‘An absolutely comprehensive explanation – for an Other in his first month of instruction,’ said Gesar. ‘Allow me to remark that only ten years ago, young Others were absolutely certain that the Twilight had three levels … and I myself knew nothing about the transition from the sixth layer back to our world. But still, what is the Twilight?’
‘Parallel worlds,’ I said, with a shrug. ‘Of course, that’s an explanation on the level of science fiction, but any other would be from the realm of fantasy. We can even surmise that it is certain variations on our world, the way that it might have been … alternative worlds that separated off at some time from ours …’
‘Or was it our world that separated off from some other?’ said Gesar. ‘All right, let’s accept that. Our science team can’t say anything that makes better sense in any case. And the Inquisition’s research centres wouldn’t have anything much to add … they’d only cloud the whole issue with their “subtle structures”, “dark matter” and “quantum fluctuations”. But still, what is the Twilight? Just six worlds that humankind hasn’t managed to foul up?’
‘You can’t get that Tiger out of your head,’ I said, realising where he was leading.
‘Of course,’ Gesar said, nodding. ‘As long as we swear on the Light and the Darkness and receive a certain response that was defined ages ago’ – Gesar waved his hand through the air and for an instant a small sphere of blinding white fire flared up on his palm – ‘we can regard it as some kind of law of physics. But the Tiger – he was alive. He spoke. He modelled his behaviour according to ours. When an avalanche engulfs a skier, that’s a law of nature. But when the avalanche starts pursuing one single boy, who’s messing about in the snow at the foot of the mountain, and it actually carefully tosses everyone else aside or goes around them … that’s not just wet snow plus the force of gravity any longer. That’s intelligence.’
‘The laws of nature are not intelligent,’ I replied. ‘The force of gravity is not intelligent. Electricity is not intelligent. A savage looking at a television might assume that it’s a sapient being, but we—’
‘A sapient being? Looking at a television these days, the only possible assumption is that it’s a loud-mouthed, hysterical madman suffering from progressive mental debility,’ Anna Tikhonovna said derisively.
‘What I mean is that the Tiger’s intelligence is by no means proof that the Twilight is intelligent,’ I said stubbornly. ‘Was the Mirror – Vitalii Rogoza – intelligent? Of course. But at the same time he was spawned by the Twilight in order to maintain the balance.’
‘The Twilight merely influenced an indeterminate Other, Vitalii Rogoza,’ said Gesar. ‘And Rogoza acted intuitively, without really understanding what was going on. The Tiger’s a different matter.’
‘All right,’ I sighed. ‘I won’t argue. You’re not running me through all this just for the fun of it, boss. Or for the sake of my education.’
‘Of course not,’ Gesar said, nodding in agreement. ‘And Anna Tikhonovna’s not here by chance either. Oddly enough, she’s our greatest specialist on the living and quasi-rational manifestations of the Twilight. In other words – on folklore.’
I looked at our teacher in amazement. She was a bright old woman, of course, but there was the science section …
‘It’s my hobby,’ Anna Tikhonovna said modestly. ‘I don’t have the strength to go chasing bloodsuckers through the streets, my health won’t allow it. And I don’t think I’m any kind of genius. But I do have a lot of free time, so I spend it on things that our men of science don’t take into account …’
‘I have only myself to blame that I didn’t know about this any sooner,’ said Gesar. ‘I expect things would have been a lot simpler with the Tiger.’
‘I study Mirrors, Shades, the Transparent Other, Tigers, the Clapper, the Clay Man …’ Anna Tikhonovna continued.
‘The Transparent Other? The Clapper? The Clay Man?’ To say I was surprised would have been putting it mildly.
‘Oh, Anton, they are such interesting phenomena!’ Anna Tikhonovna exclaimed, warming to her subject. ‘The Clapper, for instance, only appears on the second level of the Twilight. In the whole of history, only five cases have been recorded. When an Other—’
‘Anna Tikhonovna, I’m prepared to concede that there is something to this item of folklore too,’ said Gesar. ‘But let’s get back to the Tiger.’
‘You ferreted out everything about the Tiger yourself,’ the teacher sighed. ‘It’s a pity, of course, that you didn’t come to me, I could have saved you heaps of time. The only thing I have is – I know Erasmus’s address.’
‘Erasmus Darwin?’ I exclaimed in delight.
‘Anton, don’t even ask me how I got hold of it,’ said Anna Tikhonovna, lowering her eyes modestly. ‘You know that according to the law, no one has the right to disturb an Other who has deliberately withdrawn from active involvement with the Watches …’
‘I would have needed permission from the head of the local Night Watch and a clear statement from the head of the Day Watch that he didn’t object, simply in order to apply to the local branch of the Inquisition for the address to be released,’ said Gesar. ‘And even then they could easily not have given me it …’
‘But I went about it more simply,’ said Anna Tikhonovna, unable to resist, and started telling her story, despite that ‘don’t even ask me how I got hold of it’ business. ‘I read Erasmus’s Sexual Life of Plants and wrote a critical treatise on it. Well … partly laudatory and partly critical. Just critical enough to pique Erasmus slightly. I published it in an English journal – and a week later I received a rejoinder.’
She smiled. I couldn’t help smiling too.
‘So our dendrophile took the bait … What happened then?’
‘We wrote to each other for a while. For the sake of appearances I argued at first, then I admitted that my criticism was entirely wrong – basically, I repented, and Erasmus changed his attitude towards me. It’s not very often these days that anyone shows any interest in his beloved scientific work. We got along famously for a while, he even started flirting with me and invited me to visit him. But then I made a mistake. I was really only interested in the story of the Tiger, Anton … and I mentioned him. Erasmus evidently realised where my interest lay. And he took offence.’
‘Why?’
‘Surely it’s obvious? His beloved botany, which was the reason why he associated with me in the first place, turned out to be nothing more than an excuse for getting to know him …’ I could hear the note of embarrassment in the old woman’s voice.
‘Imagine that you have an interest, a fanatical interest in something slightly crazy,’ Gesar put in. ‘And suddenly you meet an Other who shares your passion – for collecting moths, for instance. Or for studying the medicinal properties of kefir. And you communicate with them, you feel glad to know them … perhaps you even fall in love. And then suddenly you discover it’s all just an excuse to get close to you and find out about the Chalk of Fate, which you once held in your hands.’
‘I get it,’ I said with a nod. ‘Erasmus hasn’t changed his address, has he?’
‘Not as far as we’ve been able to find out,’ said Gesar, shaking his head.