Rosemary, who has been isolated since she was twelve, experiences her first VR rock concert and finds it completely mind-blowing. She had not previously had access to advanced "hoodies", the VR technology people use, but was given a hoodie and access to the concert by StageHolo, the production company, after she helped them solve a problem in her job with SuperWally.Â
projectors—projections of projectors, really—moved in a circle above a clear area ringed with angled speakers. She guessed that meant the band holo appeared in the center. She situated herself behind the largest group, under the assumption they knew what they were doing. This was the most people Rosemary had seen in one place since she was a kid, even in hoodspace. More than any of her classes, or any party she’d ever been to, though in truth she preferred smaller gatherings. She wondered if it was an unlimited space, or if there were multiple iterations of this same bar, or if it was coded to allow overlay. She could look, but she didn’t want to know. The thought of someone else standing in the same spot as her, even virtually, made her shudder.
Pinsker, Sarah. A Song for a New Day (p. 39). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.Â
The music hit Rosemary like a wave, knocking her breath from her. Louder than anything she had ever heard, filling every corner of her. One chord, and she was full. Don’t stop, Rosemary thought. Don’t ever stop.
Pinsker, Sarah. A Song for a New Day (p. 40). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.Â
The holo quality changed, the second-minute change the girl had mentioned, a momentary shimmer. Rosemary pressed her avatar up against the people in front of her, the closest she had been to strangers in her adult life. The Hoodie gave a warning jolt, but the other people didn’t notice, or if they noticed, they didn’t care. A gap opened between two men in front and she pushed through, hoping there wasn’t etiquette against it. The space expanded before her, a highlighted path leading her to a better spot.
Pinsker, Sarah. A Song for a New Day (p. 41). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.Â
“Good to see you all. Good to be here at the Bloom Bar.” His lips shimmered as he said the words “Bloom Bar,” as if they had been inserted separately. A lock of hair fell in his eyes and he brushed it aside. “We’re going to go ahead and play some songs for you, yeah?” The bassist opened her eyes for the first time. Something caught her attention, something in whatever place she was actually in. She glanced down, shook her head, then looked straight at Rosemary and winked. It was the sexiest wink Rosemary had ever seen. She knew it hadn’t been meant for her, but it might as well have been. She took a step forward before reminding herself she was an avatar looking at an avatar of someone standing in a warehouse somewhere—where?—a hundred or a thousand or three thousand miles away. Someone who had just winked at someone else. Rosemary refocused on the singer. Something shimmered above his head, and when she examined the link she found a menu of optional enhancements and accessibility options. Subtitles, translation subtitles, vibration boost, visual description tags. Nothing she needed, but cool to know it was there.
Pinsker, Sarah. A Song for a New Day (p. 42). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.Â
She could have pulled off the Hoodie and disappeared from the room, but she wanted the full experience. Her ears rang as she walked out. There was a muffled quality to everything, like she had cotton wrapped around her. She stayed in the silent hood even after she had turned off the visual; she didn’t want to lose the feeling she had walked out with.
Pinsker, Sarah. A Song for a New Day (pp. 43-44). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.Â
| Title | Publication Type | Year | Creator |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Song for a New Day | Narrative, Novel | Sarah Pinsker |
