Dark Secrets Unveiled (The Children of the Gods #45) - I.T. Lucas Page 0,44

where several immortals were busy doing God only knew what.

Were they building more virtual machines?

She wanted to ask but held her tongue. If they were working on something confidential, it would seem as if she was snooping around, and she couldn’t afford the suspicion. She’d made good progress lately, mainly thanks to Kri, and people were becoming less wary of her.

“I’m so glad that you haven’t changed your minds about volunteering to test the new machines.”

“Changed our minds?” Eleanor snorted. “I can’t wait to get on the slopes.”

Sitting down, Kri narrowed her eyes at William. “Are you sure that your guys removed all the sexual innuendos from the program?” She cast a sidelong glance at Eleanor. “No offense, but Michael asked me to double-check. In fact, he wanted to do the test run with me, but I told him that I’ve already promised you to be your partner.”

If Kri thought that Eleanor would graciously step down and let Michael take her place, her friend was dead wrong. She was humming with anticipation to be back on the slopes, even if the entire experience would only happen in her head.

After all, wasn’t that all that mattered?

Some even postulated that life on earth was a simulation, a game played by extraterrestrials somewhere in the universe.

“None taken.” Eleanor crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going skiing today, and I don’t care who my partner is. If you want your boyfriend to take your place, that’s fine with me.”

Kri arched a brow. “Not going to happen.”

“I didn’t think so.”

Immortals were so damn jealous and possessive over their mates. It was even worse than in the human world.

Eleanor had no interest in Michael or any of the other immortal males in the village. Greggory would have been her first choice as a partner in the virtual or real universe, but the clan’s two machines were not connected to the virtual studios’ network, so the only way to use them was to be physically in the village.

William pushed his glasses up his nose. “The program doesn’t create the sexual content. The participants do that. It only supplies the right environment for romance to flourish.”

Kri snorted. “It’s not about romance, William. It’s about hookups.”

He shrugged. “Again, it depends on the participants. You can enter the program and choose not to have virtual sex.”

“Yeah, but you said that once we enter the program, we become our avatars and forget who we are in our real lives. Who knows what those avatars will choose to do? Doesn’t that depend on the program?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that simple. The avatar supplies a history and a choice of attributes. You will need to fill out a questionnaire, which will narrow down your preferences. Just skip over all the sex stuff.”

“Do we get to choose our avatars?” Eleanor asked.

“Not for the test run.” William turned his computer on. “The most significant modification we did to the original ski program was to make both main characters female.” He smiled at Kri. “Does that make you feel better?”

“Michael will be very happy to hear that.”

“So here is the background story of your adventure.” William pulled up a picture on the screen of what looked like a top-security jail. “You are both spies, one is Russian, and one is American, but you are good friends. The American got caught, and she is being held in a top security facility in Siberia. Her Russian friend springs her free, and they ski their way to freedom. Naturally, they are pursued, shot at, and all the other usual tropes of a good spy movie, including a helicopter chase. I thought that two athletic ladies like you would enjoy the physical challenge.”

Kri grinned. “Sounds like fun.”

William pulled two laptops out of his drawer and put them on the desk. “The questionnaires are in there. Read the instructions, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Also, if you come up with items that are missing from the questionnaire, jot them down.” He pulled out two yellow pads and put one next to each laptop. “We’ve already adapted it for immortals, but user experience is important, and you might notice things that we’ve missed.”

“Who was originally the female character? The Russian or the American?” Kri asked.

“The Russian was the female. The American spy was her lover.”

An image of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff in the Avengers movies popped into Eleanor’s mind. It would be fun if her avatar was a short, curvy redhead with killer