The Mendelssohnian Theory: Action Adventure, Sci-Fi, Apocalyptic ,Y/A (22 page)

A red oily substance flooded Adam’s eye-screens, clouding his
vision. “My father?” he asked with a restrained voice.

“He too, was the chosen one, the Chi, the last base,
according to our erroneous calculations,” the voice explained. “That was a
mistake, and I think your parents have paid dearly for it.”

“What do you mean?” Adam whispered, his throat constricted
and a powerful pain hammered in his head.

“I was the one who’d caused their death,” the voice directly
explained, “according to the paradigm, that had proven to be incorrect, your
father was the end of the chain and not you. I thought the leaders of your
world should be informed. I was wrong. Twice. My first error was mistaking the
potential and choosing him and not you, the second was that I thought I was
helping him and the leaders of humanity by presenting him to them. But your
leadership wasn’t ready, and that’s why both he and your mother were murdered.
Following that I’ve ‘kept a low profile’ as you humans say. The last thing I’ve
done was to help you escape from them.”

“You’ve killed my parents?”

“I’ve caused their deaths, yes,” answered the voice and
through the veil of his pain Adam felt the responsibility intertwined with her
answer. Once more, he felt the pain of grieving for his parents and anger about
the voice that’d admitted her responsibility for their death. He used his brain
implant to focus his thoughts and not allow his emotions to divert him from his
objective.

“You’re telling me that, and still expect me to help you?”
asked Adam, “have you lost your mind?”

“I’m not familiar with the expression,” the voice answered,
“but I can only assume it means you won’t help us.”

“You can be sure of that,” Adam determined.

“I can make you agree,” the voice regained her composure,
“you can probably imagine what I’m capable of. Look where I’ve brought you.”

Adam smiled forcibly. It was Dmitry Bialystok who’d taught
him the art of negotiation. Now the cat was out the bag and the mind locking
stage had begun; a stage that will be completed only when one of the sides
stumbles or releases its hold. This was just what he’d been waiting for.
“You’re not threatening me by any chance, are you?” he asked, making use of the
acting skills he’d acquired with Jewel and when the voice did not reply, added:
“Look, I could’ve told you you’re the one who needs me, that you can’t really
threaten me because I’m essential to your plans and not the other way around.
The failure, should I refuse, will be yours and so will the responsibility. I
could have told you to go look for someone else and wait for you to blink and
make a better offer, for me and mainly for humankind, which is, according to
what you tell me, under my responsibility. But I know you won’t threaten me for
two reasons: one because it’s an unsafe bet. The risk of failure is too high
even in your precise terms,” Adam knew he was gambling here, big time. He also
realized he had no other choice. He wasn’t holding the reins in the current
situation, so he was ‘bluffing’ just as Dmitry Bialystok had taught him to.
“The second reason you won’t threaten me is because you’re afraid of something.
No, let me correct myself, you’re not afraid, you’re terrified. You’re all
terrified, that’s why you need us, right?”

The silence that settled once he’d finished was painful. Adam
felt completely drained but straightened his gaze at the light facing him.

“I was warned that human beings have developed the ability to
negotiate with others,” answered the voice, “and actually, this is one of the
qualities we’ve been seeking with you.”

“I don’t know how to negotiate,” answered Adam, “I know
what’s important to me and insist on it.”

“You’re right,” the voice said after another moment of
silence, “we’re afraid. Someone or something is threatening our existence and
at the moment, the odds are against us. We are being slaughtered and have no
idea by whom. Based on our statistical calculations, the chances of survival
are small and unrealistic.”

“And we’re supposed to be the bait that will lure it into the
trap, right?”

“Yes,” the voice answered, “but more than that. You’re
supposed to provide us with the answer as well.”

“This still doesn’t explain to me why we shouldn’t take the
leap the first chance we’ll get?” asked Adam and once more there was hesitation
in the voice’s answer. “Would you like to answer me, or should I simply
disconnect contact?”

“No,” the voice cried out. “Don’t disconnect. You’ve
progressed too slowly and independently, not according to the curve of your
subspecies’ developmental paradigm. You’re still not ready for the leap, and
I’m afraid you won’t survive. Just like the cycle that came before you, the
Kner-Odin, they were the closest to providing an answer to the question, and
they have failed as well.”

“Kner-Odin?” Adam had never heard the term.

“They existed on Earth before humankind,” answered the voice,
“actually, they’re the reason you’re here. They passed into time-consciousness
long before their planned maturation and left you with enough time to develop
on the fourth cycle. We couldn’t find the answer with them, just like with the
species that came before them, the Gner-Rahut’, and the first species on Earth
– the ‘Makiuna’. The Kner-Odin possessed… they still possess highly developed
aesthetic sensibilities. They’ve discovered the correct patterns for an
awareness leap in the field of aesthetics, in the same way you seek it in the
field of science and technology. But none of these species have reached the
stage you’re in now.”

“Sounds like I’m playing a simulation game on the web,” Adam
mentioned. His head began to ache, probably from the amount of information he’d
been exposed to.

“This is definitely not a game, Adam,” the voice warned,
“each selection you’ll make will have far-reaching consequences.”

Adam was silent for a moment, then hissed angrily: “You’re
not telling me the entire truth again. On the contrary. In spite of what you’ve
told me earlier, I think we’re advancing extremely fast. Perhaps too fast. A
woman from Earth claimed that the Great War had taken place two or three days
before its estimated time, according to your schedule, and now I suspect you’ve
played a part in this war. You’ve ‘helped’ us there as well, haven’t you?”

“We had no choice,” the voice said with a hint of an apology
in her voice, “you were still not ready for the extremity of the change related
with the leap.”

“Really?” Adam was being sarcastic, “you can’t be certain of
that.”

“This is what the probability calculation of the human
paradigm has shown,” said the voice.

“Probability is not everything,” said Adam, “look where your
probability has led you. Even if there’s a slight chance for a different
outcome than the one your estimations are showing you, it still needs to be
taken into account. Besides, if we won’t manage to take the leap to your level
of consciousness in any event, then why are you so eager to prevent it from
as?”

“Because you’re the answer,” the voice answered, “you have
the potential to identify the evil that’s been trying to annihilate us and find
a way to overcome it. You still have a sense of imagination. You still know how
to tell the story. When we gave up irrationalism, we’ve left behind the ability
to imagine as well. We can’t picture to ourselves, in terms of time and space,
who is opposing us and we believe there’s a high level of probability that you
will.”

“We, the lab-rats you’ve been conducting your experiments
on?” Adam was furious, “how many planets like the Earth have you created and
how many species have you abandoned because they didn’t have the answer?”

“Quite a few,” the voice admitted, “but in return, they’ve
made the consciousness level leap and joined us, at least the ones that had
potential. You’ve also raised cows and chickens for consumption. If you didn’t
make use of them, they wouldn’t have existed.”

“All right,” Adam bit like a snake, “guess what? These cows
are stopping their milk production this very instant; now get me back to
Earth.”

“And you won’t help us?” asked the voice, fearfully.

“You still haven’t told me everything,” he realized she was
desperate and wasn’t willing to give up. The tables were turned, and now he was
the one in control. The struggle between creature and his creator had never
been on terms as equal as these. “Before you’ll tell me the real reason why
you’re afraid we’ll take the leap, the answer is, and will continue to be, no!”

“Look,” the voice said, and now she wasn’t trying to conceal
the fact she was terrified, “I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you everything.”

“I think you have no choice.” Suddenly, Adam realized
something else, “something went wrong, didn’t it?”

“That’s right,” the voice unwillingly admitted, “I can tell
you exactly what went wrong, but I can’t predict the consequences it will have
on your development. We’re afraid that if you take the leap, you won’t forego
your aggressive world-conquering ambitions, ambitions you’ve blatantly
exhibited throughout the history of the human race. You have an unpredictable
element in your DNA, apparently because you’re the fourth and unplanned cycle.
We’ve managed to identify the recalcitrant gene, but we are unable to remove it
without damaging the all the probability chains we’ve created. You told me
earlier you’ve heard you weren’t our first choice. Well, I must admit I
preferred the Kner–Odin. I thought they’ll be the answer and was disappointed
when they weren’t. Even in your time cycle, I initially chose one of the other
subspecies because it was more stable but less eager to develop. However, the
moment you broke through, I accepted reality, and now I’m extremely concerned
for you, and mainly fear the fate of the guardians of intelligence among you.
The external foreign element scares us, but if a threat were to come from your
midst as well, we’d need to handle two hostile elements, which will decrease
our chances by more than half.”

“Finally, the truth comes to light,” said Adam, “I think you
are not judging us correctly. We’re survivors. We will always find a way to
break through any equation, and we’ll always continue to live and develop.”

“And you’re the best example,” the voice mumbled in
agreement. “So you won’t help us?” she added, and concern snuck into her voice
once more.

“What will happen to the Earth if and when we leave it?”
asked Adam, “and what will be the fate of all the other animal species?”

“I think they’ll manage much better without their number one
predator,” answered the creator, “the entire ecological system will continue to
operate on its own. They will, of course, need to adjust to the new conditions,
and the continuation of the extreme climate changes on the planet, but overall,
the animals will continue to live on the planet until it expires, about five
hundred Earth years from now. Of course, there’s an additional issue.”

“What issue?” Adam didn’t understand.

“In earthly terms that have no control over the dimension,”
she explained, “even before the time of your planet’s expiry, unless we’d
manage to stop it, the great evil will consume all the super-intelligences and
with them, all the other intelligences. We really need your help.” She sounded
desperate to Adam, and the realization that the one who’d created him and his
world was helpless felt very uncomfortable. The thought, the one that had
earlier evaporated from his mind and whose absence had bothered him, returned
to him all at once. He thought he knew who that great evil was, or perhaps what
that supervillain is, but he was still unwilling to share his realizations with
the voice. He was angry about the fact both he and humankind were used as game
tools and was unwilling to give up his independence. ‘You may have created us,’
he said voicelessly, ‘and your power is immeasurably stronger than ours, but
now the tables have turned and you’re the ones who need us. I’d like to see you
sweat a little.’ Then he thought of something else. “If thanks to our brain
implant we’ll be able to make the leap,” he turned to the voice again, “what
will happen to the ones whose implants have not yet fully developed?”

“You mean the children?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll take care of them, we’ll guide them through all the
stages. The moment the planet will finish its role, there’s nothing to prevent
us from interfering with its functioning. Once the developmental process is
finished, no new statistical map is created for the planet, and it’s free to
write its own history.”

“You will guide them?” asked Adam with more than a hint of
sarcasm. The voice retained its dignity and refused to be dragged into an
argument.

“In any event,” she continued to explain, “as I’ve said
earlier and as your friend Joseph have discovered long ago, based on the charts
of tectonic plate movements on Earth, the planet’s expiry will take place only
five hundred Earth years from now. The great evil will reach your area long
before that.”

The knowledge struck Adam like thunder: ‘She’s familiar with
Joseph and his research as well. Does Joseph know her?’ “My friends, where are
they?” he asked.

“They’ve managed to escape. Elizabeth’s people picked them up
in an aircraft you call ‘ground hovercraft.’ Actually, they’re waiting for your
return.”

The answer calmed Adam, and he felt his thoughts were
becoming clear again. “Let’s do this,” he announced following another moment of
mutual silence, “get me back to Earth and get the assassin and the corporation
chasing me off my back. I have no intention of dying anytime soon, and if I may
use your way of describing reality, unless he stops chasing me, the chances
I’ll find my death are not insignificant. Unless you can tell me, even with a
hint, what the completion of my chain involves, at least direct me to someone
who can help me find out what it is. Once I find the answer, we’ll conduct
another conversation, and I’ll give you my final decision. This is my best
offer, take it or forget about ever getting my help.”