Tony Ballantyne - Recursion

“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.