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«It’s clear,» said the guard. – It’s not them.
«Welcome to the Directory,» the red-haired woman smiled, handing passports and registration cards to the owners. – Have a good day!
But they did not rise to the minus thirtieth floor, where advanced scientific developments were carried out, but headed upstairs.
They were already waiting for them behind the elevator doors.
– Eh, I’m thinking that somehow everything is going too smoothly. «We take out weapons,» Tamara said. – You cover me with a shield, and I will attack.
Metal staves appeared in the hands of the conspirators. More precisely, another extra would have seen that the weapon was with them all this time, but hidden in the probabilistic fog.
What is the probability in a normal world that you will put your smartphone on a shelf and turn away and not find it there a couple of minutes later? Sometimes this happens. Those who are especially superstitious at such moments turn the cup over and ask the brownie to return the lost item. Who knows, maybe the brownie also has the statistic gene? One day the world changed, and objects began to disappear more and more often. At first, scientists who decided to raise this issue at serious scientific conferences were ridiculed by their colleagues. But then came the Age of Chaos. A person could go out shopping and, blinking, find himself somewhere at the South Pole, or fall asleep and wake up flying towards the Earth from somewhere on top. Soon the first people with a special talent appeared: they could change the statistical probabilities of various events with the power of thought. They were the ones who were able to stop Chaos for a while. Then humanity launched a system of CCTV cameras that scurried around the planet, and observers on huge monitors tirelessly monitored everything around them. As long as there is an observer, the world could exist only in one form. It seemed that life was beginning to return to normal. But the power of the Directory of Observers increased until one day the head of the corporation declared the worldwide hegemony of the Directory and appointed himself the sole emperor of the planet. A dictatorship of such magnitude has never existed in human history. Total control was opposed by many, and thanks to the control of reality, the Statist Revolution almost succeeded. But still, those in power turned out to be more cunning, and announced that it was the extras who were to blame for the emergence of the Age of Chaos. Total chaos is still worse than dictatorship, the memory of the universe being torn into pieces was still fresh, so people who did not possess the probabilistic gene happily handed over their former comrades in the revolution to the authorities. A scientific witch hunt began: the M gene was detected at the birth of a child, and if the test was positive, then such a child was cremated alive. The fire of the Inquisition burned as hot after a millennium as in the Middle Ages.
Extras invented weapons, the use of which was available only to those with the M-gene. The tip of the metal staff could emit energy in various forms. Moreover, the staff could be in the hand or not with the same probability, and the extras shifted the share of this probability at his own discretion. An extra could safely walk through a metal detector and then make a weapon appear in his hand. The staff was connected to a virtually inexhaustible source of energy through a wire lowered into the depths of the probabilistic fog.
A burst of machine gun fire rang out, but the police stopped without reaching the target, without passing the invisible barrier. Tamara swiped her staff through the air, and the floor beneath her attackers disappeared. And they flew down. The floor then returned to its place and the two rebels were able to move on.
The Emperor sat on a huge gilded throne. The remote control is in one hand. Instead of walls there were huge monitors that displayed thousands of events taking place in different parts of the Earth.
– Take a seat. You have three minutes until security arrives.
– Emperor, we come in peace.
– Wow, the extras came at least somewhere with peace, and not with rebellion. Are you saying your hands are clean?
«Emperor, we come in peace,» Tamara did not look away from the man’s unblinking eyes. – Don’t you notice that the fewer extras there are in the world, the more Chaos takes back for itself? Your cameras can’t do it without the help of extras! Don’t you notice that the Directory building is moving around the city?
– Who said that this wasn’t planned by me?
Tamara only now noticed the staff in the emperor’s hands. Hidden in the fog of probability.
– So you are an extra, not an observer. Sergey! Prepare your weapons.
– I am not just an observer or an extra. I am now the god of this lousy planet. What is the probability that I will die in a couple of centuries? And in a thousand? If I weren’t such a statistic, I would have succumbed to the will of the universe. But I shouted to infinity: the probability of my death is zero. And while there are no other extras on Earth, only I can control Chaos!
It seemed to Sergei that the emperor had melted into thin air, but Tamara was an extra at a higher level, so she saw how the crazy old man created four clones, and the probability of him being in the place of each of the projections was exactly 25%. An army of doubles surrounded the rebels on four sides like a quantum wave. But he can attack using each of his projections. If they were human, they would definitely be doomed.
– Seryozha. Focus on one thought. It exists with a 25% probability in one of four positions. This means that it is not present with a probability of 75% in each of the four projections. Let’s send the emperor into outer space: two observers are always stronger than one.
There was a flash, and the emperor disappeared from the Directory.
«A fairy tale,» one of the readers will say.
«Why shouldn’t there be a fair universe in the flow of multiverses, where good always triumphs over evil?» – the author will answer you.
***
– Yes, our universe is not always fair. But she is stable. The Klein Bottle bar was there yesterday and will be there tomorrow.
– Yes, let’s continue tomorrow. Waiter, check please.
Vasily rummaged in his pockets, but the wallet was not there. Although the man definitely remembered that he put it in his pocket when leaving the house. It couldn’t have happened that you put something in your pocket, and then it suddenly disappeared when you stopped looking at it?
Reality Moderators
this ever happened to you? Put the comb on the table. He turned away – and there was already no trace of her. Did he put it somewhere else, or did the brownie take it?
***
– Seven days! – Septon Iris-1 crossed his upper limbs, indicating that he would not tolerate objections.
– This is madness! No one can do it in such a short time. Initially, we discussed a period of two or three thousand years. Even Pandorra, listed in the Book of Legends, took longer than a millennium to create.
¬– Seven days. And I won’t even give you an extra hour. – The Septon vibrated subtly and changed shape, moving in multidimensional space. This was the only thing that showed his excitement.
– But we won’t make it in time!
– Derek Orson-4! Just try to delay the deadline for even an hour, and you’ll immediately fly out of Eden before you even have time to blink an eye. You will light up the stars or play melodies on super strings!
Derek tried to say something else in his defense, but Septon silenced him with a gesture.
«Derek, I gave my Word, and I intend to keep it. Will I have to make excuses to the customer, answering for your mistakes? You yourself agreed to the position of Supreme Creator. I liked the other candidates better, but your father vouched for you. You received a position through an acquaintance, but the work must be completed on time.
– But…
Septon did not listen to new excuses, he simply disappeared into the abyss of one of the spaces, now try his detectives.
***
– Seven days? Derek, are you out of your mind? Why didn’t you tell that fool Iris what you thought of him?
Il Zamar-8 was noticeably worried: each of the limbs was wrapped in a spiral in its own dimension.
«I tried to tell him several times, but he didn’t want to hear,» Derek said. – You know, my probationary period is coming to an end soon. Orson gave the Word. And if there was a Word, then there must be Peace, you know the rules. Otherwise they’ll kick me out, I’ll be some kind of firebrand of the stars or the spirit of the river.
– But the order given to you cannot be fulfilled! – Il shouted, moving most of his limbs.
– What if we make at least the appearance of a completed project, and then correct all the inaccuracies? – Derek lit a cigarette and was now releasing fifth-dimensional puffs of smoke.
– For example?
– Well, for example, let’s create only 3 dimensions. Il, sit down, don’t worry so much.
– Where are you going to put the rest? You’ll curl up into a ball, or what?
– Yes, Il, good idea! 3 dimensions, and the remaining 7 are folded so that none of the inhabitants of the world can look at a short distance.
– Derek, but that wasn’t the idea! It was sarcasm! Do you know what sarcasm is?
– Don’t be so stuffy. Ha-ha, that’s a pun: stuffy spirit! Isn’t it funny?
– Not funny at all! Derek, imagine, I’m not funny at all!
Il clutched the bowl with one of his limbs, drinking small sips of quark soup from a Klein bottle.
– But no one will look into the details! All 11 dimensions are used, one of them is for time, and 10 for space. Who will unravel the tangle?
– And if you are entrusted with creating a 26-dimensional world, will you also reel in the excess?
– Il, don’t pick on words. I will hand over the project, and then after receiving the position I will finalize the remaining measurements.
– Derek, do you have any idea how precisely you need to adjust all the parameters so that your 3 dimensions do not crumble into dust from any blow of the cosmic wind?
– Yes, I’m unlikely to become a watchmaker who creates the world and then forgets about it until I finish the Creation.
– Can you imagine how much the demiurges will have to pay if they turn out to be fools and even agree to work in such a short time?
– Don’t be a pessimist, Il, buddy! Of course, the reserves of karma in my vaults are not that large, but we will definitely come up with something.
¬—Derek, what can we come up with? – Il’s middle limbs disappeared into one of the higher dimensions.
– Il, don’t be angry! Here, I came up with it! We don’t have to hire demiurges, do we? Let’s hire someone from the lower ones, for example, cherubim or seraphim. They will receive their first entry in the work book and work experience before graduating from the Academy. And they won’t have to pay a lot of karma.
– And what can they do? They still don’t know how to do much! All they can do is kick their wings while no one is looking and drink wormwood. Workers for me too.
– This is how we will do everything. And they will be ordinary moderators. They will make sure that the weak interaction does not change its constant, and that the seven dimensions do not unwind and are invisible to the locals.
«Oh, Derek, it’s always because of you that we end up in a complete black hole!»
– Don’t swear like that! True, this is the last time!
– Where are you going?
– Il, you are a true friend! I never doubted you. We will definitely make it through.
– Go to the quasar!
***
Il carefully re-read every instruction in the book, and Derek improvised, blowing the bubble of a new universe.
– Yes, sir! We need to add light,» Derek said.
– Wait a minute! You need to carefully calculate everything.
– Il, buddy, what’s there to calculate! We are running out of time, it’s painful to rely on calculations.
The sphere suddenly became too hot, and Derek dropped it from his paws. And then there was a sharp bang, and the sphere began to increase in size many times over.
– Derek, the quasar is going into your black hole! What are you doing? Is it possible to supply so much light in three-dimensional space! I hope no one from management heard this explosion. Cool the sphere immediately, otherwise it will expand until it bursts!
– Il, but I don’t know how to stop the expansion!
– So you didn’t read the instructions at all? Separate the light from the darkness immediately!
Derek’s myriad tentacles scattered each of the photons away from the hot area.
– Well, look what you did! Derek, think before you act. Now photons will not be able to move as fast as they please. Now your creations will be connected to their own planet, like dogs on a leash.
– Il, excuse me, I didn’t do it on purpose!
– You have to think! I hope it didn’t turn out as bad as Master Lucius Sat-1.
¬– What’s wrong with him? – Derek was surprised. – He opened his own company, now he is the owner of his own Corporation.
– It’s not true that in the universe he developed, the temperature is so high that elements heavier than sulfur cannot be synthesized. Nine dimensions of endlessly raging flames and the stench of sulfur dioxide. Many Creators send their guilty people to him for re-education. Okay, quickly separate the water from the land, and we’ll rest. Just this time, do everything according to the instructions!
***
– It’s true, she’s a cutie! – Derek admired the created creature.
– A neutrino in each limb! Derek, just look at this abomination! What have you done! The instructions clearly say: in your own image and likeness. And you created this creature with four tentacles instead of the required five thousand, and you call it a likeness?
– It happened. But they won’t know what I look like! Nobody will know!
Il sighed heavily. Its tentacles swayed nervously.
¬– How will your creature bud? How will she create her own kind?
– Yes, Il, I didn’t think about that. Let’s help it bud for the first time, for example, take a rib, and then they’ll figure it out on their own?
***
A multidimensional series to the beat of rustling wings. Derek approaches each cherub with a menacing look.
– Forget what you were taught at the Academy. This is your first serious work. From now on, you are not students, but real moderators of reality. The demiurge team and I will be developing new additions. Your task is simple: view add-ons and enable them at the right time. Our rivals from the Master Sata corporation may try to introduce a malicious reality. For example, they can incite our creations to quarrel among themselves. Or they may try to introduce monsters that feed on the blood of people, or turn into octopuses during high tide, or you never know what these evil trolls are capable of. You must ensure that the sun rises in the morning and that your right sock is always next to your left. And if the trolls send you some kind of incorrect reality, then throw it away mercilessly!
– For example, if the sandwich falls butter side down?
– Yes, Stefan, such things will not be needed in our universe.
***
Derek increasingly disappeared into his office, carefully watching how his creations developed. They learned to dig up the ground and make a fire. They caught fish and drove away large animals with burning branches. But most importantly, they loved each other.
And Il became darker every day.
– Again you are babysitting your monsters! Let the moderators monitor them. And you and I, let’s think about how to unwind 7 unfinished dimensions.
