“Was he handsome?” The Matriarchin’s voice filled the gray canvass of lysergic space.
Nikki was about to respond but simply said, “Mutter…?”
“The freeman, daughter. Was he handsome?” Her voice was gentle but firm.
“I suppose one could say so.”
“One could, but how about you?”
She lowered her gaze and nodded. “Yes, he was handsome.”
There was a rustling sound in the darkness. Nikki caught glimpses of a black wispy dress that flowed like virtual tendrils.
“He bit you multiple times,” said the Matriarchin.
“Yes.”
“On your face?”
“Yes."
“Neck?”
“Yes.”
“Legs, lips, breasts?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
She collapsed on the floor.
“Did his poison make you climax?”
“Mutter please…”
Her shadow loomed large in the virtual darkness. She seemed to be everywhere at once. Each qubit of her web was a mirror of the whole. Fragmented holographic complexity. Distributed consciousness.
“They are brutes!” the Matriarchin raged. “All of them! Savages who cannot contain basic urges. They pollute everything they touch.”
The darkness enveloped her like thick smoke.
“Go now, daughter. Purify your body and reset your mind. Rest well, for I fear a large battle looms ahead.”
The darkness finally lifted, and she found herself lying on the neuropod’s chrome floor. The walls glowed green- an afterimage on her visual field. Fragments of meaning falling like golden sunflakes on the floor.
Nikki stood up and wiped her face as she walked across the dimly lit room. The Matriarchin was right. She needed to pull herself together and forget all about the strange freeman.