“Note the time,” the nanny requested.
Olga’s face registered surprise. “We went to New York at 21:15:03. We spent more than ten minutes there—six hundred and forty-three seconds. But the time here shows only 21:15:10. Does this machine have a time compression function on a scale of one to a hundred? I thought the maximum was a five-fold compression.”
“I said it was an enhanced prototype, didn’t I? The machine is expressly designed for a Changed operator—that is, to you. The enhanced neuro-interface provides a hundred-fold compression while preserving all the basic sensations. It’s convenient, isn’t it?”
Olga stroked the simulator, delighted. “You bet! I can spend ten hours inside it, doing absolutely anything I want while a mere six minutes pass here. And I’m sure I can turn up the machine to a two-hundredfold compression or even higher. Do it again, Arina. Where should I go? Oh, I know! Mexico! Rawhide!”
The flat summit of the Pyramid of the Sun was perfectly deserted. No tourists hampered their view of the ruined city before them. A warm wind fluttered Olga’s hair, pleasingly tickling her cheeks. Smiling, the nanny splashed water from the bottle onto Olga’s face. A short moment of refreshing bliss was soon replaced again by the heat.
Olga was wearing the stylish sunglasses, light sandals, a thin checkered sundress, and a straw bonnet with a flower attached. Arina was dressed in a light linen suit, sporting an elaborate hairdo instead of her usual green hat. The machine could equip the user according to the location—and apparently it had a sense of style.
“Arina, may I turn down the heat just a bit?”
“If you please, Captain.”
A thermometer hovered in midair, which Olga used to turn down the temperature by eight degrees.
“Much better. Arina, what is this place?”
“Teotihuacan. This city had been built, enjoyed prosperity, and abandoned long before the Aztecs appeared. See the consistent rectangular layout of the city—it’s strictly parallel and perpendicular streets, and eighteen pyramids in the center. They even built a special bypass canal that changed the river’s direction. The Aztecs rediscovered the city and named it Teotihuacan, which translates as ‘a place of the gods’ or ‘a place where man becomes a god.’ Such is history.”
“Who built the city?”
“No one knows. Some say the Totonac people, others the Nahua or Otomi. Either way, the city had been deserted for centuries when the Aztecs found it, and the Aztecs were a very old civilization too.”
The nanny continued telling the story as they entered the temple of Quetzalcoatl, the supreme god of nature, admiring the fine stone carvings. Then they walked along the Avenue of the Dead, reaching the Pyramid of the Moon. Olga took snapshots with her antique film camera with a protruding lens, which she had discovered in her handbag.
“If we’re in Mexico where then are the cactuses? A cactus for me, please.”
A tall green cactus resembling a huge trident rose up from the ground at their feet. Olga circled it, studying the fruit and fine thorns. Perceiving a strange smell, she approached the thick stem and tried to touch a thorn. It stuck into her finger, but she felt no pain, nothing at all.
“The pain is fully blocked. But the other perceptions are maintained at the highest possible level. ”
“That’s for your safety in these unfamiliar places. If you could feel pain, such a machine could easily change from an entertainment simulator into a dangerous tool in wicked hands. Use it responsibly. A sober head on the shoulders is a must in virtual reality.”
Olga nodded a full consent. She knew perfectly well how to convert the simulator to a torture chamber. It was enough just to change the settings slightly. However, there was also another threat, not so obvious but no less dangerous.
Olga had heard that a special kind of drug addiction was booming on Earth. It gripped a drug addict making him entirely dependent on virtual stimulants similar to those she had received as a present for commissioning the factory. Many sought to forget the real world, boring and gray and dedicated exclusively to making money, and extending the virtual bliss by all possible means. For those unfortunate people admittance to the Matrix was an entrance to the gates of the paradise while the exit was an expulsion to hell. To avoid expulsion from the manufactured celestial realm, many voluntarily gave up their old bodies and went forever to the Matrix.
But as the time compression technology, previously accessible exclusively to the Changed, was becoming widely available to all, virtual dependence would overcome mankind since it would become unnecessary to reject one’s body. Perhaps the time compression capability would grow and soon it would be possible to live a millennium in the Matrix in a single real day. And even that was not the limit. Olga visualized millions of years and whole geological eras compressed into hours and minutes.
And then it would become possible to spend, in one second, a longer period than the time that had elapsed since the Big Bang. Wasn’t it interesting to know what brain could bear that?
“Let’s climb the pyramid!” Olga exclaimed. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll put an ice-cream kiosk on the top.”
* * *
Never before had Olga had such a good time. She and Arina climbed the Himalayas and scuba dived among the coral of the Great Barrier Reef. They went on safari in Namibia and rafted down Siberian rivers on inflatable rafts. They hovered for hours on gliders over the Alps and rode the roller coasters at Disneyland.
Arina decided to mix in cultural events, making Olga visit different museums and listen to the operas at La Scala. The arias didn’t appeal to Olga as much as the breathtaking alpine skiing in Switzerland, but she patiently suffered the art as she listened to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro or stood before the Impressionists’ paintings at the Louvre. Now and then, Arina enabled the historical reconstruction mode and then Olga could observe the cruelest street fighting of the Battle of Berlin, the crowning of Elizabeth II or the execution of Joan of Arc. Just for fun, Olga visited the Hogwarts magic school where she was surprised to discover herself in a green and silver uniform of Slytherin.
“Hey! What’s the deal with this?” she asked, a little put out.
“Where else we could place such a malicious and mischievous tomboy? With your talents, you are sure to be Professor Snape’s favorite pupil and find a stunning career among Voldemort’s sidekicks.”
“Ah, well … that’s true.”
* * *
Olga and Arina swam in the crystal clean and amazingly warm sea. A beach was visible not far off, where girls were suntanned or played volleyball. A bonfire burned and the mountains loomed above them, forming fanciful cliffs and canyons as they rose from the narrow strip of golden sand along the shoreline.
“Nearly all elements of the Mendeleyev Periodic System have been discovered in the Mediterranean, though it’s a medium salinity sea. The predominant component is, of course, sodium chloride or ordinary kitchen salt, and magnesium sulfate or bitter salt. It’s these substances that determine the taste of seawater.”
Lagging a little behind, Olga imitated Arina powerful strokes through the water as closely as possible. She was trying hard to catch up with her nanny, but the simulator very realistically reproduced the water resistance and the muscle fatigue. And she still lacked the experience that would lead to proper technique.
“Since immemorial time seawater has been a symbol of purification,” Arina continued. “For example, the tragedy that Euripides wrote in the fifth century BCE says that people’s sins are only washed off by seawater.”
Arina looked back at the girl. “Turn over on your back and rest.” In a second, a thick inflatable raft in yellow stripes was supporting Olga. The girl delightedly stretched out on it while the nanny continued to swim by her side, pushing the raft with her hand.
“Could you materialize a dolphin?” Olga asked.
“Even a nuclear submarine, if you please. Look to the left. Here’s a dolphin for you.”
A dolphin sprang
high from the blue water. It turned a somersault in the air and splashed back down next to the raft, spattering Olga with drops of seawater. Then it popped up from the surface right next to Olga, allowing the girl to stroke its smooth but strong skin.
“This is the bottlenose dolphin. It measures up to two and a half meters, weighing up to three hundred kilos. In water, it can accelerate up to—”
“Enough lectures, Nanny. Give me some rest.”
The raft smoothly rocked on the waves under the blue sky.
“How nice! You could almost forget that this is a simulator showing the sea the way it was before the pollution and wars ruined it completely. The only dolphins left live in zoos now. Let’s have a look at it by night, shall we?”
The sunny day was instantly replaced by a moonlit night. The sea gleamed in the reflected silver light.
“Ah, the sea is sparkling. So beautiful.”
“They are also called golden lights of night,” Arina said. “It’s unclear why they produce the luminous substance. What do you think is the cause?”
“Well, I could think up a story. About a girl, or better still, a princess and a wicked stepmother. About how she ran away to the sea. But I don’t know how to turn her into these sparkles. Maybe she fell off the cliff? Help!”
Arina smiled. “We’ll think of something and sell the script to Disney.” She turned the raft toward the shore. Before long they were lying side by side on the warm sand, which the girl pinched from time to time to sift through her fingers.
“Do you know that your parents have submitted an application?”
“Arina, don’t ruin my day off, please. I’ve been living fine all these years without them and see no point in changing anything.”
“You may have siblings you know nothing about,” Arina said. “If I were you I’d meet your family because you’d learn more about yourself. In any case, it wouldn’t do you harm.”
“Nor any good, either. I’ll have a short nap; this is such a cozy place. And don’t tell me anything else about them.”
* * *
The Shanghai Zoo proved to be a surprisingly pleasant place to take a stroll, and Olga had returned to it many times. White lions and white tigers as well as their golden brethren, along with antelopes, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and all manners of other animals had lived there in spacious enclosures enabling the visitors to commune with nature rather intimately. The pride of the zoo, pandas, had become the girl’s favorites. She would watch the panda cubs play for hours, laughing when one clumsily climbed a tree or flopped on the ground.
“That’s where you went—watching the pandas again and laughing like a madman!”
“Tell me again that story about a girl and a panda,” Olga asked.
“All right. Once upon a time there lived in ancient China a little girl and her best friend, a panda cub. You may name it as you please. They spent all their time together, playing and understanding each other without words. One day, a fierce snow leopard attacked the cub. The little girl snatched a large tree branch and started to protect her friend. She fought valiantly and drove the leopard away but died from her wounds. The cub cried bitterly. At the funeral, the pandas wore black shoes and black gloves as a sign of sympathy and respect for the girl. They grieved so genuinely and wept so earnestly they had to wipe away tears with their furry paws. They rubbed their eyes so hard and clutched their heads so vigorously that now they’ve got black ears and black circles under their eyes.”
“That’s a silly tale, but I’d like to have a friend like that panda cub,” Olga said. “Or any other animal. I’d protect it against all its enemies. Just let them touch my panda and I’ll tear them to shreds!”
Olga showed Arina how she would fight off the predator’s onslaught with a series of punches. She got so enthused she accidentally hit a small boy standing by the enclosure and knocked him down. The child wailed and ran to his mother.
“I think I hit the target. He won’t bother the cub any longer,” Olga said happily to the nanny. She skipped the simulation back two minutes before the infringement had been committed.
“I’m serious, though,” Olga continued. “Children do get presents in the form of cats and dogs or those silly hamsters or sometimes even bigger animals, no matter how much they cost. I know nobody will let me keep a real animal on the station. But a synthetic pet would be nice. I’ll teach it everything. I’ll develop software for it. I don’t even need it as a present. I can pay my money for it using the catalog.”
Olga dreamily closed her eyes, imagining the little friend in her room. The nanny nodded understandingly though she didn’t share her ward’s enthusiasm, considering it as a whim that would soon bore the girl. Olga had never shown any interest in a pet before.
“Mikhail has returned from his vacation today. He’ll get in touch with us tonight. If you’re so keen to get an animal, talk it over with him. Maybe they’ll let you have it, though I see no point in this idea. Also, we must discuss some more important issues.”
* * *
“Your genetic parents, Anatoly and Yulia Voronov, have applied three times this month to the Corporation management to make a virtual appointment with you.”
Petrov had visibly lost weight during his vacation. Between that and his suntan, he looked much younger.
“Under contract with the Corporation, your parents are entitled to one appointment with you between the commissioning of the factory and your coming of age. Their request has already turned down twice. Now the issue is left to your discretion. In a year and a half, you’ll turn ten. At this age the Changed are considered adults, so this will be your last opportunity. They’ve made this request very earnestly. Think about it.”
Petrov looked worried. Olga’s parents had disturbed the normal proceedings, and disturbances were always bad.
“So their contract entitles them to certain rights? I’m more concerned about where my contract is. How much longer must I wait for it? And I want the paper version, not the digitized format. I want to see who signed it for me.”
“Nobody signed it for you. Such a contract between you and the Corporation does exist, and it will soon be submitted to you for signing. When you do you will legally complete the adoption procedure and formally become one of the Corporation’s adopted children. The contract not only confirms the legality of the adoption but is also an employment contract. Have no fear, your interests were duly taken into consideration. Independent lawyers, members of the Professional Astronauts Union, have worked on this document. We always turned to them in my time.
“You will receive, together with an officially verified version of the contract, all other documents such as a passport, birth certificate, diploma, and, most importantly, your banking details. You’re paid for each gram of the water purifier you manufacture and that has come to a sizable amount. By your eighteenth birthday, when the contract expires, you’ll be able to buy a spaceship of your own. That, and other things as well.”
“Uncle Misha, please answer the principal question. Shall I be exempt from service once the contract is null and void?”
“Yes, of course. The contract automatically becomes invalid, but you’ll be immediately offered to extend it on the best of terms. Headquarters is anxious that you should carry on the work. You know yourself how hard it is to train a new operator. So, what about your parents? What should we say to them?”
“Don’t rush me. The important thing now is to clarify two issues. First, I want to add an extra item to the contract. Arina Rodionova, the Corporation’s property and my nanny, will be emancipated on the day the contract is abrogated.”
Petrov coughed. “Olga, as I said before, you are free as soon as the agreement expires. Regarding Arina, this issue is not as simple as it seems. Nowadays a lot of restrictions apply to high-tech androids—”
“I could buy her out; I have the money. It seems a little distasteful to buy and sell like an object, but if that’s what it takes.”
“I’ll make i
nquiries, but I can’t promise anything. You must discuss this matter with the corporate lawyers. I’ll provide a communications session. What else did you want to ask?”
“Second, I need enhanced admission to the Matrix, precisely what you promised as far back as the plant commissioning. Not just half a hundred children’s sites, but a full-scale admission. First off the news and engineering sites free from censorship. After that—”
“Listen, Raven,” Arina interrupted. “Those restrictions were introduced for your own good. The Matrix is full of ugly places. They are not dangerous, just ugly. Visiting them will give you nothing but a sense of disgust for the human species. Do you need this?”
“Obey your nanny,” Petrov said. “She’s talking sense. Your request is understandable and will soon be granted. You will have complete access to the resources you ask for plus the ability to visit other areas of the Matrix permitted for underage children. But the so-called orange sectors, which are off-limits to underage individuals, will remain inaccessible for now. That’s the law, and I consider it right.”
Petrov spoke in an official tone, thinking that if Olga wanted to get into the orange sectors, she had the skills to do so easily. What was left was only hope for Raven’s prudence and Arina’s discretion.
* * *
The enhanced access to the Matrix that Olga had been seeking for so long proved to be not such a pleasant thing as she expected. Useful, no doubt, but Arina and Petrov hadn’t deceived her about its ugliness, and Olga experienced the full brunt of it.
Also, though she finally had news of life taking place below it wasn’t welcome news. At first, Olga was beside herself with anger as she learned how much information had been concealed from her. Her notions of life on Earth had been naive, even primitive. But then the anger was replaced by fatigue and indifference and Olga started to agree that there was sound reason to restrict her information.
Linked to the Matrix, the simulator was now operating in a real-time mode. It transferred Olga to the scene of principal events via millions of news sites. Now she could see with her own eyes the endless lines of the unemployed and starving, the dozen or so wars of various intensity proceeding simultaneously, the raging epidemics and rampant crime. So it went, day in and day out. The scene of each calamity was of no importance since the same developments were taking place everywhere. An alternative to this chaos were ceaseless reports about the life of the rich and famous, but they quickly became boring.
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