by A. I. Zlato
“That is what you think you are doing, but reality is different. You let a human deceive you …”
“He is part of the solution!”
“That is possible, but he also carries within him the destruction, and you know it. Think about causes and consequences, about Albana, its choices, its memories that endlessly swirl in your mind … face what you could not see before, or what you did not want to see.”
Atemys cut off the communication line, and vanished in the horizon. Edgard did not like 1st Hexa’s innuendos at all, but it was the first Hexa, and how could one not take its words into account? Edgard felt Faress attempting to enter its mind, but rejected the communication. It wanted to be alone, and have a moment to think.
Back in the meadow, Edgard tried to sort Atemys’ comments in a logical order, to integrate them into its own thoughts, but it could not. There were too much incoherence, like musical notes not in sync with its own lyrics, and 5th Hexa did not want to rewrite the whole music. It had composed this piece with Faress, when the latter helped him cope with the death of Albana. It did not want to reconsider that plan, nor did it want to ponder what its Kandron beauty represented for it, the love of its life. It only had one thing to do about this chat with Atemys … to forget it, simply. The reverse linearity would take care of things when it would be asleep.
Instead of archiving this memory in the pearl of consciousness linking it to the Spirit of the Multitude, where it could last for ages, 5th Hexa decided to leave the memory as is, in its brain. The Spirit would not protect this part of the Kandron’s existence from the curse of its peers … and it would forget it altogether. It would have liked to sleep now, but it could not sleep alone, lest it be shifted away from its peers. To keep the same pace of time inversion, Kandrons needed to sleep collectively at the same time. 5th Hexa had, therefore, to bear the burden of the memory throughout the whole day. It pushed such recollection as far away in its mental confines as possible.
The call of the Spirit came at the right moment. 5th Hexa had so many things to discuss with its peers. Paul’s dream, the very timely appearance of this ancient document, the Gateway … and that kept away from its mind the conversation it had just had. The permanent delegates of each structure showed up at the meeting, and interconnected their respective minds. Mental energy flowed, and all liked the warm current that was cuddling their respective pearls of consciousness simultaneously.
4th Tetra started, reactivating memories of what it had said while observing the Machine, one of its duties. Strange construction sites, entire flows of data sent without any response … The phenomenon was intensifying. Yet, looking more closely, 4th Tetra was not sure the Machine itself was responsible. It was a digital phenomenon, however …
“What do you think, 4th Tetra?”
“My observations are inconsistent one with another.”
“There are other digital entities here.”
“Not that … it is something else …”
“Is it interrelated?”
“We did not see the first time, so probably.”
“We need certainty to act correctly.”
“We cannot wait. I am convinced this is part of the problem and the solution.”
“As the First and Last Element of the Circle believes in humans living by the lake, the 5th element of the Hexagon believes in Paul, and as … never mind. We promised to explore all possible paths. One of them will pan out. It must.”
“I know. The Machine no longer has total control, but It does not know that.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“The Tetrahedron feels it.”
“That is not enough.”
5th Hexa entered the conversation.
“Paul had a new dream. He saw the beginning of chaos, the destruction of the City … but also the Machine becomes omnipotent.”
“You know it did not happen that way. It is too obvious. Humans dream about things they know. Everything outside human perception is unknown to humans.”
“Nevertheless …”
“That is not the question.”
“Why?”
“The Spirit of the Multitude is the aggregate of everyone’s logic, and much more.”
But logic cannot solve all, murmured Faress, which followed the meeting across the Hexagon without participating. Edgard nodded mentally, although it initially thought otherwise. Truths were adapting to Edgard, rather than the reverse … human perception had steeped in the Kandron.
“This dream is important. Paul is special, I know it”, 5th Hexa said.
“I take seriously what he saw”, said 4th Tetra, “however, I share the viewpoint of the Spirit. He saw what he could see, and not beyond.”
“That is where the Spirit gets it wrong.”
Silence greeted its words. 5th Hexa knew its views were antithetical to its peers’ opinions, but it continued to share its thoughts with the collective consciousness.
“We got it wrong the first time, and you know it. We must act differently”, it said.
“Except that we cannot act; that is the issue.”
-“That is not the problem. Paul saw the Machine become all powerful; there must be something …”
“The Spirit has heard your point of view. We must keep moving.”
Silence pervaded again. 4th Hexa remained silent. 7th Hepta spoke, after a few long seconds.
“Servants have interacted with the City for the first time, and they will continue.”
“They did nothing the first time.”
“We really don’t know. We are not very …”
“Are they also in a reverse linearity?”
“No, that is something else.”
“Why are they intervening now?”
“They work according to their own goals.”
“Did they see nothingness?”
“They are different.”
7th Hepta chose to stop the discussion, and the Spirit of the Multitude let it do so, notwithstanding all the pending questions. Strange …
It was its turn. Paul’s dream, which was so important to 5th Hexa, was relegated to insignificance. It was nonetheless sure, as had thought 4th Tetra, that the Machine was getting out of sync with Its original instructions. If that problem coupled with the presence of another digital entity … Paul’s vision would meant a lot more… and one had to take that into account. The Spirit did not see things that way, but 5th Hexa believed things were different and would continue to explore that path.
“A Gateway had seen Space E.”
“How did you find out?”
“I answered its call.”
“The normal course of events has changed. Do you realise that?”
“Time is crucial … and there is gravity.”
Talking to only 5th Hexa, Faress whispered: I told you already that it was impossible … why do you insist? Do you deliberately want to leave us? Edgard felt the relevance of those remarks. It could not afford to do such a thing, so it chose another way to proceed.
“What matters is that the Gateway had seen.”
“Would it differ Space E.?”
“No one knows. The Gateway’s understanding is limited, and the point prevents it from seeing the whole thing, 5th Hexa said.”
“The Forest can.”
“The Forest can only see the consequences, not the causes.”
“It may already be too late for this solution.”
5th Hexa almost wanted to scream out its belief, because that was the point, but 6th Hexa prevented it from doing so. Edgard needed to keep certain things to itself. It paused for a few seconds before resuming the chat.
“Thomas Anderson’s diary reappeared. I wonder why it did, precisely now. What is the Machine trying to achieve?”
“Maybe the Machine does not know about it”, 4th Tetra said, hastily.
“The digital entity?”
“It is possible.”
“That is nothing but a hypothesis about another hypothesis.”
“That does not make the opposite true, either.”
“The syllogism will get us nowhere … The Machine or a digital entity. What would be its point?”
“You think that …”
“The Machine could not know.”
“You don’t know anything about that!” Said, in one voice, 4th Tetra and 5th Hexa.
The meeting ended, leaving Edgard with a bitter feeling. It reached out to 4th Tetra. It wanted to give its peer the full extent of Paul’s dream, which the Spirit did not see.
“Everything has been said”, 5th Hexa.
“Saying does not mean seeing.”
“Perfect. Show me the dream that is so dear to your heart.”
So did Edgard.
“He saw a lot of things, that is true. His perceptions are out of the ordinary.”
“What do you think?”
“The connection with reality is obvious. However, reality is not that simple.”
“I know.”
“However, you don’t really understand this reality. Watch.”
4th Tetra opened up its mind and showed 5th Hexa the constructions that veered towards the Forest, the series of instructions and algorithms that the Machine sent but that did not go anywhere. 5th Hexa then sensed the modifications done by the Machine but also this other artificial thing of which 4th Tetra was talking about. This indeed had nothing to do with the digital entities they all knew, but under a different name.
“Have you interrogated the Machine?”
“Its answers provide no relevant information.”
“Maybe It does not know.”
“It does not know everything; that is almost certain. But It does know some information.”
“How could It chose not to answer?”
“I think It does not have access to everything.”
“That does not make sense.”
“Do you believe anything in the current situation makes sense?”
“I don’t want to see nothingness again!”
“None of us wants that … but you will soon need to make a choice.”
“I know.”
“So, make the right one. The crossroads is near.”
4th Tetra cut off the mental connection, and 5th Hexa felt lonely for the first time in its life. With Atemys’ presence still lingering in its mind, the feelings left by the last meeting were even stronger. It felt isolated, for sure, but it would not give up. It sent a furious, mass message to its peers. It wanted to sleep now, even if night had not yet fallen. It wanted to forget now, and find again the clarity in its plan to save Spaces, even if nobody else believed such a rescue was possible.
The quest for the absolute leads to a clash with one’s own limitations.
Searching for one’s own limits can bring out the absolute.
The path that one chooses in this quest determines the quest itself.
Lessons from Chaacetime
Chapter 24
: Space H. (Periphery)
Paul saw Baley leave, as she came, like a tornado. She had identified a common denominator among the parents of at-risk children. In the absence of relevant data in her precious Machine, she had to come see him, to use the lab’s database.
He had been both surprised about her visit and glad to see she finally found him of interest. He had quickly identified all the documents, but they could not be read via a chip. He had easily imagined Baley complaining about everything, treating researchers like him as retarded. They had distributed among themselves the documents, and each one had to file a summary report with his or her colleague.
She certainly had finished burrowing into her documents, but she would not communicate on the subject. She had probably found what she was looking for, and thus he no longer was of interest to her, at least for now. Paul knew deep down that he and she would never be teammates. There was too much distrust on both sides. She did not bother to tell him about her findings and was probably trying to pursue the investigation by herself. For his part, he had not yet begun the study of the manuscripts that were his responsibility. Although he found the lead of Chrijulam credible, he could not stop thinking about the Machine, which had found the connection in the first place. Did It have a particular interest in Baley digging into that lead?
Yet, he had to stop studying Thomas Anderson’s diary. Nonetheless, abandoning the manuscript’s study meant ignoring Edgard’s instructions.
Read, learn, find, it had said, and what Paul had read ever since … but he made up his mind. Against all odds. He was now part of the investigation, and he felt accountable to all children in the City.
He gathered the scattered paperwork, which contained his translation but also other thoughts coming from his reading. This diary … an ocean of fresh perspectives … any road followed precisely to its end … his dreams … The door of possibilities…
He put the manuscript, reluctantly, back into the Archives Room, along with his remarks on the subject, hoping to get back to them soon. He took care to put it in the storage location assigned to the document, and activated the protective envelope. A shimmering aura appeared around, protecting it from external aggression. Paul closed the door and went back to his office, focused. Today’s priority was elsewhere. He had never heard anything about the Chrijulam cult, and no book on the Earliest Space mentioned it. Probably this belief system had emerged after the creation of Spaces. What was this sect about? Before starting to read material about the subject, he decided to talk to Edgard. Looking out through the window, he saw it lying, in the shades of a large oak tree. On the lawn, obviously. He opened the window and called the Kandron, which then raised its head.
“Edgard, what do you think of Chrijulam? Have you already heard about such a cult?”
“A belief is an interpretation of a piece of reality. A belief system is a filter that hides reality.”
“In other words, our beliefs affect our perception of reality. You are talking about faith in general. Here, I’m talking about Chrijulam. What is this sect about? What is it different from others?”
“Different, compared to what standard? Believers of a faith system do not live in the same world as those holding a different belief system; their light lies in another spectrum. Where you might see a stone, the believer might perceive a symbol of the power and the proof that his or her beliefs are real.”
“What? Which stone?”
“A belief does not evolve. It is described at a specific moment and continues in the future’s limbo. Believers stare at the past and want to see the future in it. The future must be the past. There is no place for individual imagination.”
“You speak in general terms, again. I want to know if Chrijulam has peculiarities, a belief system that could have driven those children to commit suicide.”
“That is not important. You need to differ the beginning.”
“We already had this talk, Edgard, and it led nowhere.”
“Nowhere is not a beginning.”
“If you don’t want to talk about Chrijulam, just tell me!”
“I only talk about what matters.”
“So, in your view, studying this sect is not important?”
“That topic is irrelevant, although studying it could perhaps lead to the solution, but it is not the fastest approach.”
“So that could accelerate the investigation?”
“You’ve already decided the answer. Why did you ask the question then?”
“Uh.., for confirmation that I am heading in the right direction.”
“You want confirmation; if my opinion differs, you don’t take into account. Your human partner decides what you do.”
“You mean Baley? Of course, she decides. She is the Special Agent in charge! Her investigation led her to this cult, so I need to study it.”
“Why you?”
“Because she had nobody else to assign this to … and it turns out that this is what I do best, dig into documents and
do research.”
“So you want to impress to your human partner …”
Paul had to admit that Edgard was right. Despite all the distrust he had vis-à-vis the Special Agent, as well as the doubts he had on the Machine, he still wanted to prove he could be useful. For the City — and thus, for Baley...
“… which is something different from being helpful to solve the Problem. You must follow your destiny. Kandrons know that”, Edgard continued.
“If Kandrons know my future, it would be nice to tell me; that would make my life easier.”
“Knowing does not mean understanding. Understanding does not mean doing. A destiny is nothing but a probability, not a certainty”.
“… I will focus on Chrijulam. My horoscope, the beginning and its modifications will have to wait.”
“Time is not a given.”
“What? Never mind. Would you give me some information on Chrijulam, if you have it?”
“Here you go again.”
“Doing what? Asking you this question? Of course, that was my initial question, and you never answered it.”
“I did answer it, but it was not the kind of answer you were expecting.”
“That is true … for the last time, do you, yes or no, have information on that cult?”
“Yes and no.”
“Come on, Edgard …”
“You must find your path in order to differ the beginning.”
“If I hear that sentence one more time, I will scream.”
“Would screaming help you?”
“I … oh, what the hell!”
“I cannot help you on your priority for the day.”
“Why did you not start with that?”
“Because you would not have listened to me.”
“And now, after an absurd discussion, I can … Come to think of it, I think you are right.”
Paul shook his head and closed the window. He took out the list of files on Chrijulam that he had to study. He read the summaries his colleagues prepared, and sorted them out in relevance order. He began browsing files of lesser importance, in which Chrijulam appeared as a secondary keyword, and took some notes. One of the books indicated this name among a list of sects referenced in the year 345 of the cycle 00 1010 of Space H. That meant this belief system was old, but the document did not elaborate on the system’s concepts.
