– 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.
“Strange. Exhilarating. Frightening. It was the moment we had been leading up to for a year, it is the moment that everything we have done since then has depended upon.”
“But it worked? You got it back to Earth.”
And that was it. Constantine felt a little catch in his voice as he spoke. He hoped she wouldn’t notice it.
“I did what I was supposed to do,” he said.
– She doesn’t know what it is. They don’t know where we took it! Got them at last! Blue was practically singing with delight.
“How did you conceal it, when you took it off planet?”
“I didn’t. I kept it in full view. They thought it was a museum exhibit. I suppose it was, really.”
“And then you took it to Frankfurt.”
“Come on, Marion. I don’t think we should discuss this anymore. We will have enough time for that tomorrow. Let’s wait until we’re quorate.”
Marion gave a shrug.
“Spoilsport. Are you always so firm with women?”
– Did she really just say what I thought she just said? said Blue in disbelief.
Constantine looked at his watch.
“After nine. We have an early start tomorrow. Maybe we should get to bed.”
Marion smiled knowingly. “Is that an invitation?”
Constantine grinned back. “You want to be careful. You could get a married man into trouble.” He laughed. After a moment’s hesitation, Marion joined in.
Constantine drained his glass and rose to his feet.
“Well, I’m off. Good night, Marion.”
He leaned across and gave her a peck on the cheek, then turned and walked from the bar.
A clamor of voices arose in his head.
– Well done! That was excellent! Blue was delighted with Constantine’s performance.
– It was good, said Red, though he sounded distracted.-Still, why pull that now? Why not just wait until the meeting tomorrow?
– Maybe they were worried things wouldn’t get decided? said Blue.
– Maybe. But I wonder. Maybe something else is happening out there. Maybe DIANA is moving in on them. Getting ready to free us.
– Maybe maybe maybe, said Blue.-What do you think, Grey?
No one expected Grey to answer. They were surprised when he did.
– I don’t know. I am seriously concerned. Now that we know what they are trying to find out, I think we may have been premature in trying to get a message out to DIANA. I hope that we will not come to regret our earlier request to Jay.
Marion came into Constantine’s room that night. He woke to find her standing at the foot of his bed, something in her hand, an odd smile on her face.
“Marion,” said Constantine. “How did you get in here?”
She held up the item in her hand. It was the same bottle Jay had given him earlier that evening.
“No, thank you, Marion. I’ve had enough to drink.” He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He wondered if his other personalities were sleeping.
– I’m here, said White.-I’ll wake them.
Marion’s smile widened a little, though there was a hint of pity in her eyes.
“Nice try, Constantine. Come on.”
She turned from the bed and walked toward the large picture window that looked out over Stonebreak. Constantine rose to his feet to follow. He was clothed in a simple, white, one-piece jumpsuit. He didn’t recognize it; he didn’t remember putting it on. With a sinking heart he followed her.
Marion took hold of the handle that opened the window leading to the balcony, the same balcony where he had spoken to Jay not twenty-four hours before. She gave Constantine a sympathetic look.
“Brace yourself,” she said.
Constantine wondered what she meant, then she slid open the window. There was nothing beyond it. Nothing. Just a dull grey space. Constantine shivered. The view was unnerving. At the wall containing the window that led to the balcony, the world had just been split in two. Through the glass of the sliding window that Marion had pushed to one side he could see the nightscape over Stonebreak. The dark space that was defined by the lights of the city, the stars and the moon. To the left of the glass, where he should have seen the balcony beyond, there was nothing. An emptiness, a lack of anything that made him feel quite terrified.
He was looking into oblivion. It was the gap beneath the sky. It was the end of his virtual life.
Marion stepped beyond the world. Constantine watched her walk out into the grey emptiness. She turned and beckoned to him to follow.
“Come on,” she called. “We need to talk.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Constantine stepped forward.
He walked into the greyness. There was nothing beneath his feet, and yet, as he walked, he seemed to move forward. It was an odd feeling; there was no resistance to his tread.
Marion was waiting for him up ahead. As he came level with her, she indicated that he should look back the way he had come. There he saw a rectangle hanging in the greyness, a portal that led back to the world. Through it he could see the cream corduroy carpet of the hotel room, the edge of his bed, the corner of a pastel print.