You've decided it's real

It may have started as a lark but you're too committed now. You don't know if simulation theory is true but you're going to give proving it your best shot.

Which you explain to Crystal.

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." She stretches out on your couch and you find yourself unable to stop staring.

You've never met a girl with hair as long as hers. Her blond hair goes all the way to her calves when she's standing but, sprawled on the couch, it puddles on the floor. She always dresses on the sexy side of professional... showing a bit of cleavage and highlighting her long legs with skirts slit up the sides. So much so that you never realized she really isn't particularly large in the chest department... just nicely shaped.

"Hello, Mike. Anyone there."

"Oh, shit. Sorry, Crystal. You have to know that you're kind of stunningly beautiful. It is distracting."

"So, is that why you called me?"

"Actually I called you because you're the only female programmer I know and I wanted a woman's perspective."

She leans forward... giving you an even closer look at that cleavage. Focus, Mike, you remind yourself. Scaring her away is low on your priority list.

"I'm interested."

You explain your problem. "Basically, I'm assuming that the interface is speech. I'm working on the language but I need some insights into how the sim knows it's getting instructions. I mean, I wouldn't design a sim that could be randomly talked off and I can't imagine whatever A.I. is doing the programming here would either."

She nods. "So you need some sort of interrupt mechanism."

"Not technically an interrupt--"

"Yeah, but the same idea. Sort of like the curly brackets in CHYOA to highlight code rather than text. Or properly indented but not in quotation mark text in Renpy."

"You... you know about CHYOA?"

"Girls like sexy stories too, you know."

You think back at the time Amber caught you reading a story on CHYOA. You heard about that for months.

"Cool. Yeah, that's the idea."

You brainstorm some ideas including hand motions (like in The Magicians), special devices like the magic wands in Harry Potter, and special actions like ritual dance, sex, or animal sacrifice (way too gross but definitely a huge part of The Bible).

"I'm not sacrificing animals," you say.

She giggles. "And I'm pretty sure it's more complicated than just sex. I don't know how many times I've said 'oh god,' during sex and my prayers are almost never answered."

"What, exactly, are you praying for?"

She blushes. "You know, I'm going to have to know you a lot better before I answer that question."

"Speaking of which, this is fun. Can I... take you out sometime."

"God, I don't know. If we get caught..."

"We'll certainly want to be careful."

"You know, you look different."

"Yeah, I've been changing my life since I got fired."

"Not just a suntan and haircut, though."

"Hope it's an improvement."

"It definitely is. Sure, call me sometime. But don't do it during working hours."

"I will."

"And speaking of working hours, I need to get back or I won't have a job at all."

"Thanks for your help, Crystal."