"Clarkesburg has one of the largest, oldest and most eclectic collections of video games, virtual reality games, and the like to be found anywhere on Terra."Clarkesburg has one of the largest, oldest and most eclectic collections of video games, virtual reality games, and the like to be found anywhere on Terra. Not to mention a large, clean lake to swim in and a water-based theme park on the other side of town. There's no way you can't connect with some of the people here. You'll be more of a celebrity than I'm ever seen as!" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'd have to wear some sort of modesty suit to go swimming, wouldn't I?" I looked at her carefully. "'Fraid so," I said. "No matter how feline you look, there's no way to hide the fact that you're a woman, too." I smiled. "We should be grateful for small favors." She grinned back at me, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You're wonderful. And I'm hungry." No surprise there, I thought. "There's probably a greasy spoon somewhere up the road; let's walk, it's less than a mile to where the 'action' is, so to speak." "Walk... that means I have to..." "That's right. You and I are going out in public together. That's okay, I've already been spotted." "How?" she asked. "When you travelled last night for supplies?" "Well, the girl behind the counter told me I looked a lot like Ken Shardik." She laughed. "I hope she's not disappointed when she finds out you really are!" I nodded and opened the door to the motel room, putting the keys in a zippered pocket of the bulky leather jacket I was wearing. I also grabbed what identifying papers I would need later. We started down the gravelled road, staying close to each other. I realized that I was going to regret the jacket later; although it was a chill New Hampshire morning, complete with overcast sky and fog, my senses told me that by midday it was going to be a scorcher. And I was going to have to lug this four-kilo monster with me. Oh, well, I'd survive the experience. As we wandered down the road, kicking loose gravel as we did so, she said, "Uh... Ken? What's a 'greasy spoon?'" I laughed. "Sorry. It's an expression I used a long long time ago. I'm not sure what the origin is, but I think you'll have as good a guess as I do once we get there. |