Chapter 8
Nathan walked out of the police building and saw that Gary and Dave were waiting for him.
“Nathan, was it really you that beat up six armed guys with your bare hands?” Dave asked.
“I did, although I have no idea how I did it,” Nathan said.
“Mate, we have lots to talk about when we get home,” Gary said seriously.
“How do we get home?” asked Nathan.
Dave pointed at a flashing spot nearby. “There are exit points everywhere. Even though they are in different shapes, materials and colours, they are easily identified: by flashing lights in the night and by their shine during the day.”
The spot Dave had pointed to was a shiny metal box mounted on the wall of the building along the street. Nathan guessed that they would just scan their wrists against it, the same way as when they logged in. Sure enough, that’s exactly how Gary and Dave exited, so Nathan followed suit, and in no time he was back at the apartment again.
Nathan climbed up from the floor, then slumped on the sofa, feeling exhausted. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, a long, deep sleep; he felt like his brain was overloaded.
“Nathan, where did you learn to fight like that?” asked Gary.
“Yes, tell us, mate,” said Dave.
Nathan thought for a while, and decided it’d be better not to tell them about Master Wuwei. He didn’t know why but his instincts were telling him not to.
“I don’t know. It may be part of my lost memories.”
“Man, you are awesome; next time we go out I’ll let you play the cool spy,” Dave said. “But don’t snatch my girls.”
“Nathan, you told me that you saw through the girl’s mask; was that also caused by your lost memories?” asked Gary.
“I did see her real face, but only once. Anyway, the police showed me the photo of her real face, and she is Mary O’Brian,” said Nathan.
“What? Are you telling me you just saved the most wanted terrorist in the world, Mary O’Brian?” shouted Dave.
“Yes, at least that’s what the police told me. Who is this Mary O’Brian anyway?”
“Oh man, you have missed so much.” Dave looked extremely excited. “Mary O’Brian is one of the leaders of SOH, Salvation Of Humanity, and has been on the top of the most wanted list for the last five years, but the authorities never seem to be able to get her. But today you actually saved her from the government’s secret agents, holy shit! My God, this is big!”
“Well, I didn’t know who she was, and I didn’t think to ask, I just acted when those agents tried to kill her.”
“Was it because she was attractive?” said Gary calmly.
Nathan thought about it, and then said, “I suppose I am attracted to her. Very much so; I’ve never felt like that in my whole life.”
“Man, way to go.” Dave patted Nathan’s shoulder. “Imagine that, having the most wanted terrorist as your girlfriend. By the way, how come the police let you go so easily? Considering that you not only let the most wanted terrorist slip away, but also beat the shit out of their agents?”
“I don’t know; I suppose they knew that I didn’t do it intentionally. Besides, I fortunately didn’t kill any of the agents,” Nathan said. “What exactly has she been doing to earn the most wanted title?” asked Nathan. For some reason he didn’t use the word terrorist.
“You would have to ask Gary about her and SOH; I only know that SOH claims OBU is destroying everything about our civilization and eventually the human race, so they sabotage OBU utilities around the globe and vow to completely eliminate OBU altogether.”
“Has she killed many innocent people by doing that?” asked Nathan.
“I don’t know if she has been personally responsible for killing anyone, but SOH as an organization has definitely caused the deaths of many innocent people as collateral damage in their war against OBU,” said Gary.
“How come you didn’t see through her mask?” asked Nathan.
“I supposed that her mask must be a newer version than my seekers,” said Gary.
“Tell me more about Mary and SOH; I want to know more about her,” said Nathan.
“It’s getting late, and you look exhausted. I suggest we continue this conversation another time,” said Gary. “More importantly, what are you going to do? I mean, are you going to get a job?”
“I don’t know; I need time to think this through. Don’t forget I only woke up this morning.”
Nathan went back to his mother’s house. The next morning, he helped her to tidy up the backyard, getting rid of the overgrown weeds, cutting unruly tree branches off, trimming the climbers along the garden fences and repaving the footpaths. His mother watched Nathan with a big smile on her face.
Nathan went back inside and had a shower; meanwhile his mother made him lunch. As he came out of the bathroom, someone rang the doorbell. Nathan opened the front door and to his surprise, the person standing in front of him was Cathy, his ex-girlfriend.
Cathy, with her slender, six-foot, model-like body, looked as striking and sharp as Nathan remembered. The last fifteen years had left traces on her face, but she was still absolutely stunning.
“Hi, Nathan, it’s so exciting that you finally came home. We all missed you so much.”
“Hi, Cathy.” Nathan was surprised by his own reaction. He thought he would feel angry and demand explanations as to why she dumped him for no apparent reason. He should even shout at her and tell her to get lost as revenge, as many people would do in his situation, but he didn’t feel angry. Nor did he desire any explanations. He supposed that the conversations and Tai Chi training with Master Wuwei had helped him get over the breakup, and he was very pleased with himself.
“You are looking as beautiful as ever,” Nathan said in a very relaxed manner.
“Thanks, Nathan.” Cathy pushed her blonde hair away from her eyes. “I have to say you look exactly the same as you were fifteen years ago; you haven’t aged one bit.”
“That’s what they tell me.”
“Are you going to invite me inside, or are we just going to talk in the doorway?”
“Of course, please come in.”
“Nathan, could you please help me carry this box inside?”
Nathan then noticed a large box lying on the ground behind Cathy, so he carried it inside.
“Oh, it’s Cathy; I haven’t seen you for a very long time,” Nathan’s mother greeted Cathy.
“Yes, Betty, it’s been a very long time. I’m sure you are happy that Nathan is finally home.”
“Yes, I am so happy…Cathy, I was just about to make lunch for Nathan and myself, would you like to join us?”
“I knew that I was coming at the right time, and I am more than happy to have lunch with you, but today I’ll cook,” Cathy said.
“I don’t…I mean I didn’t know you could cook,” said Nathan.
“Nathan, that was fifteen years ago, people can change a lot.” Cathy opened the large box that Nathan had just carried inside, taking three helmets out.
These helmets looked identical to the helmet he had worn to go to OBU in Gary and Dave’s apartment. Before Nathan could open his mouth, his mother asked first, “What are these for?”
“Betty, please be patient for a moment, and I will show you a few tricks,” Cathy said as she took some vegetables, bread, and fruit out of the box.
Nathan watched Cathy in awe; she prepared the food in a very sleek style, as if she was in a TV show. Cathy washed the vegetables, peeled and boiled potatoes, and in a very short time she had got the food organized.
“Now comes the fun part.”
Cathy asked Nathan and his mother to sit at the dining table. She then put a helmet on each of their heads, and put the last one on herself. “Now flap your eye-shields down; right, just like this.”
Nathan was expecting the same out of body experience as he had just yesterday with Gary and Dave, but, instead of observing himself from outside his body, Nathan
was still looking at the same dining table, or rather, to be exact, the same table covered with different things.
Nathan turned his head around; in front of his eyes the room had transformed. It was no longer his mother’s humble kitchen and small dining table, but a splendid modern kitchen with a snow white tablecloth set up with silver knives and forks. Nathan heard his mother’s voice.
“Cathy, what happened? Where is my kitchen? Where are we?”
“Betty, please don’t panic. We are still in your kitchen. It’s only a mind trick this helmet is doing to you.”
Nathan didn’t see helmets on either Cathy or his mother’s head. He used his own hand to touch his head. Yes, the helmet was still there but he no longer felt it, just like the paper hats people wore during Christmas dinners.
Cathy stood in front of the sparkling new kitchen counter. “Betty, would you like to have a roast for lunch?”
“Roast beef? Oh I would love to have some right now but where did you cook…”
Even before his mother finished her sentence, Cathy opened the stove and brought out a tray of steaming roast beef; the wonderful smell of the roast immediately filled the air around them.
The lunch was wonderful, a five course meal ending with an exotic desert, in true French style. During the whole meal, Nathan’s mother kept commenting on how lovely the silver knives and forks were; how tender the roast beef was; how fresh and delicious the fruit salad was; and how wonderful the real French champagne was. Although not sure exactly how Cathy was pulling off the tricks, Nathan knew it had something to do with OBU, but he didn’t say anything, deciding to just play along.
After lunch, Cathy suggested they all remove their helmets.
“Cathy, where are the roast beef and the champagne?” Nathan’s mother asked.
Cathy grinned.
“Betty, it was the helmet playing tricks on your mind; it created an illusion that we were eating a five course lunch.”
“So what was the roast beef we just ate?” asked Nathan’s mother.
“Boiled potatoes.”
“The champagne?”
“Tap water.”
“The dessert?”
“Mashed potatoes and fruit salad.”
“Oh, Cathy, this is just wonderful. You have to teach me how to use this helmet.”
While Cathy patiently explained how to use the helmet to his mother, Nathan couldn’t stop admiring this magic technology. With the help of this helmet, people could indulge themselves with whatever they liked, but still only eat simple, basic and healthy food; the potential applications were endless, and so joyful and healthy.
During the lunch Nathan had looked out through the back door and found that the backyard still looked the same as it always had, so the illusion was limited to the kitchen area only. Besides, he also remembered hearing bird sounds; he felt better about the application because his mother was still able to see and hear what was happening outside of her illusion.
After everything was cleaned up, Cathy said to Nathan’s mother, “Betty, this afternoon I would like to show Nathan around since he hasn’t been home for so long.”
“Cathy, thank you so much for looking after Nathan.”
“No problem at all. Before we leave, I would like to show you another function of this magic helmet.”
Nathan watched as Cathy talked to his mother and showed her how to access the main menu and navigate to the next; it took a while for his mother to become familiar with the system, but she eventually got there.
“Betty, now I would like you to go to the travel program. Yes, you are doing great; right, click that, and now you are in London.”
Nathan heard his mother’s excited voice.
“I can’t believe I am walking along the Thames; I can see Big Ben…”
Nathan dragged Cathy away from his mother and whispered, “We can’t leave her alone; there is no security around this house.”
“Betty is not in OBU; she is just experiencing a high-definition 3D video and surround sound. She is still able to hear what is happening around her; not much different from watching a normal TV in the olden days.”
“What happens if the sound is too loud and she’s unable to hear the doorbell?”
“This helmet is quite intelligent; when it senses a sudden noise, it pauses the video. Let me demonstrate for you.” Cathy walked towards the front door and rang the doorbell.
Sure enough, Nathan’s mother flipped her eye-shield up and looked at them.
Cathy said. “Betty, Nathan and I are leaving now. Enjoy your tour of London.”