Бесплатный фрагмент - Time Enclosed in Space

CHAPTER YZX Why Are We Here?

Alex said,

“I went to bed yesterday. I laid down, relaxed, but my legs got tangled in the blanket. I got up, attached the blanket to its cover with a clothespin from the inside. That’s the last thing I remember.”

Andrey said,

“Hi, Alex! You’re lucky enough — I need time to remember yesterday. Alex, your blanket cover’s clothespin is like a zipper on top of a greenhouse’s cellophane film. If you cut the film in half and sew a cloth zipper to it, then such a film will be convenient for watering. I have such a film in my garden. When necessary, I fully unzip the greenhouse’s film and water the vegetables. And after the watering, I can zipper the film up.”

Alex asked,

“And what does the similarity between my clothespin and your zipper consist in?”

Andrey answered,

“In the fact that you remember the clothespin as yesterday, while I remember the lightning as the past.”

Michael interrupted,

“Who are you? Yesterday I participated in the war. We had been going into battle; then there was a meeting on the Elbe with American troops. I tell these soldiers, ‘Put a geolocation tag on the Meeting’s site, indicating that you were at a certain time (1945) and place (the meeting on the Elbe).’ But they cannot comprehend what I’m telling them. I continue, ‘We will meet here in 2021: tomorrow is the day when the one who remained in the past goes to the future.’”

A red cat comes into the room, carrying a pack of cigarettes in its mouth.

Michael remarked,

“Don’t worry, it perceives us as three big balls. And if it played football, it would have put three football goals. And the cat would score us like footballs in them with its paw.”

The cat left a pack of cigarettes next to Michael’s bed, rattled some song with his teeth, while its tongue rendered its refrain.

Helen asked,

“What do you mean, we are in 2021? I live in 2083. How did I get here?”

Andrey answered,

“You are in 2021. We have probably found ourselves in the starting point of time: it is the past, the present, and the future. This is like three kinds of fate: negative, neutral, and positive. The negative one is when you live in a troublesome period of war. The positive one is when you live in euphoria but without gaining life experience. Then the universe transfers you to the neutral fate.”

Helen remarked,

“But we already have digital chats — when the projection of your body is loaded into it, and you can move to other chat rooms with the power of thought. The program selects a room for you depending on your mood, the mood of an interlocutor, and the presence of common topics. And when a taxi arrives, your virtual image appears above it, and you know that it is the car that has come for you.”

Andrey said,

“Cool! As for the inventions of my time, it is worth noting a comic book — when you touch it, the text written on its pictures is played in a sound form. There is also a tea mug that can be brought to you on a small mobile platform equipped with remote control.”

Helen laughs,

“A tea mug? We have established beer supplies from Jamaica. And we ourselves produce croutons with a beer capsule inside. You try such a crouton, the capsule cracks, and the beer flows out. So, we have two in one — both a snack and a beer.”

Alex noted,

“Beer, the bar… I remembered. I’m a musician in a club — we have karaoke there. In this bar, you can sit in a cell, the light goes out, and the cell begins to move around the bar to bring you to those who would like to get acquainted. There is also the following function — you select the songs that you will sing in advance, and when a song begins, your cell is moved to the table with those who also know this song. Then the songs selected before the visit are performed according to the majority of wishes. The goal is to gather a common large table where everyone knows a song.