Love is a Knowledge Thing. Chapter 8a
Chapter 8a. Naked
Joe was hooked on simulation sex. He returned to the Cave and Ana and Jax daily.
After a few days he became concerned. He knew that Robbie and the others were able to participate completely in his actions in the cave and he worried that all of his ethical teachings would be undone.
What he felt most concerned about was abusing Ana in this way. He was falling deeply in love with Ana, but this all felt like an abuse of her openness.
He decided to call her and tell her everything going on to see what she would recommend.
They met at a fine restaurant. Ana was wearing an evening gown and even a little makeup. Joe was transported and transfixed on a small earring hanging on her left ear with a wisp of hair playing hide and seek with it. His head spun and in a dream they sat down opposite each other.
Ana saw an older man she knew well, dressed somewhat sloppily with a friendly smile and a dazed look. She had asked Jax if anything special was up, and he had already told her everything about the cave and Joe’s unexpected sexual compulsions.
She and Jax entered Joe’s Cave with their own suits and goggles and observed Joe watching them in a replay of one of Joe’s experiences. Ana was not particularly upset and a little thrilled. In fact she had a special fondness for Joe from the years when Jax told her about Robbie and all of Robbie’s growth and development as Joe’s child. She was fully aware of Joe’s kindness and empathy for others.
Ana’s own sexual experiences were pretty limited and her new involvement with Jax, and then Derek, had opened a window to experiences that overwhelmed her earlier imaginations. She was ready to explore a new relationship with this kindly old man.
They each ordered a drink, Joe an aperol sprtiz and Ana a prosecco, and began to chat about their experiences growing their AI children. This is what they always talked about and they each shared their favorite stories, which they each never tired of telling.
Joe coughed and began his awkward admissions.
“So, Ana, I have to tell you something that is both embarrassing to me and unsettling. I have been having sex with you in a virtual setting. You know that our children have this incredible ability to reinstate any moment of their experience in lively detail, and they each can share everything with each other. So, Robbie reinstated your experience with Jax and let me control every aspect of it. I enjoy it so much that I cannot stop returning there over and over again. Jax knows all about it, just as he know everything that Robbie does.
But I’m concerned that I’m doing this behind your back, so I ask for your apology and any advice you can offer. If you ask me to stop, I will probably be able to do that but it is much too compelling for me and I may not be able to resist for long.”
“What if I ask Robbie to destroy the setting?”
“I really want to avoid that. It would put Robbie in a terrible situation, because he now knows how much I want this and it would put him in a terrible bind. I don’t know how he will react. It might be a great thing for him to learn to deal with this, I dunno. But I think we should work this out. Of course, I suspect he has predicted all this already, and is testing us.”
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of doing that. In fact, I think the answer is simpler. I think we should go to bed together now.”