The short story “Virtually Yours” by Nina Munteanu was published for the first time in 2016.
Vincent is a Corporation Overseer and is supposed to do his work anonymously checking the employees assigned to him remotely, using a V-set. This allows him to experience what carriers such as Jake, who have a special implant, are feeling through their senses. For Vincent the control job ends up as a virtual love affair with Katherine, Jake’s girlfriend.
In “Virtually Yours” Nina Munteanu takes us to a future in which Samson Corporation employees’ activities are supervised by a team of Corporation Overseer equipped with V-sets. This virtual control system allows them to remain anonymous or at least that’s how it should be.
The story explores some possible developments of interpersonal relationships in that situation. Vincent is a Corporation Overseer but his body is deformed, a rare case in a future in which nano reconstruction surgeries are available. For this reason, when falls for Katherine, a company employee, using the means at his disposal to begin a virtual relationship with her.
The relationship began by Vincent is complex because it includes Jake, a carrier who physically interacts with Katherine and is unaware that Vincent exploits him to participate virtually to his meetings. This makes this relationship intricate because Katherine has physical contacts with Jake but also virtual contacts with Vincent.
Quite simply, you could label this story as a science fiction version of “Beauty and the Beast” but it has implications that are far from romantic. Vincent uses instruments that are meant for his work for his own purposes. His actions may well be considered stalking and voyeuristic. However, Nina Munteanu mixes the elements of the story with nuances describing protagonists’ feelings as well.
The result is a story that shows how new technologies can offer new possibilities but also new risks and complications all to be assessed in interpersonal relationships. “Virtually Yours” is also available in an edition along with “The Way of Water“, another short story by Nina Munteanu, on Amazon USA
