Terry Pratchett - The Long Earth

‘Evidently,’ Sally said, ‘she has a way of attracting lesser creatures. Maybe it’s how she lures them close enough to absorb them.’

Lobsang was in an expansive mood. ‘Magnificent, isn’t it? Do you see those dolphins? Better than a Busby Berkeley routine!’

Sally asked, ‘Who on earth is Busby Berkeley?’

Even Joshua knew the answer to that one.

Sally said, ‘If you two are going to start talking old movies again—’

Lobsang cleared his throat. ‘Did anyone experience anything unusual last night?’

Joshua and Sally shared a glance.

Sally said, ‘You raised it, Lobsang. What are you talking about?’

‘In my case there was an attempt at what I experienced as hacking. Which is quite a challenge. For the guys in the Black Corporation, trying to hack me was a sport, and most certainly kept me on my toes. Nevertheless, something made a spirited attempt last night. I believe, however, that this was done in a beneficent way. Nothing has been taken, nothing was changed, but I believe that some memory stores have been accessed, and copied.’

Sally asked, ‘Such as?’

‘Information about the trolls. About stepping. It backs up the story you were given, Joshua. But this is a very partial hypothesis. For me it is like trying to recover a memory.’

Sally said, ‘ Was it a vision, or a waking dream? ’ They stared at her, and she blushed, and snapped defiantly, ‘What? So I know Keats? Lots of people know Keats, my grandfather often recited Keats. Although he always used to spoil it by saying afterwards that he loved Keats but had never actually seen a keat.’

‘I know Keats,’ Joshua said reassuringly. ‘And so does Sister Georgina. You’ll have to meet her. I had a waking dream too. I sensed loneliness again.’

Sally admitted, ‘Me too. But in my case it was something wonderful. A kind of welcome.’

Lobsang asked, ‘Welcoming enough to make you want to jump into the water and lose your identity? We’re closing, by the way. I think she is waiting for us to catch her up, and I very much want to catch up with her .’

‘Excuse me,’ said Sally, ‘I have no intention of boarding that floating thing and becoming another souvenir in some internal zoo.’

‘Happily, Sally, I intend to be the only one setting foot on First Person Singular. Or at least this ambulant unit will be. I want to communicate with her, much more fully, before she continues her stepping journey, and persuade her to stop.’

Joshua thought that over. ‘And if she won’t turn back… Can she be stopped?’

Lobsang snapped, ‘What are you suggesting, Joshua? How would you fight her? Short of destroying each world she can inhabit — working your way back up the line with nuclear bombers—’ He sounded contemptuous. ‘You think so small, both of you. All you can perceive is threat. Maybe it’s something to do with your own biological fragility. Listen to me. She wants to learn from us. But there’s so much we can learn from her . What does she know, she who can surely perceive on scales of space and time utterly beyond the human?’ His artificial voice was flat, yet oddly full of wonder. ‘Have you heard of the participatory universe, Joshua?’

‘Participatory bullshit.’

‘Listen. Consciousness shapes reality. That’s the central message of quantum physics. We participated in the creation of the Datum, our solitary strand, our Joker world. We’ve met other minds now, the elves and the trolls, and First Person Singular. Somehow, it seems, they participated in the weaving of the Long Earth, a subtle and marvellous ensemble, a multiverse created by a community of minds, which we only now are beginning to join. This is the lesson you must take back to the Datum, Joshua. Never mind variations of geology and geography and collections of exotic animals. This is fundamental to our understanding of reality — fundamental to what we are. And if I can communicate with First Person Singular, who surely has an apprehension of the universe beyond anything we are capable of… Well, this is what I intend to discuss with our fat friend. That, and to make her aware of the threat she poses, all unconsciously.’

‘Wait a minute,’ Joshua said, thinking it through. ‘You’re going down there. You’re actually going into that thing.’

‘Since the creatures embedded in the structure appear to be entirely healthy and mobile, I don’t see this as a risk. Bearing in mind that I, and I alone, of the three of us, am dispensable, at least in the form of my ambulant unit. But I will be fully downloaded. I, Lobsang, will be fully committed to the joining.’

‘You don’t intend to come back, do you?’

‘No, Joshua. I suspect my joining with the being must be long term, if not one-way, irrevocable. Yet still I must do this.’

Joshua bristled. ‘I know you had all kinds of hidden motives for signing me up for this trip. Fine. But I signed up to achieve one objective: to bring you home safely. I was your ultimate fall-back, you said.’

‘I respect your integrity, Joshua. I release you from your contract. I will lodge an addendum in the ship’s files.’

‘That’s not good enough—’

‘It is done.’

‘Oh, don’t let’s have some kind of macho honour fest,’ Sally said cynically. ‘You have backups all over the place, Lobsang. So you’re not really at risk at all, are you?’

‘I don’t propose to tell you all my little secrets. But should I be incapacitated or lost you will find iterations of my memory in various stores, updated every millisecond. The ultimate «black box», you might say, is in the belly of the ship, armoured in an alloy that I confidently believe makes adamantium look like putty and will, I am sure, remain totally unscathed even in the event of a meteor strike of mass-extinction proportions.’

Sally laughed. ‘What would be the point of surviving a collision that scythes all life from a planet? I mean, who would there be to plug you in?’

‘There is every likelihood that in the fullness of time sapient life might once again populate the planet, and evolve to the point where it could restore me. I can wait. I’ve plenty to read.’

It seemed to Joshua that Sally was at her loveliest, if you could use such a term about Sally, when she was blowing her top. And for the very first time, Joshua suspected Lobsang was teasing Sally deliberately. Another Turing test passed, he supposed.

‘So,’ he said, ‘supposing you’re successful, and you get her to stop eating worlds. What then, Lobsang?’

‘Then, together, we will continue the search for the truth behind the universe.’

‘That sounds so inhuman,’ said Sally.

‘On the contrary, Sally, it is extremely human.’

First Person Singular was looming now. Scoop-shaped objects like fleshy antennas sprouted along her length, and small crabs were hitching a ride — as were a number of seabirds, possibly after the crabs.

‘Well,’ said Lobsang. ‘The rest is up to you. Obviously I need you to get the airship back to Datum. Get in touch with Selena Jones at transEarth. She’ll know what to do about the data stores on board, to synch the copy of myself back on the Datum — you see, Joshua, you will be taking me home, after a fashion. Give Selena my regards. I always fancied she saw me as something of a father figure, you know. Even though she is legally my guardian. Well, I am not yet twenty-one years old.’

Sally said, ‘Wait — without you the Mark Twain has no sentience. How can it take us anywhere?’

‘Details, Sally! I’ll leave that as an exercise for you. And now, if you will excuse me, I have a mysterious floating collective organism to catch. Oh, one last thing — do please take care of Shi-mi…’