Is a hologram real?

The pair moved carefully through the woods. At the meadow tree line they stopped and crouched.

“Why did you decide to drag me along on this, this” She raised her binoculars and started scanning to the left..

“Exploration.” He raised his binoculars and started scanning to the right.

“Fine, exploration. Again, why me?” She lowered her binoculars and fixed an intense stare at him. He felt it, but it didn’t bother him. He’d grown up near it and her mother’s was much worse.

“You want the truth or a lie.”

“You lie and I’ll kill you here and say it was a bear.” He lowered the binoculars and looked at her.

“Really? You think you could?”

She huffed. She raised her binoculars to do another scan.

“No one else would come with me.”

She lowered her binoculars and looked at him in surprise.

“What? Why not! You are one of the top scouts!” He shrugged.

“It isn’t me, it is the location. The old maids say it is haunted. That no one comes back from here.” Fury reddened her face.

“And you couldn’t be bothered to tell me that!” He shrank back from her.

“Shhh!”

“Don't shush me! We haven’t seen anyone for five days. If there is anyone down here, they would already know we are here as the ridge is bare rock and totally visible from below. We haven’t seen smoke or any sort of activity for the two days we waited just inside the tree line.”

He turned up a brilliant smile.

“That’s what I like about you. You see all the important stuff.”

“That smile is nice, but it isn’t going to help you here.” He nodded and dropped the smile.

“What else did you see?”

“Just what you saw.” She pointed as she ticked off a list. “No existing roads. Ground shadows of roads from at least 20 years ago. No agricultural activity or markings. No power lines from a distant power source. No human activity. And a mound that could be a fairly large collapsed building.”

Todd swiveled to where she pointed last and raised the binoculars.

“Dang! How did I miss that?” She fumed as he made a careful survey of the mound.

“Isn’t that the reason we came here?”

“No! Nothing I heard gave any hint about a building. What did you hear?”

“Nothing. I’ve been busy helping with the winter preparations, like you should be doing.” Her glower returned. He nodded.

“I know that. I also know that we need more than the usual supplies. We have more children to feed. And the prediction is for a severe winter.”

“Where did you get any kind of prediction?”

“The old maids keep detailed records. They have this book called a farmer’s almanac and they’ve matched up the patterns. Since I was hanging around asking questions and appeared to understand what they were saying, I got volunteered to go find stuff.”

“And they sent you here?”

“Oh, no.” He chuckled. “If anything, they told me NOT to go here.”

“Oh, great! Just great! The one place they say to avoid and you go straight for it. Why!”

“Because it is closer than any other area and I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“Closer?”

“Yes, by 3 days travel.”

“Why would they…oh, ghosts.” She muttered curses about old men and fairy tales. “What now, oh great and wise scout?” Her voice dripped scorn.

“How long are we going to wait?” She had her binoculars up scanning the valley to the right.

“Another hour, maybe less.” He was scanning the other direction.

“Why the wait?” He lowered his binoculars.

“Something is off. I can’t put my finger on it. I’m just uneasy. I’m working on eliminating factors till there is nothing left. Then we go.”

“Anything I can do?”

“You don’t feel something is off?”

“It has felt off since we crossed the ridge.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m used to determining the issue very quickly. Nothing I’ve seen or felt has resolved to anything. I had nothing to tell you.”

“Ah. Okay. That’s fair. Has the intensity changed or have any sort of good or bad vibes?” She pondered a minute.

“Nothing. Just off. Sorry.” He waved it off.

“Okay, another few minutes and we’ll go in.”

“Roger that.”

They stood to one side of the rough wood framed opening into the mound. No trail of trampled plants led away from the opening. Cool air breezed out of the opening. He leaned into the opening.

“The breeze says there are other openings.” He peered into the darkness.

“”True. Are there any smells?” He froze. Then he sniffed a few times.

“Huh. Nothing.” He leaned more around the door.

“Did you hear that?” She moved up beside him and listened.

A sound came from the opening. They froze. She looked at him and opened her mouth to speak.

Another sound. Louder. He hand signaled ‘talking’? She shrugged. She hand signaled ‘go in’? They looked at each other for a minute. He nodded decisively. They moved back and got ready to enter.

He was left-handed, so he took the right side of the tunnel. She was right-handed and took the left. They had daggers with glow balls dangling in their off hands and short swords in their dominant hand. A few meters in, the walls had become slick and shiney. The outside light reflected down the tunnel.

They moved slowly and carefully. One moved, the other watched.

They came to an opening. He crossed quickly to the other side. He noticed the door handle. They moved closer to the door and the wall. They listened.

Light bloomed around the edges of the door. They leaned back.

“Would you please come in?” They stared at each other surprised.

She signaled ‘leave’? He paused.

“Please don’t leave. I would really appreciate it if you would come in and visit.”

He signaled ‘ghost’? She shook her head and signaled ‘not scary’. He nodded. The light around the door dimmed.

“I’m sorry, I forgot the corridor lights aren’t working. The lights won’t blind you now.” They looked at each other, confused. Then, he decided. He looked at her and she nodded.

He reached out and touched the door handle. Nothing happened. He stepped in front of the door and pulled. The door slid for 5 cm and stopped. She reached out and helped him pull. The door slid open, grinding as it went.

They looked into the room. In the dim light they saw a table with four chairs, two on each side. A woman sat on the far side of the table. She said nothing.

They all waited. Then he carefully stepped into the room. She followed behind and to the right side. He walked to the table. She stopped half way and moved more to the side. The woman’s eyes tracked everything. Then she smiled.

“My name is Tera. I understand that this is very unusual. If you wish, you can keep your weapons in hand, or on the table. Whichever feels better for you.”

“You aren’t armed?” She slowly waisted her arms. The loose sleeves of her dress slid back to her shoulders.

“No. You can move to either side and see I don’t have anything around me. She placed her arms on the table, palms down.

He slid to the left. She slid to the right.

“Nothing.” He said, not taking his eyes off the woman. He moved back to the middle of the table.

“Nothing.” She said. He straightened up from his slight crouch and lowered his weapons. He felt her move up beside him.

“I thank you for your trust.” She smiled.

“Please, be seated.” She moved her hands slightly.

They moved as one to pull out the chairs, and sit down. They placed their weapons on the table, but kept their hands on them. She nodded.

“As I said, I am Tera. Can I ask for your names?”

“I am Todd and she is Tina.”

“Thank you Todd. Can I ask what brought you to this valley?” He paused.

“We are looking for resources to survive the severe winter that is coming.” He felt Tina start. He took his hand off his dagger and placed it on her hand. She relaxed.

“I see. Thank you for sharing that.” She looked back at Todd.

“As you have seen there is no one here in the valley. It has been this way for years.” Todd frowned.

“How have you survived here?” Tine leaned forward and squinted. “Are you real?”

“I am not a real human being.”

“What are you?” Tera looked at Tina and smiled.

“What I am is hard to describe to you. I’ve been told that calling myself a ghost would only make things worse.” Tina snorted.

“So, you are not a ghost?”

“No. What you see is a hologram. Please don’t ask what that is, just accept it for the moment.” They paused and then nodded.

“So, you are just a, hologram?”

“Yes, a three dimensional image. Please think of me as human.” They hesitated and then nodded.

“Why did you want to talk to us?”

“I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you. What kind of resources are you looking for? I probably have some available.”

“The plan was to find stuff and haul it back to camp. If we found a significant amount, we would come back with a group and wagons. We didn’t bring much in trade goods and frankly we don’t have much.” Tera nodded.

“This hill is the remains of a manufacturing facility. Any food is long gone. There might be a cache or two of emergency rations. Given the amount of time that has passed, I am not sure those would be safe to eat. They could be used to fertilize plants. There is a lot of metal and plastic. Some of it should be fairly easy to get out.”

“Would we need to trade for what we take?”

“Depends on what you have to trade. What I would like the most is information on the area you live in and your living situation.” Something bothered Todd.

“And if we don’t wish to share?” Tera smiled.

“Then you take whatever you want and go home.”

Todd's unease increased. He felt Tina’s unease. He decided.

“I’m sorry for the intrusion. We will be leaving now.” They stood up.

“Oh?” She studied them for a few seconds. “I’m sorry I’ve made you uneasy. I apologize for that. I wish you a safe trip home.” She folded her hands into her lap and looked down.

They backed up slowly to the door.

“Do you want the door closed?” Tina had her hand on the handle.

“Yes, Please.”

They closed the door and left.