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| Tsv-05-100 Alternatives Chapter 1: Knight to king's Base 4.5 Chapter 2: What Reality is this? Chapter 3: The Hisorian Way Chapter 4: Fresh Air and Exercise Chapter 5: Stranger in a Strange Land Chapter 6: Point Man Put to the Test Chapter 7: The VR and the Videodrome Chapter 8: The Tem-Space Variant Returns Chapter 9: The Amazing R-Wing Chapter 10: The Lunaside Vacation Chapter 11: The Lunaside Hiso-Courts Chapter 12: On Space, Time, and Parallel Alternate Realities |
Tem-Space
Variant 5:
Alternatives
12. On Space, Time, and Parallel Alternate Realities Madkro insisted on staying with Lisa, as they examined her, to find out what was wrong. 10 minutes later, the female doctor spoke to him, in the lounge. "She's in a chemically-induced comatose state," she said. "Her brain is still quite active, on a subconscious level, but the pathways leading to her conscious motor-reflexes are saturated with a neuro-paralyzer. It will take time to neutralize the effect." "Will she be all right?" "Yes," she said. "After the effect is neutralized, she should be fine. But she may be under for a day or two. The neutralizing process cannot be rushed." "What did this?" he said. "Some kind of neuro-paralyzer," she said. "How did it happen?" Madkro described the flying unit that hit her on the narrow bridge. "It may help to know exactly what the compound was," she said. "I'll have the unit retrieved," he said, quietly beginning to suspect the possibility that Con-Rep agents were involved. After all, the rays were suppose to be sedates, not neuro-paralyzers. "One more thing, Doc," he said, relieved to hear Lisa would recover, and thinking ahead. "Now that I'm at the CQ, how do I get to see Rem?" "Mr. Rem can be reached on the blue-line," she said, "If he is expecting you.” "Yes, he is," Madkro said. "But we didn't get through the inner court." "I see," she said, "since it was an emergency, he may be willing to permit it, but you'll have to check with him." "Thank you," he said. "I'll see about the unit and check back." She left him and he walked to the windows at the edge of the lounge. He stepped out on the large balcony, on top of the first step, and looked out across the courts to the edge of the forest. He used the cell-phone and called Senzo. "The doctor says she'll be all right," he said, "but she'll be out for at least a day. She was hit by a neuro-paralyzer. If the unit is still in the ravine, it would help to have it analyzed." "We'll get it," Senzo said. "What about the inner court tagnets? If one unit was tampered with, who knows how many others were." "I'll check with security," Madkro said. "They may deactivate the system, under the circumstances. If so; you can walk right on in." "That would make things easier," Senzo agreed. "We'll get the unit and call back." Madkro put the cell-phone away, and turned about, to go find security. At the edge of the lounge there stood a man in a blue cloak with silver lining. His eyes were deep set and his chin was covered by a neatly trimmed dark beard, with a moustache. He appeared to be in his late 40s, but seemed in excellent health. "Mr. Madkro," he said, "I'm sorry about Lisa. I have alerted security of the situation. Mr. Longray will be joining us. Do you know who I am?" "Z. Rem?" Madkro said, with intrigue. The man nodded and said, "Please, let us sit. This lounge is as secure as any at CQ. We may talk." They sat in comfortable chairs, at right angles to each other, before a low table. Rem sat facing the windows with Madkro to his right. "May I offer something to drink?" he said. Madkro agreed, Rem touched a small unit he had in his vest pocket, and said, "Green Tea and Ginseng for 2." "Rest assured, Mr. Madkro," he said, "we will catch the culprit responsible for this breach in security." "What about the other units?" Madkro said. "Two of my team are bringing in the unit that did this, but they have to get through the inner court." "The system has been shut down," Rem said, with stern seriousness. "We have closed the courts for the duration of the investigation. If your friends are already in, they may reach CQ without obstacle." A robotic droid-unit appeared at the edge of the lounge, moved slowly to the table before them, and a compart opened to let 2 ceramic cups slide out onto the table. Rem moved the 2 cups from the extended slide onto the table and said, "Thank you. That will be all." The robotic unit retracted the slide, closed the compart, and left them. Rem drank some of the tea and set it down, then looked at Madkro. Madkro drank, realizing how thirsty he was, and set it down with relief. "I will arrange for quarters," he said, "for you and your team. Now, what was it you wanted to see me about?" Madkro looked at the man, recalling his situation, and realized that Lisa's sudden comatose state had complicated the matter greatly. He could no longer think of his situation as serious compared to her present situation. In fact, he couldn't even get his thoughts straight about it, and it was as if it were all some kind of crazy, mixed-up, yet vivid dream. "I'm sorry, Mr. Rem," he confessed. "It seems that now my problem is trite compared to Lisa's situation. The fact is I've lost her too many times before. I don't know if I can handle losing her again." "I understand," he said. "If you'd like to postpone our talk until tomorrow... "No, wait," he said, thinking it over. He found the words, put confidence in Rem's vast knowledge and wisdom, and got directly to the point. "Have you knowledge about the theory of Parallel and Alternate realities?" he said, without further hesitation. Rem looked to the windows as his eyes became widened with obvious interest. "Yes, I've some knowledge about it," he admitted. "In fact, I've written articles on the subject for Scimonk magazine. It is a fascinating subject. What about it?" "Do you believe in it?" Madkro said. Rem looked at him with deep intrigue for a moment, and then smiled with cool interest. "I believe in the possibility," he admitted. "What about you, Mr. Madkro?" "I believe," he admitted. "What would you say if I told you I had knowledge, from personal experience, of such pars?" Rem looked at him again, with deep fascination. "I would say, give me an example of such an experience," Rem said, beginning to enjoy the conversation. Madkro looked at the cup of tea and thought about it. "What if I told you," he said, "I had experienced a parallel of Earth in which the Hiso had never been developed, and hard-ammo, with gun-powder, had become a common weapon of crime, crime-fighting, and war; a parallel in which Earth experienced 2 world-wars and 3 smaller conflicts in the 20th century? A parallel in which nuclear weapons were developed and war-machines became high-tek toys of tyrannical super-powers and terrorists alike?" Rem looked at him in suspense, with a frozen frown, in a state of semi-shock, unable to respond to the image that Madkro had painted in his mind. Finally, he looked away, then down at his cup of tea, still frowning, and took a deep breath. Suddenly, his mind fixed on something and he looked back at his visitor, with sharp precision. "When you first saw me, why did you call me Z. Rem?" he said, with puzzlement. "My name is Zephron. Nobody calls me Z. Rem." "They did in the parallel reality," Madkro said. "So, what about it? Think such a violent parallel is possible?" "Well, I suppose so," Rem decided, "although I don't know anyone who'd care to live there. Sounds more like hell to me." "I was there for 35 years," Madkro said, "before I came here." "Really?" he said with surprise. "You mean to say you have all the memory of it, in your head now?" "Yes," Madkro said, and looked down with a frown. "I must say, I prefer this reality much more; although, these attempts on our life are a bitter disappointment." "Yes, as for that," Rem said, "we shall see how much longer such anti-social behavior continues. Your story surprises me, Madkro, I can't tell you how much. Perhaps, if you are the man I think you are, we may work together to put an end to these dangerous games." They were quiet for a moment and Rem continued. "If your story is true," he said, seriously, "then you are in quite a unique situation. But what exactly is it, Mr. Madkro; that you expect from me?" "You asked why I called you Z. Rem," he said. "It was your parallel that led me to Lunaside, seeking you. You see, Mr. Rem, the parallel 'Z. Rem' of my previous reality also wrote and distributed 'The Learning Mechanism' there, and it is the exact same book." "High Yahweh!" Rem said with astonishment. "It's true! You really have crossed realities!" Rem was obviously amazed, then looked about quietly, and smiled. "Dear man," he said, with a hushed voice, "if you really are who you say you are, we should talk more, but not here." He checked the time and said, "We can talk more privately in my office on the top level. Shall we meet later, say in about 4 hours?" Rem was looking at him with fascination, as he smiled, and Madkro agreed. "Good," Rem said, and stepped up. "Come, I'll arrange your quarters." As Rem led him away, Madkro wondered about Rem's reaction. It appeared as if the man not only believed him, but accepted his word as undisputed truth. But how could he be so sure of Madkro's words? What happened to the reservation of doubt that most people normally had about such wild concepts as parallel alternate realities? Was it possible Rem had more knowledge of the subject than he admitted? |
Chapter
12:
On Space, Time, and Parallel Alternate Realities Chapter 13: Longray's Plan Chapter 14: The Lunar Mines Chaper 15: The Maze of Illusions Chapter 16: Main Power Tagnet |