by Gadi Migdal
“Thanks, Guy,” said Nola.
“I have a request, Commander,” Andre said suddenly.
“Please, Andre.”
Andre hesitated for a moment and then went on. “I would like to request your permission to install a sleep machine on the ship. Not one of us has ever tried it. How can we know how to treat the problems of humanity if we haven’t experienced them ourselves?”
Nola looked at him curiously. “Is this what you were discussing so enthusiastically with Maya and the general a few nights ago at dinner?” she asked him.
“Yes, Commander, and they agreed with me. We need to do a controlled experiment in order to understand the essence of the experience.”
“Alright, Andre, can you build such a machine?”
“Easily, Commander. The instructions can be found on the network, as well as the dream stories which can be downloaded. Using the printers we have on the Singa, Maya and I can build such a machine easily.”
“And who will sleep in it, Andre?”
“Me,” said Tom and Guy at the same time.
“Me,” said Ella half a second after them.
“And me,” General Bud added calmly.
Everyone turned and looked at her.
“General, I’m not sure that the machine will suit your nerve structure,” said Andre.
“I understand, Engines Officer, but could you adapt it to suit me?” the general asked.
“No General, I don’t have that kind of knowledge. That would require full brain-mapping. I can build such a machine no problem, according to the given instructions, but it was designed for humans. I have no knowledge of how to make it work for you.”
“How dangerous could it be?” asked the general.
“Very dangerous,” Ella answered for him. “The machine is set to stabilize certain parameters in the user’s cortex. It stabilizes them even if they aren’t suited to you. It would probably kill you.”
“Better that a human tries it,” Tom agreed.
“In order to get different opinions, we need at least two volunteers,” said Guy.
“I still think that I should be one of them,” said the general.
“General, what are you doing?” Nola transmitted, as the city residents began arguing between them over the question of who would be hooked up to the machine.
“Satisfying my curiosity, Your Honor,” the general answered calmly.
“Your curiosity could endanger your life. That machine is not meant for you.”
“The Whole has to experience the dreams, Your Honor.”
“Tom already volunteered. The Whole will experience everything through him,” Nola responded.
“His implant was never fully absorbed, Your Honor. The Whole has to get as detailed and real a picture as possible of the dream.”
“Why is it so important to the Whole?”
The general looked at Nola quietly and didn’t answer her.
The answer came together within her clearly and certainly — so clearly that for a moment she wondered if the Whole had answered her or if she had reached this conclusion on her own. Members of the Whole never dreamed. She had completely missed the general’s real motive, overlooking the obvious.
The Whole only experienced dreams through the coordinators. The Whole wanted to experience the dream machine not because of its effect on humans. The Whole wanted to check its effect on the Whole. Moreover, its effect on the general.
Why specifically the general? What was special about her? She looked searchingly at General Bud.
“That’s enough,” declared Nola.
The city people were quiet all at once.
“Guy and I will use the machine,” said Nola. “Tom will keep an eye on the ship in my absence. Andre and Maya will operate the machine. Ella, you have a suitable scientific background, you will monitor us while we sleep.”
“Logical decision, Commander,” Tom agreed, and the other city residents quietly nodded their heads.
“Andre, when will the machine be ready?” Nola asked.
“Within two days, Commander,” Andre replied.
“Excellent. We will be able to get in in another 72 hours. That should leave more than enough time for additional testing.”
Nola waited for everyone to disperse and then turned to the general again. “General, why did you join the swarming?”
“I was intended for the swarming before I was born, Your Honor.”
“Before you were born? Why didn’t you tell me in the cluster about your joining the swarming?”
“The Whole didn’t think that necessary, Your Honor.”
Warmth and apology filled her again. The Whole thought that she needed to experience the detachment from the cluster in order to understand and appreciate its advantages. Nola nodded forgivingly to the Whole.
She brought her attention back to the conversation. “Why were you specifically sent, General? What is special about you?”
“As I said, I was intended for the swarming before I was born. The Whole prepared me for the swarming all my life.”
“I remember your birth, General, you are 21 years old. A general lives about 25 years. How can you be suitable for this duty?”
The General looked at Nola. Infinite curious reflections of Nola appeared in the millions of tiny hexagons that made up the general’s huge eyes.
“Why does Your Honor think that a general only lives 25 years?”
“I remember the death of the previous general. She died at age 25, at a ripe old age, a year after I got to the cluster,” Nola replied.
The general looked at her without saying a word. Millions of little Nolas watched her reproachfully.
Nola suddenly understood what the Whole had done. “The previous general didn’t die at a ripe old age. Right? The Whole sacrificed her so that you could be born, and come with me on this swarming.”
“That’s right, Your Honor; an ordinary general lives about 70 years. I expect to live one hundred.”
“Why will you live longer than any other general?”
“The Whole made sure to provide me with special, enriched food during my first stages of development, Your Honor.”
The Whole had sacrificed a young general in order to create General Bud. Everything had been planned in advance. Nola had a disturbing realization.
“My egg-layer didn’t just happen to die either. The Whole sacrificed her too, so that I could go on the mission. Right?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
Nola felt dizzy, for twenty years she had mocked the egg-layer and thought that her entire role was to lay the next generations. To herself, she had thought of the egg-layer as ‘She-slave’. She-slave who had no independent existence. She-slave whose whole purpose was to serve the cluster.
She was mistaken. She had been gravely mistaken.
The egg-layer wasn’t a she-slave, she was simply dedicated to the cluster and to the Whole.
Dedicated to the point that she killed herself at the moment it was demanded of her. She killed herself so that her coordinator could go out on the journey that the Whole intended for her.
If only she had known the truth! If only the egg-layers could communicate with their surroundings!
Nola closed her eyes and tears streamed down her face. It was too late to apologize to the dead egg-layer
“Thank you, General,” she mumbled. “We will continue this conversation another time.” She went to her room, looking for somewhere she could grieve in peace.
The sleep machine was a small sphere that floated in the air over a pair of life-support beds. The beds were equipped with life-sustaining systems, and could maintain proper bodily function for decades. The two beds were positioned beside one another in order to make it easier for Ella to monitor them. Andre downloaded a series of popular stories for them
that had gotten the highest points from several hundred million users’ reviews.
“How long will I be in there?” Nola asked Andre for the third time.
“Only six hours, Commander,” Andre answered patiently.
Nola looked at the bed again and at the machine hovering over it. She didn’t want to do this.
“Your honor, the Whole must experience sleep,” the general pointed out in her head quietly. Nola didn’t bother to answer her. She approached the bed and lay down on it. The bed’s sensors recognized her. The bed responded like a jumble of snakes. Dozens of small tubes wrapped around her and measured her while the bed figured her out. She suppressed the urge to scream and closed her eyes.
After several seconds, the activity around her calmed down. Nola opened her eyes and looked at her body. Not a tube was visible. The bed had adjusted itself to her and was ready for sleep. She leaned her head toward Guy, who lay in the bed beside her. He was pale but did not utter a word.
“Okay, Andre. Activate the machine,” Nola ordered.
“Goodnight, Commander. Goodnight Guy. We will meet in a few hours,” Andre answered, and tapped the screen.
Chapter 19
Education
He removed the helmet from his head. The small transparent dome trembled slightly as he hung it on its charging device.
So many things to learn. So many different areas to discover.
His head hurt, but he would put the helmet back on soon anyway, the desire for knowledge was too strong.
He bit hungrily into the sandwich in front of him. As a child who had grown up on rice all his life, the discovery of bread rolls was amazing.
He rubbed his eyes and scanned the screen. “History of the human race - the Seventh and its consequences.” This was his homework for today.
He put on the helmet, felt his nerve connections merging with the transparent dome interface, and tapped on the screen. History came to life in his head. New knowledge became real in his mind, and memories were etched into it. He liked the feeling.
Munar closed his eyes and learned.
At dinner, he was seated at the table with the rest of the apprentices. Thomas dined with them that night. The God was in a good mood. He made jokes with the apprentices and checked how they were doing.
“Lucy. How are the medical studies going? When will you be able to assist Doctor Aaron?”
“I wear the helmet eight hours a day, your majesty. I will be ready to function in two months.”
Thomas smiled with satisfaction and turned to look at Munar. “Have you decided what to specialize in, Munar?”
“I thought about history and philosophy, your majesty,” the boy replied.
“Wonderful. That’s a great choice. Nobody has chosen to specialize in those fields for a long time. We will have many long hours of fascinating conversation,” the God delighted.
Suddenly he leaned forward. “How are the treatments going? Have you completed them?”
“Yes, your majesty. Doctor Aaron says that I will live until at least 350 years old,” Munar replied.
The memory of the drugs and the strange machine he had to stay in for six hours each treatment still frightened him.
“Is that all? I’ll speak with him, maybe you need another treatment,” laughed Thomas. “Life is too beautiful to be over with too soon.”
Everyone laughed.
They were the chosen ones. They would live long after the great-grandchildren of the great-grandchildren of the brothers and sisters they had left behind. There were ten of them. Thomas had chosen them personally from among the believers.
They were intended to maintain the knowledge and strengthen the power.
They were the best of the best. They were the future. They were chosen for Eternal Eden. They were chosen by the God.
After the meal, it was time for the sermon. Munar loved this time. The God explained their purpose to them and answered their questions. They sat around the large wooden table in the apprentices’ hall.
“Did all of you complete your studies of the Seventh?” Thomas asked.
“Yes, your majesty,” everyone answered.
“Great, we will continue the lesson. At the beginning of the twenty-second century, human population numbered less than 100 million people. Everyone lived on a small moon, barren and devoid of oxygen, less than an eighth the size of our Eternal Eden.”
“Blessed are the dwellers of Eternal Eden, the seat of the God,” they all sang piously.
The God smiled and continued, “The status of humans was bleak. They didn’t have enough food or energy to sustain 100 million people. Their future was gloomy. Hunger and death were at their door. Fortunately, I enabled them to discover how to open wormholes, and so began the Age of Interstellar Travel. Does everyone know what a wormhole is?”
Everyone nodded.
“Very good. The Second Bang began. The enormous stream of emigrants spread humans all over the galaxy. Humans dispersed over tens of thousands of light-years and occupied every planet suitable for sustaining life. That was a trial period for believers. Their faith was called into question, and those weak of faith began to doubt. I understood the root of the problem - life had become too easy. Technology distracted people from the important things. The reason for their weakening faith was clear to me and so was the solution. So, I led the great journey to the Holy Land. Here I founded Eternal Eden. Far from technological temptation, believers could dedicate themselves to manual labor and worshipping my greatness.”
Everyone bowed their heads and sang, “His brilliance will shine forever.”
Lucy nodded knowingly. “Your majesty’s insight and the knowledge that you share with us enables us to live longer, even if we live just a sliver of the length of His Honor’s lifespan.”
Thomas laughed. “Very true, Lucy, only I am immortal, but you will spend a few hundred years in the palace.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” said the doctor-in-training.
“But it is not possible,” said Munar before he realized what he was saying.
The room fell silent. “What’s not possible, Munar?” the God smiled a broad, white-toothed smile at him.
Munar felt panicky, but there was no way back. “Sorry, Your Honor, but you are not truly immortal. I saw your pictures in the history files, and you look completely different.”
The expressions on the other children’s faces moved between astonishment and utter terror. Munar had contradicted the God. He was doomed.
The God shot him a piercing glance and Munar’s stomach clenched. Why didn’t he learn to shut up?
To his great terror, Thomas leaned forward and looked into his eyes. His heart beating furiously, Munar forced himself to keep his gaze steady. The air in the room felt suddenly dense, and terror pierced Munar’s insides. He tried to breathe, but fear gripped his lungs.
To their surprise, Thomas burst out in thunderous laughter and leaned back on his chair. “I am pleased to see that I chose well. It usually takes newcomers longer to realize the truth. You’re right, Munar. I’m not that Thomas.” He stopped for a moment, scanned the stunned faces of the other children and laughed. “Eternal Eden was the name chosen by one of my ancestors, Thomas the First, when he arrived to this planet. Indeed, he made sure that for his chosen heirs, this would be an eternal paradise. I am Thomas the Eighth, the sole heir to Thomas the founder. I am 286, but as far as all of the believers are concerned, I am the one immortal Thomas who has lived thousands of years.”
The children looked at him in surprise and didn’t say a word. Munar breathed quietly, slowing his racing heartbeat.
Thomas laughed again. “Don’t look so surprised, do you still not understand why I chose you?”
“To preserve the knowledge and strengthen the power of your majesty,” said Tristian.
“Don’t quote tired slog
ans to me, Tristian. What is the reason that you are all here?”
Everyone looked at him in embarrassment and said nothing. Munar raised his hand hesitantly.
“Yes, Munar.”
“Maybe we are here so that you won’t be alone, Your Majesty.”
Everyone stopped breathing once more, it was an insolent reply.
Thomas shot Munar a frozen glance, then nodded his head.
“Not bad at all, Munar. Pretty close to the truth. At least in your case, I see I chose well.”
He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “I want you for the purposes of conversation. It’s important to introduce new blood into the palace every few years. It is a preventative measure against boredom.”
“I thought that we were here in order to preserve knowledge,” Tristian mumbled quietly.
Thomas laughed, “Do you really think that I need you in order to maintain the place? Did you not ever wonder as to the significance of the silver ones?”
The chosen silver ones? The God’s personal bodyguards? How were they concerned? Everyone looked at Thomas in bewilderment — nobody answered.
He smiled with satisfaction. “The chosen silver ones are the believers that wanted to serve me. There are many uses for the learning helmet. The helmet didn’t just turn them into skilled warriors, it also strengthened their loyalty me. Loyalty to death.”
He went quiet again and looked at them. “Do you understand what I’m saying?” he asked.
Nobody answered.
Munar raised his hand again.
“Munar?” Thomas said, with an expression of satisfaction.
“Your Majesty says that everyone can put on a helmet and learn to be a doctor or technician. Your Honor could create faithful experts without gambling on his faith. He doesn’t need us to preserve the wisdom or to maintain the palace system. He needs us for conversation and interest.”
“Very true, Munar,” Thomas replied with a smile of gratification. “I want educated people to speak with, people who can talk to me and not just worship me. That is the reason that you are receiving an education and a good life.”