Burning Passion Chapter 151

Work was finished a couple of hours later, and as usual, Caroline went straight to the shower to wash off the sweat of today's work.

She thought back over the experience with Paul only a couple of hours ago. Was it the right thing to do? Should she have held out and let someone else take the job instead? Running the event though her mind she felt that familiar warmth in her crotch again and realised that it probably wasn't such a bad thing.

As she walked out of the ladies changing rooms she bumped straight into Paul. "Sorry!" she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable in his presence. "No problem," he replied, smiling. "Going home as well?"

"Yup." "Wanna go for dinner first? I'm starving!"

Caroline turned that thought over in her mind. She should really go home. Those good looks could conceal anything. "Why not!" She blurted out. "Damn!"

"Something wrong?" Paul looked a little confused.

"Erm....nothing! Just remembered something, that's all..." Stupid woman! What was she thinking? Well it was too late now. "Shall we make a move then?"

He seemed hesitant now, after realising that perhaps Caroline was fresh from the asylum. Caroline just sighed to herself. "Why not?" Putting on her best smile, she quickly strode ahead of him so he couldn't hear as she muttered obscenities to herself.

In the lift they argued about where to go to eat.

Caroline was partial to a little Italian place around the corner; Paul was more inclined to some Chinese food. They were still debating while leaving the building, and were rudely interrupted by a voice coming from a car parked at the roadside. "Caroline? Paul?" Turning in unison, they both saw the man sitting at the driver's seat at the same time.

He looked very familiar. "David? What the hell are you doing here?" They had spoken at the same time, causing David to look at them quizzically.

"Do you guys have a psychic bond or something? Don't tell me you're related?" Caroline spoke first. "Of course not!" she replied irritably. "And don't change the subject!" David held up his hand in surrender. "Alright, alright, calm down a bit. I supposed you're both wondering why I'm here?" Caroline nodded angrily, Paul just shrugged. "Well why don't you get into the car first, and I'll drive on the way?"

"Why should be trust you?" said Caroline, confused by his request. "Well, I'm not crazy for a start, and I know a way you could earn a hell of a lot more than what you're making now."

Caroline turned to Paul and whispered to him, "Is this guy nuts or what?" "Actually I think we should go...." Paul replied. "What?" Caroline's voice rose slightly.

"Look at it. He drives a nice car, he's offering us a chance to earn a lot of money, and he's taken the effort to come all the way here to ask us. Least we can do is listen, right?" Caroline was still doubtful, but like Paul said, they had nothing to lose. Why not? She turned back to David. "Ok let's go then. But don't try any funny stuff!" "Don't worry Caroline," David smiled.

After a short stop for food, they drove in near-silence for around half an hour. Every time Caroline tried to ask David something, he would just tell her that all would be revealed when they go to their destination.

So she just sat and stared out of the window.

Eventually the car pulled into an office car park somewhere in Camden town. They rode the lift again in silence up to the third floor. When the door opened a reception greeted them; a bored looking blonde surrounded by a wooden desk that nearly concealed her to the casual visitor. Ahead of them, a fogged glass door prevented any further exploration. David nodded to the receptionist and she buzzed them in.

Once inside, they were greeted by three corridors, all identical. David led them down one way, past wood panelled walls interspersed with more rooms protected by glass doors; Caroline noticed that each one was electronically locked, and also had a normal lock for backup. But before she could press the question to David, he had opened a door and beckoned them inside.

They were in a huge room, easily the size of Caroline's apartment. Computers lined the walls, but what really caught Caroline's attention were the large dentist style chairs in the middle of the room. Above each was an extendable helmet with a mass of wires protruding at seemingly random intervals. "What the hell..." The words were out before Caroline could help it.

"Welcome to our research center." The voice came from behind them. Before they could turn around, a woman had walked past them and stood next to David. "It's not as bad as it looks," said Helen.

"Ok, I'm really confused now." said Caroline, looking around in part confusion, part amazement. "What the hell is going on here? What research?" David motioned towards a small table in the corner. "Why don't we take a seat, and we'll explain."

"Now, as you know, our names are David and Helen. We're not married, although we like to play around every now and then, and we've been looking for two very capable X-tors to help us in our new project.

We've been going from company to company, testing all their best X-tors, but none have been as good as you two have. Thus we decided to bring you two here for a test."

"For what?" asked Paul. "You still haven't explained what this is all about."

Helen took over. "Well, you two are X-tors. What's the fundamental problem of X-suits?"

Paul and Caroline looked at each other. Caroline just shrugged, fed up with all the time wasting, so Paul answered, "That they cannot simulate taste nor smell; only touch. Which means they cannot be fully realistic."

"Right! Let's look at the statistics. One house in every ten in the world owns an X-suit of some sort, and the top shows have a viewer rating of over 50 million worldwide. So what does that tell you?"

"That people aren't really bothered about realism?"

"Nope. It was estimated that in the US in the late 90's, nearly every third house owned a gaming console of some sort, and one in five had internet access. The ratio in Japan was even lower. So what does that tell you?"

No answer. Caroline and Paul couldn't see where this was going.

"I'll tell you. That means that the X-suit is well behind gaming consoles. Think about it; the X-suit is meant to be an extension of the gaming experience, adding new realism to what was becoming a very boring diversion.

But the X-suit changes everything by allowing the player to almost be in the game itself. You can hit someone, they can hit you, and so forth. However, the X-suit is only in one of ten households around the world.

What is that telling us?