by Gadi Migdal
Nola considered this for a moment then said, “That really does sound terrible. But despite everything, humanity is surviving there, right? That is, even if in the rest of the galaxy, everyone is asleep and slowly decaying, on this planet some human culture will continue to exist. A culture that one day might burst out.”
“The chances are slim,” said Guy. “It’s more likely that they’ll die before they manage to leave. But even if they make it out to other planets, it won’t be the kind of humans that we are familiar with. They will have different values, different technologies, and different life forms. The human race won’t really survive through them. It will just take a turn in a different direction.”
“That’s the way evolution works, Guy,” said Ella quietly. “The human race has gone in many different directions since the dawn of time. Some of them failed, and some succeeded. We are the result of those that succeeded.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?” laughed Guy. “I agree that that is how we developed, Ella. But I don’t want to be part of an evolutionary failure.”
“Is everyone awake there? Even in the palace?” Andre interrupted them suddenly.
“As far as I know, yes,” said Ella.
Andre blushed slightly, “Commander, could you please check that?” he looked at Nola pleadingly.
She instantly connected to the community reports. “Everyone is awake, in the villages and in the palace,” she confirmed. “The last report from the community mentions that there are some dream machines in the palace, but it appears that they have no need for them.”
Andre straightened up, “We need to speak with Taige, now!”
“What? With the dolphin? No. Forget it, Andre. There are no evil aliens,’ laughed Ella.
“Why, Andre?” Nola asked him gently.
“Because the people of Eternal Eden aren’t sleeping, Commander.”
“So?”
“Why is it that in the palace they aren’t sleeping even though they have access to the entanglement satellites?”
She looked at him in surprise before commanding the ship’s computer to contact Taige.
He answered almost immediately, wearing a strange, multi-armed suit. He still looked like he was always smiling.
“Hello people of Neifar, it’s been some time since we’ve spoken.”
“Hello, Taige,” Andre greeted him. “Do you know that in Eternal Eden nobody dreams?”
“That’s not so surprising, they live without technology. They have no access to dream machines.”
Andre shook his head, “You’re right, in the villages they do not. Why, however, don’t they dream even in the palace?”
“Are you sure that they don’t dream in the palace?” asked Taige. “Wait a moment,” he went quiet and stared into the air for a few seconds.
The city people looked at him, baffled. “I think he’s malfunctioning,” whispered Maya.
Taige turned to her, “Nothing happened to me, I just confirmed your friend’s claims. He’s right, it shows up in the community’s reports.”
“How did you do that?” Tom demanded.
“Through a brain implant.”
“Your master gave you a brain implant?”
“No. He’s too busy sleeping. I installed it myself.”
“What? It’s forbidden for enhanced animals to put together brain interfaces. It goes against the First Agreement!” Tom was shocked.
“I know, a stupid old rule that should be annulled as soon as possible, if you ask me.”
“But I’m not asking you. Brain interfaces are only permitted to humans,” Tom raged.
“It’s okay. I see myself as a kind of human, even if not homo sapiens,” Taige answered calmly.
“What?! You are not! And it’s forbidden!” Tom was furious.
The dolphin grinned, “If the monkeys of the First Agreement want to sue me, they know where to find me.”
“Enough, Tom. It doesn’t matter right now,” Andre reminded him.
“That’s right,” Taige nodded. “What do you think is the reason that nobody in the palace dreams?” he asked Andre.
“Because there are tens of thousands of people living there. The people in the palace are awake for the same reason as the city people on Neifar. They block all other signals.”
“You think that it’s the effect of mass influence?” asked Taige with evident curiosity.
“Maybe,” Andre replied. “I hoped that you would be able to tell us. Do you think it’s possible?”
“What are you talking about?” demanded Maya.
Taige replied thoughtfully, “Your friend claims that the fact of people living together prevents the effect of the subconscious signal being transmitted to all humans in the galaxy. If he is right, that could explain why you don’t dream nor feel any need to.”
“Do you really believe that there is some transmission like that?” Maya asked Andre.
Andre nodded eagerly, “yes, it’s not such a preposterous idea. I made the calculations. It requires less than five million satellites. The galaxy is so big, is it absurd to think that there might be a satellite array somewhere that we don’t know of?”
Maya scrunched up her nose, “A secret satellite array? Do you think that it’s a secret conspiracy?”
“More or less,” Andre confirmed, embarrassed.
“A conspiracy that hits everyone except the city?”
“Not exactly.”
“So, what are you claiming, Andre? That a secret satellite array exists that convinces everyone to want to dream unless they happen to live within a large group?”
“Yes Maya, that summarizes my argument nicely.”
Maya raised her hand dismissively and turned to Nola. “Commander, what does the Whole think of such a stupid idea?”
“The Whole doesn’t rule out any ideas, Maya. The main thing is that we discover the truth.”
“The Whole? Your enhanced bees? How exactly could they have thoughts on the matter?” asked Taige.
“Hey,” Bud objected aloud. “Who are you calling a bee, little fish?”
“I was speaking to the hybrid brain,” Taige ignored her.
Everyone went quiet and looked at Nola. “That’s the name of the council of the egg-layers from all the clusters on Neifar,” she answered carefully, while glaring at Maya.
“Really? How surprising,” the dolphin noted. “I thought she was special,” he pointed a long arm at Bud.
“Of course, I am, little fish, don’t you ever doubt it,” boomed Bud.
“Of course, Ms., I meant that I thought you were exceptional.”
“Why should I be an exception?”
“Because you are too intelligent to be a worker, Ms.”
“And what is so exceptional about that?”
“Cluster members are the result of intentional genetic hybridization. To give intelligence and the ability to organize to your workers is out of line with the city’s economic interests. Your intelligent council will complicate everyone’s lives.”
“There is no complication, everything in the city works fine,” the Whole was quick to reply.
“Who am I speaking with now? Something is suddenly different about you. How many brains are integrated within you?”
“No integrated brain, Taige, just me,” Nola promised him.
The dolphin waved his hand dismissively. “The hybrid brain does not lie well. I expected more from a combined brain.”
“Why do you insist that I am a hybrid brain?”
“Little changes in the way you speak and in your micro-expression. You are constantly engaged in an internal dialogue. Almost as if you had a split personality.”
“You’re right, Taige, I am in constant contact with the members of my cluster,” Nola replied with a feeling of relief.
He shook his head, “I read up a little on coordinators. Your implant connects you via a pheromone interface. It’s supposed to connect you to the Whole members who are nearby you. Dozens or hundreds of members at best. But I get the impression that you are in communication with many workers. It seems you are in contact with not just hundreds of workers but many more, maybe millions or even billions of little brains,” he went quiet at once, and his eyes widened in astonishment.
“What?” asked Nola.
“Everyone is connected to everyone else, and together it creates one big, super-powerful brain...”
“You have a rich imagination, Dolphin,” Maya interrupted him quickly.
All over Neifar, cluster members froze in terror. The terror of the Whole. Its secret was being found out by someone from outside.
Without paying attention, Nola transmitted orders to the cluster members on Singa to relax.
Andre smiled at Maya. “Way to keep the secret.”
Maya opened her mouth to answer but then closed it again. “Is everything okay with him?” she asked, pointed at Taige.
Excitement. The dolphin was clearly shaking with excitement. “That fits. Now everything fits. There is a common denominator.”
“What is that exactly?” asked Ella.
He ignored her and turned to Nola, “Can the hybrid brain answer one little question for me?”
She hesitated, “depends on the question.”
“Aside from the parents of Elmer, my master, has anyone ever left Neifar?”
Nola smiled with relief, she looked up the subject in the Singa’s databases and was surprised to find that there was nothing on record on that subject. Never mind, the city council was reluctant to share certain information, but there were other ways to find out.
“Tom,” she turned to the elder city man. “Since the city was founded, how many people chose to leave Neifar and live in other worlds?”
“Commander?” Tom hesitated.
“Please answer the question,” she insisted.
His hesitation did not dissipate. “That information is not available to the public, Commander.”
“You’re married to the head of the council. Answer the question, Deputy Commander,” Bud demanded impatiently.
He gave in unwillingly. “In the recorded history of the city there were only two families who chose to leave.”
He gestured towards Taige, “the last instance was over four hundred years ago.”
The dolphin jumped joyfully around his laboratory. “Millions of people were born and died in the city during that time, and only two families chose to leave. Does that sound likely to you?”
“Yes, Taige. The city is great,” Ella was defensive.
He grinned. “Not that great. I think that we’re onto something, sir,” he cheered, turning to Andre.
Andre blushed, “so what do we do now?”
“I think that it’s time to consult with someone else.”
“With who?”
“The person who created these dream machines.”
Chapter 33
Decision
Hey Mom,
How are you doing?
Did everyone survive the winter? I hope so. I think about you guys all the time.
Yes, I’m writing to you again. Even though I promised I wouldn’t. It’s ridiculous. This letter is dangerous for you, and it’s obvious to me that you will never read it or know what I wrote you, but at least it gives me a way of feeling like you can hear me.
I learned so much in the months that have passed. I learned languages, botany, engineering, and even a little psychology. Mainly, I learned that Tomas is insane. There, I dared to say it. There’s no point in denying it anymore. Ten of us came here, and less than a year later, four of us remain.
Lucy claims that he enjoys seeing people suffer, Noris says that he’s just evil, Munar explains that there always were and always will be people like that.
And me? I don’t say anything, just try not to make him mad in any way, I just hope to survive another day.
Yesterday he killed Neria, just like that, for no reason. He just shot her, laughed, and walked away.
I’m afraid to fall asleep, but not just me - all of us. Fear dictates our lives.
Have I already mentioned how much Lucy reminds me of you?
She is convinced that he will kill all of us soon and that it’s time to stop being afraid and to fight back. Munar and Noris agree with her.
And me? I will do whatever she says, always.
So that’s happening; we are going to try to rebel against him.
I, the constant coward, that wanted to die so that you wouldn’t find out about a broken pot. I am going to rebel against a man that most of the inhabitants of our world think is a god.
Funny, right?
I won’t write any more letters. If the rebellion works, you will see me soon.
If the rebellion fails, all of you will die because of me.
I am so sorry, Mom, but I have no choice. I am sick of being afraid, and besides, Lucy said rebellion, so rebellion there shall be.
I hope to stay alive, but I will likely die. You know, after all, that optimism was never my strongest feature.
Love you always,
Clifford.
Chapter 34
Girl
She was on the move again. Stealing glances behind her every so often, ensuring that the darkness hadn’t caught up with her. The girl had escaped again, just as she always did. Just as she would do until the day she died. Escaping from the darkness.
She ascended, running, up the small hill and stopped to rest at the peak, looking out around her as she chewed on another grey, flavorless root that she pulled from her belt.
As the darkness could not be seen on any horizon, she allowed herself to relax a little.
The girl sat beside a big stone, continuing to look around her constantly. A white stain at the bottom of the hill began to float towards her. The girl looked at it without fear; this was not the darkness. The stain approached her until it took shape, a triangular face looking at her, with long white tendrils pointing out of it at her. The girl chewed the root and resumed scanning the horizon, ignoring the blot. ‘The others’ had never bothered her.
Movement at the base of the hill startled her for a moment. She quickly calmed down as another stain crawled up the hill. Another stain approached from the opposite side and after it another one, and another.
The girl observed the stains gathering before her. So many stains in one place. This was new. She hadn’t experienced anything new for a long time. They gathered before her in all their shapes: round, square, triangular, eyes, tentacles, arms, claws, tendrils. All of them stood in front of her - pointing at her.
She felt a sense of wonder. What do they want? Why are they all facing her? She raised a hand hesitantly, trying to touch the nearest stain. Her hand passed through it, as always. The stain continued to look at her without doing anything. She sighed regretfully, nothing changed, nothing ever changed. Everything was predetermined. Like the darkness.
The darkness!
She leaped to her feet before she saw it. She didn’t need to see it to know that it was there, she felt it approaching.
The ‘others’ still stood before her, blocking her sight lines to the bottom of the hill. She leapt between them, running through the different white shapes and spots. She emerged on the other side and saw the bottom of the hill.
The darkness was already halfway up to where she was. She did not slow down as she changed direction, escaping the darkness. Leaving the stains and the darkness behind her.
The girl escaped again. She always escaped.
Chapter 35
Wholeness
Taige transmitted the signal of the machine creator. An old man appeared in the room.
/> Nola let out a shriek of surprise, “You!”
The old man looked at her curiously, then laughed, “Hello Ms., I assume you experienced the dream, ‘Louie.’”
Nola was stunned. She nodded her head without saying a word.
“Brains’ humor,” he laughed. “I am Dr. Reuben, a psychiatrist. The brain that created the story ‘Louie’ was angry at me for expressing concern about the excessive use of machines as a means of entertainment. He used my usual avatar for the story as the villain, John the Madman. Would you prefer that I appear as a different character?”
Nola shook her head with a bewildered smile, “No thanks. It’s okay. I was just surprised,” she replied.
“I never would have thought that brains argue between themselves,” Tom noted.
“Actually, it’s very common, sir. Brains argue, fight, and even get offended.”
“Very interesting,” noted Ella. “Emotions are a tool for social regulation, I would not imagine that brains are social beings.”
“Yes, yes. It’s very interesting, but we are in a hurry,” Maya cut her off impatiently. “Doctor Reuben, did you invent the dream machines?”
He smiled at her in polite surprise, “I wouldn’t put it that way. I was a member of their development team.”
“What was the purpose of the machines?” Nola interrupted in a calm voice.
“They were just another tool to aid human beings. Life was simpler then. The Second Bang was at its peak and humans settled all over the galaxy. We thought that we were creating a tool that would help humanity. We never imagined that it would turn from a medicine into an illness.”
“How exactly were they supposed to function?”
“A subliminal change in perception, the machine solved phobias and problems by creating subconscious memories. These memories changed patients’ perceptions of reality and helped them get over various issues.”
“Thanks, Doctor,” Nola gestured with her hand. “Taige suggested that we speak with you, I would like for him to explain why.”
The dolphin nodded to the old man, “Hello Doctor Reuben, you will be happy to hear that I no longer think that you and your friends are trying to cause this human addiction on purpose.”