Everything I Own Is Iced Out

Eddie said, “When you put on the headset, it will be totally dark until the system finishes powering up.  Flip the earplugs down and get them adjusted in your ears.  There are two tiny TV screens, one in front of each eye.  They will go from black to gray, then you will be in a forest.”

Sure enough, in a few moments, Janus was looking at a sea of leaves and branches.  He heard birds chirping.  A squirrel scampered up a tree to his left.  He turned his head to look at the small animal and the perspective on the TV screens followed.  XYZ axis head tracking

It took a moment for him to realize it, but the image didn’t just follow the movement of his head, it followed his eyes as well.  He could hold his head still, and pan across almost 180 degrees of the forest just by moving his eyes left to right.  eye tracking

He heard Eddie’s voice through the headphones. “Here’s the really cool thing.  Hold up your hands.”

Janus was amazed when he could see his hands and arms, even though everything else in the coffee shop had been replaced by a forest and some noisy animals.

“The software recognizes the wearer’s body on the external camera and superimposes it on the images you see.  Look down and notice what happens where your legs are hidden from the camera by the table.”

Sure enough, he could see his torso and the top of his legs.  Then, where the edge of the table began, nothing but forest.  virtual reality

Eddie continued.  “Now, for some really cool, brand new stuff.”  A small gray blob quickly coalesced into the top half of Eddie’s body.  Eddie flashed a big grin.  “Now you see me.”  Just as quickly, he disappeared, replaced with the forest.  “Now you don’t.”

“On my phone I’m running the software that controls the mask.  All I have to do to is tap on my screen to show me or any other discrete image on your display.  Another tap and it disappears.”  For a brief moment, the table appeared in the middle of the forest.  Then winked out. 

“One more cool trick.  Hold up your arms again.”  Janus watched as his left hand slowly turned bright orange.  At the same time, his right hand turned purple.  He moved his hands back and forth and the color followed.  The colors lightened and darkened where veins and tendons created irregularities in the surface of his skin.  It looked real.  augmentive reality 

Janus pulled off the mask and returned to the real world.  He set it on the table and said, “Okay, load all this in the bag.  If you want it back, be here with the cash on Friday.”

Just then the men noticed a commotion on the sidewalk.  Iceberg was yelling at a sally.  Then he slapped her.  She started crying.  Janus didn’t recognize the woman.  Janus thought, there is one too many cadillacs in Lincoln Terrace.

He thought about the conversation earlier in the day with Sassafras.  He looked at the VR equipment on the table in front of him.  An idea popped into his head.  He looked at Eddie.

“So, you work for a company that makes virtual reality gear, and you know all about how it works?”

“Yeah, I started learning the technology when I was in middle school.”

“How would you like to work off your debt instead of paying it off?  I’ve got a project you could help me with.”

“I’m all ears.”

Janus explained and the men spent some time hashing out a plan.

The next time Janus saw Sassafras and Iceberg wasn’t around, he told her, “Look me up when you’ve got some time to talk.  I think you’ll like what I have to say.”

Sassafras burst into laughter when Janus explained his idea.  “Well, that will be almost as much fun as killing the b*****d.”

Janus said, “And more importantly, it won’t give Johnny Law a reason to come looking for us.  All the heat will be on Iceberg.  We’re going to make him melt.”