HologramButBetter

Hank's Little Toy

“Take my hand” he said, holding it out.

Nina wondered why the scientist would want to hold her hand, but she had learned not to question him. She put her hand out to take his, but found nothing to hold, “What is this Hank?” she waved her hand through the man’s body.

“It’s a HologramButBetter.” The figure said as Hank himself came into the room. Nina saw that the hologram was mimicking all Hanks’ motions.

“That is so cool. You have outdone yourself Hank!” she held up her hand for a high five. The real Hank hit her hand and the hologram Hank hit the air then disappeared.

“So, all I need is this pen?” she took the item he was holding out.

Hank nodded, “And the exact coordinates of where you want to project into.”

“Wait, when you say coordinates, I can just enter an address?”

She smiled, talking into her phone and looking at Hank’s little toy, “You wouldn’t be able handle it, if I showed up in your bedroom.”

“Oh yeah? Try me.”

She laughed which made him laugh.

“I really wish we could get together.”

“I know Aakash, I do too.”  She rubbed at a smudge on the table.

“Hey, I have another charity benefit in New York at the end of the month; I’d love it if you could come; be my date?”

“I’d love to but I’d have to check my calendar, which I don’t have with me right now” she hated all this lying; hopefully she wouldn’t have to do it long, “but we can talk about it tonight.”

“Oh, if you get here early enough, we can watch my favorite program together.”

“Oh really; and what’s that?”

“Royalty’s Joust”

She narrowed her eyes, “Isn’t that the one everyone is talking about; the one they say should be re-rated as soft porn?”

He sniffed, “Yeah, but it’s not that bad, plus, it makes for great dreams.”

She rolled her eyes, “You’re so bad.”

He smiled, “Yes, I am. And if you want to know just how bad, you’ll just have to come and see.”

“Hey, I accepted your challenge; you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Okay” he said laughingly. Wondering when and how she would back out.

He looked at the clock: 7:45. He walked the take out carton to the garbage; then settled himself on the couch to wait for his show and for her to get there.

                She opened her door, walked in, closed and locked it. She started shedding her work clothes as she walked to her room. Standing in her bra and panties in front of her closet, she was trying to decide what she should wear. She wanted something casual, but not trampy. She finally decided, dressed and exited the bedroom.

                Opening her computer, she clicked on the HologramButBetter icon that Hank had installed on her desktop. It asked for the address. She took out her phone and texted Aakash.

                Did I miss your program?

                Not yet, but you better hurry, it’s going to start in five.

                I need your address.

                I’ll email it to you. Are you really coming?

                You’ll see.

                She checked her email and going to her computer she inputted his address and hit the go button.

                Are you ready?

                Yes, are you here?

                She took the interceptor in her hand, pointed it at herself and pushed the button.

                Aakash stood and moved the curtains to look out the window. Not seeing anyone, he sat back down. Looking up, he saw a woman appear in his foyer.  He stood up and walked to her.

                “Nina, is that you?”

                The figure nodded, “Sort of, but it’s the closest I could come to being with you right now.”

                She saw that he looked just like he did on the screen only younger. His skin was light brown; ‘like chocolate milk’ she thought to herself and he wore long nylon basketball shorts and no shirt. She was surprised to see his sculpted chest and abs; his legs were muscular also. His hair was dark and shone in the light. She smiled when she saw the stubble on his face; just like every other picture of him she saw on the internet.

                He walked around her and waved a hand in front of her face, “Can you see me?”

                She nodded, “Yes, I can.”

                He put his hand through her, “What is it? A hologram?”

                She nodded, “ButBetter.”

                He liked what he saw. She stood about 5’2” and she wore those jean shorts just perfect. Slim, but she definitely had curves all in the right places. He frowned when he saw her beautiful reddish brown hair tied up in a ponytail. If she was really there, he would have freed it.

                He looked sad; she sighed, “I know it’s not the best, but at least we can see each other. And I promise; soon it’ll be in person.”

                He nodded, “You know, if it’s between talking on the phone or this, I’ll take this; it’s so cool.” He walked all the way around her; liking what he saw.

                She resisted rolling her eyes, the way he was looking at her and nodding; she thought next he would ask her to open her mouth, so he could check her teeth; she needed to stop him, “But you’re missing your program, let’s watch.”

                “Okay” he began walking towards the couch, “the tv is over here.”

                He looked back and she was gone, he turned and was startled to see her sitting on the couch, smiling.

                “How’d you do that so fast?”

                She shrugged, “I just saw the couch and sat down?”

                 He walked over and sat next to her; putting a hand out, he tried to touch her hand and was surprised when he felt the couch, “This is weird not being able to touch you.”

                “I know”

                He was looking at her; after a good five minutes of his staring, her face took on a strange expression.

                “Uh, Aakash?”

                He smiled, “Yes Nina?”

                “Are we going to watch your show?”

                “Oh yeah, sorry.”

He sat forward; picked up the remote from the coffee table and sat back; fumbling with the buttons; still a little in shock to have her there; well sort of there. He finally found the right combination and the tv lit up.

The screen showed a naked woman; on her hands and knees with a fully dressed man behind her; it was pretty clear to Nina what they were doing.

“Is this your show?”

Aakash saw the embarrassed look on Nina’s face and looked at the tv.

She saw his face turn color and guessed that he felt the same.

“We can watch something else; if you want.” He sat forward to pick up the remote.

She held a hand up to stop him, but, it went right through. She put her hand down, “It’s okay, I know you like this show.”

He looked at her apologetically, “It does have a good story line, once you get past the…”

“Randiness?” she offered, and then blushed for saying it.

He blushed, “Yeah”

She looked up at the screen again and everyone was clothed. She breathed a sigh of relief, “So, tell me about yourself; do you have brothers or sisters?”

He nodded, she was a beautiful woman and those brown, almond shaped eyes were mesmerizing; he knew he could fall into them very easily if he wasn’t careful, “Yes, I’m the middle kid; I have an older brother and a younger sister.”

He still couldn’t get over the hologram itself, “How did you do this; I mean where did you find out about this whole HologramButBetter thing?”

She shrugged. She couldn’t tell him the truth and she would rather not lie to him, so she decided to reject both and use creative evasiveness, “I’m a freak for technology. Are you close with your family?”

“Yes…well I try to be; they live in a little town in South Carolina; they alternate who comes out here when I have something special going on and I try to go back to visit as often as I can, but my schedule is kind of crazy. What about you; any brothers or sisters?”

She nodded, “I have one brother; he’s twelve years older than me; he’s married and has three kids.”

It was frustrating; she was so close, yet he couldn’t even touch her; he wouldn’t think about it, “Are you close with them?”

She tipped her head, “I try to be, but like you; I have a busy schedule also. And my brother is gone a lot on his ship.”

“Oh, does he fish?”

Her brow furrowed, “Well, not exactly, he’s a marine biologist; specializing in cephalopods; octopus, giant squid; things like that.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool. So you don’t really get to see him much?”

She shook her head, “Not too much; maybe once a year.” She thought about it, “but I do try to stay in touch with my niece and nephews.”

“Oh, how old are they?”

“One nephew is fifteen, the other is seven and my niece is thirteen. She’s actually the one who showed me the show you were on.”

“Oh, really?”

She nodded, “She makes me watch tv with her; it’s sort of our thing to do.”

He put up a hand to touch her face; then remembered, “You look so real.”

She giggled, “I am real.”

He smiled and nodded, “I know that; I mean you seem like you’re right here, but I know it’s a hologram.” He purposely put a hand through her, “but you’re so beautiful; I wish you were here; I just want to kiss you.”

She shrugged, “We could pretend?”

She puckered up her lips and closed her eyes.

Aakash smiled and did the same. He imagined kissing her. He made a kissing sound and heard Nina’s laugh.

She saw him smile and she wished she really was with him.