Ice Trilogy

by Vladimir Sorokin

  But by the end of the year, Fer and I realized that we were aging rapidly. There was a reason that our hair turned gray early, that we experienced a horrible exhaustion after each search in a crowd. Fer and I were the only ones who had a heart magnet. No one else in the Brotherhood, not a single pair, possessed such unerring and precise vision as we did. Only Fer and I, together, staying close to each other, possessed this powerful Gift of the Light. We were the only ones who could search. And see with certainty. The Wisdom of the Light told me: we were the first acquired. A man and a woman. We were the first to touch the Ice. And we were given more than others. But more was taken away from us as well: we were aging swiftly.

  Our early graying, wrinkles, and unhealthy pallor were immediately noticed at work. Our hands began to shake. Climbing the stairs, we rested on each landing, like old people. The director sent us to the doctor. We went, although we knew the reason. The doctor didn’t find any illnesses, other than “catastrophic aging.” Soon we had to leave work. The Brotherhood guarded us. We settled in the large apartment of brother Londu, a well-known Moscow doctor who treated the Soviet nomenklatura. We felt calm and comfortable in his home. We took care of ourselves: during the day we slept, ate fruit, drank an infusion of plants grown in the mountains far from the world of meat machines. In the late afternoon we took a bath in warm cow’s milk. This restored us, made our blood run faster. In the evening the brothers drove us on the search. Ending up in yet another hall, where made-up actors pranced and grimaced onstage, or a meat machine read a paper about the advent of Communism, we looked through the entire hall. Each search shook our bodies. Fer and I sat, our fingers locked, helping each other. It was exhausting and difficult work. The nature of meat machines resisted the search. Our magnet destroyed the resistance. For all the brothers we discovered, we paid with our cells. Our cells perished. Our bodies aged and weakened. But no one except Fer and I could search and find. This was our work. And we had to hurry.

  The Brotherhood grew with each day.

  It became a powerful organism living by its own laws. The laws of the Light. It penetrated the world of the meat machines, insinuating itself into their structures, occupying important positions.

  Brother Kovro, finishing his work in Moscow, returned to Germany. His father died, leaving him half of his fortune. Thus, the Brotherhood acquired a large villa in the Bavarian Alps and a house near Düsseldorf.

  But before moving west, we had to grow stronger in Russia.

  Fer and I took care of ourselves. We tried to live cautiously, not waste our strength. We conserved energy, closing our eyes. We dozed in chairs. The brothers massaged our feet. They brought us fresh fruits. We swallowed them. We touched each other’s bodies, taking care of our bones and muscles. We needed our bodies to carry our hearts on the search. And we searched.

  The meat machines were furiously whirling and swirling. They were gathering. They dug up the ground, welded metal, piled rocks. They built iron machines. Machines to kill other meat machines. Thousands of iron machines formed rows and chains. They crawled over the Earth. They amassed in stone spaces. They were rubbed with a special oil. From the bowels of the Earth they sucked out heavy blood and poured it into the iron machines. The machines fed on the heavy blood of the Earth. They growled and roared. And prepared to crush and kill.

  Other iron machines could fly. And throw large iron eggs on the cities of meat machines. The eggs exploded violently and destroyed cities. Meat machines perished in their stone caves. Cities burned.

  These flying machines also formed rows. They were painted in dark and light colors. They also fed on the heavy blood of the Earth.

  Other steel machines for the destruction of meat machines were also built. Some of them could float on the surface of the water and swim, even though they were very heavy. They would float up to cities and furiously spit iron eggs at them. Which exploded and destroyed the cities.

  There were machines that could swim under the water. And drown other machines floating on the water’s surface.

  There were more and more of these machines. The meat machines were working hard. They built the iron machines day and night.

  The meat machines were preparing for a huge war. In order to kill meat machines that spoke different languages and destroy their cities. And then occupy these destroyed cities and restore them. And live in them. And give birth to new meat machines.

  The war was drawing near. It was necessary to millions of meat machines. They were expecting it. During this war tens of millions of meat machines were supposed to die. And with them, many of ours. We had to search more rapidly. While the meat machines hadn’t yet begun to fight.

  We continued to search among meat machines who spoke Russian. We searched for ours in the two main cities of Russian-speaking meat machines. The search was conducted systematically and cautiously. Fer and I were dressed in various uniforms and brought to large gatherings of meat machines. These gatherings would go on for several days. The meat machines sat in spacious auditoriums. Some of them got up on a tribune and spoke about what had to be done to make all meat machines happy. Fer and I held each other’s hands. And looked through everyone sitting in the room. And we found ours. Their hearts contained the Light. We saw this Light. And removed the brothers and sisters from the crowd of meat machines. Then the Ice hammer woke their hearts.

  Three Earth years passed.

  Altogether, in the country where the Ice lay, there were 186 of us.

  The Brotherhood had strengthened in that country. Brothers Rek, Avu, Orzhe, Tnola, and Sa, and sisters Morod and Fiu joined the leadership elite. Brothers Ig, Kha, Zchap, and Shoror occupied important positions in the penal system. Brothers Gba and De commanded large military divisions of meat machines. Brother Pep invented new types of iron machines. Sister Chekh headed up a hospital where high-placed meat machines were treated.

  Now it was possible to move westward.

  On March 7, 1931, with the help of brothers Ig and Shoror, Fer and I crossed the border of the country where the Ice lay. We were transported in an iron machine that used fire and water, and moved along iron tracks. Fer and I wore clothes that important meat machines in the government wore. Brothers Gzem and Tu were nearby. The iron machines brought us two days later to the main city of meat machines who spoke German. We began to live in this city. We had a spacious stone cave in a part of the town that the local meat machines called Marvelous Mountain. This part of the city was considered very pretty. Rich and famous meat machines lived here. They had a lot of money. Their stone caves were arranged with objects that other meat machines had made, working meticulously for a long period of time.

  Brother Kovro and the brothers in Moscow helped us. Three months and twelve days later eighteen brothers and eighteen sisters arrived. They began to live in Kovro’s large stone cave, built in the mountains in the south of the country of German-speaking meat machines. Two months and eight days later, nine brothers came to Kovro. He helped them get settled in the main city of this western country.

  The search in this western country began slowly. During the winter the Ice was brought to us, 1.5 metric tons of Ice. Brothers Ig, Zchap, and Avu knew how to send it to the country where we had settled. The Ice was sent to the south of the country, to brother Kovro. There the brothers and sisters began to make Ice hammers. They were kept in cold places.

  Fer and I carefully searched for ways to continue the search in this country. And we understood where we had to penetrate and where to begin. In this country the meat machines especially loved one particular entertainment. It had been invented recently but it became popular very quickly. Like most of the entertainments of meat machines, it was fairly simple: the meat machines gathered in an auditorium, the lights went out, and on white material shadows resembling meat machines were projected from a special box. These shadows accomplished unusual feats on this white material: they jested, murdered, robbed, traveled to exotic countries, married queens, grew much smaller in size, flew to th
e nearest planet, fought with nonexistent beasts, lived in palaces. The meat machines sitting in the auditorium followed the shadows intently and forgot about their real lives. The lives of the shadows concerned them much more deeply. They dreamed of extraordinary deeds and adventures. And received immense pleasure from observing the shadows. Sitting in the dark hall, they laughed and cried. Some fainted from emotion. The lives of the shadows helped them to forget about the misery of their own lives. The majority of them had absolutely no idea how these shadows ended up on the white material. They were created by special groups of meat machines. They used a combination of substances and light. And also the special meat machines, the ones that grimaced in the theaters. These meat machines were very well known. Their faces were multiplied on sheets of paper. These sheets hung in crowded places. And in the stone caves of meat machines. Simple meat machines wanted to be like these shadows in every way. They dressed like the shadows, imitated the shadows’ gait, their gestures and mannerisms. The shadows on white quickly began to overtake old entertainments — the theater and the circus. They became fashionable.

  The Brotherhood decided to make use of this new fashion. With the help of brother Kovro, in the main city of the German-speaking meat machines an organization was founded that looked for meat machines to become shadows on white material. Many meat machines dreamed of becoming shadows, so that other meat machines would look at them with delight in dark auditoriums. Moreover, in this city there were many meat machines who didn’t have any work. They were not paid any money, therefore they had no means of buying food and clothing. Becoming a shadow on white material would be salvation for them. Because meat machines that became shadows on white material received a great deal of money.

  The meat machines called the shadows on white “stars,” even though they were only gray shadows on white. But the Brotherhood decided to use the delusions of meat machines. It called the new organization Rising Stars in order to attract the meat machines. For money, the meat machines who specialized in the combination of letters on a page wrote a lot of letters about Rising Stars. These letters were multiplied on thousands of sheets of paper. The meat machines bought the sheets of paper and read about the Rising Stars. They thought that Rising Stars was waiting for them. And that that each of them could become a “rising star,” that is — a gray shadow on white.

  The Brotherhood rented a large stone cave in the center of the city. Meat machines desiring to become shadows on white were supposed to come there. Sheets of paper announced that the organization Rising Stars was looking for blue-eyed and light-haired meat machines. Meat machines with different colors of hair and eyes would not be seen.

  On the appointed day a long line of blue-eyed, light-haired meat machines formed at the entrance to the cave with the sign RISING STARS. Bright lamplights stood in the cave. And machines that could print images of meat machines on paper. These machines were run by brothers Gzem and Tu. Fer and I sat in armchairs. The meat machines came in one at a time. They told us about themselves. And they showed what they knew how to do: some could make various sounds with their throats, others depicted feelings, and yet others danced. We looked through them. If we found one of ours, Gzem told them that there was a possibility of becoming a “new star.” And that they were very talented. A contract was signed with them. Then the newly acquired were taken to the mountains, to brother Kovro. There the Ice hammer woke their hearts.

  This continued for eight months and twelve days. During this time 10,309 meat machines passed through our cave. Among them there was one hunchbacked meat machine in whom I recognized my sister from the world of the past. The same one with whom I parted when I was a small meat machine. Fate had carried her to this big city. She had been born blue-eyed and light-haired like I had. And she also came to try her earthly luck. She didn’t recognize me. Standing before Fer and me, her fingers plucked strings on an empty wooden object, and with her throat she gave off high sounds. She tried her very hardest to make us like her. Her clothes, according to the standards of meat machines, were poor. Her heart was dead. She was an ordinary meat machine. Fer understood that I had grown up with this hunchback. And she held my hand. Fer was my sister.

  Looking at the “rising stars,” we found forty-five brothers and fifty-seven sisters. They were kept in several caves belonging to the Brotherhood. We healed their wounds. They cried with their hearts. And merged into the Brotherhood of the Light. The majority of these newly acquired didn’t occupy important positions in the government of meat machines. We needed money for their well-being. And the brothers robbed a stone cave where meat machines kept money and gold. Fer and I helped. We were housed in the neighboring cave. And every morning, like weak old people, we were taken outdoors in our wheelchairs. We looked through the lives of the meat machines who worked with money and guarded it. Four days later we knew the life of each of them. On the fifth day the brothers penetrated the cave belonging to the main guard of the money. They took away his wife and three children. Then it was proposed that he exchange the money and gold for his children and wife. He really did not want to do this. Because money and gold were very important to him. But the strength of the love for his wife and children was a little stronger. For that reason, he brought out of the cave a bag of money and half a bag of gold. We returned the children to him, but we had to kill his wife because she remembered the faces of the brothers.

  After that we had no problem setting up the newly acquired brothers and sisters. The Brotherhood bought stone caves in the cities and their outskirts, iron machines to travel in, objects and substances, weapons, and clothes worn by military meat machines.

  Changes soon happened in the country of German-speaking meat machines. A meat machine that spoke loudly and furiously came to power. It loved to speak in front of crowds of meat machines. The crowd listened to it and believed it. This meat machine called on all German-speaking meat machines to unite in order to fight against meat machines that spoke different languages. It said that German-speaking meat machines were the best in the world. They were the smartest, the most honest, and the most responsible. Therefore they should rule over all the other meat machines. But the German- speaking meat machines had very little room for living. That’s why their stone caves were crowded, they had little food, and their children grew up weak and unhealthy. This meat machine said that German-speaking meat machines had to make many military machines and go to different countries to conquer new space for themselves. In these other countries there would be much food. And it would be possible to build new, spacious stone caves. In them the children of German-speaking meat machines would grow up healthy and happy.

  Most of the German-speaking meat machines responded to the appeal of this meat machine. They liked its decisiveness. They called this meat machine their leader. It became the ruler of this country and instructed everyone what to do, when, and how. And the meat machines followed orders. But whoever didn’t believe this meat machine and didn’t want to follow its orders could not live peacefully in this country. The leader passed new laws to guide the country’s life and created a strong organization. The organization made sure that German-speaking meat machines lived according to the new laws.

  We understood that without support in this organization, it was dangerous to continue the search.

  And the Brotherhood decided to wait a bit and gather strength, in order to acquire support in various ways from the new authorities.

  The Brotherhood compared the two countries where we began our search: the Russian-speaking and the German-speaking. They differed not only in size and the number of meat machines living there. The crowds of meat machines in these countries had their own distinct inner drone. In the German-speaking crowd this inner sound raged about Order. The crowd yearned for Order. But only in the world of meat machines. It believed the world of the Earth to represent Absolute Order. In the Russian-speaking crowd there was an entirely different inner drone. It also raged about Order, but not in the world of meat machines �
�� in the surrounding world. The Russian-speaking crowd was vaguely disturbed about the absence of Absolute Order in the world. It wanted to fix many things in this world. It considered the nature of meat machines perfection. But, raging about Absolute Order for the surrounding world and fiercely striving for it, it involuntarily introduced Disorder into the lives of meat machines. The drone of the Russian-speaking crowd destroyed the nature of the meat machines. Whereas the drone of the German-speaking crowd attempted to improve it.

  In our search we had to take both drones into account. We named these countries in our own way. Although the big one was in essence the country of Disorder, we named it the Country of Ice, because the Ice that lay in it was the most important thing for us. The smaller country we called the Country of Order.

  But the most important thing was that we felt that these countries were moving toward each other in agony. Their inner drones were in essence quite distinct, but when they combined, they merged into a certain very particular drone, one that was indispensable for both of them, though they didn’t have a clue about this. They considered each other enemies. We understood that between them a huge war would soon begin.

  And the Brotherhood had to prepare for it.

  Fer and I moved to the mountains, to the large stone cave that once belonged to the family of brother Kovro. Now it belonged to the Brotherhood. There was a forest around the cave. It grew on the mountains. Twenty-nine brothers and forty-four sisters lived in this cave. The rest of the brothers and sisters lived in other places in this country. Fer and I spoke with the brothers and sisters through our hearts. We were anxious. Because we were aging very rapidly. Of the entire Brotherhood, only Fer and I could see the hearts of ours. We could only do this together. Separately, neither Fer nor I possessed the Gift of the Light. We could only search together. And immediately find ours. Each search shook our hearts and destroyed our bodies. We could barely walk. The brothers drove us in iron machines and moved us in wheelchairs. Our arms and legs trembled. Our bodies were weakening and drying up. Wrinkles covered our faces. Most of our free time we slept, gathering strength. The brothers fed us fruits, bathed us in milk, rubbed oils on our bodies. They took care of us. Fer and I didn’t participate in any of the Brotherhood’s work other than the search. For this was the Most Important Work.