The first thing I notice is her face. It is so perfect it seems unlikely that it could ever exist in the real world. Her white skin is flawless, her features perfectly symmetrical, her lips red and wet and full, parting with every gasp. It is her eyes that hold me, though. They are a shade of blue I have never seen, with flecks of gold and crystal, and they are so penetrating it feels as though they are reaching out straight through his eyes into mine, begging me for . . . something I can't quite make out. It's like those eyes have captured the dialectic of every human emotion that ever mattered - love and hate; ecstasy and terror; comfort and jealousy - and rolled them into a single glance that could level entire cities. I am slaughtered.

Imagine being able to create and experience your deepest dreams and your darkest fantasies . . .

Boston entrepreneur and techno whizz-kid, Nick Caldwell with the help of his long-time friend and colleague, Yvette, has worked on a programme where people can do just that - all from the safety and comfort of their home.

NextLife is an exciting young company which promises its subscribers the chance to experience anything they want. Climb Everest. Dive off the Barrier Reef. Go to a 1970s Rolling Stones concert. Walk the Great Wall of China.

But it seems that one of their clients has much more sinister desires.

And it involved the girl with the wonderful blue eyes . . .