Tony Ballantyne - Recursion

Constantine shook his head. It really hadn’t occurred to him to see things from Jay’s point of view. He had been too busy feeling sorry for himself.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Jay waved a hand at him and stared down at the floor. She shuddered.

“Ah, why am I blaming you? You didn’t choose to come in here. I did.”

Silence descended. Jay shook her head gently. Constantine wondered if she was crying.

– It could all be a trick, of course, said Red.

– Shut up, Red, Blue said.

– I don’t think it’s a trick, said White.-Something’s happening. This room is not maintaining its integrity. I see it when we move around. Parallax. Things aren’t quite where they should be. Something is draining system resources.

– So what’s the point of saying anything? Blue asked.-As soon as DIANA gets proof that we’re in here, we’ll be wiped anyway.

Constantine nodded. The idea had already occurred to him. He opened his mouth to say something, but White interrupted.

– Something big has just happened. Get ready to move.

Constantine opened his mouth to ask what, then he saw it for himself. For a moment the room flattened, became two dimensional. Jay became a picture, pasted to the wall. The bed, the writing desk, the view from the windows, were all just a flatscreen picture.

Jay was moving, standing up, the robe slipping to the floor.

“What was that?” she asked.

Normality began to reassert itself. Her body separated from the wall. Looking down, Constantine saw his feet, regained his illusion of depth.

“I don’t know…”

Marion and Mary were in the room; the balcony window had been pushed open.

“Quickly,” called Marion, “this way.”

They brushed briskly past, heading for the door that led to the bathroom. Barely two days ago Constantine had showered there and attempted to rid himself of a headache. Now he was running for his virtual life.

“DIANA almost got a handle on you there,” explained Mary. “We had to relocate this room within the simulation.”

Constantine wanted her to explain more, but Marion had pushed open the door to the bathroom and he saw what she meant.

Through the door he could see another place. He saw the dark emptiness of a field, the night sky pressing down from above. They were looking out across the first level of Stonebreak. At the edge of the horizon was visible the first pale line of the approaching dawn.

Constantine wondered if he would live to see it.

Now they were making their way through the farmlands of the first level, wading through muddy fields, stumbling into ditches, pushing their way through hedges. Behind them rose the dark mass of the city proper.

Mary was gasping for breath. “Too tired. Too tired. Stop…can’t keep it up.”

Constantine was tired too, his breath heaving. Marion was talking into her console.

“Okay,” she said. She called out to the group.

“Over here. They’ve prepared an area for us.”

– Why do we have to keep moving? complained Red.

“Keep us moving, stop us thinking,” gasped Constantine out loud. He wanted them to hear what he said. Let them know he was onto them.

“Not true,” said Marion. “Don’t you realize the danger we’re all in? Come on. This way…”

They ran into a cornfield: genetically modified corn, standing taller than they were. They pushed on through the damp plants, tangled strings of vegetable matter clinging to their faces and bodies. On and on, pushing and pushing, lost in a maze of stalks. Just when they thought it would never end, they emerged into a clearing. They all fell panting to the ground.

“Okay,” Marion gasped, “we should be as safe here as anywhere else.”

Jay was biting her lip. Trembling. Hesitantly, Constantine put his arm around her. Wordlessly, she pressed closer. It felt nice. Constantine felt guilty.

“What now?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” said Marion. She was looking at Jay thoughtfully. “We just wait and see.”

The sun was rising. The heads of the surrounding corn were silhouetted against it. So he had lived to see the dawn. Now would he make midday?

They sat on prickly stubble in a cleared area, corn tickling their legs and bottoms, damp broken stalks caught in their hair and clothes. Constantine was holding Jay; the others were almost touching. Huddling for safety. No one had spoken for some time. They all looked at each other. Wondering. What was happening outside? Marion was watching Jay like a hawk. Why Jay? Why was she in here?

Constantine tried to distract her. He asked Mary the question that had been bothering him since he had first discovered where he was.

“I never understood, why were you in the simulation?”

Mary looked up at him and shot him a tired smile.

“Trying to get you to look at things from another perspective. You look at Stonebreak and you see it in terms of money flowing in and money flowing out. I was trying to get you to see the human cost.”

“But why?”

Mary and Marion glanced at each other. Marion spoke first.

“Because we think you are on the wrong side. We want you to join us.”

“What? Join 113 Berliner Sibelius?”

They laughed shrilly. The sudden release from the tension they had all been living under had made them slightly hysterical. Eventually they regained control. Mary spoke next.

“Oh, Constantine. You’re still thinking in terms of money. This isn’t about you being an employee of DIANA and us being employed by 113 Berliner Sibelius. Our loyalties go far deeper.”

“To who? Who are you working for?”

Mary laughed. “Me, Marion, all of 113 Berliner Sibelius. We’re working for the AIs.”

Constantine sneered. “Aren’t we all?”

“DIANA isn’t, but DIANA is practically alone. DIANA still thinks in human terms, Constantine. Humans plan five or ten or twenty years ahead. They’re using up the last of the oil now and leaving their children the problem of what to do when it’s all gone. AIs don’t think like that. They’ll still be here tomorrow to deal with the mess they make today.”

Constantine was scornful. “DIANA is run by AIs just like every other corporation. It wouldn’t be able to survive otherwise. Why should DIANA be any different than 113 Berliner Sibelius?”

Marion spoke in a low voice. “Because DIANA set up the Mars project. Only DIANA has tried to fight the Watcher.”

Constantine laughed. “Oh, come on. No one even knows for sure if the Watcher exists. It’s a very attractive story, true. My grandmother used to go on about it all the time-”

“Of course the Watcher exists,” said Marion, sounding tired. “We’ve known that for years.”

Constantine was stunned.

– It’s true, said Grey.

“What? But…but…why wasn’t I told?”

Marion looked at him.

“That question wasn’t addressed to me, was it? Well, I’ll answer it anyway. Everything about this war you are fighting is a secret. Look at you: a ghost. Did you honestly expect to be told everything? The Watcher has been in contact with every major corporation on Earth since 2068.”

“Just before Stonebreak was begun,” said Jay.

“And since then DIANA has been fighting its last war.”

“Its last war? Over what?”

“Over who controls human destiny.”

Constantine said nothing; it was obvious that Marion had scored a telling point. Jay stared at him. “Is this right?” she asked. Constantine looked at Marion as he answered.

“In a way. It’s what the Mars project is all about.”

Jay turned to Marion. They were all just dark shapes in the clearing, their whispers cutting through the damp air. Jay’s frustration was evident in her voice.