like I was an important experiment that had just failed.
‘The Keynote?’ he said, as if that was going to be any help to me at all.
I did some more head shaking. Paired it up with a blank look.
‘I’m addressing the Science Council ,’ he explained. ‘And their families. A little bit of enforced PR that I was expecting you to attend.’
I guess ‘expecting’ is more real to my father than ‘asking’.
I gave him a nod.
‘I’ll get changed,’ I said.
I scanned the Link for something appropriate to the occasion, found a Nevri Bartlett evening suit, which was expensive, but elegant. I paid with FlashCash, downloaded the template, and then let my filaments turn my outfit into the suit.
It took seconds. And fit perfectly.
The material was iridescent, and alternated between midnight blue and a much lighter LED purple depending on the angle that light hit it.
And it had a cleaning function, like a lot of designer attire, which meant I didn’t even need to take a shower.
‘Ready,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
LinkList/Peter_Vincent
333/F11B/355
My Top 5 Virtual MiniBreak Destinations
5. Old New York
OK, its programming is a little loose and there are far too many recursive glitches for it to be a long stay (an hour and a half is my longest visit) but what it lacks in subtlety it more than makes up for with its sense of danger.
Whether taking a cab ride through Times Square, eating bagels and MacDougal’s hamburgers in the famous Restaurant of Liberty, or just walking around Linkin Park after dark, there’s a real sense that anything can indeed happen in the red white and blue apple.
4. The Cold Wilds
One of the newer virtual experience packages, the cold wilds is a kind of snowboarding environment, but it’s a hex of a lot more than that.
The physics have infinite levels of customisation, so you can make a mere half-pipe into a zero-gravity death run; or switch gravity to any surface so that you can grind horizontally along the side-lock courses.
3. Centra-Sphere
After a complete overhaul, the new Centra-Sphere has opened, and it was worth the wait!
‘VibrAtioN’ is the new must-visit attraction, a neutral field environment that turns sound into sensory stimulus. You haven’t lived until you’ve felt your LinkTunesLibrary converted into waves that surround your body and physically interact with you. A LinkUpgrade to v2.14 will even allow generation of unique imagery skimmed from your library! Wow.
2. Sea-Side Evolved
Back in the day, the world used to lo-o-o-ove the seaside, but then coastal protection, marine conservation, and sand mites made it a thing of the past.
Now it’s back in virtual form and, although it is a little weird getting used to doing nothing more than lying in the sun (a uv-neutral version) and picking sand out of everything you own, it’s surprisingly relaxing.
1. Last Quest Resort
Big surprise about my number one!
This experience kind of transplants the whole Last Quest world into a vivid – although still a little underdeveloped – interactive experience. Go Chickaboo racing at the Crystal Plains Raceway, or search for treasure in the Vile Wastes; challenge the one of the Knights of Fear to a duel, or fly with the MechMages through the skies of Avalon; steal the magic of the Summoners, or just shop at the KingTown Market.
It’s all there, and the experience is so immersive, so breathtakingly beautiful, that it is my absolute favourite getaway. Still a little on the pricey side, but perfect to escape from real life.
-9-
File: 113/44/00fgj/Continued
Source: LinkData\LinkDiary\Peter_Vincent\Personal
The Science Council is an architect’s layer cake of metal and glass on the southernmost edge of New Cambridge. Surrounded by a lush park it rises up with a look of unshakeable confidence in its own importance.
As well it might.
It is, after all, where all the really clever people research the future, developing
‘The Keynote?’ he said, as if that was going to be any help to me at all.
I did some more head shaking. Paired it up with a blank look.
‘I’m addressing the Science Council ,’ he explained. ‘And their families. A little bit of enforced PR that I was expecting you to attend.’
I guess ‘expecting’ is more real to my father than ‘asking’.
I gave him a nod.
‘I’ll get changed,’ I said.
I scanned the Link for something appropriate to the occasion, found a Nevri Bartlett evening suit, which was expensive, but elegant. I paid with FlashCash, downloaded the template, and then let my filaments turn my outfit into the suit.
It took seconds. And fit perfectly.
The material was iridescent, and alternated between midnight blue and a much lighter LED purple depending on the angle that light hit it.
And it had a cleaning function, like a lot of designer attire, which meant I didn’t even need to take a shower.
‘Ready,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
LinkList/Peter_Vincent
333/F11B/355
My Top 5 Virtual MiniBreak Destinations
5. Old New York
OK, its programming is a little loose and there are far too many recursive glitches for it to be a long stay (an hour and a half is my longest visit) but what it lacks in subtlety it more than makes up for with its sense of danger.
Whether taking a cab ride through Times Square, eating bagels and MacDougal’s hamburgers in the famous Restaurant of Liberty, or just walking around Linkin Park after dark, there’s a real sense that anything can indeed happen in the red white and blue apple.
4. The Cold Wilds
One of the newer virtual experience packages, the cold wilds is a kind of snowboarding environment, but it’s a hex of a lot more than that.
The physics have infinite levels of customisation, so you can make a mere half-pipe into a zero-gravity death run; or switch gravity to any surface so that you can grind horizontally along the side-lock courses.
3. Centra-Sphere
After a complete overhaul, the new Centra-Sphere has opened, and it was worth the wait!
‘VibrAtioN’ is the new must-visit attraction, a neutral field environment that turns sound into sensory stimulus. You haven’t lived until you’ve felt your LinkTunesLibrary converted into waves that surround your body and physically interact with you. A LinkUpgrade to v2.14 will even allow generation of unique imagery skimmed from your library! Wow.
2. Sea-Side Evolved
Back in the day, the world used to lo-o-o-ove the seaside, but then coastal protection, marine conservation, and sand mites made it a thing of the past.
Now it’s back in virtual form and, although it is a little weird getting used to doing nothing more than lying in the sun (a uv-neutral version) and picking sand out of everything you own, it’s surprisingly relaxing.
1. Last Quest Resort
Big surprise about my number one!
This experience kind of transplants the whole Last Quest world into a vivid – although still a little underdeveloped – interactive experience. Go Chickaboo racing at the Crystal Plains Raceway, or search for treasure in the Vile Wastes; challenge the one of the Knights of Fear to a duel, or fly with the MechMages through the skies of Avalon; steal the magic of the Summoners, or just shop at the KingTown Market.
It’s all there, and the experience is so immersive, so breathtakingly beautiful, that it is my absolute favourite getaway. Still a little on the pricey side, but perfect to escape from real life.
-9-
File: 113/44/00fgj/Continued
Source: LinkData\LinkDiary\Peter_Vincent\Personal
The Science Council is an architect’s layer cake of metal and glass on the southernmost edge of New Cambridge. Surrounded by a lush park it rises up with a look of unshakeable confidence in its own importance.
As well it might.
It is, after all, where all the really clever people research the future, developing
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