Jim realized that he should be in his bedroom. But the heady perfume of the flowers filled his senses and drew him ever more strongly down the hill. Smokes followed closely behind, holding his gun. Jim ignored them both.
As they drew nearer to the carnival, Jim began to make out the marquis: Carnival Of Virtual Reality. As a child, Jim had been to many carnivals as they rolled through his mid-west hometown - Carnival Of Freaks, Carnival Of Daredevils, Carnival Of Horror - but Jim had never seen a Carnival Of Virual Reality.
The sounds, too, were different. In the past there had been gay laughter and screams of delight. But here, as they appraoched the great sign that procalimed the entrance, there were only muffled sighs, mutely announcing that he had arrived.
"What'll it be today?" croaked the grinning carny. Jim had no idea what he was talking about. But quickly, the carny pointed to a sign with his offerings: House Of Sex, House Of Transformations, House Of Old Turned New, and House Of Surprises. "Just like the holodeck on Star Trek," the carny said. "Only better."
Jim hesitated only a moment before deciding. Smokes eyes grew wide. "Good choice," said the carny, handing Jim the player and showing him how to insert the silver disk. "One of my favorites too." Jim wasn't certain if this was a good thing, but he inserted the disk into the player and entered:
Go back - Go to the parent episode.
Tue Jan 25 13:21:00 2000