Virtual Life Experience

Jason was stunned. Surely she could see the value of working together to survive. And after what they had just done . . .

"But why? Shouldn't we stick together?"

"Look, I enjoyed the sex and I'm certain you did too, but that's all it was, just sex. I don't owe you anything. I already saved your life.

Living out here is not VLE, it's not a fucking game; this is life or death. I trust my ability to survive. I don't trust yours. So far I've known you for a day and since we've met, the risk to my life has only gone up. I risked my life to save your sorry ass from being eaten by that flying lizard, then hauled you three miles to the safety of my pod and had to find someplace else for me to sleep where I wouldn't get eaten during the night.

I don't plan to be your babysitter."

"I can help you survive. It's safer together."

"Did you know I arrived here with four men? They're all dead and I'm still here. They're dead because they did stupid things. Most of those stupid things put me at risk too. From my experience, sticking together is overrated."

"Perhaps they did stupid things because they were stupid men."

"I can't argue with that, but you haven't exactly proven that you're smarter than them."

"What if I refuse to leave?"

She took out her handgun and aimed it at him. "Then I'll fry your ass."

Jason didn't think she would really do it, but he wasn't inclined to test her either. He sighed and shouldered his pack. He would leave her camp, but stay in the area. Hopefully he could find a way to win her over. He remained convinced that their best chance of survival lie in working together.

Arizona State University, Earth

"I hear the next Antola Experience comes out Friday night, are we on?" asked Zack.

"You know it," replied Aziz.

Mario arrived at Aziz's apartment to find that Aziz had taken it upon himself to up the ante. The VLE chambers were moved to the middle of the living room. After a few drinks the 8:00 public release time approached and a heightened sexual tension was in the air.

Sasha was again in the first pair. Exhibitionist that she was, she thoroughly enjoyed her public disrobing. She turned it into a strip tease for everyone's benefit. The partiers cheered.

When Zack was naked, Sasha reached down and grasped his cock and pulled him to her and gave him a passionate kiss, then turned and got in the chamber. By that time everyone at the party was feeling sexually charged.

In the middle of the session, sounds of passion came from Sasha's chamber. "Oh fuck yes! Oh god, fuck me!" she cried out.

If anyone wasn't already horny, they were now. They also had a very good clue as to the content of this experience.

Sasha emerged in a post orgasmic flush, but looking oddly pensive. Zack simply said, "That one is not to be missed."

Mario thought to himself that it was a good thing these machines had an auto-clean cycle that activated between users.

Soon it was Mario's turn. He was paired with Marcella. He undressed quickly. He wasn't about to try to match Sasha's flair. Marcella just stood watching him, as though frozen.

Mario looked at her and she smiled slightly. Unsure what to do, he reached out tentatively for the top button of Marcella's blouse, watching her face for her reaction. She nodded and smiled. He unbuttoned her blouse, exposing caramel skin. He spread the shirt open, uncovering small breasts with dark protruding nipples. He slid the shirt off her shoulders and it dropped to the floor. He gave each nipple a quick lick.

Marcella giggled in response.

Mario dropped to his knees and unzipped her jean shorts. He was surprised to find that she wasn't wearing panties. She wiggled out of the shorts and her cute little black landing strip wiggled enticingly in front of him. He leaned forward and just touched the tip of his tongue to her pussy before standing back up.

"You ready?"

Marcella nodded.

Virtual sex with Red was amazing. Every sensation felt completely real. In a way, he felt like he was fucking Marcella, too, as she was sharing the experience as Nikki in the next booth. His climax was intense.

The rejection by Nikki at the end of the session was a slap in the face that took Mario by surprise. He couldn't help but take it personally. He was way past thinking of Jason as a convict light years away. He had become Jason. He looked at Marcella reproachfully as she exited the booth as though she had rejected him.

"What was that look for? Are you seriously blaming me?"

"I'm sorry, I get so wrapped up in being Jason, it's hard to let go when I leave the booth."

She stepped up close to him until their bodies touched and her face was inches from his and whispered, "How about some makeup sex, then, to soothe your wounded pride?"

She took him by the hand. He thought she was going to lead him to a bedroom, but to his surprise, she sat him down on the couch and impaled herself on his now rigid cock. She fucked him with abandon, totally oblivious to their audience, who cheered them on with drunken hoots and hollers.

He had been right, she did have a wild side.

Antola

Jason spent the next day exploring the vicinity of Nikki's camp. He found a cave that would serve as a shelter for sleeping. It had a narrow entrance that he could block off with a large rock from the inside to keep himself safe from predators.

Jason found a stream nearby to replenish his water supply. He also found that there were fish, or something that at least resembled them, in the water. They were fairly easy to catch with a standard hook and line and a little bit of meat for bait. He caught half a dozen of them.

On the way back to camp, he came across an intriguing sight. There was a cluster of squat plants with bulbous, pot shaped trunks topped with huge white flowers. At the center of each flower was a stem-like protrusion with a tiny blue flame flickering at its tip. Cautiously, Jason poked the flower with a stick. Thin tendrils whipped out from between the flower petals and wrapped themselves around the stick. A quick tug and he tore the tendrils off.

It was a carnivorous plant, but its target prey was obviously something quite small. As he watched, a little six legged creature about an inch long climbed onto the flower, its eyes fixed on the mesmerizing flame. The tendrils latched onto it and drew the struggling animal into an opening at the base of the stem.

"If the stem sustains a continuous flame without being consumed, there has to be a fuel source," Jason reasoned, "It's like the wick of an oil lamp."

He jabbed the trunk with a knife and an oily liquid flowed out. Jason uprooted one of the plants and brought it back to the camp with him.

Back at the mouth of the cave, Jason sliced the top off the oil plant, leaving a flat surface on top about a foot in diameter that seeped with oil. He lit it and a blue flame swept across the surface. An hour later, the flame still burned undiminished. The cooked his fish over the flame. Unlike the rodent he had eaten the first day, the fish were delicious.

The next morning, the oil plant was down to 2/3rds its original height, but it was still burning steadily. He concluded that it was a very useful discovery.

Later in the afternoon, he went to see Nikki.

"Hey Red, I brought you some fish in case you're hungry. OK, I don't know if they're really fish, but they taste good."

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of my camp? You know I don't need your help getting food."

"Consider it payment for the favor I'm about to ask you."

"What's that?" she asked guardedly.

"I need you to direct me to where you first found me. I want to retrace my steps to get back to my transport pod, but since I was unconscious for the last three miles, I don't know where to pick up the trail."

She sighed. "OK, let me eat first, then I'll bring you there. Are you hungry?"

The shared the "fish" in awkward silence.

As they headed out to find the clearing where they first met, Nikki asked, "How did you end up here?"

"I thought we covered that."

"No, I mean what were you convicted of?"

"Murder. A man turned up dead in my apartment and I was blamed for it."

"You didn't do it?"

"No."

"Then what really happened?"

"I wish I knew. The whole thing was strange. The man appeared to be a homeless drunk, it looked like he broke in and just died. Yet a high priced Lawyer showed up at the trial and brought out witnesses that claimed to see me kill the guy. Next thing I knew, I was convicted and sentenced to be banished to a remote planet."

"Yeah, you know, it's odd, witnesses showed up out of nowhere making outrageous claims at my trial, too. I drove the getaway car for a robbery gone wrong. I had no idea those thugs I was with were going to kill the store clerk. At the trial, I was made out to be the mastermind, and the killing was supposedly my idea. They banished the whole lot of us."

"I remember your story. The press made a big deal about how one of the witnesses recanted her testimony the day after you were deported. They took great delight in showing how you'd been wronged after it was too late to do anything about it. The sympathy factor brought you a huge VLE fan base before you even landed."

Nikki stopped abruptly and looked incredulously at Jason. "Holy shit! Those 'Vile Corp.' fuckers manipulated the whole thing."

"Yes, I'm afraid that's true. They picked us out and cast us in our roles for their profit. We are just living out the story they've orchestrated."

"You know I never understood why I was put through months of intensive survival training before I was sent here. I didn't get why they would do that for me but not the other four guys I was sent here with. Now it makes sense. They wanted me to be the survivor."

They reached the place where Jason had almost been killed.

"OK, I think I can take it from here, thanks," said Jason.

"Jason?"

"Yes?"

"Um . . . good luck."

Jason got the impression that she wanted to say something else, but after a pause, she turned away and headed back.

The first thing Jason did was search until he found the pistol he had dropped. When he got back to the pod, he gathered some supplies and recharged his energy weapons. Jason made it back to his camp without major incident the next day.

Several times over the next couple of days, Jason checked up on Nikki. He stayed in the underbrush and watched her in secret. He felt guilty and somewhat creepy stalking her, but he couldn't seem to stay away. There was no denying it, he was infatuated.

Nikki got up and walked out of camp. Jason followed at a distance, staying out of sight. She came to a stream and followed it until she reached a deep pool. She crossed her arms and raised her tank top over her head. She slid off her shorts. She stretched her glorious naked body for a few moments in the warm sunshine, then dove in the water. Nikki bathed for several minutes, rubbing the dirt off herself. She slowly emerged from the water, swinging her hips seductively and running her hands over her breasts. She looked straight at Jason's hiding spot and said in a loud voice, "I hope you enjoyed that."

"Busted," he thought to himself. He slunk off, embarrassed, but still aroused. He was going to need a date with his left hand tonight.

On his way back to his campsite, he heard rustling behind him, faint and distant at first, then getting louder and closer. He stopped and turned around. He could see the vegetation moving and hear something grunting, or more accurately, lots of somethings grunting. He couldn't see the cause of the commotion, but whatever it was, there were a lot of them. Jason picked up the pace, hoping to keep ahead of them without blatantly fleeing. He was aware that nothing was more certain to trigger a predator's attack than running away. At the moment whatever these creatures were, Jason thought they were not behaving as though they were hunting, what with all the noise they were making.

The creatures continued to gain ground on him. When he could just make out his campsite through the vegetation, he abandoned all pretenses and sprinted. The sounds behind him indicated the pack was giving chase and that they were faster than him. As he broke into the small clearing around his campsite, he saw two beasts blocking the path to the cave. He had been driven into a trap.

The burly creatures looked vaguely like a combination between a bulldog and a boar, but hairless and six legged. Wicked looking curved tusks came from the sides of their mouths. Their mid and rear legs each had two short toes. Their front legs were carried off the ground and ended in thick powerful claws, suited for tearing things apart and digging. Each beast looked to be about 100 lb.

Jason would need to fight his way through them, as he needed to reach the shelter of the cave. He pulled out his laser sword and energized it as he charged the two animals blocking his path. Both of his adversaries launched themselves at him with surprising agility. Jason dropped to the ground and slashed at them as they passed over him. His blow severed a foreleg of one creature and completely gutted the other. Jason sprang to his feet again, now with his back to the cave and the entire pack in front of him.

The pack hesitated, realizing this strange prey was not as defenseless as it looked. After a moment's pause, the pack descended on their dead and wounded comrades with ferocity, tearing them apart. Jason took the opportunity to turn and dive into the cave opening and squirm through.

A broad head appeared in the cave opening as one of the creatures tried to follow Jason. It didn't fit. A blur of powerful claws dug away at floor of the entrance. It wouldn't take the beast long to dig in. Jason drove the point of his sword between its eyes. The sword did not penetrate far. The weapon was designed mostly for slashing, where the lasers did the work. It relied entirely on the sharp metal point for stabbing, but this was ineffective against the creature's thick skull.

Jason switched to his pistol. It took two shots at maximum power to stop the monster, at least for a few moments, then it began to move again. Jason was disconcerted, until he realized the beast was indeed dead, but was being dragged out of the way by its pack mates. Soon another took its place, trying to dig in. Jason had to dispatch two more before they got the message and gave up.

For a few more minutes, there was loud squabbling as the cannibalistic creatures fought over the carcasses of their dead. Jason turned the power down on his pistol and fired a hail of stinging shots out the mouth of the cave. The beasts yelped as the some of the shots found their mark. The pack ran off, dragging the carcasses with them.

After Jason's adrenalin subsided, he emerged from the cave to find one mortally wounded beast still in the campsite, trying to drag itself away. He severed its head. He carved off a haunch that was untouched by bites from its fellow creatures and cooked it. "At least these damn things taste good," he thought after he had stuffed himself.

Jason went to check on Nikki the next morning. Her campsite was in disarray. The pod was lying on its side, covered in scratch marks. Nikki was trying in vain to right it, but she didn't seem to have the strength. He had just planned to spy on her, but she clearly needed help.

"Let me help you with that."

Nikki looked at him, annoyed at his intrusion, but then a look of defeat came over her face and she sighed. "All right."

The two of them righted the pod.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"Damn tuskers. A huge pack of them tore the camp up. I took refuge in the pod and they tossed it around for what seemed like an hour, trying to claw their way in."

"Yeah, they visited me last night. I will say they taste damn good though."

"You killed one and lived to tell about it? OK, I'll admit, I'm impressed."

Jason looked at Nikki. Something wasn't right. She looked exhausted and her face was drawn and pale. In fact she looked like she had lost weight all over. He had noticed her stumble a little too.

"Red, are you OK? You don't look so good."

Nikki looked angry. "I'm fine . . . just a little tired. I don't need you to mother me. Go away." She turned away from him.

Fine, he thought, if she wants to be that way, I'll leave her alone. Still, he was worried. He was sure it was more than just tiredness. She looked sick.

Later, Jason returned to his camp. He pushed aside his concerns about Nikki. He had gathered some edible flowers and a fresh oil plant on the way back. He roasted some leftover tusker haunch and ate heartily, chasing the meat with a dessert of fragrant flowers. He sighed in satisfaction. He was pretty damn good at this survival stuff. He had a good shelter, he was well fed and was becoming increasingly skilled at using his weapons. The oil plants made cooking and maintaining a fire a breeze. Feeling smug, he addressed the audience he assumed was living the adventure with him back on Earth. "We're kicking ass, aren't we?"

Arizona State University, Earth

The latest Antola VLE package was another blockbuster, what with the drama of the tusker attack and the erotic thrill of spying on a bathing Nikki. At the end of the session, Mario actually answered Jason's question aloud and with pride, "You're damn right we are."

He left the booth on an emotional high. He ignored his clothes and scooped up Marcella and carried her to a bedroom. He left the door open. If anyone wanted to watch them, they were welcome to. He tossed her on the bed and dove between her legs, licking her meaty pink labia. Marcella thrashed and cried out when he shifted his focus onto her clit and she was overwhelmed with passionate sensations.

Antola

Jason woke up the next morning to a completely different mood. Clouds had rolled in, brooding and purple and a steady rain was falling. Somewhere in the forest came a forlorn cry, like a mourning dove from back on Earth, but evoking greater sadness. Jason was overwhelmed with deep despair, seemingly out of nowhere. "What the hell has come over me?" He thought.

The fact that he would never see Earth again seemed to have finally sunk in. He felt a desperate longing to see friends and family he had left behind. It seemed unbearable to live out his life on this god-forsaken planet, constantly one step ahead of being eaten by some horrific beast. To top it off, the only woman he would ever see for the rest of his life had rejected him.

He was shaken out of his depressing thoughts by a rustling in the bushes. He grabbed his pistol and held it ready in self-defense.

It was Nikki. She emerged from the vegetation soaked and looking bedraggled and shuffled over to Jason's camp. In his despair, he barely registered any interest in her arrival. She ducked under the rock outcropping that protected Jason from the rain and plopped herself down next to him with a deep sigh. It had been hard to tell when she was out in the rain, but now as she turned to face him, he could see she was crying.

"You feel it too, don't you?" she asked.

"Feel what?"

"The overwhelming despair. It happens every time it rains here. I think it's some kind of chemical released in the air."

"Yes, I feel it too. I thought it was just me."

"Jason?"

"Yes?"

"I need you."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't face it alone again. I almost slit my wrists last time the rain came. I'm serious."

Nikki climbed into his lap and put her head on his shoulder.

Part of him wanted to push her away, to get her back for how she had summarily rejected him a week ago, but he couldn't do it. Truthfully, he was feeling as desperately needy as she was. Instead he held her close.