by A. I. Zlato
“What do you know about the Elders, assuming you really came from another Space?”
“You and I have the same ancestors, you idiot... The Elders invented the concept ... All Spaces arose from their creation. So…”
“We have the same Elders.”
“You understood everything! And the Elders had created the Machine to prevent humans from destroying themselves.”
“You have the same Machine as we?”
“No ... There is a Machine for each Space. Don’t they teach you that, in your schools? How is it possible that you have regressed to this point?”
“Well! The Machine decides everything…”
“It manages the entire human population. What you do, what you invent or not, what you learn or not, it is up to you.”
“If you say so ... I agree with you on one thing. Humanity, here at least, does not advance. Our life is too marked. There is no hope. That is why I want to free myself. Then I'll explain to others how to do it, so that It no longer has any hold over the City.”
“And so you reproduce the same mistakes ... and head towards your loss.”
“You talk like my parents! We have evolved since the Elders’ era. This is not at all the same context. I want to be free!”
“And what will you do with that freedom?”
“Whatever I want.”
“If you say so.”
They became silent. Iris looked at this strange young man infiltrated with artificial components, who thought that the Machine was the best thing that had happened to humans. He said he had come from another Space, yet he uttered comments she had heard repeatedly in her parents’ mouths. Was it possible for people to evolve separately for hundreds of generations and still have the same reasoning? It would have been more logical ... if Mossa was much different.
True, he had his chips on the arm, but ultimately, it was just a technology. Or ... the Elders had found the means to entrench the need for the Machine in their descendants’ subconscious minds. They may have found how to control minds durably. In each Space, different developments, except with regard to the connection to the Machine ... Was humanity still a prisoner of the past? Mossa and she shared this distant past. Yet she was freeing herself, gradually, from the Machine. Would she be part of the first generation to override the will of the Elders?
Deeply immersed in her thoughts, she jumped off when Mossa resumed the conversation, to say goodbye. If she doubted the veracity of his story, she could see in his eyes the contempt she inspired him. She did not care. He bowed and climbed on the back of Eutrope, which flew away.
This encounter left her very confused. Alone, without Mossa, without the awareness of the Forest, she no longer felt anything but the cold rising from the ground. She returned to the City, not knowing if she was going to talk about this meeting with Fighter, especially with Eric, lest they do not believe her ... a hybrid? Leave the planet and explore the universe?
Along the path that brought her home, Iris thought about what she had just experienced. In one evening, she had lived more upheavals than in a year of existence. All this jostled in her head. When the chip turned on, she did her best to isolate the memories and make them inaccessible. If the Machine read what she had experienced in recent times, It would probably deduce that Iris was suffering from temporary insanity and could take drastic measures. And she could not allow that. Iris also locked up her mind, and entered her parents’ apartment, where silence reigned at that time of night.
One, two and three,
The rules of Space H. are three in number.
Its Machine, the symbol of concentric circles, also three.
What lies beyond?
Recollections from Chaacetime
Chapter 41
Space H. (1st Circle)
Baley had to meet Paul in his laboratory. He had taken a day off, after they had discovered the cyclone. While she had seen significant progress in the investigation, Paul had regressed a bit. She hoped that this day off would have been beneficial. It was important that he regain some serenity. His way of thinking so different from hers, al albeit frustrating, had helped her on several occasions. The dark area of her mind steered her towards him. Since it arose, Baley had been less and less distrustful of Paul. As if to confirm her thoughts, the black hole fidgeted slightly in her brain. He was the one who had found the logic of circles, after all.
She hoped he could still be useful.
She prepared to leave her apartment, to go to the laboratory, after she filed her morning report to the Machine. Alone in her apartment, Lars at work and Iris in class, she swallowed an energy bar. Closing the door, she tensed while thinking about what awaited her outside — the growing hostility of City residents.
Yet Baley was more determined than ever, and had fully assumed her choices. Removing children from the Chrijulam sect and their parents, even if it did not stop the Problem, gave them a chance to get out of these improbable beliefs. She had decided, in agreement with the Machine, that children would remain detained in the South D5 building, to receive some kind of healing. The City did not understand this approach. Information reports appearing in the news media showed images of relatives waiting anxiously for the return of their children. And they did not return, while the Problem had reappeared. Their confinement was no longer justified in the eyes of the majority of the population. While residents had supported her in the beginning, polls were now turning against her. She did not worry about that. She did what she had to do in order to fight the Problem. Saving children from abominable beliefs was indirectly part of it. Some kind of bonus.
She walked over to the Machine, ignoring those who turned their heads en route. The crowd moved like every day, harmoniously towards the centre of the square. Yet, instead of looking at the Tower, people were staring at her. Baley then retreated into her mental bubble, to seal herself from the outside world. Only her investigation mattered.
Once in the Tower, she headed towards a column to access her floor. She quickly filed her report, and left before the deadline. She could have stayed a few more seconds and enjoy the Machine’s data stream. She did not allow herself to relish that luxury. Her work first. She left the Tower as soon as she had entered and walked to the rail station, heading towards Paul’s laboratory. She expected to find him in top shape, so they could proceed with the investigation.
Arriving at the lab, she quickly greeted the guard. Leaving him no chance to speak, she slipped into the hallway. She found Paul in his office, plagued by some kind of commotion. He was completely disoriented, almost delirious. His day off had not had the desired effect ... He spoke of nothingness that was growing, children who were dying in order to warn people of what awaited them, the creature he saw amidst the smoke, representing the Equilibrium, the Elders’ dream he needed to differ ...
Baley worried about his mental health. A person like him, used to living in the stuffy world of a research laboratory, could not be thrust into an investigation of child suicides without consequence. It was likely that the shock had been too much for him. However, he should continue to participate because she was sure he still had a role to play. At least, she hoped he could withstand the pressure.
“Paul, I understand that all this has disturbed you. You had to study the manuscripts that do not match your area of research, a sect with implausible and dangerous beliefs. You saw me isolate children of the sect, which offended your values, and then saw that it did not stop the Problem. You have faced death more often lately in your life. Finally, you witnessed an unusual weather phenomenon, in which your tired mind believed it saw a presence. If you add to this the conversation with your Kandron, which, I am convinced, has rather turned your brain upside down than helped you ... Anyone in your shoes would have gone crazy long ago.”
“That presence was not a dream, I ...”
“I am sure that you are sincere. However, I believe that you allowed yourself to embark on mystical explanations, which were far from reality. We must retu
rn to more pragmatism. Let things, say, lie coldly, rationally. These children had drawn twice the symbol of the Machine, taking as centre an unusual weather phenomenon. We need to know what it...”
“Maybe I dreamed of the creature, but the phenomenon was there, you also saw it! You, too, had the feeling of being out of time ... That is the truth, right? "
“Yes, but….”
“What we saw is a passage between two Spaces. I researched it; we are not the first to have observed this phenomenon. And some of those who described sighting of another world, a huge body of water. Descriptions of similar experiences, spaced several hundred years apart, this cannot be a coincidence. We were taught that there are areas called 'Inter-Spaces,' which control time in each Space, so that there is no collision among Spaces. What we saw is it necessarily an Inter-Space, a passage between two worlds, ensuring their separation.”
“Let's assume you are right. What does this ... Inter-Space have to do with the investigation? "
“Everything! Nothing!”
“Paul, you seem really shaken by what you have seen. So imagine what these children would have felt ... No matter what it is, finally, the fact remains that it is a frightening phenomenon. The use of the Machine’s symbol, we first thought it was some kind of cry for help to the Machine. Do you remember? What if we had interpreted everything backwards?”
“The warning! The dream ... everything is connected ...the Machine ... the Equilibrium. ... follow a path …”
“I think you need some coffee.”
Baley seriously worried about him, he who seemed to have completely lost his mind. When she arrived in his lab, he had made similar remarks, about the Equilibrium, a warning ... while pacing along his wide desk.
His Kandron then stuck its head out the window and stretched out its neck to meet Paul. He then stopped and rested his forehead for a moment against the animal’s head. Baley could not hear their conversation, but saw its effects. Paul's shoulders fell down, and his face relaxed a little. The Kandron withdrew itself, staring at her, and she felt it was asking her to watch over its friend. At the back of her mind, a memory, or rather the memory of a memory, stirred. She had thought about Kandrons, but which thought … yet she was sure it had sent her a thought.
Unable to communicate telepathically with the animal, she walked to the window, leaned over, and whispered that she would do her best to protect Paul.
The Kandron seemed indifferent to her words, and curled into a ball, its body opposite the building. She had dreamed. She closed the window while making fun of herself mentally. As if a Kandron could have some kind of thought about her ...
Baley dragged Vlad out of the game he was watching, asking him to fix coffee for his boss, and for her, too. He grumbled, muttering that it was not his job, but complied. He placed, a few minutes later, two cups with a bitter scent in the office. Baley said.
“Paul, how are you feeling?”
“I am doing very well. It's just that I see things ... I try to explain ... but it is on the edge of my consciousness ... Everything is connected ... correlations ...”
“Indeed, I do not understand.”
“I think you do ... at least you perceive part of things. I remember well our last conversation, when the concept of trigger factor had made you so uncomfortable ... you did not want to tell me, lest I take you for mad...”
“It is not the same thing, I ....”
“Oh no? Don’t you see causal relationships where nobody sees them? What is the trigger factor? Why is there an Inter-Space? Why do I see a creature, while you do not? Everything is connected, Baley!”
The trigger factor ... internal modification/external change ... the black hole grows .... It had its own will ... It was not necessary. The memories that were buried there wanted to go out and re-emerge. They should not. She had made the right choice by asking the Machine to annihilate these thoughts. Yes, she had made the right choice.
“Listen, Paul, I do not want to have this discussion. When we have time, when the investigation is complete, why not? We will then have plenty of time to philosophize, but not here, not now.”
“It scares you.”
“What scares me is the Problem! That's my only concern at the moment!”
“Your determination to ignore some of your thoughts proves otherwise.”
“That's enough! If you want to lose yourself in this kind of thinking, see correlations, rethink the universe ... that’s up to you. Let me remind you, however, that the Machine has assigned you to this investigation, just like me. This is and must remain our top priority.”
“Okay, so ... let’s resume things as you wish, namely through the wrong end of the telescope.”
“You think you're superior?”
“No, of course not. I just feel that we are missing something important.”
“On that, we agree. We missed something, since the Problem is still there. I was saying ... the placement in two series of three circles ...”
“A fractal ...”
“What now ?”
“Nothing. Continue.”
“Instead of a call for help, children were perhaps denouncing the Machine, holding it responsible for this cyclone, perhaps ... An anti-Machine group? What do you think?”
“It would fit with the Chrijulam sect and beliefs ... while involving more children. This remains highly uncertain, however. Be against the machine, that could be true, but why die? For Chrijulam, we concluded that the children were pushed to make the ultimate choice because they were desperate, that instilled beliefs were in total contradiction with their life in the City. But in your approach?”
“It would be a kind of emotional blackmail of children, 'if you do not stop the Machine, other children will die?’ This would not be adults instilling prehistoric values in their children, and thus pushing them involuntarily towards suicide, but children committing suicide to put pressure on their parents.”
“You're really crazy ... where do you get such ideas? Imagine just what this implies, in terms of morale among these children? And exactly what kind of message would they want to convey? No one can seriously thinking about challenging the Machine by committing suicide.”
“Didn’t you speak of a correlation between the Equilibrium, the Machine, the trigger factor...?”
“Yes, but not in that sense ... I was talking about deep connections ... and there is also ...differ the beginning ...”
“I should not have let you restart this. I don’t know what message these kids wanted to convey. What I see, it is the common point between them. I had found a smaller denominator, namely Chrijulam. This assumption is not false; it is incomplete, however. Given the repetitive use of the symbol, I naturally thought of an anti-Machine movement.”
“And you think these children would want to die to convey a message ...”
“A kind of ultimate emotional blackmail, yes.”
“It's really ... really ... I don’t know what's crazier. Children in the Problem, or you ... And how would they do to meet, recognise themselves, convey their ideas? For the sect, one could imagine that the children met at church, but in this case?”
“I don’t know yet; I'll go talk to their parents, to try to find something new, while having this in mind.”
“You will still go to disturb these poor people? Don’t you believe they have already suffered enough? And then what? You're so sure of your new theory that you will find, anyway, some elements to support it ...”
“This is not a theory; it is a logical deduction.”
“As was the case with Chrijulam. And with your new theory, will you kidnap other children ??”
“Do you have a better idea? Another hypothesis? Do not hesitate ... it's too easy to throw all your scruples at me without offering an alternative. Obviously you cannot understand, you do not have children. Can you ever feel the indescribable anguish of seeing a child go to school and not knowing if he or she will come back home? To hear new cases in the news media and w
ondering if your child will be part of the next Problem?”
“I cannot believe you just told me this ... You really think I am indifferent to the suffering of City residents? Whether one is a parent or not, anxiety is everywhere. I also listen to the news, and I'm relieved when it does not happen, while being afraid to listen to the next newscast. I won’t let you tell me that.”
“And you cannot tell me that what I propose is horrible, because nothing is more terrible than the dead — you hear, nothing. So if I have to make the whole City hate me, if I have to revive parents’ pain, if I need to use extreme solutions, I will do so, you hear, I WILL USE WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY!!!”
“No need to shout ...”
“I am shouting, because you upset me extremely. I'll go back to the parents, to check my theory. And if it is not confirmed, I will make another, then another ... until you find the right one. Then, I will put in place the necessary actions. Stay in your laboratory and do what you do best: study mouldy books. With any luck, you'll find other anti-Machine movements that existed several centuries ago.”
Baley was fuming. She cut the conversation short, for fear of saying words than escaped her thoughts, and to reach a point of no return with Paul. After all, as she told herself upon arrival, Paul was not made for this kind of life. While leaving, she stopped before Edgard.
“It is your responsibility to watch over him; I have an investigation to solve. Try not to twist his brain ... These stories linking Equilibrium / Machine / Dream of the Elders, differing the beginning ... I'm sure they all came from you.”
She turned, expecting no answer. Yet she felt that the shadowy area of her mind moving, as if, like ... no, that could not be possible.
On the way back, she reflected more on her anti-Machine theory. Children not condoning Its action, Its omnipresence. Baley could not imagine her life without the Machine, and she was dependent on this permanent contact. However, if young people wanted to build a universe without It, the prospect of living in a Machine-driven world would be unsustainable, as it was unthinkable for Baley to exist without Its presence. Live without It ... Baley mentally recited the Invocation.
