The Dating Game - Chapter 3
Created Sunday, January 13, 2008
Last Updated Sunday, January 13, 2008
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In Which Diana Takes an enforced nap
Diana looked up as the man re-entered the room with the sameprofessional smile fixed on his face. He pointed to the door she hadentered from and walked towards it. "If you would like to follow me Miss Prince." "Where are we going I thought we just had to finish up?" "Indeed we do but that involves stage two of the Soul Mates Partner process." "Stage two?" "If you follow me Miss Prince I'll show you." Diana, her interest peaked followed him out of the door and alongthe short corridor she had entered from and through the door into adarkened room at the opposite end from the reception area. "It's rather dark in here. Mr.?" "My name is Prentiss Miss Prince, Doug Prentice. You may if you wish call me Doug." Doug reached over and turned a dial on the wall. A dim lightbrightened the gloom. Diana looked at her surroundings. The room wasquite large and one wall was covered with a cinema screen and directlyin front of it was a single chair. The other three walls were blankexcept for a small opening in the wall to the rear which Diana guessedwas for some sort of projection device. Diana tensed a little. This wassomething out of the ordinary. It was a bit hi tech for a datingagency." "Perhaps I might explain Miss Prince" "Diana nodded." "We have found through our research that simply asking clientsquestions and relying on them to be completely honest is a littleniece. So we developed this simple technique to ensure that we canmatch our clients up with a suitable partner." "And how do you do that?" "As I said Miss Prince it is all very simple. The client, in thiscase you simply sit in the chair and watches the screen. There is abutton set into each arm of the chair and whilst sat there you will seea series of partner types and will press the left button if you findthem attractive and the right hand button if you don't and as theprocess continues. The computer controlling the images will learn yourpreferences and the images will get closer and closer to your ideal." An image of Steve flashed through Diana's mind. She smiled andwondered how close their choice would be to the man she truly loved. "But I could still cheat." "Yes you could, although the computer will also through the placement of two tiny sensors be monitoring your biometrics." Doug laughed. "We like to call it our love detector." "I'm not sure about the sensors. I mean that does seem a little bit extreme." Doug shrugged. "You are the client Miss Prince. If you choose not to have thesensors attached we will still proceed it just won't be quite asaccurate." Diana had expected an argument, not a resigned acceptance. Perhapsthis was a wild goose chase after all. She walked over to the chair andsat down. "Take your time Miss Prince, there is no hurry." "How long will this take." "With the sensors about 45 minutes, without around 5 to ten minutes more." "Why is that?" "The computer will take longer to compile the partner model without the use of biometrics." Diana picked up the sensors. "Where do they go?" "They are attached to either side of the forehead, you can removethem at any time should you feel uncomfortable. As I said before thisis your time, your money." "OK I'll go with the sensors." "If you're sure Miss Prince." "Yes. I'm sure." Doug walked over and placed the sensors gently on her forehead.Diana moved her head from side to side. She looked at Doug searchingfor signs of stress, but he was perfectly calm, he seemed calm andrelaxed. Diana pointed at the button on the left. "This one is a yes." She pointed to the other one. "This is no." "You got it Miss Prince. Now I'll leave you to get comfortable theshow will begin in about 60 seconds. As the process continues theimages will flash faster and faster. Don't worry if you miss a few itwon't make any difference." "Thank you Doug." Doug left and closed the door behind him. Diana examined the chairclosely. There were no hidden restraints. No disguised gas emitters.The chair was perfectly normal. She felt the sensors on the side of herhead. They seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. Diana tensed alittle searching for the trap, waiting to spring from the chair at thefirst sign of danger. The lights dimmed and the Soul Mates logo flashedon to the screen. Next was an image of a plain looking man who wasfrowning. Diana pressed no. Another image, this time of a good lookingAsian man. Diana pressed no, then another image and another, someyeses, some no's. Diana watched the screen carefully waiting for eachpicture unaware that her every movement was being watched, her bodyrhythm monitored. "That's ten minutes, how's she doing?" "She's tense, like she's waiting for something to happen." "You still think she's bad news?" "I'm convinced of it." "Then maybe we should just give her the standard programme and let her walk." "No if someone is on to us we need to know who." "OK so we'd better get her ready for a few questions." The other man reached over to a keyboard and brought up a menu on the screen before him. "Initiating containment!" He pressed a button. In the other room Diana was suddenly suckedback into the chair. She gasped as the wind was knocked from her lungs.She tried to sit up but she was pinned to the chair by invisible bonds.She couldn't move a muscle. Diana struggled with all her might. It hadbeen a trap all along and she had fallen right into it. Back in the other room. "Containment 100%. Initiating level one shutdown." He pressed another button. In the other room Diana went rigid, hereyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent scream as a burst ofenergy from the two harmless sensors overrode her conscious mindputting her into a deep but controlled slumber. Her body relaxed. "Level one shutdown complete. Initiating Truth Node. Truth node connected. Accessing short term memory." "Is she ready?" "Yes go back in and find out who she's working for and what theysuspect. It's about time Miss Prince started being a little more honestwith us." |
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