.

She looked overhead. There were two bracelets overhead, shaped like hands. She was clearly intended to put her hands in them. She shuddered. If she did that, she would be completely exposed. She winced and shook her head. "To what?" she said to herself. "There's nobody here." She inserted her right hand into the bracelet.

The moment she inserted the other, machinery whirred to life. The bracelets around her ankles and wrists tightened, locking her into place. Bright lights switched on overhead, blinding her temporarily. She was so shocked by the sudden noise and motion that she barely noticed that the platform was pulling her ahead.

A form of blurry light appeared on the railway ahead. The form became more human shaped, and Claire realized she was looking at a hologram of Juzhi. The hologram floated close to Claire's body.

The hologram's eyes passed over Claire's naked body. Claire felt horrified, knowing that Juzhi could see her naked body. She turned her gaze down, shutting her eyes.

"Hmm..." Juzhi's voice sounded digitized and robotic. "Body hair concentration is above acceptable limits. We'll need to depliate."

Claire whitened, first as she realized that Juzhi was looking at her pubic hair. Then she realized what was about to happen. "Depilate?" she gasped.

She opened her eyes to see large robotic arms all around her, with imposing nozzles at the end. Before she could raise her voice, the nozzles began to spurt a thick orange liquid. The warm, waxy fluid splashed onto her body, making her yelp. The nozzles sprayed across her chest, her feet, her legs, her breasts, all over her body, the robotic arms whirring between each blast. A robotic arm whirred, and moved between her knees, pointed upward. She groaned in embarrassment as a blast of fluid splashed at her... she couldn't even think about it.

The nozzles now whirred again, and blasts of cold air began to hit her body. The wax coating her body began to thicken, slow, and harden. Claire felt her chest tighten as the wax compressed, becoming solid. She held her breath, and looked down. The wax had totally solidified on her body, and from the neck down it was as though she was a shining amber statue. She could almost appreciate the sight of it, given how it concealed her nakedness.

The nozzles then beamed out a dim red light across her body. Infrared. The wax coating around her body began to slowly crack and fracture, first around her thighs, then neck. Chunks of wax fell off her like crumbling stone. And then, 10 seconds later, it was all crumbled at her feet.

Claire looked down, and saw she was totally hairless from the neck down. She had never shaved her bikini region and now she saw it fully for the first time. To have it done like this... Claire winced from the humiliation. She now recalled Amy Balhous in her tube, equally as hairless. She must have been put through the same experience.

As if reading her mind, the hologram of Juzhi returned. "Amy Balhous is currently masturbating in her simulation. In front of a crowd of approving men." Claire was standing, lips locked, as Juzhi and looked up and down at her body. "Suitable," she said. "You will certainly be able to receive the requisite sensations now."