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– So you’ve never been to America. Maybe you think that on the far side of the planet, elephants stand on a turtle and hold a flat disk? If we follow your logic, then we can come to this conclusion.
– Maybe elephants keep a turtle. By the way, I found this video about turtles…
This is how every conversation between Alexandra Apollonovna Kassandrava and her husband (and not only with him) ended. During the day, she is a world-famous scientist, in her hands are the secrets of the Universe and the distant future is before her eyes. And in the evening there is talk about the low salary and the emptiness of her research. If Alexandra believed in karma, wouldn’t this be a manifestation of it?
Graveyard of the Immortals
The photographs are arranged in a row. People smile on them, as if nothing had happened: they broke up for a couple of days. They will return and say again: «Hello.» Who will say that all that remains of them is this photograph, name and date of birth? The candle smells like soot. Slavik decided not to turn on the electric light; a dim light on a moonless night would be enough. Just not to scare off the one who can put her hand on her shoulder. He will no longer see her, he can only feel her. Slavik examined Marina’s profile for the hundredth time and left a bouquet of roses on the wall. Red ones, just the way she loved them.
Previously, only the talented remained immortal. You can still leaf through the pages of the books of great writers of the past and plunge into their dreams and passions. Artists live in their paintings, and composers come to life in operas. But these days, immortality has become cheap. Next to a piece of the poet’s soul in his imperishable poem there may be a part of the one who shot the video of the dance near a moving car. Next to the opera diva’s track is the edited voice of a beauty who doesn’t hit even a few notes. They will all remain to rot in the digital world until the end of internet times. But in the real world, all that was left of them was ashes scattered to the wind. Only the richest can afford a place in the cemetery. But why do they need this in the era of biotechnology, when they can remain forever young and live until they get tired of it? A short life is only for the poor.
There was a rustling sound in the silence. Slavik is sure it’s her. Maybe now she will respond to the painted roses that he left in her profile on the «Cemetery of the Immortals» website?
«Thank you! I love you!» – as always, a short message. She is always concise. Friends have been trying for years to prove that a chatbot is answering him. They don’t understand anything – Marina is now immortal, in this digital world. One day Slavik will join her. One day, all pages that have not been deleted on social networks will become part of digital immortality.
Cells. Revelation of the Immortal
The showers are over, and now it’s an impossible heat – a steam room, and that’s all. But this is outside, and now imagine what’s going on on the bus in the morning. Some of you may be wondering: why doesn’t the driver turn on the air conditioning? Neon signs and commercials depict beautiful metropolitan life, which will not come to our region soon. Maybe when 3D traffic of gravity cars is launched in the capital, they will give us their old air-conditioned buses?
You stand on the last step, but seven more people are pushing you from behind. In the indistinct mooing one can barely guess:
– Come on in, the middle is empty!
Hundreds of emotionless faces, buried in small boxes, from which short videos flow in a continuous stream, who know better how to live and what to do. They say that a couple of centuries ago people blinked like animals. They’re probably lying: in a moment, while you’re blinking, you can accidentally skip a couple of videos, and then nothing is clear.
«Look, I shared! Here they say that the Americans have again used meteorological weapons,» a guy of about twenty years old types with a long, mobile thumb. They say that a couple of centuries ago, thumbs were a finger that was thicker than others, but not longer; now the thumb is the thinnest, but also the longest of all.
«Yes, it’s all their fault! It’s Jon Petrowitz and Paul Bashirson again! We started our car, all the fruits first rotted under the downpours, which is why bananas are now cheaper than potatoes, and now we turned up the heat.»
«Or maybe it was the locals who decided to raise prices and profit from the weather on the sly? And the Africans are great, the prices for their bananas depend little on the dollar exchange rate, unlike the prices for potatoes and carrots.»
«No, ours have nothing to do with it. I watch videos all the time.»
«They’re lying! Where is the proof?»
«I don’t watch official videos. They say this in an underground channel, they won’t lie right away?»
«Both official and underground channels lead from the same office!»
I wonder what these two are chatting about so animatedly? Old films showed that people used to talk more often. Moreover, their speech was rich, their voices were sonorous and expressive. And now only specially trained people can speak normally; in the mooing of others it is hardly possible to recognize understandable words. Although, this is a logical course of evolution: why do we need a voice when we can correspond with friends and neighbors? Is it possible to transmit several megabytes of text information by voice in a second? Scientists suggest that our children will already be able to perceive a hundred megabytes per second.
The bald man, about forty years old, smiled. The only emotion I could discern among this crowd today. He also blinked frequently – once every two or three seconds, while everyone else could not look away from the monitor for even a second. I smiled back.
No correspondence – the rule is unshakable: all chats are carefully monitored. Only live speech in places where there is definitely no wiretapping. Although, recently, fewer and fewer people prefer oral speech, so the era of total wiretapping is also coming to an end.
We met Andrey a couple of years ago. For some reason, the people around me always seemed somehow insipid and emotionless. They are interested in a piece of fresh bread and a fresh spectacle – bright news or a new crazy short video on the Internet. But Andrey could recite Shakespeare’s poems by heart without an electronic translator! Tell me, who else is studying foreign languages now? There are electronic systems for transfers, but after the Great Division of Nations no one will be able to get abroad anyway.
Of course, I have always been different from other people; what is served instead of breakfast in the morning news report was not enough for me. I had difficulty finding forbidden old books. But after Andrei’s injection, it became even more sad:
– What happened to humanity? Where did our dream go?
Andrey looked into my eyes with a sad smile:
«But there are only a few people left – no more than a couple of thousand on the entire planet.»
– So now there are more than ten billion people!
– Are they still people? There are currently three intelligent species on the planet. You are familiar with people – you yourself are a representative of this species, and others would envy you. The second species absorbed the others. I call them in the old fashioned way – countries, because each of the forty currently existing states is a whole species, and the people in it are just cells. At birth, cells have the same set of chromosomes, only from birth they are placed in front of their eyes with a tablet that forms clip thinking. Cells are no longer people. They have not developed critical and analytical thinking. Cells perform monotonous work throughout their lives, taking care of the survival of the whole organism – the state.
– But each of us chooses the path to follow.
«Each of them,» Andrey made a significant pause, saying, «we are not them,» «chooses the same profession to which their parents dedicated their lives. There are transport workers, there are workers, there are even heads of state – but even they are just cells.
– As I understand it, you don’t consider yourself to be in cages?
«Unfortunately, I have no relation to people now either.» I am a representative of the third intelligent species – demons. From the word «immortals»
It seems that after these words I said something obscene and began to back away towards the exit. Meanwhile, Andrei silently took a knife in his hand (an ordinary knife – not an electronic slicer, not a computer bread slicer – an ordinary knife, imagine!) and ran the tip along his wrist. Blood gushed out, but at some point it was again «retracted» into the body, and the wound healed before our eyes.
– You can touch it. There is no scar left.
***
– My name is Andrei Ivanovich Bessmertny. It’s really ironic, isn’t it? A person with a different surname is unlikely to engage in such research. During the first American-Russian war, I was mobilized and served as a military paramedic. The guys called me Bes. I was captured. But soon someone from high management caught the eye of my developments. They ransomed me from captivity and made me the head of the research center «Regenerative Medicine». Even my name was classified; according to all documents, I went by the code name Koschey.
– Koschey the Immortal – what a fantasy your boss has.
– Fantasy – don’t spoil it. As soon as the research bore fruit, the big shots wanted to get an injection containing nanorobots. Killing a demon is almost impossible. Even the head grows back to replace the severed one. But there is also a downside to immortality; nothing comes for free. We can’t have children. The moment the «medicine» is taken, the body freezes in an instant and no longer develops. No new thoughts or ideas, no impressions. One moment in life that will last forever.
– It’s not for nothing that you are called demons: this is hell on Earth, not life.
– You are right. After the first wave of those infected with nanorobots, we conducted a series of studies on «distraction», but this did not give direct results, only indirect ones. It was my research that led to the possibility of turning countries into superorganisms. At the end of the Third World War, the forty major powers united the rest. And each of the states became a being-country. And at the head are immortal rulers.
– Stop! What about the elections? We elect a new ruler every five years!
– Yes, but from those proposed. They replace each other, the unelected ones rule without showing their real faces. And in 50—60 years, who will remember the face of the president who was already in power once? Cells don’t study history; how would they know about it?
– It’s just… some kind of bummer!
– It’s even worse. I have already said that demons are not capable of developing. There have been no changes in the last 200 years, and there will be no changes in the coming years. Same foreign policy. Immortals are like cancer cells. Imagine, our body has been controlled by a tumor for several hundred years!
During my research, I used Henrietta Lacks cells, code-named HeLa. I really wanted to invent a cure for all diseases, but what good can happen if you try to cure people by injecting them with modified tumor cells?
People in power have no idea that one day all of humanity will come to an end, and all because of their shortsightedness. Outwardly, everything is fine: enterprises are working, people are buying something. But isn’t it noticeable that there are almost no people left on Earth?
– You gave me an injection, after which I disconnected from this system and became an ordinary person. What if we cure everyone with this medicine?
– You were human even before the injection. It so happens that the system does not work for some people, apparently there is some kind of mutation that prevents you from turning into a cell. My medicine just pushed you. But you are rather an exception to the rule.
Now the cells are part of the system. But if they all suddenly become human: by the way, helpless, without formed critical thinking, unable to take a single step without dictation from above, then the system will collapse, and everyone will be swallowed up by the neighboring country. Those who will survive. I envy you: you people can enjoy your emotions and clear thinking. But now you shouldn’t think about the fact that all the factories will stop at once and all the engines will stall while each part of the system enjoys freedom.
– And you propose to just watch as the world slides into the abyss?
– No, not just watch. We will overthrow the demonic rulers and take their place.
– Do you just want to become in power? But you yourself are not a person, but a cancerous tumor! How do you want to save us?
«We will be in power for some time.» Then there will be a new coup, and we will be replaced. Although, I hoped to transfer the supreme power to you, as one of the few who were lucky enough to be born such an unusual «ordinary person.»
– I have to refuse. Power is not for me.
***
Until today I have not met Andrey.
– Well, have you changed your mind? Today we have «X-Day.» Decide whether you are with us or against us?
– I would prefer the third way.
– You won’t like him. There are people striving for power – this is the first way. To ensure the system, gears are needed. Can you really become a cell again? After everything you saw and felt? Or do you want to do nothing, not think about how others can live, but simply enjoy the results of their labors? But that’s what parasites do. This is a glorious destiny for you – just a parasite on the body of our society.
– There is another way. I read about a small island that has not been touched by civilization. There are no cages and no demons. Only people. If you don’t kill me, I’ll go there. and no one will know what I learned from you. Make a revolution by injecting people: I don’t want to know anything else.
Andrei smiled meaningfully, but remained silent.
Ending station. The main thing is to get to the airport faster than the cartridges. And then – a free island. A new life awaits me there.
Faith of Pygmalion
The hood hums steadily, but it does not completely eliminate the smell of reagents. A fluorescent lamp illuminates a granite tabletop, on which conical flasks and test tubes in racks containing liquids of different shades of blue stand in a row.
– Do you remember our wedding? A bouquet of white roses, matching the color of the dress. We are young and happy. The priest then asked: «Do you agree to be together in sorrow and in joy, until death do you part?» And I stubbornly answered him: «No.» You should have seen your facial expression! But I immediately added: «Even death will not separate us.» Do you remember?
In response there is silence, only the monitor makes sounds in rhythm with the heartbeat. The girl is on the bed, a tube is sticking out of her mouth, and several more are connected to IVs.
– Are you silent? You are always silent, but I believe that you hear every word. It seems to me that you could not forget that day.
How many years would you give this man? Days of stubble, unwashed hair falling in long, unkempt tufts to the shoulders, bags under the eyes, a hoarse, ragged voice. The snow-white medical robe contrasted with the appearance of the young-aged man.
– Which goddess should I pray to wake you up? I don’t know any other than Science. As you can see, I’m not much of a Pygmalion. But I believe that I’m not crazy, even though I’m talking to myself. Your relatives abandoned you, but I believe that you can still be saved. Faith is the only thing that makes me hold on to life.
He walked up to the bed and stroked the girl’s hand.
– Faith. Verochka. My Sleeping Princess. I’m so sorry that we quarreled before…» I swallowed the lump in my throat. «Your mother and sister signed permission to take you off life support.» They have lost their faith. They felt that they had lost their Faith. But I don’t agree with them. I have often preferred science to you. He spent days and nights in the laboratory. With my last name, another fate was simply impossible. But when I found out about you, I…» His voice often disappeared, and some words were impossible to understand. «I didn’t let them turn you off.» I’m sorry, but I had to kidnap you from your relatives. For the whole world I am a criminal. Do you know what they called the article about me? «Crazy Pygmalion kidnapped Sleeping Beauty.» But I believe I’m not crazy.
With a shaking hand, he removed the mouse from its cage to take a blood sample.
– I rarely leave the house: I’m afraid that they will recognize me. I would order food by phone, but my coronavirus vaccination certificate is out of date, and now I can’t unlock my smartphone. He constantly writes: «Bring a code confirming a recent vaccination.» And they still think I’m crazy? Spend so many resources on producing gadgets instead of investing this money in medicine.
A drop of blood on a watch glass. The man bent over the microscope eyepiece.
«I want to confess to you that I spent all those nights in the laboratory with a woman named Henrietta Lacks. Of course, not with herself: she died in the mid-twentieth century. But not completely: her cancer cells are still wandering from one laboratory to another.
Sparks flashed for a moment in his colorless eyes, and his voice sounded louder and more confident.
– This can’t be! Does Vera-2307 actually work?
The man made notes in the laboratory journal. Then he made a neat cut on the mouse’s body. The wound immediately began to heal, after a few seconds only a scar remained, which after a couple of minutes healed without a trace. Another cut, and another – the result is still the same.
– The time has come for the main experiment. I can’t wait any longer.
He injected the drug into his wife. The job was done, and now fatigue took over, and the man fell asleep with his head on the granite countertop, next to the flasks and test tubes containing the precious drug.
***
The unknown is nearby, but it passes behind a closed door, so few ordinary people have any idea what is happening. Hundreds of worker ants are huddled in the subway, and some are stuck in traffic again. The students, still carefree, with a bottle of beer in one hand and a girl’s hand in the other, were discussing the theory of superstrings, on which there was a test tomorrow. Anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers once again gathered a parade in defense of the rights to freedom to manage their own health and against the introduction of chips to their children. Perhaps everything will end with a peaceful demonstration, but most likely it will again not happen without the destruction of 7g cell towers. Meanwhile, the fate of humanity has changed radically forever, in the small basement laboratory of a still little-known scientist.
***
A small room without windows. A table and two chairs at which two men are sitting. The only source of light is a lamp near the ceiling.
– Full Name? – said a man in a military uniform with colonel’s shoulder straps, clean-shaven, with a small bald spot on his head and strictly knitted eyebrows.
– You know. I’ve already been interrogated a good hundred times.
– But not me. Don’t make it worse. Your affairs are already bad.
– Immortal Andrei Ivanovich.
– Okay, Mr. Immortal. Do you mind if I smoke?
– Certainly.
– Do you admit that an underground laboratory developed a drug called Vera, which helps increase tissue regeneration?
– Not certainly in that way. This drug makes mammals immortal.
– Thanks for the clarification. Scientists will still have time to figure this out. If you are right, then I can smoke without fear of lung cancer anymore. Do you confirm that you contributed to the spraying of the drug on the territory occupied by five settlements?
– Yes.
– Do you repent of what you did?
– I do not regret anything.
– But you were offered cooperation. You would be the richest and most famous scientist. And instead of fame and fortune,» the investigator looked around the room, «here is this little room.»
– Yes. I was offered a contract to produce a drug that would sell for a billion dollars per serving. Who could afford this? Immortality for a couple of dozen people? Who should decide who lives and who dies? Sorry, it’s not for me.
