“You haven’t figured it out, have you?”
“Figured what out?” Eva felt a shiver of fear. She could guess.
Alison laughed.
“Katie has. She’s not stupid. Are you, Katie?”
“No,” Katie muttered.
“No. I never thought you were, either, Eva. Don’t you realize? You’ve been tricked. All that nonsense with me tossing the coin and none of you ever thinking to check which way it was really landing. I’ve been leading you here all along. The Watcher wants to meet you.”
She laughed again, and her voice echoed from the walls of the cutting, reverberating up into the sky to be lost in the late afternoon hills. Alison resumed her march back down the road toward the invitingly open gates.
After a moment’s hesitation, Katie began to follow.
After another moment, Eva did too.
There was nowhere else to go.
constantine 4: 2119
Constantine walked into the hotel lobby, the green bottle containing the message gripped tightly in his hand.
A blue-suited receptionist met him as he crossed the floor toward the elevators, a company smile on her lips.
“Your guest is waiting for you in the Uluru Bar, Mr. D’Roza.”
His guest? Constantine hid his surprise.
“Thank you,” he said.
“And would you like me to dispose of your bottle, sir?”
The receptionist took the bottle from him. Constantine watched as she carried it off and dropped it in a bin behind the reception desk.
– It’s all a simulation, remember, said White.-There is nothing back there, behind the desk. The object will have been destroyed. Its resources restored to the heap. Now that the message has left the simulation, it will have some way of getting into the outside world.
– Fascinating, said Blue sarcastically.-Now, who do you think is waiting for us in the Uluru Bar?
– I’ve no idea. Have you got any suggestions, or are you just going to be sarcastic?
– No. Sorry.
There was a dark pause.
– I don’t like this. It’s not part of the script.
They rode the external elevator to the Uluru Bar, a dark glass-and-steel corner of the hotel where it was nearly impossible to tell what was real and what was a reflection. Booths and open seating areas were formed out of cuboids arranged at random orientations to each other, making navigation of the bar difficult without a waiter. Constantine was led to a table that seemingly hovered over nothing. Only the faint reflection of its steel legs in the glass floor indicated that he was not experiencing another fault in the simulation. The woman already seated there was hidden by shadow: the bar had been designed with just such an effect in mind.
Now she leaned forward. “Hello, Constantine.”
“Hello, Marion,” he replied. “Should you be here?”
– Be very, very careful, said a voice.
It was Grey. Constantine felt a little shiver of apprehension.
– This is it.
Marion smiled worriedly. She leaned closer and the strain was evident in her face.
“Oh, Constantine, I don’t know. We’re so close to the end, and I’m so worried. Tomorrow’s meeting is the last. We have to make the decision then.”
A waiter appeared, hovering a discreet distance away.
“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?”