Chapter 15: A New Normal

I’m discharged from Paige Technology’s tiny medical facility the following morning. I suppose I’m lucky the company is large enough to possess one. Liz Bonney seemed satisfied that there are no physical effects from my protracted stay in a virtual world. Nevertheless she suggested I get my own doctor to check me over. I would if I could afford a consultation. As soon as I am out of the medical facility, Lloyd and the company’s lawyer want to debrief me and discuss compensation for the inconvenience I endured. The offer of compensation sounds promising, although my silence is a pre-requisite of any financial deal. Since I’ve nobody who would be the remotest bit interested in what happened to me, I have no problem with their conditions. Nevertheless I heed Liz’s warning and only provide vague answers to their questions about my experiences inside PAIGE.

My conversation with Lloyd and the company lawyer at least fills in a few gaps in my knowledge about what has happened. Firstly the characters I met in my adventures inside PAIGE match the names and appearance of several of Paige Technology’s employees ... Lloyd the general manager, Mikaela and Rob the software developers, Liz the resident nurse, and Gregor the lawyer. Their appearance and names have been ‘borrowed’ to make a library of characters used by the virtual reality game while I and others were testing the software. The final version to be released in the near future will contain a fictitious library of characters ... or so Lloyd claims.

My rescue from my multiple fantasy worlds was thanks to Mikaela and Rob. By overloading my sex drive, some trickery about a key, and the extensive use of red light, Mikaela and Rob triggered my expulsion from my dreamworld. Why their scheme worked is beyond my comprehension, but I recall all three aspects were regularly present in my fantasy world.

Mikaela’s theory about how I became trapped in the first place sounds plausible, although she admits she has no proof. I suspect she isn’t really convinced herself. It seems as though PAIGE’s world offered such an improvement on my pathetic real life that I didn’t want to leave. I guess that’s possible, but I refuse to blindly accept it. I may be destitute, but I’m not ready to accept drugs, alcohol or a fantasy world as the solution to my problems. However, Lloyd is more than happy with Mikaela’s theory and dismisses any further investigation into the cause of my extended stay inside their game.

During Lloyd’s lengthy monologue, I learn that Rob and Mikaela are married. That niggling feeling I had while I was trapped in my dreamworld had a real source after all. Thankfully I’ve not revealed my dreamworld antics with Rob to Mikaela. I’m not sure how she would react if she learned of the way I treated Rob. Like her counterpart in my dreamworld, Mikaela is an enigma to me.

I suppose I also owe Liz an apology. She is mystified how I came to know that she once worked as a pole dancer. I promise myself that I’ll tell her that I was a cleaner at the same club where she worked. Of course nobody pays attention to the cleaning staff, so I understand how she failed to notice me.

I return home, if that’s what you can call the rusty old caravan I live in. Fortunately the owners of the site where it is parked haven’t had it towed away, although they are demanding four weeks site fees. I promised to pay them by the end of the week, although I’ve no idea what I’m going to use for money. I didn’t ask whether Paige Technology were continuing to pay me while I was their unwilling guest. Needless to say, my contract with them expired during my long sleep. Gregor the lawyer kept talking about compensation, but both he and Lloyd were evasive when I asked about how much, and when will I see any money.

I clean out the stale and mouldy food from my larder and evict several uninvited creatures whom have taken up residence in my absence. By evening my home is habitable once again even though I have next to no food and I’m once again unemployed. At least I’ve some money to live on for a while. When I checked my bank balance, I discovered that Paige Technology had continued to pay me each week while I was trapped in my dreamworld.

The one bright spot in my otherwise depressing return to normal life is a meeting with Nurse Bonney ... or Liz as she wants me to call her now that I’m discharged from her care. As arranged, I call round to her house on Wednesday evening. She lives alone in a pleasant apartment on the outskirts of the city centre about a twenty minute walk from where I currently live.

When we first arranged to get together outside of work, I was uncertain what Liz was expecting to happen. She wasn’t angry or upset when I told her of my experiences with her character in my various fantasy worlds. That surprised me at the time and left me wondering whether she was just being a very professional nurse, or if my revelations have touched on her real personality. We’ve only spoken briefly since then, but her attitude towards me has been entirely professional. Which leaves me wondering why she still wants us to meet tonight.

The answer to my musing is obvious the moment I walk into Liz’s apartment. The sexy dress she is wearing broadcasts that she wants a sexual encounter. And the equipment laid out on her dining table indicates what sort of sexual encounter she desires.

“Are you shocked?” asks Liz when she notices me gawping at all the bondage gear she has in her collection.

“Not shocked,” I reply. “Just amazed. I’ve never seen so much stuff like this in one place.”

“It’s taken me several years to collect it,” replies Liz. “But I’ve never been brave enough to use it with another person. After you told me about what happened in the virtual reality game, I thought you might be the person to ask. You seem to know far more about my desires than you could possibly have guessed or discovered by accident.”

Even my confession that I was a cleaner at the club where Liz once worked as a pole dancer doesn’t dissuade from believing that I have some magical insight into her personality. The more we talk, the more I understand how she thinks that I do. Even Bonny Bess the pirate captain is one of her fantasies, although the submissive ‘Bitch’ is closer to her true self. Neither of us can explain how I came by this insight into Liz’s personality, but we both want to take advantage of this discovery.