He had known this was possible from his experiences on the hill of course;
But Shana had said she could distinguish between Jon11 and Jon21. He hoped that when he met this woman he would be able to tell her and Shana apart; the thought of two identical Shanas was deeply disturbing.
Exhausted beyond the possibility of further action he withdrew the tendrils of his questing mind from the female’s container and searched in the velvet darkness for “his” Shana’s mentality.
He found it but in a deeply troubled state.
Shana have you found anything out?
Yes came the flat response.
Then let’s get out and you can tell me.
How do we do that?
That stopped Jon. At the end of their previous immersion, the Maroun avatar had ejected them when their lessons had been completed. How did they eject themselves?
He sent his mind out into the Education Room, searching, searching.
There was only one way.
Shana he transmitted Visualise yourself taking off the headset. Visualise yourself getting off the couch and standing up.
I’ll try.
Jon did as he had instructed Shana. He could not see his body directly but he poured all his strength into the visualisation that he had described.
And he found his eyes had opened and he was able to take off the headset. He leapt up to see if Shana had joined him.
She had not. She was still lying completely motionless on the couch, face completely blank, eyes shut tight. She could not get out.
Jon found his heart hammering as he removed the headset. What if her mentality was forever trapped in the strange world of the Educator and her body no more than an empty structure that its occupant was now barred from?
She lay still for some time and then her eyelids fluttered and she very slowly raised herself into a sitting position. Her hair cascaded over her face, hiding her frightened expression. Eventually she turned to him. ‘Jon I’m not going back into that horrible place. I couldn’t get out! I was trapped in darkness!’
He held her close and nuzzled her hair.
‘No you won’t go back in. I’ve done all I could in there. I don’t know if I achieved anything. We’ll just have to wait. But did you discover anything, something that can help us?’
She nodded.
‘What did you find out?’
‘I can’t speak at the moment, Jon, my whole body is shaking. I have to sleep.’
And with that Jon felt her go limp in his grasp. She was asleep.
Shana lay there for a long time and Jon himself fell asleep after a period of watching her to see when she came back to him. When he finally regained consciousness, as usual he had no idea how much time had passed but by the stiffness of his limbs he surmised it had not been a short period. He stood up and looked down on Shana, her still face framed in an expanse of amber-gold hair. Once again he felt that stirring of emotions that he had so little experience of; a desire to pull her up from the couch and press his lips on hers. From the Educator he knew what lay behind those feelings but that did not in any way diminish the strength of his desire to do all he could for this woman; to protect from the horrors that circled them.
Finally, she stirred and he saw her gaze dart from corner to corner of the room.
‘It’s alright,’ he said, at once bending down to be as close as possible to her, ‘you’re out. And you don’t have to go back in.’
She sat on the edge of the couch and buried her face in her hands, her hair forming an impenetrable tent around her profile.
‘The darkness. Trapped. Horrible. Horrible.’
He sat by her, an arm around her, not daring to speak, to ask questions.
After an achingly long time she raised her head and, sweeping her hair back, looked at him.
‘Yes, Jon. I know you’ve been waiting for answers. And I have them.’
A voice behind Jon suddenly said: ‘That’s good. Because we’d like some answers as well.’
Jon spun around. There were five figures standing in the doorway: three males and two females. And one of the females was Shana. He heard an intake of breath from the Shana at his side. He stood up.
‘And you are?’
The first man approached. He was of a category that Jon was not familiar with.
‘I’m Jorl38.’
The others followed.
‘I’m Jarm40.’
‘I’m Shev16’
‘I’m Jarz51’
‘I’m Shana36.’
Jon felt his companion rise from the couch behind him and stand at his side. In utter amazement they stared at the newcomers. Two of the males and one of the females were of types that they had only seen from a distance in the Hill simulation. But the last man looked exactly like their nemesis from that period.
And the woman was – Shana.
Jon could not help looking from the one to the other. His fears were realised – he could not tell them apart. All the newcomers were dressed exactly as he and Shana were.
He felt a crazy compulsion to put them side by side and examine them closely but that was out of the question. At least it was until “his” Shana did exactly that.
She crossed to the newcomer and looked her up and down.
‘You look a bit like me,’ she said quietly.
Shana36 gave an arch smile and said in an identical voice. ‘I look exactly like you.’
To his gathering horror, Jon realised that was absolutely true. There were none of the subtle differences which had distinguished him and Jon11. It struck him that if he were to leave the room and come back in he would not be able to tell them apart.
He decided to take control of the situation. ‘You’ve eaten I take it?’ he said wondering why his first question had been such a banal one.
Jorl38 sat himself down on a couch with an assured air.
‘We have. We’ve also been told to report to this room to be – what’s the word – “educated.” ‘
Jon stared at them. He knew he had been in rapport with five individuals in the Stasis Room and that the last one had looked like Shana. Were these the same individuals or was this a trick?
‘Good,’ he said, ‘the Protectorate need soldiers who know one end of a gun from the other.’
Instantly the newcomers stiffened; Jarz51 looked at Shev16 and then they all turned and glared aggressively at him.
Jon waved a hand. ‘It’s fine; just a quick test. Relax. And Shana36…’
‘Yes Jon?’
He tried to smile but was not at all sure what shape his lips were making and finally said, in a strangely strangulated voice, ‘I wonder if you wouldn’t mind staying on that side of the room.’
The lady in question looked at him with an expression that could only be described as amused tolerance.
‘What’s the matter, Jon – afraid you might kiss the wrong girl?’
Jon found himself unable to reply but was saved by Jorl38 who, looking at Shana12, said, ‘This little lady was about to tell us something.’
She looked at Jon who nodded, ‘Don’t worry. Just tell us.’ He glanced at the newcomers. ‘You haven’t been in the Educator yet so no doubt all of what she’s going to say will be a great shock to you. So make sure you’re all seated.’
He did not know then that it would be a great shock to him also.
Shana12 stared at them and said in crisp tones: ‘Do you know what you are?’
‘No, tell us.’
‘You are bioengineered structures created in the image of homo sapiens but made of less perishable materials and with a nervous system that is much better organised. You are made in the image of humanity but you are not of that genus; you are – what shall we call it? – transhuman.’