Page 85 of Tapeworld Induction

It was fine. No pain at all.

How can this be?

He paced a bit and, before he knew it, they were out of the hospital. Isaak didn’t remember leaving it. They were simply outside already, a vast landscape of untouched nature ahead of them.

He turned the disturbing thought into a question. “You’re not Sacha, are you?”

Sacha’s head twitched and his face looked completely different for a second, just before he turned away from him. “I’m not just Sacha, my dear sweet Ike. I was that nurse too.”

“What do you mean? What’s going on?”

Sacha turned around. Strange particles of light engulfed him, pulsing in and out. When they were gone, he had changed entirely into a beautiful woman. She looked familiar. She had a determined look in her eyes, staring right at him.

The woman shook her head. Long brown hair arranged in curls, dark eyes, a black jacket and black suit trousers. She screamed sex and death in a business suit.

Her name came to him. “Astrid? Why do I know your name?”

The woman tutted. “Come now, Ike!” Her voice had the power of a jet engine.

His knee throbbed in pain, teasing him, and he fell down, hands on the ground.

She touched his cheek with an open palm, and he quickly recoiled in disgust.

His hand went to where she had touched him, then felt around his temple again. Now there was something on his skin.

His memory began to feel clearer. “Tape. You’ve got me taped in?” He thought hard, tried to force his memory back. His hands grasped at his temples, ready to pull himself out, but there was nothing there now.

“Tape? What do you know about the tape? Be quiet, dog.” She snapped her fingers. Everything went black.

“What do you want, Astrid?”

The memory of mercury on his tongue, the taste of the first and last time he’d kissed this woman. Astrid’s naked body inundated his mind.

Then came the proposal. “Work for me.” The job description? Pilfer a few things. In this black-market virtual reality. Did it come with any perks? “Your knee will feel just fine while you’re in there…”

The sex stopped and the relationship was business-like from then on. Enjoy the world of the tape, run wild, but get her the data. Simple, soul-crushing.

Now he was trapped in some made-up space. Made up to make him mad.

He shouted at her. “Thought I’d lose my mind, did you?”

She glared at him.

Astrid placed one booted foot on his shoulder, pressing down hard, hurting him until he looked up at her.

Being this close to her made him extremely uncomfortable.

She scowled. “I will break you, Ike.” She pushed him away with her foot.

He lunged forward.

She imploded into particles, which quickly disappeared.

With a growl, he struck out at the empty space in front of him, his arms sweeping wide in desperate revolt. “What more do you want from me?”

No answer.

He felt chained up, even though he wasn’t bound.