Labyrinth of reflections lor-1

by Sergei Lukyanenko

  – Lenia, exit! Don’t torture yourself!

  Yeah, right… keep waiting.

  I’m of a different clay.

  – Take care guys! – shouts Wiz behind. He must have leaned out of the window.

  – ‘Guys’! – whispers Vika with indignation, – All you males are same!

  – Vickie, and a thousand and a half kisses for you! – goes on Wiz.

  I’m glad now that he’s so talkative. I still have a hundred meters ahead to cover.

  I look to the left – Unfortunate’s face is absolutely calm, he looks down in the chasm below with a joyful childlike curiosity. That’s whom I had to let to put the slippers on.

  I have no idea why did Vika be so modest praising Siegsgord, her space is not any worse, maybe even more real.

  The pine tree branches sweep me across the face, the violet colored cone flows past my eyes. As strange as it might seem, I now believe that those exist.

  I’m spiraling around the pine tree descending lower and lower. The cliff with a small hut perched on it was left on the opposite side of the canyon, Wiz is not in the window anymore.

  – Lenia.. – whispers Vika when it’s still a meter and a half left to the ground and unclenches her hands. Shouldn’t have done that: she lands fine while me and Unfortunate are in a worse position, I tumble down to my left side, the slippers beat the air convulsively, unable to hold us.

  A small pile.

  Isn’t it too many falls for one day, especially in the Chinese suit with its weak limitations for hit strength?

  I shake off the slippers that hang in the air before me and stand up gulping for air greedily and rubbing the bruised side. Unfortunate moans and squats.

  Vika looks at us with confusion.

  – Was it painful, guys?

  – No, everything is just great! – I growl helping Unfortunate to stand up. The dense green canopy is above and the slope in some five meters away. The water rumble muffles the rustling of needles under the feet. It’s so good to be on the solid ground again!

  – Lenia…

  – Passed that, – I cut off. I can understand what is a height fright after all, couldn’t pass Al-Kabar’s bridge in the Deep myself. We’re out of the brothel, and this is the most important thing. We’re not in the space attacked by Man Without Face’s people. The mountains created by Vika for her ‘own consumption’ surround us, the mountains where never was a single human. The space within a space, a secret world that lives according to its own laws, and the hut on the slope is the only door into it…

  The thick orange-black fire strikes from the hut’s window, the log walls instantly start burning in a hot quick fire. Wiz said we’ll see, and he was right, it’s difficult not to notice how the file bomb works. The only exit into the normal Deep is burning before us.

  – I hope you’re there… Man Without Face, – I say.

  – What did he promise you for Unfortunate? – asks Vika.

  I squint my eyes at the failed trade subject and confess, – The Medal of Complete Licence.

  – What?

  – You what, have never heard about it? It’s the one Dibenko got for the creation of the Deep, the right for any actions in the virtual world.

  Vika smiles.

  – It’s more than money, – I say, – an absolution of any sins…

  – They swindled you, Lenia.

  – Why?

  – Lenia, the Medal of Complete License is unique only because it exists in one single copy. Any other created copy is considered a fake automatically and is destroyed. I know that, I… knew a guy who tried to make a copy.

  The funniest thing is that I’m not surprised for even a little bit. I wink to Unfortunate and say:

  – You really must be a very important guy… if even Dimka Dibenko is ready to sacrifice his main treasure for your hide…

  Unfortunate shakes his head:

  – No, I’m even more important.

  Part 4. The Deep

  0

  From the food thrown by Vika through the window, only the glass jar of jam and the paper pack of crackers have survived, as if in mockery of the physics laws. The rest of the stuff slipped in the gap or was broken against the boulders. In my opinion, it made no sense to store any food but we picked up the jar anyway.

  Maybe it’s an inertia of consciousness, the panicked greed of mind that sees wild nature around.

  – Do you have any plan? – I ask Vika.

  – Why me? It was your idea to flee through the window, – she objects reasonably.

  – We didn’t have choice.

  – We did. You’re diver after all.

  I nod at Unfortunate.

  – And who is he?

  Vika have grown tired of this question during a single last hour. We sit down on a soft grass, in the tree shade. A white smoke still whirls above the remains of the hut.

  We silently watch Unfortunate who wanders over the slope, touches pine trees, picks up some needles and pebbles from the ground. The city dweller who have found himself in the wild for the first time, an If castle dungeons’ prisoner who was able to escape.

  – Leonid, I must have been speaking too emotionally about computer mind… – starts Vika, – So – he is a human. An ordinary human who takes you in.

  – He is in the Deep for three days.

  – Stimulants, or he’s a diver too.

  – His comm channel can’t be traced.

  – A well hidden one.

  – Two big companies and Dibenko are after him.

  – It’s enough stupid people in the world.

  Okkam’s blade is a wonderful thing, it cuts all mystic off clean, together with meat.

  – Vika, you’re psychologist… are there any tests for telling people?

  She laughs quietly.

  – Sure not. These were never needed yet.

  – I’ve seen a method to check in some sci-fi book…

  – Do you really think that some scheme invented by a writer while drinking a cup of coffee would work?

  – We should try at least, – I’m holding my ground, – There are institutes that study artificial intelligence problems after all. They must have something worked out. There are fans who invent abstract tests… for the future. I’ll exit the Deep and will browse the Internet a little.

  – And how are you going to return? There’s no entrance into this space anymore. – Vika laughs bitterly, – I think it’s lost at all, forever. A closed system, it will live in the computer by itself.

  – A good hacker will be able to break a passage.

  – It would be a different world then. The mountains will resist until the end, if somebody breaks in here, they’ll lose their freedom.

  I understand her very well but I hate such a prudent pessimism.

  – You’ll draw the new ones.

  Vika doesn’t feel hurt.

  – Next time I’ll draw the sea. The sea, the sky and islands.

  – … And don’t forget an emergency exit.

  – Spaces live according to their own laws… – Vika stands up. – There might be an exit, Lenia. When these mountains were built, the program was searching for other landscapes, on all open servers. It was stealing pieces from there… – she smiles in confusion, – And it had left some loopholes, a tiny ones. If we manage to find one of those, we’ll be able to exit.

  – This sounds better already.

  As a very last resort I have ‘Warlock’, but it’s too risky to use it: the enemies would notice the trace of the virus.

  – We must get out of here, – decides Vika, – We have 5 more hours until the dusk. If the attackers manage to restore the hut, it’d be better to be as far from it as possible.

  1

  We stop only when the sun disappears in the paling of the mountains and the orange sheen in the clouds fades. We managed to walk some 10 kilometers, and this is much, very much. As for the night – only suicidal people wander in the mountains at night.

  The la
st quarter hour we spend gathering brushwood. Fortunately, it’s plenty of it around, we’re on the border between the forest and the Alpine meadows. Together with Unfortunate we drag in the small pine tree fallen of the wind and I tear the small branches from it, scratching my hands, then arrange them in a cone pile.

  – That’s enough, boys, – decides Vika. She lights a cigarette and makes a fire quickly and with experience.

  The supper is very symbolical – raspberry jam and dry crackers. Unfortunate doesn’t care at all: he chews with an appetite of electrical mincer. I can’t down a single piece, I wish I could have a big chunk of fried meat with hot sauce and green peas, with a couple of bottles of cold beer. And all this is so close! One just have to exit the Deep, reenter, come to “Old Hacker” or “Three Piglets”…

  Me and Vika glance at each other without an agreement.

  I’m not sure whether she dreams of pork with beer or of trout with white wine, but not of a cookies with jam for sure.

  – Tastes good, Unfortunate? – inquires Vika.

  – Um-hm.

  – What do you eat usually?

  – Nasty things…

  Her patience ends instantly.

  – Now hon, listen to me…

  Unfortunate pulls his hand back from crackers and looks at Vika questionably. We are on one side from the fire, he’s on the other. Opposition.

  – We’ve got a problem, – starts Vika, – And this problem is you. Maybe you don’t understand the situation we have now completely… well, I’ll try to define it then. Correct me please if I make any mistake, okay?

  Unfortunate nods. When you press somebody, it’s very important to give him an opportunity to object… or at least to pretend to.

  – You were in “Labyrinth” and couldn’t exit by yourself, right? Leonid have spent tons of time and money to save you and he did that, right?

  Not quite – “Labyrinth” paid for my work initially… but I stay silent and Unfortunate nods obediently.

  – Lenia rescued you and brought you to my place. A reward was awaiting him, a very big one if he would hand you over but he didn’t do that. As a result, he’s wanted as a criminal, he’s searched for across all the Net. Right? Then my Institution was ruined completely in an attempt to seize you. It’s not that difficult to restore the programs but “Amusements”’ reputation is lost forever. Now I’ll have to start everything from scratch.

  – I’m really sorry… – says Unfortunate quietly, – I…. I didn’t mean to bring so many troubles for you.

  – Wait. We’re still on the run. If you haven’t got that already, I’ll explain to you: there’s no ordinary way to exit this space. Exits might exist but nobody knows whether we’ll be able to find them in foreseeable future or not. Me and Lenia are divers, we can leave this place at any moment but we won’t be able to return here, ever, and you’ll stay alone here. Maybe forever. That’s the situation we have… from moral and ethical point of view.

  – I’m so sorry, – repeats Unfortunate.

  – Let’s talk about you now? It is you who is the reason for everything that have happened after all.

  Unfortunate shrinks but stays silent.

  – You’re either human or a creature of the machine mind. The latter is doubtful though. If you’re human, then you obviously can enter and exit the Deep by yourself. Like divers, or even cooler. Right? Otherwise you wouldn’t look so fresh during your fourth day in virtuality. Would you like to argue with that?

  Silence.

  – Come on man, I certainly assume such possibility, – says Vika, – After all, a kilo and a half of brains is much bigger mystery than a gram of silicon in a chip. I can imagine someone who managed to enter virtuality without helmets, modems, deep program… And I even imagine his joy… and some shock from this event. Why not to play the fool a little, why not to envelope himself in a mystery? Everything is quite explainable. But try to understand, it’s not a joke anymore – you make us suffer, you make the conflict harder and harder to resolve with each minute. Try to understand, we can’t tinker with you forever!

  – I… I’m tired… just tired… – Unfortunate looks at me as if seeking support.

  No way.

  – And the last thing – how we can resolve this situation, – enunciates Vika, – It’s ridiculous to proceed this way, lead-time of the conflict wouldn’t do us any good. If you don’t want to uncover yourself or don’t trust us or don’t want to spoil such a beautiful legend – just tell us and we’ll leave. Then the newbies will tell tales of The One Lost In The Deep… If you consider us trustworthy, explain who you are and why you started all this. You have two ways out, it’s not that little.

  She falls silent and I take and shake her hand gently. I never have enough cool to lead the situation to such clarity, to the ‘either-or’ state.

  – I… – Unfortunate stops and looks at the fire. Brushwood scratches softly, sparks jump into the dark sky, – It’s my fault. I’m tired, tired of silence… I shouldn’t have done that…

  – What are you talking about? – asks Vika, maybe in a bit too sharp tone. But Unfortunate is confused and demoralized now.

  – Too quiet, – he mumbles, – It’s impossible to comprehend beforehand, never. All sounds became dead, all colors faded. Seconds – like centuries. Billions of centuries. I was warned but I didn’t want to believe.

  He swallows some air and stretches his hand towards the fire. The flame touches his fingers.

  – Neither pain nor joy, nothing. A Great Silence. Everywhere. Eternal Void. And the Void doesn’t have any borders… I couldn’t resist.

  His hand pats the flame tenderly.

  – I can’t explain you anything. Leave.

  I glance at Vika – now she’ll get him… but there’s only a reflection of fire in her eyes, black night and red flames. The Silence Unfortunate was talking about have touched her too, just as me last time.

  I rise and pull Unfortunate from the fire. Auto-suggestion is a powerful thing: having burned in virtuality one can expect real blisters. I make him to squat by the stream and put his hand into cold water.

  – Alrite, – I decide. – We’ll sleep now. Just sleep instead of taking each other in. Me and Vika will surface keeping connection, we need to eat normally. As for you… do whatever. In the morning you’ll decide what you want after all.

  Unfortunate silently splashes his hand in cold water.

  I return to Vika, she is okay again but all her passion have dissipated.

  – Are you pliable to hypnosis? – I inquire. Vika snorts scornfully: it’s just a rhetorical question, there’s no hypnosis pliable among divers. If we manage to overcome the drug of the deep program, it’s impossible to get us with words.

  – My point exactly, – I say, – We all can play the fool, but what about dunking an interlocutor into Silence?

  – I’m tired too, – whispers Vika, – You know, one more hour and I’ll talk such riddles that even Unfortunate will be envious…

  – We’ll go to sleep now. Then we’ll surface without breaking connection, to have a snack. Do you have any food at home?

  – Sure.

  – Excellent. Eat and get a nap. We’ll come back in the morning and will decide everything.

  We do exactly that. I make Unfortunate to help me, together we get three big piles of fur-grove and set them near the fire. The bed turns out to be so comfortable that I hardly overcome the idea to neglect the supper.

  Abyss-abyss, I’m not yours…

  The eyelids were so heavy, I hardly managed to part them. The fire was dancing on the screens, fur-grove was rustling in headphones – Vika was tossing and turning making herself comfortable.

  – Lenia, are you interrupting the immersion? – asked Windows-Home.

  – No.

  I took the helmet off and looked at the watch.

  Late evening. Not that late though to make it uncomfortable to visit the neighbors. Beer can wait a little.

  Having
unplugged the suit, I calmed down the panicking computer and looked at myself in the mirror.

  A clown, with a plug on a belt. Should we scare old ladies a little?

  Tights were lying in the laundry wash-basin. I picked ‘em up and pulled on over the virtual suit, rolled the wire and stuck it under the belt, covering it with jacket. Not too bad, a normal guy, just a bit swollen one.

  A guitar was ringing in the stairwell quietly. I peeked into the peephole and opened the door.

  A company of youth was perched on the patch between the floors, one of them sang quietly torturing the strings:

  – Oh the lonesome bird, you’re flying high…

  Seeing me, the teens seemed confused for some reason, just the neighbor from the apartment above asked quickly:

  – Lenia, do you have something to smoke?

  I shook my head and noticed that the guy squints at the tights distended on my side, just in the size of a cigarette pack. Hardly could he guess that some people live with plugs by their belts…

  I rang to the neighboring apartment, waited for shuffling steps and suspicious “Who is there?”. The old woman doesn’t trust the peephole or her own eyes.

  – Lyudmila Borisovna, excuse me for God’s sake… – I said into the door, – May I please make a call from you? My phone is broken.

  After a minute of hesitation the ancient locks started to rattle. I squeezed into the narrow opening and the door shut close immediately.

  – The youth sits again? – inquired Lyudmila Borisovna. The old lady is 70+ old and doesn’t risk to argue with young punks.

  – Yeah.

  – Why wouldn’t at least you tell them, Lenia! No rest whatsoever!

  No sounds from the staircase can be heard here, the granny has the powerful door but I don’t argue:

  – Sure I’ll tell them.

  – And what’s wrong with your phone, huh? Didn’t pay in time, got disconnected?

  I nod obediently, admiring her acumen.

  – You like to chat too much, don’t you? – growls the old lady. We had a parallel number some time ago { two phones connected to one number }, but obviously it was impossible to live like this anymore. I paid for the number split and also subsidized the granny – a parallel phone was a bit cheaper for her. I think she decided I’m an idiot. But our relations greatly improved since.