by A I Zlato
“Your trust honors me... and I did not think of calculating it myself, but of launching an algorithm via with my terminal. Send me the necessary data.”
“OK. I will send it through... Oh, shit! I really have to input all of that manually?”
“No. Ask your Machine to store information in the exchange directory A-12/R. It is an indirect communication file between the Tower and us.”
“Done.”
Baley stared anxiously at the screen, waiting for the answer.
“Meanwhile, I want to talk to you about something else. In the children’s writings, I found one sentence, ‘We must break the circles. The Equilibrium is the beginning and the end; there is no longer a middle.’ And when I went to the Tower this morning, I met a Servant, who uttered a similar sentence.”
“A Servant? I’m sure this is irrelevant.”
Paul’s face had changed color twice. He was hiding something; that was certain.
“Have you been in contact with a Servant, or do you have information that I don’t have?”
“I don’t see what you’re talking about,” said Paul.
“You’re lying. I know, and you know that I know.”
Baley wanted to dig more about this topic when the terminal indicated that a result was found. An algorithm was determined, making it possible to predict the next occurrence of the cyclone.
“Unbelievable,” she said. “And how to be sure that the result is valid?”
“You wanted a lead? Here it is. Use it as you see fit.”
The displayed result indicated that the next cyclone would appear the following day at 10:11 a.m. in a park north of the city. 30 children would be involved...
“I’ll use it to act,” she said.
“How? Another form of persecution?”
“I merely exercised supervision the last time!”
“And how did you determine the list of children? With tact and gentleness?”
“I will act as seems necessary to me!!”
“You mean as you please.”
“If you take it like that... yes! And it’s a problem for you?”
“I don’t think you’re looking for my approval, are you? Your methods are... you know what I think. Do not make me regret even more having helped you. Please, get out.”
She almost argued that she had not forced him, but she preferred to abstain. Without taking time to say goodbye, she rushed outside and transmitted a priority order to all special agents responsible for supervising children. They had orders to stop any child approaching within half a mile of the park, and it was up to them to find an excuse. She would spend the night at the scene, with video, thermal, infrared, ultraviolet and weather devices... everything you could think of. She was going to record this cyclone by every angle, to find the creature that Paul had seen, and to kick its ass! It was time to put a stop to all of this so she could resume a normal life, handling investigations lasting a few days at most, cultivating complicity with her husband, having quarrels with her daughter... her life.
At the back of her mind, the shadow zone moved. To hell with this black hole and these counterproductive ideas! She had an investigation to solve.
Every creation by a human being carries with it a measure of humanity.
The Machine is nothing but the numerical result of a sum of fears.
Lessons from Chaacetime
CHAPTER 54
INTERSPACE (LEVEL 2)
Its last conversation with the kandron had made her become decisive. Aenea was committed to contacting a Level 4 gateway. She knew she had no choice if she wanted to alter Space E. She had to learn, and only a G4 could help. A G4 would see nodes as spaces, and would shrink its mind to talk to entities such as Aenea. Disturbing entities so much... but it was vital. Aenea could no longer see her node disturbed, and all she had done so far did not prove fruitful.
Cae was exhausted, scattered in the twitching space-time current. The former no longer had the strength to make itself visible; to materialize in the form of the octagon with topaz color that Aenea loved. The calorn disintegrated gradually under the repeated shock of temporary nodes. They appeared more frequently and were maintained longer each time... and Aenea saw through the calorn this third space... this nothingness still had a name... Or maybe she had dreamt? How could that nothing have a name? Aenea was not sure of anything. Space E... did the name evoke its source or its purpose? It was the last letter of the word... If she had not imagined it, to cling to something tangible, to name nothingness to try to understand... yes, that was possible. Apart from her speculations on the name or the non-existence of the name of that space, Aenea could only see the emptiness and the increasing cold that pervaded with each appearance. The Gateway also saw helplessly how the calorn declined day by day without a complaint. The barriers defining the contours of their world were nothing but a dough barely thicker than the currents themselves. They were spread to the middle of the node where Aenea was curled up, her body continuously tense so as not to cross unintentionally thee limits of spaces that were now so blurred. Each threatened to collide with each other. One would only need a spark — a small insignificant event — to cut the space-time and to trigger...
Drops of ocean already crossed the porous wall. Aenea avoided them as much as possible, but when these drops touched her, salt would burn her skin. At the point of contact, the inverse transformation toward her human body resumed. Beor felt Aenea’s pain and lamented that it was unable to contain its ocean. How could Beor? It also was very tired. It put all its energy into maintaining the barrier between its space and the node. It should not have had to do that. Cae should have been controlling the node, but it could no longer do so. Beor then took over as much as possible in its Space, but it was not a calorn. It could not generate the node, simply hold its ocean... Gradually, as this wall displayed more holes, Beor needed more and more energy. And drops of salt water glistened in the Interspace... things could not be otherwise.
Wind blasts from the Unique Forest also reached this dying world. Deo acted as much as possible, but could one retain air? The phalomera exhausted itself through the task. Moreover, it absorbed the rising anxiety of the city, and now the rage of despair of some locals. The forest was no longer a haven of peace radiating tranquility. At the bottom of the trees, from roots to leaves, emotions in their raw state circulated and exhausted Deo from within.
With three weakened companions, Aenea was also less strong... She had to act, and do so quickly.
The G4... she gathered the node in her mind. She asked Cae to focus on a point, despite its weakness. The Gateway begged Beor and Deo to focus more on their respective spaces as much as possible in order to release the node. During her discussion, she could not afford to be disturbed by a droplet on her skin or a caress of the wind. The poor mempheragog dedicated all its energy in this task, and the number of drops decreased. The phalomera did the same, holding wind in its branches. Aenea took a deep breath.
Everything was ready, and yet she hesitated. She decided to observe her spaces before launching her appeal in order to have the most comprehensive view possible of the situation; to feel good... and especially to delay the deadline. She had never initiated such a request. She listened to the space-time current as well as information conveyed, and sometimes deposited there a question. The waves were broadcasting, according to their own assessment, the questions of some and the statements of others. A call — a direct contact — was something else. Aenea, despite her resolution and her rage to save her world, postponed her request to a later time. Cae released its focus and diluted itself again in this fading Interspace. It did not even discuss Aenea’s decision or rather, her non-decision — too tired for that. The calorn would merely spread itself in the space-time, undergoing waves of time as painful experiences. Aenea stretched her mind to her friend but found no comforting thought to send to the latter, only a little of that energy that was so badly lacking. Beor and Deo reduced their attention. Then a saltwater net emerged
in the Interspace, and streamed a moment, grazed by wind, in another time but in the same place. Although Beor merely took its place without saying a word, Deo, nonetheless, issued a mild protest, sending Aenea the recollection of the discussion with the kandron. She had to alter the space that generated temporary nodes... she had to prevent the future that kandrons had seen... and if she were to contact a G4, she had to do so immediately. Aenea replied that she wanted to observe her two spaces first. Deo implored Aenea, but the latter did not give in. It remained stuck on its own idea. The phalomera did not share her choice... Was it still a consequence of temporary nodes? Aenea never had a difference of perspective with Deo, Beor or Cae... They were, together, part of the same body... How could Deo have a dissenting opinion? The question was not about which viewpoint was right or wrong; that was not important; however, this discrepancy made Aenea suffer beyond words.
The Gateway extended her fingers toward Space H., and while doing so, watched the human hand which the ocean had given her. Since her memories were more easily accessible to her, staring at parts of her transformed body brought her intrusive thoughts. She sometimes thought that the answer to the problem of the temporary nodes was in her past life... as if an insignificant choice made thousands of years earlier could result in a disaster that was now announced. That was insane. Yet when her human memory overwhelmed her, Aenea could not break away from that idea.
The Gateway slipped her hand into the time magma that separated her limply from Space H. Quite recently, the barrier was a soft but firm touch... Her spirit merged with the sap in the trees. She listened to the city and its inhabitants. She listened to the grief, confusion and especially the anger that emanated. Children were dying — more and more — and nothing and no one seemed able to stop the phenomenon. Things were getting worse, not surprisingly, from this side of the forest.
Aenea also saw Iris, the girl whom Deo had pushed toward the hybrid for reasons known only to Deo. Through the trees, Aenea saw, out of the forest, a strange light in her eyes. She was fundamentally different. She was no longer the simultaneously rebellious teenager and sweet daughter full of raw emotions that sprang from her permanently. There was in her blood something cold and metallic. The phalomera showed Aenea what had happened; how Iris had inherited Mossa’s memories. Aenea then asked in a whisper if Deo had wanted this transfer; if that was its goal when it had pushed Iris toward the hybrid. It did not answer. Then Aenea reached into Deo’s memory against the latter’s will. Deo thought that Iris could learn how Mossa had landed there... see his journey through his eyes... but it had not imagined things would go that way. It simply thought Mossa would eventually confide. It was both worried and sorry for Iris. Aenea looked at her for a moment, and sensed in her a dumb rage stemming from her new brain. Hybrid thoughts in an organic body... the same memory for two people... it was impossible to predict the consequences.
Aenea then observed this hybrid defector from Space O. He toiled a lot on the shuttle project, taking part, it seemed, in its construction. What was his true motive? Now Aenea was seeing the shadow of the digital entity behind him. He was not a mere aberration in the framework of space-time; he was a pawn in the events. It was time for Aenea to learn more about this entity, and she could not turn to the machines for help.
The kandron had said that Servants could reach the digital entity, which was not the Machine, and counter it. Aenea had to get in touch with them. They had so far been able to conceal their true nature from her, staying in the shadows. As they came out of their hideouts by intervening in the city, perhaps they would agree to talk to her. They could teach her more about this artificial thing that was growing. She extended her fingers, looking for a very thin digital frame. If the nine had decided to remain invisible, she would find nothing. She examined the frame nonetheless. The Gateway walked away from both the city and the lake, where humans were concentrated, and from the forest, where she was. She was looking for a secluded place offering shelter that could withstand the passage of time, say, for thousands of years. Snowy, hostile and distant mountains fitted this description. Indeed, she guessed something. A lightweight, digital data net appeared before Aenea. She felt this was a deliberate act, and that if Servants had tried to hide it, they would have had no trouble doing so. Instead, the light digital tape sought her touch. Aenea let the connection be established.
“You were Helen, weren’t you?” she heard and was surprised.
“How do you know that?”
“We’ve already met. You can remember now.”
Without difficulty, Aenea accessed her human memory. The kandron had told her that Servants were the guardians... Thomas... her husband. Memories came back and rose, overwhelming Aenea. Working on the concept of Space, she had been aware of the teams creating the Machine. She had discovered that Thomas secretly belonged to one team. They no longer had any reason to hold secrets from one another to their great relief. In the evening, quietly, for fear of eavesdropping, they told each other the progress of their work. Although Thomas had been enthusiastic at first, he had sensed a flaw in the principle of Equilibrium that nobody other than he wanted to see. Like Helen, who conceptualized spaces better than anyone else, Thomas saw beyond mere survival. For him, the full completion of the Equilibrium was stagnation. If the Equilibrium was a good thing, the Permanent Equilibrium was a guaranteed decline. In theory, the Machine was programmed only for the Equilibrium, but Thomas saw the Permanent Equilibrium as a possible Pandora’s Box. A permanent non-evolution meant death, even though the concept was the cornerstone of their hopes. The Equilibrium was everyone’s dream, but not his own, at least not completely. They had a long discussion about what to do. Helen, full of that human pride, was convinced that her spaces, stemming from her design, could withstand everything. She was already thinking more in the way of travel to the Interspace rather than the concerns of her husband, but she had listened. And the memory of their discussions forced itself upon her brain, thanks to the contact with the Servant.
Unable to do anything to stop the majority, Thomas had written many hidden messages, like bottles thrown into the sea, hoping that future generations would find them, and especially understand them. He also created, in the greatest secrecy, the guardians — immortal robots which would safeguard his beliefs and would defend them when the time came. There were also the laws of the Machine as well as the higher instructions... but that memory remained in limbo.
“You are Thomas’s representatives. You are interfering because the Equilibrium is expanding, as he had predicted.”
“He planned this risk, yes. He gave us instructions to counter abuses; however, he did not anticipate the emergence of another digital entity.”
“Even he could not imagine the worst...”
“This is different from his vision of the future, yes, but he also planned for it.”
“How?”
“Our programming is scalable. Auto-learner.”
“So the entity...”
“Our goal is to fight against the Permanent Equilibrium.”
“And kandrons have seen that future...”
“We know nothing of this.”
Aenea knew, though. Kandrons came from that future and were doing their best for it not to happen.
“Will you succeed?” she asked.
“We will succeed, or we will be destroyed.”
“Can I help you?”
“According to 5th Hexa, yes. The Heptagon shares its opinion.”
Aenea remembered the kandron telling her that Servants’ actions had not been sufficient in the past. It had said it would prefer its solution this time...
“What is the connection with Space E. ... the temporary nodes which threaten the very existence of spaces?”
“We do not have access to those places.”
Yet that was part of the problem...
“Helen, we told you all we could say. Remember your human past... Thomas thought you might need it.”
“How? He... he
had planned...”
“When he had not seen you back... then he knew.”
In Aenea, the love she had for Thomas flowed... such an old feeling... He knew. He had known it before her, and he had let her do things her way. He had kept doing things his way... “You’ve been dead for a thousand years, Thomas, yet I still love you. Your guardians are here; they are complying with your instructions. You were right, my love; you were right... the others and I... we got carried away by our own concepts, which are now sweeping us...”
She stared at the Servant, whose features were identical to those of Thomas’s brother, and thanked him. She withdrew thoughtfully into her node.
Guardians... Thomas had created them... for each of the spaces... Pillars... in Space O.!
Aenea mentally slipped into the ocean and searched for that other group of guardians. She identified them quickly, thanks to her previous experience. On a rocky peak, continually smashed by the waves encircling them, they were there. Protected by the ocean, they were inaccessible and invisible. They also recognized Aenea. The person who spoke to Aenea resembled the Gateway so much. The person looked like Aenea, as she was when she met Thomas. He had made the guardians in the image of his loved ones, as if he wanted the latter a semblance of immortality. Their responses were almost identical. They were working against the Permanent Equilibrium, which was looming, for they also had a digital entity that grew in their space.
She then understood why Thomas’s robots had failed in the future that kandrons had seen. Her husband had imagined many things; he even expected that he could not foresee everything, and thus created a self-learning programming for his robots... but he had not thought that the mishap on the Equilibrium could appear simultaneously in two spaces... and maybe in all of them? The coercive force generated was unimaginable... Space E.
Aenea was not alone in her fight, but managing the nothingness of Space E. remained only within her jurisdiction. She quickly scanned the rest of Space O. Beor showed her the hybrids, who lost their humanity. The situation was also developing there as expected... unfortunately.