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This section covers the meeting between Ivan and Eva and Undepoldus.
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Marita and Ivan
All felt the breeze as the massive door opened for a while as
Undepoldus crawled in. It closed just as his front end came into
view. Undepoldus started his rock transporter and began to feed
without saying anything.
Marita showed an image of her face and began to speak. She said. "Undepoldus is hungry. He apologises for not speaking at the moment. It is nice to see you all here tonight. I hope that you enjoyed your dinner, it was the menu that was offered to me when I had won a medal in the Olympics years ago. I really enjoyed it so I thought that you might like it too. When I suggested it to Undepoldus, he said that he would organise it. I did not have to do anything. I know how he does it but he never lets me know anything about the conversations he has unless they concern me. He told me that he can manage up to 60 vidcom conversations at once but he prefers to keep the number to less than 40. I know that he was using the vidcom a lot during the concert because he used me to remember some of the Swedish music. It felt strange to hear the music I was thinking about as I remembered it. Kerstin, did your version of me get a chance to hear much of the performance?"
George thought that Marita was babbling to break the silence.
It was not quite like the way Marita would normally behave unless
she had a good reason to do so. He caught no nuances of secret
speech and wondered what Marita wanted to say but could not say
at the moment. He thought that maybe her enhanced memory had made
her remember her time with Ivan more clearly while she dare not
mention it because Eva was present.
Ivan noticed her slightly strange manner too but he did not comment
on it.
Kerstin was evidently discussing things with her Marita to try
to find out why Undepoldus Marita was behaving slightly oddly.
It took her a while to answer. She said. "Yes, my Marita
heard most of the concert. I thought that it would be appropriate
for her to hear the concert performed in her honour. It is strange
for me to talk to two versions of you in succession. Maybe you
two can get together to compare notes if you will pardon the pun.
My version of you heard the concert normally but you heard it
from the inside in a manner of speaking."
Marita answered. "You have the wrong idea Kerstin. I heard the concert as Undepoldus does. He listens to the way it is being recorded. It must be very much like the way you would hear it. I can do the same as he does. When I speak to you as I am doing now, I cannot hear myself directly. The hairs and whiskers I use to speak with are also the same ones as I hear with. When Undepoldus is performing he takes over the area that I normally use. He uses another area to hear with at the same time. What he hears there is relayed to me. It is a bit like hearing a recording of myself when what I say is relayed to me. The sound you hear is not like the sound I heard when I had a body. When I speak, Undepoldus uses stored sounds of the way I used to speak. He compares these recordings with the sounds I make. He continually applies correction to make sure that I sound right to you. When I hear myself relayed I tend to change the tone of my voice unconsciously to try to make it sound like I used to hear it. That is why it is best if I cannot hear myself speak as I am doing now. Although I cannot hear myself I still receive a sort of feedback that lets me know that I am making the right sort of noises. The image you see of me is a bit like that too. The image matches the facial expressions that I used to use. When I had a body, I could not see the expressions I was using when I talked normally. I felt that I was making them if I thought about it. Now I get a similar sort of feedback when I talk as I am talking to you now. The result is like you are talking to me on a super vidcom. You see the same lip movements. You can also see the same occasional views of my tongue and teeth. A vidcom camera will show the image you used to see of me."
George was beginning to think that the way Marita was talking did not fit in too well with the Marita he knew and loved. It would be easy for Undepoldus to pretend to be Marita but it would be hard for him to match her speech patterns when talking about a subject that she had not discussed previously. Undepoldus could synthesise any person's voice with absolute accuracy but he could not reproduce the personality with the same degree of precision. He would know what she thought about things but he would not know how she would express her ideas precisely without being in direct contact with her. There had to be a reason why Undepoldus and/or Marita were talking about things which were completely unconnected with Ivan and Eva. Eva herself would not notice the difference between the original Marita and the one who was talking to her. Ivan had not known Marita intimately for a very long time so he might not notice the difference either. Kerstin could make direct comparisons if she chose to. At the moment she had not given any indication that she had noticed anything odd about the Marita who was talking. George decided to wait and see if his suspicions became stronger and more definite.
Marita continued: "It would be a cruel trick to play on
anyone to see me on the vidcom and think that I was physically
at the other end. I will now keep my vidcom appearances to a minimum."
Eva said. "It seems that you do not mind being with Undepoldus
at all Marita. I am pleased that you have found a happy way to
continue your existence without a body."
Kerstin said forcibly. "I don't know what game you are playing
at Undepoldus, but this charade has gone on long enough. I demand
that you apologise to Ivan and Eva for deceiving them with a fake
Marita. Let the real Marita speak for herself."
Eva and Ivan looked astonished at Kerstin's outburst. George was
relieved to have his suspicions confirmed.
Undepoldus said in his usual voice. "I am sorry if I have
caused offence by my deception. However, I must say that it was
not my idea. Marita asked me if I could pretend to be her and
if it was possible for anyone to tell the difference. I could
tell that George was uncomfortable with my performance but you,
Kerstin, hid your feelings from me. I think that you wanted to
give me time to prove that I was unable to imitate Marita well
enough."
Kerstin said. "You did not detect me because it was not me
that was actively listening to you. It was my copy of Marita.
I wanted to know how she would react to hearing your Marita speak.
She spotted your deception almost immediately but thought that
it would be fun to let you think that you were deceiving us. Then
she thought that you were overplaying your role and wanted you
to stop. That is why I stopped you."
Ivan said. "You fooled me Undepoldus, and Eva too. You would
be a fine actor if you were human but you would just be an actor,
not the real McCoy. I thought that it was odd that Marita would
not want to deceive people via the vidcom because she always liked
to play pranks on people. I thought that she might have changed
and become less playful now she is with you, but now I know that
she was being just as playful as ever."
Undepoldus Marita said. "It nearly worked, and I guess that
Undepoldus could get better if he practised a bit more. It was
very strange to hear him trying to be me. I thought it was great
fun but I did not let him know how he was failing. You are right
Ivan about the vidcom view of me. I would play it by ear (if I
had any ears) with whoever I was talking to. I would not say directly
what my situation is but I would drop hints now and again to see
if the other person realised that my body was not actually present."
Eva said. "That sounds like you could play games with people.
What sort of things could you do?"
Marita said. "I would say things like. "How do you like
the way I can grow hair?" to see what the reaction was. As
you can see, I can grow hair in my image in any style I like.
I can even grow a beard and moustache like this for a laugh."
As she spoke she illustrated what she said.
"How do you like my horns? Do I look more like a she devil
with or without hair? Would fangs help? Should I change myself
to look like the person I am seeing? Should I appear full length
nude with male organs to shock people? How do you like me with
three breasts or four eyes? I can have endless fun doing silly
things with my image. Undepoldus cannot think in such an illogical
manner. Even though I have a similar brain to his now, I can still
think of silly things in the way I used to. Undepoldus is a bit
boring in his linear way of thinking.. I will have to teach him
how to have fun."
Ivan said. "I can see now that you haven't changed a bit.
You are still as crazy as you used to be when you wanted to have
a laugh. Seeing you play around brings back memories of the time
when we were students together. You played some very jolly pranks
then. I'll never forget the time that you took Commander Field
at his word. He used non-Spacer words implying that he wanted
to share comfort. The class thought that it was hilarious. I remember
that you said. "You are my senior officer, I must obey your
orders." Then you picked him up and forced him to share comfort
with you in front of the class. You did exactly what he said you
had to do. He could not continue with the lesson afterwards."
Marita said. "None of the class heard what I whispered in
his ear to make him cooperate. I said. "The class will think
that you are a gutless wimp if you do not share with me now. Show
the class that you can take a joke and let me prepare you."
I soon overcame his reluctance and he enjoyed sharing with me.
After his first peak and subsidence I said. "That was nice,
now let us do it again. I can make it happen for both of us."
I made him share four times altogether. I would not let him go
until he was exhausted. He wanted to share with me frequently
afterwards but I was more gentle with him then."
Ivan said. "You certainly stirred things up at the College
Marita. You showed the girls what could be done with all the male
lecturers and encouraged us boys to do the same with the female
lecturers. You were the best in everything you did. You were top
in Spacer Studies, you won an Olympic medal, you were voted the
most desirable comfort sharer in the College and you were a thorn
in the side of the College administrators. They wanted you to
leave but they dare not throw you off the course for the pranks
you played on everyone. They were happy days."
Eva asked. "Marita, what was Ivan like then? I know that
you and he were good friends and what that means in Spacer terms.
Marita answered by showing an image of Ivan when he was 23, nude.
She said. "This is what Ivan was like shortly after I met
him. In our first encounters he was ready and anxious to get started
as soon as we had agreed to share with each other. I taught him
how he should behave with me and he became quite good at it. He
was a bit small then but I did my best to help him grow. Ivan,
show Eva the difference I helped you to make. Ivan gamely undressed
and stood near to the image that Marita had created. The image
of him and his present state would have been ideal for a before
and after advertisement of Marita's expertise.
Kerstin's Marita asked. "Eva, do you like what I did?
I didn't know that you would be the beneficiary. Would you mind
if I check to see how my work has matured?"
Eva said. "Go ahead Marita. I have always been curious about
Ivan's time with you. It you don't mind, I will share with George
in exchange."
George was not quite prepared for Eva's suggestion but he was
happy to take Ivan's place for a while.
Undepoldus Marita said. "It is a beautiful sight to see you
four like this. Ivan and Eva, do not be afraid when Undepoldus
and I join in with you. I can guarantee that you will like it."
Undepoldus gently lowered his enormous brown patch over the four
as they were entwined. Then the six found that they could all
enjoy each other's experiences as well as their own at the same
time.
Undepoldus said to George privately. "Ivan and Eva need my
help. Neither of them would last long enough to be here when I
come back. I will change them to how they were physically when
they were 18. They will still look the same externally but they
will age much more slowly from now on. I want Marita to be able
to have a happy reunion with Ivan when she comes back. Now Eva
has shared with you, I know that she will want to share with you
again when the opportunity arises. Then Kerstin can be Marita
again for Ivan. As you and Kerstin are young, I have been able
to slow down your ageing process to less than one tenth of the
usual rate. It is my gift to you, Marita and Kerstin, for the
way you have cared for me. I know that you will never tire of
each other and that sharing comfort with Kerstin as herself or
as Marita will maintain and strengthen the love you have for each
other. I would like to do the same for Leonov and Sarah as I have
done for Ivan and Eva. Please invite them to come to one of my
concerts with dinner here afterwards. Now enjoy yourself as you
never have done before." Undepoldus then withdrew.
George felt Eva's strengthening response as Undepoldus communicated
with him. She began to become more demanding in her passion with
a youthfulness that matched Kerstin's level of energy. George
responded by just exceeding her new-found level enough push her
towards a higher degree of ecstasy. Then she shuddered and suddenly
fell asleep.
As George looked up he saw that Ivan was asleep too. He looked
at Kerstin and winked. Marita winked back and Kerstin lifted Ivan
into a comfortable position on one of the long settees. She then
placed Eva beside him.
Then Kerstin put her arms around George and said. "Marita
and I are now closer together than we were. Undepoldus has done
something to us so we can talk more easily together. I felt that
when Marita was with Ivan, I was there too, not just looking on.
Ivan amazed me. My Marita started off by treating him very gently
because of his age. Then she found that he seemed to be getting
stronger and more able. Before he fell asleep he was almost as
fit as she remembered him, I don't know how. He is now nearly
as capable as you George. He acted as if he were only a teenager
and I loved it."
PAUSE
The next section covers the changes
that affect George and Kerstin.
Viewers familiar with this subject may pass on to the following
section.
Please select PASS or CONTINUE.