by A I Zlato
She climbed onto the acceleration ramp and then settled on the carpet, both feet on the moving web. The park’s designers had hoped that visitors could admire all of its angles, and had chosen a very slow mode of transport. Each stop connected to an acceleration ramp and a deceleration ramp, to access and exit the carpet, while maintaining constant speed.
She looked around the first gardens; those architectural masterpieces where the gardeners had given to trees and shrubs the appearance of city buildings. A huge redwood millennium adorned the center, representing the Machine. Whenever she came there with Lars, they would admire that majestic tree, seeing it as a parallel to the Tower. Their discussions always ended on the fact that nothing could match it. Baley was so full of certainties at the time...
The moving walkway entered a wooded area. According to the legend, which teenagers spoke of from generation to generation, all tree species were there. Each one was unique — a worthy representative of its species — and ready to be admired. She remembered taking Iris there. A little, 6-year-old girl, Iris ran amid the trees in wonder, but had asked, “Where do the trees go after reaching the top of the sky?” At that age, Baley could answer any question her daughter posed. She told her daughter that trees, even the biggest, even those that crossed the clouds, had a peak. No peak would be as high as the Tower. The little girl, doubtful, had simply said that the trees were still very large. Then she had gone back running, laughing at everything. It seemed to Baley that it was not so long in the past that Iris was happy; a time when their family was happy. Yet everything had changed. Iris had become a sad, rebellious teenager who was unable to find her place in the city. She... had failed for the first time in her life, Baley realized.
On a whim, she jumped off the walkway without waiting for the next stop. She went down on her legs to absorb the shock, then rose back up, vaguely dazed. It had been a long time since she hopped off an active transport device. 10 years, 15 or maybe 20. Her youth seemed so far away, as if she were in another life. She did not consider herself old at 35. Her body was still soft and muscular, her face welcoming a few wrinkles at the corner of the eye when she smiled. Yes, her body was still young, but not her mind. The accumulated fatigue and stress and the failure of the investigation obscured her thoughts, increasingly weighing her down with an unbearable burden. The time of certainties, self-confidence and the promise of a happy future seemed hopelessly lost.
She walked aimlessly throughout the park. For several hours, she strolled through the trails, encountering a variety of landscapes. Woods led to a flower garden and ordered hills that were meticulously trimmed hills. A brook, wild in the small forest, crossed the flowerbeds, tamed by manicured borders. She plunged her forearms and face in the living water, enjoying the coolness on her skin. Small fish approached her before fleeing in fright when she straightened up. Everything was so beautiful and peaceful there. Without the sphere and its constant pulsing, Baley might have thought that she was totally outside the city; outside the Machine’s influence. But this was not possible; the Machine was everywhere, and she needed it. Her chip requested its dose of digital data; the drug without which the chip would trigger raw pain for her. This contact was vital.
The day ended, and freshness from the ground pervaded the air with a delicate scent of humus and cut grass. The penumbra emerged slowly, and stars appeared in the cloudless sky. After so many hours of walking, her muscles became painful. She let the sensation of pain spread in her mind, and quickened her pace to intensify it. The physical suffering was far preferable to the moral pain. She walked in the dark, trusting her contact with the ground under her feet as well as her recollection of the way. She finally collapsed, her body and consciousness marked by a nervous flow of pain. Lying down, Baley became very cold quickly.
The evening was well under way when she returned home. Slowly, she hopped on the moving walkway, which started as she got closer. She could have enabled night vision via her chip, but she preferred to keep her natural eyesight. In the darkness, she moved to the rhythm of the walkway without seeing anything except the diffuse light of the city. Once in the periphery, she followed the instructions of her chip in order to find the rail station, feeling the Machine directly taking control without the help of the sphere.
With an aching body, she climbed onto the rail, which dropped her off in front of her apartment. She walked to her building, physically exhausted but nonetheless appeased. Her hiking in the park had brought her no comfort, just physical fatigue that made her unsteady on her feet.
She slipped quietly into the hallway, making sure she did not wake Lars and Iris up. Darkness pervaded the apartment; silence reigned. She had barely had time to close the front door when the living room lit up suddenly. Rapidly beating her eyelids to acclimatize to the strong light, she turned around quickly. Lars was waiting for her, his arms folded on the couch. Like a child caught in the act, she walked timidly.
“Where were you?”
“I... I... I went for a walk in the park.”
“Today, it is the park; the previous days, it was the investigation...”
“Lars, I...”
“Do you remember that the day before yesterday, you did not come home at all? It looks like you’re having fun with the investigation!”
“Lars, please...”
“Have you, at least, thought about sending me a message, letting me know in advance? No, nothing. Even your daughter is considerate enough to leave a message, although she is just a child! And not you?”
“I understand you’re angry, but I do not have the energy to answer you.”
“No energy to apologize, right?”
“Please, Lars... please. I’ve investigated the suicides of children; children younger than Iris! I saw their little lifeless bodies spread on the ground, and I was not able to do anything!”
Baley collapsed on the couch.
“So, yes, I went hiking in the park today. I needed it.”
“I still don’t see why you couldn’t send me a message to let me know.”
“I guess you’re right.”
Silence settled in, and Baley wept. Lars remained deliberately away from her, his arms still folded. She felt even more alone on this sofa a few inches away from the man she had married.
Between sobs, she said, “I... I thought I was a good detective... First, I followed the trail of the sect, and...”
“Baley, you’re talking to me about an ongoing investigation; there...”
“I know! But everything I’m saying has already made headlines in the news media; I’m not disclosing any secret... What was I saying?”
“The sect.”
“Oh, yeah. As the Problem happened again, I expanded my conjecture to an anti-Machine movement... I confirmed this hypothesis... but I was unable to prevent anything! And the Machine had pulled me out of the investigation... I have nothing now... I am no longer anything...”
“How come? Did it take you off the investigation? Aren’t you exaggerating things a bit?”
“It gave me no instruction! It did not ask me to file a report!”
“Baley... The Machine never asks for a report, as it can access all data... It’s up to you to submit a report; a summary; whatever you feel like. If it wanted you to stop the investigation, it would have told you so directly.”
“It gave me no time to file a report. My time period was too short.”
“This just means that it did not need a report. The Machine cannot understand that humans have a need to talk to others.”
“It granted me unlimited leave!”
“So? Uh, what do you mean? Some time off?”
“It gave me no instruction, and I had nothing on my plate, so I asked for leave to go hiking so as to clear my head.”
“You asked for leave — you???”
“Yes, me. And the Machine gave it to me instantly without giving me an end date.”
“And why is that a problem? You got what you asked for...”
�
�This unlimited period — it does mean that I’m not on the case anymore! The Problem is still not resolved; then somebody has to work on it... and it’s not me!”
“Maybe it means that you’ve uncovered enough items so that it can find the solution... or it calculated that the Problem has a high probability of no recurrence, or... The Machine has motives we cannot understand. You’re too focused on your own little life.”
“I expected a little support from you... instead, you’re telling me that I am insignificant.”
“Not at all! C’mon, Baley! Pull yourself together! I don’t recognize my Baley! You’ve always been excessive in your work; you invest a lot of time in it, and we come in second, Iris and I, when you are on an investigation. But here, it looks like you’re losing it... I want to believe that this investigation is important to you. It also makes me sick thinking about children who decide to commit suicide, so I cannot even imagine how you feel after seeing their little bodies and being responsible for the investigation. Let me tell you I understand. But you must pull yourself together...”
“How can you say that my behavior is excessive? We’re talking about the deaths of dozens of children!”
“I’m not blaming you for focusing on the investigation; I’ve never done such a thing. I’m simply saying that usually, even in the middle of an investigation, you keep in mind that you have a family. In this one, I feel like Iris and I disappeared from your brain.”
“And then I’m the one exaggerating... give me examples of what you are saying?”
“Easy. While we could no longer talk to Iris for months, she decides to talk to you... And you tell her things related to your investigation. In the conversation, she told you that she had chosen a new path... and you did not press her to explain. Do you realize? Our daughter speaks to you, telling you she found a project she is interested in, perhaps something that will influence her whole life, and you... you stay focused on your job? And to make matters worse, you don’t say a word to me about this discussion, not even thinking that I might want to continue the conversation with her.”
“I’m not going to explain myself again about that conversation I had with Iris. I told you I did not want to push her too far. I asked her about this new path she chose, but she did not want to elaborate. What would you have wanted me to do? Insist and risk that the conversation end in dispute as usual? I already told you this, so we will not go back on it. I understand you were hurt that I did not speak to you immediately... but we must also say that we don’t often see each other at the moment!”
“That’s what I’m saying. And now, if I’m to follow your crazy reasoning, you have delusions of persecution. You think the Machine has taken you off the investigation, whereas it did not tell you any such thing. What’s wrong with you?”
She stood silent a moment, trying to collect her thoughts, and to let Lars’s comments sink in. Was she about to lose control? She decided to tell him about the previous day; to talk about the cyclone. He thus would understand what put her in a tizzy. That did not happen.
“Baley, you’re going completely crazy.”
“I am telling you everything is true!”
“I’m sure that’s what you think you saw. I’m not saying you’re lying... just that you’ve been so stressed lately that you’re imagining things.”
“Why could it not be real?”
“You just told me that a cyclone appeared in a park, whereas the weather was perfect, and that the cyclone stayed in the one place. I remind you that cyclones come out from stormy weather with strong winds and they move quickly. So, you see one, which appears for no good reason, and is not moving. And this does not seem strange to you. Then you are able to get inside the cyclone; to cross air vortices, which should have projected you very far away. No, you are so courageous; you walk into the eye of the cyclone without problem. Finally, instead of seeing a quiet area inside with the ground at your feet and the sky above you, you see water into which you don’t fall because, of course, you have learned to walk on water, and instead of the sky, you see darkness...”
“I believed you when you told me your stories of changes in the physical structure of the Machine without human instruction!”
“It is not the same thing at all.”
“And why?”
“It seems obvious to me! On the one hand, an observation with a simple question, and on the other, a delirious imagination...”
“Imagining that the Machine is capable of changing itself alone is entirely rational...”
The black hole in Baley’s mind stirred after she made that comment. It was perhaps not rational and yet... Everything was related to the Machine; she knew that.
“OK. I’m going crazy,” she said. “The storm did not appear, it was not the center of the circles formed by children’s corpses, and everything is fine.”
“Which circles?”
“I’ve said too much. Another thing — how do you explain the fact that I was able to anticipate the location of the Problem?”
“Because you’re good at what you do! Nevertheless, your cyclone story is just delusional!”
“You no longer trust me...”
“It has nothing to do with trust. But maybe, if I ask myself truly, I would find out that, yes, I trust you less.”
“At least, that’s a clear answer.”
“Baley, I... Calm down, will you?”
“I am calm. My husband no longer trusts me. The Machine put me on the sidelines. I failed to stop the Problem. Tomorrow morning, I’m leaving.”
“Baley, please...”
“There is nothing more to say.”
Baley felt calm and determined. Her life was a total failure; she needed to leave this place, and maybe could find on her own how to live the rest of her life. She thought briefly about Iris. Her daughter was almost an adult, and she had found her way... she did not need her.
Go far away. Regret nothing.
Gateways exist only because there are Interspaces. Without an interspace, there is no gateway, and without a gateway, Interspaces shall disappear. Human carelessness is the cause of the sustainability of an entire universe.
The Space-Time
CHAPTER 63
SPACE H. (1ST ENCIRCLEMENT)
Iris had again returned home in the middle of the night. Unable to sleep, she lay on her bed to explore once again what Mossa had transmitted to her by force.
He had not wanted to dump his entire memory and knowledge into her chip. He selected some information, mostly truncated, to manipulate her; to make her contact the Machine, hoping the latter could help him return home. He had not, however, mastered the process as well as he had hoped, and she now had access to all of his memories. She was, therefore, able to see the half-truths he had wanted to send her in order to control her. She felt dull rage. She had so admired this being, worked so hard to find him, dreamed of their future conversations... the disappointment was immense. He had seen in her nothing but a teenager he could influence; someone he could easily control to achieve his purposes. By exploring his memories, from his arrival in Space H. until now, she realized that he had also fooled Egeon and Eutrope.
Egeon and Galatea had welcomed him into their home, fed him, housed him, and protected him from the curiosity of the crowd. Thanks to them, he had found his place in the community. Egeon had authorized him to follow his meetings, giving him access to the entire project. Mossa had learned the progress of the construction of the shuttle, the choice of the new planet and astronomical studies that led to this choice and the training programs aimed at the Shuttle Generations... Instead of feeling flattered by such trust and truly integrating himself into his new family, he had taken advantage of them. True, he had used his knowledge to advance the project in appearance, but he was careful not to point out some flaws in the construction. He had never intended to be part of the trip, despite his public statements. He had reveled in the imperfections of the shuttle, imagining the negative consequences the flaws could crea
te... Iris immersed herself in his memory and watched the events from his point of view. Nonetheless, she remained herself at the same time, and what she saw revolted her. The hybrid was happy to predict the likely disasters that Shuttle Generations might face... He also lied to Eutrope, assuring the kandron that he would arrange for the kandrons be part of the trip. Oh, sure, he had requested the development of a compartment for them all to get on board, but he had not bothered to correct Teo’s calculations about the indirect consequences of this overload. Mossa wanted to see the shuttle take off, knowing that kandrons and humans were running for their loss. He was full of hatred, as if these people were responsible for his arrival there.
The more Iris learned about Mossa, the more she despised him. She hated what he had done. Owing to his intervention, she would never be the same. She hated his behavior in relation to all those people who had helped him. She thought about Eutrope, who had taken the trouble to teach him the language so he could communicate. In exchange, the kandron had only asked if it was possible to take them aboard the shuttle. It had not required such a thing, no; it had just asked Mossa to ask whether that was possible. The hybrid had actually transmitted the message, but did not share his knowledge with Teo so that the shuttle could actually have a chance of successfully departing. And Galatea was so kind, so gentle and so patient. He had nothing but contempt for her and for all believers who had believed he was their prophet. He could have felt flattered, or done anything to make them realize their mistake, but no. Why had Phalomera wanted her to meet such an individual?
She focused on his memories of the entity to try to understand. She immersed herself in the forest, trying to search it from the inside. She felt the roots, thought back to Circle Zero, climbed to the summits to the ocean, and threw herself into the concepts that the entity had shown him. She focused on the flow of energy she experienced through the forest, in the representation that Phalomera had given her. The meeting with Mossa was not coincidental, that was certain. Neither was his obsession. Phalomera had wanted Iris to find Mossa again... and find Egeon... and the project. Yes, the forest had wished she would find out about the shuttle project that the community was secretly pushing forward. If Phalomera had wanted her to be interested, there was necessarily a reason... she must have some kind of usefulness... maybe she had to do something... She then gained the firm belief that she needed to prevent Mossa from harming anyone. That was the mission Phalomera had entrusted to her. She felt that much depended on her success. This project had to succeed. She drew up a plan.
