Vladimir Orlov - Danilov the Violist

"I'll bet the mermaids are different now, too?"

"They are," New Margarit said.

And here Danilov asked New Margarit a question that he should not have asked:

"But what's the point? Not just in this case, but in general?"

"Danilov, really!" New Margarit merely spread his hands in dismay. It would have been appropriate for him to chase Danilov out of his blue sphere.

But New Margarit said nothing.

"Well," New Margarit said seriously, "we were having one conversation. And now it is turned into another... All right...

"Is there any point to our efforts? Say, on Earth? Yes? Here's what I'll tell you. There is little point to our efforts. Of course, we have made great strides, significant ones, but ... we are not really slowing down the course of human civilization."

"Who is, then?" Danilov demanded. Actually, he knew the answer!

"Humans themselves," New Margarit said. "And you know that."

"Yes, I have made some observations," Danilov agreed.

"That's why I answered your question. I would have been afraid to confuse anyone else's mind. But I know who you are."

"Who am I?" Danilov asked warily.

"Really, Danilov, this is too much."

"No, who am I?" Danilov said with a touch of injury in his voice.

"Danilov, I know... In any case, you're not a demon. Let's drop it. You asked me about the point... So. Man himself is the most energetic in advancing the course of his civilization. And man himself is far more successful than anyone else -- us in particular -- at hindering that course."

"Perhaps that is as it should be?"

"You see, in certain civilizations we actually were on our toes and really shook up things. But man ... he's a creature apart... he is uncontrollable. Alas. He has self-reliance. He is imaginative and creative."

"And what is your solution?"

"I won't answer that... But I will say this. If we only created ferment, enraged Earthlings, if we merely hindered them, led them into delusions and violence, if we had only similar concerns in other civilizations, we ourselves would be insignificant. We'd be servants of Faust. But that's boring. It's humiliating, finally. No, something exists in us that is ours alone, inner-directed, independent of other systems of civilizations. And that gives the existence of the Nine Layers its own lofty meaning... There has to be one..."

"Do you know what it is?" Danilov asked.

"I can guess," said New Margarit. "But not all are given that knowledge."

"But there is the Big Revelation," Danilov said, seemingly amazed by New Margarit's words. "To see everything through and through and along the diagonal. The past, the present, and the future. To sense eternity. We were taught that in the lyceum. What do we need science for if we already know everything? What do we need doctrines for?"

"You," New Margarit said wearily, "were never known for your brains."

"That's true," Danilov agreed readily.

"That's why I liked you. Even though sometimes you were merely pretending to be naive and a fool... you're doing it now... you have your own ideas. What of the Big Revelation! What of sensing eternity! What of seeing everything through and through! What of these magical powers compared to human capabilities!"

"Is it attainable -- the truth? Is it necessary?"

"I don't know ... But for the sake of what do I deny? And for the sake of what do I cognize? My reason is not satisfied. And it torments me. It makes me think. Lofty thoughts. The kind to which the arguers in the corridor cannot aspire. The Big Revelation, since it is given to me just like that and for no known reason, elicits doubts in me, as a rational creature. Are they pulling my leg? Sometimes it seems they are. But maybe they're not. That is my misfortune. And that is my delight. You are not a thinker: You shun the Big Revelation and the sense of eternity -- they would only interfere with your life. And everything of ours is alien to you. Don't argue. But I can't reject or accept them just like that. I must know the truth."

"Then it is attainable? Is it necessary?"

"I don't know! I don't ... As for the majority of the research in the Fifth Layer, you probably realized that it is primarily for practical use. Sometimes without any higher goal. But it must proceed from current doctrine. Why? Because it must be so. If it must, then it must..."

"But you said that you were interested even in the arguments in the halls, pseudoscientific though they be."

"I am!" New Margarit said. "They interest me! I'm still active; I like intrigues, games. Truly, very few things bore me yet. And even if I do not agree with certain things and ideas, I get involved with them, and they become mine... But I still get sick of it sometimes... Why do I bother? Where am I going? ... Why are we here?"

"I'm afraid I can't soothe your doubts," Danilov said.

New Margarit looked at him in silence for a long time. Then he said: "Too bad. I would have listened to you. If only because you are put together differently than we are."

"Who do you take me for?"

"I know who."

"You are in error," Danilov said just in case.

"Well," said New Margarit with a sigh, "maybe I am. But even so, I do not regret speaking out; it brought me relief. And you are a good conversationalist. You hear me out today, and tomorrow you are gone."

"Just like Karmadon!" thought Danilov.

"And I will forget all this," New Margarit said. "And though doubts will not visit me often, I am incapable of mutiny."

"Listen, where does the big bull come from? Is he part of the Nine Layers, or is the Nine Layers part of him?"

"Don't even think about the big bull," New Margarit said severely.

"You mean it's a secret? You mean the Big Revelation is not fully revealing?"

"Let's drop it." New Margarit looked grim. "Don't make it worse for yourself."

They were silent for a while. "What did he expect from me?" thought Danilov. When New Margarit spoke of his doubts, he clearly looked to him with hope, as if Danilov would say or do something so extraordinary. What did he take Danilov for? It would be all right, if he took him for a human. But it probably was for something more than just a human. Danilov even felt sad that he could not help New Margarit.

They spoke some more. Danilov asked about the work of the labs and workshops. New Margarit told him how they polished monsters now. Danilov recalled the artificial intellects and asked if they worked well. It turned out that most of them were gathering dust in warehouses.

"He must be relaxed about me now," Danilov thought. "He's not expecting anything from me anymore."

"Do you know why they summoned me?"

"I do," New Margarit said with a nod.

"And how do you find my situation?"

"Hopeless ... if you are who you pretend to be."

And New Margarit looked at Danilov significantly, as if he expected an important confession.

"I'm not pretending to be anyone," Danilov said angrily. He got up. New Margarit got up. He even made a move toward Danilov, as if he wanted to embrace his old pal. But he didn't embrace him, he merely slapped him on the back.

"Well, go," he said, "and conquer your pride."

Danilov's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Pride? I thought pride was always considered a virtue in the Nine Layers. One that I lacked."

"You don't know yourself very well. Anyway, so long."

"So long," Danilov said.

And he left the blue sphere.

40

"He knew that I wanted to ask him something," thought Danilov as he lay on his hotel bed. "But maybe just seeing me and talking seriously to me was a good deed on his part? Whom does he want to see in me? What does he suspect? I came as a petitioner, but it seemed that he had an interest in my visit. He sought something from me, he hoped for something, he even expected that I was capable of supporting him. Maybe he expected me to understand his inner self, expected sympathy from me, needed it? Or maybe he simply wanted to show himself that he was still a liberal and not afraid to wander about on conversational thin ice even with a condemned man?"