Chapter  1  Awakening continued…

Sensing his movement, Ofelia increased the light above the platform, slowly it changed to a soft red glow. ‘0200 hours Greenwich’, Tuesday December 23, 2245’ projected on the wall in front of him. “Damn, I’m probably the only one awake and the one most needing sleep”, he thought. Night security environmental sensors were provided by automated systems designed by the ecologists and engineers. The systems monitored and controlled all critical operations. Virgil stood, “I was dreaming”, he thought, “but something else awakened me”. It was Ofelia’s voice he had heard. He had momentarily forgotten about her. This time the voice was a little louder in his head.

“Good-morning Virgil, you seem alert now. I have some important information for you.”

“Damn!!” Virgil started. Ofelia had been present for a week already. However, he was still not accustomed to having anyone speak in his mind. But the voice was soft, pleasant and feminine, designed to Rhett’s preference. Virgil had been connected on Rhett’s departure. The surgery for the implant just under his scalp had already healed. She was Rhett’s virtual assistant and had been created to his specifications. Still, he was irritated. He spoke.

“It had better be important Ofelia. You do realize it’s only…what? zero two hundred hours. You know I have all of Rhett’s responsibilities as well as my own, including a damn diatom issue?”

“I am fully aware. You’re telling me you’d rather return to your nightmare?”  Ofelia said.

“H-how did you know?” Virgil asked.

“I think your screams might have given it away.” Ofelia answered. Virgil hung his head. “That was me? Well yea, I suppose they might have.”

 “But I did want to wake you. You need to know this; Rhett Blackburn, his wife and two daughters are reported missing.” 

Virgil was stunned. He walked over to the open balcony, and feeling unsteady reached out and grabbed the bamboo railing of his tree house. The pounding in his head increased. Looking down the length of the island cylinder, he could see the small lake below lined with terraced restaurants, some of which extended into the little bay. It shimmered silver. There was a hint of still dark vineyards on low rolling hills in the distance. A barely visible stand of bamboo and hemp graced the shores across from the restaurants. The Moon simulation showed full on this night and the pervasive silence and cool air should have instilled a sense of serene peace. It did not. None-the-less he took a slow deep breath and the pounding eased.

“Virgil! Did you hear what I just told you?” Unaccustomed to Ophelia’s voice in his mind, it boomed and his head throbbed anew. Feeling exposed in his sleeping shorts, he reached over to the bedside rack and pulled on his robe.

“S-Sorry, I did.” He rubbed his temples to calm the throbbing while he absorbed this disturbing information. “This is terrible! They were in Antarctica, weren’t they? When did they disappear? Is there is a search team? I can’t believe it.” 

Ophelia’s voice, was still disorienting. She created a softer tone, “Apparently, they were in a Stunt Helicopter. It disappeared over the Transantarctic Mountain Range”.

“They can’t be more specific!? Those mountains cover the distance across the whole continent”. Virgil choked.

“The helicopter part of the trip was the last leg before they headed to the south pole. It would have been no more than 300 miles from the Antarctic Polar Resort. They couldn’t have been far from the landing site.” Ophelia offered.

“Do you know that?” This time Virgil raised his voice. He slumped down on his sleeping platform. “I can’t do this”, he muttered. “I need Rhett to come back.”

He lay back, closed his eyes and tried to disappear back into sleep. It was not going to happen. Adrenalin surged and his head ache returned. This time he could feel his heart pounding. After a few minutes of slow deep breaths, he felt more in control.

“Ofelia?” He said in almost a whisper.

“Yes Virgil?”

“Are you pretty?”

“I am only virtual, Virgil”

“Yes, I know, but Rhett would have specified your physical form projected in his mind.”

“He did”

“So did you project yourself as beautiful to him?”

“I suppose I did.”

“I have yet to set up a vision of you. Could you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

“It would help me to know that my partner and associate was a beautiful woman.” He offered, pausing for a moment he continued. “I was never comfortable around corporal female beauty.”

As Virgil lay back a vision of Ofelia appeared in his mind. “You are wearing a business suit!”  He blurted. “Oh! sorry I guess I didn’t expect that. That wasn’t my vision of you.” He felt frantic for a minute. “Well, that didn’t come out right. I just—I, I should just shut up.”

“My reveal is meant to calm and temper your feelings.”

“Yea I get it, I’ll let you know if it’s working. Like your outfit. Tailored, professional, feminine, still beautiful.” Virgil thought he had rescued himself, but realized he was sweating profusely. He mopped his forehead with the sleave of his robe.

“What did you think I would look like?” Ofelia asked in a neutral voice.

“I guess I imagined you would appear as a genie just released from a bottle or something like that.”

“Ha! A bottle would never contain me!” Ofelia chuckled. “But the magic? Yea I probably could consider that part of my mystic.”

“It’s going to take a little time to get used to having you in my mind.” Virgil replied. “I don’t think all the injected bots have settled in the right places yet. There still seem to be incomplete connections.”

“Everything’s almost in place Virgil. …..I know what lies ahead will be difficult for you, for us. I will be here whenever you need me. My eyes are everywhere and I reside in databases systemwide so I am a reliable source of information. I am your advisor and confidant. We will work this project to completion together with or without Rhett.” Virgil felt a little more composed.

“Were your eyes also green for Rhett?”

“No!”