The current new lesson was about the World History Institute and its foundational position in the realms of education and research across the globe. Today’s visitor was to be part of that learning process. The way Danni and Morley had described the creation of the WHI offered a fascinating glimpse into the early days of Serendipity—the time before Simon died. Lori couldn’t get enough of the stories from those times, and she could usually get the two of them going in a duet where Danni’s clarity for the big picture became intertwined with Morley’s private sense for all humanity’s silliness.
As Morley told it, back then in the late 60’s and early 70’s, Simon had simply gotten bored with running Animonics. Bored with running a massive conglomerate that dominated both early virtual reality and robotics. So, they sold everything and began quietly building Gumbo—everything except Obfuservice. Simon had warned that they should keep control of all his original patents for virtual privacy, so they did just that.
Morley had transformed briefly back to his donkey persona as he depicted the early days of their rustic outpost above the Sea of Cortez, sounding more like a stoned poet than a master of the universe.
Danni expanded and clarified, pointing out that there was elegant logic behind the sale of Animonics, logic that dovetailed with Skramble and Hyde’s mission of fighting the still raging War on Facts. Under Simon’s direction, they had folded most of the key expertise from Animonics into their newly founded World History Institute, and then donated the WHI in its entirety to the U.N. In return Skramble and Hyde was granted a one-hundred-year term, total management contract to run the WHI.
Like Gumbo, the World History Institute was just another interface powered by Serendipity. If Gumbo offered escape into your imagination, the WHI was a doorway into the mesmerizing world of three-dimensional history.
As the donkey faded away again, an old Morley reappeared and tried to have the last word on where the WHI fit within the world of Gumbo and thereby within the larger constellation of Skramble and Hyde. “Having the definitive word on the inner details of history can be both useful and amusing. Serendipity has had eighty years to chew over everything that has ever been written about mankind’s doomed and repeating machinations.”
“Assimilate Morley. Donkey’s chew, Serendipity assimilates.” Danni gave Lori her “he is hopeless” look. “As Morley was trying to hint at, overseeing cataloging, adjudicating, and indexing all of written and digitized history for the U.N. Authority has allowed us to be paid to pursue our larger purpose. That purpose will be a subject for proper discussion in the coming days, but in the meantime, we should eat our breakfast before our good friend Andrzej arrives.”
There had been increasing allusions and references to the third and final phase of her apprenticeship (learning the actual reason for Gumbo and now the World History Institute), but so far it continued to hang out there in the mists. Lori was just finishing her last bit of grilled tomato on toast when Andrzej Brodonski shimmered progressively into existence within the holoscreen and then settled himself fully formed into the chair at the far end of the table.
Losing Gravity
Lori sat quietly as she watched the silent exchange of faux fraught expressions between three old friends. The smell of the static from the holoscreen was stronger than during the histograms, with almost a visible haze to it that made Andrzej’s sudden appearance seem as if he had brought with him a strange density of air.
With his usual grin, Morley broke into the hush moments of equilibration just as Carita appeared out of the kitchen with a mug of coffee. “You have been a busy fellow, Andrzej. How were your travels? And the august meeting of master repairmen: How goes the brotherhood?”
Andrzej, in his early seventies, fit but clearly tired, began by ignoring Morley. “Thank you, Carita. It’s good to see you. Coffee is exactly what I need.” He studied Danni carefully as he answered Morley without looking at him. “Morley, when was the last time you actually travelled out into the real world, other than shambling around the hills here as a donkey?” He shifted his gaze towards Lori, and she felt as if she were being scanned. “Suffice it to say that it took me longer to travel the five miles from the Fort to our Hill Center offices than it did to go the five thousand from the Mine to the Fort. They stopped all podrone traffic for hours because of a bug in the crash avoidance web. Why the IBM insists on in-person Board meetings is beyond me. You must be Lori.”
Lori had just been noticing his old fashioned jumpsuit and the pack he had slung over the back of his chair. Gray beard stubble and longish hair made him look like a guy who might show up to repair your air handler. “Yes, that’s me. Very nice to meet you, Mr. Brodonski. Morley told me that you designed this Cabin. I have to tell you that there is something perfectly balanced about everything here.”
“Thank you very much, Lori. I do consider it our best facility. It was nice to start with a clean slate. Just a big hillside of sand and rock and unlimited funds. Simon and Danni knew exactly what they needed, and Morley here requires only modest irrigation for his precious Peruvian torches. I hope he hasn’t gotten you eating his peyote brownies yet.”
Lori looked wide-eyed at Morley who seemed to shrug, and Danni responded for her. “No, we have kept Lori pretty busy since she signed on with us, so Morley hasn’t had a chance to corrupt her yet. I haven’t even had a chance to warn her about his bad habits.”
This brought Morley to his own defense. “Hypocrite. No brownies for you today, Andrzej. Watch out for him, Lori. He is stuck permanently in four dimensions.”
“Speaking of which, is there any breakfast left, Carita?”
The woman of indeterminate age who seemed to appear and disappear during the day at just the right times smiled broadly from her stand near the kitchen entrance. She had a great affection for the Master Mechanic. “Of course, Andrzej. They told me you were coming, so I made pierogi last night. Maybe two of them and an omelet with salsa?”
Lori could see some of the fatigue lift from his face. “That would be perfect, Carita. Thanks.” Andrzej focused on Danni. “How are you doing Danni? You look weaker than last month. Are you sure you want to continue down this path? It’s not too late for the CMS team to trigger the necessary re-methylation to stop it, maybe bring you back some.”
Lori watched the look on Morley’s face while Andrzej asked the question that he apparently couldn’t ask himself. She saw the sad eyes of the donkey.
Danni’s answer came out firmer than her weak frame should have permitted. She too seemed to be speaking for Lori’s benefit, speaking of things that the three of them already knew but rarely talked about because of the discomfort. “I’m not going back, Andrzej. I’m sure you know that. I will miss seeing you all a great deal, but I’m 99% sure I know the answer to the puzzle I have been working on for almost a century. And, like so many things in life, I know that if I waited around to get to 100%, it would probably wreck the whole journey for me. Plus, who knows? Maybe I’ll get to see Simon again once gravity is finally gone.”
Morley sucked in a deep breath and exhaled with audible resignation in his nostrils. “I try to tell her that she has a better chance of seeing Simon by way of my mescaline brownies, but she has her own path.”
Which brought nodding agreement from Andrzej. “Danni, take it from one who has just made the jump from the Mine to here, even the momentary loss of gravity is scary and exhausting. Most of my days are spent fighting with gravity in one way or another and explaining to others how to factor for it, but spending one nanosecond with that fifth dimension removed is enough to make you love it.”
“In the spirit of Lori’s compliment about your design for the Cabin, I appreciate your wise warnings about gravity, Andrzej. I’m letting it take its accelerating toll on my body every day now. You boys are very sweet to worry about me, but really, don’t.” Danni looked at Lori, speaking as teacher to student. “Our men friends are over-indexed to wo
rry about both women and gravity. Andrzej must keep our several facilities cooled and standing through earthquakes and despite our ruined climate on this planet. Morley must keep his rear hooves from stumbling ahead of his front end each day as he heads down to the beach for a swim. I find myself trusting they will handle gravity, so I can continue to devote my remaining days to the question of time.” Danni cocked her head as another thought entered it. “It just occurred to me that probably one of the reasons I chose you to continue with the puzzle was that you were the only woman in that small group of students who obtained a proof and made it into the Gumbo internship.”
For a moment, they all sat there drinking their coffees and thinking. Lori couldn’t stand it any longer. “Would someone please tell me what the god damn puzzle is?”
Her words hung in the air waiting for a passing breeze, which of course turned out to be Morley who lifted and levered to his feet while saying to Danni, “No time like the present, Danni. Time for the final histogram lessons.” To Lori, he added, “There are two parts left: the history part, which I call ‘a day at the beach,’ and the puzzle part, which Danni generally refers to as ‘the end.’”
He headed towards the hallway, speaking now to no one in particular. “I’m going to hit the loo and then grab some brownies. I recommend them, Lori. This last histogram is long and winding, so a bit of magic cactus will help you stay with us as we relive a few long-past days.” His voice was fading as he headed away from them and down the hall, but Lori caught some last words of context. “We will be visiting with some long-dead friends, so we may cry as well.”
An hour later, they all four sat on three sides of the conference-dining table facing the office’s holospace. Danni was talking softly while Morley opened a vacuum box and removed a dense looking brown slab of sheet cake, placing it on a large plate while the smell of chocolate filled the air. The slab was scored into precise squares, and he took a knife to them, separating one line into four individual squares.
“As a rule, I would recommend you only eat Morley’s cooking on holidays, but in this case I actually agree with him.” Danni chided them like a mother. “Now just a light touch for her and me, Morley.”
He looked up from his carving and asked Lori, “What do you weigh Lori, if you don’t mind me asking?”
With a slight discomfort, she said, “About 135 pounds.”
Gazing carefully at Danni, he asked, “What are you down to now? About 105?”
“Close enough.”
Andrzej just said, “I’m having whatever you are having.”
Morley proceeded to shave an apparently scientifically calibrated slice off two of the squares, handing them to Lori and Danni on little plates he had gotten from Carita. He slid a full square across the table to Andrzej and took one for himself. Lori looked with ill-concealed fear at hers, but Danni gave her courage by taking a tremored bite and saying, “I’m sure you know that donkeys are wiser than they look.”
She chewed with closed eyes and exaggerated pleasure, then added, “They know to use every possible lens in order to see as much as possible, and they stay calm and uncommitted because they know there will always be another reality around every corner.”
“Cheers, Danni.” Morley finished his and picked up the crumbs with a licked finger to his mouth. “That’s why we donkeys continue to abide in the scrubbiest hills of every livable continent, Lori, unchanged even after all these years of supposedly accelerated evolution by humans and their favorite meat animals and pets. Slow, steady, and unconvinced, that’s my mantra.”
Lori closed her eyes and bit into the brownie. Chocolaty and sticky, with just a hint of bitterness below the surface. For some reason, she remembered the dead mouse she had seen back in her kitchen. It seemed two years ago, not two weeks. She pictured her livespace, which made her think of her grandmother and her many little Christian rituals, most of which she had tried to explain to Lori when she was very young. Breaking up the brownie squares around the table seemed like a ritual.
“This must be what communion is like, Morley—sharing a prescribed snack in order to orient us all towards a holy teaching and experience. I never would have thought of you as a donkey priest or whatever.” Lori had already learned to enjoy the sport of ribbing Morley from Danni.
Morley and Andrzej both laughed, and Morley put on his most operatic face, drawing his bent frame up to set his gaze above even Andrzej’s. “Donkey priest one day, donkey devil the next. You will soon see that the world view of the donkey pretty well defines the opposite of religion.” Twinkle of eye and arms outstretched, he said, “Ye shall trust no complicated story nor rely on any given hierarchy, as they shall all be fucking rearranged tomorrow.”
Andrzej spoke for all of them, shaking his head while Lori wrinkled her brow and arched an eyebrow. “Deep, Morley. Now start the damn histogram so this poor girl can hear our sad story and find out what Danni wants her to be puzzling about.”
The Question Remains the Same
“Do you think we should do the history first or the puzzle first?” Morley was asking Danni and Andrzej.
The windows out to the south and east showed small whitecaps coming across the bay and lapping into what stubble was left of the abandoned village at the south end. The windows to the west framed the desert valley below and the rising cactus studded hillside running up above and beyond. Lori knew it was a well-guarded private world with defenses hidden miles out from the Cabin, but she wondered now how Skramble and Hyde managed to stay unscathed in the brutal world of power and control that was being haltingly revealed to her through Danni’s coaching and Morley’s histograms. She had gradually accepted a world whose citizenry could barely sense, and never actually saw, the tides and currents of real politics. Managers and workers alike, even those like her that worked in the guts of major state or crypto bureaucracies—no one knew enough to even think to care. It mostly worked somehow, so they just let it be.
Already Lori felt comfortable and enervated here. The remoteness and solitude suited her, while the daily interactions with the two of them were stimulating and unpredictable in the extreme. She was learning more than she knew existed, and now Andrzej and the World History Institute would be added to the mix. Lori also knew that the beautiful view out the windows was about to disappear, to be superseded as another histogram took over the bridge. This should finally surface the puzzle that had driven Danni for so many years and was now to be abandoned to Lori by her death. Lori felt the textured mix of patterns and randomness like a breath on her neck.
Sure enough, moments later, a peach-colored haze began to organize itself within the holospace, coalescing out beyond the end of the long table and centered directly in front of Lori and the captain’s chair.
“I think we should start with a look at the structure behind the puzzle, and then proceed to the historical context. Then we can return to the puzzle itself. Maybe the two of you can even keep your sarcastic commentary to yourselves until the end. This is confusing enough for a first timer as it is.” Danni waited for agreement.
Andrzej was ready to get going. “Sounds good to me. It will certainly be useful for her to get a glimpse of Serendipity’s full-blown time-agnostic interface. Might even help her understand some of the crazy shit that happened.” He was now shaved and showered, looking relaxed as he spoke from Lori’s right side. “I came in about halfway along the trail you are about to jog down, Lori, so we will both be relying on Morley’s knack for creating these little passion plays. Danni usually catches any gross overuse of editorial license.”
Morley, sitting just beyond Andrzej on Lori’s right, was his boyish morning self. “Right then. Let me just make a few adjustments to the streams. Everyone has another fifteen minutes to look out at our wonderful hideaway. Danni, I imagine you want to take Serendipity out to universal maximum to start with?”
“Yes, please. Current time.”
Lori gazed through the peachy mist and out to the bay. Everything felt proper, as Morley would say. “Would anyone like any more coffee or tea? I’m going to get another cup.”
Morley raised his hand as he studied his dash while the others declined, and, as she returned from the kitchen a few minutes later, Lori remembered the brownie she had eaten. The peach cloud that still hovered seemed to be taking on more definition, almost as if it had a life of its own. The story teller. She filed that observation away and sat quietly with the others until Morley spoke again.
“That should do it then, everyone ready?”
Without further warning the peach cloud expanded rapidly outward until it was more of a numinous veil that hung before Lori’s eyes no matter which direction she looked. At the center of the shrouded space a construct appeared, which, to Lori’s trained eye, had clearly been generated by Serendipity.
She studied the swirl of variegated nodes suspended before them, all shapes, sizes, and colors. They hung independent of one another with no connecting linkages. It was somehow intently familiar yet wholly alien at the same time. Looking carefully at the larger nodes, Lori could see that they seemed to be translucently colored spheres and each contained its own internal world of nodes. She felt a sense of nesting dolls and Christmas tree ornaments, even though she had never experienced either of those archaic things in her lifetime.
Lori heard herself say, “What is this?”
Danni softly replied, “That is Serendipity’s momentary rendering of all there is in the universe.” She let that sink in for a moment and then continued, speaking with a tranquility beyond even her normal poise. “You know very well how Serendipity renders the results of a typical query, defined by a specific timeframe and a known set of prime actors. So, start with that vision of her typical graphical display.” She waited for Lori to acknowledge this starting point. “Now, imagine limiting the timeframe to a single nanosecond while expanding the search to include everything within the human understanding of the universe, from every estimate of the number of rabbits on Earth, to every map of the number of galaxies found.”
Macronome Page 5