“So? Are you really saying we should go back?” Alison laughed nastily.
Eva took a deep breath and forced herself to speak calmly. “Yes. There’s obviously nothing for us here. No food or water. We can’t stay here.”
“Of course we can,” Alison said derisively. She shook her head and turned away, stamping down the road a little, kicking stones before her as she did so. She took a deep breath, kicked another stone so hard that it bounced from the scrubby walls of the cutting, and then suddenly turned and walked quickly back up to Eva. She wore a nasty smile.
“You haven’t figured it out, have you?”
“Figured what out?” Eva felt a shiver of fear. She could guess.
Alison laughed.
“Katie has. She’s not stupid. Are you, Katie?”
“No,” Katie muttered.
“No. I never thought you were, either, Eva. Don’t you realize? You’ve been tricked. All that nonsense with me tossing the coin and none of you ever thinking to check which way it was really landing. I’ve been leading you here all along. The Watcher wants to meet you.”
She laughed again, and her voice echoed from the walls of the cutting, reverberating up into the sky to be lost in the late afternoon hills. Alison resumed her march back down the road toward the invitingly open gates.
After a moment’s hesitation, Katie began to follow.
After another moment, Eva did too.
There was nowhere else to go.
constantine 4: 2119
Constantine walked into the hotel lobby,
the green bottle containing the message gripped tightly in his hand.
A blue-suited receptionist met him as he crossed the floor toward the elevators, a company smile on her lips.
“Your guest is waiting for you in the Uluru Bar, Mr. D’Roza.”
His guest? Constantine hid his surprise.
“Thank you,” he said.
“And would you like me to dispose of your bottle, sir?”
The receptionist took the bottle from him. Constantine watched as she carried it off and dropped it in a bin behind the reception desk.
—It’s all a simulation, remember, said White.—There is nothing back there, behind the desk. The object will have been destroyed. Its resources restored to the heap. Now that the message has left the simulation, it will have some way of getting into the outside world.
—Fascinating, said Blue sarcastically.—Now, who do you think is waiting for us in the Uluru Bar?
—I’ve no idea. Have you got any suggestions, or are you just going to be sarcastic?
—No. Sorry.
There was a dark pause.
—I don’t like this. It’s not part of the script.
They rode the external elevator to the Uluru Bar, a dark glass-and-steel corner of the hotel where it was nearly impossible to tell what was real and what was a reflection. Booths and open seating areas were formed out of cuboids arranged at random orientations to each other, making navigation of the bar difficult without a waiter. Constantine was led to a table that seemingly hovered over nothing. Only the faint reflection of its steel legs in the glass floor indicated that he was not experiencing another fault in the simulation. The woman already seated there was hidden by shadow: the bar had been designed with just such an effect in mind.
Now she leaned forward. “Hello, Constantine.”
“Hello, Marion,” he replied. “Should you be here?”
—Be very, very careful, said a voice.
It was Grey. Constantine felt a little shiver of apprehension.
—This is it.
Marion smiled worriedly. She leaned closer and the strain was evident in her face.
“Oh, Constantine, I don’t know. We’re so close to the end, and I’m so worried. Tomorrow’s meeting is the last. We have to make the decision then.”
A waiter appeared, hovering a discreet distance away.
“Scotch,” said Constantine. “An Islay malt, if you have it.”
The waiter nodded and withdrew. Constantine looked sternly at Marion.
“I know, Marion. We’re all feeling the strain.”
“No one more than us, Constantine. The pair of us have been ghosts for the past two years. Does anyone else really understand how we feel?”
A picture of Mary, her dirty green suit trailing cotton from its skirt, sprang into Constantine’s mind. He dismissed it.
“I doubt it,” he said politely. “Look, Marion, it’s not safe for us to be seen together like this.”
Marion picked up her glass and took a sip. Constantine got the impression it wasn’t her first drink that night.
“We left in such a hurry today. So many things weren’t discussed. We’ll be going into tomorrow’s meeting with so much still unknown.”
“That can’t be helped.”
“Are you sure, Constantine? There could be an opportunity now to discuss things. Maybe tonight.” She smiled. “Who would suspect? Two people seen together earlier today, they meet in a bar later on. A woman and an…an attractive man, may I say?”
The waiter placed a cut crystal tumbler before Constantine and smoothly withdrew. The golden liquid inside seemed to light up by itself, casting a pattern of brilliant amber shards onto the table.
Constantine took a sip from the glass and bowed his head. He was stuck for words.
—Tell her you’re flattered, but that all matters must be discussed by the quorum. That was what it was set up for. Blue was shouting the words in frustration at Constantine’s hesitancy.
Constantine repeated what Blue had said.
Marion looked a little downcast. She took another sip, then reached out and touched Constantine’s sleeve.
—Are they for real? asked Red, incredulously.—They’re trying to seduce you?
“Okay,” she said. “Maybe no decisions can be made tonight. But that doesn’t stop us discussing things.”
Marion wore a blue silk evening dress. Her red hair was done up in a French plait. Constantine found her attractive on some abstract level. Whoever had set this up certainly knew how to play on his feelings…. Maybe if he hadn’t felt so distracted he would be more open to seduction. Constantine loved his wife, but it had been two years now…
Blue was shouting in frustration.—Tell her you’d love to discuss things with her. Tell her that she looks stunning in that dress, or that you like her hair, or, or that her perfume smells nice. Anything! Just change the subject.
Grey spoke. He sounded cool, almost emotionless.
—Blue’s right. The more she now has to work at it, the more she will have to make obvious what she wants to know.
Constantine coughed. “Yes. Why don’t we talk? That dress really suits you, by the way.”
“Thank you.” Marion lowered her eyes for a moment. “I bought it here in Stonebreak. It’s so rare I get the chance to dress up for someone. I miss it.”
Constantine sipped at his whisky. It tasted convincingly smoky and peaty. Once again, he marveled at the depth of the virtual reality in which he was trapped.
“You must have visited quite a few places over the past two years,” said Marion.
“Haven’t we all?”
—Good answer, said Red.
Marion laughed a little.
“Tell me about it. Go on, Constantine, tell me. Where’s the best place you’ve been?”
He shrugged. Blue had an answer.
—Does it matter? One hotel is pretty much like another nowadays.
Constantine repeated Blue’s words.
Marion laughed again. “That’s so true.” She leaned forward with a serious expression. “But come on. There must have been some benefits. I mean, you must have made it off planet? You must have been to Mars?”
Constantine took another sip of whisky to conceal his reaction. He didn’t need Grey to warn him that this was a significant question. He affected a careless shrug.
—Tell her yes, said Grey carefully.
—And point out that she’s been there too, added Blue.—Ask her how
she
felt about being there.
Constantine did so. Marion shrugged and tilted her head to one side.
“Oh, amazed. The place is so modern and yet so ancient at the same time. Have you noticed the shape of the factories? They belong to a different age. You can feel it.”
Constantine nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean.”
Marion eagerly took up her theme. “It’s incredible to look out over a landscape that hasn’t been touched in any way by AIs. Preserving that place was the best decision humans ever made. It’s like nowhere on Earth. It makes you think, doesn’t it? Do you ever get the feeling that we’re relying on AIs too much?”
—All the time, said Grey.
—It’s safe enough to say that, added Blue.—It’s the paranoia of our times.
“All the time,” said Constantine.
Marion nodded. “And it goes deeper than you might think. People are losing faith in the human ability to think. Children are growing up believing that if it isn’t an AI construct, it isn’t worth having. Worse, they assume that human minds can’t equal the achievements of the AIs. I mean, for heaven’s sake, it was humans who invented the wheel, and the sailing ship and the fugue and, and—”
“—and the warp drive.” Constantine smiled. “Or so Gillian says, anyway.”
—Nice distraction, Red applauded.
Marion laughed. She had a pretty smile that lit up her whole face, tiny wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes. Constantine found himself smiling back at her. The moment stretched…and then her face fell.
“But didn’t it make you think?” She picked up her glass and turned it around in her hands. “Didn’t it make you want to just take a piece of that place and bring it back with you? To show to people, to say, ‘Look, this is what we humans did, all by ourselves’?”
—That’s it, said Grey.—That’s what they’re trying to discover.
Constantine sat back in his chair. Beneath his feet were a few centimeters of glass, the only thing between him and several hundred meters of empty space. At that moment he felt as if he were perched on the edge of a precipice both literally and figuratively. He drained the rest of his whisky.
“Well, Marion. I did bring something back. Surely you know that?”
—What? said Blue.—What are you playing at?
—No, he’s right, said Red.—They must have figured it out for themselves. What harm does it do us if they know, anyway?
Marion’s eyes fluttered nervously. “Of course, of course. I just meant, well, you’d want to, wouldn’t you? Take a little souvenir, I mean.”
Constantine waved his glass in her direction.
“Uh-huh. Look, I need another drink. What about you?”
“Better not. Another brandy and I won’t be responsible for my actions.” An uncertain smile spread across her face. “Then again, why not? I’m sure I can trust you, can’t I?”
—This is so corny! complained Blue.
Constantine signaled to the waiter for the same again. Marion slumped back in her chair while he gazed out across the first and second levels of Stonebreak, out toward the dark ribbons of cloud stretching between the moon and the distant horizon. The waiter placed their drinks on the table and withdrew. Marion picked up her glass and took a sip. She leaned forward with her elbows on the table, her hands supporting her head, fingers buried in her hair, and gave Constantine a big smile.
“This is amazing, isn’t it? I’m with a man who has held a piece of the old world in his hands. What was it like?”
Constantine needed no exhortation to speak. It had been a key moment in his life. He longed to share it with someone. He sat back, his eyes taking on a dreamy expression.
“Strange. Exhilarating. Frightening. It was the moment we had been leading up to for a year, it is the moment that everything we have done since then has depended upon.”
“But it worked? You got it back to Earth.”
And that was it. Constantine felt a little catch in his voice as he spoke. He hoped she wouldn’t notice it.
“I did what I was supposed to do,” he said.
—She doesn’t know what it is. They don’t know where we took it! Got them at last! Blue was practically singing with delight.
“How did you conceal it, when you took it off planet?”
“I didn’t. I kept it in full view. They thought it was a museum exhibit. I suppose it was, really.”
“And then you took it to Frankfurt.”
“Come on, Marion. I don’t think we should discuss this anymore. We will have enough time for that tomorrow. Let’s wait until we’re quorate.”
Marion gave a shrug.
“Spoilsport. Are you always so firm with women?”
—Did she really just say what I thought she just said? said Blue in disbelief.
Constantine looked at his watch.
“After nine. We have an early start tomorrow. Maybe we should get to bed.”
Marion smiled knowingly. “Is that an invitation?”
Constantine grinned back. “You want to be careful. You could get a married man into trouble.” He laughed. After a moment’s hesitation, Marion joined in.
Constantine drained his glass and rose to his feet.
“Well, I’m off. Good night, Marion.”
He leaned across and gave her a peck on the cheek, then turned and walked from the bar.
A clamor of voices arose in his head.
—Well done! That was excellent! Blue was delighted with Constantine’s performance.
—It was good, said Red, though he sounded distracted.—Still, why pull that now? Why not just wait until the meeting tomorrow?
—Maybe they were worried things wouldn’t get decided? said Blue.
—Maybe. But I wonder. Maybe something else is happening out there. Maybe DIANA is moving in on them. Getting ready to free us.
—Maybe maybe maybe, said Blue.—What do you think, Grey?
No one expected Grey to answer. They were surprised when he did.
—I don’t know. I am seriously concerned. Now that we know what they are trying to find out, I think we may have been premature in trying to get a message out to DIANA. I hope that we will not come to regret our earlier request to Jay.
Marion came into Constantine’s room that night. He woke to find her standing at the foot of his bed, something in her hand, an odd smile on her face.
“Marion,” said Constantine. “How did you get in here?”
She held up the item in her hand. It was the same bottle Jay had given him earlier that evening.
“No, thank you, Marion. I’ve had enough to drink.” He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He wondered if his other personalities were sleeping.