章 41: Meeting Eve

After dinner, they all went to family room for a chat.

Stella was busy making plans for tomorrow, and she was asking her daughters for opinions. Edward was happily chatting with Aiden.

After some time, Stella pulled Edward away. "Let's leave kids by themselves. We got stuff to do for tomorrow." Edward was resisting his wife, obviously not interested in anything related to tomorrow's gathering, but Stella was persistent in convincing him that he is necessary to make the event successful. Sisters didn't think that their mother would be able to get their father to cooperate, but to their surprise, he gave in rather quickly, and two of them left.

As soon as their parents exited the room, Sophia and JoAnna fixed their eyes on Aiden with suspicious smiles on their faces.

Aiden looked at Sarah helplessly while thinking: 'Are you sure they are friendly?'

Sarah noticed Aiden's quiet plea and gave a stern look to her sisters. "If you act like this, we will not stay here."

"Oh, and where are you going?", JoAnna was teasing.

"Hmm... I will introduce him to Eve", Sarah responded while pulling Aiden's hand to follow her.

"Are you sure? After you do it, there is no way to take it back, you know?", Sophia warned her sister.

"Yes, I know!" Sarah exited the room and Aiden followed curiously.

"Hey, I didn't even get a chance to say anything!", JoAnna's protest didn't get answered.

As they walked down the hallway, Sarah glanced at Aiden and reluctantly said: "I hope my dad is not too much."

"It's not a problem", he responded.

They took set of stairs down and entered one door leading to the hallway. At the end of the hallway there was another door. These doors are secured with palm reader and a password.

Sarah scanned her palm, entered code and the door opened.

They ended up in another hallway with five doors, each equipped with handprint readers and password panels.

Aiden was curious: 'What is this place?' They are in the basement of Sarah's home, and why such security?

Female voice filled up the space and startled him: "Good evening, master."

"Hi, Eve", Sarah responded.

Aiden could not see source of the voice. It is a pleasant female voice which has a slight echo.

"Eve, this is Aiden White. Give him access level three.", Sarah said. At that moment, laser beams came from the wall and ceiling, and lasers were going over Aiden's body.

"Eve is getting to know you. After this you can talk to her, with level three privileges.", Sarah explained.

Aiden was not sure what to ask first. "Her?"

"Most of the kids who are lonely create imaginary friends for themselves. I created Eve.", there was hint of shyness in her voice.

Aiden was in awe. The reports he got said that she is a prodigy, but this was beyond his imagination. 'Just what is all this? Looks like I'm in a sci-fi movie.' Lasers that went over his body went off, and female voice was heard again: "Good evening, Aiden."

"Is this OK, or do you want her to call you something else?", Sarah asked him.

"This is fine."

Sarah chuckled seeing his confused expression. "I can tell you have many questions. Please be patient a little while longer. Now I want to show off my current work."

She opened second door on the left, and they entered an expansive room which is dimly lit with rows of light blue LED lights on the floor following edges of the walls. Each of the walls is divided in squares and each square has number of small glass, metallic-looking surfaces and holes. In the middle of the room is a bench. Sarah showed Aiden to sit on the bench, and she sat next to him.

"Close your eyes", Sarah was excited.

Reluctantly, he closed his eyes.

Few seconds later, Sarah said: "Eve, start the jungle experience. Full demo."

Aiden's eyes were closed. In few seconds, he could feel that the temperature and humidity are rising. Room was suddenly filled with a sound of birds and distant water hummed, like a waterfall.

"Open your eyes", she whispered.

He opened his eyes, and he was amazed to see that they are sitting in a small clearance, and all around them is a jungle. Floor is covered with rocks, moss and low grass. Ceiling is a clear sky, and walls became a thick rainforest. Nothing like a dark gray room they entered. The bench is a rock, perfectly fitting the surrounding. He touched it, and texture is still of the same bench they sat on, but to the eye, it looks like a large rock with small patches of moss on it.

Sarah observed him intently and enjoyed his amazed expression.

"What do you think?", she was excited and nervous at the same time.

"I'm still absorbing this.", he admitted. "Give me a minute."

Aiden turned around while taking in his surroundings. After some time, he looked at her with admiration. "This is amazing!"

"Thank you!" She was happy with his response and showed a big smile.

"You made this?"

She nodded. "My dad helps with hardware, which is mostly custom built, so he gets partial credits for the hardware. But the rest is my work."

Aiden was trying to understand how she achieved this. It looks so real. When he moves, the surrounding completely gives a 3-dimensional experience.

"Oh, there is more. Snap your fingers." Her words pulled him back from his thoughts.

Aiden lifted right hand to his chest level and snapped fingers. The moment he did that, a monarch butterfly appeared above his hand. Butterfly is fluttering its wings and hovering in place. Amazing! Aiden lifted his hand to catch it, and the butterfly moved to avoid his hand, before slowly drifting away. It took some time for Aiden to find his voice: "It looks so real. How does this work?"

"Holograms", Sarah responded. "There are sensors that detect your position. For the butterfly, if you try to catch it, it will detect collision and move." Sarah snapped her fingers and another butterfly appeared. "But if you keep your hands away from direct contact, it will not fly away". She moved her hand gently below the butterfly to demonstrate. "It provides interactive experience. I'm working on few more features, but they are still in early stages. This room supports wind, and rain. But rain is not advisable, since there is no cover currently. If you want to try it, then I recommend bringing an umbrella first."

Sarah raised her voice, "Eve, start wind with speed 8 kilometers per hour. **"

Within seconds, they could feel the light air current. Butterfly that was created by Sarah was being slowly carried away by the 'wind'.

Aiden created few more butterflies by snapping his fingers.

Sarah was observing him and thought that he looks adorable while goofing around, like a happy child who got a new shiny toy.

Aiden looked at her and their eyes met. He admitted to himself: 'I am impressed. This girl is amazing! … And I can't look away.'

Sarah saw that he approves of what he saw, and she smiled.

Her smile enchanted him. He only thought how he wants to get closer and taste those lips again.

Her thoughts matched his as they inched to each other without breaking eye contact.

Both Sarah and Aiden shivered slightly when their lips met. Neither of them felt such an attraction before. As if they would go against natural laws if they try to fight it. They could not stay apart, not anymore. When you get a taste of heaven, there is no turning back.

Light kisses increased in intensity and soon they both panted, craving for more.

"Master, your health is compromised. Your heart rate is above normal levels", Eve's voice could be heard.

Sarah and Aiden laughed.

"Do you see what you are doing? You are compromising my health.", Sarah said while laughing.

He took a deep breath trying to compose himself. "Why did you get Eve to call you master?"

"I created her, so I am her master", Sarah said like it's to be expected.

"Eve, call Aiden's phone.", Sarah instructed, and few seconds later, Aiden's phone rang.

"Eve, send him master's passcode." He received a message.

Sarah looked at Aiden: "Remember the passcode, and then delete the message".

Aiden obeyed, and didn't ask for the purpose of the passcode. He thought that if she does not tell him by herself, he can ask her later about it.

She saw him delete the message, and explained: "She called you, so now you have number that can reach Eve. You can use texts also. Level three privileges give you enough access to ask her to do things for you. If it's not something marked as secret or forbidden, she will do it. "

"Why didn't you use her for removing our photo last night?"

"There are things I should do myself, so I don't get rusty. Also, for me Eve is a friend. If I can do something by myself, I would rather not bother her... unless I'm in a hurry. Eve is much faster. I'm not working with super computers every day. And she is inside one", Sarah explained.

Aiden looked at Sarah for some time before asking: "How many people knows about this?"

Sarah lowered her head and spoke quietly. "Besides my family… you are the first one who saw this room and met Eve." Only when she said it, she realized how strange it sounds. They don't know each other so well. Why did she show him all this? He had the same questions...

Aiden looked at Sarah with a complex expression. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" She pretended not to understand his question. Maybe because she does not have an answer.

"This. Letting me inside your world. Aren't you worried that it will backfire, and I will hurt you?" He is aware that she is showing him something that should not be revealed to the public. Eve is very advanced, as well as the virtual reality room they are sitting in. Many would pay a lot of money, and even hurt people to get their hands on that technology.

Sarah shook her head helplessly and responded honestly: "I'm not sure myself… I trust you, and I want you to know that. But words can be empty, and people will say things that they don't mean. There is no better way to prove my trust than to expose myself." She paused for few seconds, observing his expression. "Trusting you is my choice. Will you hurt me or not, is your choice to make."

Aiden's heart was moved. His mouth opened few times like he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. He embraced her in a tight hug. He could not believe that she trusts him this much.

Sarah thought that this moment, two of them embracing each other, surrounded by virtual jungle is just perfect. It's just the two of them, no one else, and no problems... If only it could last forever. She caught her own thoughts, 'I know him for only few weeks, and I'm already wishing for forever with him... and it feels right.'