Devin had carefully opened the silver box, and was delicately removing each one of the five rectangular computer chips from their padded resting-place. On the table, were five matching portable audiocassette recorders. Despite the now antiquated use of tapes, they could have passed a perfunctory inspection except for the two additional wires that extended from a crudely drilled hole in the body of each of the boxes. The two loose end of each wiring set had shiny alligator clips attached, thus creating a set of four wires for each recorder if you added the pair of normal looking sporty headphones that was attached in the proper pre-built receptacle of each device.

     “Now will you let us in on what you have planned Devin?” Aradia asked, with a little bit of anticipatory trepidation slipping into her voice.

     “Of course my dear, “ he said, as he popped the back off one of the recorders to reveal a mess of wiring and a new home for the processors now arranged on the table. “These chips are a new type of processor, designed specifically to handle large amount of floating point calculations with ‘Class III’ numbers.”

     Devin smiled at the steely glare of Aradia’s green eyes.

     “Will, can you translate for me, “ he said. It was more of a statement then a question.

     “Big calculations with big numbers,” Will said.

     “Right, “ Devin continued. “And James was able to borrow these from the University where he is an aspiring engineer. “

     James moved uncomfortably in his chair.

      “Neat. Now when did this turn into a geek convention?” Aradia asked sarcastically.

     Mary Jane giggled again, obviously fading in and out of whatever chemically assisted trip she was currently taking. Her red plaid skirt had slipped above her thigh high fishnet stocking, and Devin took a moment to help her readjust her outfit before returning to the task at hand.

     “Don’t pout Aradia. Science often leads the way to greater understanding, even if most scientist themselves don’t understand the truth when it is presented to them.” Devin said.

      “Is that why you left the University?” James asked. He had repeatedly attempted to retrieve that story from Devin since they had met.

     “Now that’s a longer story then we have time for. But let me return to the reason for tonight.” Devin paused before continuing, “You all know what wireheading is, yes?”

     James was shaking his head in the negative.

      “O.k. In the 1950’s a scientist named James Old accessed the pleasure centers of the mind by implanting an electrode in the subjects brain and wiring it to a push button.” Devin said.

     The look of revulsion on James’ face made Devin laughed before continuing.

     “Of course his subjects were rats at the time, but Science Fiction writers made the correlation to humans, and an entire genre of wetware fiction was born.“

     “Wetware?” James asked.

     This time Aradia responded, “Wetware. Like software, but pertaining to that gray matter that should be between your ears. “

     “Oh. O.k.,” James said, feeling even smaller.

     “Anyway, tonight we are going to explore the fringes of wireheading with a little wetware hacking of our own.” Devin said, as he finished clicking the last box back together.

     “This device will feed off the music in the club, and derive both binaural beats and a cranial electrical stimulation program. All in real time.” Devin sounded very proud, but once again found himself facing a pair of blank stares from Aradia and James.

      “Will,” Devin said.

      On cue Will started, “Really freaking cool trip. Like acid, but without the two day hangover.”

     “Now I know Aradia is up for anything, but how about you James?” Devin asked, catching James with his eyes. “I don’t think that you went to all that trouble for nothing.”

     “No I didn’t, but I don’t know about this.” James replied, sounding uneasy.

     “I told you that this would be unlike any other night of your life, and sometimes risks must be taken,” Devin said.

     “I know…” James muttered.

     Devin realized that James was going to falter, but he had also chosen tonight’s guest carefully. The validity of his selection had been confirmed when he saw Jame’s reaction to Aradia.

“Well, I don’t want to continue without you James. It was only your hard work that made this possible. Without those chips I would never have been able to build these,” Devin said, gesturing to the five devices arranged on the table.

     Devin could feel Aradia’s mind working from across the room. She wouldn’t need much more prompting. Just to make sure, he made meaningful eye contact with her while James attention was diverted towards the table.

     Aradia understood, she was very perceptive woman. Maybe someday she would even realize how long it took Devin to get these two to this point. Maybe someday she would even thank him.

“Come on James.” Aradia said, in the sweetest voice she could muster. “It will be fun.”

Just the sound of her voice saying his name was all he could handle. “O.K., ” he said.

     Devin smiled, “Well then. Now that’s settled. Let me show you how to put these on.”

     Devin clipped the newly sealed device to his belt, inserting the headphones, and clipping the remaining leads to his earlobes.

     “I loosened the springs a little, but it’s got a little pinch,” he said.

     As Devin was helping Mary Jane put hers on, James was watching Aradia out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to be having a little trouble finding an appropriate place to hook the device onto. James quickly averted his eyes when she noticed him watching.

     “Alright, press play when you’re ready,” Devin said. “You might hear a popping sound at first, but don’t worry. “

     James didn’t hear a popping sound, but a constant tone began to sound in his ears as soon as he hit the button.

     “What are these doing exactly?” James asked.

     “Take to long to explain,” Devin said, as he opened the door.

     The blare of the music drowned out any other questions James might have had, as the sound in his ears began to skip.

     Aradia managed to find some way to secure her device to her stunning outfit, and was motioning James to the door.

     As they filed down the stairs, James became less aware of the strange patrons around him, and more transfixed on the music. He could still hear it over the tones in his ears, and slowly the two began to intertwine until they were inseparable in his mind.

     Devin, Mary Jane, and Will pushed into the heavily pack crowd in front of the stage. The two guys forming a protective wall between the still wobbly Mary Jane and the inundating crowd. James stayed on the edge of the chaos, a few feet behind where Aradia was standing.

     Although James was having a little trouble focusing, the pull of Aradia on his attention was still greater then whatever the device was doing to him. She seemed to just be standing there, staring into nothing, as if waiting for something no one else could see.

     At first James thought that it was the flickering light, but he could see that she was moving slowing. First her hips gently swaying, and then her back and shoulders, before her entire body began smoothly twisting to some unknown rhythm.

     His body saw it before his mind understood. And although he had never danced before, he mind didn’t seem bothered. His feet moved slowly at first, working muscle not accustomed to their performance. His mind finally recognized, what his body had already found, she was dancing to a softer rhythm hidden within maniacal sounds and rapidly changing cords of the metalcore punk. One that James wasn’t sure was really there.

     James must of closed his eyes for a moment, because streaks of varying colors were cascading through his vision. He had no idea how long he had been seeing them, but they startled him into opening his eyes. Although they diminished in intensity, they still permeated his vision, dancing at the edges of contrast. He was about to remove the clips from his ears when Devin appeared in front of him.

     “I thought I should find you,” Devin yelled, as he cupped his hands over James’ ear. “Whatever you’re seeing, it’s just the EM stimulation kicking in. It usually takes this long to build up a visual effect,” he said, barely audible.

     Aradia had moved, and was dancing several steps over from James and Devin. She had been watching James for almost an entire song, as he stood there with his eyes closed, swaying to the same rhythm she heard in her head. She tried to shrug it off, and turn her attention back to the band.

     The transition between songs was a little harsh, as the devices seemed to have trouble with the gaps in music, and the intensity of discomfort seemed to be getting worse as the night moved on. Aradia didn’t want to give up the warm glow that pulsated through her entire body, or the beautiful traces that followed everything in motion, but she didn’t protest too much when Will came around to move her back to the room.