“Do you believe that apples are real?”

“Yes, because I’ve experienced them before.”

“And right now we can only talk about apples in the abstract because we don’t have a real apple in our hands to eat.” Tao picked up a tablet and tapped a few keys before showing it to Jack. It bore the picture of a bright red apple.

“Is this apple real or virtual?”

“I’d say virtual, because it’s only the picture of one. It doesn’t exist in reality.”

“The picture is real, though. What do you mean ‘it’ doesn’t exist?”

“The apple itself.”

“An apple defined as?”

“The sum of its attributes: weight, three dimensions, color, taste—that sort of thing.”

“Exactly.” Dr. Tao reached into her pocket and tossed a bright red apple at Jack. He caught it.

“Is that apple real?” Dr. Tao asked.

Jack rolled it in his fingers, felt the weight of it in his hands. “Sure.”

“Assuming your brain is normal and your senses are normal, your brain is correctly telling you that you have just encountered a real apple. Not a virtual apple. Not the idea of an apple. But an actual apple.”

“Agreed.”

“Why?”

“Because my brain and my senses tell me it is.”

“Exactly so.” Dr. Tao smiled. “Have you ever experienced virtual reality, Mr. Ryan?”

“No. I’m not really into video games.”

“Then perhaps we should start there.”

31

Dr. Tao escorted Jack and Lian to the next room, a wide-open expanse but dark like a theater, with markers on the floor and sensors in the ceiling. Two technicians were illuminated by the glow of computer workstations behind a glass wall on one side of the room.

Dr. Tao directed Jack to a table outside of the workstation room. On it were black gloves, pull-on boots, and an unusual set of goggles that Jack picked up. The face of them was a huge rectangular opaque lens.

“That’s our own wireless VR goggle design, though it’s not terribly different from others on the market, like Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive.”

“I take it that the flat piece is like a personal movie screen,” Jack said.

“Exactly. There’s also a wireless stereo headset that goes with it.”

Jack was drawn to a leg holster and a Glock 19 pistol. He picked up the gun and felt the familiar knobby plastic grip in his hand. His thumb touched the wide mag release. A Gen4. It was the right weight and dimensions, but the barrel was capped in orange plastic, the magazines on the table were empty, and there wasn’t any ammo.

“A practice gun.”

“Have you ever fired a real pistol, Mr. Ryan?” Dr. Tao asked.

Jack shrugged. “Once or twice.”

Dr. Tao frowned with concern. “If you’re not comfortable with guns, I can arrange a different kind of demo—”

“No, I’m fine, really.”

“Good. Let’s get you suited up and we’ll get started.”

—