Chapter Ten #3
She and Camber sat in that calm for twenty seconds or so, and then Camber jumped up and said, “I promised you a long run, unless you’d like to eat first?”
“No, I could run, and maybe we could eat together after?”
“Perfect. I could do some work on finding your way home,” Camber said.
“Is this going to feel like a game?” Brogan said.
“Game? What do you mean?”
“On my world, we play out storylines or sport with a controller, or you put on a helmet to get into the story, but you know it’s a game,” Brogan said.
Camber smiled. “No, you won’t be able to distinguish this from real life. You are going to love it. Follow me.”
Brogan didn’t believe anything was that good, surely. She’d believe it when she saw it.
Camber signalled with her finger for Brogan to follow her into one of the side rooms. It was beautifully decorated with a huge bed.
“Is all this just for one person?” Brogan asked.
“Yep, I’ve got one too, on the other side of the living room. Ziggy really has looked after us.”
“She’s flash.”
“That’s just her nature. When you’ve been through what she has, maybe it’s a way to survive. Maybe you’ll understand when you get to know her.”
“Maybe,” Brogan said. “I’m just always suspicious of flashy individuals.”
“Come on. Don’t think so much. Get ready to go on a run,” Camber said.
Brogan looked kind of awkward. “Should I just go in and pile my clothes up before I run?”
“What would you prefer?” Camber asked.
“I’d like for you to sit and be with me for a while. Just so I don’t feel lost in that room. It’ll feel like being in a big box, with no way out. I feel claustrophobic just at the thought.”
Camber shook her head. “No, no, I promise it won’t feel like being in a box. You’ll see the wide open space, you’ll inhale fresh air into your lungs, and you’ll feel…content, I’m sure.”
Camber pointed to the bathroom just off Brogan’s bedroom. “You should find a dressing gown in the bathroom. Why don’t you put that on, and we’ll go and see what programme the computer can come up with.”
Brogan went into the bathroom and saw a complimentary dressing gown hanging on the door. She quickly got rid of her clothes and put the dressing gown on. It was the softest thing she’d ever had on, and it felt nice, although she wouldn’t admit that to Camber. Call it dominant wolf pride.
Her body was shaking, ever so slightly, at the thought of going for a run. She just wanted to breathe fresh air. Perhaps humans and other races didn’t understand that wolves were so close to nature.
To be deprived of it, and to breathe only stale cabin air, or the dry burning air of Oipra, was really hard. Wolves struggled in those environments.
Brogan wanted to breathe in and scent the green grasses along the costal beaches of Ireland, and the moisture in the air as the wind blew across her snout.
She felt such contentment in that environment. It had even been hard when she moved to Paris. France had many beautiful beaches, but they didn’t have the particular scent of Ireland, of home.
Brogan had even less confidence that this box could make her feel that way. How could it, as Camber had told her, be indistinguishable from the real world?
Brogan left the bathroom and met Camber at the doors of the reality recreation room. Camber leaned against the wall next to the doors and smiled.
“Normally the computer would be able to create an environment based on the planets that are in this realm. But we need to input some information so the computer can make an approximation of the place in your world you’d like to go.
Can you describe your planet and where your pack lives? ” Camber said.
“I come from a planet, a blue planet, but it has seven continents. I live in the island of Ireland. My country, Ireland, has a temperate climate, although people say it rains too much. But I don’t mind that.
I like to feel the rain on my fur. My pack lands are on the coast. So every day, wolves will go to the beach. Is that enough?” Brogan said.
“Give the computer as many details as you can. Then it’ll be more authentic.”
Brogan thought carefully. “It’s a beautiful beach that goes off into the distance. It’s not a tourist trap, so it’s always empty. The sea is cold, but that only makes the experience all the more exhilarating. Because the Irish wolves are called sea wolves. We love to swim and hunt. Is that enough?”
Camber was totally taken in by the picture Brogan was painting of her home. It wasn’t just somewhere she lived, it was somewhere she loved—deeply.
It made Camber feel all the worse that she hadn’t been trying to find Earth, and Brogan’s way back home. But she would, because Brogan deserved it. Brogan had helped her survive and protected her, and Camber felt warmth every time she looked into her blue eyes.
She wanted to make Brogan happy, and home was something that made her happier than anything else.
Brogan touched Camber’s hand, shaking her from her warm thoughts.
“It should be enough to create an approximation. Computer? Can you make a landscape from these details?”
The computer said, “Yes. Please enter when ready.”