Ana

CH 4

The setting sun turned the few clouds on the horizon appealing shades of purple and pink as Tom sat in his truck at the entrance to the property where he was to meet with Ana. A quick look around told him the area was still vacant. There was no sign that Ana was here in person this time. It looked like it would be another video conference. If so, he could have done that from his apartment. Visions of the passion he had shared with Naomi just a short time ago were making him hot for her again. This better not take long…

It was getting dark by the time he left his truck to head in the direction of where he thought the building was located but he wasn’t completely sure. Everything looked so different at night and the dim light from the small flashlight he brought with him didn’t help as much as he would like so it didn’t take long for Tom to lose his bearings. Frustrated, he ended up stumbling around the thick underbrush for at least twenty minutes before he finally found the dark structure in the small clearing littered with broken branches. He entered the building eager to get some answers but found the first floor still empty and silent.

He leaned over the stairwell and called out, “Anyone here?”

There was no answer. Maybe he was too early. He walked slowly down to the main room below and confirmed it was empty. Then an image came to life over the center table. It looked like a bay or harbor. Tom moved to get a closer look at the beautiful view of sea birds darting over the deep blue water among colorful fishing boats and pleasure. For a short while he sat and watched the pleasant bay while he waited for Ana to show up.

He was started when Ana’s voice said, “Hi Tom. Thanks for coming back.”

Tom looked around but didn’t see her. Not this again… “Ana?”

“Yes. How are you tonight Tom?”

“I’m fine but I’d be better if you would tell me where you’re transmitting from and why you wanted me to come back tonight.”

“I’m very close,” Ana said.

Tom put up his hands in frustration. “Then why aren’t you physically here? If I know you were going to do this online, I would have stayed home. We can voice chat without me coming out in the dark to this shack in the woods you know.”

“I’m here as much as I can be. Like the air you breath is here but not seen. Your eyes only give you a hint of what is around you, a sometimes misleading hint. Just as you and I have discussed while playing the game. One thing I have always respected about you Tom is how you look past what you see to try and understand the underlying reason for the things that happen. I think you have a natural ability to see the patterns of predestination, fate and the illusion of free will. One of the reasons you are such a great player killer in online games is that you instinctively know what the other player is going to do.”

He considered that for a moment. “Most of that comes from spending hours and hours of fighting other people in the game. Anyone that spends as much time as I do in player vs. player combat will be good at it.”

“You're being modest. Others spend as much, if not more, time in the game but they are not as good as you,” Ana said.

Tom smiled at the compliment but pushed it aside to stay on topic. “Ana, we’ve been friends for a while now and you’ve always been one of the most honest and intelligent people I know, so I’m a little surprised by all of this subterfuge. And, what you showed me this morning makes me think you’re a major league hacker. I want to be very clear with you that I’m not interested in getting involved in anything illegal.”

“Hacking’s is a poor description for what I do. It’s my job to acquire information and formulate it into interactive models for scientific research and study.”