... you walk through that door." "Okay." Nickolai walked out into what he saw was a sunny day. As he stepped passed the barrier of the doorframe he found himself in a pouring rain. Cursing, he ran back inside. Wiping water from his eyes, he found Furry laughing. "It's not funny!" "I think it is," Furry said. "Gotcha!" "What do you think is going on here?" "I think this is a very good VR room." "Virtual reality? Why?" "I think there are two Monasteries. One is on Pendor, and the other is... someplace else. Pandora, I guess. Whoever's inside a Monastery is inside 'the' Monastery. After I walked through that door, but before you did, I was in the Pandora one and you were in the Pendor one. VR made us think we were in the same building. That wasn't me you were touching, but... how does that phrase go..." "'An amazingly life-like simulation!'" Nickolai chimed in, laughing "Yeah! That's it. Fa, can you imagine if we made love before..." "I don't want to think about it," Nickolai grinned. "Okay, so we're both on the... alternate Monastery. How do we get home?" "I guess we go through the original door we came in." "Let's try it." They walked over to the other door, and, taking a pause, stepped into the apparent pouring rain... To find themselves again in bright sunlight and an upwardly-curving horizon. "Wow, that's fascinating," Furry said. "I'm glad you like it," Shardik's voice said. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, but I was curious to see how you were doing." "We're fine," Nickolai said, waving. "Did you get any drawing done?" "Not yet," Furry admitted. "Oh, well. Come here," Shardik said, stepping into the circular building. "I want to show you something." They followed him in. "This room is also access for a few other things, and that's one of the reasons it's sort of a mystery. I'm telling you all this because I beleive in you, Nickolai, and that's a lot to beleive in. Hal, are you listening?" "I am here, Kennet." "Hal, access Alpha, please." There was a familiar >blip< and the three of them found themselves in a large, circular room made of cold plastic. A door opened behind Shardik, and he said, "Follow me, please. |